In midair, Si Chen once again threw a plain, unadorned punch straight at Fang Yong.
Boom!!!
Fang Yong felt as though he had been struck head-on by a meteor from beyond the heavens. His entire body was sent flying backward, and his back crashed violently through the main beam of the hall.
Shattered stone and dust billowed into the sky, and the shockwave was fiercer than anything that had come before.
Li Tiezhu was so frightened that he scrambled back to the edge of the stone steps he had just climbed, clinging desperately to a massive boulder.
Everyone present had long since noticed his faint movements. Heishan even cast him a strange sideways glance.
But a mortal who hadn't even reached Foundation Establishment was no different from a pebble by the roadside in a situation like this — no one paid him any mind.
The great hall of the Liuyun Sword Sect, which had stood for a thousand years, finally collapsed with a thunderous roar.
What Fang Yong had intended to do moments ago was now accomplished — in a way he had never imagined.
Not by his palm-force, but by his own back.
Fang Yong lay amid the rubble and broken walls, his arm burning with searing pain. When he looked down, his sleeve was already a mangled mess of blood and flesh.
His face was smeared with dust and blood — where was the lofty, imperious air he had carried just moments ago?
High in the sky, Si Chen slowly withdrew his hand, not a speck of dust on him.
After this straightforward and unembellished test, he finally had a clear understanding of his current strength and the toughness of his physical body.
Mm. Satisfactory enough.
But Fang Yong, on the other side, was not satisfied in the least.
His breathing was slightly ragged, his heart filled with shock and fury — and above all, an incredulous, bone-deep dread.
Only now did he truly understand why Fang Heng had stressed again and again that upon encountering this young man, one must first report to the clan and never act unilaterally.
What kind of Core Formation Stage cultivator was this kid? He would have believed it if someone told him this was a member of the Dragon Race wearing human skin!
He could not engage in close combat again!
That was the only thought left in Fang Yong's mind. Trading blows with this kid up close was nothing but asking for punishment!
Taking advantage of the brief pause in Si Chen's assault, Fang Yong's figure rapidly retreated, putting nearly three hundred meters of distance between them.
As a Late Nascent Soul Stage powerhouse, being forced to retreat by someone at the Core Formation Stage — this was a humiliation beyond all measure.
But when life and death were on the line, what did a little face matter?
Talking about dignity or probing with this young man was utter nonsense. He had to use decisive, thunderous means — a single, lethal strike!
"So that's how it is… Fang Heng losing to you was not without reason."
He drew a deep breath, suppressing the churning of his blood and qi, and forced a composed expression onto his face. "Your physical body is indeed strange, but on the path of cultivation, what ultimately matters is technique! It is the mastery of heaven and earth's power!"
Even as he spoke of heaven and earth's power, his hands were already rummaging through his Storage Ring for protective Magical Artifacts.
Prayer beads, a jade pendant, a cloak — in the blink of an eye, three or four layers of brilliantly glowing Artifacts had been added to his person.
This display made Heishan below curl his lip in contempt. "Ptui! Shameless old thing! You talk about technique, so why are you pulling out so many turtle shells?"
Fang Yong's old face flushed red, but he pretended not to hear. Face was important, but life was more important!
Si Chen heard the word "technique" and tilted his head.
He gave a small nod. Since the test of his physical body was done, it was time to test that "strange core."
With that thought, Si Chen raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers pressed together, pointing from afar toward Fang Yong in the distance.
Fang Yong was in the middle of layering on his fourth protective barrier when he saw Si Chen's opening stance. His movements froze, and his heart lurched.
That gesture… wasn't it identical to the one he himself had used when he unleashed Star Shatter?!
What was he trying to do? Could it be…
"You—" Fang Yong had barely gotten one word out.
Si Chen had already spoken with cool indifference: "I don't much like the name of that technique of yours."
Star Shatter? Say that again — shatter what, exactly?
He paused for a moment, as though genuinely deliberating, then offered his own name for it:
"…Let's call it 'Firefly' instead."
Firefly?!
Fang Yong nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood! His Star Shatter — the technique he was so proud of, capable of piercing gold and boring through stone — was only worthy of being called a firefly in this kid's mouth?!
Absolutely preposterous!
Before he could even work up his fury, before he had fully grasped what his opponent intended to do, Si Chen had already made his move.
He saw Si Chen, facing Fang Yong who stood ready three hundred meters away, give a light tap — almost identical in motion to what Fang Yong had done before.
It was Star Shatter, and yet it was not.
It was faster, stronger, more lethal!
Whoosh——!
A slender beam of white-gold light, like a meteor slashing across the night sky, crossed three hundred meters in an instant and arrived before Fang Yong!
What?!
Every hair on his body stood on end in that single moment!
The three or four priceless protective Magical Artifacts on his person seemed to sense a lethal threat and simultaneously erupted with brilliant radiance, layer upon layer of light shields wrapping around Fang Yong in an instant.
Crack!
The first layer — the light shield formed by the prayer beads — shattered the moment it was touched.
Bang!
The second layer — the protective cloak embroidered with cloud patterns — was pierced clean through, its spiritual light extinguished entirely.
