145: Break through in battle!

"Got any more moves?"

Three words asked, and the whole place was in an uproar!

Yan Chen's pupils constricted sharply; Chen Linsheng's calm tone was more grating than any provocation.

His right arm throbbed with intense pain, and his True Qi was nearly depleted. However, the humiliation and fury of being bitten back by an ant surged in his chest like lava, instantly overwhelming the physical pain and exhaustion.

"Bastard... you think it ends here?!" Yan Chen roared, his voice distorted by extreme rage.

He suddenly bit his tongue, and a metallic sweetness exploded in his mouth. The intense pain and the fleeting power from burning his essence blood caused his flagging Aura to suddenly surge, like a dying flash of light!

"How could a lowborn brat from the mountains like you fathom the secret teachings of the Blazing Sun Martial Arts Hall!" Yan Chen's eyes blazed with crimson-gold light. The dull dark-gold hue that had faded before resurfaced under his skin, but this time, it didn't stop at his limbs, face, and neck—it rapidly spread throughout his entire body!

"Buzz, buzz, buzz—"

A strange metallic vibration echoed from within him, as if countless tiny metallic particles were grinding and resonating within his flesh and bone. His pores no longer steamed with heat; instead, they began to absorb the residual heat from the surrounding air. Even the unextinguished sparks in the scorched pits of the arena turned into wisps of red light, drawn in and devoured by him!

"This is..." On the viewing platform, the Blazing Sun Martial Arts Hall Master, Yan Lieyang, suddenly stood up, his eyes flashing with shock and a trace of subtle worry. "Golden Flame Body Incineration? Chen'er is forcibly activating the Blazing Sun Golden Body before reaching Major Achievement?!"

Ling Feng and Tie Hanshan frowned simultaneously. Eunuch Cao's fingers, which were fiddling with his prayer beads, began to spin them again, but at a slightly faster pace.

On the arena, Yan Chen's form underwent a terrifying transformation.

His entire skin turned completely dark-gold, as if cast from a layer of flowing molten metal, and complex flame patterns faintly emerged on the surface of his body.

His hair stood on end, and the tips actually ignited with crimson-gold flames.

Within thirty feet of him, the air distorted to a near-liquid state, refracting light and making him look like a metallic demon god crawling out of a lava Hell.

His Aura was more than twice as strong as before!

But Chen Linsheng's perception, aided by his Tracking Perfection, clearly captured the truth: Yan Chen's Qi and blood were surging wildly like boiling water, his heart was beating at a staggering rate, and his internal organs were operating under extreme overload, letting out groans of being unable to bear the burden.

This so-called "Blazing Sun Golden Body" was a forbidden technique used at the cost of burning essence blood and overdrawing one's life!

"Chen Linsheng!" Yan Chen's voice became muffled like the clashing of metal. With every step he took, he left a deep crimson-gold footprint on the arena, and the rocks at the edges of the footprints actually showed signs of melting. "To force me to use this final move, even if you die, it will be worth it!"

He wasted no more words, pressing his palms together in front of his chest before slowly pulling them apart.

Between his palms, a phantom "battle-axe" composed entirely of crimson-gold flames and sharp metal Qi gradually took shape! The battle-axe was about five feet long, with a ferocious blade and a shaft flowing with a lava-like luster. The moment it appeared, its terrifying sharpness and heat caused the protective Formation light screen around the arena to ripple violently, making a "sizzling" burning sound.

"Golden Flame Mountain-Splitting Axe!" Yan Chen bellowed, his hands virtually gripping the flaming battle-axe as he swung it through the air toward Chen Linsheng!

"Swoosh—!"

There was no sound, only a thin crimson-gold line flashing past.

In the next instant, Chen Linsheng's pupils constricted, and the hair all over his body stood on end!

A sense of lethal crisis washed over him like ice water poured over his head!

Wherever that thin crimson-gold line passed, space seemed to be silently sliced open!

A bottomless crack with edges as smooth as a mirror appeared on the arena floor, spreading toward him at an alarming speed!

Wherever the crack passed, the bluestone didn't crumble; it vaporized and vanished instantly!

This strike compressed heat and sharpness to the extreme. Its power far exceeded the previous "Golden Flame Sky-Crashing," and it locked onto his Aura, making it impossible to dodge!

Chen Linsheng's heart pounded wildly. The Jiaojin Realm barrier within his body, which had just been breached, could no longer be suppressed, and his Qi and blood spontaneously surged to break through like a furious Dragon!

