Chapter 47 Martial Madman

The evolution path of a skill is not limited to a single outcome. For instance, the "Furious Dragon" skill can evolve into either the "Furious God" or the "Dragon God." Naturally, different final evolutions lead to distinct differences in overall strength.

Furthermore, True God-tier skills are not necessarily derived from a single specific predecessor. For example, the "Demon God" skill can evolve from either the "Celestial Demon" skill or the "Furious Demon" skill.

In addition, while attributes such as Command and Intelligence also possess God-tier skills, they cannot be classified as True God-tier skills.

"Ding! Lü Shenmo's Demon God skill effect 1 activated. Martial prowess +6, current martial prowess rises to 120."

"Dark Night Ominous Halberd!" With a fierce roar, countless halberd gleams surged forward like pitch-black clouds blotting out the sky, descending to swallow Ling Donglai whole.

"A fine technique! However, this is still not enough!" Facing an adversary as formidable as Lü Shenmo, Ling Donglai was prompted to speak more than usual.

As his voice trailed off, Ling Donglai's entire aura erupted violently. Using his fingers as swords, he unleashed streams of roaring sword qi that swirled around him like a rushing torrent, colliding head-on with Lü Shenmo's halberd onslaught.

*Clang, clang, clang...*

Sword qi and halberd radiance clashed incessantly, producing a continuous series of deafening roars.

Lü Shenmo moved like an unstoppable berserker, his sweeping halberd seemingly capable of cleaving heaven and earth apart.

Meanwhile, Ling Donglai's sword qi was sometimes as brilliant as a rainbow, using an upward-soaring momentum to shatter incoming halberd shadows into fragments; at other times, he applied the principle of overcoming rigidity with softness, bypassing the ferocious halberd strikes rather than meeting them head-on, deflecting their momentum aside to defeat brute force with finesse.

Before they knew it, the two had exchanged forty blows. Lü Shenmo's skills triggered repeatedly, yet Ling Donglai's internal energy flowed endlessly, his momentum building step by step with every clash. Although he lacked the systemic prompts that Lü Shenmo enjoyed, Ling Donglai was continuously mobilizing every ounce of his internal strength.

The atmosphere on the battlefield was intensely fierce, and the mood among the spectators was equally heavy.

Up in the Drunken Dream Pavilion, Wang Yu, Zhao Kuangwei, and the others held their breath, unable to settle their racing hearts as they watched the battle unfold.

Such high-level combat was a rare sight indeed. In recent years, God-tier warriors had only intervened during a handful of border skirmishes.

As for masters of the Heaven and Earth realm, they served as the ultimate foundations of the major factions. They either remained in secluded cultivation within their own territories or traveled the world in search of opportunities to advance further. It had been many years since anyone last heard of a Heaven and Earth realm master taking action.

Among the onlookers, the young girl Dongfang Jiaonu was the most excited. The way she watched, one would think she was the one locked in combat down below. It was a complete mystery how the Dongfang family had managed to cultivate such a fiercely combative personality in a proper young lady.

"Brother Wang, exactly what realm has Mr. Ling attained?" Gazing at Ling Donglai, who was shrouded in surging vital Qi down below, Zhao Kuangwei could not help but swallow hard, tugging at Wang Yu's sleeve as he asked in disbelief.

Lü Shenmo, the God of War of Great Cang, was a name that resonated like thunder from the highest officials in the imperial court down to the humblest commoners throughout the entire empire. Since the inception of his fame, the legends surrounding Lü Shenmo were simply too numerous to count.

Lü Shenmo was definitely not someone an ordinary Heaven and Earth realm master could compare to.

Initially, although Zhao Kuangwei knew that Ling Donglai's strength had already reached the Heaven and Earth realm, he had merely assumed the man was at the early stage of that realm.

Yet judging by today's battle, his opponent was definitely not a simple early-stage Heaven and Earth master. An early-stage master could never fight Lü Shenmo to such a standstill.

Once one entered the Heaven and Earth realm, every single step forward created an immense gulf compared to before. Everyone present came from prestigious lineages with profound heritage, so they all possessed some understanding of the Heaven and Earth realm.

