Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Guardian

After gazing at Yilie for a while, Yi Ren Zui sighed wistfully and rose to enter the room.

Creak!

The door closed behind her.

Inside, a calm voice came from Yi Ren Zui.

“I will enter seclusion.”

This statement immediately provoked anger in Yilie, who was about to explode, but then he revealed a sly smile.

“Seclusion is good. While you are in seclusion, I can use your identity as a saint’s disciple to my advantage. This will certainly help me become the leader. Hahaha! Yes, seclusion is excellent.”

“If I become the leader, then Zhang Yang, the Great Path Sacred Fruit you possess, everything you have done to me—I will make you repay it tenfold, a hundredfold.”

“I told you before, only one of us can survive!”

“I’m eager to see whom my own daughter will choose to keep alive.”

The Southern Region was in turmoil.

Many sects and martial arts families organized competitions for the new generation, selecting the strongest participants for the upcoming battle.

Overall, the atmosphere was vibrant and heated.

Only the Green Sparrow Palace remained quiet.

Zhang Yang had entered seclusion.

He allotted a month for all eligible participants to prepare, allowing those in seclusion to emerge at their peak condition.

Since a battle was imminent, strengthening his opponents would only make defeating them all the more impressive.

During his seclusion, he focused on three tasks.

The first was to refine the Slaughter Thunder Saint Power to perfection.

The second was to use the perfected Slaughter Thunder Saint Power to advance the Diamond Dragon Holy Power.

The third, if time permitted, was to cultivate and elevate his realm.

Everything progressed in an orderly manner.

He approached these tasks with great patience.

The first task took seven days, allowing him to completely master the Slaughter Thunder Saint Power.

The second task consumed nineteen days, a slow and arduous process. Even with the foundation of the Slaughter Thunder Saint Power, the Holy Bell of a Thousand Powers, and his deeper understanding of the saint’s path, it remained a formidable challenge.

Fortunately, he succeeded.

From that moment on, both types of holy power martial arts techniques had reached perfection.

Next came the cultivation of his realm.

The fifth level of the Ascending to Heaven Realm was insufficient to fully unleash the potential of both holy powers; his Nine Extremes True Essence was lacking.

Time was running short, with barely a month remaining.

Outside the Green Sparrow Palace, many people had begun to gather—some with malicious intent, hoping to launch a sneak attack while he was in seclusion, seeking fame and notoriety.

The Vast Forest side was also making preparations.

When Zhang Yang had issued his challenge to battle the entire new generation of the Southern Region, he had already anticipated this.

Thus, when a large crowd gathered outside the Green Sparrow Palace, some individuals stepped forward from within the palace.

They had arrived early via the ancient teleportation array, quietly standing guard over Zhang Yang.

There were not many of them. just over ten.

Xue Feishuang took the lead. Yuluan stood by her side.

Also present was Ling Yue, the formidable leader of the Snow Guards, along with Xu Li.

Additionally, the Wolf King Guard Squad from the Howling Wolf Palace had sent their leaders, Lang Xiaotian and Li Yuheng.

Chen Mo, the top talent of the new generation from the Divine Forbidden Gate, was also among them.

And then there were three fearsome beasts: the Ironback Blue Bull, the Golden Ape, and the Purple-Eyed Thunder Bird.

Moreover, Zhang Yang had enlisted the Four Great Asuras and the Four Great Phantoms from the Underworld Assassin Organization.

In total, there were sixteen individuals, all from the new generation.

Among them, Xue Feishuang had the least notoriety, as she often fought while masked, frequently changing disguises. This was her first time revealing her true self in battle.

With no concerns about the Green Sparrow Palace, she could now focus entirely on her cultivation.

She was eager to fight.

“There are still two days until Zhang Yang emerges from seclusion,” she announced. “During this time, I will lead the new generation of the Vast Forest. We welcome any challenges from the major holy places, sects, families, empires, and forbidden lands of the Southern Region.”

“No matter how many of you come, we—just sixteen of us—will take you all on. If you have the ability to defeat us, then you may attempt to ambush Zhang Yang and disrupt his seclusion. If not, your blood and corpses will serve as proof of the Vast Forest’s dominance over the Southern Region.”

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

It must be noted that ever since Zhang Yang had issued his challenge, many had come to witness the spectacle, each harboring their own thoughts.

Currently, over a hundred thousand people had gathered, with their numbers still growing.

The scale of this battle was beyond estimation.

