The murmur of voices had not yet subsided when Ren Yuanhao first took a puff of his cigarette.
"Jiang Cheng, how about I make a bet with you?"
"What right do you have, a piece of trash like you, to make a bet with me?"
Ren Yuanhao chuckled. "That sounds exactly like something an orphan would say. Jiang Cheng, standing behind me is the Great Thousand World, while behind you is nothing but endless desire. Who is truly destitute, I don't think I need to spell it out."
Just as Jiang Cheng was about to roar, Ren Yuanhao spoke with cold finality, "Jiang Cheng, remember our Martial Arts Association Grand Tournament? Today, we stand on the highest arena again, and I'm betting on this: you'll be dead within three moves."
The statement stunned not only Jiang Cheng but also the cultivators behind Ren Yuanhao.
"Three moves? Forget three moves, I'll let you have thirty!" Jiang Cheng let out a disbelieving, manic laugh, as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Don't speak too soon, lest you bite your tongue."
Ren Yuanhao finished the remaining half of his cigarette, then pinched it against the collapsed cage, the smoke curling back. "Jiang Cheng, enough with the nonsense. I want to finish you off before I go, so please make arrangements to depart."
As the words left his lips, Ren Yuanhao vanished from everyone's sight, his speed so incredible it defied comprehension.
"The first move, I make it for all those poor souls who met a tragic end at your hands!"
Ren Yuanhao's voice boomed louder than Jiang Cheng's. Everyone looked up, only to see the swirling dark clouds suddenly behaving like a colossal dragon drawing water, rushing back into the higher firmament!
"Star Absorption Technique, devour!"
Ren Yuanhao's five energies surged like a vast universe, making the act of consuming these seemingly terrifying phenomena as easy as breathing.
"A joke! This is an anomaly created by elemental abilities. Who do you think you are!"
Before Jiang Cheng could finish speaking, he felt as if a沟渠 had been carved into the berserk true qi within him, and it flowed with the 'anomaly' towards Ren Yuanhao in the high sky!
"How, how is this possible!"
Jiang Cheng's face turned ashen. He unleashed a palm strike, summoning a lightning bolt that hung inverted in the sky.
The lightning twisted and tore through the air, defying the laws of physics as it pierced the sky upside down. However, before the lightning could reach Ren Yuanhao, he heard the latter's cold command, "Dispel!"
The moment he spoke, the lightning vanished into thin air. Even more terrifying, Jiang Cheng felt as if countless holes had opened within him, his true qi surging towards Ren Yuanhao like a churning sea!
Witnessing this, the onlookers were filled with elation. Even the citizens of Guyao City, who had been cowering in their homes, began to peek out from their windows.
"Guyao City is saved! Look, that monster is being subdued by someone even more formidable!"
"Incredible! Someone can be more monstrous than a monster!"
"Well done! This bastard has harmed so many people, his hands are stained with so much blood, he should have gone to hell long ago!"
The citizens began to murmur amongst themselves.
"No, impossible! How can your sorcery even subdue elemental origin abilities!"
Jiang Cheng's malevolent face finally showed a flicker of fear.
"Indeed, elemental abilities are powerful, but without the guidance of true qi, they are merely a deceptive facade. Jiang Cheng, your true qi was obtained by siphoning from others; you are ultimately a plunderer. In other words, your true qi doesn't truly belong to you. You are, quite frankly, a complete robber!"
The fate of a robber is only death!
Jiang Cheng's face shifted from terror to rage. As his true qi dissipated, his body gradually returned to normal human size. Ren Yuanhao, having absorbed the true qi that never belonged to Jiang Cheng, now possessed an unprecedentedly terrifying reservoir of energy. His dark golden eyes fixed on Jiang Cheng, instilling a sense of dread.
"This so-called anomaly was merely your attempt to create a sign of impending doom. Guyao City has been ravaged by you, and you deserve a hundred deaths! Dispel!"
With another wave of his hand, Ren Yuanhao cleared the oppressive clouds that had loomed over Guyao City for more than ten days.
Sunlight once again illuminated Guyao City, sharp and warm like swords.
The populace erupted in cheers, and the cultivators joined in the jubilant celebration.
"Damn, that's awesome! This is the true divine domain, I can already hear the horns of victory!"
"With a wave of his hand, he commands heaven and earth. This is too incredible!"
"This is how you gain true fans, I can't help but want to have his babies."
"Have his babies? Can you reach that level?"
...
"Hahahaha, Ren Yuanhao, you're too arrogant! So what if you've absorbed that true qi? I still have immortality, and more importantly~"
Just as everyone believed victory was imminent, Jiang Cheng pulled an object from the void, and the sky darkened once more!
