Chapter 601 - 253: Star Luo Array, Soul-Extinguishing Rainbow Light (Part 3)

The more someone doesn’t look like a bad person, the more extremely dangerous they are.

Thinking of the palm strike that just landed.

Han Xiaoru couldn’t help but shiver with fear.

If it weren’t for my junior brother’s intervention, I would have been finished.

Now that the disguise is gone, the old monk no longer hides his skills?

Both fists formed seals, like a crane’s beak resembling orchid blossoms, striking downwards, seemingly transforming into countless hand shadows.

Han Xiaoru’s vision blurred.

Upon closer inspection, she found the old monk’s moves no longer resembled fists but rather countless stars forming a dense array that was dizzying to behold.

"Star Luo Array, should I address you as Zen Master Mingjing or call you Patriarch Situ?"

Facing the oncoming fist that felt like a collapsing sky with thousands of stars pressing down, Chen Ping was not surprised. The Sword Performance of the Seven Stars of the Primordial Chaos, countering speed with speed and array with array.

The sound of crackling explosions burst forth.

The ground and vegetation within dozens of meters turned to dust, the surrounding void quaked, and sporadic tiny lightning and gale forces appeared. Even standing seventy to eighty meters away, Han Xiaoru found it hard to breathe, as if she were submerged a hundred meters underwater, struggling to stand.

She knew this battlefield was not one she could intervene in. Her eyes shifting slightly, she covered her broken hand and retreated swiftly.

In fact, those Primordial Iron Cavalry and wandering Jianghu experts had lost their fighting spirit.

They all paused.

Looking up at two figures, one gray and one white, suspended ten meters above the ground, forming countless light shadows.

They could not even see their moves clearly.

Only dim shadows were visible.

Waves of explosive energy rolled outwards.

"A name is just a label, what difference does it make? King Ping, you’re too attached. Why force an old man like me today and walk a path of self-destruction?"

The more the old monk in gray struck, the smoother his facial wrinkles became, and his form grew more elongated and robust.

Gradually, he no longer resembled a shrunken and frail elderly monk.

He transformed into a middle-aged man with jade-like skin, sharp brows, and long eyes.

His expression was cold and solemn, and when he struck, stars seemed to shine in his eyes, yielding exquisite moves effortlessly.

Chen Ping gradually felt as if he was amidst a void, surrounded by loneliness, with countless stars twinkling near and far, occasionally with enormous celestial bodies crashing down, threatening to grind him to dust.

More troubling was the fact that the grand formation and star attacks seemed to generate disparate alien energy within even the minutest bones and blood, obstructing his Qi and blood, rendering his True Essence rigid.

This blend of grandeur and minuteness, reality and illusion, left him unable to perceive distance, nor discern how many moves the opponent had executed or where the attacks targeted.

In fact, he’d seen this move before.

He’d experienced its True Intent.

Back when his cultivation was still shallow, not having even broken through to the Innate, he’d once faced off against Situ Family’s Situ Lin by the side of Youx Mountain, along Weih River.

In the aftermath, although he slew that elder.

He had to admit, at the same level, that fellow’s attacks indeed posed a great threat to him.

Calculating all beings and human emotions.

The opponent’s moves encompassed his Qi Blood Power and Dragon Essence Dharma Body, utilizing power against power, situating tactics within tactics.

From Divine Will to Domain and True Essence Dharma Aspect, transforming into a Star Array, entrapping and killing within a palm’s breadth.

Moreover, he realized that this person, whether called Zen Master Mingjing or Situ Yun, had a cultivation level even surpassing Venerable Yuxiao.

Whether in terms of the solidity of True Essence or its density, it was at least two levels higher than Venerable Yuxiao.

As a result, his Dragon Essence Profound Gang, renowned for its offensive prowess in Divine Martial Power, dispersed instantly upon contact, falling into a disadvantage.

This was a disparity in True Essence Level, with at least three minor realm differences manifesting this situation.

Thinking this way, the opponent’s cultivation must be at the Divine Martial Sixth Layer, at the Peak of Mid-Stage Divine Martial, already prepared for a breakthrough to the Late-Stage Divine Martial.

Why speculate this way?

This was Chen Ping’s assessment from within.

Divine Martial Fourth Layer marks a significant leap from the Divine Martial Initial Realm to the Mid-Stage Realm.

His Stinging Dragon Scripture would also transform from the Stinging Dragon Realm to the True Dragon Realm.

Attack, defense, and reflexes would all increase; that is to say, at least threefold increase in strike power.

And reaching the True Dragon Realm, advancing from Fourth to Sixth Layer, is a matter of accumulated volume. The changes in cultivation aren’t as substantial, yet each realm advancement could double foundational qualities, not remotely difficult.

His cultivation focused on the bloodline Body Cultivation Martial Arts, typically making it not challenging to contend with the Divine Martial Fourth Layer or even the Fifth Layer.

But to combat the Sixth Layer, he’s at least half lacking in basic offensive and defensive power.

This was something with no straightforward solution.

It’s also why Chen Ping was hesitant to counterattack Yujing.

Without an edge in high-level combat power, what’s the point of possessing a million-strong army, packed with war generals and advisors, all united in purpose?

True encounter with enemy decapitation tactics leaves nothing to fend them off with.

He didn’t anticipate, not yet fully prepared, facing Ji Tang but already encountering a foe here able to suppress him.

"If that’s the case, then I can’t hold back my strength any longer. Fortunately, the Southern Region shouldn’t have stronger adversaries, so we’ll use you to test my skills."