The God-Slayer Puppet was lunging left and right in the void but was repetitively blockaded by the five-colored treasure light barrier set down by the Divine Token of the Five Thrones. There was no way it could get close to Xiao Yan.
The Great Ice Moonlight Ruler was also immobilized by the sudden appearance of the crack of the Netherworld Sea and was forced into self-preservation in order to prevent itself from being sucked into the Netherworld Sea for eternity.
"Do you know a fourth Martial Way?" Xiao Yan sauntered across the ocean of flames as his entire body riled the roaring flames all around. He transformed into something of a fiery shooting star and launched himself mercilessly towards the Marquis of Jinghuan. Liang An did not even have time to try and reverse the situation.
The Marquis of Jinghuan took a deep breath as the physical quality of his body began to change once again.
It was no longer a world-dominating aura of a divine emperor and neither was it the unmoving and unwavering form of the Vajra.
It was something more representative of the self, that he was the most supreme and tyrannical being to roam the world and without boundaries of any sort.
The essence of his blood and his mana began to condense as the veins and tendons popped out all over his body like restless serpents. The void shook with this explosive power.
"Xiao Yan, take this strike from me with your weak physical body." The Marquis of Jinghuan made a stance with his fists as his whole being entered pinnacle spiritual condition and launched another attack at Xiao Yan.
The speed of his punch was unrivaled - it was superior to even Xiao Yan's Form of the Blood Red Sparrow, and seemed to arrive faster even though it was executed later.
However, from what people could see, this punch felt extremely slow, as if he was gradually pushing his fists outwards.
The only thing was that this 'slow punch' blew up the sounds of hurricanes. There seemed to be a divine being awakening upon every pressure point in his body and were roaring and howling as they advanced. Every ounce of strength and power was combined together into a punch so fearsome that an illusion was created.
Within the illusion, Xiao Yan felt as if the universe was crumbling to pieces.
The great heavens and the vast world appeared to be eroding from the very center as everything was laid to ruin. The destructive decay spread to the circumference with increasing speed and was seemingly unstoppable.
The strength of this punch was increasing as well. At the start, it was just an ordinary move with a power and speed that seemed even inferior to the standards he displayed previously.
However, with every second that passed by, the power of the strike increased exponentially. The concept of power that represented the lack of boundaries of the self enabled the strength of the strike to skyrocket boundlessly.
Yan Mingyue seemed slightly taken aback by what was happening. Ever since she showed herself, she only had the same reaction after witnessing the opening of the crack of the Netherworld Sea. The others could not recognize what they saw, but she knew. "This is… The strongest Martial Way technique of the Emperor of Violence - Boundless Fist?"
The Emperor of Violence was the very last emperor of the world. He was originally known as the Yue Emperor, but he turned to violence and brutality and his soul decayed and was since known as the Emperor of Violence before he was overthrown and his throne was usurped.
Even though the Emperor of Violence was ultimately overthrown by a coalition of allies, his extraordinary abilities and his true power were still widely recognized.
The Boundless Fist was the Emperor of Violence's signature ability, and drew upon the true meaning of boundless strength and power without limits.
Once the strike was unleashed, the power would rise continuously to carve out a new dynasty for the practitioner - unprecedented, all obstacles would be overcome and nothing could hold it back.
Xiao Yan's eyes sparkled as he witnessed this spectacle. "So this is the technique that brought you to where you are today. The fundamental abhijna you picked up when you started on the journey in the Martial Ways."
"This move is interesting. It's far stronger than the other Martial Way moves you picked up along the way."
The Marquis of Jinghuan was calm as he replied, "Xiao Yan, I have to admit that you are a worthy opponent. Your prowess has shocked me, and you have forced me to use my signature move to take you down. Only opponents like you can truly benefit my personal development - but everything ends here."
"As much as I hate to say it, I can't let you live any longer. If not, the fat pig is going to fly into the sky."
The Marquis of Jinghuan held nothing back as he unleashed the Boundless Fist with unstoppable explosiveness. The power of his attack was far superior to the normal standards of normal nascent soul cultivators, and even the Falling Waves Dragon King frowned a little as he watched on. He realized that he would have to revert to his original form to stop this punch - if not, he might be in danger himself.
