We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

Chapter 198 Reunion, Fragments of Godhood!
This oppressive force is not a one-time event, but rather like waves on the sea, one after another, each stronger than the last.

Furthermore, there is also an impact on mental strength.

Physical pressure decreases with each layer due to air resistance. When unknowingly exerting full force, it can only travel a few hundred meters at most.

However, the impact of mental energy is different.

In addition, Shen Bailian's current mental strength level is at the peak of the first tier (level 20.5), which is not far from the second tier.

Moreover, this timing coincided with the fact that he had just emerged from a pseudo-enlightenment state of comprehending basic sword techniques, so the mental shockwave he unleashed inevitably carried some sword intent.

All of a sudden.

In this treasure land, some first-tier ferocious beasts who had been hiding underground and barely surviving were still rejoicing that they had escaped a calamity. Some audacious beasts even thought of taking advantage of Shen Bailian's cultivation to launch a sneak attack.

However, all these thoughts vanished like bubbles under Shen Bailian's mental attack, which carried the intent of a sword. Many ferocious beasts' heads buzzed and trembled as they clutched their heads and roared in pain.

And then the next moment.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Many ferocious beasts could not endure this torment, and the primordial energy within their bodies suddenly surged uncontrollably into their heads, causing their heads to explode like ripe watermelons struck by a heavy hammer.

The mixture of red and white spilled onto the ground, and its massive body triggered a chain reaction like falling dominoes, crashing one after another onto the nearly decaying leaves.

……

Meanwhile, dozens of miles away, in another treasure land.

Yuwen Changkong was enveloped in lightning, moving like lightning and light, his body like a ghost, constantly shuttling through the dense forest of tall trees, and the Thunder Pearl hanging around his neck became even more dazzling.

And behind him.

"Roar!" "Awoooooo—"

A constant roar echoed through the deep, dense forest as thousands of ferocious beasts raced through it, their scarlet and amber-yellow vertical pupils burning with furious flames, their sharp, dagger-like fangs glistening with streaks of bright red flesh.

It had a chilling aura.

Combined with the thick black clouds in the sky and the occasional flashes of thunder, it gave one the feeling of being in a deep mountain forest, making one's scalp tingle and tremble with fear.

As time passed, thousands of ferocious beasts chased Yuwen Changkong and unknowingly entered a narrow and confined area.

"As expected, anger can devour reason." Yuwen Changkong felt the ferocious beast roaring behind him and a strange smile appeared on his lips.

Above the sky, which all the ferocious beasts subconsciously ignored, there were swirling, pitch-black thunderclouds, with purple lightning like snakes and thunderbolts like dragons. The dragons and snakes intertwined, and the wind and clouds surged, as if the three calamities of the end times were slowly gathering their power.

This was Yuwen Changkong's gift to these ferocious beasts, both a greeting and a farewell gift.

Of course, this farewell gift is for the journey to the underworld.

"Almost there, almost there!" Yuwen Changkong nimbly dodged the wooden spears and water-jar-sized rocks that shot towards him from behind, and even had the leisure to sense the state of the Thunder Pearl, excitedly murmuring to himself:

"After this mission ends, it should take about a month before we can completely make the Thunder Pearl our own."

The Thunder Pearl is still in the process of being integrated with him at this stage, and it cannot be considered his power yet. Only after he has completely incorporated it into his own power will it not be considered an external force.

At the same time, after completely fusing the Thunder Pearl, Yuwen Changkong will not be disturbed by the divine substance when he is in battle.

"arrive!"

boom!
With a loud bang, the primal force within Yuwen Changkong surged violently, and his figure shot into the sky like a rocket, his entire body flashing with dazzling lightning.

Meanwhile, in the dark clouds above the sky, the thunderstorm, which had been gradually subsiding, was instantly ignited like dry tinder meeting a raging fire.

"Thunderous Fury!" Yuwen Changkong roared, his primal force and power surging, veins bulging on his forehead. After accumulating power for a mere tenth of a second, he brought his hands down heavily.

In an instant.

"Boom!!!"

At that moment, the sky seemed to collapse, and an incredibly thick pillar of lightning poured down, instantly evaporating all the rainwater in its path.

