Chapter 87: The Battle of Great Perfection in the Primordial Realm

A spirit spear wreathed in flame shot forward like a meteor, slamming into the massive cyan blade aura pressing down upon it. Sparks burst outward, and the space where the two attacks met seemed to tremble violently under the impact.

Behind Ye Cheng, Nangong Xue had already risen. Her white dress was streaked with blood, and though it was clear she had suffered severe injuries, she gave them no heed. At this moment, she looked at the slender figure before her with a complicated expression, and in her eyes that narrow back seemed suddenly to have grown tall and unshakable.

He had saved her twice before. She had wanted to repay that debt, only to be saved by him again. Counting this time, it should have been the third. All of it stirred some indescribable feeling within Nangong Xue’s heart.

"Damn it!"

Luo Long cursed fiercely. Hastily, he formed a barrier of vital energy around himself, enveloping his body completely. Gritting his teeth, he gripped the cyan blade tightly, sending a torrent of vital energy from the blade into the flaming blade aura.

He could feel it clearly: his attack was being reduced to ashes by that fire.

The flames surging along the spirit spear were terrifying beyond measure. Even he did not dare meet them head-on. These were no ordinary flames, but fire refined from the purest fire essence between heaven and earth, containing immense power. Once entangled by them, even a perfected greater vital realm expert might be burned to nothingness.

But that was only if the perfected greater vital realm expert did not resist. Ye Cheng’s fire body had only just taken shape, and its embers were still in their infancy. If he himself were controlling it, Luo Long might be able to withstand it with only minimal resistance and emerge unscathed. But now it was being directed by an expert like Elder Mu, and its power was naturally on an entirely different level.

Once caught by those flames, one would be lucky merely to lose a layer of skin.

"Just a little more."

...

"Eh!"

Sensing Ye Cheng’s body tremble as Elder Mu, through divine sense, once again urged the crimson flame within him into motion, the fire blazing along the spirit spear erupted with renewed force. It turned into a sea of fire and swallowed the enormous blade aura whole. In the span of a single breath, that all-out strike from a perfected greater vital realm expert was burned away into nothing.

"Damn it, your body can’t hold on anymore." Feeling Ye Cheng’s body begin to shake more and more, Elder Mu’s expression changed. He quickly stopped controlling the flame within him.

Using the flame to attack indeed produced unexpected results, and it also did not require passing through those already damaged meridians. However, forcibly driving the fire still imposed a burden on the body. The longer it went on, the harder that burden became to bear. And this was Ye Cheng’s body, already battered and covered in wounds.

"So terrifying... that flame."

Luo Long’s figure abruptly halted. That fire was simply too frightening, sending a chill of dread through him. Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and on his dark face a look of delight flashed. He saw that the flames’ overwhelming force had not lasted long. After dealing with that blade aura,

the flames actually shrank rapidly, and Luo Long’s tightly strung nerves eased at once. He fixed his gaze on Ye Cheng and saw the latter’s body trembling continuously, clearly unable to sustain such an attack.

"You dodged once. Let’s see how you survive this strike."

Luo Long seized the opportunity. His body shot forward like a bolt, closing in on Ye Cheng in an instant. The blade aura appeared once more, carrying a wild and chaotic feeling, surging forth like a torrent.

"Hmph."

Ye Cheng had only delayed Luo Long’s attack for a brief moment, but that was enough for reinforcements to arrive. Li Yang, holding a black blade, suddenly landed before Ye Cheng and Nangong Xue. He let out a cold snort toward Luo Long and said disdainfully, "Luo Long, you managed to succeed once and nearly made me break my word to Elder Ye. Do you really think you can succeed a second time?"

Having been ambushed and outplayed by the other man, Li Yang’s fury was immense. In all his life, he had despised underhanded tricks, and now he had fallen victim to one. His anger all turned into force. Gripping the black blade, he made a sudden downward slash, and vital energy roared outward, splitting the torrent-like blade aura cleanly in two.

"Good, we’ve bought enough time."

Elder Mu also let out a breath of relief, speaking within Ye Cheng’s mind. He did not want the disciple he had taken such a liking to die like this.

Seeing Li Yang arrive in time, Ye Cheng likewise relaxed slightly. The tension in his body eased, and the pain surging through him made him grimace.

Seeing that his supposedly certain victory had been shattered by Li Yang, Luo Long’s face darkened to the extreme. With a vicious look, he rushed in with his cyan blade in hand. Even though Li Yang with the black blade was shielding them, he had to do it.

He knew that if he allowed Ye Cheng to slip away behind Li Yang now, then with that terrifying talent for cultivation, and the fire body he had just revealed, it would not take long before he stepped out of Roaming Sun Town, just as Ye Shan had in the past, and shake the entire Southern Sun Prefecture. By then, it would be the destruction of the Luo clan.

Moreover, from the talent he had displayed, he seemed even more gifted than Ye Shan had been in those days. Such a person could not be spared.

Clang...

With a single strike, Li Yang repelled Luo Long, and then took the initiative, striking first and dragging the battlefield away from Ye Cheng and Nangong Xue, so as to prevent that cunning old fox Luo Long from seizing another opening.

Within the ring of their battle, blade light flashed and collided again and again. Terrifying vital energy, unleashed from the destruction of their attacks, battered the ground within a radius of dozens of meters, smashing it down by several feet. The commotion was so great that it spread throughout the entire Demon Forest.

Within the territory of the Demon Ape clan, countless demon apes, sensing the terrifying fluctuations of vital energy filling the air, no longer roared with high spirits. Instead, low moans replaced them. Their intelligence was just beginning to awaken, and they knew that the human experts who had caused such a commotion were not to be provoked.

At the center of the mountain wall in the Demon Ape clan’s territory, the enormous silver-furred Ape King abruptly stood. Its massive head turned toward the direction of Luo Long and Black Blade Li Yang’s battle, its silver eyes filled with solemnity. From those fluctuations of vital energy, it sensed a grave threat.

"Li Yang, you’d best think carefully. By wrecking my Luo clan’s plan today, you are already making an enemy of my Luo clan. In the days to come, I fear you will not escape our pursuit."

Luo Long, the Luo clan’s third elder, shouted coldly, hoping to make the other party back down. He was already growing anxious. More than half the day had passed, and if this dragged on, there was no way Ye Cheng could be killed.

"If you stop now and let me deal with Ye Cheng, my Luo clan will no longer pursue today’s matter, and we will even reward you generously. Moreover, from this day on, you will be an ally of my Luo clan."

Li Yang shifted slightly to the left, avoiding the incoming blade aura, and gave a cold laugh. "Your Luo clan? I dare not reach that high. One must repay kindness with all one’s heart. On that much, I, Li Yang, still know my manners."

"Hmph, stubborn fool." Hearing the reply, Luo Long knew there was no longer any room for compromise. His expression chilled, and his gaze swept over Ye Cheng and Nangong Xue not far away like a venomous snake as he plotted inwardly, "I can only hold this Li Yang here for now, then wait for another chance to deal with those two."

Just as Luo Long was about to move and launch his attack, a thunderous voice carrying a vast surge of vital energy rolled in from afar.

"Who has the audacity to assassinate the young lady of the Nangong family?"