Tenth Wave, Tenth Heaven

Xiao Chen’s breakthrough into the Ninth Heaven of Mortal-Shedding stunned everyone. He had transformed in the crucible of desperation, advancing to a new realm at the boundary of life and death—the most perilous trial a practitioner could face, one that demanded immense courage and unyielding perseverance.

Now, at the same tier as his opponent, Xiao Chen no longer feared Wu Xingfeng. He struck like thunder, his figure faster than lightning, pressing forward with relentless steps. His movements were expansive and unrestrained, no longer hampered or cautious.

Swish! Like a meteor chasing the moon, he closed in instantaneously. Xiao Chen’s fist, blazing with golden light, crashed toward Wu Xingfeng’s chest. Space itself seemed to twist; the image before them blurred. The sheer force of the blow shattered the tiles and broken beams on the ground, sending them skittering with a harsh crackle.

Wu Xingfeng raised his fist to meet the attack. Their fists collided with a metallic clang, brilliant light surging forth. Both men seemed cloaked in a layer of golden radiance, two gods of war locked in fierce combat.

“Break!”

Wu Xingfeng felt his arm go numb, shocked by Xiao Chen’s overwhelming strength and weight. His Five Elements Step was peerless; he could teleport with every stride, vanishing into thin air. Two or three steps later, he had slipped away from Xiao Chen’s oppressive momentum.

His skill was nearly a Dao in itself. Adjusting slightly, Wu Xingfeng stepped on the Five Elements Step, his body flowing like a cloud as he attacked again. He refused to be passive—since emerging into the world, he had always been overwhelmingly dominant, taking the offensive in every battle. He would not show weakness.

The Five Elements Crushing Fist was ferocious in the extreme. He leaped, driving his fist viciously toward Xiao Chen’s chest. A gray, earthy aura spread out—the power of the Earth Element Fist, trying to pierce through Xiao Chen’s breast. At the same time, he bent his right knee and drove it upward toward Xiao Chen’s abdomen.

It looked like gray dust, but it was no ordinary dust—it was the terrible light of earth-force blazing. Fast as a thunderbolt, fist and knee struck simultaneously, sealing off every possible angle of defense.

Xiao Chen turned slightly to the side, catching Wu Xingfeng’s fist with both hands. At the same time, the power he had built up by twisting his waist exploded forth. Like a drawn bowstring recoiling, he clamped his arms around the Earth-Element Fist and slammed his right knee forward in a counterattack.

Clang!

It was as if two divine irons had collided. Xiao Chen’s right knee met Wu Xingfeng’s left knee squarely. The gray earthen aura and the golden light both shattered, scattering like flowing brilliance falling through the air.

The exchange was lightning-fast. Both men retreated slightly, then Xiao Chen leaped, rising two meters high. As he descended, he twisted his waist and swung his leg, lashing out like a steel whip straight toward Wu Xingfeng’s right temple. The strike was so ruthless it made one’s heart race—if it connected, forget mortal flesh; even a diamond Buddha body would shatter on the spot.

Wu Xingfeng ducked his head, barely evading the blow, then performed an aerial somersault, flipping upside down and kicking at Xiao Chen’s chest and abdomen while the latter was still airborne. Such fierce and vicious attacks were staggering.

Xiao Chen was not afraid. If he unfurled his Undying Wings, he could soar into the sky with ease. But retreat was not his style. He shifted half a meter sideways in midair—refusing to yield a single step—then pressed his legs together like an unstoppable awl, driving them straight at Wu Xingfeng’s inverted form.

Wu Xingfeng was forced to flip backward through the air. All of this happened in an instant; from the moment they engaged to the separation, a blur of afterimages hung in the sky.

Then Xiao Chen stepped on empty air, taking over a dozen strides in the firmament to pursue, his body tilting as he swept toward Wu Xingfeng’s upper body, aiming to sever him in two.

Wu Xingfeng’s anger flared. He was always the one pressuring others, but today the tables had turned. This foe was fiercer and more ruthless than he. He spun around, vaulted high, unwilling to back down, and lashed out with a powerful counter-kick that met Xiao Chen’s sweep.

