(TL/N: Lord Yanhuo is Lord of Blazing Flame from previous chapter.)
Although Luo Fan's Annihilation Divine Light might be more exquisite than Lord Yanhuo's secret technique,
Lord Yanhuo used a peak supreme treasure weapon together with a top-tier supreme treasure domain to execute his technique, and its power far exceeded that of Luo Fan's Annihilation Divine Light.
This was the effect of a supreme treasure.
With the enhancement of a supreme treasure, even if his secret technique was inferior to Luo Fan's, Lord Yanhuo's attack power still surpassed Luo Fan's by a considerable margin.
The secret technique Luo Fan used was granted by the Original Universe.
He did not need to master it at all and could execute it purely through instinct.
However, advantages always came with disadvantages.
The Annihilation Divine Light indeed provided Luo Fan with tremendous help.
At present, Luo Fan had only created an ultimate Universe Master–level secret technique.
Therefore, his strongest attack was still the Annihilation Divine Light bestowed by the Original Universe.
However, precisely because the Annihilation Divine Light could be directly executed,
this technique could not be combined with Luo Fan's supreme treasures.
Nor could supreme treasures enhance the power of the Annihilation Divine Light.
Although the Annihilation Divine Light was among the strongest ultimate secret techniques available to Universe Masters,
when facing Lord Yanhuo's technique, empowered by a peak supreme treasure weapon, a top-tier supreme treasure domain, and his own flames, it ultimately fell into a disadvantage.
After being weakened by the Annihilation Divine Light, the phantom of the giant hammer did not cause significant damage to the Space Worm avatar.
Nevertheless, Luo Fan discovered his own weakness at this moment.
His cultivation time had ultimately been too short.
His methods for dealing with enemies were still somewhat limited.
When facing powerful Universe Masters like these, he could only rely on the Annihilation Divine Light granted by the Original Universe.
Against Venerables before, the Annihilation Divine Light could easily suppress them.
But when confronting Universe Masters of the Universe Sea, the technique was beginning to fall behind.
After this battle, Luo Fan planned to carefully create a secret technique suited specifically to himself,
preferably one that could complement his supreme treasures.
However, Lord Yanhuo's mood was not particularly good either.
When he first saw Luo Fan, he assumed this newcomer to the Universe Sea possessed only average strength.
Unexpectedly, Luo Fan also possessed Fourth-Tier power.
Although Luo Fan's secret technique had ultimately been completely annihilated by his own,
after being weakened by the Annihilation Divine Light, the power remaining in Lord Yanhuo's giant hammer projection was minimal.
In their battle, Lord Yanhuo held only a slight advantage. Overall, the two could be considered evenly matched.
Lord Yanhuo understood that it would be difficult for this battle to produce a decisive victor.
However, since the supreme treasure had not yet emerged, he did not mind continuing to play with Luo Fan.
In Lord Yanhuo's view, Luo Fan had refrained from diving into the abyss out of caution.
The moment he sensed the fluctuation signaling the birth of a supreme treasure, he rushed over immediately.
When he arrived, Luo Fan was the only one present.
His arrival speed had not been slow.
Therefore, he concluded that only the two of them were here.
Thus, the two resumed their fierce battle.
The surrounding waters were annihilated in large quantities by their secret techniques.
Luo Fan had no intention of stopping.
He had never previously fought a Universe Master.
This was the perfect opportunity to experience firsthand what combat between Universe Masters was like.
In any case, his avatar was already at the bottom of the abyss. The moment the supreme treasure emerged, he could immediately bind it as its master.
…
At the bottom of the abyss, above the lava lake,
the avatar floated silently.
The moment it sensed someone intruding at the edge of the domain, the avatar transformed directly into surrounding water and merged completely with it.
Even if Lord Yanhuo were present here, he might not immediately detect it.
This was why Lord Yanhuo believed no one was at the bottom of the abyss.
He could not sense the avatar's aura.
Luo Fan looked at the boiling lava lake below.
At the center of the lake, a handle could faintly be seen.
He guessed this was a weapon-type supreme treasure.
After all, other types of supreme treasures did not possess handles.
As time passed, the supreme treasure slowly began to emerge.
Looking at it, a trace of disappointment flashed across Luo Fan's face.
Only part of the treasure had appeared so far,
but the visible portion was already a handle.
And it was rather long.
Judging from its shape, it was either a giant axe or hammer,
or perhaps a spear, halberd, or staff-type supreme treasure.
Luo Fan still hoped it would be a guandao. (TL/N: Guandao is a traditional Chinese pole weapon. The one those generals uses.)
At least then he could make use of it.
Based on the rewards from many previous missions,
obtaining a supreme treasure usually resulted in rewards of the same type.
For example, when Luo Fan previously forged blade-type supreme treasures, the rewards were also blades.
If he forged armor, the reward would likewise be armor.
Of course, there were occasional exceptions where special supreme treasures or materials were granted.
Unfortunately, his primary weapon was still a blade.
Even a guandao would only be barely usable.
