Chapter 426: Yan Jing Goes Mad (Two-in-One, 5.8K)

On the shore, watching every member of their teams fall into the water, Shui Nianshuang and Zhou Kai felt humiliated—but more than that, they were shocked.

They had participated in the Long Family's trial themselves, of course.

But they had never taken it to this extreme.

Or, more bluntly, this trial was never meant to be played this way.

According to past experience, everyone was supposed to gradually improve their control over their power while out on the lotus pond. They would progress from standing firmly on a leaf to walking between them, and finally to sprinting effortlessly across the leaves, competing to knock everyone else into the water.

But what Yan Jing was doing right now was essentially flipping the table.

"Fifth Tier weird energy fluctuations. Just how much Lotus Power is he enduring?"

Shui Nianshuang subconsciously looked toward Steward Long.

Steward Long pondered for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I don't think it has anything to do with the Lotus Power. The issue might be where he's standing."

"What do you mean?" Shui Nianshuang frowned.

"Fifth Tier fluctuations. Even at the absolute weakest Fifth Tier, one would have to endure a hundred times their body weight in Lotus Power. Furthermore, he's also carrying five other people. Add to that the fact that Lotus Power requires finesse, and it means even a Sixth Tier cultivator couldn't pull this off without using weird energy."

Steward Long said, "He might be standing on the eye of the lotus pond."

"Out of ten thousand lotus leaves, there is one where the Lotus Power is far weaker than the rest."

"Is it possible that it isn't the pond's eye?" Sheng Xia looked at Steward Long.

Steward Long shook his head. "This lotus pond is useless to high-tier cultivators. We only allow those at the Sixth Tier and below to enter."

"And in the hundreds of years of the Long Family's history, no one has ever done something like this."

"Perhaps someone from the First Ring Domain could do it, but I've never heard of it happening."

The group fell silent.

In the unimaginably vast Yueyin Domain, the First Ring Domain took up less than a ten-thousandth of the territory. Yet, the six individuals chosen from there in every generation were indisputably the absolute pinnacle of their era.

According to historical records, in the thousand years since Yueyin was established, through generation after generation of heavenly prodigies, someone from the First Ring Domain losing to someone from another ring domain had only ever happened four times.

And even then, it was only one of the six who lost. Each time, the remaining members immediately won back their honor.

It couldn't be helped. The gap in resources, equipment, and guidance was simply too vast.

It was impossible for them to lose.

That was common knowledge.

An indisputable fact.

Just like how everyone in all of Yueyin knew that this nominal ranking tournament was actually just a ranking tournament for those six.

It was merely a test given by that individual to decide the final owner of the God's Candidate Ticket.

But now, Steward Long was saying that even people from the First Ring Domain hadn't reached Yan Jing's current level.

So it seemed he really was standing on the pond's eye.

"This kid has pretty good luck."

Zhou Kai finally laughed. The solemn expression faded from his face, replaced by a sense of profound relief.

But Sheng Xia still couldn't laugh.

An intense feeling of dread swelled in her chest.

Only because she knew more than Zhou Kai did.

Yan Jing had spent just an hour or two in the Fourth Ring Domain to learn the fourth layer of a mental cultivation technique that the Precognition Society hadn't mastered in hundreds of years. If that was true, then doing something they couldn't do right now...

Might not...

Be impossible.

She stared at the scene before her. Her heart seemed to stop, and her pupils suddenly shrank.

Sixth Tier weird energy fluctuations!

Boom!

As the weird energy fluctuations around Yan Jing surged once more, the sprawling lotus pond seemed to transform into a boundless ocean in an instant. Crashing waves rose amid terrifying winds, and every lotus leaf swayed madly. They were even growing!

"How is this possible?!"

Steward Long stared at the lotus leaves gradually being uprooted from the water by the wind and waves. He practically roared, "What the hell is this guy trying to do?!"

The weird energy fluctuations had gradually surpassed the Sixth Tier. It would have been one thing if it was just for a split second, but this clearly wasn't a momentary surge.

