Zhang Rongfang slowly walked to face Emperor Jiang.

Took a deep breath.

In the brief instant of their exchange just now, he was completely at a disadvantage. This made him realize that this person before him was unlike any opponent he had faced before.

So... he couldn't hold back anymore.

"Senior, pardon my offense!" He also wanted to see if, by fighting with all his strength, he could defeat this man.

Layer after layer of Extreme State began to open and stack.

Unification of the Divine Intent.

Yin and Yang in Harmony.

And.

Threshold!

With a low shout, Zhang Rongfang suddenly expanded and grew, reaching over three meters tall.

His entire body was coursing with Qi and Blood at high speed, his skin dark red, with countless blood vessels protruding like tattoos of branches.

Knees bent, body arched, poised to attack.

Boom!!!

In an instant, sand and stones flew, the ground cracking open with a crater.

Zhang Rongfang charged out like a cannonball, his right hand forming an eagle claw, slashing downward at the opponent's chest.

Screech!!

The sharp eagle claw whistled through the air with the sound of an eagle's cry.

In this move, Zhang Rongfang nearly used all his power except for the Blood Lotus.

Even the three Grandmasters back then...

Swish!

Zhang Rongfang's pupils contracted.

Missed!!?

Missed!?

This move actually scraped past just one centimeter in front of Emperor Jiang, missing completely.

Aside from generating a gust of wind, it was of no use.

Emperor Jiang seemed completely unaware of an incoming attack, still muttering to himself, occasionally sobbing, his expression sorrowful.

"I don't believe it!" Zhang Rongfang's arms shot out in rapid succession, creating sharp eagle cries.

The Eagle Claw Skill, which he hadn't used in a long time, was unleashed with full force, the speed reaching the limit of this state.

Within a second, it seemed as if a wall of shadows formed by eagle claws appeared in front of Zhang Rongfang.

The eagle claw wall pressed rapidly towards Emperor Jiang.

But missed again.

Emperor Jiang simply turned his body slightly, moving like a phantom to Zhang Rongfang's rear side.

"How is this possible!!?" Zhang Rongfang's expression tensed.

If the first time was a coincidence, then now...with so many consecutive misses, it was definitely not a coincidence.

This guy...

He quickly withdrew, retreating several steps, staring intently at this person.

What's going on??

He wasn't as fast as before!? Why was he still evading my attacks so easily?

Why!?

Countless thoughts rapidly flooded Zhang Rongfang's mind.

"Again!"

Refusing to accept it, he charged forward once more, this time not using the Eagle Claw Skill, but the traditional martial arts of the Great Dao Teaching, the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual!

Among which, the Flame Emperor Talisman was renowned for its swift and explosive attacks.

Under this round of swift assaults, Zhang Rongfang's arms, legs, and knees ignited with continuous flames, tilting and burning explosively towards the opponent.

At the mountain summit, the only sounds that could be heard were the bursts of air from his missed punches and kicks.

But it was still useless...

Emperor Jiang didn't even glance at him, still mumbling to himself, his body naturally dodging and weaving, flawlessly passing through the openings in Zhang Rongfang's attacks each time.

Unscathed!

Unscathed, unscathed, unscathed!! Still unscathed!!

Bang!!

Zhang Rongfang stomped into empty air, creating a circular depression a meter wide in the ground.

A cloud of earth and rocks exploded and scattered, with even the debris being effortlessly avoided by Emperor Jiang, who used Zhang Rongfang's own body as a shield to block it with ease.

"You!!?" Zhang Rongfang looked at Emperor Jiang once again, this time his gaze completely changed.

"You...are stronger than any opponent I've ever faced before.... But I refuse to believe I can't force you to make a move!!"

From the beginning until now, Emperor Jiang had only attacked once. That one attack would have killed Zhang Rongfang instantly had he been slightly weaker.

And now, Emperor Jiang was just evading, as if he didn't even see him as a threat.

"Pardon the offense!" Zhang Rongfang took a deep breath and no longer hesitated.

All the muscles in his body started to tense and contract.

The power of the Limit-Breaking Skill, Heavy Mountain, began to act simultaneously on both legs.

It was his way of increasing speed.

"Modern Daoist of the Great Dao Teaching, Zhang Ying of the Celestial Sincerity Palace, asks for Senior's guidance!"

Zhang Rongfang raised his arms, slightly grasping into the air, his expression unprecedentedly solemn.

It seemed he sensed a difference in the atmosphere now compared to before.

Emperor Jiang's expression slowly stabilized, returning to a gentle and charming demeanor.

"Great Dao Teaching... Celestial Treasure Palace, right? Seems quite formidable."

"But that's not a reason to disturb Jun'Er's rest." His expression instantly changed, demeanor turning stern and fierce.

"For his sake, I'll spare your life today."

He raised his right arm, and his palm suddenly unfurled like a peacock spreading its tail, multiplying into more than a dozen shadowy forms.

The palm shadows layered continually, generating and vanishing, abruptly pressing towards Zhang Rongfang.

"Shadow-like Divine Illusion Palm!" Ran Xinyue's expression shifted slightly, showing concern.

This was the ultimate martial skill Emperor Jiang had displayed during the massacre at the river's edge years ago.

Back then, it overshadowed the absolute martial skills of many sects, with nearly no one able to withstand a single palm.

If something happened to the Daoist today...

