Chapter 137 - Continued.
Wang Yunfeng’s eyes widened as the devastating cross-shaped energy slash tore across the space toward him at speeds that defied perception.
’This... what did that guy...’
The sheer force behind it made the very air tremble, as if reality itself was being rent asunder.
Buildings groaned under the immense pressure, their structures failing instantly. Fragments of rock and glass were swept into the raging current like dust caught in a hurricane.
There was no time to dodge.
His expression hardened into one of grim determination.
He raised both hands, bracing himself to block the incoming slash head-on, channeling every ounce of his cultivation into a defensive stance. But even as he did, a part of his consciousness screamed that it wouldn’t be enough.
The slash showed no sign of slowing.
It tore through the landscape like an unstoppable blade, cleaving one building after another in its relentless path.
Each structure collapsed beneath its passage — windows exploded outward, entire sections were ripped apart as if they were nothing more than paper. The devastation spread with each passing second, growing exponentially more devastating.
And Wang Yunfeng was still directly in its trajectory, unable to avoid, unable to escape. Only a few seconds remained before impact.
The monstrous energy slash continued forward, cutting through the collapsing structures with singular, merciless purpose; to reach him and annihilate him.
Smoke erupted around Wang Yunfeng as he desperately activated his domain, weaving hand signs with frenetic speed to enhance his defensive capabilities. His power surged outward, attempting to create a barrier against the incoming devastation.
"Hell! What is this... ugh!"
The moment of impact was instantaneous and cataclysmic.
The building beneath Wang Yunfeng was swallowed entirely by the descending slash, collapsing into a storm of shattered concrete and pulverized stone.
But the destruction didn’t stop at his location, it continued spreading outward in an ever-expanding radius of obliteration.
Five hundred meters in every direction was completely erased from existence.
Buildings were reduced to dust so fine it became airborne powder. Roads cracked apart, massive fissures opening like the earth itself was screaming.
Trees were uprooted whole and hurled through the air before being crushed beneath the overwhelming force. A massive cloud of dust and debris erupted outward, completely swallowing the surroundings in a choking haze of destruction.
For a moment, everything was chaos.
Wang Yunfeng’s pupils contracted to pinpoints as he felt the full weight of Cale’s power crushing down upon him.
At the final moment — when death seemed near inevitable, he unleashed three Divine Artifacts simultaneously.
Their power erupted around him, three distinct layers of protection manifesting with desperate urgency, attempting to shield his body from the devastating force bearing down on him.
BOOOOOOM!
The world disappeared beneath the explosion.
For the first time in his centuries of cultivation, Wang Yunfeng could only endure. He had no opportunity to counterattack, no possibility of escape. All he could do was rely on the three Divine Artifacts to keep him alive through sheer brute force.
Crack!
The sound of shattering power.
’Huh? No... no way... he... He destroyed my artifact!’
The first protective layer cracked and dissolved into the air like mist.
"Y-you! You! You bastard! I will kill you!" he roared, his voice carrying fury as he pushed off from the ground and began running toward Cale’s position.
Cale was already moving as well, his form blurring across the devastated landscape as he accelerated toward his opponent. They converged at the exact center of the destruction.
Cale smiled, his expression infuriatingly casual given the intensity of what had just transpired.
"Yo~"
But Wang Yunfeng was beyond courtesy. His cultivation base was trembling with barely contained rage.
"You are dying by my hands today!" he roared, his voice echoing across the wasteland.
"Heh, you sure are petty," Cale laughed back. "Just one artifact is all it took to destroy your fake persona. Hahaha."
"Just because you landed one attack, don’t be proud of yourself!" Wang Yunfeng screamed, his composure completely shattered by the humiliation. "It was only a surprise attack! You are but a mere ant to me!"
He lowered his stance, his expression transforming from furious to cold and focused.
Qi erupted around his fists like a visible storm, swirling violently around his arms as he gathered every ounce of strength he could muster. His muscles tensed beneath his robes, veins prominent and pulsing with power.