“Boom!”

A blinding radiance erupted in the sky. The two separated.

“Slay God!”

Xiao Chen was too fast. The moment he landed, he charged again, unleashing the Slay God technique from his Four Killing Hands. Now that he had advanced to the Ninth Heaven, his power was no longer inferior to his opponent’s. He fought with lofty, open strokes, determined to overpower his enemy with pure force, to repay him in kind.

“Metal Fist!”

Wu Xingfeng roared. His black hair stood on end like an inverted waterfall, his eyes blazing with sword-sharp light. His right fist, gleaming with gold, lashed out.

The force of their collision was like an earthquake. The ground cracked. Wu Xingfeng was driven back five steps, while Xiao Chen advanced instead of retreating.

“Reverse Chaos!”

Xiao Chen shouted again, smashing into Wu Xingfeng.

“Wood Fist!”

Wu Xingfeng’s eyes crackled with lightning; his fist burst forth with brilliant green light. Their fists met, and he felt both arms go numb, his body trembling slightly as a surging power tried to invade him.

Startled, Wu Xingfeng retreated again. Xiao Chen pressed his advantage without mercy. “Suppress Demon!”

The punch was fierce and unstoppable, slamming toward Wu Xingfeng’s face. Forced to block, Wu Xingfeng met it with a Water Fist.

Thunder seemed to roll through the air as the two clashed with overwhelming force!

A storm of energy swept in all directions. Wu Xingfeng reeled back, and Xiao Chen followed, giving no quarter.

He hammered out the Four Killing Hands and the Imperishable Seal in rapid succession. He was clearly repaying the earlier “overwhelming assault”—returning the favor in kind.

Each punch was stronger than the last!

Energy exploded continuously. Brilliant light surrounded them, rising and falling like tidal waves.

The onlookers were stunned. The ferocity of the two combatants had already surprised them, but Xiao Chen—who had turned the tide and suppressed the Northern prodigy—was beyond all expectation.

Thunderous impacts rolled on. Xiao Chen struck like lightning, each punch heavier than the one before. By the eighteenth blow, Wu Xingfeng could no longer hold out; blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

“Ah...”

“How can this be?!”

Cries of shock rose from the Southern Wastes elites and Sun Miao’s retinue. The legendary Northern prodigy was losing to Xiao Chen!

Pressing forward relentlessly, his attacks fierce and decisive, Xiao Chen’s hair flew wildly as he fought with magnificent abandon. He gave Wu Xingfeng no chance to dodge, linking every devastating strike into a seamless chain that left Wu Xingfeng with no choice but to parry—unless he was willing to risk his life by taking a terrible blow head-on.

After the thirty-sixth punch, Wu Xingfeng roared, finally collapsing. He was sent flying backward, coughing a mouthful of blood.

“Heh!” Xiao Chen pursued, his movements brutal and direct. He used no technical tricks—only the crushing momentum that enveloped Wu Xingfeng, forcing him to meet the onslaught, refusing to let him escape.

He hammered out nine more punches in succession. Wu Xingfeng coughed blood continuously. Xiao Chen felt a fierce, unbridled satisfaction. The renowned Northern prodigy, vomiting blood before him—the earlier humiliation was avenged, returned in kind.

In that moment, everyone’s expression changed. Their gazes held different meanings, but Xiao Chen’s overwhelming power was seared into their minds.

“Boom!”

Another punch sent Wu Xingfeng flying!

A trail of blood scattered in the air. Wu Xingfeng’s body crashed through several palace halls.

Xiao Chen shot into the sky, then dove down, attacking with overwhelming force. One punch drove Wu Xingfeng into the ground, half his body buried in the earth.

Then seven more blows. The earth split open. Wu Xingfeng was hammered underground, and a long jet of blood sprayed upward.

Everyone stared in shock. Was the Northern prodigy truly defeated this way? The end of a legend? Had this legendary young hero fallen?

