When Curo heard this voice, he looked up at the figure that shot out from the crater with a serious gaze. Unsteadily, he rose up and evaluated the sorry figure in the sky. His robes had been torn to tatters, his chest and right hand were covered in blood, here was even blood leaking form the corners of his mouth. However, the look in his eyes…. The look of intense will to fight, to slaughter, to kill. However, there lacked any sort of malice in his eyes.

To Curo, the figure in front of him seemed like a wild animal. Curo gripped the halberd so hard that his knuckles became white. Although he hadn’t expected to kill the person, he had expected for him to end up grievously injured, unable to fight any more. The [Divine Wrath of the Thirteen Nether Dragons] could be considered his strongest move. It was the ultimate, final ability of the [Thirteen Nether Dragon Halberd Sutra] and although he couldn’t exhibit it’s full might due to his lacking cultivation and expertise of the Art, it should have been more than enough to make Meng Zhi retreat.

As Curo stared grimly at the bloodthirsty monster ahead of him, Qing Zhao looked at the situation grimly. He then looked at the pieces of the broken shield thrown around the battlefield and grimaced. He, as a Heavenly Sovereign, knew the best that Meng Zhi would not have been able to endure the blow if it hadn’t been for that shield. He then glanced towards the three Heavenly sovereigns from the Meng Clan and when he saw their faces were ugly, he had a bit of satisfaction on his face.

A Top Grade Artefact was meant for Origin Realm people to use, as they could bring out most of their potential. To a Saint Realm cultivator, a Top Grade Artefact was lacking. They used used Saint Realm Artefacts and Sovereign Realm people usually used Sovereign Artefacts. The difference between these was that, Top Grade Artefacts were not nurtured.

Only when someone enters the Saint or Sovereign Realm can they nurture Artefacts with Saint or Sovereign Energy. By adding on some Heavenly Treasures, they can raise the grade of the Artefacts several fold. Even the weakest of Sovereign Artefacts could smash a Top Grade Defensive Artefact to pieces in one hit. This was was the difference of quality. There were other differences amongst the Sovereign and Saint Artefacts as well, like, the purity of Qi, the attribute and so on. These all played a role in terms of an Artefact Strength.

With one glance, he could see that the shield Meng Zhi had produced had been made from the materials that were essential for an Artefact to ascend to the Saint Grade. Now that it laid in pieces all around, it was obvious that it the Meng Clan had bled heavily.

Ji Long stood in the standings and clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood. He stared at Curo with a proud look. However, at the same time, in his look, there was a tinge of pain. This pain wasn’t because Curo was a monstrous Genius but because of the hardships he would have to face from now on. Ji Long knew he was weak, he wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the Meng Clan, to protect his own son. He could only rely on others to protect his son and it frustrated him.

He had only broken through to the Saint Realm recently, he was nowhere near strong enough to fight against the Sovereigns that the Meng Clan was bound to send out to kill his son. As he stared at his son, standing in the ring with a grim face, toe to toe against the strongest of a Generation, he felt proud. However, he couldn’t feel joy. Jing Fang had told him that once this “exchange of pointers” ended, the Five Academies and the Nine Ancient Clans would go to war. As a Saint Realm cultivator, he was nothing more than cannon fodder in this war.

Just as he stared at his own hands, hint of weakness in his eyes, a voice sounded out next to him, “Your son is strong. You are strong, you should feel proud.” Hearing this, Ji Long looked to his side and saw a blue haired young man looking at the stage with a hint of smile, “Your boy won’t lose. If that was all he had to offer, he could never break the Limits of a Realm.” As the boy gave a mysterious smile to Ji Long, Ji Long’s face suddenly changed to astonishment as he looked towards the Ring. Curo was standing tall, with his back straight and his Qi was rising. From the Qi Spring Stage, it entered Qi Sea Stage, then his aura climbed all the way to the Peak of Palace Building.

Sensing this, Ji Long’s eyes turned wide as a voice sounded out next to him, “Every person has a fate, Seer’s can observe the fate of a person. However, once a Seer can’t observe a person’s fate, it means that even the Heaven’s aren’t qualified to dictate his path.” When Ji Long heard this sentence, he hurriedly looked towards the youth but he was gone. Suddenly, a voice sounded out in his head, “There is some good Karma between me and Curo. I gift this to you, how much you can comprehend will all be up to you.” Suddenly, information entered Ji Long’s head and as he closed his eyes to slowly comprehend it, Curo looked ahead grimly.

His body was swelling with power as it exhibited the strength of a Peak Palace Building Cultivator. Everyone that felt the aura were nearly floored form the shock. “How many more tricks up his sleeve does this brat have?” As this thought wandered in everyone’s head, it was obvious that hey could see that his was a Secret Art. Curo could not withstand the cultivation for long and it was bound to leave some hidden injuries to him. Seeing the rise in Curo’s cultivation, Meng Zhi let out a maniacal laugh again and said, “Good. That’s how it is supposed to be. Now let me taste your blood.” Saying that, he ran his tongue over the scarlet of his blade in excitement.

