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Just as Patelocke had said, the Lightless Ring was indeed an extremely exceptional Origin Tool. It possessed an incredible affinity for directing Origin Energy, and as a result worked very well with Ancient Arcana Techniques, allowing its user to unleash amplified versions of their techniques.

Su Chen’s Mountain-Beheading Blade wasn’t able to amplify the Flaming Phoenix Theurgy Art much, since weapon skills and magic skills were two wholly separate systems that did not intermix.

Now, however, when Su Chen used the Lightless Ring to unleash the Flaming Phoenix, the attack’s power would be boosted significantly. When you factored in the Energy Well technique, the Flaming Phoenix Theurgy Art’s might basically doubled.

That was quite an impressive increase in strength. Once a person’s cultivation reached Su Chen’s level, doubling the power of a technique was a monumental task.

If two people possessed the same offensive, defensive, and agility capabilities, then doubling a person’s offensive capabilities would allow them to finish off their opponent by attacking with merely a little more than half of their full strength. In theory, that doubling made them twice as strong as their opponent.

If a person’s defensive capabilities, vitality, attack rage, and other attributes also doubled, they would become far more than twice as powerful — the opponent would be mercilessly steamrolled.

If the might of his attacks were tripled or even quadrupled, Su Chen would be able to easily sweep the floor with any opponent that had the same cultivation base as him.

In addition, the other equipment and skills Su Chen possessed already made him many times more powerful than those at the same cultivation realm as him. As for exactly how many times more powerful he was, even Su Chen had a hard time saying. Different Light Shaking Realm cultivators had vastly differing levels of power. The gap between an Origin Beast Bloodline and a Demonic Beast Bloodline was like the difference between Heaven and earth, after all.

At the very least, Su Chen didn’t think that he needed to fear even an opponent from the Gu Clan with an awakened Origin Beast Bloodline.

Unfortunately, no expert was present to spar with him. He felt that it was quite a pity.

At that moment, however, Su Chen suddenly felt a prickling sensation in his mind. He glanced at the sky and chuckled coldly, “I was just wishing for a practice partner to test my skills on, but it seems like one is about to volunteer himself for that role.”

As he spoke, he flew into the sky, leaving the Zhu Clan behind and quickly approaching a stretch of mountainous wilderness.

He flew all the way out of Flat Sky City’s boundaries. Even after reaching the desolate mountains, Su Chen continued to fly for an undecided distance before he called out, “Alright, there’s no one around us anymore. We don’t need to worry about someone else interrupting our fight. You don’t need to slink around anymore, right?”

A voice sinisterly laughed in response, “You are very bold, Su Chen. Don’t think that you can do as you please just because you have some Lifesource Candles.”

A figure appeared in front of him.

This figure was that of a middle-aged man with three long trails of facial hair, giving him the image of an immortal.

Su Chen frowned when he heard him reference the Lifesource Candles. “So you are from the Chu Clan!”

Even though he had made an agreement with the Chu Clan, Su Chen had never believed that they would let him go that easily. However, that agreement had been the only way he would have taken down the notice from the Dreamrealm after leaving Empty Mountain.

Even though it was still possible that Su Chen had hidden the secret method to controlling the three curses elsewhere, the Chu Clan had verified that Su Chen had indeed taken down his notice, so the possibility that he had fully upheld his end of the bargain was highly likely. At that point, they wouldn’t have been the Chu Clan if they didn’t send someone to try and kill Su Chen.

This had nothing to do with personal enmity; it was all about maintaining control of the situation.

It was for this reason that the Chu Clan had sent large numbers of powerful experts to scour the land for Su Chen’s location.

The current person before Su Chen’s eyes was definitely one of these individuals sent out by the Chu Clan.

Unfortunately, he had been discovered as soon as he found Su Chen. It would have been out of character for Su Chen to not be prepared for this kind of thing.

As a result, Su Chen immediately gave chase. His target was also quite vigilant and had immediately chosen to leave, knowing very well that Flat Sky City was Su Chen’s territory. It wasn’t until he had flown quite a ways away before he finally stopped to answer Su Chen’s call.

