I Am Overlord c1-962
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With the mask on, Xiang Shaoyun looked like he was in his twenties. Reaching the second-stage Transformation Realm at that age wasn't anything special. But since he could punch above his weight, Chen Zilong concluded that he definitely had a secret technique allowing him to do so.
Thus, Chen Zilong changed his mind and decided to make Xiang Shaoyun his follower instead. He felt that it would be very cool to have a follower that powerful. Xiang Shaoyun merely laughed at his offer.
"HAHAHAHA..." Xiang Shaoyun roared with laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
As a young master of a tier-7 organization who once had countless followers, even if he had fallen from grace, he was still not someone anyone could speak so haughtily against.
A young master of a mere Emperor clan dared to speak like that to him? How laughable! In truth, Xiang Shaoyun wasn't laughing at Chen Zilong's arrogance. He was only laughing at himself, laughing at how low he had fallen.
"Impudent! What is that attitude!" berated a young man beside Chen Zilong.
That young man was one of Chen Zilong's followers. He was no less talented than Xie Sanqian. He was one year older than Xie Sanqian and was also a fifth-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. He was also an inner disciple of the Cloud Margin Pavilion, and his name was Ji Jiuhan.
Xiang Shaoyun completely ignored Ji Jiuhan and gazed at Chen Zilong before saying, "Since you want to fight me so badly, I shall grant your wish. If I beat you, you shall be my follower instead."
Everyone blanked out upon hearing that. None of them had expected that Xiang Shaoyun, who just a moment ago was claiming that he was being bullied, would suddenly accept the challenge.
At the same time, the people there wondered, Has he really never heard of the number one young master of Cloud Margin City?
Chapter 192: One Move Is All It Takes
Number One Young Master of Cloud Margin City!
That was a title unique to Chen Zilong alone.
That served as a proof that not only was he someone with an extraordinary background, he also had an astonishing cultivation talent. His advancement in cultivation had been smooth sailing all the way until he reached late-stage Transformation Realm. He once set up a challenge arena in the city and defeated 49 opponents in a row, winning himself the title of Undefeated Transformation Realm Cultivator.
Apart from that, he was also one of the top 10 personal disciples of Cloud Margin Pavilion. If it wasn't for the fact that he was still too young, he would have also occupied first place within the top 10.
From all that, it was clear how renowned Chen Zilong was in Cloud Margin City. And here was Xiang Shaoyun, challenging Chen Zilong. Everyone stared at Xiang Shaoyun like he was some madman, all thinking that he was truly an ignorant person.
More importantly, Xiang Shaoyun dared to tell this number one young master to become his follower, which caused everyone to wonder if he was thinking straight. Chen Zilong was the descendant of an Emperor. Who would dare to say something like that to him?
"Audacious! Young master, please allow me to cut his head off!" asked a peak Transformation Realm expert from the Chen Clan.
The other Chen Clan members also spoke out one after another, all wanting to kill Xiang Shaoyun on the spot. Xiang Shaoyun's words had insulted the entire Chen Clan, a clan of an Emperor, and it was punishable by death.
"Boss! Let me fight him! He is not worth your time," requested Ji Jiuhan.
Chen Zilong narrowed his eyes and gazed at Xiang Shaoyun for a bit before saying, "Jiuhan, you go." He then said to Xiang Shaoyun, "If you can defeat him in three moves, I will let your group enter and search for the earthcore fire. As for a battle between you and me, we will talk about it after you are at least a third-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. Perhaps at that time I can suppress my cultivation base and fight you with the same cultivation level. If you can defeat me, I will consider what you said."
"No, young master!" the Chen Clan quickly pleaded.
"Enough. A person capable of defeating me with the same cultivation level does not exist in this world," Chen Zilong declared confidently.
Xiang Shaoyun smiled calmly and said, "Sure, we'll do that." He himself never feared anyone of the same cultivation level as well, even if the person in question was from a clan of an Emperor.
Ji Jiuhan raised a silver spear and shouted to Xiang Shaoyun, "Come on, then. You won't be able to defeat me in three moves."
