187: You little rascal! You tiny little rascal!

Lin Yan clenched his fists to feel the powerful strength currently surging through his body while his gaze swept across the System's detailed panel, a blatant smile appearing on his face.

It's here! It's all here!

The cultivation he had been suppressing to store Martial Skills had all manifested at once!

Middle Stage of the Fifth Grade Venerable Rank.

Furthermore, his combat power was even more terrifying.

In his ordinary state, he was at the Peak of the Ninth Grade, and with both techniques active, he reached the pinnacle of the Venerable Rank—a Venerable King!

This was in addition to his already oppressive Tyrant Body and Heavy Pupils.

It was no exaggeration to say...

Having just made a Breakthrough to the Venerable Rank, he was already absolutely invincible at this level!

Invincible among Venerables, capable of battling those who had just entered the Emperor Rank... A vibrant light erupted in the youth's eyes.

Closer! Even closer!

Compared to him personally...

The scene within the starry sky at this moment was entirely different.

The fanatical fervor in the eyes of the tens of thousands of King Rank prodigies from the Martial Arts Company's Xuanqing Branch intensified as they roared in unison.

“Congratulations to the Flame King for breaking through from the King Rank to become a Venerable!!”

“Greetings, Venerable Yan!!”

They had witnessed the scene just now with their own eyes. Aside from adoration, only more adoration remained in their hearts.

Such a peerless figure had directly broken through to become a Venerable the moment he stepped off the battlefield!

Even if they believed he hadn't reached the height of a Venerable King yet, it was only temporary!

Sooner or later, the title of Venerable Yan would surely belong to this history-making youth!

However...

They didn't know that the title they were using now was already perfectly appropriate.

As for those who did know... Quan Cheng and the dozens of God-level Domain Protecting Envoys behind him hadn't stopped their pupils from trembling.

Holy!!! Shit!!!

Middle Stage of the Fifth Grade Venerable Rank!!!

Exclamation marks could no longer express the shock in their hearts.

Only a head full of incomprehensible question marks could respond to the speechlessness they felt facing this scene.

Quan Cheng's swollen face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

It perfectly illustrated what it meant for red to turn into black.

The heart of this legitimate Second Saint King of the Martial Arts Company roared infinitely.

Why?!!

Donggong Li, why you?!!!

It's bad enough that you're invincibly strong yourself, but even this cheap disciple you picked up is such a freak!

Hong Liangzhe, my disciple Liangzhe who hasn't even taken his post in his assigned territory yet...

You must live up to expectations!

You're at least a Pseudo-Realm Prodigy with invincible combat power at the Venerable Rank; there shouldn't be a problem, right?

Whether there would be a problem, no one knew for now.

“Haha... Hahahaha...”

A burst of clear laughter suddenly echoed through the starry sky where astral winds raged.

In the instant before all the fanatically roaring prodigies could react...

And just before Quan Cheng could open his mouth to give the order to board the Warship...

“This trashy Warship is not worthy of you!”

The overbearing voice lingered in the starry sky for a long time.

Whoosh—!

Lin Yan, who had been standing proudly before the light gate, turned into an afterimage and vanished from the spot.

Eh?

Lin Yan only felt a sudden weightlessness as various celestial scenes and brilliant star rivers flashed past his eyes.

“Good lad!”

“Impressive!”

Sincere voices of praise echoed in his ears.

He turned his head and saw only Donggong Li's profile, as handsome as a painting, and an unshielded smile.

Naturally...

Lin Yan also smiled.

“It’s alright.”

Immediately...

“Hahahaha...”

A long burst of laughter rang out in the starry sky.

“Good!”

“A fine ‘alright’!!”

“Your Revered Master will take you right now to undergo your Venerable Rank evaluation!”

“I want to see how those old fogies handle a Prodigy who exceeds the standards the moment he breaks through!”

Hearing these words...

Lin Yan was only stunned for a moment before his expression merged back into the smile already on his face.

‘Your Revered Master’... this old fellow really isn't polite at all.

Who ever admitted you were my Revered Master... Meanwhile, the scene shifted to other parts of the Three Thousand Realms of the Starry Sky.

