“This is impossible!”
Seeing this, Dongfang Yun’s pupils abruptly contracted, and he blurted out unconsciously.
In his heart, turbulent waves surged.
‘After taking so many heavy blows from the war puppet, is this all the damage?’
“Alright, I roughly understand the principle… now, it’s my turn.”
Chen Yuyang moved his joints, muttering in a voice only he could hear.
The next moment, a ghostly blue flame suddenly ignited around the youth’s body.
That was the Hao Yang True Flame!
At the same time, Chen Yuyang lightly tapped his foot on the ground.
The ground, like a lake hit by a giant rock, suddenly rippled in layers, sending gravel and mud splashing in all directions.
The simultaneously erupting terrifying heat instantly carbonized all vegetation within several dozen yards.
Chen Yuyang’s figure transformed into a blue meteor, shooting straight into the sky.
His already extraordinarily powerful body, now propelled by the Hao Yang True Flame, became even more ferocious.
His fist, condensing ultimate power, slammed heavily into the war puppet’s abdomen.
Pfft!
The immense force transmitted through the puppet’s shell to the inside.
Dongfang Yun only felt a sharp pain, a surge of heat rushing to his throat.
He barely held back from spitting blood.
The huge war puppet lost control, flying backward dozens of yards before barely stopping and stabilizing.
What… what kind of monster is this guy?
Dongfang Yun was completely dumbfounded now.
His heart was no longer just surprised or shocked, but beginning to feel… fear.
Yes, fear!
He was truly scared.
What terrifying talent was this?
To allow him, at the Golden Core stage, using his physical body, to overpower him—a Nascent Soul cultivator—while wearing the war puppet!
Was this what a true child of heaven was like?
However, if Chen Yuyang knew what Dongfang Yun was thinking at this moment, he would probably feel embarrassed.
Talent?
If we’re talking about initial talent, he had spent a lifetime of bitter training and could only reach the bottom of the Nascent Soul realm.
What talent did he have?
He had only accumulated a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation, tempered by countless heavenly thunderbolts, making his basic physical stats just a little higher than average.
Yeah, just a little.
Not giving the other party much time, Chen Yuyang exploded again.
The youth’s figure flickered as he closed in, just like the war puppet had done earlier, launching a storm of attacks at the opponent.
Punch, punch, another punch.
Simple, direct punches, no fancy moves.
But each fist condensed extremely surging spiritual power and the Hao Yang True Flame.
His fist directly collided with the war puppet’s metal armor, producing a series of thump thump thump thump sounds.
With each punch’s impact, cracks began to appear on the puppet’s surface.
Dongfang Yun mobilized all his spiritual power, struggling to control the war puppet to defend.
Yet every collision made his heart tremble.
His spiritual power was depleting rapidly.
Almost every punch the other threw cost him a chunk of spiritual power.
And he had burst forth with over a dozen punches in one breath, yet showed no sign of fatigue, as if his spiritual power was inexhaustible.
“At this rate, my spiritual power will be exhausted quickly!”
Dongfang Yun realized this and gritted his teeth fiercely.
Damn it, go all out!
A trace of madness flashed in the youth’s eyes.
He suddenly erupted his spiritual power without reservation.
With a sweeping blast of fierce energy, Chen Yuyang’s movement temporarily stalled, but mainly because he wanted to see if there were any other changes.
Dongfang Yun quickly pulled back a dozen yards.
“Kid, you are strong.”
Dongfang Yun’s voice came through the war puppet, carrying a resolute tone: “But I still have one last move! If you can withstand it, I, Dongfang Yun, will concede willingly, no excuses!”
Hearing this, Chen Yuyang quickly nodded and agreed readily: “Fine, go ahead and unleash your move.”
Receiving the response, Dongfang Yun hesitated no longer and immediately began to gather power.
The array joints all over the war puppet began to emit even more dazzling red light.
The surrounding world’s spiritual energy was also frantically absorbed into the body in some manner.
The war puppet started to emit an extremely terrifying and powerful aura.
Dongfang Yun focused completely, eyes shut tight, pouring all his spiritual power and mental energy into the preparation of this final strike.
This strike would place an enormous burden on his body, to the point that even with ample healing pills, he would need at least a month to recover.
But…
Dongfang Yun felt it was worth it.
To defeat him.
To defeat this opponent—the strongest he had ever encountered.
However, just as Dongfang Yun was halfway through charging, the war puppet’s entire body turning crimson, he suddenly saw something.
The youth in front of him had vanished!
“Where… where is he?” Dongfang Yun was stunned.
“Right here!”
Just as he was startled, a flat voice sounded from behind him.
Dongfang Yun whirled around.
There was Chen Yuyang, who had somehow appeared directly behind him, holding a teleportation talisman that was turning to ash.
