Chapter Ninety-Six: The Battle of Ling Tianchen!

In the valley, the hearts of everyone from the Sole Unity Sect lurched. The sudden appearance of Ling Tianchen had utterly exceeded their expectations.

From his words, it seemed that Senior Brother Wang had seized some opportunity that belonged to him. Yet seeing how arrogantly Ling Tianchen carried himself, the crowd found him deeply unpleasant and naturally leaned toward Wang Ran.

At that moment, when they saw the two already trading blows, they immediately began cheering for Wang Ran, their eyes fixed eagerly on the center of the blast where spiritual power had collided.

Boom, boom, boom!

A series of thunderous detonations rang out, and a figure was sent flying backward, streaking through the sky for dozens of meters. When the crowd finally made out who it was, the entire place fell silent.

It was Wang Ran.

After that collision, the one driven back was none other than Wang Ran.

His whole body was engulfed in surging flames. After his body slammed heavily into the cliff wall of the valley, he actually smashed a deep crater straight into the rock, blood even seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Then he suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp and piercing. With a low laugh, the curve of his lips carrying a trace of wildness, he burst forth with unmatched speed, an endless blade of light held inverted in his hand as he charged at Ling Tianchen.

"Seeking death!"

A flash of killing intent passed through Ling Tianchen's eyes. With a cold snort, he swung out a palm, unleashing a fierce surge of spiritual power as he met Wang Ran head-on, and the explosion of spiritual force shook all directions.

Ling Tianchen was strong, the strongest among the young cultivators Wang Ran had encountered.

In truth, Ling Tianchen was the foremost prodigy of this generation of the Grand Origin Gate, hailed as the "Son of Grand Origin." At only twenty-four years of age, he was already a Core Formation cultivator, his cultivation immensely formidable. More than that, he possessed the talent of a nine-star foundation, making him the foremost genius of Cloud State.

Watching the silhouettes above them crisscross the sky, the roar of spiritual power filling the air, yet seeing Wang Ran continue to be suppressed and battered, the disciples of the Sole Unity Sect all went pale with tension.

"How can this man be so strong? Even Senior Brother Wang is being forced to struggle like this!" Xu Ke widened his eyes. Having followed Wang Ran for so long, he naturally knew how powerful Wang Ran was. In his mind, this Senior Brother Wang had always been calm and unruffled, full of hidden trump cards, his cultivation unfathomable.

He had never before seen him in such a wretched state, even forced to cough up blood.

"Heh. Do you really think you can imagine Senior Brother Ling's abilities?" said a Grand Origin Gate disciple with a cold laugh, cutting in. "If his true body were here, that queen bee would not even be able to withstand a single move!"

The little junior sister puffed out her chest and angrily retorted, "Don't try to fool me! Even if he's a Core Formation cultivator, he can't possibly be that strong."

The Grand Origin Gate disciples burst into laughter at that. Ever since Senior Brother Ling had arrived, they had seemed to find their backbone again, instantly returning to their former arrogance. Lin Jun even let out a light laugh.

"Little girl, do you know that even Core Formation cultivators differ in strength? That queen bee was only equivalent to an ordinary mid-Core Formation human cultivator. But our Senior Brother Ling is the supreme among Core Formation cultivators. Even if he is only in the early stage right now, he can still shatter more than a dozen ordinary late-Core Formation cultivators!"

"What is a Core Formation cultivator? The Core Formation realm is a grand realm as vast as the sea, one that marks the difference between mortal and immortal. Your strength is still too weak, so you cannot yet touch that level. Only when you reach the peak of foundation establishment, like us, will you begin to understand the mysteries of the Core Formation stage."

Hearing Lin Jun's words, everyone fell silent for a moment. After all, the Grand Origin Gate was the only top-tier sect in Cloud State, and its strength far surpassed theirs. The might of this Senior Brother Ling only made everyone more uneasy.

Zhao Xiaobai frowned slightly. With a flip of his hand, the folding fan instantly transformed into a long spear, and he was about to rush forward to help Wang Ran.

"Where do you think you're going?"

