Chapter 552: The Fearless Valley Master Chen

Chapter 552 -517: The Fearless Valley Master Chen

Chen Che narrowed his eyes, staring at Qu Ming. A silver Pill flew from his outstretched right hand. The Pill broke apart, its countless Flying Swords as fine as silk threads separating into several silver rivers, like beautiful rings circling distant stars.

“What say you, Master of the Celestial Spirit Palace, to becoming the fuel for my radiance?”

Chen Che tilted his head back and looked at Qu Ming before him.

The firelight was blocked by Qu Ming’s imposing frame, casting a colossal shadow that nearly enveloped more than half of Primordial City.

“Such courage, Valley Master Chen. You think you can rely on that Sword Pill?”

Qu Ming roared with laughter, his voice shaking the plains. With a sidelong glance at Duobao, he commented with an air of expertise:

“Sword Cultivators may be known for their lethality, but in my eyes, their methods are quite limited. As for the Sword Pill… it may be touted as a Sword Cultivator’s ultimate Weapon, but that’s all it is. At best, it’s only a step above a Sword Box.”

Having seen Duobao’s Sword Pill, he felt he had a good grasp of their power and thus utterly dismissed Chen Che.

“Why don’t we put it to the test?” Chen Che chuckled softly.

“Confidence is one thing, but blind arrogance is another.”

Qu Ming’s smile grew even more smug, and the surrounding flames roiled in response to his laughter, flaring into a thousand tendrils. “Valley Master Chen, today your blood will fuel the rise of my Celestial Spirit Palace!”

The moment he finished speaking, he slammed his Bone Staff down.

DOOM—

The strike landed with a high, stirring boom, echoing like a war drum. The seven skulls, previously sent flying by the Nine Thunder Cauldron, suddenly let out a piercing shriek. Wreathed in the roiling inferno, they shot toward Chen Che on a howling gale.

Only then did the crowd understand why Qu Ming had wasted his breath talking to Chen Che—

As the seven skulls shot upward, they had already gathered most of the flames within the city, rapidly weaving them into a massive fiery vortex as they ascended.

RUMBLE—

Amid the deafening roar, flames condensed around the seven skulls, transforming in the blink of an eye into seven enormous Flame Dragons. Their writhing bodies carried a momentum that seemed to blot out the sun itself as they savagely pounced. They moved so fast that some Cultivators who had just reached Core Formation couldn’t even track their movements.

‘Treacherous!’

A single word to describe Qu Ming surfaced in everyone’s mind. He had used their conversation as a cover to secretly prepare his Magic. Yet, no one found it odd; in fact, they thought it was perfectly normal. Victory to the victor, and to the vanquished, spoils. If you died because you underestimated your opponent, no one would pity you. They would only mock you.

The seven Flame Dragons struck with their full power, several times more ferocious than when they had faced the Nine Thunder Cauldron.

The spectating Cultivators felt as if their very skin was about to melt from the intense heat.

Chen Che stood his ground. With a wave of his hand, the whirling Sword Group expanded, instantly forming multiple shimmering Sword Shields that enveloped him. In what looked like a close call, he perfectly blocked the pounce of every single Flame Dragon.

SZZZZ—

The Flame Dragons’ assault was ferocious, but no matter how they struggled and clawed, the Sword Shields kept them at bay, erupting in a shower of sparks upon impact.

‘He does have some skill!’

Many nodded to themselves, thinking that Chen Che’s fame was well-earned.

But with his sneak attack thwarted, Qu Ming decisively switched to a frontal assault. The seven howling skulls rapidly converged, and the scattered flames fused together, forming a towering Flame Giant that looked as if it had stepped out of ancient myth.

The instant it formed, the giant clenched its fist and drew back its arm, its very muscles of flame trembling and roiling with the movement.

If the seven Flame Dragons had been all flash and no substance, then this single punch was a long-brewing, unstoppable strike. And at that very moment, Qu Ming also raised his Bone Staff.

WHOOSH—

A fierce wind erupted from beneath his robes. Countless white flames writhed wildly, like a nest of Flood Dragon Snakes.

‘It’s over!’

Zhang Miaqing raised an eyebrow.

She had already discerned Qu Ming’s plan: first, he would use the Flame Giant to smash through Chen Che’s Sword Shield defenses. Then, he would follow up with those Ghost Fires, Sealing and finishing off Chen Che in an instant, just as he had done to Huang Shiwo.

Even if Chen Che managed to block the Ghost Fire, he wouldn’t be able to withstand the relentless, all-encompassing offensive that Qu Ming would unleash next.

“Heh!”

Jiang Shaotian also raised an eyebrow.

As the saying goes, the spectator sees most of the game. Every Golden Core present could see the situation with perfect clarity. The sight caused the expressions of the Jinyun Valley cultivators to change drastically, but before they could make a move, several warning-filled Divine Senses locked onto them.

Clearly, it was a warning not to interfere.

But just then, Chen Che, who had been standing his ground, suddenly took a step forward.

At the same time, he formed a sword seal with his hand and pointed. All the Flying Swords—whether they were the ones forming stellar rings around him or those condensed into Sword Shields—flew before him in a flash, glowing with a brilliant silver light.

SHIIING!

The cry of a sword rang out.

In the next instant, a brilliant sword light erupted across the central avenue.

WHOOSH—

Chen Che pressed his palms together and his sleeves flared. True Essence surged, his Sea of Consciousness roiled, and his Qi and Blood boiled. The flowing light on every single Flying Sword, their Qi Mechanisms perfectly synchronized, fused into a single entity as brilliant as a river of stars.

Then, with a wave of his hand, the Sword River blasted forward.

No one could possibly imagine the sheer power contained within that one strike.

Everyone had expected the clash between the Sword River and the Flame Giant to be like a comet striking the earth. Instead, the instant they collided, the Flame Giant simply exploded. The seven skulls within shattered in unison.

At the same time, the dissipating flames did not vanish. Instead, they were swept up by the gale of the sword strike, forming a colossal sword of fire that shot toward Qu Ming.

BOOM—

The Sword Momentum, far from diminishing, surged with even greater power, taking on the form of a lunging Fire Dragon.