"Chu Feng?!"
Hearing Chu Feng's voice, Kong Zheng was quite surprised.
However, he didn't sense any impending danger. Instead, he gripped his semi-complete Ancestral Weapon and spun around, striking toward Chu Feng, who had already appeared behind him.
"Forbidden Imperial Art: Sky Transformation!!!"
But before Kong Zheng could even launch his attack, Chu Feng's fist had already shot forward.
Chu Feng held nothing back, unleashing his most powerful killing move — the Forbidden Imperial Art: Sky Transformation.
Boom—
The two were extremely close to each other. Kong Zheng hadn't even reacted before Chu Feng's fist slammed into his body.
Rumble—
The moment the blow connected, Kong Zheng hurtled straight toward the ground, ultimately crashing into the earth.
The Forbidden Imperial Martial Technique carried heaven-overwhelming power. After Kong Zheng hit the ground, the residual shockwave not only carved an enormous canyon into the surface, but also swept outward in all directions, throwing the surrounding world into chaos.
"How is this possible?"
However, at this moment, there was no joy on Chu Feng's face — instead, extreme shock and unease had overtaken his expression.
Although Kong Zheng's cultivation was one realm higher than Chu Feng's, and his overall strength exceeded Chu Feng's by a slight margin, in Chu Feng's estimation, at such close range, the power of the Forbidden Imperial Art: Sky Transformation should have been enough to annihilate Kong Zheng.
But now, through his Heavenly Eye, Chu Feng could clearly see that Kong Zheng was not only alive, but hadn't even sustained serious injuries — merely a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
Moreover, Kong Zheng had already climbed out of the canyon as if nothing had happened, casually wiping away the bloodstain from his lip.
Though he hadn't suffered much damage, Kong Zheng was still enormously shaken. He raised his head to look up, and the gaze he fixed on Chu Feng flickered with extreme astonishment.
"I truly didn't expect that you managed to get the jump on me," Kong Zheng said, staring at Chu Feng.
"I didn't expect that you had a treasure like that either. It was that which saved you," Chu Feng said, his eyes locked on Kong Zheng's chest.
In truth, Chu Feng had already noticed that beneath Kong Zheng's outer garments, he wore an inner armor. The armor had appeared quite ordinary at first, and Chu Feng had detected nothing unusual about it. But after that blow, the seemingly ordinary inner armor was ordinary no more — the aura it now radiated was immensely powerful.
Chu Feng concluded that it was a supreme treasure, an extraordinarily powerful defensive artifact. Unless Chu Feng's cultivation exceeded Kong Zheng's by one full realm, then even at equal cultivation, he could at best wound Kong Zheng gravely but not kill him.
And right now, Chu Feng's cultivation was not only weaker than Kong Zheng's — it was an entire realm below. That meant there was absolutely no possibility of Chu Feng killing Kong Zheng.
"So you've only just realized I have a supreme treasure protecting me? It seems a bit late for that."
As Kong Zheng spoke, he hurled the semi-complete Ancestral Weapon directly at Chu Feng.
Roar—
In the next instant, the semi-complete Ancestral Weapon began to radiate a golden glow. The golden light, centered on the Ancestral Weapon, coalesced into a colossal sword stretching a thousand meters in length, shooting straight toward Chu Feng.
The force was so overwhelming that the void itself trembled, and violent gales swept forth, shrouding the sky.
This was a Forbidden Imperial Martial Technique, and because Kong Zheng's cultivation surpassed Chu Feng's, the Forbidden Imperial Martial Technique he now executed was far more powerful than Chu Feng's Forbidden Imperial Art: Sky Transformation.
Most critically, the technique had already been successfully launched — there was absolutely no way for Chu Feng to evade or dodge.
Rumble—
In the end, the colossal sword struck Chu Feng's body dead-on. A piercing detonation erupted in midair, reverberating in all directions.
This martial technique was incomparably more powerful than the one Kong Zheng had used before. Taking it head-on, Chu Feng should have been dead for certain.
Yet at this moment, Kong Zheng's expression was anything but calm.
He recalled the semi-complete Ancestral Weapon into his hand, still staring fixedly at that patch of empty sky. After a brief silence, he clenched his teeth in fury and then let out a roar toward the heavens:
"Chu Feng, even if you manage to escape today, you will never be able to enter the Hundred-Refined Grounds! In this competition, you are destined to lose to me!!!"
The furious voice boomed like ten thousand—