At that moment, Lin Jun suddenly stepped out with a smiling face and blocked Zhao Xiaobai's path.

"Today, none of you are going anywhere. Just stand there and watch obediently as your Senior Brother Wang is defeated, no, as he is slain by our Senior Brother Ling!"

Another Grand Origin Gate disciple stepped forward with a sinister smile.

"Damn it!" Seeing this, the Sole Unity Sect disciples all looked furious. The hot-tempered Xu Ke even charged forward at once, wrestling with a Grand Origin Gate disciple.

While chaos broke out on this side, the battle in the sky had entered a deadlock.

Wang Ran spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes red as fire. Spiritual power gathered beneath his feet, and in the next instant he stepped up into the heavens, briefly pausing in midair with borrowed force before rushing straight toward Ling Tianchen.

"Stubborn fool." Ling Tianchen sneered dismissively. As his hands formed seals, countless streams of spiritual energy surged above his head before transforming into two flood-dragon serpents that twisted around one another and coiled toward Wang Ran's body.

"Break for me!" Wang Ran gave a low shout, swinging the golden sword in his hand so quickly and densely that it formed an airtight curtain of light. When the serpents met that pure and blazing aura, they immediately cried out in anguish and were shredded into fragments by Wang Ran's sword.

Yet it was not over. Ling Tianchen let out a mocking smile, and the blood mist formed by those two flood-serpents instantly changed into a human face that unleashed a shrill, agonized howl. The surrounding spiritual energy began to vanish and disperse, while thunder crashed overhead and chilling winds swept the sky.

Wang Ran's scalp prickled. He felt that thing carried an extremely terrifying aura, and once entangled by it, it would surely be difficult to escape. At once, his illusory flame-burning armor surged to its limit, protecting him layer by layer as he transformed fully into a being of fire. He charged straight through the blood mist, the ghostly face wailing as it was burned to ashes.

"You do have some ability," Ling Tianchen said, his gaze narrowing. He had to admit that the person before him truly had some skill, especially that flame shoulder armor and the golden long sword, both of which were extraordinary treasures at a glance.

"Only some?" Wang Ran, now pressing in close, let out a cold laugh at the remark. With one sword thrust, he unleashed irresistible force, cutting through Ling Tianchen's blood-mist serpents in a devastating advance and coming on with overwhelming killing intent.

Ling Tianchen's eyes turned cold. Spiritual power surged and spun within his palm as he decided to end this battle with his strongest killing move.

"If not for the fact that I can only exert seventy percent of my power right now, and only descend in projection, this brat would already have been slain by me. How could I have allowed him to be so presumptuous until now?" he muttered to himself. The power he could display at the moment was far too weak, only one-third of his true body's strength. If his true body had descended, Wang Ran would never have lasted this long.

In the blink of an eye, the two were locked in close combat. Wang Ran's golden sword flashed with eighteen consecutive thrusts, while Ling Tianchen relied on spiritual power transformed into armor to forcibly endure them all. After those eighteen strikes, he seized the moment of Wang Ran's brief gasp, his eyes flashing as he abruptly extended one hand.

That palm was black as pitch, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction as it seized viciously toward Wang Ran.

"It's over. Dying by my hand, you have no cause for resentment!"

Ling Tianchen sneered. The hand clamped down on Wang Ran's body. Wang Ran seemed unable to react in time; in the end, he only managed to avoid the vital point, but his shoulder was still crushed by that claw-like strike, the bones turning to dust.

With one arm ruined, Ling Tianchen's eyes could not help but show delight. Knowing Wang Ran was no longer a threat, he was about to strike again when he suddenly realized that a black writing brush had somehow appeared quietly in Wang Ran's hand.

A trace of mockery appeared at the corner of Wang Ran's mouth. In his grip, the brush instantly transformed into a weapon the size of a man, like a long spear, and pierced straight through Ling Tianchen's heart.

"Defeated by my hand, you need not resent it either."

Ling Tianchen's eyes were filled with disbelief as Wang Ran's voice floated lightly into his ears.