Chapter 1227: Domineering
“White-robed brat, don’t be too arrogant. With Elder Feng’s cultivation as a half-step Martial Emperor, how can he not break your restrictions?!”
“When we stand up again, we will deal with you together. After offending our Heavenly Essence Merchant Association, you will not have a good ending.”
“Elder Feng, break the restrictions and show this brat. Show him our might!”
The five kneeling Heavenly Essence Merchant Association quasi-Emperors felt very confident after seeing Elder Feng arrive. Now, they no longer showed any fear of Xiao Chen.
Elder Feng smiled coldly and immediately threw a palm strike the moment he raised his hand. Then, he roared, “Break for me!”
Elder Feng paid special attention and did not overly underestimate Xiao Chen. Although the force of this palm strike was split into five, he already used seventy percent of his Law Energy.
In Elder Feng’s opinion, using seventy percent of his strength against the restrictions of a Consummation quasi-Emperor was already giving a lot of face.
For regular Consummation quasi-Emperors, he did not even need to use half his strength to squish them.
The thought was nice, but the reality was cruel.
The power of the world that Elder Feng’s palm strike drove caused the entire south of the city to tremble. Without formations to protect them, countless buildings crumbled when they started shaking.
The winds and clouds stirred in the sky, thick clouds churning continuously. Even though the force of the palm strike was divided into five, each portion still carried a strength that could destroy a mountain as it launched over.
However, the restrictions on the five quasi-Emperors did not budge at all. The five vast portions of the power of the world failed to have any effect whatsoever.
The Primordial Energy that Xiao Chen left in the five did not loosen up when facing the surging power of the world. Instead, when the two energies met, the collision made it even more unbearable for the five kneeling people.
Blood leaked out of their mouths as they cried out in pain.
“Elder Feng, what’s going on? Why is the restriction not broken? Instead, I feel like the formless mountain pressing on me became even heavier.”
“Elder Feng, please stop!”
Earlier, these five were behaving extremely ferociously, shouting out that they wanted Xiao Chen to kneel and beg for mercy. However, in the next moment, they could not bear it anymore and cried out in pain.
Such a scene also shocked everyone watching. Even when a half-step Martial Emperor came, these five still could not stand up.
Xiao Chen’s methods were a little too domineering. Could it be that he really wanted these five quasi-Emperors to kneel here for one whole month?
Just thinking about it felt very cruel. No quasi-Emperor would be able to endure such humiliation. It would leave a shadow in their hearts that they would never be able to get rid off.
“Damn it! Why is it like this?!”
Elder Feng goggled, never having expected such a result. He had just said earlier that he could quickly break these restrictions. However, even after using seventy percent of his Law Energy, he still did not succeed.
Like the five kneeling people, Elder Feng lost face as well.
“This old man doesn’t believe that I cannot deal with this!”
Elder Feng’s face sank. Now thoroughly angered, he unleashed his full strength, not holding anything back. He intended to use the most violent method to break the strange restrictions on the five straightaway.
He did not care about the five people kneeling on the ground and moaning in pain. When he threw the palm strike, tiny cracks appeared in space, and the ground quickly ruptured.
The horrifying mysterious phenomenon from him using his full strength struck the restrictions on the five.
This force was indeed very horrifying. The restrictions on the five lost their balance.
The Primordial Energy that Xiao Chen left behind could no longer hold the complete restriction and started to crumble.
Elder Feng showed a faint smile and said, “Just a small trick. How can it be too difficult for me?!”
“Pu ci!”
Right after Elder Feng spoke, the five kneeling quasi-Emperors each vomited and exploded, no longer able to withstand the clash of the two energies, dying on the spot.
The Primordial Energy left on the five no longer maintained the state of a restriction. The divided strand came out with a ‘whoosh’ and merged into one complete strand of Primordial Energy.
This energy turned into a purple saber light. Then, with the speed of light, it shot towards the greatly startled Elder Feng, whose smile froze.
“Primordial Energy! This is a means available only to Martial Emperors! How can it be—”
Before Elder Feng could finish speaking, the strand of Primordial Energy turned into a saber light, pierced the armor he wore, stabbed through his chest.
It left a gaping bloody hole, a very cruel sight to behold. Against a higher-level energy, Elder Feng’s Law Energy could not put up an effective defense.
Xiao Chen, who simply watched coldly from start to end, not even moving his feet, suddenly shouted, “You shall kneel as well!”
It was just that Xiao Chen could not be bothered to make a move. However, when he did, it would be a sure kill.
The moment Elder Feng was severely injured, Xiao Chen swiftly made his move. He instantly circulated the remaining nine strands of Primordial Energy in the Heart of an Emperor in his body.
When Xiao Chen threw a palm strike, it was like he was forcibly moving space around.
When the palm strike landed on Elder Feng’s shoulder, there was a ‘plop’ as Xiao Chen drove this half-step Martial Emperor to his knees. Then, with a ‘crunch,’ a horrifying energy shot out from Elder Feng’s knees.
Aside from the Azure Dragon Merchant Association, everything within five kilometers, all the pavilions and buildings, turned to ashes in an instant.
As for those cultivators who had soared into the air to dodge the energy wave, they goggled in complete disbelief at what they just saw.
Xiao Chen had actually forced a half-step Martial Emperor, who had hooted about killing him, into a kneeling position.
When this Elder Feng arrived, he came giving off a murderous intent and speaking arrogantly. Now, he knelt on the ground, his face filled with horror.