"Late stage!" Wang Yu waved his hand dismissively—it was hardly a secret anyway. At the same time, he refocused his attention on the battling duo, a profound gravity flashing briefly in the depths of his eyes.

Just moments ago, through the system, he had gained a relatively clear understanding of the combat strength possessed by a late-stage Heaven and Earth master.

According to the system's metrics, if the ultimate combat output of a late-stage Heaven and Earth master were converted into a numerical value, it would roughly fall between 132 and 135. Anything beyond that belonged to the realm of peak Heaven and Earth masters.

Although Ling Donglai was among the fiercest of the late-stage masters, the combat strength Lü Shenmo was currently displaying had already reached this late-stage standard.

Furthermore, according to the system, this likely was not yet Lü Shenmo's absolute limit. There was a high probability that Lü Shenmo still possessed an unactivated skill, meaning his true maximum combat capability should reside at the peak of the Heaven and Earth realm.

Presently, Ling Donglai was trading blows evenly with Lü Shenmo, but if Lü Shenmo were to unleash his ultimate strength later on, the outcome might become unpredictable.

"Late stage!" Hearing those two words, Zhao Kuangwei and Dongfang Jiaonu both constricted their pupils simultaneously.

As top-tier aristocrats of the Great Cang Imperial Dynasty, both of their households possessed a master of the Heaven and Earth realm. However, Zhao Kuangwei's family held only an early-stage master, just like the one in Wang Yu's household. The Dongfang family was slightly stronger, presumably having reached the mid-stage.

Breaking through to the Heaven and Earth realm was exceedingly difficult, and making further progress afterward was even more arduous. Therefore, within the Heaven and Earth tier, the vast majority remained at the early stage, with the number of individuals decreasing drastically the higher one went.

A late-stage Heaven and Earth master like Ling Donglai was a rare existence even across the entire Great Cang Imperial Dynasty, and peak-stage masters above them were scarcer still.

As for the ultimate limit of the Heaven and Earth realm, throughout the entire world, Wang Yu only knew of one such person. Whether others existed remained unknown to him.

If a late-stage Heaven and Earth master fought an early-stage master while being completely serious—treating the fight with the gravity Ling Donglai showed Lü Shenmo rather than the casual attitude he displayed on the road to the capital—resolving the battle might not be effortless, but it certainly wouldn't be overly difficult.

"How many years has it been? Just how many years has it been since I last encountered such an opponent!"

Lü Shenmo sighed internally. Ling Donglai's cultivation was indeed astonishingly formidable; being able to push one's martial arts to this degree truly made him one of the rare few in the present era.

"Ha!" Taking a deep breath, Lü Shenmo's aura shifted once again. Ever since his martial arts had reached mastery, he had only encountered a single opponent four years ago during the war against the Great Wu Imperial Dynasty who could force him to go all out. Today, he had encountered another.

"Before absolute strength, any technique you possess is utterly useless!" Lü Shenmo declared with a haughty and arrogant demeanor, standing tall and proud.

Gripping his long halberd with both hands, his entire body's aura erupted instantly. He swept the halberd horizontally from bottom to top, the weapon resembling a black dragon choosing to devour its prey as it lunged downward.

At that moment, although Lü Shenmo's movement lacked the flashy, sky-covering halberd radiance of his previous attacks—consisting merely of a single halberd shadow lunging forward—Ling Donglai's expression turned incomparably grave.

Earlier, Lü Shenmo's attacks had appeared terrifying, but his power had been dispersed into countless streams. With the power divided, Ling Donglai could naturally handle each incoming blow with ease.

Yet this time, Lü Shenmo had concentrated his entire strength into a single halberd strike. It looked simple, but in reality, it possessed the ultimate sophistication of returning to simplicity. Its destructive power was astonishing, far surpassing any of his previous assaults.

This strike discarded those flashy techniques, condensing the entirety of Lü Shenmo's strength and momentum into one ultimate blow.

"Ding! Lü Shenmo's Martial Berserker skill activated.

Martial Berserker: Born for martial arts, driven mad by martial arts..."