Tianming

In the distance, inside the suspended restaurant, the main line of the Zhao family watched silently, their gazes fixed on the chaotic battlefield scattered in the distance.

The leisure plaza had been reduced to a dilapidated mess.

Under the barrage of relentless bombardment, the entire plaza had been transformed into a wasteland of potholes and debris.

The scorched marks left by death rays, the deep craters from exploding shells, and the honeycomb-like holes from bullets all testified to the terror of the battle that had just taken place.

Yet, against Tianming's Li Cheng Yi, even all of this failed to inflict any injury.

His speed wasn't particularly fast, but his defense was terrifying.

The Triple Dragon Realm, after adapting to the Giant Force Imprint, provided an all-round enhancement to his physical strength.

And on top of that, Dragonification, coupled with multiple Flower Scale Armor enhancements, and the proportional increase from the Flower Language Fortress.

At this moment, Li Cheng Yi's Flower Scale Armor alone had already reached the eighth level in terms of strength, combined with the strength of his own flesh and blood body...

A few explosions and punctures that managed to penetrate the Flower Scale Armor felt like mosquito bites to him, not even worth noticing.

Even the high-temperature impacts that could mortally wound an eighth-level Flying Instrumentalist only felt like a gentle breeze against his body after seeping through the Flower Scale Armor.

That was the most terrifying aspect.

Modern technology's limitation on individual strength wasn't the technology itself, but the quality of the wearer.

"What kind of monster is he!?" Zhao Enshi's face was twisted, his eyes revealing disbelief, shock, and fear.

He couldn't imagine that the Zhao family, one of the Nine Great Families, would be repeatedly thwarted when facing an organization that was only a year old.

Even now, two of the family's three eighth-level experts had already died.

Looking at Tianming confronting the family head in the distance, his mind was a jumble of disbelief.

The surrounding young members of the Zhao family were silent, their faces showing much the same expression as his.

"The family head is invincible," Zhao Qianrou suddenly said. Her eyes were calm. "Tianming will eventually be defeated, becoming a fleeting meteor."

Zhao Enshi glanced at her. Even he didn't have much confidence in those words anymore.

But Zhao Qianrou...

"Just watch... The ninth level represents the pinnacle of the nation, the foundation upon which we confront Bai Xing (White Star). It's a power that far surpasses other levels." Zhao Qianrou unconsciously clenched her fists.

"Therefore, the family head will resolve everything!" she said emphatically.

"No," Zhao Enshi shook his head. "You don't understand anything. As it stands, Tianming has already achieved his goal."

"The family head is a ninth-level existence far surpassing the eighth level! He only just showed himself, how could you say I don't understand!?" Zhao Qianrou's voice became shrill, daring to openly contradict Zhao Enshi.

"We are not the only ones with ninth-level experts!" Zhao Enshi suppressed his voice. He could almost guess the outcome that was about to occur.

"But if everyone provokes the Nine Instruments like he does, where is the nation's prestige!?" Zhao Qianrou shouted. "The family head cannot lose!! Impossible!!"

"Shut up!" Zhao Enshi suddenly slapped her.

The main family members were stunned, and Zhao Qianrou was even more dazed with her hair disheveled.

"What the hell do you understand? The situation now is that the royal family can't control Tianming, but they can control us!! Understand!? Do you think the Nine Instruments' strength comes from one person? Achieved by our family alone!?"

Zhao Enshi's face was flushed, his eyebrows twisted.

"Do you know that the family head's Flying Instrument requires three independent nuclear power plants to provide energy!? You know nothing!"

The fate the family was about to face, the possibilities that would arise in the future, made the suppression in his heart even more blocked, and Zhao Qianrou's rebuttal, failing to recognize reality, gave him an outlet for venting.

"The strength Tianming has shown is now enough to reverse everything..." Zhao Enshi looked at the dazed Zhao Qianrou, then turned to look at the two people confronting each other outside.

The family head still looked calm, but he already knew. The ending was already determined.

The higher-ups hadn't spoken yet, simply because they wanted to see what extent Tianming could go to.

At that moment in the arena.

Li Cheng Yi looked up at Zhao Chengxi standing on the building's nameplate.

Zhao Chengxi was also watching him.

Neither of them made a move, but from the moment Li Cheng Yi demonstrated strength surpassing the eighth level, from the moment Zhao Chengxi truly appeared, the Zhao family had already lost.

Both of them understood this.

The ninth level was a national treasure, using it to deal with a single individual within the country was not a normal thing.

"The royal family and the Nine Instruments have voted and agreed to temporarily freeze my ninth-level control over Black Phoenix," Zhao Chengxi said as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself.

"So, there are two minutes left."

He stepped forward, as if there were steps in the sky, stepping out one step at a time, treading in the air, approaching Li Cheng Yi.

"I will grant you eternal silence..."

"I am also looking forward to seeing the complete strength of a true ninth-level expert." Li Cheng Yi's current defensive strength had already surpassed the strength of an eighth-level force field, but he didn't know how it compared to the ninth level.

This was also a suitable opportunity to test the ninth level.

"You will pay a painful price for your stupidity." Zhao Chengxi's emotions calmed down.

"The reason why the ninth level is nine is not just that it is one level stronger than the eighth level. But that it is the limit of the numbers."

"The reason why I am here listening to your nonsense is also to see how strong the ninth level is." Li Cheng Yi retorted, "So..."

Countless golden petals condensed in his hand, forming the slender purplish-black Yinglong Sword.

The Yinglong Sword was summoned by the ultimate form of the Sword Orchid, and it was the most solid blade he currently possessed, so it was perfect for use now.

