Chapter 363 - 272: Qilin Divine General (Part 2)

That terrifying majesty and overwhelming presence shook everyone to their very souls.

"This is..."

The Neon soldiers and masters looked on in horror under the gaze of the colossal Dharma Aspect. Seiichiro Shintani’s fists tightened, and the specialized binoculars in his hands shattered with a series of CRACKS.

The people of the Divine Land, however, were invigorated. Such power and presence were far greater and more terrifying than the display Yuan Tianhao had put on at the city walls!!

Could it be...

A single thought flashed through their minds.

"A Divine General has appeared!! A Divine General has appeared!!"

"He broke through in our nation’s time of crisis! He will suppress these villains and turn the tide!!"

"This is a blessing for the Divine Land, a blessing for the world!!"

"The Qilin Divine General!!"

"The Qilin Divine General!!"

"..."

The people of the Divine Land erupted in a thunderous roar, the sound spreading like a tidal wave.

"A Divine General has appeared?!"

Within Shangjing, spies from every nation listened to the thunderous roar. As they watched the form of the Divine General that stood between heaven and earth, looking down upon Shangjing, they felt as if their very breath had caught in their throats.

Who could have imagined it? With Yuan Tianhao gone without a trace and the fall of Shangjing seemingly a foregone conclusion, such a dramatic reversal had occurred.

And unlike Yuan Tianhao’s empty posturing, this time, it was very likely the real thing.

A legendary figure from the Divine Land’s Martial Dao, unseen for a thousand years, had appeared in the world once more!

"The president of the World Martial Arts Conference, Zhao Xuanqi, broke through to the Divine General realm?!"

"Manifesting in the form of the Qilin, a Holy Beast from Divine Land legend, he’s being called the ’Qilin Divine General’?!"

"Telegraph the homeland! Telegraph the homeland now!"

"..."

But unlike the shock of the foreign spies, the Neon soldiers across Shangjing ceased their atrocities. They stared at the colossal divine figure in the city, a profound shudder running through them. Meanwhile, the fleeing people of the Divine Land stopped in their tracks and, without thinking, joined the distant roar with shouts of their own.

The Qilin Divine General!!

In an instant, the name "Qilin Divine General" reverberated throughout Shangjing.

「Meanwhile, on the battlefield.」

As Zhao Xuanqi’s Dharma Aspect manifested, Jiang Feiyu and Shinkawa Yue, being the closest, bore the brunt of the power surge and were the most severely affected.

Their bodies froze in mid-air, their own power turned against them by Zhao Xuanqi’s overwhelming force.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Mitsuro’s Light Blades struck Zhao Xuanqi’s body. With a slight movement, Zhao Xuanqi’s muscles flexed, releasing a burst of force. A swath of silver light flared, and the nine Light Blades instantly disintegrated into motes of light.

ROAR!!

He then waved his hand. A dragon-shaped blast of force roared through the air, surging upward. It instantly pierced through the Primordial Spirit’s palm that had been bearing down and compressing the air. With a sudden BANG, the palm exploded, unleashing a violent shockwave.

At this moment, with his body suffused with Primordial Qi, Zhao Xuanqi’s physical power was in a completely different league than before.

After instantly shattering the attacks of Mitsuro and Oono Bonan, Zhao Xuanqi’s focus shifted, locking onto Shinkawa Yue and Jiang Feiyu, who had just struggled free from their paralysis.

THUMP-THUMP!! THUMP-THUMP!!

In that instant, their hearts pounded so violently they felt as if they might burst from their chests—an instinctive reaction to the intense sense of crisis.

’Retreat!!’

Without a second thought, driven purely by instinct, they both abandoned any notion of attacking and shot backward in retreat.

They were still at least five meters away from Zhao Xuanqi.

But it was useless!

WHOOSH!!

Zhao Xuanqi swung his arms, and Primordial Qi erupted. Force, Gang Qi, and Primordial Qi intertwined, spiraling out as two dragon-like forms. The force projected across the distance, seemingly solidifying as it wrapped around their bodies.

Then, he pulled his arms back and made a grasping motion.

The two were instantly ensnared by an immense, irresistible force. They lost their balance and were dragged through the air to Zhao Xuanqi’s side, where his hands clamped down on them securely.

The two instantly realized the danger and tried to struggle, but with a slight shake of his arms, Zhao Xuanqi sent a silver light spreading around them, instantly paralyzing their bodies.

