Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 638: Instant Defeat

Such was Wang Ling’s pride. As the recognized number one of the younger generation in the Peacock Demon clan, even the children of the royal family treated him with great respect. He was exceptionally talented, having manifested the Peacock Golden Crown at the age of twelve, and had never been complacent, always working hard.

When Wang Ling was sixteen, Wang Han told him that he was the most outstanding of the younger generation in the Peacock Demon clan, and that he had the opportunity to become the next clan leader. The Peacock Demon clan was facing pressure from the Ancestral Court, and only the emergence of an Emperor could solve all their problems.

Wang Ling had taken this as his mission and cultivated diligently. Finally, a year and a half ago, he broke through to become a Demon King and fully condensed the Peacock Golden Crown. Having the crown gave him the right of succession, so he had always been one of the possible heirs. Of course, because he was not a member of the royal family, his ranking was technically below Mei Gongzi. But in Wang Ling's heart, he had never considered Mei Gongzi a competitor. One reason was her mixed blood, and another was his confidence in his own strength.

However, no one had expected that in just a year or two, the Peacock Great Demon King would first take Mei Gongzi into seclusion for cultivation and then have her pass the ancestral trials to wield the Celestial Plume. This made the queen consort, Wang Han, and others realize that the Peacock Great Demon King truly intended to pass the clan leader position to Mei Gongzi, his mixed-blood descendant.

It was only then that Wang Ling started to notice this half-blood cousin of his. Although Wang Yan had told him long before that Mei Gongzi's strength was not lacking, Wang Ling had not paid attention at the time. He had never believed there was anyone in his generation who could even match him, much less defeat him.

But now, it was different. Today, she stood in the position of the clan leader's successor, and Wang Han had informed Wang Ling that Hundred Birds Greet the Sun was his final opportunity. Initially, Wang Ling did not expect to be allowed to challenge her, because he was a Demon King while Mei Gongzi was not. Yet the dozens of prospective challengers lost their eligibility when Mei Gongzi advanced to Demon King, and conversely, he was now eligible.

There were still a few Demon Kings that had the right to challenge her, and Wang Han had just sent a message to his son to wait until the end, but Wang Ling could wait no longer. It was his innate pride and self-respect that made him step out. If he couldn't defeat Mei Gongzi in a fair fight, how could he have the face to compete for the clan leader position? If he had such an opportunistic mindset, he would have never reached the heights he was at.

"Please enlighten me!"

Mei Gongzi wasn’t intent on insulting him, but neither did she have much to say to him. In her eyes, everyone was an opponent, and defeating the opponent was all that mattered. She didn't know how many challenges were ahead, so there was no point wasting time.

The high platform was not very large, far smaller than the competition platform of the Ancestral Court Elite Competition, but that was not relevant; few experts of their level would fight on the ground.

With a flash of silver light, the two figures rose into the air.

"Do not use the Celestial Plume," the queen consort's voice called out. The Celestial Plume was the clan’s most important foundational weapon, and having it gave too great an advantage for those who controlled space.

In reality, the Celestial Plume had long since recognized Mei Gongzi as its master, and the Hundred Birds Greet the Sun ceremony did not prohibit the use of divine artifacts. When she shouted this, the queen consort thought the Peacock Great Demon King would rebuke her, but to her surprise, he said nothing and simply continued holding her hand.

At this moment, the queen consort faintly felt that the Peacock Great Demon King's hand was strangely cold. She instinctively looked at her husband, only to see him sigh and shake his head. "Why bother? It's useless."

Both figures rose into the air, each with a Peacock Crown above their head; one golden and one platinum, both dazzling.

Wang Ling made a gesture of invitation to Mei Gongzi.

Mei Gongzi pointed to the sky with her right hand, her black hair floating despite the lack of wind.

In the next instant, the sky darkened, and the entire castle of the Peacock Demon clan was shrouded in darkness, with only faint starlight swirling around.

Wang Ling was slightly stunned. Star Shift? She’s already mastered Star Shift? She just finished the Ancestral Court Elite Competition, which meant she should have just passed her tribulation! And she’s already mastered our strongest divine technique?

He hadn't paid much attention to Mei Gongzi's title as the champion of the Ancestral Court Elite Competition. In his view, if his cousin could achieve it, then he certainly could have done it as well, had he not reached the god level before the competition.

But at this moment, his heart grew heavy. He could use Star Shift as well, and he knew better than all his peers that this technique was not something that could be used casually.

Silver light surged, and a peacock feather appeared in Wang Ling's hand. The golden crown on his head also burst into dazzling light, making the starlight in the dark sky even brighter.

Two opponents who could both use Star Shift would first compete for the starlight—essentially a battle for control over the space element surrounding them.

Mei Gongzi still pointed to the sky with her right hand. In the next moment, Wang Ling suddenly felt a bit dazed. The platinum crown on Mei Gongzi's head suddenly shone brightly, and a vast divine consciousness rippled out.

Wang Ling felt as if something had been stripped from him, leaving his body empty. In the next moment, he simply fell, and he had to partially transform into his demon form, opening his peacock wings to stabilize himself.

Strands of silver light gathered in the air, surrounding Mei Gongzi and silently merging into her. The light gradually formed vortices that swirled around her, while Wang Ling's own light had long since dimmed.

Mei Gongzi looked at Wang Ling, who was flying below her, and slowly lowered her right hand, pointing at him.

He instinctively raised the peacock feather in his hand, trying to activate his bloodline power to use his best ability. But at that moment, he realized that his bloodline power was frozen and couldn't be mobilized at all. Even more terrifying, despite the abundance of space elemental energy around, not a single bit of it obeyed his command.

In the next moment, his entire body was frozen in mid-air and surrounded by silver light. He was unable to move a muscle.

With a flash of silver light, he reappeared on the ground, right in front of the elders, still unable to move due to the spatial restraints on him.

In mid-air, Mei Gongzi frowned slightly, feeling somewhat surprised herself.

What, that was all?

She’d expected a serious challenge, but this was honestly far easier than the matches she’d had during the Ancestral Court Elite Competition.

Just as the battle was about to begin, she called upon the space element, merging with it. Then she sensed that the opponent was also trying to manipulate the same energy, even attempting to lock her Star Shift. She instinctively drew all the space energy to herself, and in process, stripped her opponent of it.

This was what usually happened when fighting a far superior bloodline of the same attribute—it was pure attribute suppression. But how much better could her bloodline be? No, his bloodline was close to perfection, so even if hers was absolutely perfect, the suppression shouldn’t have been anywhere near this strong. In other words... her control over space was orders of magnitude better than his.

As a fellow space element manipulator, he had lost all control over space. How could he fight like that? Even a basic spatial restraint rendered Wang Ling unable to move and sent him tumbling to the ground.

The entire audience fell silent instantly.

The Peacock Demon clan members all knew who Wang Ling was; they were well aware of how talented and strong he was, and that he was the undisputed number one of the younger generation. In fact, even outsiders who didn't know Wang Ling could tell at a glance that he was an unusually powerful Demon King.

But the battle was over in just one move.

Victory? What victory? This was just trampling on the weak!