Yan Jing stood upon that lotus leaf, his trench coat whipping wildly in the hurricane-force winds. His figure remained completely unmoving. The bulging veins on the backs of his hands were clearly visible; it was obvious he wasn't having an easy time either.

But the weird energy around him was still rising!

Naturally, the lotus pond beneath his feet wouldn't allow this. The surrounding winds and waves grew fiercer with each passing second, swelling several meters above the pond's surface to capsize this human trying to dominate it!

In other words, Yan Jing was now fighting against the power of the entire lotus pond.

Terrifying surges of power transmitted from the lotus leaf beneath his feet, one after another, trying to throw him off and swallow him whole.

But he merely kept his eyes closed, silently feeling the force, slowly converting it.

Before suppressing it with an even more ferocious power!

He opened his eyes, a sliver of savage ferocity erupting in his gaze.

He could feel that this supreme treasure beneath him was incredibly proud and unwilling to submit. But some things were simply not up to it.

The weird energy fluctuations around him shot up like a divine pillar piercing the heavens, instantly shattering the sea of clouds above.

The lotus pond retaliated even more violently, vowing to swallow the human standing upon it.

Every person it had ever encountered had treated it with the utmost respect, which was why it had bestowed its blessings upon them.

But the man before it clearly intended to stand above it. It refused to accept this, nor would it allow it. So, even as the storm uprooted countless lotus leaves, it continued to unleash its power, demanding Yan Jing's submission.

"Then bring it on."

Yan Jing stopped raising his weird energy. Instead, a fruit wrapped in writhing worms materialized in his hand.

[Peerless - Fear Fruit]

A standard Fear Fruit had a storage limit of ten and restored one-third of his weird energy. The Peerless Fear Fruit had a limit of fifteen and restored half of his weird energy.

He took a bite.

The storm seemed to instantly die down for a fraction of a second.

A second later, it was as if something violently ripped open in midair.

Terrifying weird energy scattered into thick fog, instantly swallowing the entire Long Family estate. It was as if a monstrous hand formed from the dense mist and crushed the lotus pond's final resistance.

"Come! Give me everything you have!"

Yan Jing had entered a state of flow. The Power of Heracles coursing through him was pushed to its absolute limit. Amplified by his Fear Stance, his physical strength skyrocketed. With a heavy stomp, he brutally tore the lotus leaf beneath his feet to shreds.

"Come!"

This was a wrestling match between him and the lotus pond, and he was going to win.

"Stop! Stop it!"

Steward Long roared, his eyes bloodshot.

He could see that many of the lotus leaves had been uprooted entirely, their stems and petals ruined. This was the lotus pond burning through its own essence to mount a final defense.

The lotus pond existed in a cycle of daily birth and death; leaves that withered naturally would return to full bloom by the next day. But this destruction was completely different from natural wilting. It might take years, maybe even decades, to recover.

"I said stop!"

Six rays of light flared around Steward Long. His clothes ripped apart, revealing slabs of lean, corded muscle.

Yellow-purple, purple, purple-black, black, black-orange, and orange. An absolutely perfect ratio!

This was a terrifying figure who had been at the Sixth Tier for over a decade. He specialized in physical strength and had once fought a prodigy from the Self Faction to a standstill using purely his physical body.

But the moment he stepped into the gray fog, he instantly sensed that something was wrong.

A pair of scarlet eyes ignited deep within the mist, locking onto him.

In just a split second, a violent shudder ran through him.

"I don't recall breaking any rules."

A voice drifted into his ears.

"Rules are made by men." Steward Long took a deep breath, forcing himself to speak. "Stop! Right now!"

"I even specifically asked you," Yan Jing said flatly.

"I said stop!"

Steward Long bellowed, his power surging as he charged at Yan Jing.

The very next instant, a terrifying force clamped down on his entire body from every direction, as if an invisible giant hand had seized him and squeezed hard.

"Pfft!"

Steward Long forcefully spewed a mouthful of blood. He felt as though every bone in his body had been snapped by that crush.

He didn't even have time to activate his Ritual before he was completely immobilized, unable to twitch a single muscle.

In front of him, the wrestling match between Yan Jing and the lotus pond had reached its final stage.

