"This little brat has truly piqued our interest!"
Xue Di and Xue Leng locked their gazes onto Xue Mie like predators stalking prey, their eyes radiating an oppressive pressure. The strike Xue Mie had just unleashed was genuinely terrifying—it left a deep impression on everyone present, enough to make some of the geniuses lose their will to fight.
But among them, Xue Di and Xue Leng were not included.
That single Shatter Heaven strike using the Lan Hong Sword had looked devastating… yet it still wasn't enough to make peak geniuses like Xue Di and Xue Leng feel genuine fear. Because after that one move, four early-Fusion Realm Blood Race members had lost their ability to fight, two mid-Fusion Realm members had broken limbs, two Blood Pearls had exploded, and three others were covered in cracks.
For one person to achieve all that was indeed impressive… but similarly, Xue Leng and Xue Di were confident they could do the same—or even better. Not to mention the two Eighth Revolution Bloodfiend Corpse Puppets they controlled were already enough to sweep the battlefield.
Originally, although they had harbored killing intent toward the three, in Xue Di and Xue Leng's eyes, Xue Mie had only been a small rat they could crush at any moment. But after that display, both of them finally acknowledged him as a worthy opponent—and genuine battle intent was ignited.
Including the earlier miserable defeat of Xue Quan, five people had already been rendered combat ineffective. The remaining Blood Race geniuses—though some had broken limbs—recovered quickly and stared warily at Lan An.
Out of thirty participants, twenty-five remained…
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense, swords drawn and bows bent… The two Eighth Revolution Bloodfiend Corpse Puppets stepped forward. Xue Di and Xue Leng exchanged glances and smiled darkly:
"Between us, who gets to deal with him?"
"I told all of you to come at me together—did you not hear?" Lan An said lazily, boredom dripping from his voice.
"Brat, I admit you have some ability… but that's still not enough for you to act this arrogantly. Do you understand?" Xue Di sneered contemptuously.
"Then what would be enough to act arrogantly?" Lan An asked with a faint smile.
"Listen well. In the entire Blood Realm, there is only one genius who has the right to be arrogant in front of me—and that is Lord Xue Jun!" Xue Di declared proudly, her tone overflowing with reverence.
"Xue Jun? Never heard of him," Lan An yawned lazily.
"You're courting death!" Xue Di instantly flew into a rage. Anyone who dared show disrespect toward her Lord Xue Jun had to die a miserable death.
"Truly a country bumpkin. Who is Lord Xue Jun that you need to know?" Xue Leng's face darkened.
Xue Jun was the figure he aspired to surpass in the future. How could he allow Xue Mie to act so insolently?
"Correct! A frog in a well—kneel and apologize to Lord Xue Jun at once!" The other Blood Race geniuses immediately shouted in unison.
Xue Jun was their idol, the supreme representative of the Blood Child Ranking, the faith in the hearts of all Blood Race geniuses. No one was allowed to look down on him.
"From the way you all talk, I've actually grown a bit curious about this Xue Jun. I wonder what kind of ability he has?" Lan An raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. He found it amusing that these always-arrogant Blood Race geniuses would submit so completely to one person.
"Lord Xue Jun is the number one genius on the Blood Child Ranking. His strength and status are said to surpass even Blood Kings—second only to His Majesty the Blood Emperor!" Xue Shang, knowing Xue Mie truly had no idea who Xue Jun was, quickly explained.
Even the husband-and-wife pair now believed Xue Mie was being overly arrogant. Though he was undoubtedly a genius… compared to Xue Jun, the gap was like heaven and earth—impossible to bridge.
…
Outside the plaza, the Blood King curled his lips into a faint smile:
"This kid has talent, but he's still young and reckless. Letting him suffer a little setback will be good for him!"
"Blood King is right. Let Xue Leng and Xue Di teach him a lesson first to temper that arrogance. Afterward, we can carefully nurture him… Who knows? The Blood Race may gain another outstanding talent!" The Blood Envoys nodded in agreement. Xue Mie had already caught their attention with his performance and was now considered a valuable seed worth cultivating. Even if he were defeated by Xue Leng and Xue Di, they would intervene to save him—they wouldn't let him die.
"Daring to say he doesn't know Lord Xue Jun—this brat is either ignorant or insanely arrogant!" A spectator asked his companion.
Before his friend could answer, a woman in the crowd snorted coldly:
"Hmph! No matter the reason, he deserves to die. Being from the Blood Realm yet not knowing Lord Xue Jun is a grave crime!"
"Correct! He should be killed as a warning!" A group of female admirers of Xue Jun immediately agreed, their killing intent surging.
