Gan Jin sat cross-legged on the ground, exchanging a few final words with the Wandering Spirit Lingguan. He couldn't bother with anything else; for some unknown reason, the blood surging within him refused to settle.
Boiling! Boiling! From the churning blood, a roar, unheard before, seemed to erupt. His entire body was in a state of extreme exhilaration. This level of excitement had never manifested, not even when the young bloodline warriors of the Gan family had defeated their peers at the Gan family gates.
Excitement, thrill! He longed to throw his head back and unleash a primal shout and roar. Before his eyes, the scene he had witnessed in the Ancient Barren Sea kept flashing—the shocking image of the Iron Arm Mantis bloodline warriors charging the formation until death, never retreating.
Though separated by a thousand or even several thousand years.
In this moment, Gan Jin felt as if he were standing among those Iron Arm Mantis bloodline warriors charging the ranks! He was the one who knew only exhaustion and death awaited, yet refused to retreat, refused to surrender, dedicating his life, allowing the noblest and wildest expression of his soul to bloom—the Iron Arm Mantis bloodline warrior.
Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!
In a single night, it was as if the glory that had slept for years was now awakening, erupting through Gan Jin's blood, through his body, through his battle intent (Dou Qi).
Gan Jin had never felt such honor in being a warrior as he did at this very moment!
The Battle Heart (Dou Xin) was no longer merely rotating; it was beating! Beating like a normal heart! All the Dou Qi in his body was no longer regulated by the Battle Heart; instead, the Battle Heart became a vortex, frantically devouring the Dou Qi within his body, like a bottomless whirlpool.
The battle intent sequence of 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' (Fen Jin Lian Zhan) within the Battle Heart was rapidly combining. Arranging this sequence inside the Battle Heart had always been an incredibly difficult cultivation process; it was like constructing a massive set of building blocks, requiring careful, piece-by-piece assembly until a complete state was formed.
At this moment, the 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' sequence in the Battle Heart was no longer the slow act of assembling blocks. It was more like a crew of skilled workers rapidly erecting a structure: one-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths, five-tenths… eight-tenths, nine-tenths!
This frenzied arrangement of battle intent stopped only when the sequence for 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' reached ninety percent completion. It then returned to the familiar, slow pace of block-stacking.
Gan Jin paid no mind to the strange transformation within his Battle Heart. He quietly closed his eyes, watching the scene he had witnessed in the Ancient Barren Sea play out in his mind.
An ineffable sense of emotion... an ineffable excitement... an ineffable boiling of hot blood! Gan Jin stopped suppressing the excitement within his body, instead choosing to simply feel it, allowing the Dou Qi inside him to boil over as well.
“Oh? Is he about to break through?” The dull-witted Tian Ce lightly snapped his folding fan against the Iron Man beside him. “Go, hit him with a punch! Put the killing force into it.”
Iron Man silently strode forward, his legs carrying him in large bounds toward the arena. His Bloodline Battle Body (Xue Mai Zhan Shen) swiftly activated in motion. Black fuzz instantly covered his entire body, and his two arms lengthened and thickened inch by inch—his body was upright, yet his arms seemed poised to graze the ground.
A rare bloodline: the Black Gorilla Bloodline!
Thump-thump-thump... The stone slabs of the ground shattered piece by piece. Iron Man’s speed was immense; in an instant, he had covered nearly a hundred meters. Behind him, a continuous stream of flying stone fragments suggested that with every footfall, hidden magical mines beneath the ground had been triggered, resulting in a trail of craters.
Demon Subjugation! Demon Suppression! Demon Execution! Demon Destruction!
Mighty Dou Qi surged from Iron Man’s body. A golden Battle Heart spun at high speed within him, mobilizing his nearly dormant Dou Qi and instantly accelerating its rotation: one hundred thousand… one hundred fifty thousand, two hundred thousand!
Dong! A massive sound shook the earth! Iron Man launched his true attack. The force of this footfall was colossal—not only did the stone slabs surrounding his body vibrate violently, seemingly on the verge of leaving the ground, but even the spectators felt the earth beneath their feet tremble repeatedly, giving them the sensation of standing on a soft sphere.
“The Demonic Ape Beast Skill (Mo Yuan Shou Dou Ji)! Only this bloodline can unleash its full power!”
Hong Zhe Lingguan, a leaf dangling from his mouth, watched Iron Man slash through the air like a black pillar of light. The hallmark of this Demonic Ape Beast Skill was its agility; its strikes were as swift as lightning, capable of long-range attacks or close-quarters, explosive combat.
An overwhelming pressure swept across the arena. Gan Jin’s body reacted as if struck by electricity; the hairs on his body instantly stood on end. His eyes snapped open, and he saw the massive fist descending like a colossal meteorite falling from the sky, rapidly magnifying in his pupils! Magnifying! Magnifying!
One punch! Enveloping the entire arena! Giving the distinct feeling that there was nowhere left to retreat!
Retreat? The muscles around Gan Jin’s lips twitched incessantly. To retreat now would be to become like the Wandering Spirit Lingguan! The boiling Dou Qi inside him roared under the pressure. The battle intent that had not yet been extinguished felt like kindling doused with oil under the mounting pressure, burning rapidly like a volcanic eruption.
The fist rushed closer, but within Gan Jin’s pupils flickered something else. The image of the Iron Arm Mantis warrior fighting to the death in the Ancient Barren Sea seemed to come alive, transforming into rays of light that flooded from his mind into his body, surging into the Battle Heart! The Battle Heart began to devour again!
Dou Qi! Imagery! Sequence arrangement! Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes, ten perfect layers!
