Chapter 289 – The Real and False Wu Chao, Don’t Come Here Ahhh!!

This voice, along with the sudden appearance of this wave of energy, caught everyone off guard.

Including Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan had been climbing the Ascend the Heavenly Ladder, “reviewing” one by one the Grandmaster Imprints etched on it.

To him, most of these imprints seemed mundane, with only a few bringing him a bit of surprise.

Nevertheless, they were all Grandmaster-level martial arts. Regardless of their quality, they were at least sufficiently mature and refined.

They could be used as resources to fill out his martial arts system.

He nonchalantly “reviewed” all the Grandmaster Imprints on the stone steps.

Even those traces left as empty shells by the passage of time were not overlooked.

He quickly absorbed and digested the essence within these martial arts imprints, integrating it into himself.

The transformation within his body seemed to accelerate significantly, already nearing completion.

At this moment, the blood sphere in Lu Yuan’s chest had completely stabilized.

This blood sphere connected every corner of Lu Yuan’s body, interlinked by numerous bloodlines, forming a circular flow, looping endlessly.

With just a thought, the blood sphere would release an unparalleled surge of blood energy, transmitting the full strength of his body to any part.

It was as miraculous as the moon triggering the rise and fall of tides.

Unknowingly, Lu Yuan had reached the last step of the Ascend the Heavenly Ladder, considering whether to leave his own Grandmaster Imprint on this step.

Then…

That wave of evil energy suddenly appeared.

Lu Yuan looked up and saw a figure emerging near the secret realm entrance of the Hutian secret realm, just a stone’s throw away.

This was a three-meter-tall man, whose appearance seemed impossibly perfect.

He was shrouded in a hazy radiant glow, his handsome features bearing a five to six-point resemblance to the deceased Lord of Heaven, Wu Chao.

But he was very young, seemingly only in his twenties.

He had a pair of large, colorful butterfly wings on his back, his body covered in golden scales, and two delicate antlers on his forehead.

His feet hovered above the ground, standing at the entrance of the Hutian secret realm, surrounded by countless dazzling streams of multi-colored light.

He looked like those legendary mythical creatures, exuding an aura of immense power, splendor, and nobility.

The handsome man looked down at Lu Yuan from above, a disdainful and indifferent glint flashing in his golden eyes. He coldly spoke, “Was it you who killed Wu Chao?”

“Uh…”

Lu Yuan was stunned.

What on earth is this?

Penglai boasts of being a pure martial artist’s sanctuary. How could this non-human being with evil energy waves emerge from the Hutian secret realm?

And he looks so much like Wu Chao. Could he be Wu Chao’s son, born from some evil deity sect’s Saintess?

“Who are you?” Lu Yuan instinctively questioned.

The handsome man, resembling a mythical creature, sneered and said, “Who am I? I am the real Lord of Heaven, Wu Chao! The one who just died was the False Wu Chao, worthless Wu Chao… He was the watchdog I specifically stationed outside of the Hutian secret realm. You dare kill my guard… You deserve to die!”

After saying this, a murderous intent exploded on the handsome man’s face. His figure blurred and twisted within a dissipating multicolored glow.

Then, he abruptly vanished, reappearing instantly close to Lu Yuan as if teleporting.

“Die!”

The huge butterfly wings behind the handsome man flapped rapidly, letting out a sharp cry. His right hand, covered in golden scales, suddenly expanded.

His palm transformed into something resembling a monster’s claw, with five sharp fingers, enveloped in a massive swirling of multicolored energy, clawing toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan casually lifted his arm to block.

With a tremendous “boom,” the terrifying strength erupted.

Lu Yuan’s body flew backward, lightly landing on the platform below the Ascend the Heavenly Ladder.

He looked down at his arm, which had just been used to block, seeing three deep white claw marks, which disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yuan raised his head, frowning at the handsome man above, his eyes full of confusion.

At this moment, not only Lu Yuan but also the surrounding onlookers were bewildered.

Wu Chao?!

The real Lord of Heaven?

Wasn’t Wu Chao already dead?

How did another one appear?

And with such evil energy waves, since when did Penglai associate with the evil deity sect?