But he forcibly pushed down the urge to Breakthrough for another moment—breaking through now would certainly cause his strength to skyrocket, but his Realm would be unstable in the haste. Facing this life-burning strike, he might not be able to receive it safely.

In a flash, he made his decision.

No dodging, no evading—meet attack with attack!

The Python Dragon Strength Mind-Cultivation Technique operated madly to its limit. The two hundred and forty-three perfectly tempered muscles in his body vibrated in unison, and his power converged like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, all gathering in his arms.

The wounds on his arms from clashing with the "Golden Flame Sky-Crashing" earlier actually stopped bleeding and healed at a visible rate under the nourishment of the vitality from the Jade Marrow Guiding Technique and his Hunyuan Qi and Blood!

He stood with his feet slightly apart, his toes gripping the ground as if he were rooted to the arena.

The solid Foundation of his Hunyuan True Body erupted completely. The faint golden light around him was no longer restrained but surged out of his body, forming a thin golden halo on his skin. Although it wasn't as dazzling as Yan Chen's "Blazing Sun Golden Body," it was dense, heavy, and as steady as Mount Tai.

At the same time, he pressed the five fingers of his right hand together, turning his palm into a blade.

There was no dazzling brilliance on his palm blade, only a layer of extremely condensed pale-gold Qi enveloping it, with the air at the edges slightly distorting.

This strike integrated his understanding of Annihilation Spear Intent—discarding all flashiness to pursue ultimate penetration and annihilation; it incorporated the essence of the Layered Waves force—power stacking layer upon layer, each more fierce than the last; and it contained the solid Foundation of the "Suppressing the Mountain" stance of the Hunyuan Palm—using unshakable heaviness to trigger an indestructible sharpness!

"Wave Breaker!"

Chen Linsheng shouted inwardly, and his palm blade slashed out diagonally to meet the space-tearing crimson-gold line!

The movement was simple, the trajectory straight.

The moment the strike was unleashed, the sleeve of his entire right arm was completely reduced to powder. The muscle lines on his arm twisted like steel cables, and his large tendons rose and fell like dragons and snakes, letting out a low and majestic roar!

At the edge of the palm blade, the air was extremely compressed and ionized, actually sparking tiny blue-white electric sparks!

"Clang—!!!"

It wasn't the roar of an explosion, but a sharp ring that pierced the clouds, like two Sharp Weapons clashing head-on!

The palm blade Qi and the crimson-gold line collided violently!

At the center of the collision, a point of extreme light erupted and then vanished. The terrifying energy didn't spread out like before; instead, it was constrained within a narrow channel by the extreme condensation of both attacks, madly clashing and annihilating each other!

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—shred!"

The ear-piercing sound of friction and energy annihilation made one's teeth ache.

The crimson-gold line was advancing, but its speed had clearly slowed, and its light was rapidly dimming. Chen Linsheng's palm blade Qi was dissolving, yet it pushed forward as steady as a rock, its pale-gold color never fading.

One breath, two breaths... Finally, less than three feet in front of Chen Linsheng, the crimson-gold line completely shattered, turning into a sky full of light specks.

And Chen Linsheng's palm blade Qi was also exhausted, dissipating into the air.

A draw?

No!

After Yan Chen swung that axe, his body suddenly trembled, and fine cracks rapidly spread across his dark-gold skin like a piece of porcelain about to shatter! He spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "wah," the blood actually carrying a dark-gold luster and making a "sizzling" burning sound as it hit the ground.

The terrifying Aura around him collapsed like an avalanche. The luster of the Blazing Sun Golden Body rapidly faded, revealing the paper-white skin underneath, covered in scorched burn marks.

He knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his hand on the ground, gasping for air. Every breath he took sounded like a broken bellows, and the madness and sharpness in his eyes were replaced by extreme weakness and bewilderment. The power he had traded his life for was now backfiring.

As for Chen Linsheng, although his face was a shade paler and his breath fluctuated violently, and his right palm was split open and dripping with blood, he still stood firmly.

More importantly, under the pressure of that extreme confrontation just now, at the moment his entire power was pushed to its Peak, the fragments of the barrier within his body were completely crushed!

"Boom—!"

It wasn't a real sound, but a grand roar formed in his perception when his Qi and blood surged through the new Meridians and his fascia completely transformed!

The Jiaojin Realm was achieved!