Chương 278: Come at me together

These two were each a famous genius in their own rights. Huang Fang Hao, the unparalleled leader of the younger generation. He was the undisputed strongest of them all, and the strongest to appear in the last few hundred years. Long Feng, the black hoarse with a low cultivation but a ridiculous combat power. He had steadily defeated five overlords in total, placing him in fourth place. He was also said to be the best talent in the last few hundred years. The two of them were finally crashing.

Long Feng stood several feet away from Huang Fang Hao and assessed him gravely.

"His confidence is astounding. He can weaken an opponent's will just by standing there!" He thought grimly. Huang Fang Hao was just standing there, yet he brought upon Long Feng a pressure that he had never sensed before from a junior of the younger generation like him. He held his origin spirit sword tightly and prepared to move, watching Huang Fang Hao's every move. He didn't wish to take the initiative now. That would leave him open to Huang Fang Hao's counter attack.

He would rather let Huang Fang Hao attack first before defending and making his counterattack. Huang Fang Hao soon got tired of the pointless wait. His golden spear appeared in his grasp and his hair began to sway in an invisible wind. He used the exact move he used against everyone; a simple, slow thrust of his spear. And it was then that Long Feng finally understood what the others felt when they were in his position. The pressure was unlike anything a junior had ever given him.

A blazing confidence, Piercing spear energy that was infinitely close to becoming an Intent, as well as the ridiculous cultivation behind it all gathered into a simple looking spear light that streaked towards him. Long Feng's pupils shrank as his instincts told him that he couldn't block this spear. He couldn't even dodge out of the way. He should admit defeat… he had already lost. Long Feng shook his head, sweating coldly. This was the effect of Huang Fang Hao's extreme confidence.

Even his own will was being affected and he had the urge to just admit defeat.

"Hmph. I have a sword heart. Confidence? I have that as well!" He snorted. The heart of a Swordsman was the most proud, confident and arrogant thing in the world, yet it was also the most principled. In terms of confidence, Long Feng wouldn't lose to anyone. It was unfortunate that he lacked the strength to back his confidence.

"Firmament Sword Art; Earth Firmament strike!" Long Feng didn't hold back, unleashing the mastered Earth Firmament strike. This silent sword strike was profound beyond imagination, drawing the senses of even the envoys into an endless world of sword lights! Although they recovered almost instantly, they were still astounded. Each of them was at least a Dao realm cultivator, yet Long Feng's strike could daze them all for a split second? Long Feng's sword light silently collided against Huang Fang Hao's spear energy.

The sword light resisted for a while before crumbling slowly. The Earth Firmament strike was strong, absolutely peak tier even in the Mainland. But Long Feng didn't have the strength to reveal it's true strength. The stronger he became, the more he wondered what realm the Firmament Sword Saint was, and what realm the demon who killed him was. The Earth Firmament strike soon dispersed completely, but Huang Fang Hao's spear energy had lost most of it's power.

Long Feng was barely able to block it with his full strength, yet he still coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"He blocked one attack!"

"Amazing! This kid really is something else. What was that move he unleashed earlier?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"It must be his trump card. It was quite powerful!"

"These kids are wearing down my old heart. The young will truly surpass us in due time." As the discussions raged on, Huang Fang Hao stared at Long Feng with a deep frown.

"You're that Long Feng?" He asked calmly. Long Feng stared at him coldly and didn't reply.

"You're most impressive. I don't know if it's talent or a fortuitous encounter, but either way, your combat power is shocking even in the Mainland." Huang Fang Hao continued.

"Thanks for the compliment." Long Feng replied, not daring to let his guard down.

"But you're dividing your attention and effort. Haven't anyone ever told you, focusing on a single path is the best way to the peak? Going for two isn't bad as well as long as you know your priorities, but you… you're trying to chew much more than you can swallow." Long Feng stared at Huang Fang Hao in confusion. What was this? How did their fight become a coaching session?

"Triple Cultivating Energy, Body and Soul is a waste of time and effort. The three paths never intersect. Many past warriors have gone down the same path and ended up with nothing to show for it. You will never be able to go far unless you focus on a single path. Not to mention, you still comprehend two Daos as well. If you had focused that effort purely on your sword Dao, then you might've been close to forming your own Intent already." Huang Fang Hao calmly explained.

This came as a huge surprise to everyone watching. They never expected that Huang Fang Hao could speak so much words at once, not to mention advice someone.

"What are you trying to say?" Long Feng asked with a sigh. He already knew what Huang Fang Hao was advising him about, and quite a few others have spoken about the same thing. Even Jin Bao had mentioned something similar.

"Focus on your martial cultivation and sword Dao. You will become much stronger than you are now in a short time. If you were a peak spirit realm warrior, then the outcome of our battle would have been completely different." Huang Fang Hao honestly revealed without a change in his expression. Long Feng stared at him and began to think that Huang Fang Hao wasn't that bad actually. He was just a tad bit too arrogant, but that wasn't an offense.

"And don't think I'm saying this because I want to help you or anything. It's just… we're all from the continent zone, and you haven't seen the true horror of the Mainland's geniuses. A talent of your caliber shouldn't be left to go down the wrong path. Also, I wish to have a worthy opponent from the continent zone." Huang Fang Hao added. His tone was bland, and everyone could hear his words. It was obvious that he was still indifferent to everyone else. Long Feng smiled faintly and lowered his sword.

