193: Chapter 193 Martial Saint

Just as the main force of the Shrine was being held fast outside by Zhao Yu and Ma Qianli.

Noon had finally arrived!

Inside the magnificent main hall, which was located at the very center of the Shrine and stood a hundred zhang tall.

The mysterious cult leader, who called himself "Holy Fire Ming Zun," was sitting cross-legged beneath the pure gold statue of flames, his face so gloomy it seemed as if it could drip water!

The bizarre deaths of the three High Priests and the three mysteriously destroyed Formation nodes had introduced a fatal flaw into his originally flawless "Blood Sacrifice" plan!

He had to expend a vast amount of his own energy to personally repair the damaged Formation and forcibly begin the ritual that was not yet fully prepared!

However, just as he was focusing his Mental Energy intensely on the task of repairing the incredibly complex Formation!

"Boom—!!!" A terrifying explosion that seemed as if it would shatter the entire world suddenly erupted from outside the gates of the Shrine!

The massive hall door, crafted from millennial black ironwood and weighing ten thousand jin, was smashed open by an unreasonable and terrifying force, leaving a huge gap in it on the spot!

Immediately after, two terrifying figures like demon gods, leading dozens of fierce warriors clad in heavy armor and wielding giant shields, charged like prehistoric beasts released from their cages, letting out deafening, frenzied roars as they launched the most primitive and unreasonable savage assault against the hundreds of "Flame Warriors" guarding the front of the hall!

It was Big Fool and Wulu, who had already been itching for a fight and were starving for battle!

Every swing of the specially made giant hammer in Big Fool's hands brought with it terrifying sonic booms capable of tearing the air apart!

And the massive totem pole in Wulu's hands, carved with eerie totems, acted like a battering ram; wherever it passed, men and horses were overturned, and bones were shattered!

Those hundreds of "Flame Warriors," who possessed decent strength and could control flames, were like fragile ants before these two unreasonable war beasts, and a huge gap was easily ripped through their ranks on the spot!

However, those "Flame Warriors" were, after all, fearless fanatics, and their numbers were far greater than Big Fool's small assault team!

After suffering heavy casualties of nearly a hundred men, they finally managed to stabilize their footing. With the help of their endless reinforcements and omnipresent flame attacks, they trapped Big Fool and Wulu's assault team firmly on the square in front of the main hall!

Although Big Fool and Wulu were unparalleled in their bravery, two fists could not fight four hands!

Under the opponent's endless, tide-like siege and the terrifying flame scorching capable of melting steel, they were soon covered in blood, sustained severe burns in many places, and gradually fell into a bitter struggle!

"A bunch of ants who don't know whether to live or die! How dare you come here to seek death at such a critical moment during my ritual!"

Inside the main hall of the Shrine, the "Holy Fire Ming Zun" was thoroughly enraged by the frontal attack!

Although he was burning with anxiety and wanted to complete the preparations for the ritual as soon as possible, he could not tolerate these "heretics" setting their dirty feet into his sacred hall!

He did not choose to take action himself; in his view, dealing with these "ants" who hadn't even reached the Eighth-Rank was not worth him using his Divine Power.

He sneered and slammed his palm onto the flame statue beneath him!

"Hum—!" A humming sound!

The "Holy Fire Formation," which had become unstable because its nodes were destroyed, began to operate again under the forced activation of his immense power!

A massive cage composed of pure flames, like divine punishment descending from the heavens, crashed down, completely enveloping Big Fool and Wulu's troops who were struggling bitterly!

The temperature of the flame cage was so high that even the surrounding air became distorted!

"Ah—!" A heavy armored soldier of the Panshi Army was just slightly touched by the edge of the flames, and the high-grade steel armor on his body, capable of resisting blades and swords, melted rapidly like a candle. He himself, amidst a shrill scream, turned into a charred skeleton!

"Hahaha! Repent for your sins properly inside my 'Purgatory Cage'!"

Holy Fire Ming Zun let out a crazed laugh filled with cruelty and pleasure!

He thought that Gao Feng's main force had been completely pinned down by him, and he could leisurely refine these "ants" who dared to provoke his Divine Might into ashes alive!

However, just as he activated the backup Formation and focused all his attention on the flame cage, enjoying the ugly spectacle of those "ants" struggling in their death throes!

A fatal crisis, which he could never have dreamed of, descended quietly from behind him!

In the shadows of the massive statue behind him, the space suddenly twisted strangely!

A purple figure, like a ghost, appeared out of thin air without any warning!

It was the ultimate assassin who had been hiding in the dark, waiting for the best moment—the Purple Guard!

