The Steward Demonic Emperor

Chapter 696: Fated Battle

Proofreader: Papatonks

Bang~

Ear-splitting explosions ripped the skies as Zhuo Fan, and Ye Lin’s figures flashed all over the place. They just clashed east then they were west in the next moment. 

Everyone was engrossed in the show they two were putting on, swishing their heads left and right, up and down to catch a glimpse. But even that proved impossible. 

[Just how is their fight going?] 

Only a very limited number of experts could see every move they made.

“Sure enough, Ye Lin still has the upper hand.” Exalted Hei Ran sighed, “In this melee, Zhuo Fan is simply making himself a target for Ye Lin. While everyone knows his body is tough, Ye Lin’s is not even a bit lacking.”

Exalted Bai Mei nodded, “Zhuo Fan’s body cultivation is just too specialized, toughening only one arm. It was enough to sweep the floor with everyone else, but Ye Lin’s training has been full-bodied!”

“Maybe this mystical arm was trained when he felt extra lonely.” Exalted Hei Ran raised an eyebrow, “We’ve all been young once, so it’s understandable, ha-ha-ha!”

(Proofreader’s note: imagine, if it was that easy, millions of guys with “Qilin”)

Bai Mei teased, “You’re so despicable. You’re even joking about this?”

Exalted Bai Mei turned a hard face towards the fight, “However, focusing all his training into that one arm had given him a miraculous power in it, the drawback of doing so is now revealed. He’s already having a hard time against Ye Lin’s mad assault.”

Exalted Hei Ran returned his focus to the screen and nodded heavily.

Glossing over Ye Lin’s arms wrapped in golden fire, he could even get his two legs to burn golden too. He could attack any way he wanted from any direction, while Zhuo Fan only had a single Qilin arm to fight this onslaught. No wonder he was at a disadvantage. 

Other than that strong arm, Zhuo Fan was all human. The slightest touch with any of the enemy’s strikes would reduce his body to nothing. 

Zhuo Fan frowned while his heart sank lower and lower.

This was what he had feared. One who had no weaknesses against one who had just one arm would sooner or later lead to the latter’s defeat.

This situation brought out the fight he had with Nine Dragons Diamond Body. Huangpu Tianyuan’s state left him helpless. Luckily, young Sanzi lent a hand in finishing the old guy off.

[Wait a sec. The Returning Dragon’s Roar made the old guy so tough. I wonder if this guy has a similar trump card hidden away. If not…]

Zhuo Fan’s eyes glinted in the constant clashes as if he had found a way out. He punched one last time to get the other to fall back then he got some distance by flying into the sky. It looked just like fleeing.

“Zhuo Fan, you’re not getting anywhere!”

Ye Lin laughed and turned into a golden ray as he shot after him, his eyes flashing with bloodlust.

Just like how a savage beast found another and had to tear it to pieces.

Just as he was about to catch up, Zhuo Fan slowed down, hovering in the air. His eyes flashed with an eerie glow, and his right arm glowed a thick red as it punched.

Ye Lin was caught off-guard, but against a punch, he had nothing to fear. His two arms were coated in golden flames, and dragon scales sprouted all over them as he crossed them to take the punch.

Something happened that floored him in more ways than one. The arm expanded and expanded. It was like a massive pillar sent from the heavens above, smashing right into him.

Tangible Projection, Soaring Qilin Leg! 

[I’ll just stomp ya!]

Zhuo Fan roared in his mind, and the Qilin leg’s massive power slammed into Ye Lin.

Bam!

The Qilin leg hit Ye Lin’s arms with a resounding boom. Not even he could withstand such might. The bones in his arms were fractured, and his face went red, forced by the immense pillar to be stomped into the ground.

Rumble!

A loud rumbling echoed in everyone’s ears, dust clouding the entire area. Under this single strike, that little valley sported a hundred-meter-deep hole. Ultimate Clarity Sect and Demon Scheming Sect’s disciples felt the whole world shaking with them, their faces overcome with shock. 

When the dust finally scattered, the people gazed upon the magnificent Qilin leg with stupefaction.

[Holy mackerel! What is that thing? Is it human?]

Some were so overwhelmed they just stared into space.

Even the exalted were having a hard time comprehending this sight.

[We’ve been on this earth for so many years, yet this is a first for us too! Just what the hell did the kid do to train that right arm?]

The exalted found it hard to believe their eyes.

Only Wu Qingqiu was quick to react, “Junior brother, are you alright?”

No reply. The Qilin leg had nothing living under its feet. He couldn’t sense anything. Wu Qingqiu frowned, filled with worry. 

Was his incredible junior brother gone just like that, stomped into hereafter by an even freakier freak? 

[This can’t be!]

He refused to believe it. From what he knew about Ye Lin, he would not go down that easily. Zhuo Fan agreed, even if there was no sign of Ye Lin being alive underneath all that red.

So, he just kept adding pressure to the Qilin leg to cut off any means of escape.

However, even as the crowd had yet to overcome their shock, an explosion came from under the Qilin leg.

Golden flames flicked around it.

Zhuo Fan felt his leg hurt, a searing heat that made him sweat buckets. However, he clenched his teeth and added more power in his leg to stop that punk from getting out.

Not that it helped anyway. Zhuo Fan was giving all he had, yet the leg was rising.

Like a volcanic eruption, a burst of fire came from beneath it.

“Ah!”

A shout of exertion came from within that inferno as the flames only grew in size, and the leg was pushed back. Soon, a man in golden flames appeared, using his arms to push the leg higher.

Golden flames flitted all over his body, now covered in sharp dragon scales. That was no human, no matter how one looked at him, but a freak covered in scales.

He was only missing a tail and horns, and he’d be a dragonborn. 

The audience gasped in shock. 

[These freaks are freaks in bodies as well!]

[No wonder the previous disciples were being finished off in seconds. These guys aren’t humans…]

Zhuo Fan could feel the immense power lifting his Qilin leg, and his face sank. It was also very pale.

[I just knew the guy has a full transformation, unlike me. Maybe the Qilin leg comes from a sacred beast and can hold him back a bit, but it stands no chance against his full body tempering.]

[I lost in melee…]

Zhuo Fan frowned and sighed, admitting that he stood no chance.

“Ah!”

With another shout, Ye Lin used all he had as he pushed the Qilin leg off him.

Zhuo Fan staggered in the air. What shocked him more was that Ye Lin was now in his face in the blink of an eye. 

“Zhuo Fan, you lost in close quarters even with that Qilin arm. You have no chance!” Ye Lin came at Zhuo Fan like a savage dragon while cackling, “Qilin has the greatest power among the five great sacred beasts. Today I surpassed the Qilin, and you’ll become my stepping stone to reach the Dao, ha-ha-ha…”

Zhuo Fan shuddered and finally understood the meaning of this fated battle. At the end of this battle, one would go on higher and higher, to the peak of Dao, while the other would be cast in his shadow of defeat, finding it hard to even move on.

In other words, the path forward would only get even harder for the loser. This battle, he had to win…