Zhang Boqian stood in the clouds, his daybreak origin shining like the rising sun.

The Radiant Emperor was surrounded in rolling black mist. Whenever the clouds began to fade, mist would surge out from the ground to supplement and reform them. The image of a soaring snake slowly appeared and spread its wings once more. Under the protection of those wings, the mountains, rivers, and states spread out like an ancient drawing.

Origin power explosions filled the area between the two combatants. The surprising thing was that the shockwaves only moved in a single plane and not even one bit of it dropped downward. That went to show how good their control was.

“Still lacking a little bit,” Zhang Boqian said slowly, the anger from before nowhere to be seen. The moment he crossed swords with the Radiant Emperor, he realized that this was a heavenly monarch challenge, one that had not been scheduled in advance.

In truth, the outcome was already evident with respect to the challenge. The Radiant Emperor had failed to cross the threshold of a heavenly monarch, but unlike most failed candidates, he had already opened up all the checkpoints—all he needed was accumulation.

The fight would turn into a stalemate if they kept on going. The entire Imperial...