The purple short blade in his hand, at this moment, seemed to transform into a deathly Poison Fang from the Nine Nether Hell. Containing the full power of his Seventh-Rank Peak, it pierced silently and soundlessly toward the vital heart of Holy Fire Ming Zun at a terrifying speed that surpassed lightning!

This backstab was timed to perfection!

Fast! Accurate! Ruthless!

However, Holy Fire Ming Zun was, after all, an Eighth-Rank Peak Martial Saint, and his perception of danger had long reached an inconceivable Realm!

Just a thousandth of a second before the deathly blade was about to touch his body!

He roared, and his protective Divine Fire erupted instantly. Without even turning his head, he struck back with a palm, slamming it fiercely toward the fatal crisis behind him!

"Boom—!" A loud explosion!

The Purple Guard's sure-kill strike and Holy Fire Ming Zun's hasty palm strike collided violently!

The Purple Guard let out a muffled grunt, and his whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the distant wall, blood spewing from his mouth!

But on his face, hidden beneath the mask, a smile of success appeared!

Because, although he was seriously injured, he had successfully interrupted Holy Fire Ming Zun's control over the "Holy Fire Formation"!

The originally indestructible flame cage showed a subtle, almost imperceptible tremor!

And at this very same moment!

Another even more terrifying and unreasonable figure descended with a boom from the dome of the main hall!

Iron Guard!

His mountain-like, burly body had already pushed his Body Refining Cultivation Technique to its limit while still in mid-air!

He completely ignored Holy Fire Ming Zun's protective Divine Fire, which was capable of melting steel, and with a savage, near-suicidal posture, used his own body to slam fiercely into Holy Fire Ming Zun, who had just repelled the Purple Guard and hadn't had time to catch his breath!

"Bang—!" A dull, thunderous, and terrifying sound of impact rang out!

Holy Fire Ming Zun felt as if he had been slammed in the waist by a primeval Dragon Elephant charging at full speed!

His seemingly indestructible protective Divine Fire was smashed into pieces on the spot by this unreasonable and terrifying force!

He himself was sent stumbling, his body falling forward uncontrollably!

A rare, fatal opening had appeared!

And this opening was perfectly captured by Gao Feng, who had been lurking on the side like the most patient hunter!

Now is the time!

A brilliant divine light, unprecedented in intensity, erupted in Gao Feng's eyes!

His figure, which had long merged with the shadows, seemed to transform into a line of nothingness that did not exist in this world at this moment!

He perfectly fused the ultimate movement technique he had comprehended from the "Shadow Escape" secret art with the Chaos Saber Intent capable of devouring all things!

He and the brand-new blade "Jinghong," which Gongshu Ban had custom-made for him using extraterrestrial meteorite iron, completely merged into one!

He unleashed the strongest and most fatal strike of his life!

[Chaos · Annihilation Slash]!

A jet-black blade light, as thin as a strand of hair and seemingly capable of devouring even light, flashed and vanished!

Fast!

Fast to the extreme!

So fast that even time itself seemed to freeze under this blade!

The jet-black blade light ignored the distance of space, ignored the passage of time, and ignored the reconverging protective Divine Fire, striking with pinpoint accuracy at the vulnerable neck exposed by Holy Fire Ming Zun's forward lean!

"Shhh—!" A soft sound.

A massive head, filled with shock and disbelief, soared into the sky!

The scalding blood gushed out frantically like a fountain!

However, just when Gao Feng thought everything was over!

A sudden change occurred!

The headless corpse not only did not fall but instead erupted with a monstrous flame more terrifying and violent than any before!

A fist-sized cluster of "Origin Divine Fire," presenting an eerie purple-gold color, gushed out crazily from the severed neck as if it possessed life!

In mid-air, it transformed into a huge flame ghost face filled with endless resentment and madness, and with an unavoidable and terrifying posture, it backlashed toward Gao Feng, who was close at hand, his old strength exhausted and new strength not yet generated!

This desperate counterattack before death completely exceeded everyone's expectations!

"Your Highness!"

"Your Majesty!"

Iron Guard, Purple Guard, and Big Fool and Wulu, who had just escaped from the flame cage, simultaneously let out a shrill roar filled with endless horror and despair!

They wanted to go to the rescue, but it was all too late!

Gao Feng only felt as if he had been slammed hard by a sun descending from the sky!

The terrifying high temperature, capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, instantly melted his indestructible Protective Aura completely!

He was completely swallowed by the eerie purple-gold flames!

However, just when everyone thought Gao Feng would surely die.

From within the human shape completely wrapped in flames, a terrifying roar suddenly came out, filled with endless pain but mixed with an indescribable excitement and madness!

"Excellent!"