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He charged forwards and slashed and hacked at Curo with wild. GuanDao Halberd’s excelled in redirecting their opponents moves and using the momentum gained from them to launch counter attacks. While Meng Zhi was attacking, he paid no attention to Curo’s counter attacks. His body soon became filled with one wounds on top of another however, what made Curo more grim was that the person seemed to enjoy it. Every time he cut the person, he would smile brighter as his attacks got fiercer and fiercer. However, it wasn’t as though this battle was without benefits for Curo. The more he fought, the more his body got used to the Cultivation.

He had made quite significant advancements in his body refining during this one month, however, he hadn’t had the time to loosen the seal much. So, all the time he spent cultivating was cultivating his body. The rise in cultivation was something that came along with it. Now, he felt that although his body may not be able to handle the Peak Palace Building Qi inside him, it may be able to handle Mid or Early stage of Palace Building.

However, the more he fought Meng Zhi, the more his body grew accustomed to it. After a while, he was able to exhibit the full prestige of Palace Building and the Ring couldn’t handle it any more and was reduced to rubble. Seeing this turn of events, the three Heavenly Sovereigns of the Meng Clan turned grim. Although they still seemed to go blow for blow, they could see that Curo was growing more and more adjusted to cultivation while Meng Zhi was suffering more injuries. As he suffered more injuries, his speed and ferocity started to slowly decline. It wasn’t obvious but if one observed intently enough, they could make it out. After exchanging countless blows, Curo and Meng Zhi separated for the first time.

They stared at each other and Curo could only look at the person with a complicated gaze. When in the beginning he would use Sword Arts and techniques; the more the fighting dragged on, the less he used them. He would start relying more and more on raw strength and primal instinct. Now, Curo looked towards the Referee with a complicated gaze. The Referee returned the gaze but could only sigh. If this dragged on then Meng Zhi would be either killed or crippled.

If this was a normal exchange, he would have stopped the fight long ago as it was obvious that Meng Zhi could not continue fighting. However, when he looked towards the three Heavenly Sovereigns in the sky, he couldn’t help but sigh even deeper. From the moment Curo stepped on stage, he had become akin to an ornament.

If he stopped the fight now, then those three Heavenly Sovereigns would raise a fuss. He was only a Saint Realm cultivator, he didn’t have the means to quibble with them. So, with a helpless look, he could only take a step back, indicating to Curo that there was nothing he could do.

Seeing this, Curo sighed as well as he took a long look at the person ahead of him. He didn’t have any malice towards the other, he didn’t have the arrogance of the rest of the Meng Clan, neither did he have the overbearingness. From his fighting, and the many scars adorning his body, it was obvious that he was no stranger to Life and Death Battles. He had a certain amount of respect towards the other as it seemed like he was a stranger of the Meng Clan.

Suddenly, Meng Zhi fell to his knees and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Seeing this, Curo didn’t move, neither to attack or help him. Just as he was about to topple over, a voice rang out from one of the Meng Clan’s Heavenly Sovereigns, “Get up you worthless mixed blood.” Hearing this, Curo furrowed his brows as he looked towards Jing Fang. Jing Fang also furrowed his brows as he coldly snorted. Hearing this snort, the three Heavenly Sovereigns looked towards Jing Fang with malice.

Curo then said to the other in a clam voice, “If we continue, you will die.” Hearing this, the entire Arena had a serious expression on. What Curo said wasn’t a death threat but from the injuries of the person it was obvious that he was at his limit. If he stood up to continue fighting, then without Curo even attacking once, he would soon bleed out and die.

Everyone glanced at the Heavenly Sovereigns of the Meng Clan and grimaced. It was obvious that they had no intention of letting him stop. Meng Zhi tired to stand up but buckled down again as he coughed another mouthful of blood. The same Sovereign then barked, “Get up and fight you ingrate. We took you in when your father violated the Clan Laws and had an abomination like you. Get up and fight.” Hearing this, Meng Zhi, grit his teeth and tried to stand up again, seeing this, Curo’s eyes turned cold as he walked up to him and using the blunt end of his Halberd, knocked him out cold.

Without missing a beat, he looked towards the three Heavenly Sovereigns and said coldly, “From today onwards, he is my brother. You Foreigners from outside the Realm can piss off back to your Primordial Ancient Clans.” Hearing this, Jing Fang looked at Curo in surprise, however, he didn’t say anything to stop. him Ji Long had awoken from his trance just to see the finale of the battle. Hearing Curo say that, he didn’t flinch either.

He had seen the determination in the latter’s eyes. There had been no malice in them, just determination to win. The Heavenly Sovereign pointed his finger towards Curo and said, “You-” However, his words were cut off by Jing Fang saying, “You pieces of shit don’t deserve a talent like him. Clan Leader Ji, Young Master has said that he will be his brother, do you accept it?” Everyone’s gazes turned towards Ji Long and Ji Long appeared next to Meng Zhi and Curo.

He nodded at Curo and looked towards the three Heavenly Sovereigns with a smile, “From today onwards, he will be the adopted son of me, Ji Long.”