Meanwhile, several Protectors from the evil martial alliance stared fixedly at the radiant handsome man for a long time, their eyes flickering incessantly with light.

It seemed as if they had guessed something but couldn’t be sure.

“You dare to evade when I grant you death?”

Over at this confrontation, the handsome man, after his initial attack missed Lu Yuan, had a twisted expression.

His handsome face slightly distorted, he angrily shouted and launched another attack.

The enormous butterfly wings on his back flapped rapidly, transforming him into a multicolored stream of light, tearing through the air as he dived swiftly towards Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan squinted his eyes. At the moment that multicolored light streaked towards him, he formed a bridge-like shape with his hands, silently pressing downwards.

“Heavenly Palace Style Martial Arts Second Form-Building Rainbow Bridge!”

The blood sphere at his chest rotated, an unprecedented and overwhelming force surged out of his body.

In an instant, it crushed and collapsed the small space in front of Lu Yuan, skillfully intercepting the multicolored light.

“Boom!”

The ground beneath Lu Yuan’s feet directly exploded, collapsing with a rumble, sending rocks rolling everywhere.

The already ruined Supreme Platform crumbled entirely, revealing a massive pit at its center, where the handsome man with butterfly wings lay sprawled inside.

“Swoosh-“

Lu Yuan, as light as a feather, gently landed atop a fragment of stone, looking down at the handsome man in the pit, and said indifferently, “You’re much weaker than the Wu Chao just now.”

“Shut up!”

This sentence provoked the handsome man greatly.

His voice, distorted by rage, grew shrill.

He quickly sprang out of the pit, charging straight at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan remained expressionless, casually pressing down with one palm.

“Heavenly Palace Style Martial Arts Third Form-Raise the Immortal Pavilion!”

“Boom!”

The handsome man was swatted down like a flying insect with a casual palm strike from Lu Yuan, making the pit below even deeper and larger.

But without even a second’s pause, the handsome man attacked again.

“Heavenly Palace Style Martial Arts Fourth Form…”

“Boom!”

“Heavenly Palace Style Martial Arts Fifth Form…”

“Boom!”

Lu Yuan repeatedly sent the opponent flying, his movements casual, as if swatting away a bothersome fly buzzing around.

He was speaking the truth.

This guy who escaped from the Hutian secret realm, full of evil energy, claiming to be the true Wu Chao.

Although stronger than Wu Chao in terms of sheer energy fluctuations, his combat consciousness and skills were vastly inferior to those of Wu Chao.

The difference was like night and day.

Not to mention that Lu Yuan, with the blood sphere now formed at his chest, had achieved an immeasurable degree of power.

Even if the real Lord of Heaven Wu Chao were to revive, Lu Yuan felt confident he could suppress and eliminate him within three moves.

“Has my strength improved this much?”

While suppressing the “False Wu Chao,” Lu Yuan was also gradually becoming familiar with his current strength.

He realized that now, every casual strike he made had a force comparable to his previous third-rank ultimate transformation, where he would exert himself to the utmost with ultimate exertion.

His method of exerting force had become quite unique.

With every move, the blood sphere would spin, causing his vital energy to surge like a tide. Each muscle fiber would vibrate at a high frequency, like a tightly drawn bowstring being plucked.

This allowed him to effortlessly unleash a terrifying boxing power that he couldn’t achieve before, even if he tried his hardest.

“Grandmaster-level exertion technique!”

Lu Yuan’s eyes brightened as a term popped into his head.

This was definitely an advanced exertion technique that went beyond max-level special exertion and ultimate exertion.

Most people couldn’t even imagine such a technique, let alone achieve it.

Yet, despite this horrifying exertion, Lu Yuan found himself perfectly controlling this vast strength.

There was no grand display when he made his moves.

Every strike was as silent as a falling leaf.

But once executed, it was as earth-shattering as a thunderbolt on a clear day.

Until his moves actually landed on the opponent, not a shred of his strength would leak out.

It was as if every pore on his body was tightly sealed.

Guided by the blood sphere in his chest, his whole body formed an endless, self-sustaining small cycle, creating a world unto itself within his body!

Every strike… It was as if he was drawing upon the terrifying force of his own small world to smash his opponent!

“Marvelous!”

