197: Chapter 196 Who gave you the audacity to cross my bottom line!

After Xia Jin adjusted his state, he soon faced his battle against Xing Ruoliu, who was ranked fifth among the Heaven-Class Disciples.

"My Lord, I shall wait here for your triumphant return!" Yin Shixuan said, bowing respectfully as he watched Xia Jin prepare to depart.

"Hmph! You are becoming increasingly eloquent." Xia Jin cast a glance at Yin Shixuan, smiled, and stepped into the Void Gate before him.

When he reappeared, he was already standing on the Battle Arena.

Xia Jin stood with his hands behind his back, waiting with a relaxed expression.

Less than ten breaths of time had passed when the void began to twist on the other side of the Battle Arena.

An identical Void Gate slowly appeared, and immediately after, a white figure walked out from within.

It was an exceptionally beautiful woman, though her brows and eyes carried a natural charm, and as her gaze shifted, it seemed as if she could hook a person's soul away.

Xing Ruoliu.

She stepped out of the Void Gate, her gaze falling upon Xia Jin as she scrutinized him slightly.

"You are the fifth-ranked Xing Ruoliu?" Xia Jin asked indifferently, looking at her brazenly.

Xing Ruoliu nodded. Her long, narrow Phoenix eyes swept back and forth over Xia Jin, and a moment later, a strange light flashed in her eyes.

"Your aura... I cannot even see through it. It seems that being able to win seventeen consecutive matches against Heaven-Class Disciples is truly indicative of some skill."

At Xing Ruoliu's words, Xia Jin couldn't help but frown.

"Enough, spare me the nonsense." He stared intently into Xing Ruoliu's eyes. "Come, fight this Prince."

This Prince?

Xing Ruoliu raised an eyebrow slightly; this self-reference was quite novel.

She stared at Xia Jin for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

The smile was extremely faint, barely enough to attract much attention, but in that very instant, Xia Jin felt his vision blur.

The surrounding scenery changed.

The Battle Arena vanished, the galaxy above his head vanished, and the surging sea of clouds all around vanished as well.

Replacing them were peach trees covering the mountains and plains.

Pink petals fell like rain, quickly covering the ground beneath his feet.

The air began to fill with a faint floral fragrance, and from time to time, a few small birds flew over his head; everything was as beautiful as a fairyland.

Xia Jin looked down, watching a petal drift onto his palm.

The petal actually carried a slight chill, as if it had truly just been picked from a branch.

He frowned.

"This thing... it's actually just like the real thing."

Xing Ruoliu's voice came from all directions, ethereal and uncertain.

"Brother Xia, if you can break this Palace's illusion, I will concede today."

As the words fell, Xia Jin raised his eyes and looked around.

Xing Ruoliu's figure had long since vanished right under his nose.

It had vanished completely.

Xia Jin narrowed his eyes, his Divine Soul power quietly spreading out. But to his surprise, there was no abnormality in the surroundings.

"Interesting, but an illusion is ultimately just an illusion."

He sneered, suddenly raised his hand, and punched out in one direction.

The violent fist energy was like an angry Dragon emerging from the sea; wherever it passed, those peach trees instantly turned to dust, and a deep trench was plowed into the ground.

But the next second, a look of surprise appeared in Xia Jin's eyes.

Those destroyed peach trees were actually growing back at a speed visible to the naked eye. Peach tree after peach tree emerged from the ground, sprouting branches, budding, and flowering; in the blink of an eye, they were restored to their original state.

Even more petals fell down, denser and more numerous than before.

Xia Jin stood where he was, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.

Just then, a sound of footsteps suddenly came from behind a peach tree.

The footsteps were very light, very slow, yet exceptionally clear.

Xia Jin turned his head to look.

From behind the peach tree, a person slowly walked out.

It was a woman, wearing a Phoenix crown and dressed in a bright red wedding gown. She walked very slowly.

Petals drifted onto her shoulders and into her hair, adding a touch of tragic beauty to her.

And when Xia Jin saw that face clearly, his pupils shrank slightly.