"Be careful," Gong Qinyin reminded Xiang Shaoyun, who was about to step forth for battle.
Xiang Shaoyun smiled calmly before stepping forward and saying, "I don't need three moves for you. One move is enough."
Xiang Shaoyun had undoubtedly infuriated Ji Jiuhan with those words. No matter what, Ji Jiuhan was an inner disciple of Cloud Margin Pavilion. His combat prowess was not much weaker than Xie Sanqian's. And here, he was being looked at with such contempt? How could he accept that?
"You will pay!" Ji Jiuhan shouted before charging Xiang Shaoyun with his spear raised.
World of Frost!
Ji Jiuhan stabbed his silver spear forward, and instantly, a frost aura spread everywhere. It was as if the weather had instantaneously changed and winter had arrived. The frost spread toward Xiang Shaoyun and froze him on the spot, preventing his escape as the spearhead turned into an ice spike and headed straight toward him.
That was an attack that first sealed the escape before dealing a fatal blow to the opponent. It was an extremely ingenious move. Ji Jiuhan was using his full power, unleashing a combat prowess comparable to that of a sixth-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. Unfortunately for him, it was far from enough to deal with Xiang Shaoyun.
Xiang Shaoyun did not even bother dodging the attack. Purple and gold aura surged out of his body to form an impenetrable energy barrier as he stood there and allowed the attack to land.
Everyone opened their eyes wide, thinking that Xiang Shaoyun had been too careless and was going to get himself killed. Even Gong Qinyin tightened her grip on her weapon anxiously. But the Gong Clan people around her were stopping her from charging forward rashly.
Bang!
Ji Jiuhan's silver spear struck Xiang Shaoyun's barrier, immediately creating a loud explosion that rippled everywhere. The attack failed to penetrate Xiang Shaoyun's barrier, as the spearhead couldn't budge after entering about one third of the barrier.
"Impossible! Die already!" Ji Jiuhan could not accept it at all. He roared and poured all his strength into the silver spear and continued trying to push the spear through the barrier. The silver radiance around the spear peaked, and the frost aura intensified.
Finally, a crack appeared in the barrier. Right this instant, Xiang Shaoyun leaned to the side, causing Ji Jiuhan to shoot forward uncontrollably. It was at that moment that Xiang Shaoyun made his move.
Cloud Splitting Palm!
It was a regular tier-1 battle technique, yet it was the most effective battle technique in such a situation.
Bang!
Ji Jiuhan was unable to pull back in time. In any case, he did not even realize that Xiang Shaoyun was attacking. The only thing he felt was a palm landing on his back. Instantly, his energy barrier shattered, and he was sent flying and coughing blood.
Finally, he crashed heavily onto the ground not far away. Only one move and he had been defeated.
Xiang Shaoyun gazed at Chen Zilong and asked in a carefree manner, "So can we enter now?"
Chen Zilong was pulled back from his shock, and he laughed, "Haha. To first bait the enemy, shifting the truth and the fake, before finally counterattacking and obtaining victory. What a splendid move. The entire sequence looks simple, but it is extremely clever. You are indeed an opponent worthy of respect. You may all enter."
Chen Zilong had a decent personality. Although his man had suffered defeat, he did not fly into rage out of humiliation. Instead, he magnanimously praised Xiang Shaoyun, showing the grace of an expert. Xiang Shaoyun cupped his fists and saluted C
hen Zilong before riding his red wolf away with Gong Qinyin, Mo Mo, and the others without saying anything.
After Xiang Shaoyun left, Ji Jiuhan crawled back on his feet and said with a rueful expression, "Boss, sorry. I have embarrassed you."
"Yes, that was quite embarrassing. But it was not like you didn't have that coming. He was able to kill even Ye Xuan. Do you think he's not your match?" Chen Zilong said. He then muttered to himself, "Life will only be interesting with an opponent like this. Otherwise, it will feel very lonely."
"Zilong, are you really going to fight him with the same cultivation level?" Li Yaxuan asked.
"Sister Xuan, you think I will lose?" Chen Zilong asked.