In less than a ten-thousandth of a second, before any of the ferocious beasts could react, the towering bolt of lightning reached the center of the beast horde.

Nothing in the world is absolutely insulating; even if it were, it would only be because the voltage wasn't high enough.

This pent-up power of heaven and earth, with a voltage of hundreds of millions of volts, is absolutely unstoppable by any carbon-based life form with its flesh and blood.

The earth trembled violently, and the ferocious beast roared in agony amidst the surging thunder, but its body had been completely paralyzed by the high voltage of hundreds of millions of volts, rendering it unable to move.

It was a scene of hell on earth.

However, Yuwen Changkong, standing tall in the sky, was like a god, with crackling lightning snakes coiled around his robust body, coldly watching everything below.

He understood deeply that this was a racial war, and no mercy was to be shown.

If Yuwen Changkong were weak, his fate today would be no better than that of the ferocious beasts on the ground. Given the hatred hidden in their bloodlines, being torn apart by five horses would be the most painless way to die.

"Rumble..."

The air surged, and the earth trembled violently, a tremor that lingered for a long time. Huge, lotus-like patterns spread outwards, adding another wound that was difficult to heal to the already ravaged battlefield.

The ground collapsed, revealing a bottomless, pitch-black chasm. Countless ferocious beasts, paralyzed by lightning and unable to move, fell into it, unable to maintain their original menacing aura.

"call……"

Looking down at the scene below, Yuwen Changkong let out a long breath and stopped his movements to adjust his breathing.

With just that one strike, he had consumed 50% of his primal force, but the results were still quite remarkable, with 90% of the nearly 1,000 ferocious beasts being eliminated.

Of the remaining ten percent, half have completely lost their fighting ability, but due to their strong vitality, their life force has not been completely extinguished.

But suddenly.

"Hmph~~" Yuwen Changkong felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow. He couldn't help but groan. The primal force within his body became uncontrollably disordered in an instant and plummeted downwards.

He didn't stabilize until he was about ten meters from the ground.

"what happened?"

"Which bastard is randomly unleashing mental energy shockwaves here!" After recovering, Yuwen Changkong immediately became vigilant, and only then did he manage to stabilize himself amidst the mental energy shockwave.

The remaining lightning power within him poured out in an instant, and combined with his powerful mental strength, which had reached the late stage of the first rank, electromagnetic waves spread out instantly.

He could clearly perceive everything around him. However, even though Yuwen Changkong had exhausted all his efforts to investigate, he found nothing unusual within a radius of tens of kilometers.

Furthermore, the source of the mental shock was not discovered.

But the next moment.

hum~
Yuwen Changkong's heart suddenly trembled wildly, his hair stood on end as if a sharp weapon had pierced his forehead, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

"This, this... this is the sword intent contained within the impact of spiritual power?!" Yuwen Changkong was immediately shocked and stood there stunned.

All the noise around him quickly faded away: the patter of raindrops, the painful roars of the beasts that were not yet completely dead... and the thunderclap of the falling lightning.

At this moment, they all vanished.

"My spiritual power has reached the late stage of the first tier, comparable to most martial artists in the early or mid stages of the Sea Opening Realm." A hint of barely suppressed surprise flickered in Yuwen Changkong's eyes.

"Even many early-stage Sea Opening Realm martial artists who have cultivated mental techniques would find it difficult to shake my spirit from such a distance, and this mental force impact even contains sword intent."

Making a top martial arts prodigy like him lose his composure is extremely difficult, although it's possible that he was too relaxed after just unleashing his ultimate move.

If this were during combat, the consequences would be extremely serious.

Unlike battles between martial artists at the Establishment Realm, the timer for battles at the late and peak Transcendent Realm has been changed to one-hundredth of a second.

In a life-or-death battle, the unit of time is even milliseconds. The side that is suddenly pressured and loses their focus may regain it in the next moment.

However, life and death often hang in the balance in a millisecond.

Boom~
Like the tides, the spiritual energy emanating from Shen Bailian's body once again created ripples that spread outwards.

This made Yuwen Changkong feel increasingly uncomfortable, because that sword intent was simply too sharp, containing an unparalleled aura.

However, he has become somewhat wary of this and will no longer lose his composure because of it.

