HSSB1145: Ninth level Martial Saint vs True Immortal!
The black-clothed Brocade Emperor did not reveal any emotions of shock or the like.
He only felt uncomprehending and conflicted at this clearly abnormal situation before him.
Still, however he looked at it, the current Yan Zhaoge was shockingly already a ninth level Martial Saint of the late Immortal Bridge stage!
When out of combat earlier, Yan Zhaoge had reverted complexities to simplicity, appearing outwardly like some ordinary mortal who had never cultivated for a single day in his life.
Only when the two had clashed for real had his true abilities finally been revealed.
His acupoints that had broken through space to see True Divinity circulated without rest like the numerous stars of the actual universe.
Besides destruction, the starry sky could also birth new life!
When a star had reached its end and was extinguished, a new star would be born.
Countless stars all possessed their unique trajectories, circulating freely in an organised, rhythmic manner.
The cycle of rebirth had been established as the martial practitioner’s power had entered a whole new level.
Of his acupoints, only a measly few obscure ones remained that had yet to break through space to see True Divinity.
When all of them finally did so, he would have accomplished the Human Exalt stage that was at the peak of the Martial Saint realm.
Yan Zhaoge had undergone something akin to an effective rebirth as compared to when he had been at the eighth level of the Martial Saint realm back in the Nine Underworlds.
Back in the Nine Underworlds, the black-clothed Brocade Emperor had personally encountered Yan Zhaoge of the eighth level of the Martial Saint realm.
While he had still yet to split apart into the black and white Brocade Emperors then, his memories still remained from that time.
Comparing these Yan Zhaoges of now and before, he was fully aware of the gap between them.
Still, this caused the black-clothed Brocade Emperor to doubt life even more.
Other people aside, he had personally witnessed Yan Zhaoge ascending from the seventh to the eighth level of the Martial Saint realm in the Nine Underworlds that year.
How could he possibly fail to understand what this entailed?
While he could tell that the current Yan Zhaoge should have attained the ninth level of the Martial Saint realm only recently, less than five years had passed since that day in the Nine Underworlds!
The higher one’s cultivation base, the more difficult it was to improve as the time required was greater as well.
At the Immortal Bridge Martial Saint stage, every single step was extremely difficult.
Most people would be stuck at some cultivation level, remaining there for ten over years, decades or even over a century.
Did they lack talent?
Martial practitioners who could ascend the Immortal Bridge were all dragons and phoenixes amongst mortals, geniuses amongst geniuses.
Still, the principle that the path was more difficult the higher one walked applied to all.
Having been able to attain Immortality, the Brocade Emperor had naturally surpassed his peers in this aspect. Still, even he had not been as fast as Yan Zhaoge back then.
Thinking of the similarly shocking cultivation speed of his father, Yan Di, the black-clothed Brocade Emperor gazed at Yan Zhaoge, “Yan Family father and son, Duo Fallen Deities they are…is it?”
“Apologies, black-clothed Brocade Emperor,” Yan Zhaoge said mildly, “Frankly speaking, this Yan is indeed not on your side in the contest between you and the other Brocade Emperor. We both know the reason for this full well.”
“Still, although I support the other Brocade Emperor, I never expected that I would be facing you head-on so quickly.”
Yan Zhaoge suddenly laughed, “If not for the fact that I have something else to attend to and am busy, it would actually be pretty good too. Human versus Immortal, what a joyous event indeed!”
Neither side suppressed their voices as they resounded across the Heavenly Mysteries Pavilion, leaving everyone feeling as if they were waking up from a dream.
Along with that, they were dazed by their subsequent shock.
The Fallen Deity Yan Zhaoge, a late Immortal Bridge Martial Saint, was challenging the Brocade Emperor, a True Immortal, head-on!
Few people had previously known that the Brocade Emperor had split into two.
Therefore, most of them were exceptionally shocked by the news.
Even though the Upper Exalt Chen Qianhua had already battled the Dense Encompassing Emperor to a draw previously and the Southern Exalt Nie Jingshen had battled Chen Qianhua to a draw too, all these spectators were still incomparably shocked by this.
Chen Qianhua and Nie Jingshen had been famed beneath the heavens for many years, both being extraordinary individuals.
