Xiao Chen and Cao Yan

Within a mysterious domain. A man riddled with bloody puncture wounds lay at the edge of a cliff, panting in ragged gasps. Blood blurred his vision, and matted hair clung to his face, yet he lacked the strength to lift so much as an arm. A man clad in golden armor leaned against a massive tree, cradling a golden spear in his arms. Eyes as brilliant as stars looked through his visor at Xiao Chen sprawled on the ground, and he spoke in a calm voice. "Stupid. Even now, you can't fully control your own body. That is the gap between you and Xu Junlin. "Don't go thinking that wounding him with a clever trick last time means you can measure up to him." Xiao Chen, lying on the stone, tried to sit up, but the movement pulled at every wound across his body, racking him with agony. Yet he forced himself upright anyway, looking up at the man perched on the branch and speaking with deep respect. "I know. I've never deluded myself into thinking I could reach the heavens in a single step." With those words, the blood-soaked Xiao Chen slowly rose to his feet. He planted his She Shen spear to support his weight, steadily limping toward the edge of the thousand-zhang precipice. Looking down at the dense swarm of golden-armored phantoms gathered below, his eyelids twitched and his calves trembled. Whatever thought crossed his mind, Xiao Chen drew a deep breath and, without channeling a shred of primal energy, hurled himself into the abyss! The instant he leaped, his entire demeanor underwent a radical shift, turning razor-sharp and fiercely resolute. Xiao Chen's voice tore from beneath the cliff in a hoarse, ragged roar. "Uncle Long, am I still a kid now?!" Hearing the youth's voice verging on tears, a faint smile tugged at the corners of the man's mouth. He answered in a steady, resolute voice, "You are a man." *Boom!* "Hahahahahaha!" "Kill!" A thousand-zhang cliff, ten thousand golden-armored phantoms! Only when Xiao Chen could plunge into that abyss and slaughter all ten thousand Body Integration Realm golden-armored phantoms would this trial come to an end. Even now, he had only ever managed to fight his way down three hundred zhang. Long Hou slowly stood. Over their three-plus years together, he had gone from disliking Xiao Chen to growing fonder of him by the day. It had not come easily. Every time Long Hou's opinion of him shifted for the better, it was earned by the boy defying expectations time and again. Long Hou watched the young man below, utterly locked in and fiercely focused on the slaughter, and murmured under his breath. "I hear those other fellows aren't simple either..." His voice trailed off as Long Hou looked up at the firmament, muttering, "These little ones are improving fast. It's time to elevate their spirit comprehension." *** Within another domain. Volcanoes stretched across the expanse, endless to the horizon. A bare-chested figure stood among them, scarcely a patch of unblemished skin left on his frame. Some demon beast had raked its claws across his face, leaving two savage gashes tearing through his cheek. *Roar!* A hideous, hundred-foot beast lunged without warning! The pressure radiating from the creature was on par with a peak Body Integration Realm human cultivator. Formed entirely of condensed flame, the beast had materialized in utter silence. Moving with blinding speed, it closed the distance to the young man's back in the blink of an eye. Yet it was as if the youth had eyes in the back of his head. Without even turning, he clenched his right fist and drove a ferocious punch backward! *Thud!* The charging flame beast was struck with such force that its flames shattered and its skull caved in, sending its massive bulk hurtling through the air. Had anyone been present to witness this, they would have been struck dumb with shock. The young man had thrown a bare fist without brandishing a weapon, and not even a whisper of primal energy had fluctuated around him as he struck. Power honed to the absolute limit had been held coiled inside that fist, every ounce of it unleashed in that single fraction of an instant! Eyes half-closed, the young man turned to face the giant beast, shifting into the opening stance of Cloud Hands with both fists clenched tight. His aura was deep as an abyss, exuding a presence as immovable as a mountain. Yet if anyone truly stood before him, they would sense that this mountain... was a towering volcano scraping the clouds! The moment he was provoked, he would erupt into an earth-shattering cataclysm capable of laying waste to heaven and earth. The beast opened its maw and spat a torrent of roaring flames. Cao Yan drove power through his feet, shifting slightly to smash the fire apart with a single punch as he closed the distance! His fists rained down upon the beast like a deluge. In his eyes, its claw strikes and lunges seemed to move in slow motion. He evaded each blow with effortless ease, displaying not a shred of panic. A dozen breaths later, the giant beast abruptly burst apart, disintegrating into a shower of fire that drifted across the sky. Cao Yan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing across his pupils. He glanced down at the savage wound on his chest with an impassive gaze, then channeled a burst of flame power into his palm and forcefully seared the flesh flat. This was precisely why Cao Yan's body was covered in a dense lattice of burn scars. The twisted marks crawled across his skin like writhing earthworms. Beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains, Xiang Huaizhi's lips curved slightly, and he murmured, "Not bad. His mastery of strength has finally reached a new tier." With that, Xiang Huaizhi turned to look in another direction, where a second bare-chested figure continued to push forward. That one's speed in dispatching the giant beasts was far faster even than Cao Yan's. Right then, Cao Yan slowly raised his head as though sensing something, pausing in place to draw a deep breath. The moment his chin lifted, his aura shifted entirely, furious flames flooding the surroundings for a hundred zhang. He drove his legs downward, instantly blasting a massive crater a hundred zhang across into the ground. His silhouette shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow! Sitting atop a mountain peak, Xiang Huaizhi broke into hearty laughter, raising a hand to summon a deluge of fire raining from the heavens! "Chiyang: Hundred Beasts!" *Boom!* Midair, the flames morphed into over a hundred ancient archdemons, charging down toward the two figures! Primal energy roared within Cao Yan. He had journeyed through these Hundred Thousand Mountains for three and a half long years! Now that victory was within reach, he would never surrender! Even if... he died right here! *Boom!* Cao Yan slipped fist gauntlets onto his arms, glaring ferociously at the stampeding flame beasts charging his way. "Apocalypse: Blood-Sworn Solitary Sun!" *Boom!* Flames wrapped around the gauntlets as he slammed his fists together. Every muscle in his body pulled taut, and an untamed fist intent soared straight into the clouds! "Come on!" *Boom!* Cao Yan pushed the comprehension he had cultivated over these three years to its very limit. A towering hundred-foot phantom of an ancient god manifested behind him. Its features were indistinct, radiating only a boundless, surging fist intent poised to erupt. Cao Yan fixed his gaze on the figure perched atop the distant mountain, every punch and kick laden with explosive might. With two or three strikes, he could shatter a fire spirit archdemon before him. Across the way, the other young man wore a grave expression, matching Cao Yan's pace step for step. As the thunderous booms echoed without pause, a bright spark gleamed in Xiang Huaizhi's eyes. Both youths were unrivaled prodigies of their generation. The ruthless tenacity rooted deep in Cao Yan's bones, in particular, made Xiang Huaizhi view him in a whole new light. Xiang Huaizhi looked down at Cao Yan with gratification; that innate stubbornness was something he admired profoundly. It was truly hard to imagine what manner of monsters surrounded Li Guanqi. Perhaps they were not the absolute pinnacle in raw talent, but when it came to character and fortitude, they were second to none! It was not just Cao Yan. He had also learned of Xiao Chen and the others' circumstances, which only deepened his awe.