Chapter 419 - 395: Battle of the Celestial Prides, a Worldwide Classic

Gu Peng said, "Song Zhao, that was a sneak attack! But so what? So what if it was?"

After he finished speaking, Gu Peng, who had been standing under the open sky being relentlessly struck by a deluge of lightning, finally shuddered.

He raised his long spear, holding it horizontally against the sky.

The cascading lightning bolts struck him, first making his whole body tremble, his lion fur curl, and his face turn black with soot.

Then, the spectating Cultivators at the edge of the plaza who had yet to leave gradually discovered that although Gu Peng looked like he was being struck miserably, no matter how miserable he seemed, he suffered no broken bones, no blood flowed from his seven orifices, and even...

Even then, he hadn’t moved an inch from his spot!

Then, slowly, the long spear in his hand began to absorb even more lightning.

His body, which had been trembling continuously, gradually stopped. He tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and his massive, thirty-foot-tall body, like a whale devouring the sea, swallowed all the descending lightning bolts whole.

Eventually, the thunderclouds dissipated at some unknown moment.

But in that instant, Gu Peng, who had been battered by lightning for a long while, suddenly exploded in size. From thirty feet tall, to forty, to fifty... until finally, he had grown to a height of one hundred feet!

One hundred feet. To an ordinary human, he was like a titan reaching for the heavens.

Liu Siye and Yun Chong had unknowingly stopped fighting. They both sprinted frantically to the edge of the plaza; for a moment, they even forgot they could fly!

Then, everyone watched in astonishment as the hundred-foot-tall Gu Peng trembled—

With a series of CRACKLING sounds, the charred husk of his skin flaked off, and his singed fur disintegrated into dust.

A mountain breeze blew, and these fragments swirled in the air before turning to ash and scattering away.

The hundred-foot-tall Gu Peng threw his head back and laughed. "Is that all you’ve got! HAHAHA, Song Zhao, you’re nothing special!"

His booming laughter spread throughout Guangling City, even drifting further and further away, across the Nine Provinces World.

The Cultivators who had stubbornly remained at the edge of the plaza could no longer contain themselves, crying out in shock, "How is this possible? That lightning was probably comparable to an Earth Immortal’s Celestial Tribulation! We didn’t even dare to look at it directly. Gu Peng took the full force of it, yet not only is he unharmed, he... he’s gotten even stronger!"

"What kind of ability is this? It’s terrifying! No wonder he was able to challenge twelve Celestial Prides in just three days."

"No! What do you mean, twelve Celestial Prides? As of today, it’s thirteen!"

...

The stunned crowd was speechless for a long time. It’s unknown how long passed before a voice sighed and said, "Do you all... not pay attention to the commentary on the Celestial Pride List? It says on the Celestial Pride List that Gu Peng cultivates the Innate Divine Technique, Devouring!"

"It’s the Devouring Divine Technique!"

"The Heaven-Devouring Golden Lion... so that’s how it is. No wonder, no wonder..."

"Isn’t a talent like that simply unbeatable?"

In the center of the plaza, the hundred-foot-tall Giant Demon raised its head, its expression disdainful and proud.

From a higher mountain peak, a light laugh drifted down. "That was just a warm-up before the real battle, a little test. For you to draw conclusions so soon, Ancient Celestial Pride, is a bit hasty. You claim I launched a sneak attack, Ancient Celestial Pride? How laughable. A little trick to help you stretch your limbs, how could that be considered a sneak attack?"

Amidst the light laughter, a young woman in a white blouse and blue skirt brushed aside a gust of mountain wind, descending from the clouds and mist of the peak.

Her movements seemed relaxed and gentle, but her actual speed was as fast as a flash of light.

In an instant, her light laugh still lingered on the mountain breeze. "Is that what you think, Ancient Celestial Pride?"

The hundred-foot-tall Gu Peng raised his massive lion head, for a moment fighting the urge to nod again.

’My opponent said as much,’ he thought. ’Could I possibly admit that the lightning was actually very powerful, that I was in a lot of pain, and that I almost couldn’t withstand it?’

