Chapter 1959: The Battle of the Emperor's List Powerhouses
The crowd sighed inwardly, as if they still hadn't recovered from the shocking battle just moments ago. The Emperor's List competition had indeed not disappointed them. With the true battles beginning, the third position on the Emperor's List had already changed hands, now firmly held by Chu Chunqiu.
Currently, the top ten seats on the Emperor's List were temporarily: Ying Cheng, Ji Shang, Chu Chunqiu, Gui Li, Battle Monk, Shi Yunfeng, Xue Shenfeng, Lin Feng, Yin Gutian, and Wang Zhong.
Due to Lin Feng's two consecutive victories, Wang Zhong's ranking was already fixed. Because he had been defeated, he lost the qualification to continue fighting. And although Yin Gutian had been challenged passively, he was temporarily unable to challenge others. Only if Lin Feng's position moved forward would he gain the right to challenge. He had no qualification to challenge those ranked ahead of Lin Feng. The same applied to Gui Li; as long as Chu Chunqiu remained in third place, he could not challenge Ji Shang or Ying Cheng.
The next round of challenges would be initiated by Xue Shenfeng. However, the number of people he could challenge was dwindling, because he could only challenge those ranked ahead of him to continue advancing on the Emperor's List.
Pei Donglai's gaze fell on Xue Shenfeng, and he spoke: "First opportunity. Challenge Ji Shang. Will you fight or not?"
Xue Shenfeng's pupils constricted slightly. Asking him to challenge Ji Shang? If he lost, he would lose the qualification to continue challenging, and his ranking would be fixed at this position. Worse still, others might have the opportunity to knock him down. Yet, to give up? That was not the style of his Snow Clan. Even if his opponent was a King-Sealed person, so what? Fight!
Xue Shenfeng stepped forward. In an instant, the aura of ice and snow spread across heaven and earth. The temperature plummeted sharply, causing people to shiver involuntarily. Layers of pure white frost gradually covered their bodies, as if it would freeze them solid.
Ji Shang stepped forward as well. The intent of annihilation swirled around him. Whenever the white snow and frost touched his body, they would collapse and be destroyed.
"Buzz!" Behind Xue Shenfeng, a phantom figure of pure white appeared, like an ancient king of the Snow Clan. The cold intensified. Behind Ji Shang, nine Azure Dragon totems coiled, as if alive, their massive bodies writhing continuously.
A kingly aura radiated from Ji Shang's body. His pupils seemed capable of causing the void itself to collapse. The frost and snow between him and Xue Shenfeng continuously shattered and broke apart. Ji Shang stepped forward. Azure Dragons protected his body, transforming into a dragon chariot of war. He himself was like the king of that Azure Dragon chariot. Wherever he passed, heaven and earth fell into silence and destruction.
Xue Shenfeng did not retreat. He stepped forward. The extreme cold frost covered heaven and earth, turning the surrounding world into a world of snow. Within this snowy world, countless afterimages of Xue Shenfeng suddenly appeared. The frost and cold air enveloped Ji Shang, trapping him in a narrow space. Yet even within that narrow space, the ancient king's aura remained. A brilliant Azure Dragon halo circled him, preventing any power from approaching his body.
Xue Shenfeng waved his hand. Instantly, a massive blade of ice and snow, capable of severing even the sky, slashed toward Ji Shang. But Ji Shang reached out his hand and grasped lightly. Cracking sounds rang out continuously as the massive blade collapsed and was destroyed. However, at that moment, countless snow blades suddenly appeared around them, attacking Ji Shang. Xue Shenfeng's body also stepped forward toward him.
"Ji Shang's Dao can suppress Xue Shenfeng's power. In this battle, Xue Shenfeng is doomed to lose," Lin Feng murmured to himself. He had once said that the Ji Clan's Annihilation Dao was a useless Dao. That was, of course, an exaggeration meant to insult the Ji Clan. The Annihilation Dao was indeed extremely powerful. As long as the Dao was strong, it seemed to suppress any Dao intent before it. No matter what power you used, he would annihilate it.
Ghostly spirits invading? Annihilated. Ice and snow covering? Annihilated. Unless one's comprehension of the Dao far surpassed Ji Shang's, their Dao would remain suppressed. Of course, there were some Daos that the Annihilation Dao could not handle, such as Sword Blind's Light Dao or Ao Xu's Domineering Dao Intent.
Ji Shang and Xue Shenfeng drew closer and closer, finally colliding. Xue Shenfeng launched various divine abilities continuously, but Ji Shang seemed to break ten thousand techniques with a single Dao. No matter how powerful the divine abilities, he remained unmoved like a mountain, crushing and destroying everything with the Annihilation Dao and powerful Azure Dragon divine abilities.
"Buzz!" At that moment, Ji Shang's body was suddenly covered in a layer of frost. He seemed to be buried in ice and snow, causing the crowd's pupils to contract. What was happening?
"Xue Shenfeng's eyes..."
They noticed that Xue Shenfeng's pupils had become incredibly eerie. It was a world of ice and snow, no longer a pair of pupils. Xue Shenfeng stepped forward, and a terrifying palm strike slammed toward Ji Shang's body. Everything would die and be destroyed in the freezing frost, cutting off all life force.
This scene caused the crowd's expressions to stiffen. Was another unexpected battle outcome about to occur?
