The might of the Six-Star warrior, just as battle was about to commence, suddenly dropped to a mere fifteen-star level. The burning fighting spirit that Chi Lei, a Martial Arts Master, had just managed to coalesce instantly scattered once more.

Chi Lei’s two sickle-shaped eyebrows, red as fire, arched high, and the magma-hot true qi emanating from his hands flickered violently, like a candle in the wind, threatening to be extinguished by the slightest breeze.

“Damn it. What is the meaning of this?” Chi Lei’s gravelly voice dripped with intense dissatisfaction, anger coloring every syllable.

The other three Martial Arts Masters remained silent, but the tangled emotions in their brows clearly conveyed their discontent. The Feng Lin Huo Shan (Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain) Formation never targeted a Martial Arts Master of the same star level; every engagement was assuredly a cross-star level battle.

Qin Fen’s sixteen-star strength was, of course, beyond reproach and certainly qualified him to experience the Feng Lin Huo Shan Formation. But to drop from the sixteenth star level to the fifteenth was, in the eyes of all present, a profound display of contempt!

Qin Fen looked at the four enraged Martial Arts Masters, his shoulders sinking slightly, and said calmly, “I hope the seniors will grant my request; I will spar against the combined formation of Feng Lin Huo Shan using only my fifteen-star strength.”

“Arrogant!”

Chi Lei roared, cutting off Qin Fen’s words. Years of cultivating the Magma Art had made his temper explosive. He had held back out of respect for Song Jia until now, but Qin Fen’s continuous, almost insulting remarks finally snapped his patience. The clear, moist, emerald-green grass beneath his feet instantly turned to black ash, and a pillar of fire shot up three feet above his head, making him look like a giant crimson furnace from a distance.

The verdant grass enveloped in the red glow instantly blackened, and the yellow, fertile soil followed suit, becoming a patch of pitch blackness. All moisture instantly evaporated, splitting into cracks several inches wide and feet long.

Chi Lei drew a deep breath, his fiery red skin deepening in hue. His two eyeballs turned scarlet as well, as if two of the world’s most precious rubies had been inlaid into his sockets. His red hair surged upward with the eruption of his true qi, shaking violently.

He slightly bent his back. The thick vertebrae along his spine rubbed against each other, emitting loud friction sounds that became the only noise in the area, giving the impression that his very bones were being forcibly snapped inside him.

Bending low and flexing his legs, the sound of his spine escalated to thunder. The muscles beneath his skin swelled slightly, and his skin began to emit a faint luster, like the shiny paint on a car.

In the dark night, the crimson true qi pouring from his body illuminated the surrounding space with startling clarity, lending an unreal quality to the scene, as if he were not a living man but the legendary Flame Demon.

Qin Fen nodded in continuous admiration. The martial artists under the Divine Beast Sect were indeed extraordinary. Outside, a Martial Arts Master of this caliber was rare, yet here on Qilin Mountain, he had met four at once. This Chi Lei, who practiced the Magma Art and Flame Saber techniques, possessed considerable strength. Among the fifteen-star Martial Arts Masters he had encountered, Chi Lei was undoubtedly the strongest.

Seeing the admiration in Qin Fen’s eyes, a cold smile touched the corner of Chi Lei’s lips. His powerful frame swayed slightly, and synchronized with the erupting magma true qi, he let out a long, piercing roar that tore through the silent night sky, its echoes reverberating far into the distance.

The roar, coupled with the magma true qi, formed a swirling vortex of fire energy, spirit and power harmonizing to surge through every inch of his skin, threatening to burst forth from his pores. His fiery momentum escalated rapidly, akin to the mythical Fire Demon.

Suddenly, Chi Lei clamped his mouth shut, the external roar halting abruptly. The unrestrained momentum crashed inward. He stomped his feet hard on the ground, launching himself forward. The spot where he stood instantly collapsed and cracked, black smoke and dust swirling in the gale created by his charge, sweeping over every living thing in its path.

In a single leap, Chi Lei was before Qin Fen. The tremor from his landing behind him sounded like the impact of a ton of cannon shot, his imposing presence at its absolute peak.

Chi Lei attacked almost without warning, his first move an all-out critical strike. He spread both arms, the crimson magma true qi pouring from his body coating his forearms and palms, making both arms resemble two blazing, fiery sabers. His entire posture suggested an ancient general charging into a massive army. Especially the slight turn of his wrists left faint red traces in the air, like bloodstains left after cleaving an enemy's body.