"Spartan Sword!"
"Second of the Ten Fierce Swords, its power is not inferior to Fen Chuan!"
Among the cultivators, those with knowledge frowned, recognizing the sword.
Ren Yuanhao held Fen Chuan, unfazed, and snorted, "Excellent. Duels between kings are never decided by flashy abilities, but by swords. Every blow draws blood, nothing more. With this second move, I will end your hatred and show you how ridiculous all your actions have been."
"Hahahaha, you're still far from teaching me a lesson! Come on!"
Their words were more earth-shattering than thunder. Immediately after, Ren Yuanhao's Lone Nine Swords descended like a rain of swords, ethereal and agile, leaving trails of blood in their wake, making it impossible to discern whose blood was falling or whose sword light flashed across the sky.
The clash of their blades was like falling thunder. Then, Jiang Cheng's nearly half-rotten arm plummeted from the sky, still clutching the soul-stirring fierce sword, the Spartan Sword.
"Hahahaha, even if you can defeat me, you can't kill me! What can you do to me!"
Jiang Cheng had lost all his true qi and fallen from grace. However, just as he said, his cells regenerated, and his arm grew back!
Ren Yuanhao slowly walked to the cage, picked up his half-smoked cigarette, and his voice suddenly turned melancholic. "For this third move, I sentence you to eternal imprisonment here, to atone."
As he spoke, the Thorn Spear returned to Ren Yuanhao's hand.
"Perhaps a benevolent gesture will never tell you that all fierce swords contain a powerful sealing enchantment." Ren Yuanhao casually waved his hand, and a massive crater appeared in the desert. "Jiang Cheng, this is your coffin. You will be sealed in the cold desert sands with the Thorn Spear, forever."
Ren Yuanhao's dark golden eyes retracted from Jiang Cheng like a dragon absorbing water. The spear suddenly opened a jade-green sealing enchantment. Ren Yuanhao, spear in hand, stepped forward like a bolt of lightning, piercing the stunned Jiang Cheng with the long spear.
Jiang Cheng, completely unable to resist, was drawn into the abyss along with the Thorn Spear, which bit into his chest like a dragon!
"Ren Yuanhao~ I hope you die a terrible death! I, I will definitely return for revenge!"
Ren Yuanhao stood at the edge of the abyss and whispered in a voice only he could hear, "Perhaps in the next life."
Then, he covered the crater with yellow sand. Jiang Cheng, along with the four elements, plunged into eternal hell. Moreover, with the Thorn Spear's enchantment, it was impossible to break free without its recognition.
The cultivators and citizens erupted in a thunderous roar of cheers, but Ren Yuanhao did not stop. With a single sword strike in the air, he cleaved open the area beneath the altar. Dr. William and the head of the Lionheart Group were holding detonators.
More than a dozen women were wrapped in explosives.
"Hey, Ren Yuanhao, I didn't lie to you, did I? Your women are all here~"
Ren Yuanhao looked at the familiar women before him, and a hint of relief finally appeared on his face. He pointed his long sword at the two men.
"I'd like to see who's faster, your hand or mine!" Dr. William's lips had turned pale with fear.
"Of course, it's~"
Before Ren Yuanhao could finish speaking, both men's arms were severed!
"I said, no one will be allowed to bully you like this."
Ren Yuanhao had, at some unknown time, flashed to the front of the women. Dr. William and the Lionheart Group leader had already been torn to shreds by Ren Yuanhao's Gale of Sickle Wind.
...
Several days later.
"Beep beep, time to wake up! The order has been placed. If you sleep any longer, only electrotherapy will serve!"
Ren Yuanhao rolled over, feeling a sudden electric numbness course through his body.
"What the hell? You actually electrocute me if we disagree!"
"Can't be helped. Who asked you to be so awesome now that you can't be ordered around? Punishments are the only way when we disagree."
Ren Yuanhao checked the time and rolled his eyes. "Hey, hey, hey, System Sister, it's only six in the morning. What kind of crazy person needs my comfort this early?"
"Lots and lots of 'crazy people,' here they come."
As the system spoke, Ren Yuanhao suddenly leaped from his two-meter-wide bed, nervously watching the lock on his door turn!
Is someone trying to rob him?
As he thought this, more than a dozen beautiful, dazzling women swarmed in, losing all semblance of reserve and throwing themselves into Ren Yuanhao's embrace.
"Hey, my bed, the bed! Shen Lan Ni, Ye Lan, Ji Fu...!!!"
"Happy Birthday!"
...
Grand Finale (The End)