Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”I said it before, today’s duel is a matter of life and death. Even if you surrender, I will still take your life!”

As for Lu Tianwen’s words, Yun Xiao didn’t take them too seriously. He had this kind of confidence, though he was also a bit curious now. Even Thousand Flowing Wound returned unsuccessful; what kind of poisonous method could this Lu Tianwen still have up his sleeve?

”Originally, I didn’t want to reveal it so soon, but now it seems that if I don’t give it my all, I can’t defeat you!”

Lu Tianwen was not angered by Yun Xiao’s words. His low whisper made many people speculate in their hearts and simultaneously gasp.

”Could it be...”

The few bigwigs seated in the north also felt turbulent waves in their hearts upon hearing Lu Tianwen’s whisper. They suddenly understood where their previous unease stemmed from.

Boom!

Amidst the stunned silence of everyone, a surge of powerful energy suddenly burst from Lu Tianwen’s body, followed by the energies between heaven and earth seemingly being drawn towards him.

”This is... the Early Stage of the Lingyun Realm?!”

Qingmu Wu, who had just broken through to the Early Stage of the Lingyun Realm, was undoubtedly the most keenly aware. Seeing him suddenly rise from his seat, his voice was tinged with a certain gloom.

”It seems we’ve all been deceived by that old guy!”

Although Qian Sanyuan remained seated, his voice was filled with emotion and a tinge of worry, for he clearly understood that Lu Tianwen’s sudden breakthrough at this moment was probably a premeditated suppression of his true power.

This was clearly not Lu Tianwen genuinely breaking through during the Poison Meridian Skill competition, but rather a special method he used to keep his cultivation suppressed at the Peak of the Floating Life Realm.

Even when he was provoked by Yun Xiao at the trade fair or killed his own direct disciple in the small square, Lu Tianwen did not reveal his Meridian Qi Cultivation at the Early Stage of the Lingyun Realm, all for this moment.

Moreover, Qian Sanyuan and others could all guess that the current aura of the Lingyun Realm Early Stage emitted by Lu Tianwen was not meant to crush Yun Xiao with Meridian Qi Cultivation but had a deeper purpose.

Whoosh... whoosh...

Amidst the raging Heaven and Earth Energy, there was also an invisible special force. All Heavenly Rank Low Level Meridian Refining Masters, including Qingmu Wu and Qian Sanyuan, could clearly sense what this formless power was.

”A Heavenly Rank Intermediate Soul; now we’re in trouble!”

Qingmu Wu mumbled to himself, his face turning extremely grim at this moment. He understood what this meant—it meant that Lu Tianwen was already at another level of the Meridian Refining Technique, a level on par with Lu Yanji, the President of the Meridian Refining Master Association.

If Qingmu Wu, Qian Sanyuan, and others had any hope earlier, they now had none at all.

The Vice President of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, known as Lu Tianwen, had long broken through to the level of a Heavenly Rank Intermediate Poison Vein Master, hiding it, just like his Meridian Qi Cultivation.

Compared to Meridian Qi Cultivation, the Power of Soul was much harder to improve. Take Qingmu Wu, for example; even though he broke through to the Early Stage of the Lingyun Realm, he didn’t know how long it would take to raise his Soul Power to the Heavenly Rank Intermediate level.

That was also the realm that Qian Sanyuan, Guan Rufeng, and other Heavenly Rank Low Level Meridian Refining Masters dreamed of, a realm they might never reach in their lifetime.

”I didn’t expect that old guy Lu Tianwen to quietly break through to a Heavenly Rank Intermediate Meridian Refiner, hiding it so well!”

As a Heavenly Rank Low Level Poison Vein Master, Qi Feng had no resentment left; instead, he was filled with envy. That higher realm was something he had pursued for nearly a hundred years, only to find himself unable to break through.

So Qi Feng knew that even if he hadn’t been defeated by Liu Hanyi earlier, he would still be no match for Lu Tianwen. The champion of this Meridian Refining Conference’s Poison Meridian Path was ultimately beyond his reach.

As for the other onlookers, both cultivators and Meridian Refining Masters, they too belatedly sensed the Power of Soul within that violent energy and thought of that possibility, undoubtedly mourning silently for Yun Xiao.

If others previously held great confidence in Yun Xiao because of his performance, now they had not a shred of confidence left.

After all, Yun Xiao was just a Heavenly Rank Low Level Poison Vein Master, and there was simply no comparison between the Low Level and Intermediate levels, just like the comparison between a Lingyun Realm expert and a Floating Life Realm cultivator.

A strong cultivator of the Lingyun Realm, even if it’s someone like Qingmu Wu who has just broken into the Lingyun Realm, would likely be able to swiftly deal with dozens or hundreds of Floating Life Realm Peak cultivators.

This demonstrates the essential difference between two Great Ranks, especially when this is between the Heavenly Rank Third Realm Great Rank. It can be said that at this moment, Lu Tianwen, after revealing his Heavenly Rank Intermediate level soul, has already stood in an invincible position.

