History's Number 1 Founder

"Your Ancient Royal Sword was lost inside the Void Battleground."

"Your God-Slayer Puppet shall be locked down by the Divine Token of the Five Thrones after I take care of you."

"That irritating ruler of yours will never return to you even if it’s not sucked away into the Netherworld Sea."

"Your Immortal Royal Flag is being held back by Zhener’s Ancient Lightning Jade Earring and her Ancient Royal Sword. Your worthless subordinates are no match for Zhener’s abilities."

"And now, I will strip you of the only thing you have left. Without this magic treasure, you cannot even compare to the egg-eyed bastard Shi Tianyi – I want to see, exactly how many strikes of mine can you eat?"

The two raging fires that Xiao Yan laid out beside his body started fusing together and the mana around his body began to grow.

In the center of his left palm, the Grand Sun Primordial Fire flickered with blinding brilliance as the milky-white Pure Yang Primordial Fire as well as the reddish-blue Nanming Primordial Fire flashed gold. All three primordial fires began to fuse together with an aura so violent that everybody could feel their skin crawl.

It was almost with immediate effect that the jumping fires vanished completely; a golden-yellow lotus throne with a dash of white remained, and the red and blue petals on the lotus flower swayed in the wind.

Within his right palm, the ferocious Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire fused together with the Nanming Primordial Fire as well as the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze. The flames were even more fearsome than before as the void all around began to collapse inwards. Another lotus throne formed, albeit with a slightly slower speed than before. This time, the lotus flower was a mix of gold, blueish-purple and pitch blackness as two red and blue spheres of light orbited the flower.

The Falling Waves Dragon King wore a solemn look on his face. He knew he could no longer underestimate Xiao Yan – he knew that he had to perceive Xiao Yan as an opponent of the same level that he was. If he fought with Xiao Yan, it was nothing like a great demon bullying a nascent soul intermediate stage human cultivator; it would be an epic battle to the very death.

Even Yan Mingyue appeared a lot more serious. "After one year, who would have expected this young man to develop with such extraordinary speed. He’s only in the nascent soul intermediate stage – I really wonder how the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders managed to nurture an individual such as him."

The cultivators under the command of the Marquis of Jinghuan rolled up the Immortal Royal Flag at this point and retreated to a spot quite a distance away. They were willing to be disadvantaged in their battle against Xiao Zhener and company than risk getting caught in the fray between Xiao Yan and Liang An.

The Marquis of Jinghuan took a deep breath and said, "I heard that back when you destroyed the Yu Family ancestral home, you almost fainted after channeling the power of fusing three primordial fires together."

"Yet, from what I can see, you are able to fuse three primordial fires at whim and with extreme ease despite being only in the nascent soul stage."

The Marquis of Jinghuan was transformed into a golden giant under the protection of the Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence. He started to integrate his own spiritual energy and blood essence with the spirit of the magic item and morphed into a streak of golden lightning as he lunged towards Xiao Yan. He wanted to interrupt Xiao Yan’s fusion of the primordial fires.

Xiao Yan extended his palms and pushed outwards and the two Heaven Fire Lotuses barreled towards the Marquis of Jinghuan!

When he was in the aurous core advanced stage, he eliminated three nascent soul advanced stage grandmasters with just one Tri Fire Lotus. He was currently in the nascent soul intermediate stage, and his primordial fires were a lot stronger than before – naturally, the Heaven Fire Lotus that was fused would be a lot more violent and fearsome!

Even Immortal Soul Stage cultivators would have to take special care.

The Marquis of Jinghuan did not even try to dodge the attack. Instead, he cried out loud and pounched directly towards Xiao Yan!

"Kill!"

The Marquis of Jinghuan was very clear about the current situation. Xiao Yan’s Divine Token of the Five Thrones was hindering the advance of the God-Slayer Puppet, very nearly immobilizing it. However, because of this very fact, it was also held up by the God-Slayer Puppet and thus it was unable to protect Xiao Yan.

Even though the offensive power of the Heaven Fire Lotuses was terrifying, his defensive abilities were comparative much weaker.

The Marquis of Jinghuan was gambling with his life. He wanted to use the Divine Body Armor to clash with the Heaven Fire Lotuses head-on and use his own Martial Ways to defeat Xiao Yan once and for all!

