Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire

  Nanfeng Ling had two protectors. The first was Kou Dao; the second Ba Jiang. The two of them were second-level immortals with extreme combat prowess. Kou Dao was none other than the person who’d made a move against Purgatory earlier.

  When he saw Qin Wentian and Purgatory moving towards them, both their eyes gleamed with coldness. Kou Dao’s skin flared with redness, giving off a terrifying aura while Ba Jiang was sturdy and muscular in form, resembling a tyrannical and solid pagoda.

  "You dare to target us?" Kou Dao said coldly. His entire body shone with a towering red glow as immortal might gushed forth from him. An illusory blood demon materialized in the air and transformed the entire space around him into an ocean of blood.

  Ba Jiang stepped out, causing the ground to shake. An ancient gigantic cauldron appeared in the air, containing an inconceivably tyrannical strength.

  "He sneak-attacked you earlier. Purgatory, go deal with him." Qin Wentian pointed at Kou Dao as he spoke.

  "Okay." Purgatory nodded, her eyes flickering sharply. After which, the two of them rushed each other as their auras clashed. Qin Wentian’s entire body shimmered with resplendent runic glows. With a saint-grade immortal foundation, his immortal body was perfect. In addition, he also had the Fiend-God Body Refinement art—his naked flesh was strong enough to act like armor, and the toughness of his skin was akin to immortal divine weapons. Scarcely anyone in the immortal foundation level had such a perfect body like Qin Wentian.

  Ba Jiang’s form expanded, resembling a giant. There were many runes around the ancient cauldron, radiating law energy. His fist shot out and his cauldron shot out numerous ancient runic characters towards Qin Wentian, shaking the space with the force of their velocity.

  Qin Wentian punched out—he was like a wild desolate beast, akin to a supreme battle god. Covered in a black light, his fist shattered apart everything that flew towards it. Nobody could block him.

  Ba Jiang froze in surprise. His strength was overwhelming and his physique was superior to most people. Even ordinary second-level immortals wouldn’t be able to block his attacks. His innate techniques emphasized more on the attributes of strength and might, and yet Qin Wentian had easily destroyed his attacks even without the usage of any immortal arts or innate techniques. And he’d done so by throwing out a casual punch. Qin Wentian’s strength had actually caused fear to bloom in his heart.

  —BOOM!— Qin Wentian advanced forward. Ba Jiang only heard his own immortal foundation letting out a miserable humming sound as something began to disrupt the flow of his immortal energy, as though it was being suppressed under great pressure. His expression drastically changed. An image of his immortal foundation appeared in the air and superimposed on his body, granting him more power.

  Qin Wentian took another step forward. Ba Jiang’s immortal foundation trembled even more intensely as the ancient runics characters felt like they would shatter at any moment due to the pressure. Ba Jiang turned ashen as he stared with disbelief at Qin Wentian. He had a king-grade immortal foundation that was incomparably stable. Yet Qin Wentian’s immortal foundation possessed a might that could easily suppress his own.

  "You are not my opponent. Just let me through." Qin Wentian took another step out. With a loud boom, his immortal foundation emitted a heavy pressure that completely caused all the ancient characters to collapse even before they formed completely. Ba Jiang’s heart shuddered, and he stared at Qin Wentian with fear. Why was this man’s immortal foundation so powerful?

  When Ba Jiang had established his immortal foundation, he chose to form it in the shape of a cauldron. With the form of a cauldron, he could enjoy immense power and a supreme defense. Not to mention his immortal foundation was also of the king-grade. But the prowess Qin Wentian displayed—could it be that his immortal foundation was of the fifth-tier, the emperor grade? Or did it go even beyond that, at the saint grade?

  But, how could someone in the immortal realms have a perfect saint-grade immortal foundation while still at the first level of immortal foundation? It didn’t conform to logic at all—it was a matter that was simply impossible

  "Nanfeng Ling invited me to be her protector. I might be defeated in battle, but I cannot retreat," Ba Jiang said coldly, his voice ringing out thunderously. Even if he knew his defeat was inevitable, he still had to fight this battle for honor.