The men quickly shut their mouths and looked at the projected image of Xue Mie with pity. It seemed that with just one casual sentence, this person had become the public enemy of nearly ninety percent of the women in the Blood Realm.
The status of the First Imperial Prince was truly terrifying…
…
"I'll go first!" Xue Leng smiled faintly and stepped forward with his Bloodfiend Corpse Puppet.
"No! I'll go!" Xue Di suddenly objected, her voice as cold as ice.
If it had been earlier, she wouldn't have minded letting Xue Leng slaughter Xue Mie to save herself the effort. But this Xue Mie had dared to disrespect her beloved Lord Xue Jun in her presence. Xue Di had already sentenced him to death—she wanted to personally execute him to vent her fury.
"Fine, do as you wish!" Xue Leng shivered and quickly stepped back. He thought to himself: Women are truly terrifying when they go mad. Xue Di probably wants to kill Xue Mie with her own hands no matter what. I'd better not fight her for this.
Xue Di nodded. She advanced with her Bloodfiend Corpse Puppet, smiling coldly at Xue Mie with utter contempt:
"I'll show you the price of arrogance!"
"I'm waiting," Lan An replied indifferently. He still didn't understand why this group of Blood Race had suddenly gone insane. I don't even know who this Xue Jun is, and you're all this angry? Is there something wrong with your heads?
But whoever came, he would face them. It made no difference…
"Survive three moves from me, and I'll spare your worthless dog life—so you can witness Lord Xue Jun's greatness and understand what true supreme power is!" Xue Di shouted coldly, then sneered:
"Of course, that's only 'if.' Because you will very soon become a corpse—and you won't even get to see Lord Xue Jun's shadow!"
"Deafening noise," Lan An muttered. He had no patience for this madwoman. Instant Shift activated. He shot forward like lightning, appearing behind Xue Di in an instant.
"So fast!" Xue Leng's pupils contracted. This move was something Xue Mie hadn't used before.
But he quickly sneered. Trying to assassinate Xue Di? Is this brat stupid?
Sure enough—as Lan An swung the Lan Hong Sword toward Xue Di's slender white neck, a sudden change occurred. From within Xue Di's body, eight flexible, extremely hard bone spikes suddenly pierced through her skin. They moved with eerie agility and slammed into the blade with terrifying force.
CLANG…
Lan An's hands tingled slightly. He said with mild surprise:
"Bone Cultivation?"
The eight bone spikes from Xue Di moved like spider legs, scuttling across the ground and lifting her body into the air. She stared at Lan An with eyes full of murderous intent, as though looking at a dead man…
ROOOAR…
Xue Di's Bloodfiend Corpse Puppet didn't hesitate. It roared and charged forward, throwing a full-powered punch…
"Gentleman Subdues Demons Fist!" Lan An showed no weakness. He also unleashed a full-powered punch…
BOOM!
Their fists collided. Lan An was forced back several steps, but the Corpse Puppet's attack was also successfully blocked.
"Haha, with just this level of strength you dared to challenge all of us?" Xue Di laughed loudly, her contempt growing even stronger.
One of her Bloodfiend Corpse Puppets alone was enough to pin down Xue Mie—yet he had wanted to fight them all at once? Where did he get the courage?
Lan An remained silent. In his heart, he thought: If you all really dared to gang up on me, I would have already summoned a Bone Dragon and slaughtered the lot of you. That was his hidden trump card for when he was at too much of a disadvantage. But the current situation didn't require it yet—he could still handle things.
"That was just a probing strike from my Bloodfiend Corpse Puppet. Two more moves… and you can die!"
Xue Di had no desire to drag this out any longer. The previous punch from the Corpse Puppet had only been to test Xue Mie's depth. Now came her real attack…
Ten Thousand Bones Pierce the Heart!
Following Xue Di's shout, countless bone spikes erupted from her body—more than ten thousand in total. At this moment, she looked like a porcupine bristling with deadly danger. Not stopping there, to further empower the bones, Xue Di opened her mouth. Endless blood essence containing immense power sprayed out, coating the ten thousand bone spikes. When blood and bone fused, the previously white spikes turned a vivid blood-red, their power multiplying several times over…
"Blood Bone?" This was the first time Lan An had seen this kind of technique—fusing blood into bone to amplify strength. He didn't dare underestimate it.
He slung the Lan Hong Sword over his shoulder and spoke gravely:
"Iron Cloth Shirt – Second Layer: Steel Armor Adornment!"
