Meanwhile, almost seven or eight fireballs were fiercely smashing down towards the Purple-Black Demon Vine below.

Buried beneath the ground, Hua Zhi flashed a green light in each hand, transmitting it with incredible speed.

The numerous Purple-Black Demon Vines wrapped in a yellow light shield suddenly split from the middle, sliding quickly to the sides, revealing Master Yu Yu as well as the yellow light shield, confronting the descending fireballs.

Seeing this, Master Yu Yu was startled and hurriedly tried to control the direction of the falling fireballs, but it was already too late. Four or five fireballs struck the yellow light shield solidly, while the rest fell on the Purple-Black Vine.

In the deafening sound of explosions, Master Yu Yu was engulfed by a blaze soaring to the sky.

Yuan Ming had just withstood a bombardment, and Master Yu Yu endured a similar ordeal. The yellow light shield trembled violently, but the yellow umbrella did not shatter like the Eight Diagrams Mirror did.

Inside the light shield, Master Yu Yu's face turned even paler.

Although only a few fireballs hit the Purple-Black Demon Vine, it was severely damaged; nearly half of the vines were destroyed, and the rest were all injured.

Hua Zhi showed a pained expression and spat out a green light, as the broken Demon Vines quickly fused together, transforming in the blink of an eye into two gigantic Purple-Black hands, which fiercely slapped towards the yellow light shield.

Yuan Ming did not stop his attack either, continuing to control the Cold Star Sword and other magic artifacts shooting towards the midair fire clouds, while his palm slapped towards the Corpse Nourishing Bag, a soul crow merging into the White Ape's head.

The White Ape suddenly opened its eyes and leaped out of the Corpse Nourishing Bag.

Yuan Ming pulled out the Corpse Sealing Nail, and a strong aura immediately surged from the White Ape. It stomped violently on the ground, turning into a white shadow rushing straight towards Master Yu Yu.

In that moment, under the watchful eyes of all, the White Ape displayed all its strength from the Late Foundation Establishment.

"First the Demon Vines emerging from underground, and now a Late Foundation Establishment White Ape appears. It seems that Yuan Ming is no simple character and had premeditated today's events," Fairy Luoshui said leisurely from the high platform.

"I just thought this fellow was ignorant of the world's ways, but unexpectedly, at such a young age, he is so cunning and crafty. Things seem a bit unfavorable for Yu Hu now! He has been enjoying the court's blessings in Da Jin Country for so many years and hasn't fought for a long time," the old lady with a cane laughed.

The old emperor didn't say anything, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Those watching Yuan Ming now inadvertently viewed him with a bit of awe, no longer the initial disdain.

Master Yu Hu faced a relentless onslaught from Yuan Ming, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He summoned fireballs to continue battling the two Purple-Black Vine Hands and Cold Star Sword while slapping his storage bag on his waist.

A streak of white light shot out, turning into a tall aqua-colored Puppet, quite similar to the mechanical Puppet of Master Huo Lian. Its eyes flickered with traces of aqua light, and as soon as it landed, it charged directly towards the White Ape.

The aqua-colored Puppet held a silver-white greatsword in its hand, blocking the White Ape's path as it swung the sword horizontally.

The White Ape punched out, its fist surface rippling with a rich golden light, and collided with the silver greatsword.

The clang of gold and iron meeting rang out, forcing the White Ape back two steps while the aqua-colored Puppet staggered back five or six steps.

Just then, a slender black shadow somehow flashed from behind the Puppet, no longer concealing its tracks. Three runes were fully activated, with the needle exuding foot-long black sharpness, pulling out shadow after shadow at an even faster speed, and in a blink, it stabbed into the back of the aqua-colored Puppet's head.

With a loud clang, sparks flew from the back of the aqua-colored Puppet's head, the Black Needle penetrating nearly halfway in, causing a depression in the nearby skull.

But the aqua-colored Puppet seemed unaffected and continued to fight desperately with the White Ape, firmly blocking its way.

Yuan Ming frowned, deployed Shadowless Step, and suddenly urged the power of his White Jade Belt. His figure blurred, vanishing from the spot, and he appeared like a ghost behind the Puppet, raising his hand in a wave.

A streak of silver light targeted the aqua-colored Puppet; it was the Silver Token previously obtained from the stomach of the Vortex Beast.

His left hand swiftly struck out, a Yellow Talisman also targeting the aqua-colored Puppet.

The Silver Token struck the aqua-colored Puppet first, making a crisp clang, causing no damage to it.

The White Ape, entangled with the aqua-colored Puppet, suddenly pulled back, creating some distance.

As the aqua-colored Puppet was about to pursue, the Yellow Talisman had already flown forth, striking its chest.

Bright yellow light abruptly blossomed, forming a cage-shaped yellow light shield that enveloped the aqua-colored Puppet within.

This talisman was called "Earth Prison Talisman," a mid-level talisman with quite strong restraining capabilities, but it could only restrain Qi Refining Stage Cultivators and Level 1 Fierce Beasts.

Master Yu Hu scoffed disdainfully, about to control the aqua-colored Puppet to wield its sword to break the Earth Prison Talisman, when a surge of silver light suddenly emerged, swiftly spreading over the ground and on the light walls of the Earth Prison Talisman, engulfing everything in the blink of an eye to form a sealed silver space.

The aqua light in the eyes of the aqua-colored Puppet instantly dimmed, standing motionless within the light shield of the Earth Prison Talisman.

Master Yu Hu suddenly discovered that the silver light within the Earth Prison Talisman seemed to have the effect of isolating Divine Sense, instantly severing the Divine Sense connection between it and the aqua-colored Puppet.