More accurately, it was a one-sided beating.

Yan Jing was like a full-grown adult, while the lotus pond was an unruly seven-year-old. Every time Yan Jing shoved it down, it would stubbornly scramble back to its feet and roar as it charged at him again.

Only to be shoved down once more.

Leaf after leaf withered, stem after stem broke apart. Eventually, the lotus pond's power began to wane. It was even trembling.

Steward Long watched the scene in utter despair. He never imagined that Yan Jing was still increasing his weird energy fluctuations.

"Is this all you have? Come on! Keep going!"

Yan Jing grew dissatisfied. He grabbed hold of a lotus leaf and refused to let go, forcing the pond to draw out even stronger Lotus Power.

He had gained a massive harvest from this trial, elevating his control over his power to a whole new level. He didn't want to stop here.

But the lotus pond truly couldn't produce any more power. No matter how Yan Jing used his weird energy to suppress it, it was simply out of options.

Finally, the remaining half-mu of the lotus pond gave up its stubbornness. Trembling constantly, it actually bowed toward Yan Jing in a clear display of surrender.

Steward Long's eyes nearly split at the seams. Tears welled up in his eyes, making the wrinkles at their corners seem even deeper.

He had never in his wildest dreams thought that the Long Family's centuries-old treasure would be beaten into submission by a human.

He desperately wished he could take the lotus pond's place right now, but he was completely paralyzed. In the end, two streams of tears silently fell.

...Yan Jing sighed and let go, the weird energy around him slowly retracting.

"Then give me your blessing."

He could sense that the lotus pond, much like the Precognition Society's mental cultivation technique, wasn't a product of this era. Perhaps in some distant, ancient time, the lotus pond could have fought him at full strength and allowed him to experience true sublimation. But it couldn't do that anymore.

Up the River of Time, there must have truly been a golden age where geniuses emerged in droves and countless factions competed for supremacy. But that age was long gone.

He landed on a lotus leaf.

Beneath his feet, waves of white light poured out from the lotus pond. This was entirely different from its usual blessing; this was a complete baptism. The sight left Steward Long stunned.

The sheer scale of this baptism was greater than a thousand days of regular blessings combined.

The vast majority of the white light poured directly into Yan Jing's body, while the remainder settled over the other team members.

After finishing this, the leaves on the lotus pond began to wither. The entire pond gradually turned into a pool of stagnant water.

Yan Jing pushed off lightly with his foot. The threads binding the other five coiled up, carrying everyone back to the shore.

As for Steward Long, who had been restrained until now, he fell straight into the water, ending up just like those who had been eliminated.

No, it was even worse for him. Every bone in his body was shattered, and blood poured out of him. He nearly drowned on the spot.

Fortunately, Sheng Xia noticed this and hurriedly fished him out.

Once everyone was back on shore...

For a long moment, aside from Steward Long screaming curses at Yan Jing, everyone else on the bank fell into absolute silence.

They were supposed to be here for a trial.

But now, the man overseeing the trial was paralyzed for some unknown reason and lying on the ground shouting abuse, and the trial's supreme treasure seemed to be out of commission.

While the vast majority of people hadn't been able to see what happened through the thick fog, they could piece enough together from Steward Long's ranting to know that something had gone terribly wrong.

"You did this?"

Zhou Kai walked toward Yan Jing with a cold expression.

Arrogant as he was, even he recognized now that Yan Jing's strength was leagues beyond everyone else's.

But before Yan Jing could answer...

A resounding dragon roar echoed from the distant sky. Billowing white mist swept in from all directions, gathering in the sky right above them. From amid the churning clouds, a figure stepped out.

Feeling the aura radiating from the figure, everyone on the shore reacted as if they were facing down a mortal enemy. Aside from Yan Jing and the few guides, large beads of sweat broke out on the others' foreheads, and they held their breath.

The man radiated an overwhelmingly oppressive presence. Gold-threaded python motifs climbed up his white robe, and as the fabric snapped in the wind, it looked as though real giant pythons were slithering along the silk, ready to lunge out.

