The six crushed petals turned into streams of pure energy that drilled their way into Liang Chen's body, roaring through his vein as his blood started to seethe. The power radiating from his body drastically increased, an intense burning pain filling his entire body as his bloodline started to move within his veins.

There was a reason this secret technique was called the Mad King's Rage, and there was a reason Liang Chen hadn't used the technique the moment the battle started. The technique was created by Wrathful King Shuten Yimo, the third-in-command of the second Sebettu Emperor, it was a technique he crafted to allow even the weakest of their soldiers to temporarily unleash great strength.

The technique used the great energy that was created when one broke their Dragon Lotus to rouse the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline within their veins, bringing it to the brink of breaching to unleash terrifying might. The thing that gave the technique its name was the severe repercussion of using the technique.

The energy that was unleashed when the bloodline was brought to the brink was so great that it placed so much of a strain on the Sebettu's body that it was able to shatter their body and kill them. But it wasn't this repercussion that gave the technique its name, the repercussion that gave this technique its name was the fact that since the technique brought the bloodline to the brink of breaching.

Bringing the bloodline to the brink of breaching meant that you were practically burning the bloodline as you forced it to unleash more power than ever before. This meant that if one used the technique too much, all their Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline would end up vanishing, turning that Sebettu into a cripple who couldn't even use their Dragon Lotuses, as they were dependent on the bloodline.

Normal Sebettu could use this technique a total of three times, losing all their bloodline upon the third activation, but Liang Chen's bloodline had yet to fully awaken, so he wasn't a normal Sebettu. Thus, it would require more rousing to get his bloodline to unleash the strength of this technique, resulting in a greater loss than usual. Liang Chen guessed that he could at best use this technique one more time in his life, losing all his Heaven Devouring bloodline as he activated the technique.

This was, of course, something he wished to avoid, which was why Liang Chen had not wanted to activate this technique here. But he did not regret activating this secret technique, as it was the only way to ensure the safety of him and Yan Ling.

As more and more of his bloodline was forced to activate and unleash more strength than normal, changes started happening to Liang Chen. His hair was still as ghastly gray as it always was when he activated his bloodline, but his left eye turned a deep golden in color and his right eye a glimmering emerald. The scales covering his arms and legs started to once again grow, covering his entire torso, some of the scales turning a deep crimson as several of them shattered and blood spurted out, Liang Chen's body unable to bear the burden of the strength.

Under the shocked gaze of Yan Ling and the wary yet arrogant gaze of Huang Dong , a faint figure started to appear around Liang Chen. The figure was in the shape of a serpentine dragon covered in gray scales, one eye golden and the other emerald. The dragon was the exact same as the illusion Fan Jiahao and Huang Dong had briefly seen before, but this one was far smaller, only large enough to coil around Liang Chen.

There was also another difference, this dragon was not an illusion. It was so faint that it was nearly translucent, but it was no illusion, anyone could see it, a sign of Liang Chen's bloodline awakening a bit more due to the secret technique. Once his bloodline had fully awakened, the dragon would become completely corporeal, Liang Chen able to either control or fuse with it using his bloodline.

Looking at Liang Chen's scales shattering and turning bloody, Yan Ling bit her lips so hard that blood started dripping forward. She knew what had forced Liang Chen to use drastic measures like this, her stubbornness. Before this competition, her father wanted to give her several talismans, like the ones he had given her before she entered the Mystic's Hidden Realm, but she had rejected them all.

She wanted to be more like Liang Chen, relying on herself rather than some talismans to keep herself safe as she increased her strength. If she continued to use her father's talismans, would she ever grow to become strong enough to properly walk next to Liang Chen? It was these thoughts and worries that had caused her to reject the talismans, caused this scene in front of her to happen.

Yan Ling continued to bite her lips, intently looking at what was about to happen. Liang Chen said he would leave the rest to her, leave the aftermath to her. She did not want to betray that trust he had put in her, so she could not let her watch drop for even one second, as that one second might result in her losing her chance.

Liang Chen clenched his fists, a tearing pain running through them from that simple motion. He could not keep this technique active for long, his still weak body would not be able to handle it. He didn't waste any time on words, stomping the ground and shooting forwards, the earth in surrounding one-kilometer area shattering due to the force of that one step.

Huang Dong was still filled with arrogance, but he felt that something was a bit wrong with the situation. Liang Chen looked like he was recklessly dashing at him, but there was not a single opening on his body, not one place where it looked like Huang Dong might land an attack. There was also that faint image of a dragon that coiled around Liang Chen, as well as the horrifying energy that his body released, there was clearly something wrong here.

Huang Dong decided to temporarily not engage Liang Chen in a head-on fight, jumping away and using his law of hardening to turn the air in front of Liang Chen into a solid wall. But the wall proved completely ineffective, Liang Chen crashing through it like a juggernaut as he continued to charge at Huang Dong. He arrived in front of Huang Dong in less than a blink, punching out with a bloody right fist, time itself distorting uncontrollably around his fist.