Before Dongfang Yun could react, Chen Yuyang turned his right hand into a blade and ruthlessly chopped at the war puppet’s neck.
Crack!
A crisp sound—though it didn’t sever the puppet’s head.
However, the massive force penetrated into the war puppet, not only interrupting Dongfang Yun’s charge but also sending a shock that made his throat sweeten.
He immediately spat a mouthful of blood.
“You… you’re so despicable!”
Dongfang Yun shouted in shock and rage, pointing at the youth with a hoarse voice.
Chen Yuyang’s face remained calm as he countered, “What else? Was I supposed to stand there and take that hit? Do you think I’m stupid, or are you the stupid one?”
“I… I still have one move left! I’m not satisfied!”
Dongfang Yun’s eyes were bloodshot, but feeling his spiritual power exhausted, he could only roar.
“Not satisfied, then get out!”
Chen Yuyang snorted lightly, not bothering to waste words with him.
Channeling spiritual power, the youth twisted his body, sweeping his leg in a wide arc and slamming down, smashing the puppet’s head into its chest.
At that moment, the teleportation talisman on Dongfang Yun activated, transporting him and the war puppet out of the secret realm.
….
Moments earlier.
Outside the secret realm, the leaders of various sects and families who had brought their disciples gathered here.
But at this moment, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
For the past few days, Xuan Ji’s face had never looked good.
The reason was simple.
Too many of the Xuan Clan’s disciples had been eliminated, a veritable heavy loss.
Even Xuan Tian, whom he had high hopes for and regarded as the pillar of the Xuan Clan’s younger generation, had been teleported out yesterday with serious injuries.
This secret realm trial was not just bad for the Xuan Clan; nearly all participating sects and families had alarmingly high elimination rates.
Some factions had even been completely wiped out.
This only indicated one thing: The conflicts erupting in this secret realm were far more intense than in previous years.
And one faction, or a few key individuals, held an absolutely overwhelming advantage over the others.
Combined with the current situation, even without asking the eliminated disciples for details, Xuan Ji could guess that the party with the absolute advantage must include the Dongfang Family.
Because the Dongfang Family had only eliminated one person so far.
This time, the Dongfang Family had prepared thoroughly for the trial, bringing three of their best from this generation.
Their talent, even Xuan Ji had to admit, was indeed outstanding.
Even surpassing his own great-grandson, Xuan Tian.
These three were the focus of the Dongfang Family’s current cultivation, regarded as the future pillars of the family.
As the weakest of the four great families, the Dongfang Family’s young generation was now displaying such astonishing dominance.
This was not good news for the second-ranked Xuan Clan or the top-ranked Yan Family.
Yan Dangmo, sitting beside Xuan Ji, also had a dark expression and remained silent.
His mood wasn’t great either.
Because so far, the Yan Family had also lost about two-thirds of its disciples.
The only slight comfort for both Xuan Ji and Yan Dangmo was that Xuan Ke and Yan Luo were still inside the secret realm.
Just as Xuan Ji and Yan Dangmo each sat in silence, a deliberately sharp voice suddenly inserted itself between them.
“Senior Xuan Ji, Senior Yan Dangmo, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
The speaker was none other than the current head of the Dongfang Family, Dongfang Shou.
He maintained a posture of a junior, bowing slightly to the two, but the smugness in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Dongfang Shou knew best that before entering the secret realm, his disciples had prepared communication talismans to quickly locate each other and form a united front.
Add to that the three Nascent Soul cultivators—Dongfang Yun, Dongfang Bai, and Dongfang Ge—and crushing the scattered disciples of other factions was a piece of cake.
Yan Dangmo glanced sideways at Dongfang Shou, letting out a low, cold snort, too lazy to respond.
But Xuan Ji, as the host, had to force a faint smile and asked flatly, “Patriarch Dongfang, what brings you here?”
Dongfang Shou immediately clasped his hands, putting on a worried expression: “Alas, Senior Xuan Ji, I am truly troubled.”
Yan Dangmo’s brow furrowed directly, his tone impatient: “Troubled? Speak plainly!”
“It’s like this.”
Dongfang Shou cleared his throat, his face showing concern: “During this secret realm trial, so many disciples have been seriously injured by my Dongfang Family’s disciples. I feel truly sorry in my heart, and I worry they might bear a grudge against my family.”
He paused, then continued with a sincere look: “So, junior thought to discuss with you, Senior Xuan Ji, about my family contributing some spirit stones to purchase healing pills and compensate the injured disciples as a token of gratitude.”
Hearing this, both Xuan Ji’s and Yan Dangmo’s brows twitched.
Saying it was compensation, but even a fool could tell this was a veiled boast!
A boast about his Dongfang Family disciples’ strength!