’No, no, that’s impossible. Absolutely impossible!’

Gu Peng could only stare with his huge lion eyes, his gaze piercing as he scrutinized the young woman in blue who had arrived on the wind.

This was the tenth on the Celestial Pride List, Song Zhao!

The Song Zhao before him was only about sixty or seventy percent similar to the portrait of her he had once seen, but in reality, she was completely different!

The Song Zhao in the portrait didn’t capture even a ten-thousandth of her true grace.

Gu Peng finally spoke, his voice booming and thunderous. "I believed the Human Race had an old saying: ’To see for oneself is better than to hear.’ Now I see its truth. Song Celestial Pride, your spirit is heroic and sublime, far surpassing this Mortal World. It was not a waste for me to travel tens of thousands of miles to battle you! This fight will surely be recorded in the annals of history."

As he spoke, Gu Peng straightened his back even more.

To elevate one’s opponent is to elevate oneself. At this moment, the way Gu Peng looked at Song Ciwan had changed, carrying a newfound sense of recognition and caution.

Song Zhao did not look like her portrait. Although the Song Zhao in the portrait was also extraordinary, in Gu Peng’s eyes, she had always seemed to lack a certain spiritual vitality, a certain aura that a Celestial Pride should possess.

’So that’s how it is. The portrait was wrong.’

’The real Song Zhao cannot be captured by a mere portrait!’

What Gu Peng didn’t know was that the portrait wasn’t wrong; it was that Song Ciwan had always been accustomed to concealing her true self.

Moments like this, when she shed her disguise and fully revealed her true nature, were rare.

But she had no regrets.

No regrets about stepping out from behind her many layers of disguise today to truly face the world!

’When you wear a mask for too long, don’t you sometimes start to worry about losing yourself?’

It was only today, after she had successfully broken through to the Divinity Transformation realm and heard Gu Peng’s challenge from outside the mountain, that she was suddenly struck with the impulse not only to accept the challenge, but to do so in her true form!

Sometimes, a person must restrain their impulses. But at other times, one must give in to them and do as one pleases.

What is the purpose of Cultivation?

First, to be free and unrestrained. Second, for one’s thoughts to be clear and unopposed.

On top of that, if one could also remain forever young and settle grudges with swift satisfaction, only then would one have truly lived up to the journey of Cultivation and one’s time in the Mortal World!

The True Qi within Song Ciwan’s body flowed like a surging river. Her thoughts were clear, and she felt a sense of liberation she had never known before.

The gentle wind held her aloft. She trod upon the void, her figure descending to a position level with Gu Peng’s line of sight.

At the edge of the plaza, the Cultivators couldn’t help but raise their heads, hold their breath, and focus their attention on her.

A hundred-foot-tall, lion-headed Giant Demon and an Immortal Maiden like the clear wind and bright moon—one was coarse and savage, the other graceful and divine. The extreme contrast in their forms alone was enough to make one’s heart clench.

Someone even couldn’t help but mutter, worrying for Song Ciwan. "What is she going to do? How can she possibly handle this?"

Song Ciwan formed a hand seal, holding it loosely before her.

She smiled faintly. "Ancient Celestial Pride, I have another technique I’d like you to appraise. Watch closely, Ancient Celestial Pride."

Gu Peng held his long spear, his lion mouth wide open as he boomed, "Excellent! Bring it on, I will receive your move! I hope you won’t disappoint me, Song Celestial Pride. Don’t be like before. Your Thunder Skill was mediocre, and I almost burst from eating it!"

Song Ciwan chuckled. Her hand seal changed, like a lotus flower blooming, as she pointed a finger gently toward Gu Peng.

"Go!"

A ball of flame ignited in the void.

Its crimson light carried the myriad thoughts of Heaven and the Mortal World.

This was a flame of the mundane world, yet it was also a flame that transcended it. It was a flame of the heavens, and also a flame within the human heart.

It was the Samadhi True Fire!