Startled and furious, he was about to use the Fire Cloud Secret Technique to break the Earth Prison Talisman, but the White Ape had already swooped close, reaching within a three-meter radius of him.

Master Yu Hu could no longer care about the aqua-colored Puppet, and pointed towards the midair Fire Cloud.

The dozen or so fireballs originally targeting the Purple-Black Demon Palm and Cold Star Sword and other magic artifacts abruptly changed direction, all howling towards the White Ape.

Not only that, but Master Yu Hu's right hand flashed with red light, producing a palm-sized red talisman filled with dense runes, bursting with intense and abnormal Fire Attribute Spiritual Power fluctuations, clearly a high-grade talisman.

He spat out a mouthful of essence blood into a red talisman, then suddenly crushed it.

A several zhang-long fiery red dragon suddenly appeared, emitting a stunningly high temperature, and lunged at the White Ape with its teeth and claws.

Master Yu Hu, with his discerning eye, felt a particular threat from the White Ape among all Yuan Ming's many techniques. Only by eliminating this creature could he settle down and gradually deal with Yuan Ming.

At that moment, in front of Master Yu Hu, the figure flickered, and Yuan Ming appeared like a ghost, his eyes flashing with white light, the very illusion technique he had just learned.

Caught off guard, Master Yu Hu's expression became momentarily dazed, and the numerous fireballs intended for the White Ape struck an empty spot instead.

The direction of the fire dragon also changed, striking another empty spot on the ground.

The White Ape suddenly accelerated, appearing instantly in front of Master Yu Hu, and threw a punch.

The punch tore through the air, emitting a piercing screech.

Hua Zhi sensed this scene and, for some reason, became furious. A thick green light surged from her, rapidly traveling down her arms to the two Purple-black Demon Palms on the ground.

The fingers of the two purple demon palms suddenly separated, transforming the ten fingers into ten vine swords with an unusually sharp aura, fiercely stabbing at the yellow light shield.

However, the White Ape's punch was as fast as lightning, striking the yellow light shield first.

Yuan Ming exerted full control over the soul crow within the White Ape. In that instant, he stimulated the White Ape's strength to its utmost limit, a mountain-collapsing force erupted, all pouring into the yellow light shield.

The yellow light shield shattered on cue, breaking into countless shards of yellow light streams, and the yellow umbrella suspended above Master Yu Hu's head also "crackled" and broke into seven or eight pieces of rag, its spirit completely lost.

The two Purple-black Demon Palms made a forceful grab, their ten fingers piercing through Master Yu Hu's body, creating seven or eight holes in his torso.

Master Yu Hu abruptly woke up, feeling his essence blood rapidly draining away and his body paralyzed, unable to even scream.

A shadow flashed, and Yuan Ming swept out from one side, holding a treasure sword in his hand and making a swift downward slash.

A flash of sword light passed by.

Master Yu Hu's body remained still, his head flying off to land on the ground three zhang away.

A fountain of blood burst forth, shooting a foot high, the dense smell of blood spreading around.

The crowd outside was dumbfounded, the silence deadly.

It was only when the vine swords were withdrawn from Master Yu Hu's body that the corpse fell to the ground, and the crowd finally let out a collective shout.

Then, there was complete silence.

The little Emperor stared blankly first at Yuan Ming, then at the headless corpse of Master Yu Hu, and it took him a while to come to his senses.

General Yuan raised his fist to the sky, let out a long breath, then shouted loudly, "My son is mighty!"

Yuan Ming raised his hand to recall all the magic artifacts, leaving no fragments on the ground.

Hua Zhi burrowed deeper into the ground, disappearing from sight.

Yuan Ming appeared near the White Ape, silently inserted the Corpse Sealing Nail, then collected it into the Corpse Nourishing Bag, his expression immediately relaxing as the nascent bloodlust in his eyes was quickly suppressed.

He then went over to the light shield, performed a casting to dissolve the Earth Prison Talisman's yellow light shield, and the silver glow inside also dispersed immediately.

Yuan Ming's palm emitted a force of suction, drawing the Silver Token into his hand, and he put it away.

A figure flashed by, appearing out of nowhere next to Master Yu Hu's corpse, and it was Liu Tianming's grandfather, the old emperor, who now looked at Yuan Ming, fell silent for a long time, and said, "A fine young man of the Yuan Family, it's a pity you can't stay at Chang Chun Temple."

"Senior flatters me, I was presumptuous, please forgive my offenses against Chang Chun Temple," Yuan Ming said apologetically.

The old emperor did not reply.

"This duel is concluded, the victor is Yuan Ming!" After a while, the old emperor suddenly spoke up, announcing the result loud and clear.

The nearby crowd let out a chorus of amazed cheers, this duel being much more entertaining than the dull ceremonies.

The old emperor waved his hand, a disciple of Chang Chun Temple stepped forward to collect Master Yu Hu's body and the nearby blue mechanical puppet. "Do not fail Tianming, this child, take good care of yourself from now on," the old emperor instructed softly, then turned and left.

Watching the old emperor leave, Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at the sky, his eyes as clear as water, feeling a great weight lifted off his heart.

...

In a side hall of the Imperial Palace, Yuan Ming and the little Emperor sat facing each other.

"Brother Ming, you're too secretive, advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage without telling me. Say, how should I punish you?" the little Emperor sipped from his tea, said with a smile.

"I accept the punishment. The technique I practiced was a secret technique I obtained in Southern Border, likely unique to a certain family. I will pass it on to you now, but don't use it carelessly to avoid drawing their attention," Yuan Ming explained as he detailed the "Hidden Element Technique" to the little Emperor.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.