Chapter 496: Huang Shenyi
The news that Zhang Ruochen had gone to the Wood Essence Ruins Realm had long since spread throughout the Eastern Region Sacred City. Moreover, there were rumors claiming that three major Saintly clans had dispatched a large number of experts to the Ruins Realm battlefield, their goal being to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
Upon learning this news, Huang Yanchen immediately emerged from seclusion and, together with the young experts of the Eastern Region Sacred Prince Manor's Chen Clan, rushed to the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain, intending to lend Zhang Ruochen a hand.
Just as she arrived at the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain, before she could even see Zhang Ruochen, she unexpectedly encountered a boastful madman first.
Thus, the scene beneath the Heavenly Ranking Stone Tablet unfolded.
The yellow-robed man slightly raised his head, fixed his gaze on Huang Yanchen, and a strange glint flickered across his face as he smiled. "Young lady, I see you're wearing the martial robe of the Sacred Academy, so you must be a young expert. Do you dare accept my challenge and settle things on the Heavenly Level Battle Platform?"
"What's there to fear? I'm just afraid you're not worthy of being my opponent." Huang Yanchen's personality was proud, and she exuded an icy aura.
She had long found that yellow-robed man extremely displeasing. How dare he claim that Huang Shenyi would definitely surpass Zhang Ruochen? Even if Zhang Ruochen could swallow this insult, she could not.
In Huang Yanchen's eyes, Zhang Ruochen was synonymous with invincibility at the same cultivation level. Anyone who looked down on Zhang Ruochen was an enemy to her.
Huang Yanchen's martial arts cultivation had broken through again, reaching the mid-level of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. Among her peers, she was already a rare talent.
It was precisely because of her high skill and boldness that she dared to accept the yellow-robed man's challenge.
Chen Tianshu's face showed a grave expression as he carefully observed the yellow-robed man. He felt uneasy, sensing that this man was not to be trifled with, so he quietly warned, "Cousin, you haven't even figured out this person's background, yet you rashly agreed to fight him. That might not be wise."
Huang Yanchen was naturally impulsive by nature, and coupled with her anger from earlier, she had agreed to the yellow-robed man's challenge on the spot.
Now, reminded by Chen Tianshu, she also felt it was inappropriate, so she asked, "Who exactly are you?"
The young martial artists present were also curious. They all felt that the yellow-robed man was no ordinary person, certainly not a nobody.
The yellow-robed man said, "Princess Yanchen, we met briefly at the Demon Ridge. Your eyes were only on Zhang Ruochen, so naturally you don't remember me, but I haven't forgotten you. That day, your father struck through the air with his sword, his peerless bearing—I, Huang, still recall it vividly."
"Who exactly are you?" Huang Yanchen demanded.
The yellow-robed man laughed heartily. "Isn't it a bit late to ask my name now? But of course, I'll tell you. After all, you and I share the same surname. My surname is Huang, my given name, Shenyi. You can also call me... Huang Shen Star Envoy."
"Boom!"
Everyone present was greatly shocked, involuntarily stepping back as an uproar erupted.
"What? He's the number one on the Heavenly Ranking, Huang Shenyi."
"Wasn't Huang Shenyi training in the Black Tortoise Ruins Realm? Why has he returned early?"
In this world, few would dare to impersonate Huang Shenyi.
The genius disciples of the Eastern Region Sacred Prince Manor's Chen Clan were all alarmed, drawing their weapons as they stared at the yellow-robed man as if facing a great enemy.
During the Demon Ridge incident, Huang Yanchen had indeed seen Huang Shenyi once, but at that time, they were too far apart for her to make out his features.
Now, as she carefully looked at the yellow-robed man, she realized his figure was indeed very similar to Huang Shenyi's.
"Legend has it that no martial artist challenged by Huang Shenyi has ever walked off the battle platform alive—they all meet their end."
"That girl from the Sacred Academy is so unlucky. How dare she agree to fight Huang Shenyi? If she actually goes to the battle, she'll likely face great danger."
"If she doesn't show up, how can she hold her head high in the future? On the path of martial arts, the worst thing is to be timid. Since she accepted the challenge, there's no backing out now."
...
The martial artists beneath the Heavenly Ranking Stone Tablet all looked at Huang Yanchen with pity, shaking their heads and sighing.
In their eyes, provoking Huang Shenyi was like provoking a god of death.
"I don't believe he's really Huang Shenyi."
Chen Tianran snorted coldly, lifted his Ghost King Spear, and strode forward. He leaped up and, with the force of thunder, thrust his spear at the yellow-robed man.
He was ranked twelfth among the younger generation of the Eastern Region Sacred Prince Manor's Chen Clan, so his strength was not weak. He had fought Zhang Ruochen once and was defeated in a single move, so he had great respect for Zhang Ruochen's abilities.
This time, he had volunteered to come to the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain with Huang Yanchen to help Zhang Ruochen.
Now, he intended to test the yellow-robed man's strength in Huang Yanchen's place.
What if this man was just bluffing and wasn't really Huang Shenyi?
Seeing Chen Tianran charging with his spear, the yellow-robed man's eyes twitched slightly, and he sneered, "Is this the level of a first-rate genius from the Eastern Region Sacred Prince Manor's Chen Clan?"
The yellow-robed man's five fingers rotated in the air, forming a bowl-thick tornado centered on his palm.
The tornado extended outward, growing to over ten zhang in length, like a wind staff that he swung at Chen Tianran.
"Boom!"
The wind staff struck Chen Tianran's body, shattering his protective Heavenly Gang in an instant and sending him flying sideways.
Chen Tianran's body crashed into a stone pillar, breaking it, and then slammed heavily to the ground, shattering the stone slabs beneath him. He slid dozens of zhang before finally stopping.
