Chapter 557 70: The Gap with the Demon Lord

High above the Celestial Palace.

Fang Cheng sat cross-legged in the void, visualizing every minute detail from his first encounter with the Demon Lord's avatar.

Not far away in the void, a ball of spiritual light materialized out of thin air. A human figure slowly took shape within it.

A moment later, a young-looking man in a white shirt stepped out.

The young man did not look old, yet he possessed a dignified bearing, as if he held the life and death of countless beings in his hands.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his temperament elegant and free. The aura around him was faint, almost ordinary, yet it carried a heart-stopping sense of danger.

Fang Cheng's Cultivation was far beyond what it once was, but facing the Demon Lord manifested by the Spirit Ruins Treasure Realm, he still felt a sense of powerlessness.

With a sharp cry, he appeared before the white-shirted young man and threw a punch, unleashing a thunderous boom that ripped through the air.

The white-shirted young man merely smiled and raised a fist of his own.

In an instant, their two fists collided.

BOOM!

The void was annihilated. A vast, tide-like boom shook the firmament. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, caught in the aftershock, swirled into a colossal tornado that connected the heavens and the earth.

A dark golden luster flickered across Fang Cheng's body as elegant Profound Patterns and ancient runes emerged. At that moment, his physical form seemed to become an incomparably durable Profound Gold Magical Artifact.

A punch that could obliterate a Tier Five Nether Dragon had been effortlessly blocked by the Demon Lord's avatar.

Then, the white-shirted young man threw another punch.

Fang Cheng surged his Magical Power and struck with his full strength, once again clashing with the Demon Lord.

He wanted to see just how great the gap was between his physical body and the Demon Lord's.

Then, he felt an immense force, hundreds of times stronger than before, surge toward him like a raging tide and suddenly explode.

His entire body, like a piece of porcelain, shattered with a CRASH.

He tasted death.

After shattering Fang Cheng's body with a single punch, the white-shirted young man stood his ground and did not attack again.

Not far away, a ball of spiritual light flashed. Countless white particles formed into a skeleton, then blood vessels wrapped around the bones, followed by internal organs and muscles...

In the blink of an eye, Fang Cheng was "reborn."

He looked at the white-shirted young man, his heart still pounding with fear.

'Is this the power of the Demon Lord's left hand alone?'

He sighed softly. A tide of lightning surged behind him, and the mountainously majestic Feather Divine Soldier materialized.

Fang Cheng entered the cockpit of the Feather Divine Soldier. Twenty-one beams of Sword Aura appeared amidst the boundless Thunder Light, then shot toward the white-shirted young man.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Thunder and sword light intertwined like a raging tide. The terrifying fluctuations of energy parted the clouds and stirred the air, causing the void to twist and collapse. Countless dark cracks in space, like haphazardly scrawled black lines, lay scattered across the sky.

Pushed to its limits, the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array unleashed its full power. A vast and mighty murderous aura filled the heavens and covered the earth.

Trapped within the Sword Array, the white-shirted young man remained calm and composed. He was shrouded in Demonic Light, which blocked the endless barrage of sword light.

He studied the Sword Array intently, occasionally throwing a punch or flicking a finger. Each strike was enough to shatter a beam of sword light.

And within that sword light was the actual body of a Tier Five Flying Sword!

After ten moves, the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array collapsed with a roar.

The white-shirted young man pointed from afar at the spot between the brows of the Feather Divine Soldier, "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation." A streak of dark light instantly pierced through the vast sea of lightning, passed through the Feather Divine Soldier's blocking palm, and then broke through its cockpit, appearing right before Fang Cheng.

Fang Cheng's protective Tier-Five Profound Yellow Cloud Smoke Talisman was like paper; it offered no resistance whatsoever.

Just then, a wheel of golden light appeared behind Fang Cheng. Circles of golden ripples spread out, causing the streak of dark light to slow down.

Seizing the opportunity, he opened the cockpit of the Feather Divine Soldier and flashed out.

BOOM!

Behind him, the head of the Feather Divine Soldier exploded, and a torrent of Demonic Light burst forth from within.

Fang Cheng's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly looked up to see that the white-shirted young man had appeared above him at some unknown point and was bringing a fist down upon him.

