Chapter 702: Chapter 701: The Nine Absolutes
Zuo Yu stood his ground, unmoving.
His palm gripped the black Long Spear. The weapon was covered in black, scale-like patterns that coiled around its entire length.
BZZZT!
The black Long Spear burst with dark light, a brilliant black radiance surging from his palm.
It transformed into wisps of black flame that enveloped the entire spear.
ROAR!
A clear dragon’s cry rang out as the black light shot toward the sky.
From the Long Spear, a pitch-black pillar of energy shot forward.
RUMBLE…
As soon as the spear’s image appeared, dark clouds of smoke abruptly materialized in the Celestial Vault, obscuring the blazing sun. The world was plunged into darkness, with only the gleaming, pitch-black spear glint shining with a blinding light across the arena stage.
Before the spear’s glint even reached him, Jiang Chen already felt a terrifying threat.
His brows furrowed, and a solemn expression appeared in his eyes. ‘What a terrifying Spear Technique. Zuo Yu probably has the combat power of someone at the Middle Stage of the Emperor Realm.’
“Eight Trigrams Sword!”
Jiang Chen slashed out three times in quick succession.
Three Eight Trigrams Tai Chi Sword Diagrams appeared before him, overlapping one another.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three consecutive booms echoed out.
The black spear glint charged forward with unstoppable momentum, like steel smashing through ice, shattering each Sword Diagram.
Jiang Chen’s pupils shrank slightly. ‘Block it!’
He gripped his longsword with both hands.
He held it horizontally before him.
CLANG!
With a terrifying, loud noise, the tip of the black spear slammed heavily against his longsword. A horrific amount of force transmitted from the black Long Spear.
Jiang Chen felt a jolt run through his entire body. The terrifying power felt like it was about to tear open the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers. A cracking sound, “K-K-K,” came from his arms as the black spear glint forced him backward.
His feet dragged across the ground like iron rods, creating a series of “BOOM! BOOM!” sounds as he retreated.
Two trails of sparks were left on the ground where his feet had passed.
The light flared, terrifying beyond compare.
BANG!
With a loud crack, the silver Holy Sword in his hands was snapped in two.
The terrifying sharp edge pressed toward Jiang Chen’s throat. It hadn’t actually touched his skin, yet it was already causing the muscles of his throat to contract, forming a bloody indentation.
“Block it!”
Jiang Chen’s sharp brows knitted together as he let out a furious roar.
He pressed his palms together, squeezing inward to catch the black spear glint between them.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
He retreated step after step, each one carving a deep crater into the solid arena stage. Only after more than ten steps did he finally stop. Jiang Chen glanced behind him. He had been pushed to the very edge of the stage, almost to the point of falling off. A look of shock filled his eyes as he looked at Zuo Yu. “You’ve already entered the Emperor Realm?”
“Almost!”
Zuo Yu shook his head and retracted his Long Spear, a calm expression on his face. “You’re quite good. In the vast Azure Sky Sea, there are few at the same realm who can survive one of my spear strikes. Based on that alone, you can be considered a Four Extremes Genius!”
“A Four Extremes Genius?”
Jiang Chen was taken aback.
Zuo Yu gazed toward the Celestial Vault, a look of yearning on his face.
“It’s a classification system that comes from Zhongzhou. They divide geniuses into nine tiers. It’s based on the ability to defeat opponents of a higher level. Beating someone one level higher makes you a One Extreme Genius. Two levels higher is a Two Extremes Genius, and so on, all the way up to a Six Extremes Genius. Above the Six Extremes are Peerless Geniuses, who can cross seven levels; Generational Prodigies, who can cross eight levels; and Invincible Venerables, who can cross nine levels—in other words, fighting across an entire major realm. The gap between the Human Emperor Realm and the Emperor Realm is massive. You, with your Human Emperor Realm Ninth Stage cultivation, can kill an expert with the strength of the Early Stage of the Emperor Realm. That’s equivalent to crossing about four levels, which makes you a Four Extremes Genius!”