Behind him, a massive python's head emerged from the boundless sea of clouds, sliding under his feet and slowly carrying him down to hover above the lotus pond.

His aura was majestic, like a sovereign descending upon the world.

"Who did this?"

The man stared at the lotus pond for several seconds before looking at the crowd. His tone was perfectly level; it was impossible to discern whether he was furious or completely calm.

"I did."

Yan Jing stepped forward without hesitation.

"Your identity?"

The man asked.

"Fifth Ring Domain, resident of Ling'an City. Shen Youran's investee, seed participant."

When Yan Jing finished, the man nodded. "I will give you two choices," he said indifferently. "Either serve as fertilizer for my Long Family's lotus pond for twenty years, or die."

"I will explain the situation to the domain lord. I will give you ten seconds. Make your choice."

Yan Jing looked at the man for a few seconds, then turned his head to look at Sheng Xia.

Sheng Xia thought Yan Jing was asking for her help. She was just about to bite the bullet and speak up when Yan Jing grinned at her. "Is there something wrong with this guy's brain?"

"..."

Everyone's expressions instantly changed.

Sheng Xia's face turned deathly pale.

It was over. She knew it. She knew it would turn out exactly like this.

She hurriedly called out to the man in the sky, "Patriarch Long, this member—he might be suffering from unstable emotional syndrome. There are many times when he can't control his emotions—"

"Save your breath."

The man interrupted Sheng Xia directly. He lowered his head and looked at Yan Jing. "Now you only have one choice left."

Yan Jing kept his smile. "Exactly what I wanted."

"Wait!"

Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Sheng Xia stepped forward and called out to the man, "Patriarch Long, Mr. Yan—he is someone that individual specifically requested must be brought to the First Ring Domain. And—he has to be brought there alive."

She deliberately emphasized the word "must" to make the man understand the gravity of the situation.

Hearing this, a subtle shift finally appeared on the man's face. He stared at Yan Jing for a few seconds, then nodded. "No wonder you are so fearless. So you are an ill-fated wretch..."

"But you will not escape punishment."

He extended his hand. The surrounding sea of clouds churned along with his sleeve, and giant pythons formed from the mist dropped from the sky. They wove around each other in midair, until a well-proportioned figure stepped out from among them.

It was a young man wearing a flood dragon robe. His sharply contoured face was entirely devoid of emotion. His black eyes were as deep as the night sky, his gaze as frigid as a deep winter pool, and his long hair hung over his shoulders.

Most striking of all was a small, cloud-like white mark resting on his forehead.

"This is my Long Family's Dragon Son of this generation, Long Qiancheng. He had not yet polished himself to perfection, so he has remained secluded from the world."

The man spoke indifferently. "Today, we will use you as his whetstone. By completing his entry into the world here, he shall transform from a flood dragon into a true dragon."

As his voice fell, a pair of long maces materialized in the young man's hands. They looked exactly like the weapons wielded by the door god Qin Shubao from Yan Jing's past life: four-edged but lacking blades, completely shrouded in pitch-black weird energy.

Brilliant rays of light flared to life behind him.

Purple, purple-black, black, black, orange, and orange. A ratio of two perfect and four absolute limit Rituals.

The crowd on the shore was shocked yet again.

Back then, He Xinquan's first four Rituals had all been of absolute limit quality. As terrifying as that was—and while it held the potential for his final two Rituals to also reach that peak—his whereabouts were currently unknown, with no news of him anywhere.

But the man standing before them was a genuine Sixth Tier cultivator, possessing four absolute limit Rituals right now.

Even Zhou Kai and Shui Nianshuang couldn't help but frown.

What was the Long Family scheming, hiding a genius like this in the dark? He even made the two of them feel a twinge of pressure.

Long Qiancheng lowered his head, pointing his mace at Yan Jing. "For destroying my Long Family's supreme treasure, I should use you as a sacrifice to the weapons in my hands. However, my father has given his orders. Today, I will only take both your legs. I hope it helps you remember your place."

Instead, Yan Jing burst out laughing. "You're wearing a flood dragon robe, and your father just said he expects you to transform into a true dragon. What, are you trying to don an emperor's robes or something?"