Even if the cooldown hadn't recovered yet, it was still much harder than an ordinary golden sword.

"If you can make me feel despair and pain... I will be eternally grateful!"

"Heh heh heh..." Zhao Chengxi raised his right hand, and a ball of black flame ignited out of thin air in his palm.

Buzz!!!

A layer of elliptical black force field, centered on him, quickly spread, enlarged, covering everything around it.

In the blink of an eye, the force field expanded to a range of several kilometers, encompassing all the nearby blocks and buildings.

"Let me show you my exclusive radiation protection force field," Zhao Chengxi gently put down his hand, letting the black flame float in the air and burn on its own.

"Black Flame Abyss."

He murmured in a low voice.

Boom!!

Countless black flames transformed into black lotus flowers, blooming out of thin air in the air beside him.

Above his head, a massive number of black fire lotuses converged into a terrifying giant bird, hundreds of meters long, spreading its wings and hovering.

The giant bird's eyes lit up with red light, staring down at Li Cheng Yi.

Buzz!!

Layers of terrifying gravity loaded onto Li Cheng Yi's body.

The pressure of more than a hundred tons made his movements and even raising his hand sluggish.

As the red gaze focused.

The temperature around Li Cheng Yi also soared rapidly.

One hundred degrees, three hundred degrees, six hundred degrees!

In the blink of an eye, it crossed a thousand degrees, rising toward two thousand degrees.

The high heat brought a strong heat dissipation load. If it was a true modular cyborg or a Flying Instrumentalist, they would be facing a huge heat dissipation burden.

Fighting Black Phoenix in this environment, before even making a move, would already be a loss.

"This is my protective force field - Black Flame Abyss," Zhao Chengxi introduced calmly.

"It comes with a slight weakening of the opponent's power, I hope you can adapt."

"Where is your Flying Instrument?" Li Cheng Yi asked in a deep voice.

This had a very small effect on him, but if this was just the other side's protective force field...

He looked around.

Within a radius of thousands of meters, all the buildings in the force field were unharmed, only he was surrounded by high heat and pressure.

This clearly showed the other side's super precise control ability.

"Haven't you already seen my Flying Instrument?" Zhao Chengxi raised his head slightly, looking at the giant black flame firebird hovering above.

"Black Phoenix Spiral Blade's flight mode is mainly based on space jumps within fifty kilometers."

"Its own temperature is as high as 1.5 million degrees. It's just that the temperature is not released to the outside under the constraint of the force field.

"And the moment it touches you, you will be dissolved, vaporized..."

"So..." Zhao Chengxi looked at Li Cheng Yi. "Coming here, everything should end."

He calculated the passage of time, a glimmer of inexplicable color flashed in his eyes.

"In an instant."

"You will turn into black smoke and disappear."

"1.5 million degrees..."

Li Cheng Yi licked his lips, staring at the huge black bird in the sky.

He didn't know if his body could withstand such a terrifying high temperature.

But... he was very clear.

He was now less than thirty meters away from Zhao Chengxi.

As long as he used Shadow Flash...

The Hand of Obsession could control the other party to reveal a fatal flaw.

"Is time almost up? Then why aren't you making a move?"

He cracked his mouth, revealing a smile.

The high temperature of 1.5 million degrees, coupled with the instantaneous space jump, he might not be able to withstand it.

But if he used Shadow Flash, a Hand of Obsession superimposed with Tianming's absolutely sure-hit blade, drawing on all attacks to borrow force and swing it out, Zhao Chengxi would also most likely die.

He could see a hint of clues on Zhao Chengxi's face.

Both of them, at this moment, felt a deadly threat.

Too close...

Zhao Chengxi was unsure whether his protective force field, Black Flame Abyss, could block the sword that drew on everything just now.

Only by truly facing Tianming could one understand this guy's weirdness.

He originally thought that his ninth-level force field could definitely ignore the other party and block any danger.

But...

The two-minute freezing time was about to end.

Zhao Chengxi took a deep breath.

"First Harmonic Resonance." (Yi Chong Xie Lü)

The Black Phoenix above his head trembled slightly, and countless silver light spots lit up on its pitch-black flames.

Li Cheng Yi also gripped the Yinglong Sword tightly.

Countless Gentle Energy gathered, condensing on his arm in a double burst.

At the same time, streams of gray death energy finally emerged from his body.

The concentration of death energy was so strong that it almost turned into a mud-like substance, quickly covering the outside of his Flower Scale Armor.

Dyeing the original golden Sword Orchid ultimate form into a strange gray-gold color.

Streams of cold death energy, centered on Li Cheng Yi, rapidly lowered the surrounding temperature, offsetting the scorching heat just now.

Not only that, but the temperature was still dropping.

Centered on Li Cheng Yi, the temperature within a few meters rapidly dropped below zero degrees, and thin white frost actually formed on the ground.

"What is this!?"

Zhao Chengxi frowned, that gray thing... could actually resist the weakening effect of his Black Flame Abyss.

But at this time, time was pressing, and he didn't have time to think.

If he didn't make a move, he would have to return to the Nine Instruments.

At this moment, the Nine Instruments, the Zhao family, the Security Administration, the Taiyi Palace, the Destiny Garden people, the Chaoyu Li family, the Yan family, and many other great families, countless eyes were focused here.

This was the first formal challenge that the pinnacle of the Nine Instruments' ninth level had encountered domestically in a hundred years.

'Let's end it like this.'

The black robe around Zhao Chengxi lit up with golden light spots, he took one last look at Li Cheng Yi, and recited the Harmonic Resonance activation phrase.

"Space Flash!" (Kong Shan)

(End of this chapter)