Chapter 998: The Most Crucial Hurdle
“Bang!”
Xiao Chen pointed his finger. A saber light like that of the moon easily sliced the shock wave, sand, and dust surging over.
Ren Kongjue was tall and burly. His shoulders were broad, and his legs were thick. Just by standing there, he gave off strong pressure.
When the black-clad old man saw this, he rejoiced and laughed, “My Martial God Palace has always been fair. We never fear challenges from others. Xiao Chen, if you embarrass the Martial God Palace, then there is no need for you to keep this Azure Dragon King’s insignia.”
Shui Lingling bit her lip, and her expression turned grave. The most crucial hurdle finally came.
The other party tried to use the righteousness of the Martial God Palace to apply pressure. He was clearly being petty, but he twisted the words to make himself sound righteous. What he said was grandiloquent and prevented one from finding excuses to reject.
In past King conferral ceremonies, there were challenges as well. However, the Martial God Palace would use their strong influence to speak with the challengers in advance, getting them to stop when appropriate, so there would not be any problems.
Now that Xiao Chen was being conferred King, the Martial God Palace would naturally not intervene on his behalf. If he was not careful, this King conferral ceremony would not be able to continue.
The Three Holy Lands could not openly stop Xiao Chen from being conferred King. They could only play some dirty tricks in secret.
It had to be said that this move was very useful.
First, the Three Holy Lands sent people to block Xiao Chen, trying to prevent him from arriving on time. Then, even if he managed to make it, he would face the challenges of his enemies. When he was already drained, they would wear him down with numbers, trying to force him to give up on being conferred King.
“I, Wei Hua, am not convinced!”
Seeing the black-clad old man’s attitude, the Underworld Fire Sovereign’s descendant Wei Hua made up his mind and leaped onto the platform.
“I, Kui Dou, am not convinced, either. Xiao Chen, you are not qualified to be conferred King!” The figure of the Iron Hand Sovereign’s descendant flashed, and he arrived on the platform.
Three outstanding talents instantly appeared on the platform, each of them with frightening backgrounds—all backed by Sovereign Martial Emperors. The cultivators watching all felt a chill in their hearts.
Xiao Chen’s friends were all extraordinary demonic geniuses. However, his opponents were all terrifyingly strong as well. A regular person who offended just one of them would not have any more good days in the future.
On the other hand, Xiao Chen had offended three in one go, which meant that he might face some problems on his path to Kingship.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
It was not over yet. Two people flew over in the sky: Xia Dongyang and Xiao Qinghan of the Primal Chaos Domain’s Heavenly Music Sect and Frost Moon Palace. The two stood side by side and also said they were not convinced, expressing their stance.
The Frost Moon Palace and Heavenly Music Sect were peak factions of the Primal Chaos Domain. They were sects with Sovereign Martial Emperors leading them. Even against the backdrop of the entire Kunlun Realm, they were extremely strong factions.
“Damn! This is too excessive. Five peak outstanding talents all came out together. With such a lineup, who in the same generation can survive this?”
“This is too much. It looks like the Martial God Palace never intended to let Xiao Chen succeed in being conferred King. Otherwise, they would not have sent invitations to these people.”
“It looks like the Azure Dragon King’s insignia is going to continue collecting dust.”
“In all of the Martial God Palace’s history, this is probably the hardest King conferral ceremony to succeed in.”
In the next moment, Xiao Chen, who seemed to have a boundless future, fell into desperate straits in the eyes of the audience. Several people sighed, indignant at his mistreatment.
Far in the distance, the few true experts, the descendants and disciples of the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign, Heaven Punishing Corpse God, and East Mountain Ghost Monarch, all remained still, watching coldly.
These people possessed good eyes; they could tell that Xiao Chen seemed different today. Hence, they were not rash. However, if they saw an opportunity, they would definitely not hesitate to strike a killing blow.
