As an eighth-stage pseudo-God, Guardian Lu could somewhat pit himself against true Gods even if he wasn't as strong as a true God. Thus, he couldn't accept being treated with such contempt by Xiang Shaoyun.

"Stupid and stubborn," said Guardian Lu as a clump of green radiance appeared in his palm. The clump kept pulsing like a clump of flame radiating a high concentration of energy.

Greenlife flame!

With a wave of his palm, the green clump erupted and spread toward Xiang Shaoyun like wildfire. He was actually using the power of wood. However, his power of wood actually behaved like flame, berserk and merciless. It was a unique wood power that could threaten anyone in the same cultivation realm.

When Xiang Shaoyun sensed the unique power, he did not dare to be careless. Green armor appeared on his body. He threw his fists out, sending his fists crashing against the greenlife flame like a pair of massive wooden stumps.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Guardian Lu's power seemed stronger as it devoured Xiang Shaoyun's attack and spread toward Xiang Shaoyun. Xiang Shaoyun reacted rapidly and charged Guardian Lu like a phantom. He turned his fist into a palm and slapped Guardian Lu's head.

That palm attack was strong enough to slap a mountain into fine powder. If it struck Guardian Lu, it would probably kill him. In response, Guardian Lu raised his arm and repelled the palm. He then waved his other hand to surround Xiang Shaoyun with green flame.

The greenlife flame was a type of destructive wood energy. The moment one touched it, one wouldn't be burned to death. Rather, one's astral energy would be burned, causing one's combat strength to drop. Due to the close distance between Xiang Shaoyun and Guardian Lu, he immediately sensed his astral energy start to wither away.

Fortunately, the level of his energy was different from all cultivators. Otherwise, he would be completely clueless as to what to do in this situation. Guardian Lu seemed proud of himself as he sent several attacks toward Xiang Shaoyun, trying to engage Xiang Shaoyun in melee combat.

Xiang Shaoyun narrowed his eyes and said, "You think you can take me on with melee combat? Dream on!"

He decided to ignore the green flame around him and focus on attacking with his physical strength. After all, he already had a true god body. Even without astral energy, his punches were strong enough to kill pseudo-Gods.

In the span of several blinks of an eye, they had exchanged over 1,000 moves. Each clash was incredibly loud as the sound waves rumbled around them, causing space to collapse repeatedly.

Nobody could see the fight clearly. Even Great Saints could only see some phantoms flickering on the ring, greatly astonishing the crowd. Everyone there knew that Xiang Shaoyun was strong, but none had expected him to be so strong. 

Why is this kid not affected by the greenlife flame? What's going on? thought Guardian Lu anxiously.

Melee combat had always been his strong suit, so he was unable to accept the fact that someone was suppressing him in melee combat. In truth, Xiang Shaoyun wasn't exactly immune to the greenlife flame. Each punch of his was without any astral energy, yet the odd greenlife flame could still further weaken his punches by 30 percent. Otherwise, he would have punched Guardian Lu to death with the strength of his god body.

I can't keep dragging this on, thought both Xiang Shaoyun and Guardian Lu.

Nether Green Finger!

Guardian Lu flicked all 10 of his fingers, sending 10 green beams shooting at Xiang Shaoyun from tricky angles. Due to the short distance between the two, the beams instantly reached Xiang Shaoyun and penetrated his body. The 10 holes left on his body were a demonstration of how powerful these beams were.

"Haha, now that you're hit by my Nether Green Finger, prepare to die," said Guardian Lu joyously as he distanced himself from Xiang Shaoyun.

Not only was his Nether Green Finger capable of burning away his opponent's astral energy with the power of the greenlife flame, but its beams also contained a terrifying nether poison that could easily poison Gods to death.

Xiang Shaoyun could sense the changes within his body. His astral energy was being burned away by the greenlife flame while the nether poison was corroding his life force and numbing his nerves. He would have collapsed already if he didn't have a god body.

Sure enough, no pseudo-God is weak, sighed Xiang Shaoyun inwardly. His astral cosmos sea erupted with power as his primal chaos lightning resonated with his lightning bone. The primal chaos lightning, a power of extreme yang, erupted and rapidly repelled the greenlife flame and nether poison in his body.

Guardian Lu's eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, "How is this possible?"

Eightfold Nether Palm!

Guardian Lu did not dare to hold back and erupted with all his strength and unleashed the strength of a God. A thin layer of God Realm energy appeared around his palms as eight green palms appeared and fused together. They shot toward Xiang Shaoyun with the might of an attack that had been amplified eight times. This attack was beyond what a regular pseudo-God could resist. Even Xiang Shaoyun started feeling pressured.

"You're worth me being a little bit more serious than before," said Xiang Shaoyun as he calmly threw a punch out. An indescribable power instantly enveloped the ring. A power filled with the vicissitudes of life covered the ring and shook the world.

Boom! 

The palm and the fist collided, creating a terrifying shockwave that caused the ring to shake repeatedly. Even the ring made of god-grade materials and protected by a god-grade formation started cracking, demonstrating the might behind the collision. The surrounding people were greatly shocked, and the weaker ones collapsed onto the ground from sheer fear.

The fight in the ring was akin to a fight between Gods. It would definitely be an impressive feat for one to remain standing after witnessing such a fight. The god-grade formation whirled into action and was only able to block the shockwave after considerable effort. If the formation was any lower than god grade, the ring would have been destroyed.

"What a terrifying strength. It has been a long time since a fight of this level appeared in the Immortal Arena."

"With their strength, they are strong enough to become Heaven Battling Saintkings. I wonder which one is stronger?"

"Whatever the result of this match is, Xiang Shaoyun's rise is all but confirmed. He will definitely be able to earn his place on the Heaven Battling Ranking."

"Xiang Shaoyun is still so young. I wonder how many people can still be his match after he enters the Rebirth Realm. It's a pity he has offended the Immortal Road Chamber."

...