Chapter 467: A Race Against Time
The fifth continent was the smallest landmass inside the sacred royal ground, only a few thousand miles long. In the Jin Dynasty, it wouldn't even be one-tenth of a county.
Moreover, the formation here was very unstable on top of existing cracks; in essence, it could collapse at any moment. Because of this, with the power of a half-step Giant and continuous barrages, the prince could take down the entire place within half an hour.
With that, Feng Feiyun would no longer have a place to hide. This was the prince's only method to find Feiyun.
"Rumble!" He swiftly unleashed his strongest attacks on the land. Parts collapsed, leaving broken mountains to float in space.
Meanwhile, Feiyun was hiding deep underground, immersing himself into the hot lava. He was calculating how long it would take for the prince to take the place down.
"The pill gives a full hour of power, given that guy's speed, he will only need fifty-eight minutes and twenty-one seconds. Hmm, after the first minute and three seconds, I will only need to survive thirty-six seconds and he'll be the dead man." Feiyun narrowed it down to the exact second.
Thirty-six seconds seemed to be a short period of time but a half-step expert could unleash more than a hundred moves every three seconds. Meanwhile, Feiyun could only stop him for nine moves even with the spirit vessel.
This was indeed a great challenge.
"Waiting here will end with my death. I must disturb him in order to stay alive." A determined glint flashed in his eyes. He snapped off a small piece of golden ginseng and placed it in his mouth before rushing out of the lava back to the surface. He then headed towards the prince.
Though Feiyun was faster than the prince, bothering a half-step Giant was still fatally dangerous.
At this time, the prince was still trying his best to shatter this continent.
"Boom!" Suddenly, Feiyun drilled out from under him just like a lightning bolt. He slammed the spirit vessel at the prince.
Once the prince realized this, the vessel was already above his head so he could only retaliate: "Feng Feiyun, you're quite bold to take the initiative against me? I'll send you to the Yellow River then."
He unleashed a palm strike straight for the vessel. However, the vessel suddenly flew past his head. Feng Feiyun was already standing on it and rode the wind away to escape. The strike naturally missed.
He wasn't here to fight, only to bother the prince. Gaining each second was already a small victory.
"Feng Feiyun, where do you think you're going?!" The prince's body slightly trembled before it propelled towards Feiyun. He unleashed a barrage of devastating blows. Ten waves of light struck the vessel.
"Boom!" The ship was pushed all the way underground.
The prince got there but there was no trace of Feiyun.
"Shit, it's a trap, he's trying to buy time." The prince immediately took note of this and returned to the surface to begin his siege on the continent again.
Feiyun was hiding all the way in the core of the continent in an ocean of lava. He was bleeding in many different locations. The ten moves earlier from the prince had the first nine stopped by the vessel but the last one had exceeded Feiyun's limit. His body nearly collapsed as a result.
Fortunately, his physical endurance was tough enough to withstand an attack from a half-step Giant. This was certainly not easy.
"Thank god that I got the golden ginseng ready in my mouth or I probably couldn't have made it out. Oh well, it was definitely effective, he only got fifteen seconds left."
Feiyun knew that it would be difficult to trick the prince again. The same result won't be replicated again so he began healing for another shot.
He needed to get the last fifteen seconds. After ten minutes, he has fully recovered thanks to the ginseng.
Thus, Feiyun ambushed again but the prince was much smarter this time and didn't give chase after the initial attacks. He knew that he couldn't catch up anyway so he continued breaking the continent.
The prince was much more brutal this time. Feiyun's injuries were worse with several broken bones.
Feiyun only got six seconds this time, nine seconds left. He took another twenty minutes to heal. There wasn't much time left now.
"I can't do it in person because he'll attack with his strongest move. The vessel won't be able to stop it but if I only use the ring and jewel to attack from a distance, it won't be a threat to him at all. His bare hands can blow them away, it won't slow him down. Looks like I have to use the Minor Change Art then."
Feiyun sat cross-legged in the underground core. His forty intents flew out of his forehead. These intents were invisible and flew out of the mud. Each headed for a different location on the continent and seeped into the ground.
This was the only thing he came up with. This competition wasn't only about strength; wisdom and courage were also necessary.
The prince couldn't calculate everything down to the last detail like Feiyun and he couldn't buy more time either.
More often than not, just the blink of an eye could determine the outcome of a top battle.
"Rumble!" The continent finally collapsed in whole into multiple pieces, some were several dozen miles long.
The prince could feel his power dispersing in another nine seconds. Thus, he didn't waste time speaking and directly attacked Feiyun with his strongest moves.
In just three seconds, he unleashed more than seventy attacks.
Feiyun also went all out at this moment and used all of his ace cards - the vessel, Infinite Spirit Ring, Thunderfire Jewel, and the stone saber. He barely managed to stop the first wave of the onslaught. Nevertheless, he still spat out a mouthful of blood.
This was because the prince's power was deteriorating or Feiyun wouldn't have been able to repel the attacks.
"Rumble!" In the next three seconds, the prince unleashed another fifty moves. He was no longer at the half-step Giant's level this time around.
This time around, Feiyun directly activated the power from Yama's spine. Its evil power coursed through his body and stopped the second wave of attack. Alas, he could no longer stand straight and with numerous broken bones.
Nevertheless, his battle intent still surged as he laughed loudly: "The final move is mine!"
He lost his ability to move already but he could still control his battle intents. The forty strands that have seeped into the ground activated at the same time.
"Minor Change Art, Heaven Punishing Hammer!"
"Boom!" Forty large boulders suddenly flew and formed a circle. They then gathered together to create a gigantic hammer made out of stone and smashed downward.
"No..." The prince screamed with indignation and also released his final move. Alas, it was not enough to stop the hammer. It smashed him into a bloody pool on the ground.
Feiyun finally relaxed after the prince was dead. He sat down and meditated in order to recover.
The Regal Ancestors from the distance glanced at each other: "These brats at second and third-level Heaven's Mandate could already initiate a battle at the half-step level, shattering the fifth continent."
"And here I thought they would be killed by the disasters here so I came to watch but this is the final outcome? So strong, this generation will be more prosperous than all the previous. These geniuses are much stronger than those in the past and can't be judged with common sense."
"Feng Feiyun still won in the end. Even the power of an Ancient Pill can't take him down. He can handle the Divine King's position."
This was only the first day yet the result had been decided. In the next five days, Feiyun was cultivating inside the royal sacred ground.
The examination was ten days long. It needed to be a whole ten days before he could leave.