At the end of June, the scorching sun over Zhenlang Pass was like a furnace of molten gold hanging high in the sky, baking the entire border fortress to a scorching heat.
The black iron bricks on the city wall distorted slightly under the high temperature, and from a distance, the entire pass seemed to be immersed in transparent heat waves.
Around the largest martial arts arena in the pass, 360 banners embroidered with the emblem of the Wilderness Martial Arts University fluttered in the hot wind, and the golden wolf head on the banner, howling at the sky, shone brightly in the sunlight.
The arena in the center is made of a single piece of Qingxuan stone. After being soaked in the blood and qi of generations of martial artists, its surface has developed dark red patterns.
At this moment, the powerful figures from the thirty-six martial arts universities of the Great Xia Dynasty sat upright on the viewing platform, and the fluctuations of their aura created visible ripples in the air.
Seated in the front row were seven elderly men with auras as deep as the ocean. They were the seven elders of the Great Xia Martial Arts Alliance, each of whom was a figure whose mere stomp could shake half the dynasty.
"Next, please welcome Chen Feng, the representative of this year's graduates, to speak!"
The principal's voice resounded throughout the training ground through the amplification arrays engraved at the four corners, and the sound waves, enhanced by special runes, clearly reached everyone's ears.
The old man, with his white hair and beard, wore a long black robe embroidered with golden cloud patterns and a badge with nine stars on his chest—the mark of a first-rank Martial Saint bestowed by the Great Xia Dynasty.
The entire venue fell silent, and all eyes were focused on the young figure slowly walking up the platform.
Chen Feng was dressed in a black martial arts uniform, the fabric of which was woven from the unique Xuanbing silkworm silk of the Northern Territory, and it shimmered with a cold luster under the blazing sun.
He wore a gold five-pointed star badge on his chest, symbolizing the highest honor. The edge of the badge was inlaid with a circle of fine stardust, which shimmered with his steps.
The young martial artist had a resolute face and a scar about an inch long on his left eyebrow, a battle scar left three years ago during the "Blood Wolf Valley" trial.
He glanced around, his gaze lingering briefly on several military officers hidden among the audience—though they were dressed in ordinary formal attire, the "Sky Wolf Army" tokens hanging from their waists and the iron-blooded aura emanating from them were clearly visible to Chen Feng's keen senses.
He nodded almost imperceptibly, a gesture so subtle that even the grandmasters sitting in the front row didn't notice.
"Distinguished teachers and fellow students," Chen Feng's voice was calm yet powerful, each word seemingly carrying a certain rhythm, clearly reaching everyone's ears with the amplification array, "Today we graduate here, and tomorrow we will head to the battlefield between humans and werewolves."
He paused here, his gaze sweeping over the familiar and unfamiliar faces in the audience. In the front row sat his close friend and classmate—the towering, imposing Manshan—whose fists were clenched, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Su Mingyue, always dressed in white, sat quietly with her "Frost Sword" lying across her lap; further away, Zhao Xiaodao, who always loved to sleep in class, now had his eyes wide open, his gaze bright.
Before leaving, I want to give my alma mater a special gift—
Chen Feng suddenly unbuttoned his martial arts uniform outer robe, the hem fluttering in the hot wind, revealing the close-fitting silver armor underneath.
The armor was streamlined and covered with densely packed runes, each line gleaming with a faint blue light in the sunlight.
An uproar erupted on the viewing platform. Several sharp-witted experts had already sensed the sudden, tense energy fluctuations in the air—it was no ordinary battle armor, but the legendary "Thunder Tribulation Armor" that could draw upon the power of heaven and earth!
"What is he going to do?" Principal Bai Wuqing looked at Di Fengtian King beside him in surprise. This human supreme expert was dressed in a simple gray robe and looked like an ordinary old man, except for his eyes, which were so deep that they seemed to devour light.
At this moment, the powerful figure known as the "Number One Swordsman of the Great Xia" smiled, his wrinkled fingers gently tapping the armrest of his chair, as if he had expected this.
Chen Feng formed hand seals with fluid movements, each gesture as precise as if measured with a ruler. As he moved, the 100,000 units of Qi and blood and the 100,000 units of mental power within his body surged simultaneously, causing the ground of the training ground to tremble slightly, and tiny pebbles to float up against gravity.
"Today, I, Chen Feng, am here to attempt to break through to the Heavenly King Realm!"
Before the words were even finished, the clear sky suddenly darkened, and dark clouds gathered from all directions at a visible speed, instantly obscuring the entire sky above Zhenlang Pass.
Those were no ordinary dark clouds, but calamity clouds containing the laws of heaven and earth. Purple-gold lightning flashed through the clouds from time to time, each flash accompanied by deafening thunder.
The terrifying pressure from heaven and earth made it difficult for many low-level martial artists to breathe, and several students with weaker cultivation even knelt on the ground, their faces pale.
"Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation!" A white-haired old man on the viewing platform exclaimed in shock. His sandalwood cane snapped in two with a "crack." "This is the legendary highest-level Heavenly Tribulation! It hasn't been seen for thirty years since Lord Di Feng!"
The first bolt of lightning struck without warning, a thick, purple bolt of electricity like a sword of divine punishment aimed straight at Chen Feng's skull. Wherever the lightning passed, the air was ionized, releasing a pungent smell of ozone.
Chen Feng neither dodged nor avoided the lightning bolt. He raised his hands to the sky, his ten fingers spread as if supporting the heavens, and actually caught the lightning bolt.
Lightning crackled around him, his silver armor shattered inch by inch, revealing his muscular upper body and mysterious golden patterns emerging on his bronze skin—a sign that he had reached the pinnacle of his cultivation of the "Heavenly Saint Transformation Technique."
"Heavenly Saint Transformation Divine Art - Golden Armor Technique!" Chen Feng shouted in a low voice, as loud as a bell. Golden patterns suddenly lit up, forming a layer of semi-transparent golden armor. Ancient runes flowed on the surface of the armor, and one could vaguely make out the ancient character "御" (Yu, meaning "to control").
At the same time, the second and third bolts of lightning struck in succession, each more ferocious than the last. The second bolt was bluish-white, leaving a lingering afterimage in the air as it struck; the third was crimson red, carrying scorching heat that melted the black iron railings at the edge of the arena into molten iron.
The ground of the training ground began to crack, with spiderweb-like fissures spreading outwards from Chen Feng. The spectators had to retreat, and some accidentally stepped on the edge of a crack, nearly falling into it.
Principal Bai Wuqing activated the protective array, and seventy-two stone pillars engraved with runes rose from the ground, forming a hemispherical light curtain that enveloped the audience area.
Di Fengtian King stood at the very front, his eyes fixed intently on the figure undergoing tribulation in the arena, seemingly oblivious to the flying debris and arcs of electricity.
As the sixth bolt of lightning struck, it displayed an unusual interplay of black and white, swirling like yin and yang symbols. Cracks appeared in Chen Feng's golden armor, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes grew even sharper. Just then, a sudden change occurred.
Four blood-red figures burst through the air from different directions, moving so fast they left afterimages. They hovered in the four corners of the training ground, surrounding Chen Feng, who was undergoing his tribulation.
All four were over 2.5 meters tall, covered in thick fur, with sharp claws and teeth, and surrounded by a blood-red mist—the werewolf clan's unique "bloodthirsty aura."
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