Many were simply there to observe and gain experience.

However, quite a few truly intended to participate.

As a result, someone immediately stepped forward.

"Everyone, the Vast Forest is too arrogant, completely underestimating the new generation of the Southern Region. If we do not defeat them, how will we show our faces? They will carve a glorious chapter in the history of the Southern Region, while we will be the most pitiful, the most ridiculed! Let’s fight and kill them to prove ourselves!"

"Agreed! As fellow martial artists, how can we allow ourselves to be lesser than them? Let’s fight!"

"I despise these self-righteous people. They think they are something special. Just because they are a newly established holy place, they believe they can look down on us!"

"Kill them!"

"Fight!"

Many voices joined in the outcry.

As a man wielding a knife charged forward, a group followed him into battle.

The fight had begun.

As many as eight hundred people participated in the attack.

They spread out at once, launching a collective offensive.

On Xue Feishuang’s side, the sixteen individuals remained calm, showing no sign of concern.

In response, only two of them moved.

Ling Yue and Xu Li!

Under the guidance of Chi Zhenyi, his two disciples had undergone remarkable growth, their transformations were astounding. Once, their power was comparable to that of a Son from a holy place, but now, they stood as individuals as strong as a Son.

Joining forces, they unleashed a massive Daybreak Sun, imbued with the essence of time.

Boom!

The Daybreak Sun surged across the battlefield.

As the dazzling radiance faded, the two stood amidst the painful cries of the crowd.

Two against eight hundred—yet they had achieved complete victory!

The battle had begun and ended in an instant.

The two of them gracefully returned to their positions. Just as their feet touched the ground, Chen Mo from the Divine Forbidden Gate slammed his palm onto the earth.

Buzz!

Forbidden Law Patterns spread across the ground and the void.

"Ah! It burns!"

"Damn it, we’ve been discovered!"

"This is bad!"

Painful screams rang out.

From underground, shadowy figures dressed in black were forced to the surface, their stealth shattered by the blade-like power of the Forbidden Law Patterns.

Chen Mo withdrew his hand, his attack complete.

Only three people had acted, yet they had instilled immense fear in everyone present.

Even though the attackers were not particularly renowned experts, their sheer numbers and individual strength were not to be underestimated.

For a brief moment, silence engulfed the battlefield. No one dared to make a move.

Just as Xue Feishuang was about to speak and issue another challenge, she suddenly sensed something and turned her gaze toward the sky above the Green Sparrow Palace.

Crack!

The air above the palace exploded.

A graceful, enchanting figure appeared in mid-air.

It was Yaoruoxian.

"Sister, that’s Yaoruoxian. She is self-assured, wielding the power of the Saints’ laws, arrogant beyond measure," Yuluan remarked.

Without any visible movement, Xue Feishuang suddenly appeared in the sky and reached out to strike Yaoruoxian with a slap.

Yaoruoxian maintained her cold, proud smile as holy light surged around her.

Yuluan’s eyes widened in shock. She knew that Yaoruoxian had previously been unable to emit Holy Might or display the characteristics of a saint’s path. The fact that she could now meant she had grown even stronger.

Under the Saints’ laws, Xue Feishuang’s attack was nullified.

Yet, she remained fearless.

Lunging forward, she vanished and reappeared right in front of Yaoruoxian, striking again.

"Touching Heaven Realm, Level Three!"

Yaoruoxian’s expression finally shifted in shock.

Bang!

She managed to block the punch but was sent flying backward over a hundred meters.

The gap in their realms was significant.

What unsettled her even more was the deep potential she sensed within Xue Feishuang. She gasped.

"Saint Path inheritance!"

Xue Feishuang charged again.

Yaoruoxian snorted coldly before abruptly retreating into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, both women vanished.

Before the Green Sparrow Palace, silence reigned once more.

Half a day later, when Xue Feishuang returned and Yaoruoxian had fled, no one dared to challenge them again.

The remaining days passed in undisturbed tranquility.

As the month’s deadline approached, the Green Sparrow Palace finally opened.

Xue Feishuang and the others quietly withdrew. They would not interfere in this battle, everything would be left to Zhang Yang. Only in this way could they truly make the Southern Region experience pain.

Slowly, Zhang Yang stepped out.

At the same time, those truly powerful figures, individuals who stood at the very pinnacle of the new generation in the Southern Region also emerged. A single individual was about to challenge an entire generation.

The war had officially begun!