Golden qi and blood permeated the air.
Lu Yuan stood within it.
The aura he released was even more formidable than before.
He seemed to have transformed into a god of war, peerless and mighty.
Opposite him, Zhou Yunqiong kept retreating, her face growing pale.
At this moment, she had brought forth her true power, pushing the Ji clan's True Phoenix Technique to its absolute limit.
Normally, in this state, her combat strength would be vastly augmented, surpassing the limits of the Sovereign King Realm.
Only beings who had reached the Saint Realm could likely rival her.
Coupled with her own potent bloodline, so long as she remained in the same cultivation realm, she could directly crush anyone who was not among the top-ranked sequence prodigies of the great clans from the various starfields.
Lu Yuan's slaying of a Saint was indeed formidable, but that had taken place while the Saint Realm was suppressed by the world. Even if she was no match for him, shouldn't she at least have the power to put up a fight?
This was why Zhou Yunqiong had been supremely confident in her strength, and it was the fundamental reason she had ultimately decided to battle Lu Yuan.
Yet as things stood, she seemed to have overthought matters. The aura Lu Yuan exuded during their clash was deeply intimidating.
She had still underestimated Lu Yuan's strength. She had brought forth her full power, but facing him, she was completely outmatched.
"Lu Yuan, since you are heartless, do not blame me for being ungrateful!" Zhou Yunqiong's fury flared even hotter. She truly had not expected this.
From the very start, he had struck with lethal intent, when she had merely engaged in a bit of scheming.
Now, he would not even spare a shred of their past acquaintance.
With someone pushing her this far, how could she endure it any longer?
At once, she raised her hand.
Boom!
She poured power into the jade hairpin.
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
A continuous droning hum sounded.
This was a Saint weapon. Once the power within it was fully unleashed, it would be terrifying.
The surrounding temperature surged dramatically. In particular, that imposing pressure bore down like a primordial mountain.
Saint intent constantly radiated from it, unveiling an intensely fierce killing intent.
At the same time, she once again invoked the True Phoenix Technique, unleashing both trump cards together.
Zhou Yunqiong was completely enveloped in cold, biting radiance.
A powerful presence surged and spread, setting the surrounding air trembling.
Facing Zhou Yunqiong, who had now deployed two different trump cards, Lu Yuan did not care in the slightest.
The profound aura within him also surged forth.
A great sun emerged behind him, unfurling layers of astonishing presence.
His golden qi and blood directly transformed into an ocean, engulfing the entire surrounding area and boiling like molten magma.
Rumble!
Accompanied by the roaring crash of thunder, every punch Lu Yuan threw carried his own will.
A Saint weapon was indeed powerful, but its wielder could not truly unleash its might. Moreover, Lu Yuan's mindset in combat had now become exceptionally pure and direct: whatever methods you display, I shall break them with sheer force.
He struck down with a single fist, not even employing a divine ability, nor even the Ancestral Dragon Breathing Method. In this world, how many could withstand a single strike from him?
Opposite him, the Saint weapon jade hairpin trembled faintly beneath such force, its will suppressed.
Zhou Yunqiong was indeed strong; an ordinary Sovereign King would be no match for her. Back then, she had been able to mount a full defense even against Lei You and the others.
Yet the one striking now was Lu Yuan.
In the distance, Zhou Yunqiong, having just steadied herself, was struck with immense shock upon seeing this.
"How is this possible? Could the disparity be this great?" She was truly stunned, finding it hard to believe.
A Saint weapon and the Ji clan's taboo divine ability, the True Phoenix Technique, could not even withstand a single blow!
She was sent stumbling back like a kite with a broken string.
Zhou Yunqiong spat a mouthful of blood.
She could no longer control the Saint weapon, and it fell to the ground.
Helpless, she could only recall the jade hairpin and do everything in her power to ward off his subsequent attacks.
If this went on, she feared she would be suppressed to death.
Pffft!
Another punch landed.
As her heart jolted, her internal organs were shaken violently, without Lu Yuan even sparing her a glance.
Zhou Yunqiong's body trembled faintly. She looked at Lu Yuan with horror in her eyes, feeling as though she were facing a terrifying monstrous beast. The power in each of his punches was like the boundless, dreadful fury of a true dragon.
"Protect the Eldest Miss!" Seeing this, Uncle Zuo turned pale with fright.
Without hesitation, he rallied the Zhou family disciples beside him to charge forward together.
The Eldest Miss was the Zhou family's hope; nothing could be allowed to happen to her.
To Zhou Yunqiong, she might not care about others, but Uncle Zuo was her most loyal subordinate.
Yet Lu Yuan's aura bore down upon Uncle Zuo and the Zhou family disciples in an instant.
These people were indeed elites, but their cultivation was only in the Shackle Realm. Never mind confronting him—they could not even approach.
In an instant, the physical bodies of several Zhou family disciples ruptured, their blood spilling across the ground.
Uncle Zuo, the strongest among them, also staggered backward, his face deathly pale as blood gushed from his nose and mouth.
Then, including Uncle Zuo, they all dissolved directly into a mist of blood, their vitality extinguished.
Every Zhou family disciple present was completely obliterated!
"Lu Yuan, you've gone too far!" Zhou Yunqiong cried out.
"There is worse yet to come," Lu Yuan replied coldly.
He had no intention of stopping.
Seeing this, the four Beast Kings were not surprised in the least. They all knew very well that once Lu Yuan made a decision, he would never change his mind, no matter what. Incomparably forceful, domineering beyond measure—such was the demeanor of the number one combatant in the world today.
"Lu Yuan, do you truly want to stand completely opposed to me and the Zhou family?" Zhou Yunqiong clenched her fists tightly.
Why had she plotted against Lu Yuan back then instead of showing goodwill from the start?
Though fury raged in her chest, regret could not help but well up within her.
In the old era, he was someone she had looked down upon completely.
How wonderful would it have been if such a powerful figure could have been used by the Zhou family?
Why had things come to this point...?
She still could not quite understand.
Could the gap really be this vast?
One had to know that the current Lu Yuan could battle even an unsuppressed Saint Realm expert, and with his myriad methods, he could even achieve a slay.
Lu Yuan was, in the truest sense, invincible beneath the starry skies.
No wonder the four Beast Kings, joining forces, had been completely suppressed by him.
Yet she had still underestimated just how powerful Lu Yuan was at this moment.
The gap was simply too great to bridge.
Right now, Zhou Yunqiong could clearly see that he had not even gotten serious, yet he still displayed an utterly overwhelming posture.
So in the end, she chose to speak, hoping to stop him.
But Lu Yuan gave no reply at all. He took a step into the empty air.
Stepping forward once more, the aura radiating from him grew even more concentrated.
He did not care what she was thinking, for it was entirely meaningless.
Long ago, the moment this woman had used Winged Celestial to plot against him, everything had already been decided.
No sooner had Lu Yuan's voice fallen than he stepped forward and appeared right in front of Zhou Yunqiong, his expression cold and indifferent:
"Now, it's your turn."
Chapter 186