Ling Han smiled faintly, and said, “You recognize me?”

“I didn’t before, and I had only heard about some arrogant and haughty person who would rely on their fortunes to even disrespect Heavenly Venerates!” Yu Wudi said with a cold chuckle. “I already became invincible several epochs ago, so in my eyes, you’re nothing but trash!”

Hu Niu couldn’t help but giggle upon hearing this. “Keep bullsh*tting, why don’t you. A few epochs ago, you hadn’t even become a Celestial King yet. Who believes you?”

Yu Wudi was brimming with pride, and he said, “I was born seven epochs ago, and I’ve already been invincible among the Ascending Origin Tier for a very long time. However, my father determined that there would be an astonishing opportunity on this specific Celestial Path, so he sealed me away, waiting for this day to come.”

“Who’s your father?” Ling Han asked.

As if expecting this question, Yu Wudi puffed his chest out, and answered, “The Imperial Void Celestial King!”

Everyone wore an expression of realization upon hearing this. Looks of respect and reverence spread across their faces.

In the past, few people had known about the existence of Heavenly Venerates. However, everyone had known about the most powerful Celestial Kings. For example, the strength of the Imperial Void Celestial King definitely ranked in the top three.

Ling Han scoffed upon hearing this. “So it’s that old bastard.”

“You…!” Yu Wudi was instantly enraged. He pointed at Ling Han, and a baleful killing intent surged around his body.

“Is he not?” Ling Han asked calmly. “He picks on the weak, and he’s as shameless as can be! If I ascend to the Ninth Heaven, I’ll definitely behead him and use his head as a soccer ball!”

“You’re seeking death!” Yu Wudi roared. He immediately lunged at Ling Han, swinging his staff at his head. A sheet of purple light covered the air, causing the entire lake to ripple. However, no uncontrollable waves appeared. This was a lake that could birth Celestial Seeds, so it was naturally far from ordinary.

“Your sword!” With a powerful toss, the Empress immediately launched the Divine Demon Sword toward Ling Han.

Ling Han reached out with his right hand to catch the sword. Meanwhile, his left hand had already swung toward Yu Wudi. “You actually dare to challenge me with your measly strength?”

The Regulations of Space fluctuated, and Yu Wudi was instantly restrained.

The effects of the Crimson Demonic Earth had almost completely worn off, and his battle prowess had already fallen back to just over 4800. Meanwhile, Ling Han’s battle prowess was at 4900, so he naturally possessed a crushing advantage over his opponent. He suppressed Yu Wudi with absolute ease.

Yu Wudi unleashed a violent roar, and the Celestial Tool in his hand instantly released a brilliant glow. Bursts of purple aura swirled around him.

Peng!

The Regulations of Space shattered, allowing Yu Wudi to furiously charge forward. His Celestial Tool had carved a path for him, and he was now protected by a sheen of purple light. It was as if no attack could hit him.

This was the might of Celestial Tools. Ling Han could suppress Yu Wudi, but he couldn’t suppress his Celestial Tool. As long as the Celestial Tool could continue to unleash its might, Yu Wudi would be unaffected by Ling Han’s attacks.

Thus, even though Yu Wudi couldn’t unleash the full might of this Celestial Tool, just being able to use this ability alone already made him extremely frightening.

Ling Han smiled faintly. He had already put on that Celestial King Tier ring. He hadn’t fed it to the Divine Demon Sword, because he had felt like it might come in handy. Refining it would have been a waste. Moreover, it didn’t contain much material, either, so it would have been little help to the Divine Demon Sword.

He threw a punch at the golden-purple staff.

Peng!

There was a loud boom as a shock wave exploded outward, tearing apart space. This shock wave then rippled outward, violently blasting apart everything in its way.

Yu Wudi was forced to retreat several hundred meters. Blood poured from his shaking hands. He wasn’t shaking because he was afraid, but rather because of the tremendous force of the collision. He wore an expression of shock. He had actually been overpowered by Ling Han.

One had to realize that Ling Han had yet to activate his Body Arts. Otherwise, his Celestial King Tier strength might have directly blasted the staff into Yu Wudi’s head, instantly obliterating his mind.

Ling Han retrieved his fist. The ring was small, yet it was able to block the terrifying destructive power of Celestial Tools. In any case, these Celestial Tools couldn’t unleash their full might, so what was there to be afraid of?

“How’s that?” Ling Han asked.