Boom!
The third layer — the jade pendant hovering above his head — let out a groan of unbearable strain and exploded into a shower of fine powder!
The final, thick earth-yellow light shield, his last trump card for preserving his life, shuddered violently. It held for only an instant before shattering like broken glass, dispersing with a cascading crash.
Pfft——!
Fang Yong was once again sent flying like a kite with a snapped string. He spat a great mouthful of blood while still in midair, then crashed heavily into the ruins even further away, sending clouds of dust billowing into the sky.
All those precious Magical Artifacts — shattered.
But he was still alive.
It was those Magical Artifacts, at the cost of their own destruction, that had preserved his life.
He lay in the rubble, with who knew how many bones broken throughout his body, his internal organs displaced, blood flowing ceaselessly from his mouth and nose.
Yet the searing physical pain was not even a ten-thousandth of the terror in his heart.
What kind of monster was this?!
He had learned his technique in an instant — and even used it more powerfully than he himself could?!
How was this possible?!
Si Chen looked at his own fingers, then glanced at Fang Yong struggling in the distant ruins, and shook his head.
The "strange core" within him was indeed powerful — whether in the volume of Spiritual Energy or in raw might, it was incomparable to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
But even so, this strike that had shattered several Magical Artifacts still felt unsatisfying to him.
He wasn't sure whether it was the name "Star Shatter" that had given him some bias.
"You see," he said, "it really is just a firefly."
"You——!" Fang Yong heard those words and spat out another mouthful of blood in fury.
Heishan and Chifeng watched from the side, the corners of their mouths twitching, thinking that their brother's commentary was a bit too cutting.
The Fang Clan cultivators were all slack-jawed, staring at their leader coughing up blood in the ruins, feeling as though their entire worldview had been overturned.
Fang Yong struggled to get up, and for the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.
For the first time, he realized that he might truly die here — die at the hands of this "Core Formation Stage junior" whom he had not taken seriously at all in the beginning.
"Si Chen… you have indeed… surpassed everyone's expectations…"
"But do you think this is over? The Fang Clan's foundation is not something you…"
He could not finish his words.
Because Si Chen had already raised his hand again. He had heard this kind of meaningless tough talk several times already and couldn't be bothered to listen to the rest.
The very moment he raised his hand, heaven and earth suddenly changed color!
The previously clear sky darkened at a visible speed, and thick, heavy storm clouds surged in from all directions, rolling and pressing down toward the mountain peak of the Liuyun Sword Sect.
Within the clouds, thunder roared.
Beneath the earth, fierce winds howled, sweeping up shattered stone and broken timber from the ground, blowing so hard that no one could keep their eyes open.
Crack-boom——!
A thick bolt of purple lightning tore through the sky, casting every face among the Fang Clan cultivators a ghastly white.
Then, a deep, rolling thunder followed, shaking the very earth into a faint tremor.
What was even more alarming was that the roiling thunder clouds above seemed to be drawn by Si Chen, actively converging toward the palm he had raised!
The lightning grew ever more intense, the thunder ever more deafening.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, a long spear forged entirely from raging tribulation lightning rapidly took shape in Si Chen's hand.
The spear was roughly one hundred meters long, many times thicker than his entire body, its length coiled with devastating purple-white electrical light that crackled and snapped with a sound that made one's scalp tingle.
The "strange core" version — Spear of Thunder.
If this thing… could still be called a "spear."
Compared to the terrifying spectacle before them — the might of heaven and earth being drawn upon — that slender beam of white-gold light from moments ago…
Was it not just… a firefly?
Heishan craned his neck back, mouth agape, and murmured, "Bro… bro… aren't you… playing this a little too big…"
Chifeng reacted faster, grabbing Heishan and pulling him back, even thoughtfully scooping up the dumbstruck Li Tiezhu along the way.
He figured that being too close might get them caught in the blast — the kind that turned you to ash.
Li Tiezhu felt the back of his collar tighten as Chifeng lifted him effortlessly into the air, but he didn't make a single sound. His eyes were wide as saucers, fixed unblinkingly on the figure in the sky.
In his limited understanding, immortal masters fighting meant Flying Swords going back and forth, talismans flying everywhere, and at most some streaks of rosy sword-qi.
But the scene before him had completely overturned his imagination.
Those bolts of lightning, like the wrath of heaven itself, not only illuminated the ruins — they seemed to strike deep into his heart as well.
"This… is this what true power looks like?!"
For the first time, he understood so viscerally what it was he yearned for.
On the other side, the Fang Clan cultivators had long since gone pale as sheets. They instinctively looked toward Fang Yong, hoping their leader could turn the tide.
But what they saw was a face even more horrified and desperate than their own.
Fang Yong had already forgotten to struggle, forgotten to flee, even forgotten the searing pain throughout his body.
He stared blankly at the sky — at the figure holding the thunder spear, like a Thunder God descended to earth.
This feeling… this aura…
It was far too familiar!
As a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, the tribulation lightning before him inevitably stirred up his most terrifying memories — memories of brushes with death.
"Thunder… tribulation lightning?!?!"
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