Elder Wong’s sneak attack was swift and decisive. Someone of his position shouldn’t resort to such a degrading act but he didn’t care, he had a long list of dirty secrets that cannot be revealed. Starting with the dealings that he made with various organizations to help him consolidate his powers within the clan. He had plunged forward with all his might against the youth that potentially knew his identity as the Blue Oni.

An unexpected attack from such close range from an Emperor Domain expert was impossible to avoid. Even if Ryu knew beforehand, he had no methods to counter. The Golden Lion clan that Wu-Ming belongs to specializes in pure unsophisticated power strikes. The ripples in the air could be heard after the blade had penetrated into Ryu’s back.

Due to Ryu’s solid foundation, his body immediately attempted to defend against such an attack but the damage had been done. What happened next was a natural reaction from his body attempting to stay alive. All four of his Qi reservoirs unleashed their might without restraint.

His eyes started giving off an all-consuming glow that’s blinding to stare at, the outline of his body became an illuminating shine of various colors, and the wound from his torso transformed into scorching crimson flames. The eerie flames that seemed to have a mind of its own protectively wrapped itself around Ryu and formed a perfectly round sphere, the flames were rotating furiously in circles.

“Elemental Mutation? No that’s impossible, I stabbed him first before he entered that state!” He thought to himself. Elder Wong’s face that had a look of contempt slowly changed to one of shock. From some unknown reason he sensed an impending danger from this King Domain cultivator while he’s an Emperor Domain expert. The difference was like heaven and earth, Emperor Domain is vastly more superior to King Domain by many folds. Before he could figure out what happened, the treacherous flames surrounding Ryu dispersed and the structures around them along with the clouds above got torn apart.

An earth-shattering roar that made Wu-Ming’s previous roar sound like a kitten’s purr exploded out and thundered throughout the area. The ear-piercing deafening sound reverberated throughout the entrance of the Thousand Swords Graveyard and over a hundred thousand experts that were waiting patiently on the last day it was slated to open heard it. The sound knocked out most Heaven Domain experts within a few kilometers out, most King Domain experts started to cough up blood and some lsot their conscious. It was a roar of anger with no killing intent or else the causalities would have been high.

No regular human could live after been physically wounded with such a fatal attack. Elder Wong was right to be shocked, this was the most miraculous stance of the Eternal Phoenix School, Return of the Phoenix. Any physical damage, no matter how serious, could be healed and recovered from as long as there’s enough Qi. First the user will transform into a mythical ball of flames and then return temporary stronger than before! This move truly mimics the divine beast known as a Phoenix and can be considered one of the most difficult skill in Ryu’s arsenal.

Elder Wong caught the blunt of the roar and couldn’t help but take a few steps back. His inner organs shook with extreme pain from Ryu’s sudden outburst. The clansman who were close by Elder Wong got blown away like petals of a flower in the face of a great storm. Instinctively he struck at Ryu one more time with his blade, something within him told him that it was do or die at this point. He swung down with all his might, the entirety of his Qi rotated within him to bring out maximum strength.

“Pou.” A huge mouthful of blood was coughed up by Elder Wong.

A look of confusion mixed with excruciating pain can be seen on his face now. His mouth was gaping wide with bloody saliva leaking out and his body is still distorted forward from his attack stance. However his aim was off and his blade was hitting nothing but air. Ryu was stationary with his elbow buried deep within his chest.

The previous scene with Wu-Ming and the patriarch of the Slaughtering Hyena clan already attracted a ton of viewers from around the Golden Lion clan’s base. Most were hovering around the air and staring intently at Wu-Ming’s domineering golden figure in the air. They were focused on comparing themselves to him and plotting on how to deal with him when the time comes during the Thousand Swords Graveyard tournament. Then the unworldly roar that literally shook the heavens came abruptly from Ryu got everyone’s attention. Right now he is just brimming with a blinding rainbow light that makes it hard to distinguish his physical features.

In the remaining experts’ eyes, Ryu executed a perfect counter that no one could have improved on. His simple movement allowed him to deal maximum damage back at his aggressor without much force. Once again Elder Wong swung his extended hand with a backhand strike, aiming at Ryu’s head. Ryu’s radiant body simply spun around in the same motion as the incoming sword and his elbow struck perfectly at the back of Elder Wong’s head, causing him to trip forward. The sight of an Emperor Domain expert falling is pitiful to see but yet it happened. The audience gasped again at the second perfect counter performed by this young man. It was as if he knew what his opponent would do beforehand!