Long Qiancheng's face drastically changed. He snorted coldly. "Nothing but a silver-tongued rat. Hand over your life!"

He swung his twin maces down. Surges of white flood dragon qi erupted from the earth around them. In an instant, as far as the eye could see, the entire Long Family estate began to pulse with blinding white light, seemingly reflecting right onto Long Qiancheng's body.

Instantly, his presence surged like a soaring rainbow. With another cold snort, he plummeted from the sky directly toward Yan Jing. His flood dragon robe snapped violently in the wind, and an invisible wave of mental suppression bore down on Yan Jing.

The twin maces in his hands swung straight for Yan Jing's legs.

Yet Yan Jing simply stood there with a smile on his face, making no move to defend himself, as if he had been frightened stupid.

Anxiety flared on Sheng Xia's face.

She didn't think Yan Jing would just stand there and take it without resisting, but in this situation, it was obvious that he had been caught by the opponent's mental suppression.

He was very likely going to be killed instantly.

Even though they had promised not to take Yan Jing's life, what if—

The white flood dragon qi cascaded down like a celestial waterfall.

In a flash, Long Qiancheng and Yan Jing blurred past each other.

Squelch!

Blood geysered out like a fountain.

But it wasn't from Yan Jing's legs. It was from Long Qiancheng's abdomen.

Countless threads had pierced straight through him and were now rapidly spreading wildly throughout his body.

Panic flashed in Long Qiancheng's eyes. He instantly pushed his weird energy. The light of his Fourth Rite flared, and streams of flood dragon qi surged from the surrounding earth into his body to desperately tangle with the threads.

But just as he focused all his attention on expelling the threads...

He heard a voice explode like thunder in the sky above, forcing him to raise his head in alarm.

"You insolent brat, how dare you?!"

It was the Long Family patriarch, Long Quan. With a furious roar, the giant pythons formed of mist plunged from the sky, racing toward Long Qiancheng.

Long Qiancheng still didn't understand what was happening. All he saw was that, at some unknown point in time, a massive, rusted pair of shears had clamped shut at the base of his legs.

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Yan Jing smiled slightly.

Accompanied by a sharp, ringing clash of metal, a streak of rust-colored light tore across the sky.

"Ahhhh!"

Long Qiancheng's agonizing scream was so horrifying that it sent a violent shiver through the onlookers.

In that single snip, his long legs had been completely severed from his body. Blood gushed out like a broken dam. He looked as if he was wishing for death, his upper half thrashing wildly in agony.

"Ah— Ahhhh—"

Amidst those horrifying screams, Long Quan finally erupted.

"You little bastard! I will kill you!"

Terrifying waves of killing intent crashed down from the sky. The giant pythons stopped rushing toward Long Qiancheng; they sharply changed direction and barreled straight for Yan Jing.

Long Quan shaped his hands into claws and slashed viciously through the air. Countless more mist pythons materialized, swarming toward Yan Jing like a raging, chaotic torrent.

But in the very next instant—

Yan Jing chuckled softly, reaching out and pointing a single finger from afar.

In a flash, the mist evaporated.

All of the clouds, all of the fog, and every single one of those giant pythons simply dissipated into nothingness. A second later, a rapid series of soft camera shutter clicks rang out.

Arriving alongside the sound of those shutters were countless pitch-black spears.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

Under Long Quan's terrified gaze, his python-robed body was instantly turned into a pincushion.

Blood drenched him! The pain was worse than death!

"Come!"

Yan Jing roared with laughter. Behind him, half of a massive, pitch-black wing tore through his flesh and erupted from his back. With a gentle flap, he soared into the air, hovering perfectly parallel to the agonizingly deformed Long Quan.

"Come!"

Utter madness flashed in Yan Jing's eyes. "Fight me!"

"I severed both of your son's legs! If you don't dare fight, then you, Long Quan, are nothing but a coward!"

"A rat!"

"And if you do fight, let's see if you dare bet that the other two families won't kick you while you're down!"

"Let's see if your Long Family can even remain among the Three Major Families after today!"

"Come! Fight me!"

"Long Quan!"