Fang Cheng formed a hand seal. Behind him, a hundred-zhang-wide Yin Yang Vortex appeared, and an immense Cyan Lotus grew out from its center.

The Cyan Lotus bloomed, and from its pistil, a beam of axe light powerful enough to sunder Heaven and Earth burst forth!

It was the first form of the Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram: Primordial Light Division.

The white-shirted young man's fist collided with the axe light, erupting in a blinding flash. Fang Cheng's body shuddered violently, profound yellow energy spilling from his mouth and nose. His Magical Power was instantly depleted.

The white-shirted young man shattered the axe light with his punch, then immediately threw another that struck Fang Cheng square in the chest.

Fang Cheng instantly exploded into a bloody mist. He vaguely saw that the white-shirted young man's fist was stained with specks of blood...

"I hurt him!"

Fang Cheng revived within a ball of spiritual light.

This time, he forsook the Feather Divine Soldier and the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array, choosing to fight the white-shirted young man directly.

Relying on the Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram, he was able to block one move from the Demon Lord's avatar every time, only to be killed by a single punch on the second.

Each form of the Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram was more powerful than the last. When he tested the final form, "Primordial Void," his all-out attack actually managed to blow off half of the Demon Lord's avatar's arm.

After a long time, Fang Cheng sat cross-legged in the void. With a single thought, the Demon Lord's avatar slowly dissipated.

He had revived a total of thirteen times in the Spirit Ruins Treasure Realm!

The experience of dying thirteen times had given him a much clearer understanding of his own skills.

His Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier combined with the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array was powerful, but it could only trap the Demon Lord's avatar for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

With the Demon Lord's wisdom and insight, he could easily break this incomplete Sword Array.

Only if he gathered all forty-nine Tier Five Flying Swords would he have a chance of injuring the Demon Lord's avatar.

What shocked him even more was that the Demon Lord's physical body was strong beyond his imagination.

The sight of a fist shattering a Tier Five Flying Sword was simply too stunning.

He truly didn't know if even the Dragon Elephant Wanderer could withstand such power.

Fortunately, the Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram was extraordinarily powerful. By channeling this Divine Technique with his Late-stage Dharma Realm Cultivation, he could actually block one of the Demon Lord's attacks and even injure him.

If he could advance to the Tribulation Realm and pass a few more heavenly tribulations, he would have some confidence when facing the Demon Lord's avatar again.

'I have to keep practicing the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique, too!'

After witnessing the Demon Lord's physical body, Fang Cheng became even more determined in his idea to infinitely increase his own Physical Strength.

As he sat in quiet contemplation, the floating clouds below gathered once more, and the Celestial Palace reassembled itself from countless golden bricks and jade tiles.

Fang Cheng glanced at the Spirit Ruins Celestial Palace, which had been destroyed countless times by the aftershocks of his battle with the Demon Lord, and praised it silently in his heart.

Then, his figure faded and disappeared.

...

「In the Quiet Chamber of the Academy Manor.」

The Spirit Ruins Talisman trembled slightly, and Fang Cheng's soul flew out from it, returning to his body.

His expression was calm, showing neither joy nor sorrow. He silently activated the Circulation Qi Collection Technique. An Immortal Sect gate opened behind him, and endless Spiritual Qi poured out. A Netherworld Giant Kun opened its massive maw and began to devour it with abandon.

Fang Cheng's Magical Power also began to rise slowly.

After recognizing the gap between himself and the Demon Lord, Fang Cheng cleared his mind of distracting thoughts and began to focus on improving his Cultivation.

All he could do was calmly accept the things he could not control.

And give his all to the things he could.

While he was cultivating, the Qiu Sisters had already left the manor to familiarize themselves with the Profound Iron Giant City.

With so many Cultivators training at Chongxuan Academy, there was bound to be a trading market.

To the south of the volcanic island beneath the giant city was another island where the Academy had built a market. It was a bustling place, with thousands of shops run by sects, families, and Loose Cultivators.

Carrying Fang Cheng's Netherworld Banner, the two sisters looked for a suitable shop to sell the Celestial Demon Souls within it in exchange for Spirit Stones.

After receiving the Spirit Stones, the two of them followed Fang Cheng's instructions and began to search for merchants who would trade for Tier Five Flying Swords and Dao Pattern Spirit Jade.

...