Flipping around Elder Wong’s face blushed as the humiliating act was inflicted upon him. Before he was surprised and taken back by Ryu’s mysterious methods of staying alive after getting impaled by his sword but now he doesn’t care, he’s going to go all out against a junior despite his public image getting ruined. A similar golden glow that was being emitted by Wu-Ming is now blooming around him, he threw the hardest punch he could muster and aimed at Ryu’s chest from below. Combined with the leverage he got from leaping up from the ground, there was few who could dodge his blow at such distance.

However Ryu simply raised his right hand at the incoming destructive strike. Any observer would think its suicide but only Elder Wong knew something was awfully wrong. His strength was slipping away as his fist neared Ryu. Before Elder Wong could withdraw his arm backwards, Ryu had somehow flipped him over with a simple profound movement. Elder Wong stared dumbly at the empty sky that had its cloud blown away by Ryu’s roar when suddenly he felt a gushing force discharging out of his Qi reservoir. Instinctively he panicked and tried to get up but it was no use, it was as if he was paralyzed all around. Qi was escaping rapidly from his body many times faster than he could’ve unleashed by himself normally. Nobody could tell what was happening except that the mysterious shinny being has his hand over his opponent’s stomach.

Ryu’s power was slowly rising, breaking from level 67 to the next at an astonishing speed. A handful of radiant crimson flames and indigo blocks of ice with azure glow appeared beside him. Then multiple streaks of different colored lightning came zapping out of his body. This was followed by a gush of piecing wind that formed a rotating field around him, the special air carried traces of colored Qi. Lastly two rotating rings appeared next, one made of the stones from the earth and the other was a ring made of metal. As Ryu’s level rose again to level 69, the elements around him grew in strength and radiated even more power.

While this was happening, back in the unknown enigmatic room where a majestic ruler sat in front a large mountain of crystals monitoring the situations of the Thousand Swords Graveyard started convulsing with disbelief and excitement. The boundless sea of chains struggled to contain whatever was in the middle of their entrapment. Chains of varying sizes, each with enough Qi to hold down an Emperor Domain expert for life, were strained to the max. Just what is this item that’s restrained?

The majestic being quickly looked around at the countless monitors on the wall of crystals and realized that none were responding. The thing that is awakening seems to be disrupting the connection between the crystals! Wasting no time, the majestic figure disappeared faster than thunder towards the outside to see what the sacred item being encased by the endless chains could be resonating with.

Wu-Ming had turned around earlier and stared with disbelief that his new friend managed to display such a jaw-dropping overwhelming might. The first image of the incident he saw was a blade sticking out of Ryu’s stomach from behind. Elder Wong, the most senior elder and second in charge of his clan, was the culprit behind this attack. Before he could digest what was happening and stop the fight, Ryu had turned things around and started dominating someone who was clearly much superior in terms of cultivation. Elder Wong had attempted many times to sabotage him so Wu-Ming wasn’t in a hurry to help him out.

Other experts that were viewing from afar had actually flew close by him to see what was going on. The mysterious glowing figure had no unnecessary movements and dominated someone with much higher cultivation. In their minds this youth must have some secret skills that allows him to raise his battle strength dramatically. Then when they saw that he was miraculously producing all sorts of elements, they knew that he must have some priceless treasure or divine martial skill on him. This caused the greed within them to stir.

Wu-Ming himself had fought many experts within the same domain but of higher level. This was demonstrated when Ryu met Wu-Ming as he took on five Emperor Domain experts and hundreds of King Domain expert. However in Ryu’s case it was different. The difference between King Domain and Emperor is much greater than the previous domains. An essence is formed when one reaches Emperor Doman. An essence is an evolution of the Qi reservoirs that allows the soul to persist even after one perishes physically. An essence can be implemented into an item, granting it special abilities and increasing its might exponentially. An essence can be collected and refined from deceased creatures to increase one’s own cultivation. Basically an essence is many times stronger than a regular Qi reservoir.

“Amazing.” Wu-Ming praised as he flew towards Ryu. Since he was already acquainted with him, he was naturally not afraid to go near him. Those who lust after Ryu’s secrets are too scared to go near him, they just witnessed him taking out an Emperor Domain expert like it was nothing.

