As one of the largest countries in the world, Zhongzhou State had a vast territory and abundant resources. For hundreds of years since the establishment of the state, rich and powerful families were not rare, although it would be a little exaggerated to say that they could be found everywhere.
But in the dark world, those who could be called rich and influential families and were recognized by all people were only families with experts in the Invincible Realm.
The Liu family was such kind of family previously, which meant the expert in the Invincible Realm in this family had died.
But that didn’t mean the Liu family declined since then.
In fact, although the Liu family in recent years had been less glorious than it was in its heyday, it was still an important part of a certain great force in the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State. The unique skills and Martial Arts of the expert in the Invincible Realm had been pa.s.sed down completely. The Liu family may not look like what it used to, but it had lived through a hard time of losing its invincible expert. Therefore, it would be more flourishing and vigorous than ever.
From Liu Dongchao’s point of view, he really had nothing to worry about, but that was not his life pursuit at all. What he was after was to make everyone fear him.
His biggest dream was to become an invincible expert like his grandfather. He dreamed to lead the Liu family to charge toward the highest point of the power of Zhongzhou State again and really stand among the top of the rich and powerful families in Zhongzhou State.
He neither wanted to become a government official nor to join the army when the international situation was considerably stable to increase his seniority. So he chose the Special Warfare System at last.
He was gifted from an early age and had the inheritance from an invincible expert. Practicing Martial Arts and fighting in the dark world was the best choice for him.
Fortunately for him, he had a sister named Liu Dongyu, who had a common goal with him and was as talented as him.
The brother and sister were on intimate terms and they could cooperate with each other tacitly since childhood. Once they joined hands, they could surpa.s.s an entire realm to defeat opponents that were much more formidable than them.
As thus, not only Liu Dongchao but also the Liu’s saw hope in bringing their family back to its heyday.
So they were both sent to the Sky Academy. In the second year at the academy and when they were less than 25 years old, they had successfully entered the Fire-flaming Realm and established an organization named Flames of War.
Among other organizations created by the students of the last session in the academy, the Flames of War was arguably one of the strongest organizations and also a strong contender for the only one quota that would be awarded each session.
In fact, three months before the students of the last session was about to graduate, Liu Dongchao’s credits ranked the top three and were merely a dozen less than the second place.
But one month before the last maneuver between the two academies before graduation, in order to increase the odds of ultimate success, Liu Dongchao led several elites in the Flames of War to go abroad for a mission that was worth 500 credits.
The mission was completed smoothly, but Liu Dongchao and Liu Dongyu were seriously injured.
In the ensuing joint maneuver, since the siblings were severely injured, they were eliminated from the maneuver halfway. Although they gained credits from the mission, they failed to get any credit from the maneuver.
This was a graduation maneuver from which students could earn the most credits, and the first place would be awarded 2,000 credits. What did that mean?
Liu Dongchao’s advantage on credits turned into a disadvantage instantly. He lost the qualification to compete for the only quota to establish his own force after graduation.
Unquestionably, the siblings would not become resigned to their condition, and the academy lamented their fate. Finally, under the covert activities of the Liu family, the siblings continued to study in school again.
This time, Liu Dongchao was confident. He did not intend to give anyone the slightest chance, neither the seniors nor the freshmen.
Then he encountered the five-man team led by Li Tianlan.
To be honest, he didn’t take the five people seriously.
He had the same att.i.tude toward them even after they had struck down 10 of his teammates.
He could tell that Li Tianlan was very strong and should be at the Peak of the Qi-controlling Realm right now. However, Li Tianlan was able to kill an opponent who had recently entered the Ice-condensing Realm rapidly. He had to admit that Li Tianlan was indeed a talent, but so what? No matter how powerful he was, Li Tianlan was merely an expert in the Qi-controlling Realm. Nonetheless, he himself was an expert in the Fire-flaming Realm. The gap between their strength could never be bridged by potentials.
Except for Li Tianlan, others in this team were in the Ice-condensing Realm and were shockingly talented. Nevertheless, Liu Dongchao had entered the Fire-flaming Realm and his strength had stabilized in this realm. With the aid of his sister Liu Dongyu, it would be as easy as a pie to subdue a few new talents if they attacked with all their strength.
