Chapter 127: What on Earth Happened

Standing a dozen meters away, the Grand Mage wore a look of grim malice, his eyes flickering with a trace of subtle astonishment.

"Damn it! Whoever said Xiang Nan was only at the Second Tier, come out! I swear I’ll beat him to death!"

The Grand Mage channeled a sliver of his divine sense to probe Xiang Nan's cultivation level. Yet, for reasons unknown, as a powerhouse at the Fifth Tier, he was unable to determine exactly what level Xiang Nan had reached. Rumors that Xiang Nan was mysterious were clearly true.

Still, judging by his age—only eighteen or nineteen—he could be at most a Third Tier, no matter how gifted. Having long surpassed the Fifth Tier, the Grand Mage was more than capable of dealing with him.

The Grand Mage narrowed his eyes and drew a long, slender staff from his voluminous sleeves. The top of the staff was shaped like an eye, with a crimson blood crystal embedded in its center. He performed a simple incantation and gestured, causing black mist to swirl around the staff. The blood crystal glowed with an increasingly intense, rhythmic crimson light, rapidly expanding in size.

Xiang Nan, now at the Fourth Tier and possessing the mythical innate ability of the Vermilion Bird, had already sensed the immense energy radiating from the staff. As the crimson light streaked toward him like a bullet, Xiang Nan leaped lightly, his body dissolving into a blur as he soared into the air. Flight was but an instinct of the Vermilion Bird.

Suspended in mid-air, he watched calmly as the spot where the red light had struck was reduced to ash. In truth, the staff had released multiple beams; only one had targeted Xiang Nan, while the others had precisely obliterated the hidden cameras scattered around the perimeter.

Outside the Spirit Void, many night owls who had been idly watching were now wide awake, their chatter erupting in a frenzy.

"Holy cow! It’s happening! Xiang Nan is fighting again. This is incredible!"
"Damn, isn't that the infamous Dark Mage? How many top-tier experts have come to the Spirit Void this time?"
"Am I dreaming? What kind of god-tier battle is this? It’s too high-level!"
"If I recall correctly, the Grand Mage is a Fifth-Tier transcendent! To think Xiang Nan can go head-to-head with him!"
"Brother Nan is amazing! Resisting a Fifth-Tier powerhouse without losing any ground!"

High above, Xiang Nan stood in the air. "A Fifth-Tier expert, indeed impressive!"

A smirk played on his lips. With a simple wave of his hand, a wave of scorching flames surged toward the Grand Mage. Unexpectedly, the Grand Mage did not dodge, instead meeting the attack head-on and intercepting the flame wave with his staff.

Xiang Nan’s internal spiritual energy was currently abundant, and the power of his scorching flame wave had been multiplied. He hadn't expected the Grand Mage to block it so effortlessly. Moreover, observing the flow of the flames, it seemed the energy was being absorbed entirely by the crimson crystal atop the staff.

"This staff is that powerful? It’s practically a soul-draining technique!"

Skeptical, Xiang Nan unleashed another scorching flame wave, this time with even greater output. The result was identical: the entire wave was swallowed by the staff.

Before Xiang Nan could recover from his shock, the Grand Mage’s sleeves billowed, and he fired several more cannonballs of cursed black smoke. Although Xiang Nan was at an altitude that made dodging easy, he found himself with no room to counterattack. Every time he used his flame wave, regardless of the angle, it was absorbed by the crystal, as if the staff were acting like a guided vacuum. The blood crystal on the staff was growing visibly larger.

"Damn it! Am I just feeding him spiritual energy? This is too generous!"

As he dodged, Xiang Nan pondered how to deal with this transcendent-tier powerhouse. Seeing that he had the upper hand, the Grand Mage curled his lips into a smug, cold smile.

"Little student, I have no grudge against you. As long as you hand over the artifact you’re holding, I promise I won't make things difficult for you!"

"Promise not to make things difficult? You mean you’ll just kill me instead? Do you take me for a child?" Xiang Nan retorted with a laugh while dodging. Even as he spoke, his breathing remained steady and his movements fluid. Despite not attacking back, he showed no signs of being in a difficult spot.

The Grand Mage was secretly amazed. He had already fired over a hundred rounds of cursed black smoke, yet he hadn't landed a single hit.

"It seems if I don't show you some real power, you’ll stay arrogant beyond measure."

With a sullen face, the Grand Mage chanted another incantation. He suddenly launched himself into the air, leaping higher than Xiang Nan, and pointed his eerie staff directly at him. Several beams of red light rained down like a laser barrage. Xiang Nan had already witnessed the power of these beams, and he knew his flame waves were useless against them.

With a moment's hesitation, the rain of red light was already upon him! Fearing he would be shredded, Xiang Nan instinctively triggered his body's defensive mechanism.

His entire body suddenly erupted in brilliant golden light, and flowing golden energy formed a massive Bagua shield in the void before him. Unlike his previous Bagua shields, this one featured ancient characters flickering in and out of existence, imbuing it with inconceivable power. The red beams were blocked one by one, and soon, they were devoured by the golden shield.

The Grand Mage was utterly stunned. "You can actually block my staff's demonic light! It seems I truly underestimated you!"

The Grand Mage was clearly seething with shame and anger. His original goal had been the artifact, so he hadn't intended to kill Xiang Nan immediately—if he killed him, he wouldn't be able to obtain the mysterious innate artifact. He had intended to intimidate Xiang Nan into surrender. He never imagined that a mere Second-Tier cultivator could resist his repeated attacks!

The Grand Mage could not accept this! It was an insult that a Fifth-Tier could not crush a Second-Tier! He could not stand it. He channeled all his spiritual energy, pouring a portion of his inner essence into the staff. A violent wind whipped up, and the sky seemed to change color. In the next second, the staff glowed with intense red light, expanding dozens of times over until it became a massive weapon.

"I want to see if you can survive this fatal blow!"

As the Grand Mage channeled his energy, Xiang Nan sensed the immense power contained within the strike. Even his Bagua golden shield might not be able to withstand it. Just as he reached into his space to summon his own artifact, the Heavenly Secret Map, a flicker in his peripheral vision warned him: his divine sense detected that more people were approaching.

It would be disastrous if too many people saw the Taiji Map. Xiang Nan quickly dismissed the idea of revealing it, deciding to rely on the agility of the Vermilion Bird and his Bagua golden shield to hold on for as long as possible.