What was more frightening was the fact that the power of the Boundless Fist strike was ever-rising as if there really was no limit and no end.
Flames poured - quite literally - out of Xiao Yan's eyes as he trained his eyes on Liang An's fists. He had no intention to dodge the attack or retreat. Instead, he concentrated as he took a step forward and struck out with his fist, much like a giant hammer, towards the Marquis of Jinghuan!
"Master, your newly invented Martial Way shall draw first blood with this little bastard!"
Xiao Yan's body twisted a little as his fist crashed forward towards Liang An. In the sea of fire above him, the four primordial fires transformed into the Jade Green Dragon Form, the Xuanwu Form, the Great White Tiger Form and the Blood Red Sparrow Form and the powers of every single one combined into a single stream and charged up Xiao Yan's fists. (Translator's Note: Please refer to Genbu as Xuanwu from now on, as Genbu is a Japanese name for Xuanwu. Xuanwu would thus be more appropriate in the context of this novel.)
The Jade Green Dragon represented water, the Great White Tiger became wind as the Xuanwu became earth and the Blood Red Sparrow became fire. The void split open as the four empirical elements surged about chaotically. Unlimited power was continually created and destroyed.
This was the fundamental strength of the Four Appearances. This move drew upon the form of the Heavenly Hammer of the Eight Trigrams and boundless power was continually created and destroyed at the same time. Violent strength compounded upon each other exponentially and reacted like nuclear fission.
This frightening concept of power drew upon even the ever-increasing physical strength of Liang An's strike. His power was continually destroyed and converted to fuel the power of Xiao Yan's retaliation strike.
The Four Appearances Heaven Cleaving Script coupled with the Heavenly Hammer of the Eight Trigrams - the Four Appearances World-Destroying Hammer!
Thousands of miles around the Ying Sea trembled with the force of this strike as if this particular area had a mind of its own and rejected the nature of this world-destroying force.
"This Martial Way technique is truly terrifying. It rivals even the Vairocana Zen Palm Fist Print." The Marquis of Jinghuan was shaking inside. He could only watch as the power charged into his fists to create the illusion in the void was completely sucked away and collapsed. It was not because of his own incapability, but his powers were destroyed by outside forces.
"What a pity! Pity! It's a pity that my Boundless Fist has a weakness. If not, how can you suppress it?"
The move that Xiao Yan learned from Lin Feng, the Four Appearances World-Destroying Hammer possessed that petrifying quality of bringing cataclysmic disasters to the world. It completely vanquished the powers of the Boundless Fist!
The Boundless Fist was still rising in power and was not yet at its maximum strength. Its course of progress was immediately blockaded by the Four Appearances World-Destroying Hammer, and the scene resembled something like a great fire that was just about to spread but was suddenly extinguished with a bucket of cold water.
This suffocating feeling almost made the Marquis of Jinghuan vomit blood.
However, at this very moment, a red-colored light circle appeared in the middle of his chest. It was round and was shaped like a circular mirror and radiated with pale golden light. It was the same mirror that he used previously to spy on Xiao Yan. Right now, it acted like a talisman of personal protection and stood fast in front of his chest.
In the next moment, a violent and brutal aura erupted from within. The concept of power was all-conquering and all-destroying, as if it could dictate all the happenings in the world.
With the red-colored mirror at the center, streaks of golden light shot outwards in all directions and enveloped Liang An's body. It transformed into a layer of body armor and sealed his entire being inside.
This golden body armor simply clashed with Xiao Yan's ferocious and unrivaled Four Appearances World-Destroying Hamer!
Flames surged into the sky and explosions crackled all around as the two forces clashed. A golden figure was struck backwards and was knocked back quite a distance before it repositioned itself in the void.
Flames were still jumping around upon the layer of golden armor. However, it was quite clear that the armor ate the full force of Xiao Yan's strike and protected the Marquis of Jinghuan.
Xiao Yan heaved a light sigh and said, "Indeed, the Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence."
