Long Hou Sheds His Armor!

The two figures were jolted back hundreds of zhang in an instant. A terrifying shockwave rippled outward. Moments later, two slightly battered figures slowly emerged from the storm of primal energy. Ferocious gouges covered Long Hou's golden armor. Li Guanqi's jade crown had shattered, his long hair dancing wildly in the wind. The dragon scales across his body were fractured, marked with gruesome wounds. Blood trickled down his scales, yet Li Guanqi's eyes remained completely calm. Seeing this, the onlookers could not help holding their breath. They had never expected that someone as formidable as Long Hou would fail to gain any advantage in the exchange just now. After all, Long Hou had always been the foremost of the Eight Generals. He possessed the absolute strength to suppress all the rest. Moreover, Long Hou was one who had truly torn through the barrier of laws. Li Guanqi had also felt an immense sense of oppression throughout their previous clash. This feeling... Li Guanqi looked up at Long Hou and inquired in a deep, curious voice, "Uncle Long, how many times have you been through it?" Others might not have understood what he meant, but someone at Long Hou's level grasped Li Guanqi's meaning immediately. He was asking how many times Long Hou had attempted to break through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. No one knew how many times Long Hou had tried within the ocean of metal laws. Long Hou narrowed his eyes. Looking at Li Guanqi, he hid nothing and answered truthfully, "Seventeen times." At those words, Li Guanqi could not help drawing in a sharp breath. Yet immediately afterward, Long Hou spoke again: "Without exception, every one failed." Li Guanqi's heart seized. It seemed the barrier of laws for the Tribulation Transcendence Realm was far from simple. Just then, however, Long Hou uttered words that stunned everyone present: "Are you sure... you don't want to release your full power?" Li Guanqi was taken aback. He had not expected Long Hou to have sensed the power coiled within him! Before Li Guanqi could reply, Yu Shan shot to his feet, eyes fixed dead on Long Hou! Then, Long Hou slowly removed the golden helmet from his head! A mane of long hair cascaded over his shoulders like a waterfall, framing sharply chiseled facial features. A scruff of stubble, deep eyes, an impassive expression. Long Hou casually tossed the golden piece down beside his feet. Yu Shan's eyes went wide as he murmured, "No way..." Li Guanqi's heart jolted. Suddenly, he felt an unprecedented sense of crisis emanating from Long Hou. That ominous threat... Clang! Clang! Piece by piece, Long Hou stripped off the golden armor from his body. A subtle tremor flickered through his eyes—a feverish, fanatical battle intent. The onlookers still had no idea what was happening. One man looked toward the high platform with grave eyes and asked the man beside him in a low voice, "Do you know what it means when Long Hou takes off his armor?" The other shrugged, bewildered. "It means he's taking off a heavy suit of armor." The first man rolled his eyes in exasperation. By this point, even Chankongzi could not help frowning slightly. "I've never seen Long Hou take off his armor... Why does the Boss feel a bit different?" Nangong Xuandu and Xiang Huaizhi furrowed their brows as well; they too had never seen Long Hou strip off his armor. At this moment, everyone's gaze inevitably gathered upon Hong Zhi. Hong Zhi stared fixedly at the elevated platform, murmuring under her breath, "To think Li Guanqi has already become this strong... "Ah Long... is actually removing his sealing armor!" Her words instantly stirred a chorus of gasps. "Sealing armor? Second Sister, what do you mean?" Hong Zhi let out a sigh and explained, "He's far too powerful. The side effect of his immense talent is that his primal energy keeps endlessly multiplying. "And precisely because his talent is so terrifying, his bottleneck for the Tribulation Transcendence Realm is impossibly solid. "So solid that... he has attempted it over a dozen times without ever fully breaking through. "That's why he has to wear that golden armor—to suppress the wildly surging power inside him." It was just as Hong Zhi said; Li Guanqi's perception of it was especially vivid! Clang! The moment the final greave struck the Dao platform, an earth-shattering, terrifying pressure erupted! Boom! A lean, sinewy physique packed with corded muscle, long shoulder-length hair thrashing wildly in the wind. At this moment, Long Hou gave off an aura of wild, untamed swagger. Yet from beneath this very Long Hou, a web of fine fractures suddenly spiderwebbed across the Dao platform under his feet! Though the cracks were swiftly mended, everything that had just occurred was very real. Frightening Geng Metal power swirled around him, the shimmering golden radiance framing Long Hou like an ancient god. Grasping his spear with one hand, thick veins bulged and writhed, the muscles of his arm taut and striated like bundled cord. Fierce winds howled to life. Li Guanqi was like a lone skiff on a tempestuous ocean, liable to be swallowed whole at any second. Confronted by towering waves, it seemed Li Guanqi could capsize into the abyss at any moment. The crushing pressure made it difficult for Li Guanqi even to breathe. Violent ripples rolled across the golden formation barrier, as if massive boulders were crashing into a calm lake. The spectacle shook every cultivator to their core. "Can this truly be the pressure of the Mahayana realm...?" "A Long Hou stripped of his golden armor... is terrifying beyond belief!" "With primal energy pressure this immense, if Long Hou breaks through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, wouldn't he immediately step into the mid Tribulation Transcendence Realm?" "To think such a terrifying reservoir of primal energy was suppressed inside Long Hou's body all along?!" Indeed, this was the foundation that made Long Hou the head of the Eight Generals! Once he broke through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, he would leap directly into the mid realm, or perhaps even the peak of the mid realm! Thousands of years of continuous primal energy accumulation had forced him to wear this immortal artifact golden armor just to restrain his might. Furthermore, on Long Hou, Li Guanqi distinctly sensed the will of a spear soul! Witnessing Long Hou's true terror, Li Guanqi decided to hold back no longer. In his heart, Li Guanqi whispered, "Demonify." Immediately, Li Guanqi's body began to swell rapidly until he was a full frame larger than before. In height, he towered two heads above even Long Hou. A pair of black-purple dragon horns sprouted from his head, and his upper torso was entirely enveloped in purplish-black dragon scales. At the same time, demonic qi surged within Li Guanqi, his primal energy turning vastly more violent and several degrees more potent! Mysterious, pitch-black divine markings covered his entire body—Demonic Rune Inscription! At the center of Li Guanqi's brow, a faint silver mark flickered with light. With all of this done, Li Guanqi took a slow step forward! Boom! A horrifying pressure detonated outward, and beneath his left foot, the sturdy Dao platform within a radius of a zhang abruptly shattered! Opening his scaled palm, he beckoned with a single hand, and the Red Lotus instantly shot into his grasp! At that instant, the slender, crimson blade let out a ringing sword hum.