"No need, I just want more savings. If I truly face him, I can enter the Saint realm at a moment's notice!" Qian Jin stared at Jin Ze Tian Lu, "No wonder he challenged me; he's a Wight. That's why he's reached the Saint realm."

Since Thunder Lion King Tian Lian Ling Guan fell in battle, Qian Jin’s reputation subtly implied he was the foremost expert below the Saint realm. No established powerhouse below the Saint realm would proactively provoke Qian Jin, yet Jin Ze Tian Lu had issued a challenge.

Qian Jin had previously found it strange that Jin Ze Tian Lu, despite his immense power, would challenge him, the foremost figure beneath the Saints. At this moment, he finally understood completely.

"Young man, the day of our duel approaches quickly," Jin Ze Tian Lu walked past Qian Jin, a faint smile on his face. "I feared you wouldn't dare come to my domain, so I took the liberty of coming to find you."

"En," Qian Jin nodded seriously, his expression conveying genuine kindness. "Here's some advice: pick a good burial plot now. If I defeat you, you won't get to choose."

Jin Ze Tian Lu's proud features stiffened slightly. He studied Qian Jin with curiosity before bursting into laughter. "Interesting, truly interesting! Young man, if you reached the Saint realm, I might actually consider your words. As for now..."

Jin Ze Tian Lu merely sneered, saying no more.

"How comfortable is it, being a dog for the Wights?"

Qian Jin’s cold words suddenly sounded from behind Jin Ze Tian Lu.

Jin Ze Tian Lu’s body visibly trembled. Deep killing intent filled his returning pupils, though his face maintained an expression of innocence. "What did you say? I don't understand."

"Don't understand?" Qian Jin didn't even lift his eyelids. "I sincerely hope you don't understand. Next time you want to play the dog, hide that long grey tail dragging on the ground first; that's how people believe you." Or else, with a Wight Crest branded on your forehead, it’s hard for anyone to take you seriously."

"Wight Crest?" Jin Ze Tian Lu’s eyes became extremely unsightly, yet his face maintained that near-distorted smile. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do Wights really exist?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Qian Jin suddenly strode forward. The entire high platform beneath his feet shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck. In a single motion, a surge of energy rose up like mountains, and a punch shot out toward Jin Ze Tian Lu from a distance.

This punch seemed like a sovereign descending, vast and mighty like a rolling river. Countless streams of energy shattered under the sheer force of this strike, causing the high platform to shake even harder.

"You dare strike me!"

Jin Ze Tian Lu’s grey eyes snapped wide open. His palms rotated, delivering a chopping strike downward, meeting Qian Jin’s punch head-on. Disbelief filled his pupils—to actually strike? Knowing he was a Saint realm expert, yet daring to act so rashly?

The moment the fist energy exploded in mid-air, Qian Jin did not retreat but advanced, taking another violent step. With this stomp, the shaking platform seemed to plunge like a pile driver, sinking into the deeper earth, which strangely stopped the shaking.

"You're courting death!" Jin Ze Tian Lu’s power surged repeatedly. He unleashed the full strength of his Saint realm expertise but intentionally kept his Soul Domain sealed.

Soul Domain? Does a Saint realm expert need to use a Soul Domain against an expert who hasn't reached that realm? Jin Ze Tian Lu blasted out a punch with surging momentum. A grey python Battle Soul appeared on his arm, its fangs chillingly sharp, coiling around his arm bones, making his limb resemble a giant serpent. As the violence erupted, the serpentine form wrapped around his entire body.

This Battle Soul was condensed to near-physical form; to the naked eye, it appeared similar to a Bloodline Warrior's Bloodline Manifestation, yet it wasn't truly one.

"Courting death? Today I will force out your Wight identity!"

Watching Jin Ze Tian Lu's attack rush towards him, Qian Jin shrugged, summoning the Saint Artifact war-hammer into his hand, merging five of the Eighteen Ascending Peak Hammers into one!

"Distill the essence, discard the false, retain the true; beneath the stars, nothing is fake!"

Qian Jin recited his realization softly. As he moved, star-like light rose around the hammer, countless radiant specks encircling and shining, as if creating a myriad of stars that enveloped Jin Ze Tian Lu.

"Not good!" Jin Ze Tian Lu sensed the Saint Artifact empowering Qian Jin; the resulting might was no less than that of a genuine Saint realm expert. The Soul Domain he had kept sealed until now could no longer be held back, and he dared not treat Qian Jin as a minor figure still below the Saint realm.

"Viscous Soul Domain! Open for me! Qian Jin, be stilled!"

The air instantly became incredibly thick. Everyone on the plaza felt as if they had fallen into a vat of dense paste, making any movement agonizingly difficult.

With the Viscous Soul Domain open, everything around slowed down, even giving the illusion that he could control time itself, slowing it down.

Wind flared beneath Jin Ze Tian Lu’s feet as he moved with incredible speed, closing the distance as if shrinking the space between them. His large hand snapped open from above, enveloping Qian Jin entirely under his palm pressure. "Kneel!"

"Burning Soul Domain! Open! Incinerate all of this! Violent Soul Domain, blossom for me! Unleash the power that can tear apart even the stars!"

While activating the Eighteen Ascending Peak Hammers, Qian Jin also urged the nascent forms of the two Soul Domains within him—the boiling, fervent Burning Soul Domain and the roaring, surging Violent Soul Domain—to clash, channeling them into the war-hammer.