That face—he was actually somewhat familiar with it.

The cold brows and eyes, the exquisite features, the slightly pursed corners of the lips...

It was at least eighty or ninety percent similar to Leng Yuexi.

"Yue Xi?"

Xia Jin unconsciously uttered this name.

The woman looked up at him, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. She opened her arms and ran quickly towards Xia Jin; the hem of her wedding gown fluttered amidst the petals, and the bead strings on her Phoenix crown emitted crisp clinking sounds.

Very beautiful.

Very aesthetic.

Like a painting.

Xia Jin stood where he was, not moving.

The woman ran closer and closer, closer and closer. Ten steps... five steps... three steps...

Just at the moment she was about to throw herself into Xia Jin's arms, her hand suddenly moved.

A cold light flashed; a short blade had appeared in her hand, who knew when, and it stabbed directly at Xia Jin's chest!

The blade was sharp, the killing intent chilling.

The short blade stabbed into Xia Jin's chest, emitting a crisp sound of metal clashing.

The tip of the blade broke.

The woman's hand froze in mid-air, the expression on her face changing from fierce to astonishment, and from astonishment to confusion.

Xia Jin looked down at his chest, then raised his eyes to look at the woman before him who resembled Leng Yuexi by eighty or ninety percent, his gaze gradually turning cold.

The next second, Xia Jin's hand had already been raised, his five fingers brought together, and he pierced directly through her chest.

"Pfft!"

The sound of flesh tearing was exceptionally clear amidst the rain of petals.

The woman's eyes widened enormously; that face, so extremely similar to Leng Yuexi's, was now filled with confusion, as if she had never expected Xia Jin to kill her so decisively.

Xia Jin looked at her face, his gaze cold to the extreme.

"Wearing this face, you dare to come and deceive this Prince?"

A wisp of white flames rose up.

Immediately after, the flames instantly surged, turning into a roaring blaze that engulfed the woman entirely.

As the white flames rose, the woman's figure quickly turned into nothingness, disappearing completely amidst the sky full of falling petals.

The peach forest remained.

The petals continued to fall.

But Xia Jin stood where he was, the coldness in his eyes not only failing to recede but becoming even more intense.

That face.

That face, which resembled Leng Yuexi by eighty or ninety percent.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Not enough.

This breath was not enough.

"Daring to challenge this Prince's bottom line..." His voice contained extreme killing intent. "Who gave you the audacity?"

As he spoke, a Sun Mark suddenly appeared between Xia Jin's brows.

The instant the Sun Mark appeared, a majestic and vast aura erupted from Xia Jin's body.

That aura had long since surpassed the scope of an ordinary Cultivator.

It was the aura belonging to the Demon Emperor.

Looking down upon the world, suppressing the ages.

At the same time, behind Xia Jin, the void began to twist.

The first halo of light enveloped his entire body.

The second halo of light expanded to three zhang, and upon it, one could faintly see mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, and stars flowing.

The third halo of light reached straight to the sky, dyeing half the sky a blazing white!

Three halos appeared simultaneously!

The heavens and earth changed color!

Those eyes had now turned a pure golden color.

"Burn."

He spoke, uttering only one word.

The voice was not loud, yet it was like an edict from the Heavenly Dao, resounding throughout the entire illusion.

The next second, the three halos of light behind him simultaneously erupted with blinding radiance.

white flames gushed out from the halos.

Like a tsunami, they surged wildly in all directions.

Wherever they passed, those beautiful peach trees didn't even have a chance to struggle before they were instantly reduced to nothingness.

Not burned to ashes, but simply vanished, as if they had never existed.

The rain of petals filling the sky instantly evaporated under the impact of the white flames.

The grass beneath his feet turned charred black in the blink of an eye, and then turned to nothingness.

The distant hills, swept by the flames, simply vanished into mid-air.

Even the air itself was burning.

Wherever the flames reached, everything was being annihilated.

The peach forest was disappearing.

The mountains and rivers were disappearing.

The sky was disappearing.

The entire illusion was collapsing bit by bit under the devouring of the white flames.