Huang Dong's eyes narrowed slightly as he clapped his hands, the gravity around Liang Chen turning several times heavier than before, his feet sinking into the ground and changing the course of his attack. Huang Dong took the chance to jump back and put more distance between them, waving his right arm as he did so.

The earth around Liang Chen's feet hardened to a state tougher than any steel, trapping his legs. Several thin needles of gravity formed above Liang Chen, plummeting down and stabbing into his body. Each needle drastically increased the gravity affecting the places they stabbed, taking advantage of the fact that they only had to affect a very small area. Since the affected area was so small, the gravity became so heavy that Liang Chen's left elbow, left shoulder, and three of his ribs instantly shattered, one of the shattered ribs piercing into his lungs and slowly filling them with blood.

Liang Chen grit his teeth and swallowed down the blood that started to rise up his throat, tensing up his legs so much that the heel on his left foot shattered, the earth around it breaking. He knew that even if he used this self-destructive strengthening technique, his cultivation was too low to increase his strength by enough to kill Huang Dong. But his plan was never to kill Huang Dong, it was just too wound him so much that Yan Ling could kill him.

With the earth around him shattering, a deep crimson bolt of lightning flashed out from Liang Chen's body, heading directly for Huang Dong. Liang Chen jumped up and stepped onto the lightning bolt, riding it as it headed directly for Huang Dong. Liang Chen held his spear as he rode on the bolt of lightning, stabbing out with it, the tip of the spear completely white from the poison that covered it.

Huang Dong's eyebrows furrowed slightly when he saw the scene. He had never heard about Liang Chen being able to use crimson tribulation lightning, usually, only talented cultivators of the Primordial Immortal realm had a slight chance to be able to control this lightning. He didn't want to take this lightning head-on, so he swiped his interspatial ring and took out a round ceramic plate covered in crimson runes.

Huang Dong shattered the ceramic plate, the crimson runes spreading into the air and forming the image of a tall mountain. When Liang Chen's spear and crimson lightning hit the image of the mountain, it felt like he had crashed into an actual mountain, neither his spear nor the lightning able to pierce through it. The image of the mountain grew fainter and fainter, eventually vanishing from sight, but by then it had already blocked Liang Chen's attack long enough for Huang Dong to put more distance between them.

Liang Chen looked at the remains of the ceramic plate with somewhat narrowed eyes. Never had he expected Huang Dong to carry a portable defensive array with him. Was it something he had been given or was it something he had created himself? Liang Chen raised his eyes, casting his gaze back onto Huang Dong. With his state rapidly getting worse, it seemed like he would have to take even more drastic measures.

He stomped the ground, even more power bursting forth from his body, time itself starting to slow down around him, the earth beneath his feet corroding and vanishing as his poison leaked from his body. He then charged at Huang Dong again, blood starting to leak from his seven orifices as he resembled a raving beast.

Huang Dong's eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked at the still-charging Liang Chen. It was easy to see that his state was getting worse, but at the same time, his power continued to rise. It wouldn't take long for him to become so strong that he might actually be able to wound him. Huang Dong could not, would not, allow this, he had to strike down Liang Chen before that.

And then, just as Liang Chen send out a sideways slash with his spear, Huang Dong found the opening he was looking for. He stepped closer to Liang Chen, using his left fist to punch the spear upwards and neutralizing the attack. He then punched out with his right fist, the attack easily landing on Liang Chen's chest. Huang Dong hardened his fist and increased the gravity around it by so much that space around it started to creak slightly.

He then had all the force from his attack move forwards, Liang Chen's entire chest caving inwards his lungs practically turning into pincushions thanks to his shattered ribs. Huang Dong expected this to be enough to finish the battle, but then he saw Liang Chen let go of his spear and use his right hand to grab onto Huang Dong's fist, which was still in contact with Liang Chen's chest. Huang Dong instantly felt that something was wrong, his fears affirmed when he heard Liang Chen's cold voice and saw his grim grin.

"Now you can't run from me."

Huang Dong felt a horrid chill run down his spine, a sense of deathly danger flooding his mind. But it was too late for him to run now, Liang Chen tightly grasping his wrist. Liang Chen stretched out his left arm, placing his palm against Huang Dong's chest. And as his cold voice rang out again, the faint dragon image that was coiling around him cast its merciless eyes onto Huang Dong.

"Second step splits the waterfall."

All sound was drowned out after Liang Chen's voice sounded out, a crimson light spreading out from his left palm, so bright that it was blinding. The earth around the two of them turned to ash and vanished, even space itself starting to form thin cracks. But Liang Chen was unable to see any of this, having lost consciousness the moment he launched his attack. In his strongest state, Liang Chen unleashed the strongest attack he could bear, all so that he could wound Huang Dong so much that Yan Ling could finish him off.