Chapter 680: Chapter 674: Chi Xiao! Blade Drawn!
[Sword Master]Medal had just ascended a few seconds ago when Ma Ran sensed an Upper Rank God’s aura, crossing the galaxies, relentlessly approaching the direction of the Solar System.
That aura neither belonged to the Golden Domain nor Lan Xi.
Hearing Su Qiangwei’s words, a look of surprise and delight appeared on Ma Ran’s face.
"You’ve successfully deciphered [Myriad Transformations] and combined it with Red Lotus Skill to create your own power?"
Even as he asked, Ma Ran knew the truth must be so as soon as the words left his mouth.
Otherwise, Su Qiangwei could not possibly sense the presence of an Upper Rank God; the gap in status between the two was far too vast.
"Hurry up and leave!"
Su Qiangwei became anxious, grabbing Ma Ran’s arm: "Don’t waste time!"
"This time, the enemy is unlike any we’ve faced before; it feels absurdly powerful!"
"Even separated by countless light-years, my body is trembling uncontrollably."
At this moment, the girl’s tone revealed unprecedented gravity: "Don’t you understand yet?"
"Even if it’s an enemy that can kill me in a single move, I have the courage to face it."
"But..."
"In front of this unknown enemy, my body instinctively felt fear!"
Hearing this, Ma Ran smiled gently: "Don’t worry."
"This opponent, I’m not unfamiliar with."
This was not a lie.
Though not fully acquainted, Ma Ran was not too unfamiliar with the Upper Rank God approaching Earth.
In just an instant of realization, he had already found the answer—the [All Heavens Rebirth Device] of Sikong Si likely came from this Upper Rank God approaching Earth.
That familiar and unique aura was the evidence.
With this thought, Ma Ran reached out and gently pressed Su Qiangwei’s shoulder, temporarily restraining her from leaving [Strongman Paradise].
"Don’t come out."
"Train well, seize the time to become stronger."
"As for everything else..."
"Leave it to me."
In Ma Ran’s view, Su Qiangwei had done excellently.
In less than a year, Su Qiangwei had progressed from an ordinary person to possessing power rivaling the deities, making the title of [Martial God] truly deserved...
She never wasted her talent, bringing Ma Ran surprise after surprise.
Even by Ma Ran’s exacting standards, she was an almost perfect companion in battle.
Ma Ran thought, except for her slightly silly personality, gluttony, and excessive obsession with surpassing herself...
Su Qiangwei had virtually no shortcomings.
At least in critical moments, she never faltered.
What Su Qiangwei lacked was merely time.
And whether this problem could be resolved did not depend on her—it depended on Ma Ran.
Having said that, Ma Ran took a step forward, and his figure vanished from [Strongman Paradise].
Seeing the direction he left, Su Qiangwei bit her lower lip, her eyes stubborn and resolute.
"This is the last time."
"In the future..."
"I will never let you fight alone again!"
...
Just as Ma Ran left [Strongman Paradise] and arrived on Earth, a stranger’s voice echoed in his ear.
"Such a large storage space, anchored to living flesh and blood..."
"Strongman Paradise?"
"Clearly, it’s just another Earth..."
Following the voice, Ma Ran saw a young man with blood-red hair about fifteen meters away, seemingly speaking to himself.
Red hair, black eyes, with regular features, although the other tried hard to restrain it, the aura was still extremely formidable.
Evidently, the other was an Upper Rank God from the [Divine Court], like Lan Xi and the Golden Domain.
Before Earth’s ascension, had the true body descended, even if the other intentionally restrained their aura, it would have been enough to crack the planet open.
Thanks to Ma Ran’s foresight, such a tragedy was avoided.
"Let me introduce myself."
The blood-red-haired youth showed a faint smile: "My name is Chi Xiao, an Upper Rank God from [Divine Court]."
"As for you, no introduction is needed."
"The renowned [Prophet] Ma Ran, how could anyone mistake you?"
Chi Xiao seemed to like laughing.
He laughed again for a moment after speaking halfway, then continued: "Throughout the cosmos, your fame resounds even with the Gods."
"Many view you as the ’Light of Hope’ resisting [Divine Court]’s tyranny..."
Chi Xiao’s tone carried a hint of amusement: "If you ask me, they’ve underestimated you in the end."
"Just now, the time pause spanning the cosmos, I can’t pretend not to have seen it!"
"Speaking of which, you’re a lucky one, favored by the cosmos’ will."
"You not only have friends like Lin Qiubai, Zhang Kuang, Zhao Guanlan, and Ye Fengqing but also break the boundaries at such a time node, reaching a level where you can speak equally with me..."
Chi Xiao’s words were clearly probing, trying to extract more information from Ma Ran to make a judgment.
But, hearing these words, Ma Ran’s lips slightly curled up, and his gaze became even clearer.
His words proved some of his assumptions.
The two most crucial points...
First, Lan Xi did not share all the information obtained with other Upper Rank Gods.
Second, although the Divine Court’s Controllers were highly ranked and overpoweringly strong, they were not omniscient.
"Give me a hand?"
Chi Xiao slowly floated before Ma Ran, unexpectedly extending a hand: "Emotionally, I’ve already acknowledged your strength."
"From a rational standpoint, I must test your level."
"It’s important, isn’t it?"
Saying this, Chi Xiao grinned wide, raising an index finger: "Because I find you agreeable, I can offer a piece of intelligence for free!"
"Listen well..."
"Though not bothered about ranking, I’m the third in the number of Demon Nests I’ve personally destroyed among the seven Upper Rank Gods!"
"Only Zhu Ding and Qing Dai are above me."
"So, despite my current appearance, I’m quite a dangerous character!"
Ma Ran’s eyes remained calm, his expression composed, without any overreaction.
Instantly, he analyzed Chi Xiao’s statements from beginning to end.
The "lending a hand" referred to by the other is native to Earth’s culture, more accurately a feature of Chinese martial arts circles.
Regardless of whether the symbolic meaning of "lending a hand" is positive or negative, its explosive nature is ultimately milder than "sparring" or "fighting."
This clearly demonstrated the other’s stance.
Though Chi Xiao was a typical hawk, presently, he did not want to fight Ma Ran to the death.
Now, he merely wished to test whether Ma Ran truly deserved equal treatment.
Before the founding of [Divine Court], the universe dramatically changed, and the upper gods of the old era fell one after another, their numbers reduced to zero.
Afterward, although the difficulty of breaking through to the Upper Rank God increased a billionfold,...
The gap in combat power between Upper Rank and Middle Rank Gods expanded exponentially in an unimaginably short time.
For a living entity to leap from the Middle Rank God realm to Upper Rank was akin to a game character in a video game jumping directly from level twenty-five to level one hundred, with stats excessively inflated!
Chi Xiao was not a detective, not interested in pursuing the truth.
He merely chased change and amusement.
And Ma Ran, was the most intriguing life form he had encountered in a million years.
"So?"
Chi Xiao smiled slightly: "Have you made your decision?"
Ma Ran’s gaze was calm as he looked at him, his right hand vibrating slightly.
Clang!
The Tang Blade unsheathed, its edge ringing!
