Half-Step Tribulation Transcendence? Nowhere Near Enough

*Buzz!* *Roar!* A dragon's roar shattered the air, and a massive white radish suddenly popped up on Li Guanqi's shoulder. Pengluo snapped off his own arm, shoved it straight into Li Guanqi's mouth, and grinned foolishly. Jiuxiao tore through the void, three figures standing proudly atop the dragon's head! And upon the shoulder of the newly arrived Ye Feng sat another Pengluo! In an instant, the experts on Li Guanqi's side formed an encirclement, trapping Sha dead in the center! Gripping Red Lotus, Li Guanqi glared at Sha with eyes as cold as ice and spoke in a chilling voice. "Today will be your burial!" "Sha... will be wiped from this world today!" Primal energy surged violently around Ye Feng and his two companions. Having just broken through to the next realm, they had not even had time to celebrate before learning of all the dire events unfolding. Gu Li and Meng Wanshu, meanwhile, wore expressions of extreme gravity, knowing all too well just how terrifying their opponent's strength truly was. *Buzz!* Hong Zhi stepped forward slowly, the small golden bell upon her saber's hilt chiming crisply with every pace. Clad in a crimson robe, the frosty-faced woman scoffed with an indifferent gaze. "I fell short that day. Today, I've come to settle the score." Sha stood proudly over two hundred zhang away, his hands clasped behind his back. "Heh. You truly flatter me—nine whole Mahayana experts..." "Tsk, tsk..." As the words left his mouth, his eyes behind the mask showed neither joy nor sorrow. He spoke with utter calm. "Still... did you think that would be enough to kill me?" "Aren't you being a bit too naive?!" *Boom!* Demonic qi flooded the heavens as a violent, cataclysmic power erupted in an instant! In the blink of an eye, the terrifying pressure shattered the limits of the Mahayana realm and reached half-step Tribulation Transcendence! Li Guanqi and the others could not even directly gauge a pressure so immense. Gu Li swallowed hard, a flicker of dread flashing deep in his eyes as he spoke with utter solemnity. "This guy's cultivation has definitely surpassed the Mahayana realm!" "Against power like that, even ten of my old man couldn't beat him..." At his words, everyone's expressions shifted slightly. Qian Ze narrowed his eyes, his face exceptionally grave. Yet as he glanced across the members of the Eight Generals, he saw that not a single one had changed expression. Hong Zhi sneered. "Half-step Tribulation Transcendence?" The rest looked just as unconcerned. Chankongzi shrugged casually. "Ooh, half-step Tribulation Transcendence... I'm terrified..." "What should we do? Which one of you wants to go first?" The berserk pressure intimidated the entire area, yet when it crashed against the Eight Generals, it proved no more troubling than thin air. Clad in black robes, Wu Mian narrowed his eyes. The next moment, his entire figure vanished without a trace. *Slash!* A flash of cold light erupted! Sha shifted more than a thousand zhang sideways in an instant! Reaching up to touch the side of his head, he found that a portion of his mask along with one of his ears had been cleanly sliced off by a dagger! Wu Mian stood right where Sha had just been, toying with the severed ear in his palm as he chuckled. "Half-step Tribulation Transcendence? Nowhere near enough." *Thud!* An afterimage flashed into view. Fist intent erupted furiously around Chankongzi as he punched straight toward the back of Sha's heart! Sha's eyes flickered, and boundless demonic qi surged behind him, sweeping outward like a tidal wave! *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Under the surge of demonic qi, sounds resembling great waves crashing against a shore echoed repeatedly. The demonic qi blasted open into a gaping crater several hundred zhang wide. Chankongzi strode toward Sha step by step, the pitch-black demonic qi falling around him like black rain. Chankongzi grinned broadly, rolling his wrist in mockery. "To tell the truth, having the Four Kings step in really isn't necessary. You truly don't make the cut." *Buzz!