"Ugh!"
Chen Tianran spat out a mouthful of blood and then passed out.
"Sixth Brother!"
Huang Yanchen and Chen Tianshu immediately rushed over and helped Chen Tianran up.
Only then did everyone see that Chen Tianran's chest was a bloody mess from the wind strike. Even a layer of flesh had been stripped away, revealing rows of white ribs and even the organs beneath.
It was terrifying.
"He's still breathing—he's not dead."
Chen Tianshu's face was grim as he quickly fed a healing pill, the White Bone Flesh Regeneration Pill, into Chen Tianran's mouth, helping him swallow it.
Then, he channeled his true qi, pressing his palm against Chen Tianran's head to assist in refining the healing pill.
The martial artists in the distance were all stunned.
"As expected of Huang Shenyi. He's truly terrifyingly powerful, able to control wind force with such precision."
"He condensed the wind into a phantom staff. And when it struck his opponent, it only stripped away the flesh from his chest without killing him. Such skill is even more impressive than killing."
Huang Shenyi's casual strike was already so formidable that it sent chills down everyone's spines.
Moreover, everyone knew that Huang Shenyi hadn't killed Chen Tianran not because he couldn't, but because the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain had laws set by the Ministry of War forbidding the slaughter of fellow cultivators.
Anyone who blatantly killed would face execution by the Ruins Realm army dispatched by the Ministry of War.
Of course, those who stepped onto the Heavenly Level Battle Platform were exceptions, as they would sign a life-and-death contract beforehand. Even if someone was accidentally killed, there would be no punishment.
Given Huang Shenyi's mastery over wind force, it was easy to imagine that if he wished, he could control the wind to strip all the flesh from a person's body, leaving only bones, and the victim would still not die immediately.
This was a highly sophisticated and terrifying method. His fine control over power was likely comparable to that of a Half-Saint.
"To become number one on the Heavenly Ranking, Huang Shenyi is truly an extraordinary figure. One can't help but admire him."
"His accumulation of ten million military merit points already proves his strength."
Seeing Chen Tianran so severely injured, a surge of cold energy erupted from Huang Yanchen's meridians, covering the ground beneath her feet with a thick layer of frost.
"Whoosh!"
A flash of sword light, and Huang Yanchen's sword instantly left its sheath and thrust forward.
Huang Yanchen had awakened a wind-type Divine Martial Mark, so the true qi she cultivated naturally carried the power of a gale.
As her sword technique was unleashed, a powerful gust of wind rose, forming a vortex that enveloped Huang Shenyi.
"Huang Shenyi is so powerful, yet she still dares to fight him? She's got some nerve!"
"Even if Huang Shenyi fears the Ministry of War's laws and doesn't kill her, crippling her cultivation or disfiguring her would be a piece of cake."
Having witnessed Huang Shenyi's strength, everyone knew that fighting him was akin to seeking death. Even those ranked high on the Heavenly Ranking rarely dared to challenge him.
Of course, regardless of that woman's actual strength, the fact that she dared to draw her sword against Huang Shenyi showed considerable courage, worthy of admiration.
"You're so ignorant and arrogant. Do you really think that just because your fiancé is Zhang Ruochen, no one dares to kill you? In my eyes, Zhang Ruochen is nothing but an ant."
A murderous glint flashed in Huang Shenyi's eyes, and then his figure flickered.
He had been sitting on a stone bench, but in the next moment, he appeared as a blur four zhang away. His arms moved slowly through the air, as if drawing a Taiji diagram.
Since Huang Yanchen was coming to her death, he naturally wouldn't hold back.
Killing Huang Yanchen would surely force Zhang Ruochen to show himself.
At the same time, it would disrupt Zhang Ruochen's state of mind, greatly aiding their upcoming decisive battle.
The palm technique he was about to use was quite profound, called the "Taiyin Bone-Crushing Palm." Even if Huang Yanchen was struck, she wouldn't die immediately. Instead, she would perish three days later from the shattering of all her bones.
Huang Shenyi's arms seemed slow, but in reality, they moved at incredible speed.
Although Huang Shenyi's palm had yet to land, almost everyone present could predict the outcome.
That woman was doomed.
Just as Huang Shenyi's palm was about to strike Huang Yanchen's body, two figures rushed out from behind her.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Huang Shenyi, we'll take you on."
These two figures moved at lightning speed, their body techniques extremely profound. Moreover, they had slender figures and emitted a faint fragrant breeze—they were two exceptionally beautiful women.
The woman on the left was Duanmu Xingling.
She channeled her true qi to her palm, forming a treasure vase imprint, and struck out, colliding with Huang Shenyi's right palm.
The woman on the right was Luo Shuihan.
Luo Shuihan radiated golden light, appearing holy and elegant. Her five snow-white jade fingers were pressed together.
She casually executed a move from the Luo Water Fist Art. The fist force seemed to merge with some rule of the Heavenly Dao, unleashing a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning power that clashed with Huang Shenyi's left palm.
"Boom!"
The two of them exchanged a heavy blow with Huang Shenyi, producing a deafening roar.
A powerful energy ripple spread outward from the three of them, sending the surrounding young martial artists staggering.
"Chi chi!"
Huang Shenyi's figure rapidly retreated, sliding over ten zhang before he planted his legs firmly and steadied himself.
Luo Shuihan and Duanmu Xingling also flew backward, then slowly landed on the ground.
Duanmu Xingling straightened her full, rounded chest, looked at her own small, snow-white hand, and exclaimed in admiration, "As expected of the number one on the Heavenly Ranking. Truly formidable. If it were a one-on-one fight, I don't think I'd be your match right now. But today, you're not facing just me—you're facing the three great female demons of the Western Courtyard. How about that, Heavenly Ranking..."