"That is possible. I have a feeling that he is not as simple as he looks," Li Yaxuan said with the expression of a wise and farsighted person.
"Why so? Do you mean he is actually hiding his strength? Or he has some forbidden technique capable of increasing his combat prowess?" Chen Zilong asked.
"No, his combat prowess is very stable. It is definitely not something he got from a forbidden technique. Moreover, I have witnessed him fight two times. He is indeed only a second-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. But his cultivation base is incredibly thick, and his true combat prowess is no weaker than any of you. Therefore, he is definitely someone with terrifying talent. Also, I suspect the face we are seeing is not his true face," Li Yaxuan voiced her suspicions.
Chapter 193: Starting the Earthcore Fire Search
The Flame Mountain used to be a desolate mountain. Now, it was a mountain enveloped by flame, and it was quite a spectacular sight to behold. Any other mountain lit on fire would stop burning after all the plants were burned. But here, the fire refused to stop, as if the fire wasn't going to give up before the mountain itself was destroyed. The unending fire was also how people had noticed that a millennium earthcore fire had appeared here.
The millennium earthcore fire was a flame that had existed for a millennium, becoming a flame that was of a higher existence than a regular flame. It was indestructible and would continue burning unendingly. Not even water could stop this flame from burning everything in existence.
Each millennium earthcore fire would take a long time to form, and each appearance of millennium earthcore fire would be a large event among humans. Even Kings would be attracted when one appeared.
This time, the Cloud Margin Pavilion had made a decision that only those below the King Realm could search for the earthcore fire. Because of that, the Kings had no choice but to look from afar and sigh in regret. But that did not mean that the Kings would sit aside willingly. Some had tried to harvest the earthcore fire in the dark, but all who tried had died for the weirdest of reasons. Those deaths were most likely the Cloud Margin Pavilion setting an example out of them. In the territory under jurisdiction of Cloud Margin City, their words were the law, and anyone who disobeyed would die.
After traveling through Chen Clan's blockade, Xiang Shaoyun's group finally arrived before the Flame Mountain. Looking at the more than 10 burning mountain ridges and sensing the intense heat, Xiang Shaoyun lamented, "This is indeed a place where a millennium earthcore fire has been born. The power of fire is so thick here."
"Yeah, the millennium earthcore fire is somewhere in there. It won't be easy to find it. A lot of people have died trying. We must be careful," Gong Qinyin said.
"I have the coldstar stone to protect myself from the heat. How about you?" Xiang Shaoyun asked curiously.
"Don't worry. My king-grade frost armor will offer me enough protection to go in," Gong Qinyin said.
"Good. Let's not wait, let's go in immediately," Xiang Shaoyun said.
"Don't we need to figure out the whereabouts of the earthcore fire before we do anything?" Gong Qinyin asked.
Xiang Shaoyun waved his hand and said, "That won't be necessary at all. The earthcore fire will be right where the fire started."
Xiang Shaoyun was a well-read person. He also had a certain degree of understanding of the earthcore fire. Generally speaking, it would stay right where it was formed. It would not move away easily as it still needed to grow. For example, the current millennium earthcore fire would be trying to grow into a ten millennia earthcore fire, becoming a supreme and divine flame.
That was a path of evolution for the flame, similar to the growth of a cultivator.
"Oh, you sure know a lot," Gong Qinyin said admiringly.
"If you read more books, you will know more as well," Xiang Shaoyun said before walking toward the volcano.
On the way, they encountered many Transformation Realm experts, with a lot of them traveling in groups. Of course, some were also traveling alone. It was obvious all they were here for the millennium earthcore fire.
These people were basically all people with backgrounds, with the majority of them being the disciples or overseers of Cloud Margin Pavilion. These were the people that weren't stopped by the Chen Clan's blockade.
Of course, there were also cultivators from other organizations and unaffiliated cultivators around. These were the people who hadn't entered through the main entry point where the blockade was located. Rather, they had entered through the sides.
