Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable

"Senior Brother, you see things so clearly. Our Divine Child... if it weren’t for your guidance, I’m afraid he would have made the same mistakes as the Celestial Secret Divine Son. But why didn’t the Divine Master grant you the title of Divine Child? Why are you still just a Saint Child?"

The young woman, who had been acting very familiar with this male Cultivator, spoke again.

Her tone suggested she was quite indignant on her ’Senior Brother’s’ behalf.

"Cousin Jiuchu is the true Divine Child. Being able to guide him is my fortune, and his as well. But in the end, it is still my good fortune. The title of ’Divine Child,’ once bestowed, comes with a corresponding pressure of destiny. For now, my foundation is still insufficient."

The male Cultivator spoke humbly.

"Heh, if you ask me, Senior Brother Jiuxu, you’re being too modest. Your current strength has likely already surpassed our cousin, the Jiuchu Divine Son. You could probably even crush him. I don’t know where he gets his arrogance from. And that Saint-Slaying Demon? What a joke. Slaughtering the Celestial Overpass Holy Land? Such an exaggerated claim is absolutely ridiculous!

And yet, people actually believe that nonsense?"

"Junior Brother Jiuchen, show some respect! How can we speak so casually of the Celestial Secret Divine Son? Even if he has fallen on hard times now, he once had a glorious past. He should be considered a senior! A true prodigy, a true Young Venerable!"

The leading male Cultivator, Li Jiuxu, sighed softly, feeling a strange sense of empathy.

"Senior Brother Jiuxu, you think too highly of him. And I, Li Jiuchen, am not just bragging. That so-called Celestial Secret Divine Son? Even at his peak, he would be no match for me. If we really fought, I’d only need one hand to teach him a lesson!"

Li Jiuchen was still rattling on.

He did indeed possess the strength to back it up. His current Realm at the Late Stage of Sword Void Seven Transformations, his Battle Power that was Breaking Eight, and his Ability to partially harmonize with heaven and earth all proved that he was a cut above the Divine Sons and Divine Ladies of the past.

But after he finished speaking, he realized that his senior brother, two senior sisters, and the rest of his junior brothers had all fallen silent. Instead, they were staring ahead with strange expressions.

"The... the Celestial Secret Divine Son."

A man’s reputation is like a tree’s shadow.

Perhaps Ye Tianling was afflicted by a curse.

Perhaps Ye Tianling was a spent force.

Perhaps Ye Tianling’s Life Force was fading, with only two months left to live.

But when Ye Tianling actually stood before them, watching them with a faint, unreadable smile, everyone—from Li Jiuxu, Li Jiuling, and Li Jiuxi to the rest of the Jiuli Race members—was completely and utterly dumbfounded.

"Celestial Secret Divine Son."

Li Jiuxu was the first to react. His expression a mixture of complexity and apprehension, he looked at Ye Tianling and bowed deeply, adopting a very humble posture.

"Hm. Li Jiuchen, you want to fight me? Come on. I’ll let you use both your hands and both your feet. Try and ’teach me a lesson.’"

Ye Tianling simply found this rather amusing.

In his memory, the people of the Jiuli Sacred Land had always been quite decent.

He had no intention of killing anyone.

However, Ye Tianling also wanted to use Li Jiuchen’s Battle Power to gauge his own current strength.

GULP—

For some reason, Li Jiuchen shuddered and swallowed hard. His expression immediately became a sight to behold.

’Fuck—I was just bullshitting! The Celestial Secret Divine Son actually appeared! Goddammit, I was just trying to show off in front of Senior Sisters Li Jiuling and Li Jiuxi... aigh...’

Cold sweat was already beading on Li Jiuchen’s forehead.

By now, he had actually managed to see through to Ye Tianling’s Realm—the Sword Void Seven Transformation Realm.

In terms of his aura, he didn’t seem that strong either.

His Life Force was clearly fading; one could vaguely determine that he probably only had two or three months left to live.

"Celes... Celestial Secret Divine Son, it’s a, an honor to, to meet you."

Li Jiuchen had lost his nerve. He really didn’t dare to fight Ye Tianling—after all, this was the Saint-Slaying Demon!

’If the rumors were fake, fine. But if they were real... damn it, wouldn’t picking a fight with him be asking for a beating? Wasn’t it just suicide?’

"An honor? How much of an honor?"

Ye Tianling said with a smile.

"Er—"

Hearing this, the whole group felt their minds thrown into chaos.

’How much of an honor?’

’That was just a polite platitude, okay?’

’And you’re actually asking how much of an honor?’

Li Jiuchen was choked up, his mouth moving but unable to form a single word.

The two young women, Li Jiuling and Li Jiuxi, were also completely stunned. ’Who actually gets hung up on a phrase like that?’

"Come on, make your move. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t kill you."

Ye Tianling said with a smile.

’...I and my fucking big mouth.’

A chill ran down Li Jiuchen’s spine, but he suppressed his inexplicable fear. Cupping one fist in his other palm, he said, "Celestial Secret Divine Son... in that case, please forgive my offense."

As for Ye Tianling’s ’promise not to kill him,’ Li Jiuchen didn’t believe it for a second.

At this point, he could only accept his fate. Fortunately, he had never harbored any killing intent toward Ye Tianling, and Ye Tianling didn’t seem to have any either. This, perhaps, was his chance to survive.

"Make your move. I’ll use you to test my strength. After all, I haven’t been out in the world for nearly two months. My old friends are probably starting to forget about me."

Ye Tianling said with a calm smile.

’...The whole world could forget itself before anyone forgets you!’

’In this entire world, is there a single day or a single Cultivator that doesn’t mention you? Don’t you have any idea how famous you are?’

’Seriously... "forget"? Don’t you know you’re a household name? That whenever the Celestial Dao, Saints, or any Secret Realm and opportunity are discussed, you’re an unavoidable topic?’

...

At this moment, even Li Jiuxu felt the urge to make a snarky comment.

Li Jiuchen, however, turned serious. He didn’t hold back. Although there was an element of bravado in his earlier words, he wouldn’t have dared to say them without some degree of confidence.

VMMM—

Li Jiuchen immediately gathered his qi and blood, channeling the Divine Demon Blood inheritance of the Jiuli Sacred Land and manifesting a primeval, divine-demonic aura.

CHHSS—

His body swelled, instantly undergoing a transformation as if he had entered a Frenzy.

Blood-red scales emerged all over his body, and from beneath them, crimson bone spikes began to sprout.

The bone spikes were dark and radiated a fearsome chill.

"Celestial Secret Divine Son, watch out! In this battle, within this newly transformed World, my Battle Power has already Broken Eight, and I can unleash one hundred and sixty percent of my power! This is my strongest attack; once released, it cannot be stopped. Celestial Secret Divine Son, if you cannot block it, you must not force yourself. Just dodge it. I will not lock onto you with my attack."

Li Jiuchen’s voice was grave.

Although he felt that Ye Tianling should be able to block it, he was, after all, afflicted with the Venerable Soul Curse, and his Life Force was severely depleted.

"Give it your all. Otherwise, you won’t even be able to touch my clothes."

Based on the aura of this Battle Power, Ye Tianling quickly determined the general extent of Li Jiuchen’s Abilities.

This level of Ability was nothing compared to even one ten-thousandth of his own Battle Power.

The gap was, indeed, a bit large.

But the true specifics would only be known after the battle.