"Thank you for your advice. But… someone once told me, that I walk a different path. I don't know what that path is yet, but I am trying to understand it. And I also won't abandon my path. It is my choice and I will have no regrets."

"So you won't discard the other paths?" Huang Fang Hao asked. Long Feng nodded decisively. Wu Kong hadn't mentioned anything about his body tempering, and he was the one who helped Long Feng to cultivate his soul, so in theory, he must have wanted Long Feng to go down this path exactly. But Huang Fang Hao didn't seem offended. On the contrary, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Very well, Long Feng. Let's fight again in the Mainland. I hope you figure out your path then, otherwise you won't be my opponent again even then." Long Feng nodded and slowly returned his sword to it's sheath. Then he turned around and left the stage, admitting his loss. He was aware that he couldn't block a second attack from Huang Fang Hao, not unless he used the Heaven Firmament strike. And he wasn't willing to do that.

The Heaven Firmament strike was his true trump card that he needed to keep hidden for dire situations. Also, he has barely understood a portion of it. There was a chance that he would fail to unleash it and instead cause a rebound force that would injure him. There was no need to continue the fight. He had lost, but the next time they would fight, he wouldn't lose. Huang Fang Hao also left the stage. At this point, Huang Fang Hao was the only genius with a perfect record of wins and not a single loss.

He fought nearly every single genius among the top fifty and won every single fight with a single spear thrust. Lei Jie was the only person who withstood the first attack and was defeated by the second one. Long Feng had also blocked the first strike, but he didn't go ahead, instead opting to concede. Later on, Long Feng was set up against Lei Jie. The battle was fierce, but Long Feng was suppressed throughout the fight. After ten moves, he conceded. But this time, he didn't use the Firmament Sword Art.

The ranking of the top fifty was slowly being decided. Li Yue'er's strength was ranked among the top, as she could last a few moves even against a weaker overlord. At the end, the top ten were Huang Fang Hao, Lei Jie, Dong Fang, Long Feng, Mei Ling, Ping Ran, Jin Bao, Huang Shi, Wang Qiang and a rank two Imperial realm genius from the Desolate Continent. This meant that the Desolate Continent alone had three geniuses In the top ten. At twelfth place was Li Yue'er.

Her performance and strength was nothing short of extraordinary. This was the first time in several hundred continent meetings that geniuses from a low ranked continent had made it into the top twenty. From this moment, no one would dare to underestimate the Yihua continent. It was likely that in a few years, a new high ranked continent would be born.

"The ten of you will move on to the seventh level, the final battle stage. Your final ranking battles will be decided there!" The man floating above them all spoke, his gaze directed to the top ten geniuses. They were given an hour to rest before they proceeded. And coincidentally, Huang Fang Hao happened to be the first person on the stage. And his opponent was Huang Shi, the overlord genius from his continent. Both of them came from the Desolate Overlord Continent and they were set to face each other.

But then there was a twist. Huang Fang Hao stared at Huang Shi then moved his gaze to the other eight geniuses outside the stage.

"All of this is pointless. None of you can face me alone. Come at me together!" His words caused the entire area to fall into a minute of deep silence. He was asking all nine geniuses to fight him together? Eight overlords and one Rank two Imperial realm genius, against one person? Wasn't Huang Fang Hao being too arrogant? Not to mention, this was a huge disgrace to the nine geniuses. They were all proud talents of the continent zone, each with their own pride.

To be looked down upon to such an extent, even Long Feng's slightly good impression of Huang Fang Hao shattered immediately.

"What did you say?" Lei Jie stared at Huang Fang Hao with a freezing gaze and asked. Huang Fang Hao raised his index finger and pointed at all nine geniuses, "All of you, come at me together. If you can defeat me, I will forfeit the first place and take the tenth place." He repeated. Lei Jie's face immediately turned exceedingly dark.

"Huang Fang Hao! Don't push us too far!"

"You've let your arrogance get to your head! Face all nine of us together? What a joke." Dong Fang sneered mockingly.

"Brother Huang, Although you're good looking, Ling'er doesn't like your arrogance" Mei Ling also spoke softly, her forever present smile on her face.

"Enough bullshit. There is no pride to uphold without strength. If you are angry, then come at me together and defeat me." Huang Fang Hao snorted. At this point, even Huang Shi had an ugly expression. They were both from the Desolate Continent, yet Huang Fang Hao was showing absolutely no mercy and looked down on even him. It was hard to stay calm in this situation.

"I'm afraid you don't have the right to change the rules of the continent meeting yet" Dong Fang replied with a dark grin. The man floating in the sky already had a frown on his face. It was a bit of a loss of face for Huang Fang Hao to disregard the rules he set while on their continent. But before he could speak, someone laughed loudly with a deep voice that seemed to resound across the entire Thunder Sky Continent.

"Hm, the kid is right. One on one battles are already pointless, and not thrilling. Let's go with his idea." Looking up at the speaker, the man's expression changed to pure respect and he swallowed his own words, not daring to speak. That was because the person who spoke was the golden robed envoy, one of the three 'honored' envoys. Huang Fang Hao turned to the nine geniuses again.

"So, do you dare to fight?"