If the crowd knew that these three people were not happy about Xiao Chen being conferred King, they would be extremely shocked.
When Xia Houjue saw this scene, he could not help but feel elated. The heavens are helping me. Today, I, Xia Houjue, am still the main character of this King conferral ceremony.
Xiao Chen, even if you have more friends and gained so much glory when they offered their congratulations and gifts, you will have to return everything after you fail to be conferred King. Your failure will probably become a shadow in your heart for life; you will forever be unable to become a Martial Emperor.
The black-clad old man was slightly stunned, not having expected so many people with powerful backings to be unconvinced of Xiao Chen’s being conferred King.
The black-clad old man could not help but mutter to himself, “Although the Thunder Sovereign does not care about most matters and is frequently in closed-door cultivation, if Xiao Chen really gets beaten to death here, even the three Holy Masters would not be able to account for this to the Thunder Sovereign.”
He picked up the Azure Dragon King’s insignia, saying, “Xiao Chen, it looks like your reputation is insufficient. There are so many people not convinced that you should be conferred King. It is better that you leave the Azure Dragon King’s insignia with the Martial God Palace for safekeeping.”
Xiao Chen retorted impolitely without any expression on his face, “It is just some nobodies shouting, and that means my reputation is insufficient? Old Sir, I think you are either senile or blind.”
Xia Houjue berated, “Xiao Chen, what great courage you have! Even before you are conferred King, you dare to be so rude to a senior of the Martial God Palace. The Old Sir was not willing to see you beaten to death by others; that’s why he advised you out of the kindness of his heart, yet you are unable to comprehend that. Instead, you scolded him and humiliated him. How arrogant of you!”
Xiao Chen could not help but laugh loudly. “Haha! I don’t comprehend kindness? That is simply twisting the facts. You know it clearly. You think that I am arrogant? In that case, I will boldly reply to that. Trash like you is not worthy of being conferred the White Tiger King.”
“Bang!”
Ignoring the other five people, Xiao Chen turned around and charged at Xia Houjue.
Xiao Chen’s body became like a saber, sharp and ever-changing. The simple palm strike actually felt like it was saber-filled. Wind came from everywhere. The saber’s sharpness was unparalleled.
Xia Houjue felt that Xiao Chen’s palm strike flooded the entire area with danger; there was no place to run and no place to hide.
However, Xia Houjue possessed a deep cultivation, having already advanced to grandmaster-level Martial Sage. He did not panic at this, believing that he could easily exchange a hundred moves with Xiao Chen.
Before ten moves were over, the five people at the side would not be able to resist attacking. At that time, when they worked together, they would be able to completely cripple Xiao Chen.
Xia Houjue pointed, and a strong wind blew. A bright light shot out, trying to block Xiao Chen.
However, something strange happened. Xiao Chen’s palm strike seemed ordinary. However, it shattered Xia Houjue’s attack easily like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
By the time Xia Houjue reacted, Xiao Chen had already grabbed hold of his wrist. Instantly, thousands of blades struck. A light flashed, leaving Xia Houjue’s White Tiger King Armor riddled with holes.
The White Tiger King’s insignia, which had just been pinned on it, fell off and hit the ground with a bang. Then, Xiao Chen flung out his hand with twenty-five thousand tons of force, sending Xia Houjue flying like a meteor. Before Xia Houjue could even react, he was hurled far away without a trace.
From everyone’s broad perspective, Xia Houjue seemed to fly out of Tianwu City. He continued hurtling, not stopping for a long time.
Then, he crashed into a mountain about fifty kilometers outside the city, shattering the peak at the middle.
Xia Houjue vomited large mouthfuls of blood. Then, he pushed off the heavy rocks on top of him with much difficulty and looked around in confusion. He was the wilderness with peaks all around. Grass and trees were everywhere with no one in sight.
After coughing twice and vomiting some more blood, Xia Houjue cursed, “Damn! Where is this?!”