Before the light gates of the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield's Prodigy Arena in the territories of the Yao Race and Demon Race...

There was a dead silence, an absolute silence.

The waiting experts of the two races looked at each other, their eyes wide, as their gazes constantly shifted toward the light gates shimmering with flowing light.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Until the Stairway to Heaven first slowly turned into a phantom and vanished into the starry sky.

As the flowing light grew dimmer, the light gates also gradually turned into shadows until they blurred and dissipated.

“Ah!!!”

Earth-shaking roars filled with disbelief resounded.

“Impossible!”

“How is this possible!”

“Investigate!”

“Investigate immediately!”

“The status of the light gates in other regions!”

“Report!”

“Immediately report our situation here!”

“This is fundamentally impossible!”

“Even if they suffered heavy losses, even if they encountered problems...”

“How could not a single Prodigy return? Such a thing has never happened in the history of starry sky martial arts!”

Amidst the commotion across the various regions of the two races...

The news was quickly transmitted to the Ancestral Courts of the two races, which had already been paying close attention to the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield.

The supreme powerhouses of the two races looked at the identical messages flooding in from all over their territories.

They were instantly silenced.

The disbelief in their eyes was even more pronounced than that of the regional heads, and their emotional fluctuations were even more powerful.

How is it possible!

The entire territory!

From every King Rank Prodigy Arena of the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield, not a single Prodigy returned!

Not a single one! Not one!

What kind of peerless, Universe-defying joke is this!

They instantly thought of the sudden decrease in Luck they had sensed earlier and the Ancient Ancestor's command; a wave of monstrous chill rose from their hearts.

No... it's impossible!!

The eyes of the various supreme powerhouses of the Universe trembled.

Though they didn't want to believe it!

It was very likely... they were... all dead!!!

Then!

Boom—!

The Realms surrounding the Ancestral Courts of the two races vibrated frantically as heaven-shaking fury surged like a tidal wave.

“Investigate!”

...Compared to the situation of the aforementioned two races, perhaps only the Spirit, God, and Immortal Races, along with the myriad other races, were slightly better off.

However, this 'slightly' was only relative.

The Myriad Races went without saying.

The moment they returned, they immediately shared the shocking events that had occurred on the battlefield with the powerhouses of their respective races.

As for the Spirit, God, and Immortal Races, after sharing the news, a new development emerged.

That was the absolute rage of the three races' powerhouses.

Particularly the Revered Masters of those seven Domain King prodigies; upon seeing their disciples looking as if they had been beaten senseless, they let out heaven-shaking roars.

“Human Race!!”

...Donggong Li, who was carrying Lin Yan across the star rivers with elegant strides, paused and suddenly turned his head.

“What did you say?!”

“You slaughtered the cities of the Yao Race and Demon Race?”

“Not only that, but when the Spirit, God, and Immortal Races conceded the match and you didn't agree, you directly beat all their Domain Kings senseless?”

“And then the other top prodigies of those three races didn't dare to fight back under your suppression and were ganged up on by our race?”

Seeing his teacher, who had been calm and composed the whole way, now wearing a face full of shock, Lin Yan hesitated slightly and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Uh... I originally wanted to slaughter the cities of those three races as well.”

“But I was afraid you and the higher-ups wouldn't be able to handle the pressure, so I was a bit more gentle.”

Donggong Li slowly turned his head back, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

He finally knew why that group of youngsters had such fanatical looks when they returned.

It turned out they had done such earth-shaking things.

A fine ‘a bit more gentle’.

Should I reply that you still have some sense of restraint?

Or rather, that you at least know you need to rely on the race to back you up at this stage?

No wonder he was at the Fifth Grade Venerable Rank the moment he broke through.

This fellow is several times more of a freak than he was!

Just then...

Donggong Li's brow twitched.

An aged, slightly excited voice forcibly came through his communication device.

“Little bastard!”

“Are you with your family's tiny little bastard?!”

(PS: Thanks to the big boss Principal Ge who loves to eat braised tendon for the God-level certification! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶!! Much appreciated! Much appreciated!! I've noted it down in my little notebook; whenever I have time, I'll definitely add more chapters!)