The attacker replied, “My name is Chu Huailiang. Remember this name, for it will be the last name you hear.”

He was quite decisive and attacked as soon as he finished speaking.

Since he was here to kill a target, what was the point to talking? He had come up with a plan a long time ago. No matter how Su Chen tried to dissuade him, he would not be shaken.

However, Su Chen’s response surprised him.

Su Chen didn’t say anything about having backup plans or that he had hidden the solution to the Three Curses somewhere else. Instead, he merely glanced deeply at his opponent before disappointedly chastising, “You’re only a Light Shaking Realm cultivator with seven Lotus Platforms? Tch, not even at the Spirit Burning Realm.”

“What?” Chu Huailiang was infuriated.

His opponent was claiming that he was too weak!

What a humiliating insult!

Just the fact that he had a Desolate Beast Bloodline alone was already enough to put him miles ahead of his competition, let alone the fact that he was four subrealms more powerful than his opponent.

He had been able to challenge Spirit Burning Realm cultivators as soon as he had reached three Lotus Platforms and had defeated twelve Spirit Burning Realm experts after reaching six Lotus Platforms. At seven Lotus Platforms, he had managed to defeat three Spirit Burning Realm cultivators who had both opened two Divine Palaces. If it were a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator with one Divine Palace, then only those with a Demonic Emperor Bloodline had a chance at defeating him.

Even so, he had managed to put up a good fight for three days.

This had all taken place three years ago. Now, Chu Huailiang had advanced to the peak of the Light Shaking Realm. If he were to meet that Demonic Emperor Bloodline cultivator again, it was hard to say who would emerge victorious.

Yet Su Chen still dared to scorn him for having too weak of a cultivation base?

That was simply intolerable to the extreme.

“Courting death!” Chu Huailiang’s expression immediately sank.

As he spoke, the clouds nearby began to twist and morph as the Origin Energy around them began to gather around Chu Huailiang, making for quite the imposing scene.

Su Chen felt like he had suddenly been transported into the primordial era as massive waves of pressure bore down on him.

This dense wave of pressure came from his opponent’s bloodline. Chu Huailian was incensed by Su Chen’s disdain and had fully activated his bloodline immediately. The boundless torrent of energy from this action alone was usually more than enough to flatten most Light Shaking Realm cultivators.

Even so, ‘most Light Shaking Realm cultivators’ didn’t include Su Chen.

Su Chen’s eyes lit up when he sensed this power.

“A Desolate Beast Bloodline? I’ve finally encountered one. Truly, I have yet to experience the might of an imperial family!” Su Chen muttered to himself.

Even though he had sparred with Jiang Xishui in the past, that had not been a life-or-death battle, and there were many techniques he had not been able to test.

Most importantly, both sides had been weak at that time.

But now, Su Chen was finally able to fully get a feel for the primordial might of a Desolate Beast bloodline.

This was a Desolate Beast after all!

Even though they were weaker than Origin Beasts, they were still powerful enough that the thinning of atmospheric Origin Energy was enough to force them into hibernation. Unlike Origin Beasts, however, which often died in their sleep, many of the ancient Desolate Beasts were still alive. This was why the human race was still able to obtain multiple new sources of Desolate Beast bloodlines one after the other.

Finally, Su Chen was about to face off against one such bloodline.

When he sensed his opponent’s imposing might, Su Chen instinctively replied back by unleashing his own aura as well.

Unlike Chu Huailiang’s Desolate Beast bloodline, Su Chen’s foundational strength was much purer and vaster. It was an ineffable aura that would leave any bystander at a loss for words. It was as if Su Chen were constantly growing in size, but without actually physically changing; this stemmed from the fact that his aura and will were tangibly becoming stronger. His rapidly surging vitality further countered Chu Huailiang’s pressure, even overpowering it to some degree.

“How is this possible?” Chu Huailiang was stunned by their initial clash.

