Since ancient times, defeating two foes in the same realm marked a prodigy. Slaying an opponent effortlessly earned the title of genius. Overcoming many with few crowned one a supreme talent.
Rarer still were freaks who crossed great realms to kill—monsters unseen in millennia.
Lan An was such a freak.
Yet now, shackled to a fraction of his power, limited to earth techniques, even he found the odds daunting. Especially against Bai Lie and Bai Yang, who hadn't fought, their spiritual energy brimming, their combat strength at its peak.
Ten prodigies encircled him. If unleashed fully, a single Spirit Fusion Palm could crush them. But that was a mere "if."
Spectators gaped, baffled. Bai Lie, Bai Yang, and Yu Chen—proud, noble prodigies of the White Sand Empire—were renowned for fair duels. Their united assault on Lan An, intent on overwhelming him, was unthinkable.
They didn't know that before a favor from Lord Bai Zhi, pride and honor were laughable. Bai Zhi's influence and Early Body Unity strength were immense. His favor could sway most in the empire.
Especially for Bai Lie and Bai Yang, vying for Bai Lian Hua's favor, neither would let the other gain an edge.
On the high platform, Crown Prince Bai Tian sipped wine, intrigued. A past champion of the Earth Battle Grand Assembly, he'd never seen such a spectacle.
Bai Lian Hua, however, was fraught with worry, her delicate face tense, lips pursed, hands clenched. Why was Brother Lan An the target of this mob? Seeing Bai Lie and Bai Yang's smugness, she felt disgust. Her brothers could've easily advanced—why gang up on him? Despicable.
Nangong Yuan's stunning face was calmer. She knew Lan An's measure, his strength, his cunning.
"Thanks for the high regard. I'm truly flattered!" Lan An grinned wickedly at the ten surrounding him, unshaken.
The group didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was cornered, yet still so brazen.
His prior feats proved his might, but they believed it insufficient here. He had two choices: surrender or fight desperately, dragging a few down with him.
"Death looms, yet you're still cocky!" Yu Chen sneered, Black Sand glinting in his eyes. This time, Lan An wouldn't rise.
"General Yu Chen's using Black Sand!" the crowd gasped, sighing. Wen Lang was done for.
"Little Brother, some foes you can't afford to cross. This prince kindly teaches you a lesson," Bai Lie said gravely, his aura surging.
"My first time teaming up—quite the experience," Bai Yang remarked casually, as if ganging up was mere sport, not fear.
Lan An's eyes narrowed. The sand quaked, white earth energy swarming Bai Lie and Bai Yang, crowning them like kings.
"White Sand? The princes are using the imperial technique!" Spectators erupted in awe and envy.
White Sand Prison Art, a High Spirit-Grade technique crafted by the empire's ancestors through eons beside the Ancient Bear Prison Earth, far surpassed Yu Chen's Black Sand Heart Sutra. Only direct imperial descendants could cultivate it, excluding even Bai Chun.
Seeing the princes deploy it, the crowd concluded: Wen Lang was finished.
Lan An realized the empire's techniques and arts stemmed from the Ancient Bear Prison Earth, fostering generational dependence. To seize their Strange Earth, he'd have to risk everything.
"Though I admire you, Da Ling wants to advance!" Da Ling declared, flexing. Earth energy surged from the ground, enveloping her robust frame.
In moments, a ten-zhang-tall colossus of hardened clay emerged, angular and inviolable.
"Great Earth True Body, the Great Earth Tribe's strongest technique!" a knowledgeable spectator shouted.
Borrowing earth energy to fortify the body, it was a mobile fortress.
"Such formidable defense!" Nangong Yuan frowned. Her Golden Needles would struggle to pierce that clay armor.
Qi Ming transformed next, his flesh turning to viscous black mud, faintly dissolving into the ground, sticky and terrifying.
"Adhesive Quicksand! Qi Ming excels at defense and control," a past opponent noted.
Not to be outdone, the five-man team chanted, "Earth Fusion Array!"
Four formed a square, channeling earth energy to their leader at the center. Before Lan An's stunned eyes, the leader's strength surged to Mid Spirit Transformation.
The Earth Fusion Array amplified one by borrowing the others' power, astonishingly effective.
"No wonder they've lasted. Each has unique strengths," Lan An muttered, impressed.
As the ten glared, he struck first.
Raising his Heavy Sword, he unleashed Mountain Suppression at Yu Chen.
"Haha, foolish!" Yu Chen laughed, dissolving into Black Sand, his speed soaring.