"Sigh…"
Looking at the supreme treasure gradually emerging before him, Luo Fan could not help but sigh.
After thinking it over, he decided that later he would exchange this treasure in the Human Race treasury for a blade-type top-tier supreme treasure.
That way, he could obtain a True God–level supreme treasure blade.
He had not made such an exchange before because his personal secret techniques were not yet strong enough.
Possessing a True God–level supreme treasure blade did not automatically grant Sixth-Tier combat power.
Universe Masters who wielded supreme ultimate treasures could display Sixth-Tier strength because they were capable of activating the third layer of secret engravings within those treasures.
Once this layer was activated, Sixth-Tier power could be unleashed.
However, activating such engravings was extremely difficult.
One had to fully comprehend the engraving before activating it.
Although it was not as difficult as creating a Sixth-Tier secret technique,
mastering engravings of the Sixth-Tier level generally required ability comparable to creating a Fifth-Tier secret technique.
In essence, mastering engravings was roughly equivalent in difficulty to creating a secret technique one tier lower.
Therefore, supreme ultimate treasures did not directly increase the user's power by one tier.
In reality, users merely activated the engravings contained within them.
However, individuals with exceptional comprehension could also study those engravings to create secret techniques of their own.
This was the greatest value of a supreme ultimate treasure.
The reason Giant Axe in the original novel reached Ninth-Tier strength after obtaining a supreme ultimate treasure axe
was primarily because he could activate its engravings.
Later, his creation of a Ninth-Tier secret technique was also inspired by those engravings.
This was why possessing a suitable supreme ultimate treasure was so important.
If Giant Axe had obtained a blade, spear, or sword-type supreme ultimate treasure instead, he could still have used it and displayed Ninth-Tier power.
However, creating a Ninth-Tier secret technique from it would have been nearly impossible.
A suitable supreme ultimate treasure could essentially be considered an inheritance.
The engravings upon it guided the user's path forward.
Within the Original Universe, those capable of breaking through to become Universe Masters already possessed considerable talent.
Those who reached the level of Universe Strongest possessed extraordinary talent.
If a Universe Master obtained a suitable supreme ultimate treasure, its guidance could quickly allow them to reach Sixth-Tier strength.
If the treasure matched exceptionally well, it might even enable a breakthrough.
As for Universe Strongest experts, a suitable supreme ultimate treasure could allow them to reach the limit of True God power.
Of course, all of this depended on encountering a suitable supreme ultimate treasure,
preferably a weapon-type one.
After all, most secret techniques created by powerful experts were offensive in nature.
Defensive or auxiliary techniques were comparatively rare.
Luo Fan felt that in the future he could forge high-level supreme treasure weapons and, through empowerment and mission rewards, obtain supreme ultimate treasures to enhance the strength of Human Race Universe Masters.
Naturally, the prerequisite was fully equipping himself first.
When the time came, the entire Human Race would be working for him.
…
As time passed, more and more of the supreme treasure emerged.
Luo Fan finally recognized what kind of treasure it was.
It was actually a giant hammer supreme treasure.
Part of the hammerhead had already risen above the lava lake.
This treasure suited Lord Yanhuo above quite well.
Unfortunately for him, with Luo Fan present, this treasure was destined never to fall into Lord Yanhuo's hands.
By now, Luo Fan and Lord Yanhuo had been battling for an entire day.
Their clash was extremely intense.
Large portions of surrounding water had been annihilated.
Yet despite such fierce combat, neither had consumed much divine power.
Their strengths were simply too close.
Although Lord Yanhuo held a slight advantage, each attack only annihilated a tiny portion of the Space Worm avatar's divine power.
Given the enormous scale of the avatar, even fighting for a hundred years would not deplete much.
By now, Luo Fan had largely adapted to combat between Universe Masters.
Compared with battles against Venerables or Immortals, combat at the Universe Master level was extremely fast-paced.
There was no probing whatsoever.
Every move was a full-strength attack.
Numerous exchanges could occur within a single second.
Lord Yanhuo also had no intention of stopping.
He had already summoned his avatars to rush toward this location.
Unlike Luo Fan's avatars,
although Lord Yanhuo possessed only ten avatars,
each one held sixty percent of his true body's strength.
He believed that once his avatars arrived, joining forces with his true body would certainly drive Luo Fan away.
Yes, merely drive him away.
Since Luo Fan possessed Fourth-Tier strength, Lord Yanhuo had no expectation of killing him.
His sole objective now was obtaining the supreme treasure.
Although he loved battle and never held back,
Lord Yanhuo was not foolish.
If killing was impossible, securing the treasure was naturally more important.
…
Three days soon passed.
The giant hammer within the lava lake was finally close to fully emerging.
Without hesitation, Luo Fan directly established a mission.
[Mission: Obtain a top-tier supreme treasure hammer. Reward: Heaven-Shaking Hammer.]
Because the giant hammer was about to emerge, Luo Fan also confirmed that this weapon was merely a top-tier supreme treasure.
However, even among top-tier supreme treasures, this giant hammer was considered a top-grade masterpiece.
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