The frost on Ji Shang's body gathered wildly, his entire form about to turn into an ice sculpture of extreme cold. But at that moment, the nine Azure Dragon totems writhed within the ice sculpture. Suddenly, a terrifying intent of annihilation emanated from within. Cracking sounds rang out as the ice sculpture split open. Nine dragons coiled, merging into one. A heaven-shaking roar erupted as the ice sculpture exploded. The dragon roared to the heavens and charged toward Xue Shenfeng, causing continuous, terrifying explosions in that stretch of void.
"Buzz!" Within the void's ice and snow, countless shadows of Xue Shenfeng suddenly appeared. But they were continuously annihilated and shattered as the demon dragon advanced. A Great Freezing Palm, carrying the ice and snow of an entire region, slammed toward the Azure Dragon. Cracking sounds rang out. The Azure Dragon's body began to freeze, but the Great Freezing Palm was also cracking.
"Chi..." From the Azure Dragon's mouth, a figure shot out. It was Ji Shang himself. He let out a furious roar and charged into Xue Shenfeng's mind. Xue Shenfeng's soul trembled violently, as if it were about to collapse. His body was sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground. He sat cross-legged, surrounded by swirling snowflakes.
That figure of Ji Shang returned to his main body. Ji Shang then flicked his robe and stepped back to his original position. The second seat on the Emperor's List was unshakable. Xue Shenfeng's soul had been injured. After resting for a moment, he returned to the seventh pillar of the Human Emperor's Platform. In this Emperor's List challenge, his final ranking would be, at best, this position. Yin Gutian and Lin Feng still had a theoretical chance to move ahead of him.
Lin Feng's eyes flickered as he pondered. In the battle between Chu Chunqiu and Gui Li, Chu Chunqiu had used powerful spiritual will and Dao intent to transform into an ancient king, while Gui Li had used the Ghost God Scripture to visualize a terrifying Yaksha King. Both were extremely fearsome existences. And just now, Ji Shang had manifested his soul into a physical form, directly severely injuring Xue Shenfeng's soul, leaving him completely unable to continue fighting. He was sent straight to the Human Emperor's Platform to recover.
"Contemplation, soul, and Dao," Lin Feng murmured. He sat cross-legged, and his body split into two. In an instant, an external incarnation appeared on the Human Emperor's Platform pillar, causing the crowd's pupils to contract. This guy actually had a clone technique. His main body was now cultivating cross-legged, while the clone continued to observe the battles.
At this moment, Pei Donglai looked toward Shi Yunfeng, who was ranked sixth on the Emperor's List. Next, it was Shi Yunfeng's turn to challenge. However, the pressure on those ahead was growing. If Shi Yunfeng challenged, he could only fight the five people ahead of him. Each one was an extremely formidable figure. The two King-Sealed individuals needed no further mention. Chu Chunqiu and Gui Li were also incredibly powerful. And there was the Battle Monk, temporarily ranked fifth. The lineup was terrifying.
"Shi Yunfeng, challenge Ying Cheng. How about it?" Pei Donglai spoke. Shi Yunfeng's eyes flickered as he looked at Pei Donglai. "Let me fight the Battle Monk first. If I win, I'll still have a chance to continue. If I lose, challenging those ahead probably won't give me much hope either."
"Alright, I'll grant your wish." Pei Donglai nodded. The second opportunity given was to challenge the Battle Monk. The two were temporarily ranked fifth and sixth respectively. This battle would likely determine the final ownership of these two positions.
The battle between Shi Yunfeng and the Battle Monk did not disappoint the crowd. The Battle Monk was a student of the Eternal Ancient Academy and also a member of the Canaan Buddhist Clan. The battle intent of the Buddhist Sect he unleashed was extremely terrifying. His cultivation path was the Dao of Pilgrimage to the Buddhist Sect. When unleashed, it was like ten thousand Buddhas paying homage. Ancient Battle Buddhas appeared in the void, reflecting onto the Battle Monk's body. At that moment, the Battle Monk's combat power seemed to multiply wildly. He was the Buddha, the Saint, worshipping himself.
Shi Yunfeng, ranked one position behind him, was equally formidable. The surrounding heaven and earth seemed to be petrified. He could summon all kinds of terrifying petrification combat divine abilities, both in attack and defense, which were extremely powerful. The Heaven-Burial Art could bury the entire heavens. The power of Earth Explosion and Heaven Shock would shatter those buried in stone to dust. The Green Brick Stone Armor covering his body emitted a green brick radiance. Even the Battle Monk's terrifying attacks had to directly strike his body to break through his defense.
This earth-shattering battle lasted for half an hour before finally ending. In the end, the Battle Monk defeated Shi Yunfeng. However, Shi Yunfeng showed no sign of dejection. He had fought this battle with great satisfaction. Even in defeat, he had no regrets. His ranking on the Emperor's List could not advance further. Those behind him might be able to squeeze forward, but in reality, only Lin Feng and Yin Gutian had the chance.
Yet in the crowd's view, Yin Gutian was impossible. The strength of Shi Yunfeng and the Battle Monk was clearly displayed—too formidable. As for Lin Feng, his chances were likely very slim as well. By the time they reached Xue Shenfeng's level, their attack power seemed to have risen to a whole new tier, extremely terrifying. Especially that last battle; in their eyes, it was even more intense and satisfying than the battle between Ji Shang and Xue Shenfeng.