His gaze locked firmly onto Cale with the intensity of a predator who’d finally cornered its prey.
He had survived the previous attack by the absolute narrowest of margins. But now, there would be no running. Wang Yunfeng clenched his fists, preparing for direct combat.
Cale readied Noxis as well, his eyes locked on his opponent.
The next second, they moved simultaneously.
Wang Yunfeng appeared directly in front of Cale, his knee launching upward with the power to crush stone, targeting Cale’s midsection with lethal intent.
"Kugh!" Cale groaned as the impact connected, the force driving air from his lungs.
But he didn’t stop or retreat. His hand shot up, catching Wang Yunfeng’s leg and holding it in place while his other arm drove Noxis downward in a merciless arc.
They became locked in intense, desperate combat — each movement countered, attack parried. The ground beneath them cracked and fractured under the sheer violence of their exchanges.
As Wang Yunfeng bent to dodge Noxis’s descending blade, Cale appeared behind him in an instant—using Three Steps Technique to close the distance and change position faster than conventional movement allowed.
Before Wang Yunfeng could fully react, Cale’s leg snapped forward with terrifying speed.
BOOM!
The kick slammed directly into Yunfeng’s body with force sufficient to level buildings.
The impact sent him flying like a cannonball, his body hurtling backward through the air. He crashed through the first wall with spine-breaking force, then the next, and then another. Each impact blasted apart rocks and wooden supports.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Yunfeng was sent straight through the entire structure, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. By the time he finally emerged from the other side, the building behind him was already collapsing into rubble.
Yunfeng landed hard, dropping to his knees, coughing blood onto the ground. He was about to push himself back to his feet when Cale ran toward him again, his movements fast and efficient.
Using the Thorned Lotus, Cale raised his hand.
"Hah, survive this," he said,
Ten spectral swords materialized and shot straight toward Wang Yunfeng’s head, each one aimed with precision to find vital points and ensure death.
But Wang Yunfeng’s cultivation allowed him to respond instinctively. His fists became a blur, punching the blunt sides of each sword, deflecting them away from fatal trajectories. His muscles burned with exertion, but he managed to parry each strike.
Then Wang Yunfeng lifted a massive piece of broken wall using telekinesis, supporting himself as he threw it directly at Cale with devastating force.
Cale responded instantly, using Noxis to slash horizontally. Chaos flames erupted from the blade as the sword simply cut through the broken piece of wall, the trajectory of the slash continuing directly toward where Yunfeng stood.
Yunfeng used another wall as a foothold, jumping straight at Cale with spring-like force, his entire body coiled and ready to release all his accumulated power in a single, devastating punch.
But Cale was faster.
He produced a paper talisman and activated it, his body blurring away from Yunfeng’s attack range just as the punch arrived. The force of Wang Yunfeng’s strike obliterated the ground where Cale had been standing a moment before.
"Huff... such barbaric people in the Wang clan, destroying everything," Cale sighed, as if disappointed by the collateral damage.
Wang Yunfeng laughed, a sound of exhilaration mixed with hysteria.
"Hahaha! You’re one to talk, kid!" he shouted, his eyes blazing with the fever of combat. "Who knows how you reached Apex rank so quickly! I didn’t expect you to last this long!"
Kilometers away from the ongoing battle, tens of thousands of cultivators stood in silence, their eyes locked on the devastating confrontation unfolding before them.
Whoever won this battle would claim the Purple Lotus Sect’s inheritance, it was decided without anyone saying a word.
An unknown kid from the desolate continent, fighting against Wang Yunfeng — the Vice Patriarch of the Celestial Wang Clan, a Emperor Stage cultivator with centuries of cultivation behind him.
And somehow, impossibly, the kid was holding his own.
More than holding his own—he was forcing the Vice Patriarch into a defensive position.
The observers exchanged stunned glances, their minds struggling to process what they were witnessing.