tidy up the overturned desks, chairs, and scattered playing cards.The Lu sisters, who were worshipped campus-wide as "campus beauties," actually acted like maids for Hao Ren, tidying his roomActually...Chapter 691: The Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements

The Black Dragon Spike hadn't approached Taiyi Cave Lord's body, but the surging killing intent had already roared over!

In the distant west, a shadow appeared on the horizon.

Throwing a four-edged sword that was half a meter long from several thousand meters away, what kind of strength did it possess

Taiyi Cave Lord's outstretched right hand quickly retracted; white light rose in his palm and struck this odd long spike!

Shh!

The Black Dragon Spike directly pierced through Taiyi Cave Lord’s palm, creating a four-cornered hole.

The thick killing intent made Taiyi Cave Lord's entire body feel a chill!

"For bullying my nephew-in-law, you deserve to die!" A powerful voice echoed from the horizon.

This voice carried surging spiritual energy; ordinary students in front of the library couldn't hear it but faintly heard rolling thunder.

“Third Uncle!”

Hao Ren, who was in excruciating pain and whose internal spirit energy was burning, looked towards the horizon with surprise.

He saw the shadow instantly turn into a human figure, then blink away to Hao Ren's vicinity!

Dressed in tattered clothes with messy hair piled up like a beggar’s, Zhao Kuo now exuded an imposing and powerful aura despite his disheveled appearance.

He gently raised his hand; the Black Dragon Spike that had already flown out returned to his palm.

"You…" Taiyi Cave Lord hadn't expected someone like Zhao Kuo to emerge, glaring at him with hatred. He swung both hands and eight swimming dragons charged toward Zhao Kuo!

Taolong Scripture was the highest level technique of the Golden Dragon lineage; it was said that the Golden Dragon cultivator who ascended hundreds of years ago had practiced this set of techniques, hence the original name was changed to Taolong Scripture.

Over a hundred years ago, Taiyi Cave Lord reached the peak of Heaven Rank and switched to practicing Taolong Scripture. After several centuries, he cultivated it to the Ninth Level, able to release eight swimming dragons, displaying tremendous power. Other Heaven Rank Peak cultivators within the Elders' Assembly would give him some leeway.

He had just used Taolong Scripture against Hao Ren and feared killing Hao Ren without finding Xiushui Sword Technique; he only utilized part of his strength then, but now...

The eight swimming dragons were unleashed at their strongest!

"Anyone obstructing me from searching for the Xiushui Sword Technique will be killed!"

“Third Brother!”

Zhao Guang by the library entrance was surprised to see Zhao Kuo suddenly appear and shouted out.

Zhao Kuo had once said that he wouldn't return until reaching Heaven Rank Peak; could it be... Zhao Kuo has already reached Heaven Rank Peak

"Get lost!"

With a swelling chest, Zhao Kuo angrily roared.

He continuously swung his fists, employing the basic boxing techniques of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace!

The eight dragons gradually approached him and were successively sent flying by him!

All those dragon cultivators outside the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace were utterly stunned.

They had heard about Third Lord’s valorous fearlessness but never imagined that he would fight off eight dragons with just his fists!

The Heavenly Dragon Scripture was a supreme technique cultivated by the ancient grand cultivator who ascended to become a celestial dragon. To condense one qi into eight dragons, the difficulty and power were unimaginable.

This peak Qian-rank golden dragon cultivator had already honed this set of techniques to perfection. Those eight roaming dragons could not even be withstood by a peak Qian-rank cultivator. Yet, Third Lord of Eastern Sea Dragon Palace was fighting off these mountain-destroying sea-crushing roaming dragons bare-handed!

Hao Ren lay sideways on the golden treasure ship as his innate spiritual energy diligently mended the wounds inside him. He carefully observed Zhao Kuo and noticed that he wasn’t truly bare-handed—there were faintly colored glows circulating around his fists!

The Five Elements Body Forging Technique!

Zhao Kuo had honed the body-forge technique of Fragmenting Sword Shadows to its peak!

