Chapter 172: Is Your Trump Card Just Resurrection?
"What the hell?!"
"Champion Marquis is alive again!"
"Wasn't he just smashed into pulp by Li Xun? How is he back from the dead? What kind of technique is this, could it be the legendary regeneration?"
"Regeneration requires at least a Saint-level cultivation. But his injuries... he wasn't even remotely in human form. This isn't just regeneration anymore, it's practically resurrection from a single drop of blood!"
"Resurrection from a drop of blood? That's something only Emperors can do, right??"
As Champion Marquis stood up again, everyone present was utterly dumbfounded.
They were all only at the Life and Death Realm, where even limb regeneration was a distant goal, requiring Saint-level power. As for blood-drop resurrection, that was the stuff of Emperor-level legends.
Six months ago, Champion Marquis had only just passed through the nine lightning calamities tribulation.
There was no way he should be able to access a heaven-defying method like this.
Yet no matter how hard it was to believe, the fact remained: he had come back to life.
"Just now, I think Li Xun mentioned something about a Blood Essence Stone… Could it be related?"
Feng Lie murmured under his breath.
They had all heard of Blood Essence Stones before.
They're a rare resource from the world of Otherworldly Demons, not commonly found in the current era, but they are still out there, just hidden from ordinary people.
"Refining just one or two Blood Essence Stones wouldn't cause this kind of effect. Judging by how fast he came back to life, he must've refined at least ten thousand of them!"
"Maybe even more!"
The Holy Son of Heavenly Heart Sacred Holy Land said gravely.
Recently, rumors had surfaced of Otherworldly Demons appearing in the Great Zhou Empire, but there were no such reports in the Great Chu Dynasty, where Champion Marquis resided.
So that raised the question—
Where did he get that many Blood Essence Stones?
Buying them might've been an option, sure.
But considering the current scarcity, one ordinary Blood Essence Stone was worth ten thousand supreme-grade spirit stones!
And if he'd truly refined over ten thousand of them...
That wealth would be astronomical, something even the Great Chu Dynasty might not be able to afford.
After all, the empire still had to support massive armies and tens of thousands of elite cultivators.
Even if the empire could afford it, with Saints, Emperors, princes, and dukes above him, why would they give something so precious to the Champion Marquis of all people?
"Heh..."
While the crowd was still lost in speculation, a cold chuckle echoed from below.
"Li Xun, you are strong indeed,"
"But now—I've cultivated an immortal body!"
"You can no longer kill me!"
As he finished speaking, Champion Marquis activated a divine technique.
Boom!
He smashed down with a single fist, shattering the mountain beneath Li Xun's feet.
His aura surged to the heavens, his battle cry stirring the very landscape.
Blood energy surged like a war banner, sweeping across hundreds of miles.
Ancient trees trembled. Countless leaves flew upward against gravity, drawn into the violent energy.
Emperor's Nation-Stabilizing Fist!
This was a High-grade Heaven Divine Technique of the Great Chu Dynasty. When unleashed again from Champion Marquis's hands, it was on a whole new level compared to before.
It was as if an ancient Human Emperor had crossed time itself and descended into the present.
"So your trump card... is just coming back to life?"
Li Xun sneered, swinging the Azure Dragon Halberd once more.
It swept out in a massive arc, colliding with Champion Marquis's punch.
BOOM!
Just like before, the moment their attacks touched, half of Champion Marquis's body was shattered again.
Blood splashed through the air, dyeing the sky red...
Champion Marquis's body was sent flying again, battered and broken—his skeleton clearly visible beneath his torn flesh. But he seemed completely unfazed, like a madman, and charged forward once more.
"Like I said—you can't kill me!"
Champion Marquis roared, completely abandoning all defense. Every strike was reckless, fueled purely by desperation. As long as he could land even a single blow on Li Xun, it was worth it.
"Seems you've forgotten," Li Xun replied coldly,
"I've slain Otherworldly Demons before—more than one."
As he finished speaking—
BOOM!
The Azure Dragon Halberd once again reduced Champion Marquis to a cloud of blood mist.
But this time, the blood mist didn't fall to the ground.
Instead, it quickly gathered midair, coalescing at lightning speed.
In moments, a burly figure took shape once more.
"Let's see how many times you can come back!"
Li Xun's halberd slashed again and again, each strike more terrifying than the last.
The sky trembled violently. Within a thousand-mile radius, chaos reigned. Mountains shattered, the ground cracked, and the very fabric of the void rippled under the pressure.
At that moment—
"I remember now!"
The Holy Son of Heavenly Heart Sacred Holy Land exclaimed.
"When Otherworldly Demons invaded the Great Zhou Empire, it was Li Xun who wiped them out! That means—he has Blood Essence Stones too!"
"That's not quite the same though..."
Feng Lie muttered as he watched Li Xun continue to crush Champion Marquis.
"From what I recall, the demons Li Xun killed were only at the Profound Elixir Realm."
"Demons at that level wouldn't have carried many Blood Essence Stones."
"True." The Holy Son nodded in agreement.
It was a blessing that those were low-tier demons.
Had they been Life and Death Realm demons, things would've been very different.
Those demons carried far more Blood Essence Stones.
Even if Li Xun had managed to kill them, he would've had a hard time keeping those stones.
"Still," the Holy Son continued,
"Li Xun probably did refine some Blood Essence Stones. Even if he can't come back to life like Champion Marquis, at the very least, he should be able to regenerate lost limbs!"
His tone carried a tinge of envy.
Limb regeneration was the domain of Saints.
To possess such an ability while still in the Life and Death Realm—it was a gift that countless cultivators would kill for.
On the surface, it seemed like Blood Essence Stones weren't that useful to those at the Saint or Emperor level.
But in reality, that wasn't the case at all.
Saints could indeed regenerate limbs, but doing so drained immense amounts of true essence.
In the middle of battle, doing that repeatedly could severely weaken them.
But with Blood Essence Stones, the energy cost became negligible.
That's exactly why the stronger the Otherworldly Demon, the harder they were to kill.
By the time they reached Emperor-level, Otherworldly Demons were nearly immortal.
They could resurrect endlessly.
"At this point, Champion Marquis might be comparable to a Life and Death Realm Otherworldly Demon," Feng Lie whispered.
In the distance, the deafening roars of battle raged on.
Champion Marquis had already been killed over a dozen times by Li Xun.
But each time he was obliterated, he returned—again and again.
"Profound Elixir Realm demons can revive three or four times max. But Life and Death Realm demons? Dozens of times."
Li Xun's expression grew darker.
Back then, when he killed a Profound Elixir Otherworldly Demon, its revival slowed dramatically after just a couple of deaths.
But Champion Marquis?
He showed no signs of weakening.
If this dragged on any longer, reinforcements from Great Chu would eventually arrive.
"Looks like I'll have to try the Great Yan Divine Technique..."
As the thought crossed his mind, Li Xun put away the Azure Dragon Halberd.
A milky-white longsword appeared between his brows, gleaming with chilling light.
The moment it trembled, the surrounding mountains began to split apart.
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