Qing Ling nodded with a smile, "Understood."
The opponent was only at the mid-stage Golden Immortal realm, seemingly the weakest among the top ten Saint Sons in terms of visible strength. Their true capabilities remained unknown.
Qing Ling's challenge to the Ninth Saint Son was not for any superficial honor, but solely for the prize of a supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root's fruit, the Huang Zhong Li.
How wondrous and mystical were Innate Spiritual Fruits?
Furthermore, he sensed that the Huang Zhong Li was the key for him to reach the perfection of the Heavenly rank. With his Golden Immortal primordial spirit and power comparable to a Golden Immortal, he could then break through the limitations of his innate physical body and ascend to the Golden Immortal realm!
As his thoughts returned, a Great Luo Dragon tộc flew down from the heavens. He appraised Qing Ling with interest for a few moments before saying, "Kid, I hope you'll be somewhat entertaining."
With that, he waved a hand and instantly teleported to the edge of the arena a million miles away. "Eighty-eighth Saint Son Qing Ling challenges Ninth Saint Son Han Xue for the arena, the battle begins!"
As the words fell, both individuals moved simultaneously. Han Xue and Qing Ling met in the middle of the space between them, both extending their right palms to clash directly.
Han Xue intended to defeat this presumptuous young man in the most direct and crushing manner possible to maintain his status. Otherwise, even if he won with injuries, he would be perceived as weak by other ambitious Saint Sons.
"Boom!"
Ice and snow surged forth, like an frigid divine palm. The Great Strength Divine Ability merged with the Ice and Snow Laws; its power could shatter mountains, and its snow could freeze a thousand miles.
Following the deafening impact, Qing Ling was instantly sent flying backward. His entire right arm went limp, as if its bones and tendons had been shattered by the blow.
Qing Ling was sent back a thousand feet, landing headfirst on the ground and remaining motionless, appearing to be crippled by a single strike.
Han Xue sneered, "With such meager abilities, you dare to make a fool of yourself!" Though his words were dismissive, he remained vigilant and did not advance. Instead, he drew a long spear, crackling with silver-white ice lightning, and aimed it at Qing Ling, intending to throw it.
From the ground, Qing Ling watched this scene with a sense of helplessness. He had initially believed that this Ninth Saint Son, being so arrogant, would let down his guard after a palm strike capable of shattering the Heavenly rank.
It seemed the top ten Saint Sons were all peerless Golden Immortals!
He would have to give his all!
Qing Ling suddenly lifted his head, his pupils flashing with peculiar colors. His right eye, the Profound Poison Eye, unleashed its poison from afar, locking onto Han Xue's white pupils.
But the spear that Han Xue had been aiming suddenly flashed, and dazzling white lightning struck, momentarily blinding Qing Ling.
Han Xue seized this opportunity, flawlessly throwing the lightning spear in his hand.
A point of cold light arrived first, followed by countless bolts of lightning. The bone-chilling lightning, even from a thousand miles away, made Qing Ling feel a piercing cold.
He immediately flipped and stood in the void. The move he had already used, the Profound Heaven Vine, reappeared. Dense wood energy permeated the vine as it coiled towards the spear.
One green, one white, like twin serpents clashing, ice-cold lightning flashed, and the verdant vine pulsed with vitality. The moment they collided, the million-mile arena was divided into green and white, their strength seemingly matched.
The onlookers were astonished. They had not expected this Heavenly rank cultivator to be so extraordinary, possessing the ability to fight back.
The Black Dragon Ancestor, seated at the forefront, narrowed his eyes and asked the Golden Dragon elder beside him, "Which clan's Saint Son is this?"
The Golden Dragon elder respectfully replied, "Uncle, this is the Saint Son of the East Barrens' Xi Mountain Snake Clan, a former clan of the Supreme Sovereign Tai Geng."
"Oh, that clan. That explains it." The Black Dragon Ancestor had been indifferent, but he recalled something upon hearing the latter part. "During the Holy Sacrifice later, there's no need for him to participate. I owed Daoist Tai Geng a favor back then. I'll also send him to Azure Dragon Mountain, along with that Azure Dragon. Azure Dragon is in seclusion, but his divine sense is still active."
Upon hearing this, the Golden Dragon elder naturally nodded in agreement. He thought to himself that the Xi Mountain Snake Clan was truly blessed and about to experience a turn of fortune!
On the arena, Qing Ling was naturally unaware of these matters. He only felt that this Ninth Saint Son was not to be underestimated, his dantian possessing a profound power, at least tens of millions of miles wide. He held no advantage whatsoever!
On the arena, the green and white forces clashed fiercely. Although the lightning was intense, it only encircled the spear. The green light, though soft, was continuous. Gradually, the green began to suppress the white.