However, he thought he was someone who cherished talents, so he was willing to offer them a chance. As long as they were willing to kneel down to acknowledge allegiance to them and join the Flames of War, he could let bygones be bygones.
After all, talents were rare.
But he did not expect that the few freshmen opposite him would be so ungrateful. They were unwilling to kneel down, instead, they demanded him to get down on his knees.
This was way too absurd!
In Liu Dongchao’s opinion, kissing two beauties and asking all of them to kneel down were just normal things. In the Sky Academy, he had witnessed many beauties who were willing to be men’s s.e.x partners in order to save 10 credits a month for food and drink and also many weak people who were willing to knock their foreheads against the ground until they were bleeding in order to beg for forgiveness from the strong. In the Sky Academy, what the strong concerned about were their prospects and future, while the weak should turn over in their minds how to become strong and survive.
In Liu Dongchao’s eyes, the five people in Li Tianlan’s team were the weak, the ones with the potential to become stronger. So if they were willing to work for him, he was willing to forgive them.
But it was a pity that they chose to refuse his proposal in order to maintain their ridiculous pride and backbone.
In this case, he would like to destroy the capital that made them become strong lest they should become a headache for him in the future.
Furthermore, the brat in front of him had also insulted his family members.
“d.a.m.n you.”
Liu Dongchao took a deep breath to calm himself down. He stared into Li Tianlan’s eyes and said in a cold tone of voice.
“My life is right here. Take it if you have the ability.”
Li Tianlan replied calmly with equal harshness.
“Great.”
Liu Dongchao’s tone of voice sounded increasingly dangerous. Facing the silver spear in Li Tianlan’s hands, his body was completely relaxed but his eyes were focused like never before.
Li Tianlan’s expression became increasingly grave. He was not afraid of a young expert in the Fire-flaming Realm who possessed the inheritance of an expert in the Invincible Realm, but if he did not show some tricks up his sleeve, it would not be so easy for him to win.
Liu Dongchao sneered as he looked at Li Tianlan’s serious expression. He bent the fully relaxed fingers sharply and flicked.
Although his fingers flicked in the air, they seemed to have hit something substantial. A clear sound was heard. Then, a faint but extremely hot flame appeared abruptly between his fingers and quickly spread to his entire palm.
Turning the air into a flame!
This was the sign of the Fire-flaming Realm.
If what experts in the Ice-condensing Realm did was to condense the moisture in the air into solid ice, then what experts in the Fire-flaming Realm did was to instantly evaporate the moisture in the air around them. In extremely dry air, they used strong physical strength and extreme speed to rub the air, kindling a flame in the air.
When the experts in the Fire-flaming Realm fought the ones in the Ice-condensing Realm, the latter ones would suffer a crushing defeat without a doubt. So how could experts in the Qi-controlling Realm fight the experts in the Fire-flaming Realm?
More and more flames appeared in Liu Dongchao’s palm and they grew hotter and hotter. The flames shifted their shapes along with the movements of his fingers and finally turned into a big knife made entirely of fire.
Turning flames into a weapon.
Obviously, he had achieved a more advanced level compared to the experts who had just entered the Fire-flaming Realm. His strength had been completely stabilized in this realm.
Liu Dongchao looked at Li Tianlan with a glint of mockery in his eyes.
However, he saw no sign of fear or panic in Li Tianlan’s eyes. Furthermore, the grave expression had vanished from his eyes and the only thing left was concentration.
Holding the fire knife in hand, Liu Dongchao suddenly looked up.
The ceiling of the maze, which was five to six meters high, came into his sight. And at the very moment, a drop of water was falling down rapidly above Li Tianlan’s head!
Suddenly, the only thing Liu Dongchao saw was this drop of water!
Pure, smooth and round, glittering and translucent.
There was endless horrifying sword intent erupting above Liu Dongchao’s head.
In an instant, the moisture in the extremely dry air in the maze turned into rain!