The only reason the Chen Clan set up the blockade was to reduce the number of people searching for the millennium earthcore fire in order to reduce Chen Zilong's competitors. They never really intended to fully put the mountain on lockdown. Not even the Cloud Margin Pavilion would let them do that.
The nearer Xiang Shaoyun's group got to the volcanic crater, the higher the temperature. Their mounts were starting to roar in protest due to the rising temperature. Left with no choice, Xiang Shaoyun had to dismount and leave Mo Mo behind to look after his mount.
Gong Qinyin did the same and hopped off her snow lion and left a Gong Clan member behind to look after the mount. At this point, they had to start traveling on foot. But they hadn't even moved far before someone came looking for trouble.
"Leave all the valuables on you behind or prepare to suffer!" said one of the newcomers.
There were seven of them, the size of their group almost similar to the size of Xiang Shaoyun's group. None of them were weaker than the Transformation Realm, and from their attire, they were likely members of some hunting groups or bandits.
"Mo Mo, I'll let you deal with them." Xiang Shaoyun couldn't even be bothered to waste any time with them.
At the command, Mo Mo charged the group without a second thought. Although they were all Transformation Realm cultivators, the strongest was merely a sixth-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. For a group like that to have the guts to rob Xiang Shaoyun's group, it was tantamount to suicide.
Right after Mo Mo attacked, the robbers regretted their decision. Unfortunately, it was too late to regret. They were fated to suffer.
"This will be a cruel path. Are you ready?" Xiang Shaoyun asked Gong Qinyin.
With a resolute expression, Gong Qinyin replied, "The worst that can happen is death."
Xiang Shaoyun gave Gong Qinyin a thumbs up before he started moving.
Naturally, Gong Qinyin followed him. Behind her, four other Gong Clan members followed as well.
After a while, Xiang Shaoyun noticed that all four of the Gong Clan members were enveloped by a red radiance, seemingly having blended into the environment. He mumbled inwardly in astonishment, So turns out they all cultivate the power of fire. No wonder they don't fear the temperature here. Perhaps some of them are even main members of the Gong Clan.
After studying them for a bit, Xiang Shaoyun's gaze ultimately landed on a young man that looked completely ordinary. That man was about 25 years old, and due to the darker shade of his skin, he looked slightly older than his actual age. He looked completely inconspicuous, but he had the combat prowess of a sixth-stage Transformation Realm cultivator.
Xiang Shaoyun also noticed that the other three Gong Clan members were in a way keeping him in the middle, protecting him instead of Gong Qinyin. It was obvious that he
was the actual leader of the Gong Clan's group.
Inwardly, Xiang Shaoyun thought, Looks like the Gong Clan does not fully trust Gong Qinyin. Or perhaps she is lying to me?
Since the betrayal he had suffered, Xiang Shaoyun had been on guard against anyone he met. Even if it seemed like he had a good relationship with Gong Qinyin, he wouldn't fully trust her. That was also why he was able to notice the young man in the group.
Right this moment, a large group of people ran down from the mountain, one of them shouting, "Run! The flame beasts are attacking!"
Chapter 194: Flame Beast
The flame beast was a unique demonic beast that resided within lava. They were shaped oddly, looking like a fireball when they were in fact an actual life form. They could also spit flame from their mouths, and their attacks were extremely destructive. If there were only one or two of them, it wouldn’t matter. But with hundreds or even thousands of them appearing, they became incomparably scary.
They streamed out of the volcanic crater and started spitting flame at the humans without stop, making everyone flee madly. These humans were already having a hard time moving around this terrible environment. With the flame beasts going crazy as well, the humans struggled even more.
"What should we do?" Gong Qinyin asked anxiously.
"What else can we do? Either retreat or brave on," Xiang Shaoyun said.
"And what is your choice?" Gong Qinyin asked.
"We can’t avoid these beasts when searching for the millennium earthcore fire. I will go on. Take care," Xiang Shaoyun said and started heading forward once more. He moved like the wind and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from their vision. Ever since he found out that someone else was the actual leader of the Gong Clan group, he had been wanting to leave them and move alone. This was the perfect chance for that.