Han Xue roared in anger and surged forward. His palms spun, and heavenly lightning erupted all around. A north wind swept through, and frost covered a thousand miles. A pure white cloud hovered in the sky, and as he manipulated it, it unleashed thousands of divine white lightning strikes upon Qing Ling.
This heaven-destroying, earth-shattering lightning caused the ten directions of the celestial realm to tremble and roar. The million-mile arena instantly turned into frost.
Seeing this, Qing Ling's divine markings on his brow were revealed without reservation. The Fu Chun Divine Spark manifested. With a single finger, a tree grew to span a thousand miles, its luxuriant branches forming a vast canopy of a thousand miles, sheltering him from above.
With the manifestation of the divine spark, his innate divine being aura could no longer be concealed. The Thousand-Legged Spirit Clan's Saint Son, ranked fourth among the Saint Sons, and the Tide God of the West Sea, also an innate divine being, his eyes flashed with surprise. He had not expected there to be an innate divine being with an even lower cultivation than himself!
It was no wonder the other dared to challenge the Ninth Saint Son; their reliance was here.
The "Life" Dao pattern merged with the giant green wood, imbuing it with endless green radiance that spread in a thousand layers, resisting the thousand lightning strikes.
"Boom!"
"Rumble!"
"Crack!"
The giant wood was struck by a thousand bolts of lightning, with countless ice and snow piling upon it. Destruction and extreme cold intertwined, along with divine ice lightning and frost.
Han Xue waved his sleeve, stirring up a gust of wind that dispersed the dust. On the arena that stretched for miles, only a charred and withered tree trunk, struck by lightning, remained. There were also some tattered pieces of clothes and boot fabric, and a ribbon that was blown into the sky by the wind, with no sign of any person.
Han Xue frowned. He recalled the Ice Soul Divine Spear and scanned the arena with his divine sense. He then shouted, "If you don't have the strength, don't come to fight!"
Saying this, he fiercely flicked the spear, which transformed into a cold light and pierced towards the withered tree trunk where a faint aura was circulating.
At that very instant, the withered wood sprouted new buds. The wood of lightning nurtured new life. In his past life, he knew that peach wood struck by lightning during the awakening of insects could foster a righteous vitality, capable of expelling evil spirits.
Indeed, this Spring Life Wood, after enduring the lightning strike, had gained some extraordinary qualities through the infusion of vitality.
New buds grew on the withered branches, and dead skin peeled off the bark. A giant, vibrant green tree reappeared, its green radiance blocking the Ice Soul Divine Spear.
Simultaneously, from the pieces of clothing flying in the sky, a green silk ribbon instantly split into nine, then into eighty-one strands of green silk, woven and intertwined, forming thousands of strands that encircled the entire Dragon Void Arena.
"Ding~clang~"
"Ding~ling~ding~clang~"
Faint, melodious bell sounds echoed from the Dragon Void Arena.
At the same time, atop the canopy of the verdant giant tree, Qing Ling, in red robes and barefoot, stepped on the green silk. A golden bell was tied to each of his ankles.
With each step Qing Ling took on the green silk, the bells tinkled. One hundred and six golden divine bells appeared on the eighty-one strands of green silk. With every step he took, a bell would ring.
As the bell sounds rippled, centered on the green wood, waves of green energy emanated from the roots, sweeping across the land. Countless green sprouts and tender grass grew, and lush leaves covered the million-mile arena.
Amidst the myriad green silks, Qing Ling, barefoot with bells, trod upon the silk. Thousands of bell sounds vibrated, echoing through the surrounding void. The myriad bell sounds reverberated, reflected, transmitted, and layered within the space encircled by the green silks. The hundred bells and myriad sounds converged into the ears of Han Xue, who stood within the hundred-zhang ice domain surrounding him.
Han Xue felt as if countless bells were vibrating in his ears, shaking and rattling. The incessant, noisy tinkling, even when his hearing was blocked, managed to penetrate his primordial spirit, causing him immense irritation and a cascade of chaotic thoughts that flashed through his mind, impossible to dispel.
Qing Ling walked unhurriedly through the vast expanse of green silk. The bell sounds lingered and vibrated. The Great Void Bell Sound invoked a thousand miles of spring breeze. The Great Dao of Sound, from the subtle to the grand, from the small returning to the large, the myriad bell sounds echoed in the Great Void, merging into the sound of the heart. The heart sound vibrated, making emotions difficult to restrain and desires impossible to quell!
This was the Great Void Divine Bell, refined over ten thousand years with painstaking effort, combined with the Sky-Reaching Rope. The superimposed power of these two treasures, the heart sound, which was hard to defend against, and the Great Void, which incited emotions!