The frightening power of the Boundless Fist was unleashed once again. Explosive strength shattered the void all around as every inch of space thousands of miles around the Ying Sea was completely devastated by this epic battle between Xiao Yan and Liang An.

With the support of the Divine Body Armor, the power of the Boundless Fist was amplified and could rival even the explosive powers of the Tri Fire Lotuses!

The defensive capability of the Divine Body Armor was even more incredible. The first Tri Fire Lotus that Xiao Yan fused together – the Grand Sun Primordial Fire, the Pure Yang Primordial Fire and the Nanming Primordial Fire – boomed and crackled as it hammered down on the Marquis of Jinghuan’s body. Blinding flames jumped all around as Liang An’s body trembled under the sheer force of Xiao Yan’s onslaught.

However, the golden armor seemed completely unaffected. There was not a single mark or crack even after eating the entirety of Xiao Yan’s strike.

The second Tri Fire Lotus – fused from the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire, the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze and the Nanming Primordial Fire – was even stronger than the previous one. The subsequent clash with the Divine Body Armor caused the golden radiance of the magic item to shimmer and dim, but the result was the same; the body armor remained intact and the defense prevails.

This was all in spite of the fact that it was a magic item that had yet to reach its maturity. Despite sustaining heavy damage all those years ago, and despite the fact that it was a nascent soul stage cultivator that was controlling it.

The magic item that was so highly regarded by the Emperor of Violence in the olden days, the magic item with the potential to become a Destiny-level magic treasure, was ultimately not something that could be matched by nascent soul stage cultivators – even if the nascent soul stage cultivator was somebody with extraordinary power like Xiao Yan.

Even Yan Mingyue and the Falling Waves Dragon King were not completely positive that they could break through the Divine Body Armor’s defensive powers.

He no longer had to concern himself with personal defense as the Marquis of Jinghuan channeled his offensive powers to the maximum possible level. The Boundless Fist became ever stronger and violent as it crashed down towards Xiao Yan with a force that nearly eclipsed the world.

He was willing to risk clashing with Xiao Yan’s assault because he knew that as long as he struck Xiao Yan just once, Xiao Yan was very, very dead.

Xiao Yan unleashed the power of the Blood Red Sparrow once again as the fiery golden wings extended behind him and he began to retreat. Liang An felt as if he had rediscovered hope and he was on the right path once again. He trembled with newfound determination and spirit as he continued on with all his might.

Over the entire process, the Marquis of Jinghuan made an unintentional discovery. He realized that the Divine Body Armor and the Boundless Fist had their weaknesses and loopholes, and were on full display at this very moment, but they were starting to repair and remedy themselves.

This was a pleasant surprise for Liang An.

This assault felt smooth and rejuvenating. The clearer his head was and the more rational his thought, the closer he connected with the spirit of the Divine Body Armor. All the mysteries and factors that perplexed him all those years before this were clearing up and he entered a healthy cycle of discovery and deeper understanding towards his mantras and abhijnas.

The most direct result was that the strength of the Boundless Fist became more powerful than ever and his ferocity felt equally limitless.

He even developed a feeling that even if he took off the Divine Body Armor at this moment and clashed with Xiao Yan’s Four Appearances World-Destroying Hammer again, he would be able to hold his ground.

The tables seemed to be turning on Xiao Yan. Yan Mingyue was a little confused at the sight and thought to herself, "Why is he not using the frightening Martial Way that he just used? Why is he casting the Tri Fire Lotuses instead? At this level, this is still an extremely exhausting and draining spell for him."

"Furthermore, if three primordial fires are to be fused together, the optimal choices are the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire with the Grand Sun Primordial Fire and the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze. The resulting combination of power would have been the greatest compared to the ones that he chose."

"Wait, could it be..."

At this moment, Liang An exclaimed with fervor and elation. "Xiao Yan, you have really brought me so much good fortune. I could have ascended to the immortal soul stage a long time, but I wanted my abhijnas and mantras to be the strongest they could be before I moved on to the Immortal Soul Stage."

"This battle with you helped me clear my doubts and bottlenecks with my mantras and abhijnas, and now everything is so smooth and clear. After eliminating you, my spiritual energy would be overflowing and if I would be able to cultivate the perfect Immortal Soul Avatar then."