Xiao Chen’s hand remained on Elder Feng’s shoulder, pressing down on him. No matter how Elder Feng struggled, he could not move at all.
“Stop struggling already. If you keep struggling, it won’t be as simple as you being humiliated,” Xiao Chen said expressionlessly and coldly.
Elder Feng was dumbfounded, unable to recover his wits completely. Xiao Chen, a Consummation quasi-Emperor, actually used Primordial Energy, an energy that only Martial Emperors could use. This was simply too shocking.
The other people watching the excitement might simply find this incredible; that Xiao Chen was ridiculously strong. After all, they did not know why he was this strong.
However, Elder Feng knew. This was Primordial Energy, an energy that came from outside time and space. It was termed as Primordial Energy by the circle of Martial Emperors. Without advancing to Martial Emperor, it would be very difficult to understand it.
Xiao Chen said indifferently, “Let me ask you something. Were you the one behind the smashing of my Azure Dragon Merchant Association’s signboard, directing things behind the scenes?”
When Elder Feng heard Xiao Chen’s question, he recovered his wits and felt terrified, ceasing his struggles.
That blue-clad middle-aged man had merely been the ostensible manager of this branch. The actual person in charge was this Elder Feng.
Without this Elder Feng’s approval, that blue-clad man would not have done anything like smashing the signboard of others to slap another’s face like that.
Even if others mistakenly entered their territory, they would just teach such people a lesson and chase them away. There was no need to go to the extreme of smashing another’s signboard.
A light flickered in Elder Feng’s eyes. However, he still answered honestly under Xiao Chen’s coercion. “It was under my instructions. The Heavenly Essence Merchant Association had recently been on the decline. I was just looking for a way to establish our might. Who knew that the Azure Dragon Merchant Association would be so strong?”
Xiao Chen entered deep thought for a moment. He had not expected that such a simple reason resulted in the dignity of the Azure Dragon Merchant Association’s people getting trampled on ruthlessly.
If he had not come here by coincidence, Jin Dabao and his group might have suffered greater humiliation.
“You are rather direct and did not try to beat about the bush. I will not make things difficult for you. Just kneel at the entrance of the merchant association for three days, and I’ll leave the matter be.”
Smashing another’s signboard was equal to slapping their face. To a merchant association, it could be said to be the greatest humiliation. Xiao Chen did not feel that he went overboard with this. Both reason and morality stood with him.
Even if the Martial Emperor of the Heavenly Essence Merchant Association in Treasure Dragon Island rushed over, Xiao Chen would insist on what was right, not stepping back at all. He did not give Elder Feng any chance to argue or anything, directly using eight strands of Primordial Energy to form a restriction on Elder Feng’s body.
This resulted in Elder Feng being unable to move at all, not even to say a word.
When the cultivators who came to watch the excitement saw this, they got an impression of incomparable dominance and boldness. The entire Dragon Grave Sea would definitely get stirred up because of this.
Just at this moment, a figure suddenly descended from the sky. This figure gave off a strong aura along with a horrifying pressure.
As this figure slowly descended, the pressure on everyone’s shoulders increased bit by bit.
“This is the Martial Emperor that commands the Heavenly Essence Merchant Association in the Dragon Grave Sea, Senior Luo Zhen!”
Many cultivators gaped. They had suspected that today’s matter would definitely startle the Martial Emperor in command of the Heavenly Essence Merchant Association in the Dragon Grave Sea into action. However, no one expected that he would arrive so fast. Xiao Chen literally just subdued this Elder Feng when the Heavenly Essence Merchant Association’s Martial Emperor, Luo Zhen, appeared.
This Martial Emperor wore plain robes of alternating blue and white. He had long hair and a long goatee. Unlike the cultivators of the Dragon Grave Sea, he lacked the aura of killing and a foreboding air, giving off a peaceful feeling—a rare sight.
“I just obtained the news, and I immediately rushed over. However, I was still too late.”
Luo Zhen looked at the kneeling Elder Feng and frowned slightly. Then, he looked up at Xiao Chen and said, “Not bad. Looks like the rumors are true. You have indeed condensed the Heart of an Emperor.”
Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows and said, “This is rather surprising. This should be the first time I met with Senior. How is it that you are so clear on my matters?”
Smiling faintly, Luo Zhen replied, “The people of our circle have been paying attention to you since long ago. The flow of news about you has never been cut off. In the circle of Martial Emperors, there is a Martial Emperor Reserve Ranking. In recent years, you are the one to rise the fastest on this ranking. At the highest, you ranked in the top twenty.”
Top twenty?
If there really was such a ranking, Xiao Chen was rather happy to be ranked in the top twenty.
The Martial Emperor Reserve Ranking was not a ranking of the outstanding talents from the younger generation. Instead, it recorded all the cultivators in the past millennium who could advance to Martial Emperor.
Age and seniority were not considerations. It was simply a ranking that listed those qualified to advance to Martial Emperor. Regardless of whether they had lived some hundred years or just decades, as long as one could possibly advance to Martial Emperor, they would be there.
How long exactly was a millennium? How many geniuses would appear one after another in this period of time? The Martial Emperor Reserve Ranking was precisely such a ranking, a ranking of a thousand years of time. Basically, the older one was, the greater the likelihood of ranking high.
For Xiao Chen to be able to make it into the top twenty at the young age of thirty-one was indeed something very difficult to accomplish.
“However, even though you rose fast, you fell fast as well. Your ranking just fell out of the top hundred.”