This kind of confrontation didn’t depend merely on their cultivation realm, but also on their vitality. As someone who possessed a Desolate Beast Bloodline, Chu Huailiang didn’t believe that anyone could compete with him with the exception of Gu Clan members. Even the Demonic Emperor Spirit Burning Realm cultivator that had barely defeated him previously had had an inferior vitality, and had only broken even with him due to his consciousness power being greatly improved by his Divine Palace. It was only by relying on that and a number of secret techniques that his opponent had defeated him.

Now, however, Su Chen’s vitality seemed to surpass even his. What was going on?

Could someone without a bloodline really be stronger than someone with one?

Of course not.

But after Su Chen absorbed the Vitality Totem, his life force had increased by an unknown amount. In addition, as his cultivation base grew, his lifeforce also continued to grow unceasingly, drawing out the Vitality Totem’s full potential. Chu Huailiang had no idea this was the case, which was why he was so badly startled.

Su Chen had no intention of explaining it to him. He gestured with his right hand, and the Mountain-Beheading Blade had already begun to surge forwards.

Even though he possessed the Lightless Ring, Su Chen had not yet discarded the Mountain-Beheading Blade.

The blade expanded as it swung through the air, descending domineeringly towards Chu Huailiang.

As it sliced through the air, the blade churned up a fierce gust of wind with a dim hum. Chu Huailiang immediately realized that allowing the bladestrike to land would be disastrous.

He had no time to be shocked anymore. As he clawed out, a short black blade appeared in his hand. As he swung it, a streak of light shot forth from the tip of the blade and stopped the Mountain-Beheading Blade in its tracks. Not only that, but it also knocked the blade aside, and then continued to charge at Su Chen with a razor-sharp aura.

This stab was vicious and unrelenting, sharp enough to tear a hole in space itself as if it were a sheet of fragile silk.

Su Chen grunted as he watched the stab fly at him. His figure instantly blinked away, disappearing. Whitetower Teleportation had sent him behind Chu Huailiang, giving Su Chen the opportunity to unleash a blade slash at him.

Chu Huailiang, however, seemed to have anticipated this move. A Lotus Platform appeared behind him and expanded, stopping Su Chen’s blade in its tracks as a bright light began to shine and wash over Su Chen’s head.

It wasn’t until Su Chen instantly disappeared and reappeared for the second time that Chu Huailiang finally hissed in shock, obviously surprised that Su Chen could teleport in such rapid succession.

The torrent of white light shot past Su Chen, transforming into a long silver river that then turned around and began to chase after Su Chen. Chu Huailiang said, “I knew about your abilities a long time ago, but they’re of no use against someone like me.”

Even though Su Chen’s Whitetower Teleportation was strange and unorthodox, someone at Chu Huailiang’s level could easily sense Su Chen’s movements. Launching an ambush through this method was next to useless.

Thankfully, Su Chen hadn’t been counting on that. He chuckled and replied, “I just want to see if my former tactics still had any use. Don’t be in such a hurry. I have this move as well.”

He shot a glance at Chu Huailiang.

In that moment, he used Fata Morgana.

Chu Huailiang felt his mind suddenly jolt as the clouds around him suddenly began to shift in a mesmerizing pattern. He immediately knew that he had fallen under the influence of an illusion technique. Even though Su Chen’s illusion techniques were also powerful, wanting to trap an expert like Chu Huailiang without them realizing it was exceptionally difficult. Chu Huailiang immediately applied a barrier to himself when he realized what had happened.

Su Chen’s attack came crashing into him an instant later. However, he had managed to erect the barrier in time. Not only was he not wounded, but the shockwaves from the attack actually released him from Fata Morgana.

Chu Huailiang chuckled. “Even though your consciousness technique is quite powerful, you cannot take advantage of the target’s immobilization. It’s only good for slightly wearing down your opponent. Its quality is pretty mediocre.”

Su Chen indifferently replied, “I developed this consciousness skill while I was in the Blood Boiling Realm. I’m already happy that it even has an effect on you. Don’t worry; I’ll develop more powerful skills in the future.”

“You won’t have a future to speak of!” Chu Huailiang yelled viciously as he savagely clawed at Su Chen.