Whoosh!
Without even glancing at the ferocious beast on the ground, Yuwen Changkong soared into the sky, rushing towards the source of the spiritual energy impact.

"However, why do I feel a slight sense of familiarity with this sword intent?"

"Could it be Shen Bailian?"

"No!"

"Absolutely impossible!" Yuwen Changkong stood high in the sky, his mind racing. A multitude of thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, his eyes flickering as he fell into deep thought:
"However, it's not impossible!"

Yuwen Changkong thought this way because he suddenly remembered that most of the warriors in this exploration mission were at the Transcendent Realm, and only in each major direction were there two or three Sea Opening Realm warriors protecting the way.

Those martial artists at the Sea Opening Realm are all seasoned veterans with extremely rich combat experience, and it is absolutely impossible for them to release shockwaves recklessly during such an exploration.

And they don't have that much ability.

Because the level and strength of mental power largely depend on the individual's martial arts realm, if those people were in their thirties and had such strong mental power, their martial arts realm would not be limited to the early stage of the Sea Opening Realm.

Aside from those martial artists at the Opening Sea Realm, there were two exceptions among the Transcendent Realm martial artists in this exploration mission: two top-tier martial arts prodigies.

One of them is Yuwen Changkong, and the other is Shen Bailian.

Rules are rigid, but top martial arts prodigies are the ones who break them.

"However, his martial arts skills have only just reached the fourth level of the Subtle Realm. How could he possibly integrate them into his own mental energy shockwave so quickly?!"

Yuwen Changkong suddenly stopped. He found his own thoughts hard to believe, but upon closer reflection, he realized that the other party was Shen Bailian, his formidable rival.

It's not entirely without possibility.

"I understand!"

"I understand everything now. He must have found some rare and precious materials in the treasure land that could enhance his spiritual power. His spiritual power suddenly made a great breakthrough, so he couldn't control it and that's why it erupted."

Yuwen Changkong believed he had figured out the truth, but a doubt still lingered in his mind: "How did he integrate his understanding of swordsmanship into the mental shockwave?"

“There was a subtle trend of him surpassing me before. If this continues, the gap between us will probably widen.”

"no!"

"I must pull myself together. I, Yuwen Changkong, am no less capable than anyone else of my time!" A fierce fighting spirit gradually ignited in Yuwen Changkong's eyes.

Instead of being discouraged, he was completely inspired by Shen Bailian.

……

"Sure enough, this time the improvement was not just in physical fitness and mental strength, but the gains far exceeded my expectations."

Shen Bailian opened his eyes and sensed the world with his mind. Gradually, he felt the essential mysteries floating in the world, as well as the primordial energy of heaven and earth.

Among these primordial energies of heaven and earth that roam between heaven and earth, there were some that he was extremely familiar with, and some that he was not.

However, these mysteries of heaven and earth, which Shen Bailian could only perceive by completely calming his mind in the past, can now be sensed even under normal circumstances.

Perceptual abilities have made a qualitative leap.

Shen Bailian opened his palm, and with a slight thought, a bright flame instantly blazed between his fingers.

With a casual wave of his hand, a fiery blade aura was instantly unleashed, shattering a boulder hundreds of meters away and leaving charred marks on it.

"This power is merely a preliminary understanding of swordsmanship. If one can fully master it, one can truly draw upon the essential power of heaven and earth, allowing the primal force to unleash incredible power with the help of the might of heaven and earth." Shen Bailian stared in astonishment at the casual strike he had unleashed.

"My comprehension of basic sword techniques will be even faster, and it is foreseeable that my rate of improvement in strength will not slow down in the future."

Thinking of this, Shen Bailian wanted to open his own panel.

And in that very instant...

"Hmm?" Shen Bailian frowned slightly, his attention instantly diverted, and he looked up at the thick black clouds.

Because in that instant, he suddenly sensed a familiar fluctuation, and the Eye of God, following his thoughts, reached its limit of detection, rapidly extending into the dark clouds.

It's fine if you don't sweep, but once you do, something bad happens.

Swish!
A faintly glowing "shooting star" vanished into the dark clouds in an instant.

"This, this... this is a godhood?!" Shen Bailian was shocked and instinctively wanted to flee the place as soon as possible, but he stopped quickly.

(End of this chapter)