By the time Feng Feiyun saw Shi Yelai, the marble white dawn had begun to rise from the eastern sky while the stars became increasingly dim.
Shi Yelai was standing next to a boulder. With a short knife around three inches long, he was carving a piece of wood. His fingers moved the blade quickly as wood chips fell to the ground. The initially simple piece of mahogany quickly assumed a human figure.
He was immersed in his carving and considered this piece of wood as a great work of art. The knife in his hand kept on moving with expertise. It was apparent that this was not his first time carving a person.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!” The wooden piece became more exquisite over time. One could see the appearance of the wooden carving now. The nose, eyes, ears, hair, fingers... each of the tiny details were perfect — not overdone or lacking at all. They contained a charm as if he was handing his life and soul over to the figure.
Feng Feiyun walked down the foothill. Under the faint light of the morning sky, one could see his long shadow as he came closer towards Shi Yelai.
“Clatter—” His steps were as fast as the moving knife in Shi Yelai’s hand.
Feng Feiyun stopped right in front of him; at the same time, Shi Yelai’s hand paused. The wooden figure was finally finished.
“Just in time.” Shi Yelai held the palm-sized wooden piece in his hand and took a careful look at it before glancing at Feng Feiyun. There was a tinge of happiness in his eyes. He nodded satisfyingly after comparing the two.
The little wooden figure was exactly the same as Feng Feiyun, including his aura and charm. Inside was a bit of Shi Yelai’s dao as well as Feng Feiyun’s.
He indeed carved a figure for Feng Feiyun. As long as it was an opponent whom he deemed worthy to be killed by him, he would carve them a wooden figure like this to be used as a portrait of the deceased.
He dug a hole in the ground with both hands and scooped up a handful of soil before burying the wooden figure inside as if he was burying Feng Feiyun.
Feng Feiyun called out: “She Yelai.”
Only Princess Luofu would be able to order him!
So it really was the princess who was scheming against him. She was the master of the Golden Crow qi image, but why was she doing this?
They had no grievances against each other. There was no connection between the two as well, yet she invited so many experts and took the trouble of setting everything up. This was definitely not an ordinary matter.
The majority of women with big chests had small brains, but it seemed like the princess’ chest wasn’t that big either? Feng Feiyun didn’t know why, but he was certain that the princess was not a foolish woman. On the contrary, she was quite astute and calculating in the grand scheme of things. Shrewdness was in her heart and dangerous cliffs were part of her bosom.
“Feng Feiyun, I have been waiting for you for a very long time now. Everyone else thought that you wouldn’t be able to get past the first three trials, but I was confident that you would be able to.” Shi Yelai stared at him with a leisurely smile.
“Why?” Feng Feiyun asked.
“To be able to persevere on the sixth floor of the Immeasurable Tower for nearly one month without dying or retreating — ordinary people wouldn’t be able to understand the willpower involved in this.” Shi Yelai had rushed into the sixth floor many times to no avail. He also had strong willpower, but he could only hold out for seven days. Thus, he was well aware that it was not just luck that allowed Feng Feiyun to reach the seventh floor.
“You are the fourth trial from Princess Luofu?” Feng Feiyun inquired.
“That’s right.” She Yelai didn’t deny this. In reality, there was no need for him to do so.
“I have to exchange ten moves with you as well?” Another question from Feng Feiyun.
To which Shi Yelai responded with a smirk while shaking his head: “You won’t even be able to handle one move from me. Mu Tantian and Mu Shui wouldn’t be able to pass this fourth trial either.”
Feng Feiyun remained quiet. Shi Yelai had reached the limit of grand achievement God Base while having the power to kill a first level Heaven’s Mandate cultivator. Despite the arrogant tone, he was qualified to speak in such a manner for it was the truth.
“We are only one step away from entering the ranks of Grand Historical Geniuses. I want to fight against you at the same level to see which of us is more talented.” Shi Yelai was not convinced, especially after seeing Feng Feiyun reach the seventh level. His pride and confidence took a heavy blow. Only by trampling Feng Feiyun beneath his feet would he be able to regain his past confidence.
On the road of cultivation, a weakness in one’s dao heart was a scary matter. Perhaps one would no longer be able to make progress in the future. Thus, this fight was inevitable and he must win.
“A lot of people say you are the number one at the same realm outside of Grand Historical Geniuses?” Feng Feiyun treated this very seriously.
Shi Yelai sealed his own cultivation as well as the 360 meridians around his body and three of his ten divine intents.