Lu Yuan silently hit out with one palm, his Five Viscera resonating, white light flashing.

This light, effortless palm strike landed on the “False Wu Chao’s” face with a thunderous explosion, caving in his entire cheek. Lu Yuan couldn’t help but inwardly praise himself.

“The true Grandmaster Realm is truly wondrous.”

This feeling of creating a small world effortlessly within himself brought Lu Yuan immense joy and fascination.

He had already made up his mind. Once this battle was over, he would take some time to thoroughly reassess his current strength.

He hadn’t even had the chance to look at his newly unlocked professional panel or personal attribute panel yet.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

The “False Wu Chao” with butterfly wings on his back was almost driven mad with rage at this point.

He had no idea how many times Lu Yuan had beaten him in various ways, and the deep pit he was smashed into was nearly level with the ground.

Shrieking, he ascended straight into the sky, unleashing an unparalleled wave of evil energy.

This energy wave was more than ten times stronger than before.

It was akin to a nuclear bomb exploding in mid-air. The seven-colored radiance twisted the surrounding air over a vast area, even eclipsing the light of the sun.

This aura was far more terrifying than when the original Lord of Heaven, Wu Chao, had built up his momentum to the peak and unleashed his “I Rule the Heavenly Palace.”

Everyone on the island turned pale, many trembling violently, some nearly collapsing under the pressure and kneeling on the spot.

“I am the epitome of transcendence and perfection, the supreme mythic life! I am the sovereign born from the power of the gods! I am the eternal, undying sun…”

“You’re sick.”

Lu Yuan interrupted the self-praising “False Wu Chao” who was now entirely engulfed in seven-colored radiance, almost unrecognizable.

Frowning, he added, “And seriously so.”

He was just stating the facts.

He genuinely felt that this “False Wu Chao,” who seemed to have crawled out of some crack in a rock, always gave him the impression of being mentally unsound.

Irritable, easily angered, foolish, arrogant…

Lacking the wisdom and ambition to match his power, relying purely on accumulated energy… a hollow strength.

Even now, in this berserk state, Lu Yuan still felt…

He was still very weak.

“You…”

A voice, cold and distorted with anger, emanated from within the seven-colored radiance.

The False Wu Chao roared at Lu Yuan, almost snarling, “You will face divine punishment! You shall burn to death by the flames of the gods!”

As he finished, his roars turned into ear-piercing sound waves, visibly rippling through the air.

These sound waves, mixed with evil energy waves, scattered the remaining clouds in the sky, toppled large swaths of trees on the island, and sent countless seabirds flying, only to explode into showers of blood mist with loud “bangs.”

Even the martial artists on the distant white square clutched their heads in agony under the assault of the sound waves, with some bleeding from their ears.

Even Lu Yuan was somewhat affected.

The blood sphere within him began rotating more than three times faster than normal.

His Five Viscera radiated brilliantly, and his blood, muscles, and bones all resonated.

Frowning, Lu Yuan hesitated whether he should strike in his current state or directly activate the [Demon] form he attained after advancing to the extraordinary Grandmaster Realm to quickly end the battle.

Suddenly.

The blood sphere in his chest gave a slight tremor, specifically the Hundred-eyed Nether Crow Feather, almost forgotten by Lu Yuan, reacted.

A faint wave emanated from it.

It was like an overlord perched at the top of the food chain, its majesty challenged, slowly opening its eyes on the Throne.

“Buzz-“

This wave extended outward through Lu Yuan’s body.

It quickly reached the core area of the Seven-colored Radiance and evil energy wave explosion.

Then…

The terrifying sonic attack abruptly ceased.

It was replaced by a trembling voice, distorted with fear.

“You… How can you have its aura?!”

“Impossible! It simply can’t exist in this world!”

“Who are you?! What on earth are you?”

“Stay away from me, argh!…”

At the same time, a stream of information flowed from the Hundred-eyed Nether Crow Feather in Lu Yuan’s chest.

Vivid, ancient, fragmented images, like an inherited legacy hidden deep within his bloodline, flickered through his mind.

His eyes lit up rapidly, and his expression grew peculiarly intrigued.

“So… that’s how it is.”

“Interesting.”