Wu Xingfeng’s reputation was immense. The crowd found it hard to believe that the undefeated Northern prodigy had been driven into the earth, beaten until he vomited blood...

“You forced me to do this!” A frigid voice rose from the cracked earth. Wu Xingfeng, like a wounded beast, let out a furious roar. The ground split apart. Covered in blood, he burst out of the surface.

“I cannot achieve Five Elements Unity, but I can barely manage Dual Element Unity. You will pay for this!” Wu Xingfeng had lost all composure. He spread his arms—Water Fist on the left, Fire Fist on the right. Water and fire, united in one body, crashed out furiously.

Wind and thunder shook heaven and earth. Ten thousand waves of terror!

A water-blue radiance and a roaring blaze blanketed the sky, all cascading toward Xiao Chen.

Swish! Xiao Chen unfurled his Undying Wings and soared into the sky, a cold smile on his lips. “Even if you achieved true Five Elements Unity, so what?”

With his Undying Wings spread, Xiao Chen flew against the current, charging straight for the eye of the storm. He drove the Suppress Demon and Collapse strikes into Wu Xingfeng’s water-fire co-origin.

Everyone was stunned. This Xiao Chen was far too dominant—he was directly challenging the legendary combined force of the Five Elements! Though it was only a dual-element fusion, its power was still terrifying beyond compare. Wu Xingfeng had never wielded it smoothly, but it continued to unleash his potential. It was said that one of his deadly rivals had fallen to this very technique, and no one had seen him use it since.

“Water and Fire: Birth and Death Heaven!”

From the eye of the storm came Wu Xingfeng’s cry. Water and Fire fists collided. Xiao Chen and Wu Xingfeng both shuddered violently, their bodies trembling.

“Nothing more than this!” Xiao Chen’s words had barely left his lips when his expression changed. He realized that what he had just broken was only the first layer of power. A second wave was already surging toward him.

At the same time, beneath Wu Xingfeng’s feet in the storm’s eye, water and fire energies coiled, forming blue and red light that lifted him into the air.

The second tide of energy crashed in!

Xiao Chen’s eyes were sharp. He punched out with all his strength, shattering the second wave.

But Wu Xingfeng, borne aloft by the two elemental forces, rose higher into the sky. His crossed hands exploded with a third layer of power.

Xiao Chen roared. The Slay God and Suppress Demon forms struck simultaneously. His hands vibrated, two different forces twisting in a spiral, driving into the third energy wave.

A sound of shattering—the wave collapsed.

But the third wave was not the end; it was only the beginning. Wu Xingfeng’s entire body gleamed with the light of the five elements, as if the God of War of the Five Elements had awakened, his battle intent piercing the sky. His hands crossed again, and a fourth wave erupted.

Clearly, each wave was stronger than the last!

Yet Wu Xingfeng paid a terrible price for this. He was coughing blood copiously, showing that his condition was dire. This water-fire fusion was beyond his current ability to fully control. Had he not been pushed to the brink of life and death, he would never have used it recklessly.

Injuring the enemy meant injuring himself!

Xiao Chen’s expression finally turned grave. He had no idea how many more waves were coming. He had to fight with everything he had.

On the ground, the crowd was astonished. Wu Xingfeng could actually fly! They had never heard of this before. If not for the powerful variable of Xiao Chen in the Southern Wastes, forcing Wu Xingfeng to unleash his ultimate technique, no one would have known he possessed such power!

The fourth wave arrived. Standing within the energy tide, Xiao Chen struck with Reverse Chaos in his left hand and Suppress Demon in his right, breaking the wave again.

A fierce exchange—the battle of earth had become a battle of the skies!

The two figures rose higher and higher, clashing again and again.

Fifth wave, sixth wave, seventh wave, eighth...

Wu Xingfeng coughed great mouthfuls of blood. Xiao Chen, too, was coughing blood. This Wu Xingfeng was utterly mad—he had already unleashed eight massive waves and showed no sign of stopping.

When the ninth wave crashed down, Xiao Chen felt on the verge of breaking apart. If he had not advanced to the Ninth Heaven, he would have been crushed long ago. This Wu Xingfeng was terrifyingly formidable! Among his peers, he was nearly invincible!