She suddenly regretted bringing Zhang Rongfang to confront Emperor Jiang... Perhaps choosing from the few top Extreme Realm members in the group would have been better...

But it was too late for regrets now.

Not far off, Zhang Rongfang had also completed gathering his strength.

His tall body was as solid as steel, arms spread wide like wings.

The ground under his feet exploded with a roar, sending sand and soil flying. It was like thunder on a clear day.

Zhang Rongfang let out a thunderous shout. The immense force of ten times the weight of a mountain increased the speed of his arms by several degrees.

His palms descended from above, like two blood-red dragon shadows, stabbing straight at Emperor Jiang's shoulders.

This was the ultimate move in the Flame Emperor Talisman—Blood-sucking Dragon!!

A terrifying airflow surrounded the two, just for an instant.

Their four palms passed by each other.

Zhang Rongfang slightly bent his waist, standing stiffly on the ground.

Whoosh!

A circle of airflow spread out like rippling waves, with him at the center, blowing outward.

Thud thud thud thud thud!!

In an instant, Zhang Rongfang's body spurted with blood, over ninety terrifying wounds simultaneously splitting open on his body.

Each wound was deep enough to reveal bone, but precisely did not harm the bone itself, only slicing through skin and blood vessels.

"It's over." Emperor Jiang flicked the blood off his hand and turned around. "Go back and recuperate for a year or so, with your strength, stop bothering me."

"The martial arts of the Great Dao Teaching, thirty years ago, I had already seen through...."

He walked slowly toward the direction of the stone house.

"Seen through!?" Suddenly, a voice came again from behind.

It was Zhang Rongfang!

"!?" Emperor Jiang's expression was slightly stunned, he turned his head sharply to look at the person.

What he saw, however, made his lips part slightly and his eyes narrow rapidly.

He saw that at this moment, all of Zhang Rongfang's bleeding wounds had actually disappeared completely.

If not for the blood splashed on the ground, it felt as if everything that just happened was an illusion.

"You.... are neither worshipping gods nor descending gods... what exactly are you?"

"I'm just a mere junior who wants to fulfill my wishes with my own strength and live in peace." Zhang Rongfang's body rapidly swelled, growing from over three meters even more like blowing air.

In the blink of an eye, he reached four meters!

The surface of his body turned a dark red, his body temperature soared to over forty degrees. The sound of his heart beating like war drums trembled the ground with sand and stones around him.

His shirt was already torn apart, revealing strong, armor-like muscles beneath.

Countless patterns like blooming blood lotuses covered his body, writhing slowly like living creatures.

His long blood-red hair spread out, floating in the wind, also enveloped by a layer of blood membrane.

"Ultimate form?" Emperor Jiang was slightly surprised, "No... your martial arts level is too low, not an ultimate form."

His eyes returned to being calm.

"But it doesn't matter, no matter what strange form it is, it's just a move."

He had killed Grandmasters who worshiped gods, had seen all kinds of bizarre ultimate forms.

Being big just makes you a bigger target, it's meaningless.

Raising his hand, Emperor Jiang swung his arm again, transforming into multiple illusionary hands.

"Shadow-like Divine Illusion Palm."

At the same time, Zhang Rongfang took a deep breath, his right arm coming down, a fist the size of a human head shot out like lightning, heavily striking the ground!

Yes, he wasn't aiming for Emperor Jiang, but the ground between them!!

With nearly double the terrifying power than before, the speed of his punch was much faster.

This strike, Zhang Rongfang held nothing back!

This was the first time he faced an opponent truly and completely stronger than himself.

So he held nothing back, using all his strength.

He wanted to see how big the gap was between him and his opponent!!

The fist brought up a violent whirlwind, compressing the air and spreading outward.

Everything around seemed to slow down at this moment.

In his high-speed brain senses, Zhang Rongfang felt his right arm descending inch by inch, falling towards the ground.

As long as he struck the ground with full force, the violent stones raised would force Emperor Jiang, who was in the Extreme Realm, to retreat.

This was the response strategy he came up with in an instant.

Yes, apart from this, he had no other way.

The speed and realm gap between them was so great.

So great that he didn't even know how the opponent avoided his moves.

He couldn't understand, couldn't see clearly!

No matter how strong the power is, if you can't hit the person, it's all for nothing.

So the first thing to do is to ensure you can hit!

And with brute force, even stones became an extension of his power!

At the moment Zhang Rongfang's right arm was about to touch the ground.

He saw a light.

A bright white light, like moonlight.

Whoosh!!!

In this slow world of sensory stillness, a bright white streak of light shot through like electricity.

Slicing across Zhang Rongfang's arm, slicing across his chest.

Rapidly condensing behind him, forming Emperor Jiang, holding a short knife.

He coughed lightly, turned, and walked towards the stone house.

Suddenly, everything sped up.

Zhang Rongfang, in a daze, felt all the strength in his body seemingly vanish, like a dam bursting, unable to muster even a bit.

He stood motionless in place.

One second.

Two seconds.

Crack!!

Suddenly a large cracking sound of bones breaking erupted from his body.

Bang!!

Zhang Rongfang knelt to the ground, his massive body rapidly spewing out hot steam, his body shrinking back to two and a half meters in height.

Trickles of blood slowly seeped from beneath him, staining the ground red.

He clutched his chest, staring intently at Emperor Jiang's departing back.

"Thank you... elder... for your teaching!"

The stone door slowly closed. Emperor Jiang did not reply.