  "Okay, she will understand that you did your best," said Qin Wentian. Might from his immortal foundation gushed forth frenziedly, and he blasted out a gigantic palm imprint capable of annihilating everything. The immensity of the force within could shock even gods and devils. Ba Jiang roared in rage as numerous cauldrons materialized in the air and transformed into ancient characters. However, when Qin Wentian’s palm strike blasted forth, all the characters were destroyed. Swiftly after, Ba Jiang could no longer endure it, and he was sent flying through the air, heavily injured.

  Qin Wentian showed no mercy—this was a sign of his respect to Ba Jiang. Glancing at his surroundings, he saw that Purgatory was still fighting her opponent. He then walked towards Nanfeng Ling and with a swipe of his hand, he seized a parasol leaf from her. When he turned his head, he discovered someone acting against Jun Mengchen, intending to plunder Nanfeng Yunxi’s parasol leaves. The people fighting against Jun Mengchen were Nanfeng Qing’s protectors. Nanfeng Qing had been plundered by Nanfeng Aoxue’s and Nanfeng Ji’s protectors, and so she was defeated. Hence, her protectors could only shift their target to Nanfeng Yunxi, hoping to mitigate the amount of leaves they failed to protect.

  However, Jun Mengchen’s strength was too overwhelming. He transformed into an emperor, and every one of his punches resembled the king of chaos. His emperor-king qi swept over the heavens and earth as he fought valiantly against his two opponents.

  Qin Wentian sent a palm strike at Kou Dao, rushed out to grab a parasol leaf, and then returned to Nanfeng Yunxi’s side. That palm strike completely demolished Kou Dao’s defenses. In addition to Purgatory’s attack, her flames had seared Kou Dao and blasted him through the air.

  Qin Wentian returned. Nanfeng Qing’s protectors wanted to leave, they knew their situation was shifting from bad to worse. However, Qin Wentian cut them off directly from their path of retreat. His immortal foundation thrummed with might and with a roar of anger, his palms pressed forward, manifesting a gigantic roc that swept through the air. Piercing sounds rang out, and the roc slashed an opponent with its wings, causing his face to turn pale from fright.

  "Game over," Qin Wentian said coldly. Demonic qi towered around him as he executed his innate techniques. Numerous rocs flooded the area while Jun Mengchen joined in with his attacks, heavily injuring the two protectors in the blink of an eye.

  Qin Wentian placed the parasol leaf close to Nanfeng Yunxi. After that, his silhouette flickered as he rushed towards Nanfeng Qing. He immediately plundered a portion of her leaves while Jun Mengchen coordinated with his attacks. Purgatory raided Nanfeng Ling’s leaves at the same time.

  When the others noticed that Nanfeng Qing’s and Nanfeng Ling’s protectors had lost their strength, they drew closer to plunder the leaves from the two holy maidens as well.

  Not long after, Nanfeng Yunxi’s parasol leaves had already exceeded 81 pieces. She was enveloped in a dome of bright light as the leaves transformed into feathers, covering her, growing more and more resplendent.

  But at this moment, Nanfeng Qing’s eyes abruptly opened. Her face grew extremely unsightly when she discovered that the vast majority of parasol leaves around her had already been plundered away.

  "Purgatory, let’s return," said Qin Wentian as he retreated. Both him and Purgatory returned to Nanfeng Yunxi’s side. Right now, there were over 90 leaves around Nanfeng Yunxi. As long as she finished comprehending the leaves, the whole trial was already over.

  Nanfeng Ling brought her protectors, namely, Kou Dao and Ba Jiang, as they walked towards Qin Wentian. A terrifying flame radiated from her and burned the air—her countenance was extremely unsightly.

  "The parasol leaves already belong to Yunxi. Holy Maiden Ling, it’s best to give up on them," said Qin Wentian.

  "Won’t her leaves be mine as soon as you’re all injured?" Nanfeng Ling replied. "From the looks of it, I think there’s still some time before she completes her comprehension."