One had been the number one Martial Saint in the World beyond Worlds for many years whereas the other had been acclaimed as the World beyond Worlds’ third strongest Martial Saint as a ninth level Martial Saint.
Even so, the abilities they had demonstrated which were sufficient to withstand the power of Emperors had both come when they were tenth level Martial Saints of the Human Exalt stage.
When had there ever been someone like Yan Zhaoge today who dared to battle Immortals as a ninth level Martial Saint?
Let alone the World beyond Worlds of post-Great Calamity times, no one could recall such a figure even from pre-Great Calamity times no matter how they ransacked their minds now.
Therefore, all of them felt a blazing ardour.
They all fervently yearned to know if Yan Zhaoge, a mere ninth level Martial Saint, could withstand the Brocade Emperor who had opened the door to Immortality many years ago.
Their ardour for this surpassed even that for the auction that was going on right now!
“I am not in a rush,” The black-clothed Brocade Emperor said indifferently, “Please do not be stingy in demonstrating the profundities of your Taiyi Fist, Little Friend Yan.”
With that, he raised a finger, tapping towards Yan Zhaoge’s forehead!
He had unleashed a big move right from the start, the Grand Commencement Divine Finger of one of the Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations of the Grand Clear direct lineage!
Facing a ninth level Martial Saint opponent, the Brocade Emperor’s first move was an ultimate technique!
He actually showed no indication of underestimating Yan Zhaoge in the least.
Back in the Nine Underworlds, the Brocade Emperor who had still yet to split into two had once clashed with Yan Zhaoge of the eighth level of the Martial Saint realm.
Back then, Yan Zhaoge had subtly borrowed the local geography of the Nine Underworlds and congregated a black Buddha’s body with the Faceless Devil Scripture, arriving at a simulated ninth level of the Martial Saint realm. After that, he had unleashed the Heart’s Will Thunder, attacking the Brocade Emperor who had been vulnerable from suffering cultivation deviation at the time.
Still, the black-clothed Brocade Emperor already had an approximate estimate of Yan Zhaoge’s strength when at the eighth level of the Martial Saint realm.
Thinking impartially, the black-clothed Brocade Emperor found that Yan Zhaoge who had further advanced atop that foundation and attained the ninth level of the Martial Saint realm might really be able to battle Immortals as a mortal!
Also, while the two had not clashed directly earlier, they had already exchanged moves once.
The black-clothed Brocade Emperor had locked down Yuanzhou City using his essence and qi.
Yan Zhaoge had unleashed his fist-intent of the Grand Shattering Brightness Palm in ripping a crevice through the numerous layers of purple qi, aiding Wang Pu in leaving.
That had already been sufficient to reveal his true abilities.
The black-clothed Brocade Emperor had known then that this unprecedented opponent required him to fight seriously and with all his might!
As the Grand Commencement Divine Finger was executed, the world seemed to return to earlier heaven times as the concepts of time and space no longer existed.
There was only that abstruse, intangible earlier heaven qi that bore the principles of the heavens and earth.
Facing this finger, Yan Zhaoge felt like both time and space had been distorted.
It was as if he had already been affected by the technique as soon as the black-clothed Brocade Emperor had pointed at him.
Still, he was neither panicked nor flustered as he raised his palm, striking down with a Cyclic Heavenly Seal.
A vast, majestic force manifested.
One palm having two sides, one being Taiyi, Grand Simplicity at the start of earlier heaven while the other was Taiji, Grand Ultimate at the end of earlier heaven.
As he flipped his palm, the earlier heaven qi of the black-clothed Brocade Emperor seemed set to plummet all the way to later heaven after going through the transformations of Grand Beginning, Grand Plainness and Grand Ultimate!
The Cyclic Heavenly Seal had the variation of reverting to earlier heaven, causing the world of later heaven to be forcibly reversed to earlier heaven times.
This palm of Yan Zhaoge had reversed this, seeking to forcibly reverse a reversion to earlier heaven in causing it to plummet into later heaven!
He circulated it with relative ease, manifesting the majestic might of the Cyclic Heavenly Seal which reversed the cosmos!
“While it may be a bit rude of me to say this, Brocade Emperor,” Yan Zhaoge said mildly, “Please let me be blunt as I say that you, in this condition, are not very strong.”