The Mystery of Yu Xian's Power

Suddenly, the phantom dragon opened its maw and fired another energy beam cannon at Feng Mingge. This time, however, Feng Mingge was prepared. The flames around him whirled, instantly deflecting the beam off to his right, and in the blink of an eye, the beam vanished into the darkness of the Tree Universe. Rumble! Less than half a second of silence followed before light erupted to Feng Mingge's right, slowly expanding like a burgeoning sun, even forming a radiant stellar ring. "Unified True Fire Blade!" Feng Mingge kept his eyes locked on Yu Xian the entire time. Gripping the swirling flames in his right hand, he watched them transform into a long saber in an instant. Seeing this, Yu Xian drew a long saber of his own, and both slashed toward each other at once. Perhaps infected by Feng Mingge's earnest attitude, Yu Xian grew a bit more serious as well. In a single second, the two traded billions of slashes. Deprived of temporal energy from either fighter, the saber beams instantly froze in place, turning into terrifying traps that shredded any matter that touched them. The pair constantly shifted directions, seeking out each other's flaws, yet neither could gain the upper hand. The longer they fought, the more alarmed Feng Mingge became. If Yu Xian's ability to move within the Tree Universe relied on items, and his defense depended on the Dragon Shield, then the punches earlier and this saber technique now were pure, genuine ability. Feng Mingge had already conceded that Yu Xian could rely on external tools. After all, the difference in cultivation between them was simply too vast. Feng Mingge chose not to use items of his own, but he didn't consider it unfair for Yu Xian to employ them. Yet this clash of blades was a test of raw martial skill, and Yu Xian wasn't falling behind in the slightest! Yu Xian wasn't surprised by this outcome at all. After all, he was practically made of cheats. First, the saber in his hand was called the "Half-Jin, Eight-Liang Saber." With it, he could hack away at practically anyone for ages without losing ground. He didn't actually know any profound saber techniques, but thanks to this weapon, he could force an even fifty-fifty split against Feng Mingge. Furthermore, after learning about the makeup of Zhang Buyao's combat power, he had followed her example, stacking countless buffs and bizarre blessings onto himself through various items. Zhang Buyao never cultivated, so why was she so strong? It mostly came down to the bizarre blessings on her body and the abilities inherited from her parents—especially the hereditary ability called "Unidentified Form," which let her strength skyrocket crazily even while doing nothing at all. Back when Yu Xian found out, he had been consumed by envy. So several years ago, through a mind wondrous item from the Transcender "Zhen," he had nurtured an Unidentified Form of his own. [True Name: True Form Known: Salted Fish] [Grade: Mind Wondrous Item] [Effect: Idleness is diligence; play is cultivation; rest is training; daydreaming is meditation. The less effort exerted, the stronger one grows; the less one craves, the easier success comes; the more one follows one's whims, the greater one's fortune.] [Remarks: A gem-type mind wondrous item carrying its host's truest inner longing: "Ah Zhen, I don't want to work hard anymore."] At the same time, Yu Xian carried buffs granted by a wide variety of items: For instance, the buff from the 'Home Keychain': [Temptation of Going Home: When residing long-term in any space, remaining in that space continuously grants blessings, with each blessing lasting three days.] There was also the buff granted by the 'Berserker Briefs': [Combat - Feels Good: When engaging any opponent, if one's strength exceeds the target's, the longer the battle lasts, the stronger one's suppression over the target becomes; if one's strength is inferior to the target's, the longer the battle lasts, the higher the damage dealt to the target.] The buff granted by 'Natural Airhead Candy': [Brain Full of Muscle: When giving up on thinking, one gains Correction Force. The higher one's Intelligence, the stronger the Correction Force, which can level the strength gap between combatants.] The buff granted by the 'Baby Birth Certificate': [Who Isn't a Baby?: When an opponent's age is more than ten times one's own, triggers 'Child Protection Law.' The opponent's attacks cannot kill in a single blow, and one's own attacks are amplified—tenfold, twentyfold, thirtyfold... the older the opponent, the higher the multiplier.] The buff granted by the 'Super-Spicy Ginger Candy': [The Older the Ginger, the Spicier: When one's own age is ten times the opponent's, triggers 'Pulling Seniority.' The opponent's attacks cannot inflict fatal damage, and one's own attacks are amplified—the younger the opponent relative to oneself, the greater the attack boost.] In addition, there were the blessings obtained through Temptation of Going Home: [Sure-Hit Cross-Eyes: When cross-eyed, attacks carry a sure-hit effect.] [I'll Be Back: When suffering fatal damage, automatically triggers returning home and grants immunity to all subsequent attacks.] [Happiness Is All That Matters: So long as one remains in a joyful mood, misfortune, curses, toxins, destiny, and rules cannot lock onto oneself.] [Ah Xian, Want a Wife or Not?: When having a wife, romantic luck decreases; when not having a wife, romantic luck increases.] [Negative-Negative Growth: All losses are compensated twofold; the more one loses, the more one gains.] ... ... With all these statuses stacked, let alone Feng Mingge fighting without items, even if he used items, they would still end up in a dead heat. In truth, Yu Xian's personal strength hardly mattered right now. He followed the item-build path; as long as he had enough item effects, he could permanently remain invincible. Yu Xian and Feng Mingge fought all the way from the remotest corner to the main trunk of the Tree Universe, leaving ruin wherever they passed. Anyone who dared wander close would have caught a blade from them. "A so-called Mighty One has merely cultivated a single power to the absolute extreme. My path is the Unified True Fire Dao, but this power has already reached its end. To take another step forward, I must either branch out into related fields, or collect every origin of fire and embark on the perilous path of transcendence. "Next, I will use the second power I have comprehended. Be careful." Seeing that his saber technique could do nothing against Yu Xian, Feng Mingge addressed him with a solemn look. Mastering the extreme of a single power only meant one had crossed the threshold of a Mighty One; a Mighty One's strength could be enhanced indefinitely. One gave birth to two, two to three, and three to all things. What Feng Mingge needed to do now was "return all things to three," then three to two, and two to one. This was the simplest path of advancement for a Mighty One. Feng Mingge had been able to advance to Mighty One so quickly precisely because he took this shortcut, but also because of his pure focus. Now that he was already a Mighty One, what he needed to do was reverse the process, turning purity into complexity. Returning to the Death Calamity Sea purely out of curiosity had actually been to observe the states of more lives and understand the minds of more living beings. In fact, Feng Laixian, Feng Mingge, and Zhenwo Wuchang represented three distinct archetypes of Mighty Ones. Feng Laixian had tempered himself through a thousand trials, advancing step by steady step to the realm of a Mighty One. As a result, his abilities were all-encompassing, with almost no discernible weakness; had he not failed his own transcendence, he would never have perished. Feng Mingge was the academic type, relying on knowledge provided by his "school" to reach the realm of a Mighty One with breathtaking speed. Yet he had only mastered the knowledge of a single field, making him a specialist Mighty One. Zhenwo Wuchang belonged to the prodigy archetype, picking up everything at lightning speed without needing a teacher. Simply tumbling through the world had sharpened him into a shrewd master who possessed not only a signature trick or two, but also remarkable attainments in other fields. "Bring it on!" Seeing Feng Mingge sheathe his blade, Yu Xian put away his own saber as well and grinned. The next instant, the Unified True Fire swirling around Feng Mingge vanished, replaced by a phoenix crest appearing behind his back.