"The Origin fire without a will to control it is exactly my best supplement!"

"Myriad Dao Unity Art, give me... devour!"

Amidst the flames, Gao Feng was frantically operating his supreme Cultivation Technique obtained from the mysterious spirit spring space!

That terrifying natal divine fire, capable of burning even an Eighth-Rank Martial Saint into ashes, was forcibly pulled, devoured, and refined by his Dantian, which was like a bottomless black hole!

This was an incomparably painful and extremely dangerous process!

Gao Feng only felt as if his body had turned into a gigantic furnace!

His Meridians were constantly cycling between destruction and Rebirth!

His skin was burned to charcoal, only to instantly heal under the majestic life energy of the spirit spring space!

His bones were calcined until they were crystal clear, as if they had turned into the purest glazed glass!

This extreme pain that penetrated deep into the Soul was enough to make anyone with a weak will collapse on the spot!

But Gao Feng, relying on his terrifying will that had been as firm as a rock from his two lifetimes of being human, forcibly endured it!

Not only did he endure it, but he also gained a brand new and deeper understanding of power and the Dao on this edge of life and death!

He did not know how much time had passed; it felt like a century, yet also like a mere instant.

When the last trace of the purple-gold flame was completely devoured and refined by Gao Feng.

The towering flames that shrouded his body finally slowly dissipated.

A brand new figure reappeared before everyone.

He was completely naked, and a warm, jade-like luster flowed over his bronze skin; his body, which was already perfect to the extreme, was now filled with an explosive sense of power and beauty!

He slowly opened his eyes.

"Boom!"

Two visible golden flames exploded from his eyes, piercing through the two massive stone pillars inside the great hall on the spot!

He just stood there quietly, and a majestic Aura, more terrifying and unfathomable than at any time before, swept crazily in all directions like a tangible storm!

The seven hundred and twenty acupoints within his body were all broken through by that majestic flame energy at this moment!

His Qi and blood power formed a perfect closed loop, endless and inexhaustible!

Eighth-Rank, Acupoint Opening Realm!

At this moment, Gao Feng finally broke through the Bottleneck that had troubled him for many years and officially stepped into the legendary Realm of the Martial Saint, capable of suppressing the Luck of an entire nation!

Feeling the unprecedented, terrifying power within his body that felt as if a single punch could shatter a star, a smile filled with endless confidence and satisfaction curled at the corners of his mouth.

Although this battle was dangerous, the harvest was equally immense!

Not only did he successfully break through to the Eighth-Rank Martial Saint Realm, but his strength had undergone earth-shaking changes!

He even turned a misfortune into a blessing, unexpectedly gaining the special ability to control flames, and perfectly integrated it into his own martial arts!

Besides this, the vast wealth accumulated by the Holy Fire Sect over hundreds of years that would make any nation envious, the rare mineral deposits spread throughout the Southwest, and the "Holy Fire Temple" built from unknown special Materials, had all become the spoils of war for him, their new master!

And those millions of rescued, brainwashed followers, after being "re-educated" by the Panshi Army's ideological reform department, would surely become his most loyal and fanatical subjects for his future unification of the world, bringing him boundless public support and Luck!

More importantly, after this battle, the "Hunting Squad" under his command had also received unprecedented tempering and growth!

Zhao Yu, Ma Qianli, Gu Shenwei, Big Fool, Wulu...

These fierce generals from all corners of the land, after experiencing this life-and-death battle, had completely dispelled the last shred of estrangement between them!

They had truly twisted into a single rope, possessing a terrifying cohesion and tactical coordination ability that would make any enemy tremble!

Looking at his loyal subordinates, who were heavily injured but whose eyes were filled with endless joy and worship, Gao Feng's heart was filled with infinite pride!

He knew that from this moment on, no one in this world could stop his advance!

After completely resolving the serious threat of the Holy Fire Sect, Gao Feng did not stay for a moment.

He left behind an elite force led by trusted generals to be responsible for clearing out the remaining cult forces, pacifying and gathering the millions of rescued followers, and fully taking over the vast wealth and mineral deposits of the Holy Fire Sect.

As for himself, he took Zhao Yu, Ma Qianli, and other core fierce generals, and with a speed bordering on a forced march, he traveled day and night to return to the Jiangnan camp, which was already sharpening its blades and filled with skyrocketing Battle Intent!

Half a month later, a magnificent scene appeared on the land of the Central Plains, one that would make any historian go crazy!

Nearly a million Panshi Army soldiers, clad in black heavy armor and holding tempered steel blades, led by countless black "Prince Yan" banners embroidered with ferocious nine-clawed golden Dragons, converged from all directions towards the ancient capital—the Divine Capital—which symbolized the highest power in the world, like a torrent of black steel surging from Hell!