Yu Wudi gritted his teeth in reply. Right now, he was unable to ingest any more Crimson Demonic Earth. After all, ingesting it in quick succession would be an act of self-harm or even suicide. Moreover, he understood that Ling Han was even more powerful than him—the rumors weren’t false. This young man was unbelievably terrifying. No wonder his father had warned him to be careful if he came across Ling Han.

However, if he ingested the Crimson Demonic Earth, what did it matter that Ling Han was powerful? At the most, his strength could only approach that of Celestial Kings. It would be unable to surpass this level.

Thus, there was absolutely no need for him to be afraid of Ling Han. As long as he had enough time, he could once again ingest some Crimson Demonic Earth.

However, Ling Han had no intention of wasting time. He glanced at the golden-purple staff with a smile, and said, “This Celestial Tool is fairly decent.”

“Hmph! Are you worthy enough to covet a Celestial Tool once used by my father?” Yu Wudi said in disdain. He channeled his Source Power, rapidly healing his wounds.

The Imperial Void Celestial King was incredibly powerful, and he had more so mastered many Regulations. Celestial Tools such as this staff had all been forged while he had been comprehending the Regulations of Metal. Now, however, there was already no need for the Imperial Void Celestial King to use Celestial Tools. This was because no Celestial Tool could match his strength. Meanwhile, in terms of Heavenly Venerate Tools… Firstly, he didn’t possess any Devouring Metal. Secondly, he didn’t have the skill to forge such tools.

Ling Han grinned with confidence, saying, “Before long, I’ll force that old geezer Imperial Void to kneel before me and admit defeat!”

“In your dreams!” Yu Wudi shouted. His face was scrunched up in fury, yet he forcefully stopped himself from lashing out.

This was only natural. He was still unable to ingest Crimson Demonic Earth, so battling against Ling Han at this moment would be a terrible decision for him.

However, would Ling Han care about this? He dashed forward, throwing punch after punch.

Yu Wudi hurriedly shot back in retreat. He knew that there was a slight gulf between him and Ling Han, so he would definitely be at a disadvantage if they exchanged blows head-on. Thus, he needed to buy some time. As long as he could drag things on until he could ingest the Crimson Demonic Earth again, he could launch a furious counterattack and perhaps even kill Ling Han.

However, Ling Han was already brimming with killing intent. He channeled the Regulations one after another, unleashing a petrifying might.

Fortunately, Yu Wudi had the help of the golden-purple staff. Otherwise, he would have been killed by Ling Han within 100 strikes. A battle prowess gap of 100 points was like the gap between a monarch tier and an emperor tier.

Ling Han roared with laughter, mocking, “You should change your name!”

His name was Wudi¹, yet he was retreating in disarray at this moment. Moreover, this was against an opponent at the same cultivation level.

Yu Wudi’s face went red with embarrassment. At that time, he had indeed been invincible among his peers. No one at the same cultivation level could rival him. If not for the profound opportunity today, he would have become a Ninth Heaven Celestial King a very long time ago. Would Ling Han have had the chance to act so wantonly before him?

Yu Wudi simply swung his staff to dispel the Regulations. He remained silent no matter how Ling Han taunted him.

However, Ling Han’s attacks became increasingly powerful, and it was as if each punch could shatter heaven and earth.

Yu Wudi started to struggle more and more. Even though he continued to evade, just being scraped by Ling Han’s fists would open gaping wounds on his body. Moreover, Ling Han was insanely fast, so if it weren’t for Yu Wudi’s Celestial Tool, perhaps he would have already become a corpse.

In any case, he was unaware of the freakish nature of Ling Han’s Body Arts, so he refused to believe that the gulf between them was so great. He was convinced that Ling Han had definitely ingested some Crimson Demonic Earth, and he was convinced that Ling Han was taking advantage of this fact to kill him as quickly as possible.

Shameless! Absolutely shameless!

Yu Wudi gritted his teeth as he defended with all his might. He was the descendent of a top-notch Celestial King, and he was also a freakish prodigy who had been invincible during his time. Thus, he naturally had his own outstanding talents and entire suites of celestial techniques that he could unleash. This was all to buy just a little bit of time.

However, under the suppression of absolute strength, his desire was nothing but an unreachable dream!

“You’re far too shameless!” he roared in fury. Ling Han had definitely told the Empress and Hu Niu to attack him on purpose just then. They had definitely attacked him on purpose to make him ingest some Crimson Demonic Earth.