The Marquis of Jinghuan was integrated with the Divine Body Armor at this point and was transformed into a flash of golden light. He trail-blazed around the void as thousands and thousands of his illusions popped up all around – he seemed omnipresent.

It was not just the Boundless Fist in play anymore. He started to channel the power of the Vairocana Vajra Wheel Print as well as the All-Enveloping hand of Heaven and the Order of the Dictator.

While he was unleashing his various attacks, the Marquis of Jinghuan started to fuse everything together with the Boundless Fist as the head of the dragon. Limitless powers of the divine Martial Ways were exhibited as the Marquis of Jinghuan unleased a great Divine Martial Way that was unique only to himself.

"Xiao Yan, you are indeed a great stepping stone!"

Between his exclamations, the Marquis of Jinghuan hammered another fist down upon Xiao Yan. However, at this very moment, the Divine body Armor he was wearing began to tremble violently and he felt an acutely ominous feeling from his connection with the Divine Body Armor. It was as if something calamitous was coming for him.

"Eh?" The Marquis of Jinghuan stopped in his tracks abruptly and was about to retreat without a single hint of hesitation.

It was too late.

The entire patch of void above them was suddenly covered in flames of all types and colors. The remnant flames from the Heaven Fire Lotuses that exploded on his Divine Body Armor previously did not dissipate, but they were condensed and drifting around the air above them instead.

The drifting flames began to jump and surge as they started to connect with each other and eventually grew into a sprawling sea of fire.

The Fire Lotuses that had just exploded before began to come together again sinisterly. Various Tri Fire Lotuses began to form with the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire on one side along with the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze and the Nanming Primordial, and the Grand Sun Primordial Fire was on the other side with the Pure Yang Primordial Fire as well as the Nanming Primordial Fire.

Two types of ire lotuses came together to form an array of Yin and Yang with the Marquis of Jinghuan at the very center of it all.

In the next moment, Yin and Yang spiraled around as tremendous forces that resembled pulverizing anchors started pressing down on the Marquis of Jinghuan.

The void all around the Marquis of Jinghuan had been shattered into nothingness and pure chaos. Liang An could barely hold on with the power of the Divine Body armor protecting him. Even so, he was trapped and immobilized, and could only hold on to dear life by eating the full force of the great formation of Yin and Yang formed by the multiple Tri Fire Lotuses.

Xiao Yan was erect in the void and flashed a cold smile at Liang An. "I may not be as talented with magic formations as my second junior or my sixth junior, but do not forget who my master is. I will let you have a taste of my Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation! Let me remind you that this is the mountain defense formation of my Inferno Precipice!"

Violent and pulverizing forces crushed Liang An, who was stuck in the middle of it all. The Divine Body Armor he was wearing was being channeled to its maximum power as golden rays of light desperately resisted the explosive flames of the magic formation.

The Marquis of Jinghuan grunted and replied, "I suppose I miscalculated. I didn’t expect you to change your direct and straightforward style of battle so I ended up falling into your trap. However, I have the Divine Body Armor to protect myself, and for all eternity as well. Not even your great formation can break through!"

"Such a powerful magic formation will drain much of your strength and mana. I want to see for how long you can sustain this magic formation!"

Xiao Yan guffawed at his remark. "For all eternity? Seriously? Nobody has the patience to fight a war of attrition with you."

As he spoke, he pushed his hands out in front of him as the Pure Yang Primoridal Fire, the Grand Sun Primordial Fire, the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire and the Nanming Primordial Fire appeared at the same time and insidiously condensed towards the tips of Xiao Yan’s fingers!

The speed of fusion was a lot slower than the Heaven Fire Lotus formed from three types of primordial fires that Xiao Yan channeled previously. Xiao Yan also seemed a lot more meticulous and careful than before.

However, the frightening power of uncontrollable brutality and the similar apocalyptic strength was far superior to that of the Tri Fire Lotuses as well!

Innumerable glyphs and runes were cast into the flames and only after a long while did the raging flames start to mellow down.

A single lotus throne appeared between Xiao Yan’s hands. The bottom layer was milky-white, the middle layer was pure gold and the top-most layer was a blueish-purple color. The heart of the lotus flower flickered with golden radiance as a red petal and a blue petal once again swayed in the wind.

As he witnessed what just transpired, Liang An’s face underneath the Divine Body Armor finally began to betray a tinge of true fear.