It must be understood that reproducing the effect of an Emperor Realm domain through purely martial arts sword techniques was an extraordinary feat that defied all common sense.
Even with the vast experience of the Seven Great Emperors, none had ever heard of any martial art or sword technique that could simulate an Emperor Realm domain. After all, an Emperor Realm domain was formed entirely through the combination of an Emperor Realm expert's vital energy aura and their Emperor-level power. Without reaching the Emperor Realm in cultivation, it was simply impossible to generate such an aura.
Even a half-step Emperor Realm expert could only barely produce something resembling an Emperor Realm domain — and even then, it would be a pale, imperfect imitation.
For a half-step Emperor Realm expert to simulate an Emperor Realm domain, even in its most embryonic form, would already be considered a peerless, breathtaking achievement.
But to simulate the effect of an Emperor Realm domain through sword techniques alone — even if it wasn't a true domain, merely a similar effect — was already staggering enough.
After all, it was common knowledge that Pill King Zhen was ultimately nothing more than a Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist. Forget being an Emperor Realm expert — he wasn't even at half-step Emperor Realm.
The ability to simulate an Emperor Realm domain's effect through sword techniques meant that he was qualified to face a true Emperor Realm expert in battle.
At the very least, when confronted with the binding force of a typical Emperor Realm expert's domain, he would not be completely powerless — would not simply have to submit without a fight.
And this was something no Saint Realm expert in the entire Liuli Royal City could ever hope to achieve.
In the common understanding of the martial dao, there was absolutely no possibility of a Saint Realm expert fighting an Emperor Realm expert on equal terms. A Saint Realm expert — no matter how peak their cultivation, no matter how extraordinarily gifted — without relying on equipment or other external factors, using only divine abilities or martial arts — could absolutely never confront a true Emperor Realm expert head-on.
Even the most exceptional prodigies during their Saint Realm days would scarcely dare claim they could take on an Emperor Realm expert without external aid.
In virtually every case, when a Saint Realm expert encountered an Emperor Realm expert — disregarding external factors — the only outcome was merciless annihilation. There was no suspense whatsoever.
A single Emperor Realm expert, even one at the early stage, could easily take on five to ten peak Saint Realm experts, and could easily handle three half-step Emperor Realm experts.
The sole reason for such an enormous gap was that Emperor Realm experts possessed the Emperor Realm domain.
A domain deployed in combat wielded a staggering degree of control.
When Emperor Realm faced Emperor Realm, perhaps this disparity wasn't particularly evident. But when Emperor Realm faced Saint Realm, the advantage became overwhelmingly clear.
And it was for precisely this reason that Jiang Chen's seemingly simple move had left the entire arena in stunned silence.
Fang Yuan, having had his strike shattered by Jiang Chen in this manner, was so shocked he couldn't speak. After all, this spear thrust of his contained the profound mysteries of heaven and earth — it was one of his ultimate trump cards. In sparring among fellow disciples, even the foremost genius under Annihilation Great Emperor would never dare meet this spear head-on.
Yet this Pill King Zhen had not only met it head-on, but had broken through his technique in a manner that bordered on the inconceivable.
Was this... truly a Heavenly Saint Realm opponent?
In that moment, Fang Yuan's conviction was completely shaken. He felt as though he was facing a monster — an unprecedented, heaven-defying prodigy the likes of which had never been heard of since the dawn of time.
For the first time, a crack appeared in Fang Yuan's resolve. He finally felt a twinge of regret for his reckless advance.
Had he known, he should have simply skipped five ranks and challenged Third Young Master Ji instead. With his strength, he would have stood at least a fifty-percent chance of victory.
But challenging this Pill King Zhen — Fang Yuan felt it was the worst decision he had ever made in his life. After Jiang Chen shattered his spear, he suddenly felt the world before him blur into formless chaos, completely devoid of even a sliver of hope for victory.
Yes — even the Seven Great Emperors were shaken. How could Fang Yuan's inner turmoil be any lesser?
A Saint Realm genius had actually unleashed power on par with an Emperor Realm domain. Could it be that Pill King Zhen was playing the fool to devour the tiger — an Emperor Realm expert deliberately concealing his true strength?
But this absurd notion was immediately dismissed by Fang Yuan. He refused to believe that anyone could suppress their own cultivation — that a true Emperor Realm expert could be forcibly held down to the Saint Realm.
Even if such a thing were possible, Fang Yuan didn't believe he would fail to notice.
But then what was that power on par with an Emperor Realm expert? How could a Saint Realm expert project a force field comparable to that of an Emperor Realm expert?
Never mind Fang Yuan — even the Seven Great Emperors themselves were riddled with questions.
The other six Great Emperors felt a particular chill. In their minds, they had already, to varying degrees, come to regard Jiang Chen as the Peacock Great Emperor's designated successor — as a chess piece the Peacock Great Emperor had arranged behind the scenes long ago. Witnessing Jiang Chen's heaven-defying display only strengthened this conviction.
Based on their understanding of the Peacock Great Emperor, if this Pill King Zhen had truly appeared from nowhere as a random genius, the Peacock Great Emperor would never have accepted him so quickly, nor would he have spread such word — that he intended to name Pill King Zhen as the heir of the Peacock Sacred Mountain.
The only explanation for a genius who could prompt the Peacock Great Emperor to make such a decision and release such news was that the Peacock Great Emperor had arranged everything well in advance, and had long since been thoroughly familiar with Pill King Zhen's background.
Otherwise, given the Peacock Great Emperor's legendary caution, how could he possibly name a young man who had been an outsider for less than three years as the heir of the Peacock Sacred Mountain?
Although none of this had actually materialized yet, the rumors had already spread far enough that everyone understood the implication without a word being spoken.