Chapter Seventy-Two: A Ruthless Beating (Part Two)

“Old fool, cut the crap!”

The reply to Elder Crane was a wild retort that could overturn the very stars.

In an instant, the winds howled as Feng Shang’s entire body ignited in a blaze of dazzling white flames. The scorching heat twisted the void itself, as if threatening to annihilate all existence.

This was a unique state of the “Something from Nothing” energy.

Though it seemed but a shroud of energy, its defensive power rivaled divine armor and celestial gold. Moreover, it possessed a peculiar softness that could dispel ninety-nine percent of any impact.

“You little bastard, I’ll destroy you!”

Elder Crane’s chest thundered with rage; mocked again and again, his composure shattered, seething with fury so intense he wished he could grind the boy’s bones to dust on the spot.

The sea of light surged and roared. An incomparable palm swept toward Feng Shang, but a luminous fist cut across the heavens, sending great ripples of black through the empty void.

Elder Crane formed seals with his fingers, swift as celestial hooks, his demeanor solemn and divine as he unleashed his most formidable art.

The power of dawn blazed beneath his feet, boundless and unending. Before long, a thousand-armed exalted figure rose from the luminous ocean, towering tens of thousands of feet high.

“Thousand-Armed Sorrow Exalt—Palm that Shatters the World!”

Boom!

The exalted figure bore a kindly and compassionate visage, yet as its eyes opened and closed, sun and moon dimmed, the universe lost its color, and mountainous waves were stirred. Two beams of peerless white light lanced through the surrounding stars.

“Look, it’s happening!”

Far away, aboard a Dao vessel, Xiao Huang and her companions—searching for Feng Shang—sensed the earth-shaking surge of energy and cried out in delight.

“Hurry, let’s sail over and watch!” Xiao Huang said, brimming with excitement.

“A projection will suffice; we mustn’t be caught in the crossfire,” Qing’er shook her head. In her pale gold eyes, dreamy golden lights flowed, gathering in midair to form a clear, mirror-like image before them, revealing in detail the distant battle.

“My Thousand-Armed Sorrow Exalt is a divine art, an inheritance from the mighty Lord Beyond of the Great Non-Domain, who shook the Cosmic Sea six hundred million years ago. No matter your tricks, you cannot escape the rise and fall of a thousand hands!”

Across the starry expanse, Elder Crane stood towering and unyielding, his voice rolling like thunder, echoing across the entire sea of light.

Waves surged, purple lightning flickered, and countless starbursts were drawn into that part of space and time.

“Perish!”

With a sharp cry, the thousand-armed exalted figure moved, sending over three hundred mighty arms sweeping toward Feng Shang.

Each arm shone with radiant light, thick as meteors, exuding a terrifying aura of creation and destruction, capable of snuffing out hundreds of peak cultivators with ease.

“All theatrics.”

Through the blazing white flames, Feng Shang’s eyes gleamed coldly as he watched the three hundred arms of annihilation stretch toward him.

“Something from Nothing—Cosmic Severing Blade!”

He spoke indifferently. The white flames circling his body seemed few, but in that instant they became infinite, surging into the heavens. There, a colossal, snow-bright blade of the cosmos formed, its edge keen and merciless.

The blade flashed, slicing down without pity, severing dozens of the exalted figure’s mighty arms.

“The secret of light! Are you a Lord of Light?”

Elder Crane cried out, stunned. The clarity of the power reached him even across the stars, stirring the sea of light beneath his feet.

“Impossible! This boy can’t be a Lord of Light! It must be an illusion crafted from some star-refining treasure, but it’s so real even I can’t tell the difference!”

His shock quickly turned to fervor—a chance like this could not be missed! The youth bore several rare treasures, yet his cultivation was not profound; he was a walking mountain of riches!

With his heart burning, Elder Crane formed seals anew, holding nothing back as his power poured forth.

The thousand-armed figure, empowered, grew more inscrutable; its thousand hands rose to the heavens, as if supporting the stars themselves.

This time, not merely three hundred hands, but all one thousand swept toward Feng Shang, making the vast sea of light quake and rumble.

“Sever!”

Feng Shang shouted, and the fearsome blade hanging in the cosmic void slashed straight at the exalted figure.

At the same time, white flames exploded around him in crackling bursts, and he shot toward Elder Crane like an arrow through time.

“Will Brother Feng Shang be in danger?” On the Dao vessel, Xiao Huang’s little fists clenched in worry, her delicate face scrunched into a pair of fretful brows, unbearably cute.

“It’s alright, Sister Xiao Huang,” Ying’er comforted her. “Grandfather once said that ‘Something from Nothing’ energy can erase the traces of time—Brother Feng Shang won’t be hurt.”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Severing Blade fell.

A chorus of explosions echoed across the stars.

The thousand-armed exalted figure brought all its hands together, exerting its full strength, yet could only barely withstand the white blade. That dazzling edge radiated boundless killing intent, plunging into the sea of light and forming enormous, perilous whirlpools.

Clang—

A distant, crystalline note rang out from the heart of the explosion.

“You can’t hold out!”

Feng Shang called coldly, raising his fist to manifest a divine mountain, vast and imposing, hurling it at Elder Crane without giving him a moment’s respite.

“You impudent child!”

Elder Crane’s expression changed. Only at the moment the blade fell did he realize he had underestimated his foe. Now, maintaining the thousand-armed figure and trying to send it flying would take precious time.

Boom!

Feng Shang’s luminous fist arrived in a flash.

Elder Crane had no choice but to respond, summoning a crimson Flood Dragon Ruler into his palm. The artifact gleamed with crystalline luster, blazing with six fiery patterns swirling about it.

This was a Dao treasure crafted from the pure-blooded Crimson Star Flood Dragon, an ancient star-beast, refined over many years and utterly attuned to Elder Crane’s will.

The Crimson Star Flood Dragon was infamous for its savagery; once grown, it would rampage across star domains, devouring human cultivators and earning its place as a nightmare in every great star realm.

A treasure forged from its essence was anything but ordinary.

Roar!

A dragon’s cry, sharp as clashing bronze, resounded. The Crimson Flood Dragon Ruler blazed, its six fiery marks awakening as a massive fiery shadow swept forth with a furious roar.

In the hands of a Lord of Light, this Dao treasure revealed its full might, rivaling the Flood Dragon’s own return. It clashed head-on with Feng Shang’s luminous fist.

Light eclipsed sun and moon, shaking the heavens.

The dragon’s shadow churned through the void, releasing a murderous aura that had once slaughtered countless souls; now, it howled in a frenzy, seeking to devour Feng Shang.

But he was clearly no easy prey. Fists blazed, dazzling as constellations, extinguishing the flames spat out by the Crimson Star Flood Dragon one by one.

“Not good!”

Suddenly, Elder Crane looked up.

A tiny crack had appeared where the thousand-armed exalted figure and the Severing Blade met.

It was a small sign, yet not to be underestimated—it would soon bring collapse.

Crack—crack—crack—

The exalted figure’s thousand arms splintered, countless fragments falling away as a rain of light.

In that moment, the Severing Blade trembled, its edge growing ever more lethal, poised to sever the exalted figure’s head the instant its arms shattered.

“You’ve forced my hand!”

As if making a painful decision, Elder Crane’s face twisted with anguish. Gritting his teeth, he drew a line of light across his finger, releasing a wisp of pure, primordial energy of light.

At the sight, agony flashed across Elder Crane’s face.

This was his very essence of luminous dawn—each thread was unimaginably precious. If the situation were not so dire, he would never consider using it.