Hao Ren’s cultivation method used heavenly thunder to temper his body, stimulating his meridians from inside out and leaning towards inner power methods; while Zhao Kuo’s cultivation method was the Five Elements Body Forging Technique, which strengthened him from outside in—leaning more toward external martial arts, fitting perfectly with his aggressive path!

Currently, Zhao Kuo could almost fight an eighth-stage demon beast bare-handed! His entire body was akin to steel and iron, even magical treasures couldn’t budge it!

Especially when he channeled the Five Elements spiritual energy into his arms, they became more powerful than magical treasures!

With a whooshing sound, he turned his thick arm around. His left palm struck to his right and vice versa, like two windmills, preventing those eight roaming dragons from getting near him.

This scene caused the dragon cultivators outside the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace to be dumbfounded and their hearts raced with excitement!

At this moment, Hao Ren carefully observed and found that Zhao Kuo’s realm was Upper Qian-rank!

An Upper Qian-rank wasn’t a peak Qian-rank yet.

Bang!

Zhao Kuo punched out with one punch, directly causing one of the roaming dragons to veer off course.

Thick and thin sword beams shot out from around his body in thousands! Tens of thousands!

20480 sword beams!

Taichi Cave Lord hurriedly recalled his eight roaming dragons; he hadn’t expected this sudden challenger to be such a tough opponent!

How could he know that Zhao Kuo had broken through and retrained, using the Five Elements Body Forging Technique to desperately strengthen himself in ways akin to how demon beasts cultivate. Plus, during the period of his training in the Demon Sea which even ordinary cultivators dared not enter, even eighth-stage demon beasts were beaten down by him!

If he hadn’t reached a peak Qian-rank realm already, those eighth-stage demon beasts from the Demon Sea would still suffer at Zhao Kuo’s hands! As for those ninth and tenth stage demon beasts, they had received Empress Zhen’s orders not to attack Zhao Kuo.

How could Zhao Kuo who emerged victorious from the Demon Sea be afraid of a peak Qian-rank Taichi Cave Lord

Which eighth-stage demon beast wasn’t equivalent to a peak Qian-rank cultivator

Eight dragons returned to the Taiyi Cave Lord, forming a blazing fiery wheel.

This flame was not ordinary; it wasn’t even the flame of the Fire Dragon Clan. Instead, it was the "Doomsday True Flame" that one obtains by cultivating metal-based techniques to their peak!

It was white and almost transparent!

"Humph..." Zhao Kuo grunted softly. His dark face turned grim as over twenty thousand sword lights pointed toward the Taiyi Cave Lord.

One side represented the Eight Trigrams, while the other side represented the Five Elements.

The Heavenly Dragon Scroll would go head-to-head with the Splitting Light Sword Shadow Technique. Let's see who is more powerful!

The dragon cultivators at the library entrance held their breaths in concentration. The ordinary students looked up to watch the sky, where clouds were swirling and changing unpredictably.

By the lake, Su Han watched the standoff between Zhao Kuo and the Taiyi Cave Lord with great interest. Xiaobai leaned against her thigh, its large watery eyes fixed on the sky, seemingly sensing the tense atmosphere.

Rustle...

The Taiyi Cave Lord struck first. The eight dragons spitting white true flames lunged toward Zhao Kuo together, crossing paths to form sixty-four trigrams and turn into sixty-four dragons!

Shock spread among the dragon cultivators at the library entrance; it was evident that the Taiyi Cave Lord had even greater hidden strength.

"Break through the formation!"

Zhao Kuo's over twenty thousand sword lights, moving front and back in sequence, formed a sword array. This sword array technique was something Zhao Kuo himself developed; it differed from Hao Ren’s sword arrays and was true military tactics!

Gold, wood, water, fire, earth—each element represented five powerful troops.

The Five Elements’ doctrine lay in mutual restraint and interaction. A single move would affect the whole!