The monstrous Killing Intent gathered by nearly a million troops shot straight into the sky, even staining the clouds in the sky with a heart-palpitating blood color!

Wherever the army passed, everything was silent, and birds and beasts vanished!

Everyone knew that a final decisive battle that would determine the future fate of the entire world was about to break out fiercely beneath this ancient capital!

And inside the Divine Capital at this moment, it was already a state of extreme tension and paranoia.

The once arrogant Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu, after receiving reports of the great victory in the North and the fall of Jiangnan, showed the emotion of "fear" for the first time on his face, which had always been full of wildness and cruelty.

The 150,000 Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, the most elite under his command, were almost completely wiped out in front of the unreasonable and terrifying firearms of the North!

And the "Jiangnan Alliance," on which he had pinned his hopes, was even more like a joke, crushed on the spot like dry weeds and rotten wood by Gao Feng's iron fleet, which also exceeded the cognition of the era!

Now he was already deserted by his followers and had become a true loner.

The only forces he could use were the less than 100,000 remnant soldiers, along with the Crown Prince Ji Cheng of the Great Qian, who was also living in constant fear, and his few remaining royal death squads.

In the face of Gao Feng's absolute power that could crush everything, these two mortal enemies, who were originally irreconcilable, had to put aside all their grievances and were forced to join hands to face the coming doomsday judgment together.

On the eve of the decisive battle, outside the Divine Capital, in the main command tent of the Panshi Army.

Inside the huge command tent, the lights were bright, but the atmosphere was somewhat oppressively quiet.

Gao Feng did not hold the usual long military meeting before the battle.

He just sat alone, quietly on the commander's seat made of pure gold, using a white silk cloth to carefully wipe, over and over again, the sky-splitting star river blade in his hand that had accompanied him for many years.

The cold blade reflected his young face, which was filled with endless majesty.

His thoughts seemed to return to many years ago, along with the cold blade light.

He remembered the despair and struggle he experienced when he had just Transmigration to this world, as a refugee who could not even feed himself and whose life was precarious.

He remembered the first time he witnessed the power of martial arts in this world and the cruelty of war.

He remembered how he had grown step by step in the North, from a little-known small Stockade Master to the supreme Prince Yan who suppressed the Luck of a nation.

He remembered those loyal soldiers who had fought fearlessly for him and stained the battlefield with their blood.

And he also remembered those confidantes who lay beside him, bore his children, and silently contributed.

Scenes of the past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

His state of mind, in these repeated memories, became increasingly calm and increasingly indestructible.

He slowly raised his head, his eyes, as deep as the stars, piercing through the obstruction of the command tent, looking far away at the magnificent capital city that lay in the night like a crouching ancient beast.

"Divine Capital... I have finally arrived."

His voice was low, but filled with a terrifying power that could make the mountains and rivers change color.

"This city, which symbolizes the highest power in the world, is about to welcome its new master."

"The old era will end in my hands."

"And a new era will also begin in my hands!"

Divine Capital, Imperial Palace, inside the East Palace.

The palace, which was once full of luxury and majesty, was now shrouded in an oppressive and desperate atmosphere.

Lin Zhengde's face, which had always been full of wisdom and composure, was now filled with deep exhaustion and loneliness.

He looked quietly at Crown Prince Ji Cheng, who was in front of him and had been tortured beyond recognition by fear and despair, and a trace of imperceptible pity and reluctance flashed in his eyes.

But he knew that this was not the time to be soft-hearted.

"Your Highness, you cannot hesitate any longer." Lin Zhengde's voice was hoarse, filled with unquestionable determination.

"The million-strong army of the traitor Gao Feng is already at the gates! This battle, the Divine Capital will surely fall, and we... will surely die."

"However, the Bloodline of my Ji clan cannot be broken! The national destiny of my Great Qian cannot be cut off!"

"This old minister has already arranged everything for you."

Lin Zhengde took out from his bosom a map that had been prepared long ago, and a black token symbolizing the highest secret of the royal family.

"This is a map of the secret tunnel leading to a hundred miles outside the city. This old minister has already sent people to prepare fast horses and travel expenses for you there."

"Take this token, head west all the way, and go seek refuge with the last, and only, vassal king who is still loyal to my Great Qian—the Prince of Shu!"

"The difficulty of the Shu road is harder than ascending to heaven! The terrain there is easy to defend and difficult to attack! As long as you can escape there, relying on the 100,000-strong army in the hands of the Prince of Shu, and the natural barrier capable of resisting a million-strong army, you will surely be able to preserve a spark for the restoration of my Great Qian!"