In an instant, as the imagery entered the Battle Heart, the 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' sequence, which had only reached ninety percent completion, was thoroughly finalized! It formed a unique cycle! Roar! Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes! Unleash the indignation and glory you have held for a thousand years!
Gan Jin lowered his knees slightly and then sprang forward like an arrow, meeting Iron Man’s fist. He transformed his two arms into battle blades and forcefully slashed—Wooooom-woooom-wooom… A series of vibrating sounds echoed in the air, the sound of battle blades charged with Dou Qi. This time, the airflow was truly cleaved apart by the 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes.' The faint stream of air almost materialized, showing the first signs of the advanced bloodline skill’s second form: Splitting Water and Tearing Waves (Duan Shui Lie Lang).
Most of the students watching the ring instinctively retreated rapidly, as if this slash and this punch were not merely aimed at each other but posed a threat to those standing nearby. The sharp edge and the imposing pressure of the fist forced the crowd back, leaving the area immediately surrounding the ring remarkably clear.
Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes! Explode for me! Facing the pressure, Gan Jin held no illusions. The sequence for 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes,' now fully realized within his Battle Heart, flashed repeatedly. Dou Qi enveloped his arms, making it seem as if countless arms had manifested. Those powerful figures from distant eras had returned, lending their strength to Gan Jin, unleashing an immense, savage might!
Not good! Iron Man’s fuzz-covered face suddenly changed, and his inner Dou Qi erupted once more! Demon Destruction, second level battle intent, two hundred thousand rotations!
In a flash, both sides chose the simplest path: a direct confrontation! Or rather, Gan Jin was forced into one, as the boiling Dou Qi inside him felt an unbearable urge to be released, lest his heart be consumed by regret.
Fist and palm collided, releasing a sound of tremendous muscle, bone, and Dou Qi impact. Iron Man’s fist, transformed by the Bloodline Battle Body, was larger than a wine jar; by comparison, Gan Jin’s 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' seemed much smaller.
Accompanied by a muffled thunderclap, Gan Jin spat out a mouthful of blood. His arms were forcefully pushed back by the impact of the punch. The arm that had momentarily retreated trembled slightly in the air, flipped over! And slashed again towards the descending fist!
Severing Gold, Consecutive Slashes! Consecutive Slashes are the true entirety of Severing Gold!
Bang-bang-bang-bang! In quick succession, Gan Jin’s arms unleashed ten razor-sharp slashes of ultimate power. Each strike was the pinnacle of peak attack, a super-burst requiring no recovery time!
What kind of monster is this? How can his body be this tough? Iron Man felt his bones were about to break. He pushed his fist down again with immense force. Gan Jin’s feet were rooted to the ground, but his shoes were the first casualties, twisting into dust as if caught in a vise. The arena beneath his feet also began to show signs of failing under the strain.
Crack…
The specially constructed surface layer of the arena showed the first hairline fractures. Gan Jin’s feet remained planted, yet the immense force propelled him backward, as if the ground beneath him were no longer the arena but a slick sheet of ice offering no purchase.
Puff, puff, puff, puff…
After sliding twenty meters across the arena, Gan Jin’s pores could no longer contain the outpouring. Dou Qi sprayed out first, accompanied by a mist of blood mixed with his Dou Qi.
In an instant, Gan Jin stood in place, enveloped in a rain of blood, his chest heaving violently. He looked like a heavily wounded wild beast, yet his ferocity and savagery had not diminished; instead, they swelled continuously.
Seeing the look in Gan Jin’s eyes, the warrior students instinctively took a step back. Isabella’s eye twitched violently. What kind of killing intent was that? This kid hadn't even managed to internalize his killing intent, yet it had reached this degree. If he could ever truly wield it substantially, how terrifying would he become? Was he truly just an ordinary warrior?
Iron Man forcibly spread his five fingers, then clenched his fist, then spread his fingers again, trying to alleviate the pain in his knuckles. He stared blankly at Gan Jin, unable to believe he, a warrior at the Demon Subjugation First Level, had been pushed to the point of needing the strength of the Demon Destruction Second Level!
That bizarre battle power the boy unleashed just now seemed to equal that of a Demon Destruction Third Level warrior, didn't it? Had he detonated some kind of special battle skill? The power had instantly more than tripled!
Gan Jin gasped for air in great gulps. This was a Demon Destruction warrior? It wasn't just the terrifying speed of the Dou Qi rotation; the quality of the Dou Qi had also changed significantly. It was as if the airflow was no longer simple air but had become extremely viscous, like congealed air turning into liquid.
He realized that only with the two hundred thousand rotation speed, his shattered 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' sequence had been forcibly suppressed.
'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes,' a Saint-level bloodline skill! The power unleashed by a perfectly completed ten-layer Battle Heart sequence was far more than a simple doubling. When the sequence shattered, the power of 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' had likely multiplied by at least four times!
If converted, the battle power output in that single moment was equivalent to a four hundred thousand rotation speed! Yet, he was defeated by a single punch from someone operating at possibly only two hundred thousand rotations. Was this the strength of a Demon Destruction warrior?
What a pity about the sequence of 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes'… the shattering and yet… Gan Jin instinctively tried to mourn the destroyed sequence within his body, and his entire person froze where he stood.
The sequence for 'Severing Gold with Consecutive Slashes' had shattered! Countless fragments of the sequence, like sentient clay, were rapidly gathering and merging. They wriggled ceaselessly, fusing spontaneously. In a short time, they had already merged to about eighty percent, and more sequence fragments were continuously joining in, undergoing further integration.