In an instant, Zhao Kuo’s sword lights enveloped sixty-four dragons, turning everything dark as night with flying sand and stones.

Students standing on the steps had their umbrellas blown away; dozens of saplings in the campus were snapped off.

This was a battle taking place several thousand meters above ground!

A fierce battle! Sword array vs. dragons!

Both sides used spiritual energy to manipulate physical objects, showcasing profound techniques and battling by pitting their spiritual energies against each other.

The only issue was that Zhao Kuo's realm was merely upper Gan (Heaven), half a step behind the Taiyi Cave Lord!

Bang...

High above, both the Taiyi Cave Lord and Zhao Kuo were forced back several hundred meters.

The Taiyi Cave Lord stared in astonishment at Zhao Kuo opposite him, not expecting the Splitting Light Sword Shadow Technique from the East Sea Dragon Palace to be so formidable!

Zhao Kuo was also taken aback by this old man's unexpected prowess. He had refined the Splitting Light Sword Shadow Technique to this level and still couldn’t defeat him!

Of course, the most shocked were the Dragon Kings and Grand Elders watching. Zhao Kuo from the East Sea seemed to be half a level lower in realm but had managed to draw even with a JIān級 (Heavenly) grade peak Golden Dragon cultivator!True to his reputation as the number one person in the world!It was said that he failed to渡劫 (ascend), and then started over, yet in such a short time, he actually reached the Upper Heavely realm again. This made people wonder if the news about him failing to ascend was fake!But looking at it now, it didn’t seem like a lie either. The previous Zhao Kuo practiced water-based techniques, while this present one’s body radiated with Five Elements spiritual energy—indicating he was practicing all five elements simultaneously!The third brother of the Dragon King and the Dragon Princess’s husband both practiced such profound techniques. Without great perseverance, it would be impossible to reach high realms!If they worked together… even an army wouldn’t stand a chance against them!As they were thinking this, Zhao Kuo in the sky and Taixi Cave Lord began clashing with each other again.After emerging from the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons, Zhao Kuo wanted to test his strength. This was like how the Golden Light Shield had upgraded, he needed something to gauge his power!Zhao Kuo and Taixi Cave Lord had already retracted their external spiritual energy, clashing with fists and feet in mid-air.Taixi Cave Lord wore a gray vest with several holes but it didn’t interfere with this type of attire. His stiff white hair was cut into a slicked-back style, his eyes gleaming as he moved deftly.Zhao Kuo followed the path of sheer force, his fists and feet even more powerful.Bang!Both landed on the grand square in front of the library, causing students on the steps to be knocked over by the impact.Blurred legs and arms made it hard for the Dragon Clan cultivators above to distinguish who was who. All they saw were two figures moving and leaving streaks of afterimages behind.Taixi Cave Lord’s techniques were formidable, his fists and feet were not weak either! Furthermore, every strike contained intense spiritual energy!Zhao Kuo wanted to beat the master with random punches, but it wasn’t that simple!The students could only see two tornadoes moving across the grand square, breaking tiles wherever they went.Hao Ren, who had just recovered from his injuries and descended in mid-air, saw them fighting so fast that he couldn’t help even if he wanted to.And with Zhao Kuo’s temper, Hao Ren didn’t need to intervene now!Impressive…The Dragon Clan cultivators standing on the small square by the library all silently praised him in their hearts.The Golden Dragon cultivator was formidable, and so were the ones from the East Sea.Xu Ke stood at the edge of the small square and watched for a while before sneaking back to the dormitory building. Regardless of his master’s situation, he still had to stay at Donghai University for a while longer.Whoosh…As Zhao Kuo was about to deliver a close-range attack on this Golden Dragon old man, Taixi Cave Lord’s palm repeatedly intercepted Zhao Kuo’s fists. Suddenly from the sleeve, another Celestial Treasure flew out!l to the ground.The cafeteria floor was dirty and slippery; these people hadn't even had time to react before they tumbled to the ground, looking extremely disheveled.Boom boom boom...Zhao Jiayin and...