Chapter 349: Moving Forward

A wave of murmurs filled the air. After seeing what had happened in the arena, everyone was even more puzzled—what exactly had taken place that they hadn’t noticed?
“The match is over. It’s a draw!” Amid the murmurs, Doron spoke in a deep voice. After speaking, he gave Rod a slight nod and stepped back with Rup, leaving everyone in confusion.
“What’s going on? A draw? Could it be that Thousand Layer Slash was blocked?” This result was beyond everyone’s expectations. In a battle, only one side should win—no one expected a draw.
“That’s impossible! Even ordinary late-stage divine-level warriors find it hard to withstand Thousand Layer Slash, let alone someone who’s only at the early-stage divine level!” Beret immediately objected.
Meanwhile, Rod helped Nightingale back to the group. Her face was pale! Upon closer inspection, several cracks could be seen on her palms, with blood seeping from the wounds, and her entire arm was trembling slightly. The immense force had knocked her arm numb.
“Head!” Seeing Rod and Nightingale return, Viski and the others rushed over anxiously. Seeing Nightingale’s condition, they felt heartbroken. They hadn’t seen what had happened earlier, so they were puzzled.
“It’s fine. She just needs to rest for a while!” Rod reassured them.
Only he, Doron, and the two participants knew exactly what had happened. A draw was indeed good. During Rup’s final attack with that powerful Thousand Layer Slash, Nightingale used Tiger Break.
Tiger Break could shatter the heavens and earth, its power extraordinary, but it was still slightly inferior to Thousand Layer Slash. Under such circumstances, even Rod thought Nightingale was doomed. He only hoped she wouldn’t be in mortal danger. Unexpectedly, it was Rup who encountered problems at the critical moment.
After a long battle, his combat energy had been greatly depleted, and his stamina was failing. Under these dual pressures, he couldn’t fully execute his technique, and then something went wrong.
The moment the two techniques collided, Rup’s hand bones finally gave way, suffering internal damage.
Fortunately, Rod and Doron noticed the problem on the arena immediately, averting disaster. Otherwise, it would have resulted in mutual harm. Although Tiger Break wasn’t fully executed, what kind of technique was Thousand Layer Slash? It was a technique that surpassed his own level—even Rod admitted he couldn’t match it. How could Nightingale possibly come out ahead?

With just a slight touch, Nightingale was already injured, as most of the force was absorbed by Rod. Thus, the match ended in a draw with the tacit approval of Rod and Dolon. Hearing Rod’s words, Viski and Sognar felt slightly relieved—what might have happened if something really did go wrong to Nightingale? Looking at the group of madmen behind Rod, Sognar’s lips twitched. It seemed Nightingale was their leader, holding a high position. If something really happened, who knew what these desperate men might do? On the other hand, Rod’s relationship with Nightingale was clearly special—just by guessing, one could understand their bond. If Nightingale encountered trouble here and their relationship soured, things would become complicated. “The match is a draw between the two sides. Is there anyone else who wants to challenge?” After settling things with Rup, Dolon asked, looking at the crowd below who were discussing among themselves. As soon as he spoke, everyone’s gaze turned back to Rod, filled with complexity—especially when they looked at the people behind him. Three of his subordinates had won consecutively, and even a strong fighter like Rup ended up with a draw. Who would dare to challenge him recklessly? Wouldn’t that be like doing nothing but wasting time? For now, everyone could only turn their attention to the few elders at the front. Only these elders were capable of fighting now. If they didn’t step in, perhaps this matter would end here. Sensing everyone’s gazes, those elders groaned inwardly. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to stop Rod, but who was Rod? A notorious fierce fighter, known far and wide. Even at the divine level, he had done astonishing things, destroying many strong fighters, showing his overwhelming strength. Now, he had even reached the Yin Huang realm, while they were mostly at the later stages of the divine realm or at the peak of that stage. How could they compare to him? Of course, although Rod seemed unwilling to fight today and left it to his subordinates, they were confident they could defeat those people, but they couldn’t express their frustration. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to step forward—it was that from the beginning until now, they had been under the gaze of one person! They couldn’t move. The owner of that gaze was Rod, who had been watching them the whole time. These elders knew that if they dared to fight, Rod himself would be waiting for them. Wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?