At this moment, he was also a peak God Base with seven divine intents. Both of them were top prodigies, dragons among men. In a different generation, they could have reigned over the imperial court.
Cultivators that had entered this area were standing at the top of a mountain located far away. This was a top battle, comparable to a duel between Grand Historical Geniuses.
“I am invincible at the same level!” Shi Yelai’s body exuded a formidable aura. It was invisible and untouchable, yet the clouds in the sky all scattered.
“I’m invincible at the same level!” Feng Feiyun shouted at the same time. The Wanxiang mountains were quiet. Even the birds and fishes as well as the other animals were lying down on the ground, not daring to move.
In the next second, the two of them started with supreme techniques at their top speed to take each other down.
Shi Yelai turned his little knife into a huge saber comparable to Feng Feiyun’s stone saber and threw it into the sky. It slashed and cut the sky above, creating black shadows that resembled a meat grinder in the air.
Feng Feiyun channeled his energy using the Dragon King’s First Slash at seventy percent mastery. His saber energy became even fiercer as the dragon shadows turned increasingly realistic. They protected the area above him like a screen made out of sharp edges without leaving a single gap.
“Boom!” A ten meter long Buddhist Palm suddenly flew out of the saber shadows. One could clearly see each of the fingerprint lines with moving metallic glimmers.
Feng Feiyun pointed a finger to unleash a black ray to repel the palm attack.
“Boom!” After this palm was forced back, another came right after with the same size and weight of a divine metal, capable of destroying mountains. Feng Feiyun repelled it with another black ray.
This was Shi Yelai’s attack. He was controlling his saber with one hand while attacking with the other. He was able to focus on two different tasks perfectly at the same time with an unusual amount of power.
Any other heaven-defying genius would have been scrambling to keep this up and would most likely expose an opening. However, Feng Feiyun had two souls so he could also focus on two different tasks at once. Moreover, he was even more adept than Shi Yelai in this regard.
“Rumble!” Inside the black shadows from the saber, seven more palm attacks came at the same time without any gaps. Each of them carried the force of a million pounds, just as strong as Feng Feiyun’s attack.
Feng Feiyun countered with the Platinum Metal Art. He still wasn’t used to this technique just yet, but his hand turned white like a jade-metal and emitted a white light to fight Shi Yelai.
This battle between top geniuses couldn’t finish in a short amount of time. After every single breath, more than ten moves were exchanged. It was fast to the point where it seemed as if dozens of people were fighting each other. These dozen shadows were chaotically exchanging blows in the air.
The two wanted to defeat the other as fast as possible. However, this was impossible. Even their strongest attacks were being blocked.
This was unprecedented for both Feng Feiyun and Shi Yelai. Ever since their cultivation debut, they could easily slaughter an opponent at the same cultivation level. It was even possible to kill someone two levels above themselves.
This was their first time encountering an opponent at the same level where they failed to defeat them.
Back at early God Base, Feng Feiyun could have killed a peak God Base cultivator. At peak God Base, he could kill grand achievement God Bases. However, Shi Yelai was a peak God Base just like him, but it was only an even fight.
‘At six years old, I was able to kill Spirit Realm cultivators. At ten, fighting against Immortal Foundation was no problem. At fourteen, I could kill peak God Base. Meeting anyone at the same level would result in their swift death after one move. This Feng Feiyun is very strong!’ Shi Yelai had attacked 673 times without holding back at all. The earth quaked from his attacks and he had reached a new level of speed that even he couldn’t believe.
However, Feng Feiyun’s technique transformation was even faster than his. After the 673 exchanges, there were two blows that almost injured Shi Yelai.
‘How can he be faster than me?!’ Shi Yelai’s will to win became even more intense. The blood in his body churned like a surging river; he could even hear its flow.
Feng Feiyun was also the same. He was stimulating his potential to an unparalleled magnitude. He was hoping that his attacks could become even stronger and faster.
“Perhaps another Grand Historical Genius will be born tonight.” Scholar Heaven Calculating was standing straight on top of a summit lost in the clouds and stared at the mountain range. He could feel a historical-level pulse of energy slowly rising.
One’s constitution was innate from the start. However, with enough effort, it could be changed through training and battle. The constitution could transform into something even more powerful and suitable for cultivation.
The human body’s potential was infinite. Each person was like a small universe. As long as they could tap into this latent power, it wouldn’t be impossible to destroy the entire world later on.
Feng Feiyun and Shi Yelai were elites among heaven-defying geniuses and were extremely close to reaching the Grand Historical level. At this minute, both of them were exerting the most primal potential in their bodies.