Facing a powerhouse in the Core Condensation realm, Zhang Fan dared not be careless. The moment he moved, he fully mobilized the magical power within his body, unleashing an incredibly fierce strike from the Thirty-Six Forms of the War Emperor.
"Myriad Dao Fist!"
Zhang Fan held nothing back with this punch. The Myriad Dao Fist erupted, its powerful force causing the grand hall to tremble. Any ordinary structure would have collapsed under such a potent aura and pressure.
However, this grand hall was the holy see's stronghold, currently enveloped by the white-robed Pope's domain of light, which absorbed the pressure from Zhang Fan's aura.
Though Zhang Fan had mobilized all his magical power, he was still under the white-robed Pope's domain. He could only draw upon a minuscule amount of the world's energy, preventing his punch from reaching its peak power.
Nevertheless, even so, as Zhang Fan's punch flew out, the domain of light was filled with an overbearing fist energy.
The colossal fist print, condensed from immense magical power, was even more dazzling than the white-robed Pope's domain of light. It burst forth from Zhang Fan's palm, exceeding the speed of sound as it shot directly towards the Pope hovering in mid-air.
The white-robed Pope seemed unsurprised by Zhang Fan's swift attack. With a gentle smile, he clasped his hands together…
*Swish.*
The power of light converged like flowing water, rapidly forming a tangible spear before him. The spear was entirely silver-white, emanating a sacred glow, like an awe-inspiring holy relic, without any hint of threat.
"Go!"
The white-robed Pope uttered a soft word, and the silver-white spear, like a sacred object, sprang to life, as if capable of receiving commands, and shot out with incredible speed.
Though it seemed slow, in less than a second after Zhang Fan unleashed his fist print, the silver-white spear collided with the brilliant fist print in the sky above the hall.
The collision of two maximally compressed, destructive energies, at the moment of impact, sounded like a missile explosion, emitting a deafening roar.
Fierce energy aftershocks, centered on the point of collision, spread outwards, striking the surrounding walls.
On the four sides of the hall, in addition to the imposing statue of the Pope in the center, there were four giant white statues. When the energy aftershocks struck the walls, these four white statues emitted a faint holy light, deflecting the wave of energy.
Zhang Fan lightly tapped the void three times before stabilizing his body.
Staring at the white-robed Pope, who stood in mid-air, his robes fluttering but utterly unaffected, Zhang Fan's eyes narrowed slightly.
The reason he had immediately resorted to a direct power-versus-power confrontation with the white-robed Pope was not only to test the depth of his strength but also to use the impact of the energy aftershocks to ascertain if there were any other hidden arrangements within the hall.
Despite being extremely well-concealed, Zhang Fan, with his divine sense comparable to a Golden Core realm expert, still detected an unusual fluctuation.
"In less than two years, Holy Master Zhang's strength has actually advanced to this extent. Such talent truly makes this Emperor marvel," the white-robed Pope said softly, his bright, gentle eyes fixed on Zhang Fan, his robes fluttering.
Previously, he had dispatched a divine sense avatar to China to retrieve a supreme treasure belonging to their holy see, never expecting that Holy Master Zhang's strength had already rivaled a mid-stage Divine realm expert, no weaker than his divine sense avatar.
Furthermore, Zhang Fan had laid a trap in advance, severely wounding his divine sense avatar.
However, upon hearing news of Zhang Fan again, he had already possessed peak Divine realm strength. Now, in their first encounter, he discovered that Zhang Fan's combat power had reached the threshold of Earth Immortal.
Such an improvement speed, even with his knowledge and state of mind, left him profoundly shocked.
Zhang Fan, equally staring at the Pope with a calm expression, remained silent. In his heart, he was secretly calculating how much certainty he had, with his own means, to kill this white-robed Pope here.
Seeing Zhang Fan's silence, the white-robed Pope spoke again, "Legend has it that Holy Master Zhang was unknown and unremarkable before the age of seventeen. However, at the age of eighteen, he killed two Innate Grandmasters from China's Bajiquan sect, displaying the strength of an invincible Grandmaster and gaining renown. The title of Young Grandmaster spread throughout China's martial arts world.
"He then continued his meteoric rise, defeating China's once-in-a-century sword dao prodigy, the Long-Browed Sword God, with his sword mastery. Afterward, he even dueled the Pill Ancestor of the Pill God Pavilion, who had entered the Divine realm, initiating China's first divine battle in nearly a century and killing him.
"After killing the Pill Ancestor, Holy Master Zhang also unsealed an immortal's cave dwelling that had remained undiscovered in China for over a century, obtaining an immortal's inheritance. Furthermore, on China's Kunlong Mountain, he slaughtered four ancient Divine realm experts from China, shaking the entire Chinese martial arts community.
"From then on, Holy Master Zhang was deservedly hailed as the supreme being of China's martial arts world, known as China's strongest."
The white-robed Pope seemed to know him better than Zhang Fan's own parents, listing his life's achievements one by one. Among them, his duel with the Long-Browed Sword God was a private match, known only to a very small number of people even within China.
"I wonder if my account is comprehensive?" the white-robed Pope asked, fixing his gentle gaze on Zhang Fan with a cordial smile.
"What do you want to say?"
Zhang Fan was not surprised that the white-robed Pope had investigated him, but he was puzzled why this Pope was speaking so much nonsense to him at this moment.
"Actually, the injuries Holy Master Zhang inflicted upon me were fully healed a year ago by using our holy see's supreme treasure, and I have also successfully entered the Earth Immortal realm.
"Does Holy Master Zhang know why I didn't come to China to seek you out after entering the Earth Immortal realm?" the white-robed Pope asked.
"A year ago…"
Zhang Fan carefully recalled. If the white-robed Pope had indeed entered the Earth Immortal realm a year ago and sought him out, with his strength at that time, he might truly have been unable to resist.
"Because you knew I would come to you?" Zhang Fan asked curiously.
"That is only one reason."
"Another reason is that I have spent this past year cultivating a unique soul secret technique of our holy see."
"Soul Seizing Technique!"
"This technique can forcibly seize a living being's soul and probe its secrets.
"As for Holy Master Zhang's rapid growth, and his mastery of various skills, formations, alchemy, and artifact refining – it seems there is no technique in existence that Holy Master Zhang is not proficient in. If you were to say that all of this was achieved through your own cultivation, I believe even you yourself would not believe it.
"While Source Crystals are indeed important to our holy see, I believe that if we can seize Holy Master Zhang's soul and probe its secrets, it might be of even greater benefit to our holy see's development."
At this moment, Zhang Fan finally understood the white-robed Pope's intention. It seemed he believed Zhang Fan had obtained the memory inheritance of a mighty being, which was why his strength had increased so rapidly.
Although the white-robed Pope's guess differed slightly from the actual situation, it was not far off.
This was because Zhang Fan's inheritance came from his future self, who would traverse the star fields and battle the heavens across the myriad domains.
…