Situ Nan’s lips and the corners of his eyes twitched rapidly. He inwardly cursed Qin Fen for his arrogance; one sentence had thoroughly infuriated Chi Lei. The heaven-obscuring might of the Flame Saber technique was a move Chi Lei would only use in a fight to the death.

In mere moments, Chi Lei unleashed the full extent of his life’s learning. With his full power, the distance between them seemed to vanish. He lunged at Qin Fen, bringing his two palms together, drawing the magma true qi sharply back into his body. The red light surrounding him intensified by several shades. His merged palms cleaved downward like a giant guandao, launching a blade-light streak that seemed tangible, aimed straight at Qin Fen.

Heaven and Earth Unite!

In an instant, Chi Lei had escalated his aura and power to the absolute maximum, from his furious roar to his attack. The Heaven and Earth Unite, which transformed the previously Heaven Obscuring technique, was the ultimate strike, reaching the most perfect state his martial path could achieve.

This move, Heaven and Earth Unite, was three parts more perfect than Pei Chengjun’s Great White technique on Mount Hanna that day—more precise in its targeting, more brutally violent.

Qin Fen felt the searing heat of the power rushing towards him. His Bow Stance remained unchanged; his arms swept out in arcs, coiling inward like vines wrapping around a tree. He did not use violent methods like the Dragon Cannon but instead employed the Entwine technique he had witnessed the King of Entwining, Chan Yi Chan, use against Song Wendong on Qilin Peak not long ago: Technique 1: Lingering Entanglement!

In the center of the fiery, explosive combat, a touch of softness was introduced as Qin Fen made his move. He pressed his left hand against the Heaven and Earth Unite and placed his right hand atop it, both hands beginning a clockwise rotation.

Chi Lei’s fierce Heaven and Earth Unite seemed to be subtly hindered by some negligible force, yet a sensation far greater than the resistance in his arms churned within him—it felt as if this coiling was not just wrapping his fist momentum, but ensnaring his very heart.

Situ Nan was astonished to find that the ferocious momentum of Chi Lei’s Heaven and Earth Unite had sharply diminished. Qin Fen’s arms, which appeared to be circling to diffuse the force, were clearly a smokescreen hiding a true, insidious killing move. His hands twisted and turned like a silkworm spinning silk; before Chi Lei’s merged, fierce blades could even unleash their killing light, Qin Fen’s arms had seemingly formed a sheath, sheathing the deadly blade.

The sharp edge of the Heaven and Earth Unite blade force seemed undiminished, yet Chi Lei’s lips began to twitch uncontrollably. This coiling seemingly carried no power, and it couldn't even alter the trajectory of the Heaven and Earth Unite blade. Yet, somehow, his own internal energy was being neutralized by it. This lingering entanglement was causing an indescribable discomfort.

“Not good!” Chi Lei cried out internally. A sharp stinging began in his arms locked in the Heaven and Earth Unite, as if they were about to be violently twisted and snapped by some formidable force. But this felt nothing like Qin Fen’s seemingly weak coiling.

Killing with a Soft Blade! Zeng Yicheng, the King of the Underhanded, had once described Hui Yi Chan’s Lingering Entanglement as "boiling a frog in warm water"—before the victim realized what was happening, their arm was already severed.

Having observed the masters’ battle on Qilin, Qin Fen’s comprehension of the ‘Entwine’ concept deepened. This entwining of the arms was like two giant pythons, or perhaps a vast net, completely sealing the unsheathed treasure blade. Chi Lei’s Heaven and Earth Unite attack was immediately stalled.

Lingering Entanglement was not a conventional martial art technique but Hui Yi Chan’s specialized martial skill, Entwine! Any part of the body—hands, feet, body—could be used to entwine, clinging on with the obsessive tenacity of heartbroken lovers.

Qin Fen could not achieve the supreme realm of Hui Yi Chan’s Entwine Art, but after witnessing the master’s battle, it was more than sufficient for dealing with Chi Lei. While his arms entangled, his legs and feet coiled around, wrapping towards Chi Lei’s rock-solid lower stance.

“What is this?” Chi Lei was greatly alarmed. The Heaven and Earth Unite possessed an irresistible forward momentum, but it had a secondary variation: if facing an opponent with formidable defense, it could transform into Heaven and Earth Open, erupting into thousands of flame blades attacking from all directions. But now, he felt powerless; his merged palms twisted and pushed outward, the high-temperature crimson flame blades seeming to transform into countless razor shards ready to spray from his arms.

