Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 77 The Hundred Battles Begin

The flames of war have not yet died down, and the vow remains as sharp as a blade. Her very existence is a response to this hundred battles.

"Li Huo Palace is indeed ruthless!" Exclamations of surprise rose and fell from the stands.

"Before she even made a move, the flames had already approached within a hundred paces! This pressure of fire... is even more intense than her brother Feng Li's!"

"Feng Jin...she's here to avenge Feng Li!"

The sound surged like waves, and the noise from below the stage was deafening. Everyone could tell that this battle was no small matter.

On the high platform, the expressions of several sect elders changed, their sleeves fluttering slightly, their eyes filled with solemnity.

"Li Huo Palace actually put her in the first battle... This move is not just a test, it's a naked attempt to kill."

"Her first battle is against her; this young man... is going to suffer."

Below the arena, Xie Mingli's eyes flickered slightly as she looked at the woman in the red dress surrounded by flames, a hint of barely concealed emotion flickering in her gaze.

—Feng Jin.

She used to know this name very well, so well that she could recite it from memory.

She still remembered that five years ago, Feng Jin was the woman her brother Xie Jinghong had been pursuing relentlessly, with dazzling beauty and fiery passion. It was precisely because of this bond that the Wuhou Mansion and the Lihuo Palace became truly close—befriending, allying, standing shoulder to shoulder, and even discussing marriage at one point, which everyone thought was a match made in heaven.

But fate always likes to hide its gentleness within its sharp edge.

Her elder brother, Xie Jinghong, suddenly met with an accident and disappeared without a trace for five years. From that day on, Feng Jin never set foot in the Marquis of Wu's mansion again; the once burning passion sank into the dust of time.

In recent years, the relationship between Li Huo Palace and Wu Hou Mansion has gradually cooled down, as if that past had never existed.

But last night—Xie Jinghong returned.

His appearance remained unchanged, his voice was the same, but his smile was cold, his eyes indifferent, and his aura as unfamiliar as frost. It was as if the brother who used to quietly ruffle her hair had been replaced by a strange soul wearing a familiar shell.

Xie Mingli stared at Feng Jin, engulfed in flames and writhing in nine different forms on the arena, and a sudden thought struck her. She wondered, if her brother had truly changed, could they still make it to the end?

Love and hatred have long since blurred, grudges and favors have long since intertwined, and past tenderness has turned to ashes. And fate, at this moment, has placed the starting point of all this under Chu Ning's blade.

"Are you fire?"

Chu Ning slowly stepped onto the arena, his voice deep yet thunderous, carrying an undeniable aura.

"Then let me show you—after the lightning strikes, fire is only fit to be extinguished."

He walked slowly, his robes fluttering in the wind, moving amidst the flames without getting dusty.

That was not arrogance, but a composure forged through the baptism of thunder and fire. Like a blade honed by a storm, calm yet deadly; like time concealing its edge, chilling even before it is drawn.

Feng Jin raised her eyes, her gaze as cold as a knife.

Her gaze pierced Chu Ning, devoid of any other emotion, filled only with hatred, like a raging fire that seemed intent on tearing him apart.

“Chu Ning,” she said through gritted teeth, her voice like steel scraping against steel, each word dripping with blood, “my brother died at your hands.”

"Today, I will make your blood splatter on the arena and your soul perish in the Dragon Flame!"

The moment she finished speaking, the flames on the arena surged up as if on command!
Nine fiery dragon phantoms roared in unison, their flames churning and raging, the heart of the furnace scorching the air to a bone-burning level, as if the very air itself were about to be incinerated.

But Chu Ning remained unmoved.

He stood with his hands behind his back, lightning quietly gathering in the depths of his pupils, as if divine punishment was rising and falling in his eyes.

He simply gazed at Feng Jin silently, and with just one glance, he saw through her murderous intent, state of mind, and spiritual aura.

A soft sigh escaped my lips:
—The lowest grade of the ninth rank.

—Though his murderous intent was fierce, his temperament was restless.

This is not a provocation, but a trial.

Before the thunder roared or the sword was drawn, the atmosphere of the arena had already reversed.

As the raging flames approached, he remained as steadfast as a thunderbolt.

Feng Jin was filled with rage, his eyes seemed to be burning with two balls of meteor fire, his knuckles tightened, and the Heaven-Burning Halberd in his hand slammed into the ground!
"boom--!"

The halberd tip pierced the stone bricks of the arena, and flames surged and scattered like snakes, instantly engulfing the entire arena and bursting into flames like magma cracking open.

Nine phantom fire dragons rose up in response!

Their scales gleamed with gold, their whiskers billowed, and their bodies were wreathed in hellish magma and flames. Their long roars shook the heavens, and their crimson eyes, like the setting sun, held boundless fury!

"Burning—Heaven—Break!!"

Feng Jin roared, his voice like a war drum pounding in the heart, shaking the viewing platform. In an instant, waves of fire surged skyward, and crimson flames poured in like a tsunami, engulfing the entire arena.

She soared into the air with the Heaven-Burning Halberd, her crimson dress transforming into a blazing battle robe. Flames clung to her like divine garments, accompanied by the roar of wind and thunder.

The fiery dragon shadow merged with the heavy halberd, forming a fiery rainbow that reached the sky!