  "Holy Maiden Ling, why must you do this? Your two protectors have already been defeated and are now injured. If we were to fight three versus three, they would basically have no chance at victory. Why don’t you seek out another opponent?" Qin Wentian said persuadingly.

  ~bzz~ A terrifying aura gushed forth from Nanfeng Ling. Her entire body was cloaked in the flames of the phoenix as a faint image of the divine bird appeared behind her. Her eyes gleamed with coldness as she stared at Qin Wentian and his companions, saying, "Leave this man to me. Both of you deal with the other two."

  "Okay." Ba Jiang and Kou Dao nodded. Indeed, they couldn’t defeat Qin Wentian. But they didn’t know if Nanfeng Ling would be able to handle him herself.

  At this moment, another flash of light radiated from Nanfeng Yunxi. She had just finished comprehending a parasol leaf. That leaf transformed into a feather, covering her body. The leaf-feathers gradually increased in number and the vague form of phoenix wings could be seen. This caused Nanfeng Ling’s countenance to turn extremely cold to behold.

  Nanfeng Yunxi awoke at this moment. She glanced over at them, but before she could say anything, Qin Wentian told her, "Just focus on your comprehension. Leave this to us."

  "Mhm." Nanfeng Yunxi nodded, her gaze turned to another parasol leaf as her immortal sense seeped within.

  "Let’s finish this quickly," Nanfeng Ling said coldly. She couldn’t wait any longer. If Nanfeng Yunxi comprehended all these parasol leaves, then it would be useless even if she plundered them away.

  As the sound of her voice faded, Qin Wentian saw the fearsomely gigantic phantom of a phoenix shooting towards him. Its sharp talons were filled with a terrifying lacerating strength. Qin Wentian regarded it emotionlessly, then calmly blasted out a palm strike that shattered Nanfeng Ling’s manifestation.

  Nanfeng Ling descended. An ancient phoenix constellation appeared in the air, cascading down starlight. A destructive surge of fireballs enveloped Qin Wentian directly.

  Qin Wentian’s perfect physique shone with resplendent runes as the might of his immortal foundation gushed forth. The phantom of a divine turtle shrouded him—the phoenix fire couldn’t burn his body at all. Nanfeng Ling stretched her hand out and an instant later, the flames in the air coalesced into the shape of a fearsome, fiery phoenix spear, blazingly red in color. An almighty destructive might permeated the air as it shone with a terrifying immortal light.

  Qin Wentian waved his hand as an ancient halberd materialized from his immortal energy. Layers of black light coated his halberd, powered by the law energy of destruction.

  ~swish~ Nanfeng Ling moved. Her spear shot out with formidable might, wanting to pierce a hole through space itself. A harsh red scar ripped the air, blazing like a shooting star towards Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian’s halberd also smashed out. The heavens and earth seemed to tremble for a moment, and with a deafening blast, the two surges of energy clashed into each other, the impact creating aftershocks that ravaged the surroundings.

  —BANG!— The fiery phoenix spear broke apart. The remnant flames actually started to burn the area. Qin Wentian’s ancient halberd continued its trajectory, intent on impaling Nanfeng Ling’s body. Nanfeng Ling utilized a secret movement technique and instantly re-appeared at a location far away. Her eyes radiated an extreme coldness as she glared at Qin Wentian.

  "I already said that there’s no need for us to fight. Holy Maiden Ling, it would be in your best interests to choose some other holy maiden to plunder parasol leaves from instead," Qin Wentian said domineeringly. Jun Mengchen and Purgatory were both at an advantage in their respective battles. This was especially so for Jun Mengchen, who managed to further injure his opponent. Other people felt disappointed by their battle. Nanfeng Yunxi’s chosen protectors were all extremely tough to deal with.

  "Let’s go." After thinking for a moment, Nanfeng Ling eventually chose to give up. Nobody else disturbed Nanfeng Yunxi, who was still in the midst of comprehending the parasol leaves. As more leaves turned into phoenix feathers, Qin Wentian discovered that the embryonic form of brilliantly red phoenix wings had already appeared behind her back, slowly fusing together with Nanfeng Yunxi and becoming a part of her body.