Then, with a sudden exertion of power, he swung both of their bodies up and smashed them into each other.

BOOM!!

A sickening boom echoed as their bodies instantly contorted. The sound of shattering bones, enough to make one’s skin crawl, came from within. Under the immense, crushing force, blood poured from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouths, and even seeped from every pore of their skin.

Zhao Xuanqi released his grip. The two bodies, having just collided, hung suspended in the air for a brief moment. In that same instant, Zhao Xuanqi thrust out both arms with the force of a landslide.

THWACK! THWACK!!

Their bodies took the heavy blow and were sent flying backward like cannonballs, tumbling through the air.

Elsewhere, Mitsuro and Oono Bonan witnessed the scene, and a flicker of fear actually appeared in their bloodthirsty eyes.

It wasn’t their own fear. By now, their wills had been overwhelmed and replaced by the consciousness of the Ancient Exotic Beasts within the Holy Seeds. Therefore, the ones feeling fear were those very beasts—creatures that once stood at the apex of the food chain!

In Ancient Times, the Divine Generals had appeared in the world, turned the tide of a great war, and ensured the prosperity of the Human Race.

And these beasts were merely their vanquished foes!!

Now, Zhao Xuanqi’s terrifying power seemed to have reawakened the primal fear lingering deep within their instincts.

However, Zhao Xuanqi gave them no time to react. His body moved like an Azure Dragon Emerges from the Sea, and he instantly charged the two of them.

There was no finesse to his movements—just overwhelming frontal pressure delivered with grand, sweeping, and straightforward attacks!

Consecutive palm strikes!!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Silver light erupted. The very air seemed to roil as a terrifying power, like a tidal wave, completely engulfed the two, leaving them no room to escape.

Sixteen consecutive palm strikes!!

Blood seeped from every pore on Oono Bonan’s body. His Primordial Spirit Dharma Aspect had become indistinct, as if it might dissipate at any moment. His eyes were vacant, the pulsing of the Holy Seed had slowed, and his body swayed, on the verge of collapse.

Mitsuro was in a similarly battered state. Plumes of light constantly drifted from his body, and it looked as if he might undergo Rainbow Transformation and disintegrate at any moment.

Their minds, already assaulted by the beast consciousness from activating the Holy Seed, had now entered a state of complete stupor. They were resisting on instinct alone.

The dense fog permeating the area had begun to show signs of dissipating. This meant that its source, Jiang Feiyu, was no longer in any condition to sustain his ability.

"It’s over."

Zhao Xuanqi spoke flatly. He was about to strike the final blow when he suddenly froze.

BOOM!!

Suddenly, the fog that had been about to dissipate flared up again, becoming even thicker than before.

However, that wasn’t the real reason Zhao Xuanqi had stopped.

The real reason was the threat that was now approaching from within the fog.

Yes, a threat.

Even now, after successfully breaking through to a new realm, he could still feel an immense sense of danger from it.

This wasn’t over yet.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

The sound of footsteps echoed from within the fog.

The next moment.

FWOOM!!

The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi went berserk. Within a certain area, the fog was violently pushed aside, replaced by an eerie black flame.

It radiated no intense heat, but like a venomous snake, it could ignite the unseen forces of the world, annihilating an opponent on a deeper level and silently snuffing out a life.

HSSSSSS!!

Even the Qi radiating from Zhao Xuanqi’s body began to burn away rapidly upon contact with the Black Flame, proving difficult to resist.

The Black Flame twisted, vaguely forming a Black Flame Strange Bird. A human figure stood within the bird of flame, slowly walking forward.

Zhao Xuanqi’s eyes narrowed. He knew this was the mysterious person who had assailed his mind with their will at the critical moment of his breakthrough.

Before, he could only perceive a vague shadow. But now, his own will and power were finally strong enough to pierce the other’s defenses and see their true form.

The man wore Western-style clothing. His skin was covered in a terrifying network of cracks from which the Black Flame seeped, giving him the aura of a demon that had just crawled out of Purgatory.

But when he saw the man’s face, even someone as composed as Zhao Xuanqi felt his pupils contract violently.

It was the face of an East Asian man, also covered in cracks, and stretched into a smile that was a grotesque mixture of agony and malice.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that he had just seen this face.

It was during his breakthrough, when he had connected with the grand flow of history and read the events of the past.

At the very end of the Divine Land’s Martial History.

"Li Zhenyuan?!"

Zhao Xuanqi said in a grim voice.