In that instant, the pitch-black, iron-like skin on his body underwent a transformation. It shifted from deep black to a silvery-gray steel color. Its toughness increased dramatically. Lan An's defensive power reached near its absolute peak—only slightly below the state of True Dragon Battle Form. Iron Cloth Shirt had two layers: Copper Skin Iron Bone and Steel Armor Adornment…
Right now, he was using the second layer…
His entire body—except for his exposed eyes—had turned into steel armor. Yet despite this, his movements remained extremely agile and light.
Compared to Copper Skin Iron Bone, the second layer had a massive advantage: besides greatly increasing defense, it eliminated the heaviness of the first layer, allowing the user to remain nimble and swift.
In his Steel Armor state, Lan An planted one foot behind him for momentum… One fist pulled back, gathering boundless power. Muscles covered in steel armor bulged explosively, veins pulsing. Muscle Gate and Body Gate activated to their limits. His aura tensed to the extreme, ready to crush everything before him…
ROOOAR—GRRR—GROWL—HOWL—ROAR—SCREECH…
From within his body came the roars of ten thousand beasts—endless and deafening—causing the ears of everyone present to ring painfully. It displayed the wild arrogance and pride of ten thousand beasts…
"What a terrifying body technique!" The Blood King's expression turned solemn. He was growing more and more astonished by this youth. That punch alone had already made him feel a trace of threat…
"Empty bravado—die for me!"
With the blood bones fully prepared, Xue Di shouted coldly and coquettishly…
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH…
Countless blood bones pierced through the void in an endless barrage, layering and intertwining like a deadly net with no gaps to escape. Before Ten Thousand Bones Pierce the Heart, even hiding in the void would be useless—the bones would pierce straight through…
Xue Shang and Xue Qian's eyelids twitched violently. They couldn't imagine the scene of Xue Mie being skewered into a bloody mess.
Lan An's eyes flickered. Piercing Insight and Opening Gate analyzed the attack instantly—concluding there were no exploitable weaknesses. This move from Xue Di had reached a state of perfection.
"Can't dodge? Perfect—that suits me just fine!" Lan An laughed heartily. He had never intended to dodge anyway; he had only instinctively assessed the move.
Wild Beast Fist!
All the physical power he had been accumulating exploded at this moment. As the ten thousand blood bones closed in, the ferocious fist technique personally created by San Yuan Immortal King—Wild Beast Fist—surged forward with world-shaking momentum…
CRACK… CRACK… CRACK…
Under the shocked and incredulous gazes of Xue Di and the others, countless seemingly lethal blood bones were shattered into powder. The tyrannical fist qi advanced relentlessly, cracking the surrounding space like glass.
The shockwaves from the two clashing techniques detonated outward, blasting away the nearby Blood Race geniuses who had been watching—proving once again that when bulls fight, the flies and mosquitoes die…
"Impossible…"
Xue Di let out a miserable scream. The domineering fist qi had already reached her body, shredding her thin veil into pieces and exposing her snow-white naked form. Even her delicate nipples and the mysterious valley between her legs were completely revealed—strangely pale and flawless…
ROOOAR…
Just as it seemed Xue Di would be sent flying, her Bloodfiend Corpse Puppet instantly blocked in front of her. It thrust out its powerful arms and met the incoming Wild Beast Fist head-on…
"Ugh…"
The Bloodfiend Corpse Puppet only managed to hold for a few breaths before its massive body was blasted into the air—both arms completely destroyed. Xue Di seized the chance to once again cover her exposed body with white bones, entering a defensive state.
After its ferocious rampage, Wild Beast Fist finally exhausted its power and dissipated. Xue Di had successfully survived the strike…
"Not bad at all!" Lan An sighed in genuine admiration. He thought to himself: If the fight continues, I'll have to bring out the Bone Dragon…
Should he use one? Or how many? One should be more than enough…
"Damn it… damn it… The third move—you will die!" Xue Di looked half-mad. Bones covered her naked body as her furious voice rang out…
She truly hadn't expected the little rat she had once looked down on to turn into a fierce lion—ready to pounce and devour her if she showed even the slightest opening…
Seeing that Xue Di still wanted to continue fighting, Lan An prepared to summon the Bone Dragon to teach this group of Blood Race geniuses a proper lesson…
"Enough!"
Suddenly, a majestic voice rang out—it was the Blood King overseeing the assessment…
"Blood King? The battle isn't over yet?" Xue Di and Xue Leng asked in confusion.
"No—the assessment is already complete!" the Blood King declared firmly.
Everyone looked around. Sure enough—after the collision between Lan An's and Xue Di's attacks, several nearby Blood Race geniuses had been caught in the shockwaves and were now coughing up blood, lying motionless on the ground… The number of people still standing was exactly twenty…
Which meant—the Blood Child assessment this cycle…
Had officially ended…