Qin Fen’s expression was as deep as an abyss. He lowered his stance, sunk his hips, and his arms spun, suddenly yanking backward! The yet-to-be-unleashed destructive power of Chi Lei was countered by a feeling of lightness in his foundation; the rooted feet seemed to have lost all gravitational pull. His body involuntarily lurched forward, pulled by Qin Fen. The heavy leg bracing Chi Lei’s feet completely tripped him, and he was tossed outward with the momentum—a simple back throw, a Seoi Nage, executed perfectly from Qin Fen’s hands, slamming Chi Lei heavily onto the ground.

This shift was too fast! So fast that the other three Martial Arts Masters were momentarily stunned, unable to believe that the battle-hardened Master Chi Lei had been taken down by this young man using such a technique.

Situ Nan tapped his toes, using the movement technique Dragonfly Skims the Water. His metal staff swept out with his arm, transforming into a hundred streaks of golden light as a dull thudding resonance filled the air. Coupled with his ghostly evasion skills, he instantly appeared before Qin Fen. The staff he swept out then gave a sharp flick, causing the entire metal rod to spin at high velocity, frictionively scraping the air into a string of golden-red sparks, its piercing power far exceeding that of a spear or lance.

Qin Fen remained unhurried. He spread both hands, flipping his arms to wrap around the staff. Blue electrical arcs crackled and intensified instantly. Situ Nan smiled faintly, using his arm to flick upward, intending to shake off Qin Fen, whose body was slightly numbed by the high-voltage current.

Bang! As the staff was flicked upward, it emitted a dull thud, bending into an arch shape. Qin Fen’s arms showed no sign of being dislodged, still firmly coiled around the staff.

“What is this?” Situ Nan was momentarily taken aback. He never imagined his Peacock Spreads Its Tail move would be so easily entangled, nor that the high-voltage current would be completely ineffective. Qin Fen’s arms showed no sign of paralysis or weakness from the electric shock.

On the contrary! A powerful pulling and dragging force suddenly transmitted through the staff. Situ Nan felt a searing heat in his hands; the staff he had held firmly moments before was now being forcibly ripped from his grasp, completely beyond his control.

Qin Fen recalled his training at the Sacred Martial Hall, where Asura forced him through various bizarre tests to develop 'activity levels.' High-voltage electrical stimulation? That was the most basic, almost childish part of all Qin Fen’s training regimens.

Through years of hellish conditioning, Qin Fen’s body had developed super immunity. Tens of thousands of volts were insignificant not just to him, but to the entire Qin Fen squad.

Situ Nan lowered his stance, sinking his hips, his fingers gripping tightly. The grass beneath his feet seemed slicked with oil as the pulling force dragged him rapidly toward Qin Fen.

Situ Nan stamped his feet hard, releasing the staff, and used the Wu Kong Shu technique to fly off the ground. If he were pulled near Qin Fen, the consequences would be dire!

Qin Fen let out a long laugh. He stabbed the staff into the ground and advanced with his Electric Step. Opening his large hand, he seized Situ Nan’s ankle as he flew off the ground, not yet reaching high altitude, and exerted force downward with his internal energy.

Bang! Another tremor shook the ground, right beside where Chi Lei lay. The metal staff vanished completely from the sight of the onlookers. The sheer force drove the rod deep into the earth, as if it had never been there at all.

Yao Guang’s usually placid eyes could no longer conceal his astonishment. Chi Lei and Situ Nan had reached the fifteen-star level over a long period, forged through several life-or-death battles, placing them at the pinnacle of fifteen-star Martial Arts Masters.

When such warriors unleashed their maximum potential, the resulting power in a battle against peers required absolute focus to block. How could someone like Qin Fen overturn the outcome with such casual ease, as if he were sparring not against peers, but a child just learning martial arts?

The two Martial Arts Masters hadn't even managed a respectable fight against Qin Fen. The victory was completely overwhelming; Situ Nan and Chi Lei had absolutely no power to retaliate.

Neither Yao Guang nor Lian Wuguang could accept this result. They knew exactly how strong Chi Lei and Situ Nan were. In the current world, perhaps only Divine Beast-level warriors like Qilin, suppressing their power to the fifteen-star level, could defeat them with such ease, or perhaps the Star Constellation Generals. For a young Martial Arts Master who had only just broken past the fifteen-star threshold to achieve such a swift victory was simply unacceptable to them.

Yao Guang and Lian Wuguang exchanged a glance, seeing the decision in each other’s eyes. Even knowing Qin Fen possessed such formidable strength, they still needed to test it! Without experiencing it firsthand, they could not fully believe that this Martial Arts Master, not yet twenty years old, could be this overwhelmingly powerful.

Qin Fen maintained his Bow Stance, his palms parting slightly, one forward and one back, and nodded slowly. “Seniors, perhaps you should attack together.”