* Space trembled. A thousand zhang away, Youming swept his hands outward. Above and beneath everyone's feet, a colossal blood formation spanning ten thousand zhang abruptly materialized, rotating slowly! "Forbidden Domain: Xuanpan!" Nangong Xuandu hooked his wine gourd onto his waist, drew the sword from his back, and strode leisurely into the blood formation. Hong Zhi and Nangong Xuandu took the front and rear positions, while Chankongzi and Wu Mian flanked from the left and right. With Youming commanding the formation, the four generals tightened their four-sided encirclement! Li Guanqi sent a voice transmission to Tang Wei, his tone grave. "Uncle Tang, you aren't needed here. Hurry, find Tang Ru and take him to get treated." "There is a thunder pool inside the Great Xia Sword Sect—go there! Sect Master Lu will guide you to suppress the demonic qi within Tang Ru's body!" Tang Wei nodded and immediately turned to leave. Qian Ze exchanged a glance with Li Guanqi and nodded slightly. Li Guanqi cupped his hands and inclined his head in return. Ye Feng asked in a deep voice, "Boss, should we...?" Li Guanqi shook his head and said coldly, "Stay sharp. I don't think this hunt will be as simple as we imagine." "Sha's scheming runs far too deep. No one can say whether he has a trump card hidden up his sleeve!" Just as he spoke, Sha suddenly burst into wild laughter, a crazed, arrogant roar that echoed straight through the clouds. Sha clutched his masked face with both hands, laughing uproariously. "Hahahaha! My time in this world was not in vain—not in vain at all!" "Single-handedly pinning down six of the Seven Domains' Eight Generals!" "Xiang Huaizhi should still be locked in combat with the Yin-Yang Twin Shas, shouldn't he? It's been an hour by now, hasn't it?" Hong Zhi's expression shifted slightly. She could not comprehend why he would say such a thing. Xiang Huaizhi's strength... could easily be ranked third among them, barely a sliver behind her own. Yet an hour had passed, and he had failed to finish off two mere Liang-rank cultivators?! *** The Qilian Mountain Range. Deafening explosions roared endlessly. Under continuous violent tremors, mountains collapsed, and countless demonic beasts outside the barrier scattered in terror. The thick stench of blood was impossible to mask, and severed limbs lay strewn across the shattered earth. Xiang Huaizhi was drenched in blood, his entire body covered in countless blade wounds! *Thud!* Xiang Huaizhi forced the two figures before him back with his twin blades, but a vicious claw raked across his chest. Ribs cracked, and the gaping wound blackened in an instant. Panting heavily, the man fixed a razor-sharp glare upon the two adversaries not far away! One black and one white, the two figures had transformed into giants roughly ten feet tall, their massive frames bursting straight through their robes. Shrouded in thick demonic qi, the pair possessed blood-red eyes. Demonization had vastly amplified their power. Moreover, within this barrier, they could replenish their strength at every passing moment! By now, almost no living souls remained within the barrier—most cultivators had been swept inside the domain power Xiang Huaizhi had opened. In other words... If he died today, not a single one of the hundred thousand cultivators within the Qilian Mountain Range would survive! Xiang Huaizhi licked his dry, cracked lips as crimson flames coalesced around him, steadily encasing his body in crimson armor. With cold, indifferent eyes, he stared at the Yin-Yang Twin Shas. A blazing red spirit seal suddenly manifested at the center of his forehead. In a voice chilling to the bone, Xiang Huaizhi spoke. "It really has been... quite a while since I last unsealed myself..." "I was aiming to become one of the Four Kings. But since things have come to this... I'll let you two pieces of trash witness what I can truly do!" *Boom!* The spirit seal shattered halfway, and Xiang Huaizhi's power skyrocketed straight into half-step Tribulation Transcendence! Chiyang Burns the Heavens! A sea of flames swallowed the surrounding demonic qi in a flash. The continuously opening Abyss Demon fissures seemed to run into something truly terrifying. One fire seal after another seared the fissures right into nothingness! Xiang Huaizhi drew a deep breath. His long hair was dyed fiery red by the flames, whipping in the wind. A light, blazing gauntlet covered his fist. His left hand held a spear; his right hand wielded a blade. Gradually, the spreading flames formed an enormous flaming furnace spanning thousands of zhang! "Chiyang: Refine Heaven and Earth!" And both he and the Liangs were locked inside that furnace!