Savage!

Xiao Chen was drenched in blood. The overwhelming pressure forced blood from his skin; he had become a blood man. Finally, he withstood the ninth wave.

Nine was the ultimate number, but the calm he had hoped for did not come. A tenth wave rolled in! Xiao Chen was nearly mad. He could not retreat; he could not retreat. Unleashing every ounce of his power, he exploded forth.

He held against the tenth wave!

Coughing up blood, Xiao Chen was severely injured.

Of course, Wu Xingfeng paid an even greater price. He had been spitting blood from start to finish. Forcibly executing the forbidden water-fire fusion had caused terrible damage to his body.

The eleventh wave was detonating!

Xiao Chen was exhausted. He sensed a keen danger. This was enough to drive anyone to the edge of collapse. Wu Xingfeng was trading his life—a mutual destruction tactic.

Yet he had to admire him. Such a vast and terrible assault, wave after wave, had reached the eleventh.

The great Dao was formless. The mark of the Dao flowed through Xiao Chen’s heart like a gentle stream. His violent movements gradually steadied. His hands traced graceful trajectories. In this most dangerous moment, Xiao Chen sank his mind and body into an ethereal emptiness, revealing a stance completely different from before—no longer wild, no longer furious. His body seemed like drifting clouds, like the brushing wind—light and transcendent.

But in the final strike, the energy his hands sent forth was still savage beyond compare!

Shatter!

The eleventh energy wave shattered!

At the same time, Wu Xingfeng nearly collapsed. Horrifying wounds appeared on his body. He could no longer control his power; the backlash consumed him. Everything fell still. He stood high in the sky, facing Xiao Chen, and said with a faint sigh, “They say the Southern Wastes holds many wonders. Though it is a wild land, its practitioners are no weaker than those of the North!”

The crowd below gazed up. The two young geniuses were far above, too distant to hear their words, but they sensed that the battle was over.

“When I entered the Southern Wastes, a young master from these lands blocked our path. I fought him to a draw; we were both severely wounded.”

Xiao Chen was astonished. “Who was that?” A Ninth Heaven youth had intercepted the Prince of Rites’ party and fought Wu Xingfeng—what a madman!

“I do not know,” Wu Xingfeng shook his head. “Since I emerged into the world, I have never tasted defeat. But after entering the Southern Wastes, in just ten days, I have one draw and one loss. It is unbearable.” He stared fixedly at Xiao Chen. “If I had not been heavily wounded, suppressing my strength in the beginning, afraid to fight at full power, this defeat would never have occurred. I would not have lost!”

Xiao Chen finally understood why he had been able to barely hold out against Wu Xingfeng when he was at the Eighth Heaven. His opponent had been seriously injured all along. If Wu Xingfeng had not been suppressing his wounds and had shown his Ninth Heaven power from the start, Xiao Chen would never have had the chance to break through.

“Even if I were at my peak and you had advanced to the Ninth Heaven, I would not have lost. You would never have been my match!” Wu Xingfeng’s voice was bitter.

Xiao Chen shook his head at Wu Xingfeng. “I would not have lost either.”

In that moment, Wu Xingfeng could hold on no longer. After speaking his final words, he toppled backward from the sky.

Before Xiao Chen could act, a flash of green light shot up from the ground, and an old man caught Wu Xingfeng, retreating swiftly.

The onlookers knew the battle was over. Xiao Chen had won.

Everyone was stunned. The legendary undefeated Wu Xingfeng had been defeated by Xiao Chen, a young man of the Southern Wastes.

Zhuge Ming, Li Feng, Yan Qingcheng, Hai Yunxue, Kanasi—their expressions were complex beyond words. They had witnessed everything, their hearts a turmoil.

Especially the young ladies of the Southern Wastes. Every maiden had a hero in her heart. Wu Xingfeng, who had shaken the North and South since his youth, was the most legendary young genius. Inevitably, he had left his mark on their hearts. But today, that hero had fallen before their eyes.