It was originally called the Body Armor of the Yue Emperor, and was originally the most supreme magic treasure that he carried around with him. It was forged by the Emperor of Violence with intense effort and over an extremely long period of time. It had the potential of becoming a Destiny-level magic treasure, but the Emperor of Violence was overthrown before that dream was realized. The Divine Body Armor was also heavily damaged and had since gone missing.
Yan Mingyue could tell that even though the Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence was repaired and refurbished by the Marquis of Jinghuan many times, it was still not at its peak condition from all those years ago.
Its fate was worse than the Immortal Dragon City - magic treasures that had the potential to reach the level of Destiny, but were severely damaged before that could happen. At least, the Immortal Dragon City was damaged before it was even complete.
Even so, the powers of the Divine Body Armor were still extremely overbearing. It connected with the Marquis of Jinghuan on a spiritual level, and was worthy as his very last trump card.
With the Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence on his body, the strength of the Marquis of Jinghuan could no longer be gauged by nascent soul cultivator standards. This body armor pretty much integrated with Liang An as one, and it brought up his abilities to the level of the Immortal Soul Stage.
"What a surprise! Xiao Yan, you are actually this powerful! It's funny that I saw you like a pig and wanted to feed you till you're fat before I resolved to end your life! Without the Divine Body Armor of the Yue Emperor, I would have been punched to the high heavens if I took your strike. I may even have died."
His entire body was enveloped by the Divine Body Armor, and his whole being began to exude tyrannical auras that made him look like a golden giant.
"The Divine Body Armor of the Yue Emperor had the potential of becoming a Destiny-level magic treasure. However, it sustained heavy injuries towards the end of the Antiquity Age and its foundations were also very nearly destroyed. Even though its powerful, I have been reluctant to use it for this very reason - I wanted to nurture it slowly so that I don't lose sight of the big picture over smaller things." The Marquis of Jinghuan howled as he continued, "But today, in order to kill you, I have to make an exception."
Xiao Yan laughed coldly and replied, "This turtle shell is your final trump card?"
"Turtle shell?" The Marquis of Jinghuan chuckled with an equally cold tone. "You still don't understand."
With an explosion, the Marquis of Jinghuan transformed into a golden streak of lightning and launched himself towards Xiao Yan at a speed that far exceeded what came before!
As he arrived in front of Xiao Yan, he punched out with the same move - the Boundless Fist. However, the Boundless Fist strike that was using was supported by the powers of the Divine Body Armor, thus it was far more terrifying than before.
He faced off Xiao Yan's Four Appearances World-Destroying Hammer and was not at a disadvantage at all.
With the support of the Divine Body Armor, the Marquis of Jinghuan's physical strength ascended to another level. He was now able to sustain an even more exponential increase in the explosive power of the Boundless fist. He no longer needed to rely on his own blood and flesh to sustain the strike and risk his move falling apart due to that very fact.
Three clashes were exchanged above the Ying Sea. It was apparent that both parties were of nearly equal strength; the Marquis of Jinghuan no longer had to concern himself about personal protection with the help of the Divine Body Armor and neither did he have to worry about tiring himself out. He unleashed the maximum power of his own Martial Ways and was at the very edge of infinity. It was truly a frightening sight.
"Tsk, tsk. The powers of my Four Appearances World-Destroying Hammer are not too bad already, but I have yet to fully understand my master's concept of power regarding the four empirical elements of the earth in its path of creation and destruction of the earth. Ultimately, I am unable to unleash its maximum power like he can."
Faced with a new and improved Liang An, Xiao Yan began to laugh to himself. "I was waiting for your final trump card."
From the very beginning, Xiao Yan's instincts told him that Liang An's most threatening powers had something to do with the mysterious mirror light. He was right after all.
Xiao Yan opened both his palms as raging flames flickered within. A petrifying aura permeated all around.
Even though the Marquis of Jinghuan was under the protection of the Divine Body Armor, he started to feel his skin crawl.
"Have you heard of a saying, 'Naked Pig'?" Xiao Yan chuckled but his smile turned murderous in the next moment. "I will strip you naked today! Even though you have a host of magic treasures, I want to see exactly what you have underneath all that!"