At least on this continent, no one has ever heard of someone whose Meridian Refining Technique can leap a whole Great Rank and still emerge victorious in battle, not even Lu Yanji, the former number one Meridian Refiner and Heavenly List top-ranked person, had achieved such a heaven-defying feat.

Although Yun Xiao is indeed capable of defying the heavens and fighting across ranks in Meridian Qi Cultivation battles, the Meridian Refining Technique is different. The power of the soul is fundamentally different from Meridian Qi Cultivation, constituting a much stricter class division.

If a Meridian Refining Master of a lower Great Rank could still defeat a superior Meridian Refining Master, wouldn’t this grade division become a mess? No one believes such a situation will occur.

”Yun Xiao, did you not expect that in such a moment of great hope, you’d fall into despair? Does it feel quite good?”

Feeling his unrestrained Meridian Qi cultivation and soul power, Lu Tianwen was feeling quite pleased with himself, the words he spoke contained an air of superiority and confidence.

This young man named Yun Xiao in front of him had killed his own brother and provoked him into personally killing his most cherished direct disciple. Lu Tianwen’s intent to kill Yun Xiao had reached an unparalleled level.

If it weren’t for certain underlying reasons necessitating a delay earlier, Lu Tianwen would have been itching to unleash all his power to completely kill Yun Xiao; only that would satiate the hatred in his heart.

But Lu Tianwen knew, being cautioned by that presence, that no matter what, he dared not take Yun Xiao’s life. At most, he would render Yun Xiao a cripple by depleting his Meridian Qi.

Yet that would be enough, for in some cases, becoming a cripple by losing all Meridian Qi might be even harder to accept than to kill someone outright with a slap, right?

Especially for those dazzlingly talented figures on this continent, who’ve painstakingly elevated their Meridian Qi cultivation to such a realm, a sudden loss of it would be a fate worse than death.

Feeling the vast power of his Heavenly Rank Intermediate soul, Lu Tianwen was absolutely confident that this young man could no longer stir up any trouble in front of him.

What’s more, the deadly poison that Lu Tianwen was about to employ wasn’t even refined by himself; it was a gift from that presence, and its grade had reached the Heavenly Rank Intermediate level.

Compared to the Heavenly Rank Intermediate poisons of the Tenglong Continent, Lu Tianwen believed that the Heavenly Rank Intermediate deadly poisons from the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud realm were incomparably stronger, and thus Yun Xiao’s fate was sealed.

After all, Lu Tianwen had only recently broken through to become a Heavenly Rank Intermediate Meridian Refiner in just over two months, leaving him no time to refine exceedingly potent poisons.

Fortunately, he was now a Heavenly Rank Intermediate Meridian Refiner, so using someone else’s Heavenly Rank Intermediate poison wouldn’t make anyone suspicious, nor would anyone think he was cheating.

It was precisely under such circumstances that Lu Tianwen could feel so satisfied, thinking that this young man, who had killed his brother and disciple, would soon be rendered crippled and miserable, filling Lu Tianwen’s heart with an indescribable sense of fulfillment.

”If this Heavenly Rank Intermediate Poison Meridian Skill is your greatest reliance, then I must say, you are far too naive!”

Little did he expect that, just when Lu Tianwen was elated and nearly everyone believed Yun Xiao had no chance of turning the tide, a cold voice emerged from the mouth of this young man in coarse clothes.

Hearing the disdain in Yun Xiao’s tone, everyone felt a bit dumbfounded. That was a whole Great Rank difference, how could this young boy possibly turn the tables?

”Could it be that Yun Xiao has also hidden his strength?”

A small part of the crowd began to imagine wildly, but surprisingly, many people believed it as soon as it was said. They all stared at the coarse-clothed figure on the stone platform, expecting him to explode with that special breakthrough power, just like Lu Tianwen did earlier.

Of course, this was only referring to a breakthrough in the power of the soul for Yun Xiao. After all, if his cultivation at the Floating Life Realm Middle Stage suddenly leaped to the Lingyun Realm Early Stage, it would be too sensational to believe.

The legends surrounding Yun Xiao had been too dazzling lately, and the feats he accomplished were too extraordinary; no matter what happened on this young man, it wouldn’t be too hard to accept.

However, the peculiar guesses in people’s hearts ultimately all fell through. Yun Xiao was indeed a genuine Heavenly Rank Low Level soul, but compared to an ordinary Heavenly Rank Low Level Meridian Refiner on the Tenglong Continent, he was more than twice as powerful.

If it were a comparison of Meridian Qi combat power against a Lingyun Realm Early Stage Lu Tianwen, Yun Xiao, even if he used all his trump cards, could not necessarily contend; such a Great Rank difference could no longer be bridged by special means.

But now, it was merely a comparison of Poison Meridian Skill and with the Ancient Dragon Taming Technique and the golden snake worm on his side, along with a Dragon Summoning Tree Spirit Little Dragon capable of One Thought to Solve Myriad Poisons, Yun Xiao was already standing in an invincible position.

In terms of purely Poison Meridian Skill, Yun Xiao, apart from being unable to perform some Heavenly Rank Intermediate level Meridian Arrays, was already almost indistinguishable from Heavenly Rank Intermediate Poison Vein Masters.