Is he unconscious? Wu-Ming thought as he landed beside Ryu and noticed his indifference towards his arrival. Wu-Ming was right, Ryu was currently unconscious. Something inside him woken up and sent him into a primal state where his natural reactions surfaced. Since Ryu had been exposed to many martial skills and his innate talent was unworldly, his body was able to defeat the enemy and took the shortest path to recovery and leveling up. He sucked the Qi dry from Elder Wong and as he did so, he exercised his Qi to the max by materializing all the basic elements at his disposal which was all of them. This allowed him to integrate the foreign Qi to his own much faster and parked him right at the peak of King Domain.

Suddenly an uncanny feeling washed over Wu-Ming and the nearby crowd as they felt an invisible suction from above. A round circular ring appeared in the sky, countless lines and symbols were forming in it. There were two figures above the odd circle with their hands clasped in front of their chest, if one looked closely they could see their lips moving.

“Is that a magic spell?” A bystander gasped. Many were muttering as the spell grew larger in the sky. Indeed it was a spell, these two were none other than the two magicians that Ryu met a few hours ago at the market place. They had come to retrieve Ryu right away after realizing how valuable he is to them.

Before the spell could reach its full potential, a flash of deadly green lightning shot forth from the ground and clashed against the circle filled with inscriptions. The color of the gigantic spell faltered and started crumbling. This lightning was not normal in the sense that it moved about like a coiling serpent. The strange but dominating lightning then proceeded downwards in Ryu’s direction.

“Hmph.” Wu-Ming flew to meet the lightning bolt and slammed his hand forward. An apparition of a fierce lion exploded outwards from thin air and clashed against the unpredictable green lightning. The ferocious golden glow neutralized the foreign green beam and at the center of the climax two figures could be seen pushing their palms against each other.

“Not bad kid.” One of the figure said as he kicked at Wu-Ming, separating the two. Wu-Ming was shocked at the profound strength of the stranger but the thirst for battle raged within him and he confidently prepared a fighting stance.

Suddenly the ground beneath them shook and dust kicked about everywhere. Within seconds it was as if a sandstorm had arrived. Every particle of dirt had left the earth and blurred the vision of everyone around. The green lightning user looked annoyed and he sensed a hidden figure making a beeline for Ryu from the side. Wu-Ming likewise sensed it too and dashed backwards where his friend was. At the same time the two magicians that were temporary ignored completed the spell from earlier and a yellow hue emerged from the sky and descended downwards towards Ryu.

Boom, a huge explosion could be heard from a completely different direction. This was followed by a mini tremor that stretched for many kilometers. Another party had darted towards Ryu with extraordinary burst of energy. During this time most bystanders had long fled for their lives. They knew that they stood no chance of getting ahold of Ryu. Only some outstanding Emperor Domain and above experts chose to stay and observe the outcome.

“Enough!” A furious scream rang in the background as a violet barrier suddenly encased the whole battlefield. Hundreds of guards in the same uniform came charging forward, each had a purple badge with indigo glow. These were the Miyamoto Clan guards, each were only in King Domain. They waited until more of their members could join them so they could crush the disturbance that started. The few guards were here originally did not have the confidence to stop those involved since to suppress this many experts, more specialized badges were needed.

A restrictive aura instantly suppressed the area, even Wu-Ming’s radiant golden glow was knocked down a few notches. The lightning user’s speed fell to half of what it was before. The overbearing sandstorm that blurred everyone’s vision was blown away, the one responsible was revealed to be a brown man in foreign clothing. The last mysterious figure with the frosty aura that was charging towards Ryu turned out to be an expert incased in ice shaped like an arrow. Although all parties’ movements slowed down from the barrier erected by the Miyamoto clan guards, no one gave up on approaching Ryu.

A loud laugh rang out and a crimson tornado formed out of nowhere and rose to the sky before piecing down like a deadly missile towards Ryu as well. The onlookers from far away gasped once again. Each one of them had lived for over hundreds and thousands of years but never had they seen something like this. Unmistakably this tornado was made of blood as it contained traces of Qi! The stench of blood was so strong that even some experts from far away felt like puking. As it dived menacing towards Ryu’s stationary body, no one could tell which faction would reach him first.