One second earlier, he had been in the bustling, flower-filled Tianwu Plaza. How was it that in the next second, he had arrived in the desolate mountains? These were two entirely different places. He simply could not figure it out.
Back at the Tianwu Plaza, only Xiao Chen had made a move in this short time. When he used his full strength, he had revealed his cultivation.
“Great grandmaster-level Martial Sage!”
“Xiao Chen actually advanced to great grandmaster-level Martial Sage. No wonder he could defeat Xia Houjue in one move when catching him off guard.”
Everyone was shocked. Great grandmaster-level Martial Sage. Xiao Chen actually advanced to great grandmaster-level Martial Sage without anyone knowing. Even the most excellent of the younger generation was only a grandmaster-level Martial Sage. How exactly did he cultivate?
When the black-clad old man looked around for Xia Houjue and could not find him anywhere, he shook with anger. “You! You are really bold! You even dare to attack the White Tiger King that the Martial God Palace just conferred King.”
Holding the White Tiger King’s insignia, Xiao Chen replied calmly, “The Martial God Palace has always been fair, never fearing challenges from anyone. This was what Old Sir said yourself. Is that just nonsense?”
The black-clad old man felt suffocated. He had indeed said those words earlier. Who would have imagined that Xiao Chen would immediately issue a challenge to Xia Houjue so casually and even throw him out in one move?
Xiao Chen could not be bothered with the black-clad old man. With a flip of his hand, the Lunar Shadow Saber appeared in his grasp, and he stabbed it into the ground.
“Bang!” When the tip of the scabbard slammed into the ground, cracks spread out.
As Xiao Chen’s white robes fluttered, he grasped the saber’s hilt with his hand, and a boundless aura surged out with a heavy sound. Ren Kongjue and the others involuntarily retreated a step.
“Anyone else who dares to say that they are not convinced?” Xiao Chen asked indifferently as he looked calmly at the five before him.
Anyone else who dares to say that they are not convinced?!
Xiao Chen’s words sounded casual, and his gaze was as calm as still water. He eyed the five before him apathetically, not showing any sharpness.
However, that flash of a great grandmaster-level aura and the easy way he broke Xia Houjue’s move, as well as the subsequent developments, imposed enormous pressure on everyone.
Ren Kongjue and the others felt an oppressive weight as if something was stuffed up their throats, blocking the words “not convinced.”
Silence filled the entire place; not a single person spoke. It was like Xiao Chen’s words shocked and shut everyone up.
One person, one saber, and one sentence suppressed five powerful, outstanding talents into a cold sweat and losing their sharpness.
The Mountain Giant Race had always being hot-tempered. Ren Kongjue simply could not endure this suppressive atmosphere, so he roared, “You are just a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage. It is not as if that I have never killed great grandmaster-level Martial Sages before. I am not convinced that you should be conferred the Azure Dragon King. What do you dare do about it?!”
These powerful, outstanding talents possessed the ability to fight above their cultivation realm. When Xiao Chen was a peak Superior Grade Martial Sage, he could already fight grandmaster-level Martial Sages.
As a grandmaster-level Martial Sage himself and with the horrifying physical body of the Mountain Giant Race, Ren Kongjue naturally was capable of killing great grandmaster-level Martial Sages as well.
Ren Kongjue’s words were not false. However, he forgot—or maybe he purposely forgot—that Xiao Chen was a demonic genius like him. Xiao Chen’s comprehension ability and Luck were higher than his. How could he equate Xiao Chen with an ordinary great grandmaster-level Martial Sage?
Even if Xiao Chen had not advanced to great grandmaster-level Martial Sage, he would have been able to hold his own against Ren Kongjue. Now that Xiao Chen was a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage, Ren Kongjue stood no chance at all.
After finishing what he had to say, Ren Kongjue charged at Xiao Chen. His body was like a mountain. When he moved, it was like a mountain uprooted. Loud rumbling shook the air continuously.