Ice-condensing Realm!
Although it was also called the Ice-condensing Realm, it was something that Liu Dongchao had never seen in this lifetime. It seemed to have transcended the Ice-condensing Realm, but it could not be counted as the Fire-flaming Realm. Obviously, Li Tianlan had chosen another path that was unknown to all.
“What kind of monster have I provoked?”
Liu Dongchao muttered to himself. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the silver light was shining!
Li Tianlan took the initiative to attack first.
Without meditation, he reached the Ice-condensing Realm from the Qi-controlling Realm. He raised his hand holding the weapon and hit Liu Dongchao downward.
The air shook violently.
As he lifted the spear, the water drops that had not fallen to the ground condensed following the track of the spear. The terrifying sword intent surged in the air and frightened everyone greatly.
“Argh!”
Liu Dongchao roared crazily. In an instant, the fire knife in his hand fell apart and a ma.s.s of flames blazed up and down all around him. A great deal of condensed water dripped drop by drop around the spear, smoothly and cheerfully. Every drop of water was like a sword, sharp, bitingly cold, and fierce.
The spear struck Liu Dongchao along with the water drops with tremendous power!
Liu Dongchao roared hysterically and the flames that appeared on his body grew thicker and thicker. However, the water drops kept falling, and every drop of water could put out a flame. The flames on Liu Dongchao’s body could not break the encirclement of the water drops, but innumerable water drops were falling down.
“Bang!”
The sound of the weapon hitting the flesh was dull and clear.
Liu Dongchao held his hands high as the flames ran wild all over him. With flames danced in his palms, he forcibly resisted Li Tianlan’s blow.
Liu Dongchao’s body shook violently. Li Tianlan’s force and speed were really amazing. The force that he had displayed could never be exerted by an expert in the Ice-condensing Realm. Although Liu Dongchao had fought him with all his strength, he now had a ridiculous feeling that he might be unable to resist his second blow.
A horrible thought came into Liu Dongchao’s mind. He exclaimed with a pale face. “Wind and Thunder Veins! You possess Wind and Thunder Veins!”
Li Tianlan stood firmly in front of Liu Dongchao with one hand holding the spear. As he kept pressing down, the body of the spear trembled slightly with regularity. Countless water drops continued to gather toward Li Tianlan along with the movements of the spear. The spear and Li Tianlan were surrounded by innumerable small water b.a.l.l.s.
“Now get down on your knees and I can pretend that nothing has happened.”
The same sentence and request were heard once again.
Everyone had thought he had overestimated his own capabilities when Li Tianlan said so for the first time.
And now, Liu Dongchao hadn’t been defeated yet. But when others heard Li Tianlan’s words, they sensed a kind of irresistible majesty.
“Eldest brother!”
Liu Dongyu, who had been watching them fight from a distance finally reacted to all this and rushed toward Li Tianlan with a scream.
The freshman in front of her was so weird because his Ice-condensing Realm was something that she had never seen before, and he was also someone who possessed Wind and Thunder Veins once-in-a-century. She felt it was necessary to team up with her brother to fight him.
“Swish, swish, swish!”
Liu Dongyu took one step forward, but the sound of water flowing suddenly rang out around her.
Several ice walls abruptly appeared around her and completely blocked her way forward.
An ice sword, which was made of water, floated around Li Baitian. The sword intent inside the ice walls that trapped Liu Dongyu gradually became distinct.
Li Baitian, who was as thin as a bamboo pole and looked so weak that everybody would ignore him, took one step forward and said in a loud voice, “Weakness Li, the Great Void Sword Master from Mount Shu, would like to learn Liu’s unique skill.”
As his voice trailed off, the ice wall that had trapped Liu Dongyu immediately broke and untold ice swords covered her.
The fire was blazing on Liu Dongyu’s body.
Numerous ice swords vanished in a flash when they met the fire. However, the sharp Sword Energy till flew around Liu Dongyu’s body. A large number of ice swords gradually disappeared as if they had been absorbed into the void.
This was the unique skill of Mount Shu.
The first move of the Great Void Sword, Infinite Void!