"Let's test Wen Lang's might!" Da Ling's voice boomed from her Great Earth True Body, her clay fists smashing toward Lan An.
Boom!
Mountain Suppression clashed with her colossus, numbing Lan An's arms, forcing him back. Da Ling's massive form staggered, nearly crushing the others.
"Idiot woman!" Qi Ming cursed, his Adhesive Quicksand forming a brace to steady her.
"Five-man strike!" the team's leader roared, their combined energy forming a Mid Spirit Transformation Earth Palm Seal, engulfing Lan An.
"Earth King Seal!" Bai Lie and Bai Yang sneered, weaving seals, their White Sand-infused seals far stronger than Bai Chun's, radiating danger.
"Mother Earth's Embrace!"
Lan An encased himself in the sand egg, a recently acquired defensive technique.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three attacks battered the egg, cracks spreading rapidly.
"Explode!" Da Ling laughed, her giant fists hammering down like a sledge.
Boom!
The egg shattered. Yu Chen, seizing the moment, reformed from Black Sand, his Black War Spear aimed to pierce Lan An.
"Where is he?" The empty egg stunned all ten.
Unnoticed, Lan An appeared beside one of the Earth Fusion Array's four, his Heavy Sword crashing to break their formation.
"Quicksand!" Qi Ming gritted his teeth, mud surging to bind Lan An's legs, slowing his strike.
"Earth Fist!" The team's leader exhaled, countering with a Mid Spirit Transformation punch, protecting the array.
Boom!
The punch halted Lan An's assault.
"Troublesome," Lan An sighed. Each foe's strengths—defense, control, amplification—made their united front formidable. Defeating them all was impossible.
He had one option left.
With a thought, he shattered the Quicksand with his Heavy Sword and leaped skyward.
"Pointless struggle!" Bai Lie and Bai Yang scoffed, seals forming.
"Earth Prison!"
White sand swirled, encasing Lan An in a cage.
Lan An frowned. He couldn't use Swift Shift here without exposing it, unlike within Mother Earth's Embrace.
Sandstorms within the prison sliced his body, leaving scars despite his cultivation.
"Haha, Earth Prison's internal defense is unbreakable. You're trapped!" Bai Lie and Bai Yang laughed.
"Really?" Lan An muttered, striking with Mountain Suppression.
Boom!
The prison shook but held.
The princes smirked, hands weaving to repair it.
"Take my fist!" Da Ling's colossus advanced, fists pounding the prison to crush Lan An.
The crowd's faces twitched.
Crack!
To Bai Lie and Bai Yang's shock, Da Ling's strike shattered their Earth Prison.
Lan An emerged, eyes gleaming at Da Ling.
"Great Earth Glacier!"
His Heavy Sword thrummed, earth energy amplifying it, crashing toward Da Ling's massive form.
Stolen from Hai Ha's storage ring on the Sea Continent, Great Earth Glacier was devastating.
Da Ling couldn't react, her body nearly splitting, sinking into the arena.
Her colossus collapsed, forcing others to scatter, faces contorted.
"Team-killing pig!" Qi Ming slapped his forehead.
"Brainless brute!" Bai Lie and Bai Yang cursed, red with rage.
"Jade Shatter!" Yu Chen struck from behind, Black Sand fueling his Black War Spear.
"You'd make a fine assassin," Lan An sneered, his earth-infused Gentleman's Demon-Slaying Fist meeting the spear.
Clang!
The fist pierced to his bones, but Yu Chen flew back, coughing blood, less injured but seething.
"Your tricks are spent, and you can't touch us!" Bai Lie sneered.
"What if I surrender?" Lan An grinned, stunning them.
"Perfect!" Da Ling clapped excitedly.
Qi Ming's group darkened. They weren't as naive—Lan An was stalling. They needed to end this swiftly.
"Coward!" Yu Chen's trio fumed. Surrender would rob them of their chance to kill him.
Exchanging glances, they resolved to slay Lan An before he could yield.
Seeing his bleeding hand from the spear, they realized he was mortal. With full force, his defeat was inevitable.
They closed in, leaving no gaps.
Lan An's face grew grim, raising his Heavy Sword defensively.
His expression convinced them their strategy was right, tightening the encirclement.
Spectators sighed, believing Wen Lang doomed.
But Lan An's grimness morphed into a sly grin.
"Not good!" A chill gripped the ten.
His Spirit Earth Cauldron spun at full power, and he whispered, "Desert Fury!"