A flash of intense battle intent shone in Zuo Yu’s eyes as he said in a deep voice, “There are countless geniuses on the Eastern Continent, but only a handful can be considered Invincible Venerables. These few are the supreme Overlords of the younger generation. Someone like Xiang Tianwen of the Demon God Palace is the best of the best. With his Late-stage Emperor cultivation, he once fought a Demigod for three days and three nights without being defeated!”
Jiang Chen sucked in a sharp breath.
He hadn’t expected the geniuses of Zhongzhou to have such a classification system.
‘Above the one-to-six Extremes Geniuses, there are still Peerless Geniuses, Generational Prodigies, and Invincible Venerables! Even the weakest among them can fight across an entire major realm!’
With Jiang Chen’s true strength, if he went all out, he could even fight someone at the Middle Stage of the Emperor Realm. That would make him a Six Extremes Genius, perhaps even approaching the level of a Peerless Genius.
He had held back during his fight with Zuo Yu, which was why Zuo Yu judged him to be a Four Extremes Genius.
Of course…
Jiang Chen wasn’t too concerned about which tier of genius he belonged to. He was more focused on what Zuo Yu had said about Xiang Tianwen—an Invincible Venerable who could fight a Demigod while only at the Late-stage Emperor realm!
Jiang Chen instantly felt the pressure on his shoulders grow even heavier.
‘I never thought Xiang Tianwen would be this strong. It seems I’ll need to reach at least Emperor Realm Peak, or even Emperor Realm Perfection, to have a chance of fighting him!’ Jiang Chen’s eyes burned with fiery battle intent.
Zuo Yu thought Jiang Chen was simply shaken by the news of Xiang Tianwen fighting a Demigod to a standstill.
He then smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Invincible Venerables like Xiang Tianwen are most likely focused on breaking through to the Demigod Realm right now. The strongest geniuses you’ll typically run into on the Central Continent are Six Extremes Geniuses. The fact that you have the combat power of a Four Extremes Genius is already excellent. I’m sure that if you participate in the Holy War six months from now, you should be able to rank in the top one hundred thousand and become a disciple of one of the Four Great Holy Lands!”
“The Holy War? The Four Great Holy Lands?” Jiang Chen was completely in the dark; he had never heard of any of this.
Zuo Yu was stunned and frowned. “You don’t even know about the Four Great Holy Lands? They are the Overlords of Zhongzhou: the Holy Realm of Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak, the Demon God Celestial Palace of the Demon Realm, the Celestial Demon Sect of the Demon Realm, and the Ancient Divine Palace of the Divine Realm. These are the Four Great Dominators of Zhongzhou, and no one can challenge their power. The Holy War is a grand event they jointly host to select disciples. All the geniuses of Zhongzhou will participate. In six months, I will also go to Zhongzhou to join the Holy War, enter one of the Four Great Holy Lands, and seek the path to the Demigod Realm!”
Jiang Chen nodded, silently committing the power structure of Zhongzhou to memory.
Zuo Yu said, “Alright, I have to go back into seclusion to break through to the Emperor Realm. I’ll explain things to Duann Yu. Let’s just write off the grudge between you two. But you should also stop fighting. How about it?”
“Alright.”
Jiang Chen agreed.
He had always been one to return respect with greater respect.
Zuo Yu’s attitude had been good, and besides, after killing so many experts from Heaven’s Edge Sea Pavilion, much of his anger had already dissipated. Naturally, he wouldn’t refuse to give Zuo Yu some face.
However, the tree wishes to be still, but the wind will not stop.
Jiang Chen intended to let the matter rest, but some people were unwilling to let him off so easily. Just as Zuo Yu and Jiang Chen were about to leave, a calm, mocking laugh echoed from the entrance of the Martial Arts Arena…
“You beat up my little brother and think you can just walk away? Since when is anything in this world so easy?”