Two colossal dharmic bodies made the already spacious arena feel suddenly cramped.
Every punch, every kick, the battle raged with savage intensity—utterly frenzied.
The deafening crashes of impact rolled like avalanches—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two titanic figures split apart and crashed together again, fists and feet colliding as they surged close then tore away at blinding speed. They looked like two bolts of lightning streaking across the arena.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Jiang Chen grinned, wasting not a heartbeat. He clenched his five fingers into a fist and drove it straight up at the descending pestle.
BOOM!
Another brutal collision sent ripples of shockwaves surging outward in expanding rings. The surrounding void itself seemed to shudder and warp.
Guan Yuchan had never encountered anyone who dared meet his vajra pestle head-on with bare fists. This was a first.
A faint numbness crept up his arm. His brow furrowed—this opponent was genuinely troublesome.
But a troublesome opponent only stoked Guan Yuchan's fighting spirit higher and higher.
"Perfected Pill King, you truly are astonishing! To face an opponent like you—to fight with everything I have—it's exhilarating!" Even a man of Guan Yuchan's typically tranquil temperament found his battle intent kindled, spark by spark.
That booming voice resonated between heaven and earth, echoing off the arena's edges until listeners felt their blood run hot.
Guan Yuchan flexed both arms. The powerful muscles coiling over his frame looked as though they'd been forged from bronze and iron, brimming with explosive force.
"Vajra Demon Subjugation—rise!"
With a sweep of his pestle, a towering vajra dharmic avatar erupted forth. Radiating imposing authority even in stillness, it hurtled toward Jiang Chen like a wrathful deity.
Jiang Chen's eyes lit up at the sight. His hands wove through a rapid series of seals, and he barked, "Great Lizard Avatar—break!"
A gargantuan lizard avatar, its entire body wreathed in roiling flame, writhed with berserk fury. Its massive form blazed across the arena like a creature devouring the dying sunset, and it collided head-on with the vajra avatar.
BOOM!
Yet another devastating impact. Guan Yuchan's vajra avatar and the great lizard avatar shattered simultaneously, exploding into countless motes of golden light that scattered through the void like shimmering ripples on water.
Guan Yuchan stumbled back several steps, eyes blazing with disbelief as he stared fixedly at Jiang Chen. The shock was plain on his face.
This was the most terrifying opponent he had ever faced. He had quietly studied every one of Jiang Chen's prior bouts. In the Rising Star rankings, when Jiang Chen had defeated that hulking brute, the Perfected Pill King had already demonstrated formidable close-combat physical prowess. Then, in successive fights against several sword-path geniuses, he had revealed heaven-defying mastery of the sword as well.
Even Guan Yuchan had to admit it: the Perfected Pill King was a true all-round martial prodigy—just as versatile in the martial dao as he was in alchemy.
The vajra avatar was arguably the most intimidating of all Guan Yuchan's divine abilities, one of his strongest trump cards. If even this could not gain him the slightest advantage, then he had to acknowledge the gap between them in raw martial strength.
Because up to this point, the Perfected Pill King had been fighting entirely at Guan Yuchan's rhythm—hadn't even employed his own trump cards yet. With that terrifying talent in the sword, if Jiang Chen had launched an all-out offensive from the very start, Guan Yuchan wasn't sure he could have weathered those profound sword techniques.
And his proudest asset—dharmic avatar combat—still couldn't tip the scales in his favor.
What was more, the other side still had a True Dragon Avatar that hadn't even been brought out.
None of this meant Guan Yuchan intended to concede.
A look of candid acceptance appeared in his clear eyes. He regarded Jiang Chen and spoke: "Perfected Pill King, in a contest of martial divine abilities alone, I cannot defeat you. However, this battle is not fought on my behalf alone—I represent my great clan, and I represent Emperor Nian's lineage. So I will now deploy my trump cards and equip my artifacts. Please be careful."
Guan Yuchan was a proud man. Even after proving that his martial talent and strength fell short of Jiang Chen's, he refused to stop fighting.
There was only one reason: this ranking tournament reflected upon the honor of each faction. He had no choice but to see it through.
Jiang Chen nodded and replied solemnly, "In an arena match, one ought to give everything."
"Very well!"
Guan Yuchan nodded and suddenly spread both arms wide. From within his sleeves, two golden cymbals shot outward like a pair of massive golden doors. Catching the wind, they swelled to enormous size and pressed in toward Jiang Chen from both sides.
The oppressive aura radiating from the golden cymbals was immense. As they closed in from either flank, the void around the entire arena was sealed off, and two devastating currents of energy sliced the empty space into inside and outside.
Jiang Chen felt his body wrenched by an inexplicable force of attraction.
The golden cymbals continued expanding, instantly reaching a height of ten zhang. The two halves drew ever closer, clearly intending to trap Jiang Chen between them.
Even Jiang Chen was startled by such a treasure.
But he was a veteran of countless battles. Though surprised, he did not panic. He grabbed the great cauldron and hurled it into the void above his head, positioning it squarely in the path of the closing cymbals to block their descent just in time.