"Roar--!!"

Nine fiery dragons roared in unison, and the Heaven-Burning Halberd roared down angrily, like a raging fire god unleashing divine punishment upon the world, striking directly at the center of the arena with the force of a falling star.

In that instant, the entire arena seemed to sink three inches, fire patterns surged up like a hundred-foot-long stream of rocks, and the crimson light made the sky glow with blood.

The stands erupted in chaos, filled with gasps of shock:

"That halberd strike... was the true wrath of the Fire Dragon! A direct descendant of the Blazing Fire Palace, he can actually control the combined power of the nine flames!"

"Even a mid-stage ninth-rank Golden Armor Sect cultivator... if struck by this attack, would have their protective true energy crack three inches from their armor!"

"He's still... not moving?!"

All eyes were focused on the figure standing silently in the center of the arena.

Chu Ning still did not draw his sword.

He simply looked up, his gaze as clear as a mirror, and quietly watched the halberd fall to the earth.

No thunder rumbled.

He did not move.

But beneath the arena, the air was already restless due to the golden lightning trembling slightly between his brows.

The lightning arrived in the next instant!

As the fiery dragon pressed down, Chu Ning lightly brushed his hand over Xie Mingli's tightly clenched fingers, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze. He raised his hand, and the rusty knife was drawn from its sheath, its blade flashing with a cold light as it pierced through the air.

At that moment, there was no thunder or lightning, no sound of attacks or gusts of wind, only a whisper, as light as spring thunder, yet it shook the heavens and earth and struck deep into everyone's heart.

"Jingzhe."

—The thunder roared before the sword was drawn.

A bolt of purple lightning struck down like a furious dragon, causing Chu Ning's white hair to stand on end like needles. Lightning patterns spread from his neck to the corners of his eyes, his golden pupils gleaming brilliantly in the lightning. The lightning crackled, and the world darkened.

"boom!!!"

The thunder roared, its power deafening. The arena trembled violently; the flames, before they could dissipate, were torn in two by the lightning. That bolt of lightning, slicing through the flames like a gigantic celestial blade, ripped through the entire battlefield, carrying immense power and unstoppable force.

The halberd's shadow pierced through the center of the lightning, nine fire dragons howled mournfully, their crimson flames scattering. The Heaven-Burning Halberd flew off amidst the tremors, and Feng Jin's expression changed drastically. Her body tumbled through the air like a torn paper crane, then flew backward violently. She didn't even have time to utter a second angry roar before she crashed into the stone pillar at the edge of the arena like a kite with a broken string, causing the pillar to collapse with a deafening roar. She then tumbled three times before finally managing to stop.

The crimson gold halberd crashed to the ground, embedding itself three inches into a crevice in the rock. The flames were extinguished completely, leaving behind charred marks, and the air was filled with the heat and the aura of death.

Feng Jin lay prostrate on the ground, her knees trembling. She struggled to lift her head, her eyes filled with blood and tears and endless rage. Her hoarse voice seemed to tear out from the depths of her soul: "If he were here... if my brother were here... he would never have let you be so arrogant!"

Her voice was broken, a low murmur rising from the abyss, filled with pain and anger. Blood and tears mingled with ashes, sliding down her cheeks like ink stains in the twilight, desolate and cruel. She wasn't afraid of death, only of—that even death wouldn't avenge him!
Chu Ning slowly sheathed his sword, the lightning in his palm turning into mist that slowly dissipated. His expression was cold and indifferent, as if the earth-shattering attack just now had nothing to do with him, showing neither joy nor anger.

He didn't finish her off, not out of mercy or pity, but because he saw a deep-seated hatred, not evil, in her anger. Her fight was for her brother's revenge, not for personal gain or fame. If she were an enemy, one strike from him would have been enough to reduce her to ashes.

The words of Qing Li before their parting flashed through Chu Ning's mind—"Don't let hatred freeze your eyes." He suddenly stopped his sword strike, softening the force in his hand by three points, and murmured softly, "This strike...is to leave a way for the living."

A silence enveloped the entire viewing platform, then erupted three breaths later.

“Instant…instant kill!?”

"She's a ninth-rank rank! The Heaven-Burning Halberd! Nine Fire Dragons Appear! And he actually broke it with a single strike!?"

"He's not a rank ten? Who exactly is he?!"

A wave of fear, adoration, and disbelief washed over them.

Xie Mingli sat up abruptly, her eyes wide with shock, the tension in her chest finally eased. But then, her breathing became even heavier, "He's too sharp..."

On the high platform, Prince Duan sneered, flicking his fingertip. The jade cup shattered with a crack, and blood-red wine seeped into the earth through the fissure. He stared at Chu Ning, his eyes burning with intense heat: "This lightning... can actually break true fire?"

His gaze grew even more intense. "Such a sharp blade... It's a pity it can't escape my grasp in the end."

At the same time, Wang Chongshan's gaze was as cold as frost, yet he remained silent, while traces of blood seeped from his palms.

The deacon seemed to snap out of a daze and suddenly announced in a loud voice: "The winner is Chu Ning! Four points! One consecutive victory!"

The thunder still echoed, as if the prelude to this hundred battles had been opened with a bang, shaking heaven and earth, and thus beginning the future battle.

(End of this chapter)