Jin Ze Tian Lu’s scalp prickled. His Soul Domain failed to restrict his opponent’s movement in the slightest. If that Saint Artifact hammer truly collided with his palm, his hand would certainly be shattered!

Dodge! Jin Ze Tian Lu made a hasty decision. Qian Jin couldn't maintain high-speed movement in his Soul Domain for long. Just holding out for a few breaths would be enough to wear him down.

"Ten Thousand Shadows!"

Seeing Jin Ze Tian Lu flash away, leaving behind an almost substantial shadow in his original spot, Qian Jin appeared directly in front of him.

"A perfect opportunity!"

Jin Ze Tian Lu felt a surge of joy. At this proximity, Qian Jin couldn't deploy the war-hammer. He smirked as he watched Qian Jin’s incoming punch. How could he, a Saint realm expert, fail to block such a punch? Instead, this brat was unlucky! Trading a punch head-on with a Saint realm expert? That would surely pulverize his body.

Qian Jin’s fist and Jin Ze Tian Lu’s fist crossed, smashing into each other's lower abdomens...

The next moment! Jin Ze Tian Lu’s entire face contorted. The ferocious power pierced through his lower abdomen, blasting the clothes on his back into shreds!

This was...? Jin Ze Tian Lu blinked, staring at Qian Jin in disbelief. He had actually been breached by this man? And his internal organs and body had suffered severe trauma!

Why? How was this possible? Jin Ze Tian Lu heard the sound of his own bones breaking from the punch he landed on Qian Jin’s stomach. The initial excitement was instantly drowned out by the searing pain.

That's right! Someone’s bones had indeed broken! But it wasn't Qian Jin who was hit; it was Jin Ze Tian Lu, the attacker, whose own bones had snapped!

Wind and Cloud Golden Body, Golden Body Realm!

The immense defensive power! Even an expert like Jin Ze Tian Lu, who had just entered the Saint realm, could not pierce the formidable defense of the Golden Body Realm!

In the next instant, Jin Ze Tian Lu's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string!

"Trying to retreat?" Qian Jin raised his hand and snatched, aiming directly for Jin Ze Tian Lu's head. His fingers burst forth like claws forged from Vajra; a direct grasp would certainly crush a man's skull.

Pain was affecting Jin Ze Tian Lu’s combat effectiveness.

At this critical moment, driven by the instinct to survive, Jin Ze Tian Lu dared not conceal anything further. The Wight Crest on his forehead emitted a faint, icy breath, and all physical pain vanished instantly!

Indeed, Wights could completely suppress pain nerves!

Qian Jin remembered several mentors mentioning this fact: when a creature feels no pain, although its reactions slow slightly, the loss of pain also drastically reduces its fear of death, sometimes even breeding a false conviction that they cannot die. This fearlessness, when channeled into combat, is far more potent and troublesome than the mere absence of pain.

In a flash of lightning, Jin Ze Tian Lu tilted his head; Qian Jin managed to rip off only his ear as the man retreated and flew backward.

Saint realm experts could fly!

In the sky, Jin Ze Tian Lu looked utterly shaken, completely unaware that his ear was bleeding profusely. His hazy grey eyes stared intently at Qian Jin, oppressive emotion filling his chest. A dignified Saint realm expert had been forced back by a young warrior who hadn't even reached the Saint realm.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Jin Ze Tian Lu roared under his breath. This confrontation had been too disadvantageous. If he had also possessed a Saint Artifact, it would have been Qian Jin who died just now. But he didn't have one!

Let alone a Saint Artifact, he didn't even possess a Soul Weapon!

Jin Ze Tian Lu looked up regretfully toward the endless deep sea behind him. If only he had a weapon to match, he could have killed Qian Jin just then!

That was right! Although Qian Jin was not a Saint realm expert, he wielded a Saint Artifact and could unleash its full power!

A Saint Artifact whose full might was exerted was no less potent than the intrinsic strength of a Saint realm expert. Jin Ze Tian Lu felt as if he had been fighting two entities simultaneously: a Saint realm expert, and Qian Jin, the foremost expert below the Saints.

That martial path, which seemed to command the stars, placed immense pressure even on a Saint realm expert to perceive clearly, compounded by the power of that Saint Artifact.

Qian Jin frowned slightly, looking at Jin Ze Tian Lu suspended in the sky. This man was indeed a Wight! This probing exchange had completely confirmed his suspicion. It was just a pity... about that bizarre Soul Domain...

If it had been a different Soul Domain, Qian Jin was confident he could have shot the man down even with an arrow. But this particular domain made anything entering it feel as if it were glued in place.

Continue fighting? Looking at Qian Jin holding the Saint Artifact, Jin Ze Tian Lu felt a headache coming on. He was injured from his earlier carelessness and certainly not at his peak now. Lacking any Saint Artifact, winning was highly uncertain.

A Wight? What is a Wight? Do Wights truly exist?

Curiosity filled the eyes of all onlookers. Did this species, existing only in the songs of bards, truly exist?

Blydas looked up at Jin Ze Tian Lu in the sky, momentarily stunned. His gaze swept over the Saint Artifact in Qian Jin’s hand, and a spark of understanding flashed in his pupils.

"Jin Ze Tian Lu's invitation, how could I, Blydas, refuse it?"