It was truly hard to express one’s feelings—at that moment, several people wore grim expressions and sighed secretly; perhaps today’s events would end here.
At that time, Rod stared coldly at those elders. After a long while, a faint smile appeared on his lips as he let out a sigh of relief. He had sensed their intentions and knew they wouldn’t step in.
From the very beginning, when Viski asked to compete, Rod had focused all his mental energy on those most threatening among the late-stage divine beings. As long as they didn’t intervene, it didn’t matter if he left everything to Viski and the others—they had the ability to fight.
But if those elders intervened, they were far beyond Viski and his group’s ability to resist. In that case, Rod had to step in himself to resolve the situation. This was also why those elders hadn’t intervened from the start. Rod kept a close watch on them—would they dare take any action?
“Good. Since no one else is willing, this matter is considered settled. Knight Rod, tomorrow our clan will send someone to take you to the Netherpeak Mountains. You’ll be given ten days—how much you can achieve depends on your own skills!” After a long pause, he glanced around the crowd. Everyone was too angry to speak, and no one challenged him further. Dolon began announcing the result.
“Head! We succeeded!” Skora and the others were the first to react, exclaiming excitedly. Though they didn’t know what use the Netherhell Fire could have, they believed it must be something valuable and were happy for Rod.
In contrast, the members of the Black Phoenix clan were disappointed and somewhat resentful, but there was nothing they could do. They looked at Rod and the people behind him, forced to swallow their frustration.
“Kid, you’re lucky~” Sognar said with envy, sneering at Rod. He thought to himself that this guy was really lucky—the Netherhell Fire was no less than the Dragon Clan’s Void Space, a sacred place for cultivation, especially for those practicing fire elements. It seemed Rod was a fire element practitioner; cultivating there would surely double the results.
More importantly, it seemed Rod was in such a hurry because he wanted to reach a breakthrough! It had only been a short time since he entered the Yin Yellow stage, and already he wanted to break through? Just thinking about it made him feel ashamed—such terrifying speed. After this breakthrough, the gap between him and others would widen again.
Of course, they didn’t know Rod was aiming for the Yang Xuan realm. If they had known, what would they have done? Their eyes would probably have fallen to the ground.

Once the results were out, the members began to disperse, and in no time the once noisy area fell silent. Rod also returned to his own residence with his group.
“Brother Rod, congratulations!” Lucy had followed him somehow and said cheerfully. She was naturally happy to see Rod succeed; in her view, anything good she had should be shared with Rod.
“Congratulations!” Aida and Eileen also came up to Rod and spoke. Rod smiled at Aida and Lucy, but frowned when he saw Eileen. After learning some things about the opposition group, his gaze toward Eileen became even more complicated—he didn’t know how to view her. From her perspective, everything she did was right, but from Aida’s perspective…
Any matter, viewed from different angles, would yield different outcomes and answers, Rod could only tell himself that.
With all this chaos, the day passed quickly. Night fell, and the cold wind brought a gloomy, chilly feeling typical of winter.
The next day, Rod got ready early, packed some necessary items, and went to the hall. Members of the Black Phoenix clan, the Dragon clan, and the Scorpion King clan were all there, with most of the Black Phoenix clan present. After greeting them upon entering the hall, Rod found a seat to sit down.
“Today, Hei Yin will take you to the Nether Peaks! Starting from today, you have ten days—only ten days! I hope you make the most of it!” Dolong said solemnly, looking at Rod.
“Mm, this time Rod owes the Black Phoenix clan a favor! Without further ado, if anything is needed, Rod will do it without hesitation!” Rod said readily, slightly bowing his fist. It was certainly good to have someone familiar to guide him.
At the same time, he knew he definitely owed this favor—and a big one at that. It would likely take a long time to repay it, but it was all worth it. Rod had a vague feeling that this trip to the Nether Peaks would bring him unexpected benefits.
After giving those instructions, Rod didn’t linger. Starting from today, he had no time to waste, so he had to make the most of every second. He quickly pulled Hei Yin along and headed toward the mountains.