Chapter 221: Chapter 217: Myriad Forms Qi Blade, Iron Armor Divine Thunder
Blade light like the wind, deducing infinite changes, sweeping across the heavens, coming from the front yet converging from all directions.
Yuan Zhen’s eyes were filled with blade light, his perception entirely made up of sharp intensity, all around—up, down, left, right, front, back—surrounded by blade energy, like the wind enveloping his body, shrouding the wilderness and Six Harmonies.
Zhong Shenxiu’s Sword Intent was capable of piercing the mind, causing suppressed stray thoughts to burst forth, an unexpected move that put Yuan Zhen at a severe disadvantage the instant they crossed swords.
Now he could only feel fortunate that he hadn’t chosen to dodge earlier but had confronted Zhong Shenxiu using Sword Control.
Otherwise, that blow of same nature spirit into his mind, releasing those weak thoughts, would have been a truly desperate situation.
Now, there was still a chance to break the game.
Yuan Zhen only hesitated for a moment before Suppressing the stray thoughts again. Facing the complex blade light like the wind, he opened his mouth and spat out a dark black Sword Orb, which suddenly split into threads of Sword Light.
Yuan Zhen actually had a Sword Orb!
The dark black Sword Silk moved around his body, forming a large black net like a spider weaving its web, an extreme sharpness emerging.
"Ssssssss—"
The dense Blade Light was mercilessly cut apart, all its changes, all its energies, touched by the sword net and were instantly dispersed.
Thousands of blade lights shattered instantly, revealing a figure in front; Geng Metal Sword Light broke through the air, transforming the blade light into three, top, middle, and bottom, heaven, earth, and human, forming a triangular formation, gathering the Three Talents.
"Three Talents Sword."
Yuan Zhen clenched his sword formula, his face bearing a solemn color, clearly annoyed inside.
He had been hiding his strength, but now he was forced to reveal a second Sword Orb; further speculation might even link him to that Sword Cultivator who used the red Sword Orb.
"Clang!"
The Observation Blade was finally truly unsheathed, Zhong Shenxiu held his blade behind, seemingly a simple stance but concealing a mountain-like heavy force, deceptively slow but swift, blocking the middle sword while his foot, heavy as a mountain, stomped down, the booming Qi causing the ground’s Sword Light to bounce up, barely colliding with the overhead Sword Light.
But at that moment, the frontal sword net split open, the dark black Sword Silk entwining around.
"Refine sword into silk."
Zhong Shenxiu said sternly, raising his blade, the Blade Light blazing.
Among Sword Cultivators, refining the sword into silk meant refining Sword Qi into fine threads, turning sharpness into a single line, vastly increasing its power.
And the essence of a Sword Orb was to amplify the Sword Qi, transforming it into Sword Light, forming a sword shape, perfectly aligned with refining sword into silk; using the Sword Orb to execute refine sword into silk increased its sharpness even further.
Just as Zhong Shenxiu raised his blade, the Sword Silk had already tangled around the blade, the blazing Blade Light was sliced in an instant, revealing the shiny and smooth blade which now displayed black thin lines—those were the Sword Silks cutting into the blade.
Facing the Great Divine Power of refining sword into silk, was Zhong Shenxiu unable to even save his blade?
The reversal of the situation was so sudden and rapid, just a moment ago Zhong Shenxiu was about to defeat Yuan Zhen in one move, the next moment it was Yuan Zhen turning defeat into victory. The strength displayed by both made the spectators unexpectedly awestruck.
"Master Yuan Zhen actually still hid his strength..."
Zhang Daoyi muttered.
"So overbearing?!" Yang Ji clenched his fists tightly.
Whether it was Zhong Shenxiu or Yuan Zhen, their strength was above his. Although Yang Ji was more than a decade older than the two, facing either would only result in defeat, not victory.
Under the gaze of the spectators, each with their own thoughts, Sword Silk slaughtered, a black line flashed—
The Observation Blade broke into large and small fragments.
Without surprise, Zhong Shenxiu’s sidearm was easily severed.
The Sword Silk moved, and the Geng Metal Sword Light merged into one, attacking from front and back, seemingly about to defeat Zhong Shenxiu.
Yet the unexpected happened at this moment.
Disadvantage triggered "Unbendable by Force," causing True Qi to explosively increase in power. However, the desperate situation had no effect on the mental state enhanced by "Wealth and Honor Cannot Corrupt." Zhong Shenxiu shifted his stance, just as countless large and small fragments transformed into numerous blade lights, rotating, each blade light displaying myriad scenes—mountains, rivers, flowers, trees...
The entire universe was within the Blade Light.
"Qi Blade!" Yuan Zhen exclaimed in surprise.
No mistake, it was Qi Blade!
The Observation Blade was not made of metal, but transformed from Qi Blade, its essence being True Qi. Zhong Shenxiu’s sidearm was actually a part of himself.
An unexpected surprise led to another shift in the situation.
Zhong Shenxiu swung his hand with a radiant blade light, meeting the Sword Silk and Sword Light alongside the sceneries of the universe.
The fantastical and magnificent Blade Light and shadow, the crisscrossing Sword Qi, the intense collision of blade and sword gave rise to bizarre sceneries, one moment flowers and trees were torn by Sword Silk, the next moment mountainous Blade Light shattered Sword Light.
"Suddenly—"
"Ding, ding, ding, ding!"
Numerous Blade Lights converged, colliding with Sword Silk creating a resonant clang, then gathered in Zhong Shenxiu’s right palm.
The clear and pristine Blade Light wrapped around his hand, the palm and blade became one, Zhong Shenxiu incorporated the universe’s shadows into his hand and reversed the blade to strike down.
In Yuan Zhen’s eyes, all was a magnificent change.
His pupils nearly narrowed into a line, thoughtlessly summoning Geng Metal Sword Light and Sword Silk to the front, two Sword Orbs spinning smoothly, Geng Metal and Gui Water Qi intertwining, generating water from metal, then reformed into a sword net.
"Clang!"
Resounding like a great bell, the Sword Qi burst forth.
The Blade Light fell, with the majesty of mountains, the grandeur of rivers, the ferocity of flood dragons, and the fierce strength of tigers and leopards... A simple slash, yet it conveyed the mystical nature of heaven and earth.
Those who had not witnessed such scenes, who had not seen the manifestations of nature, could not deliver such a strike.
One slash made the sword net tremble, and the sword silks weave chaotically.
Zhong Shenxiu stood still, his hands moved, and the Blade Light appeared again.
Another slash, the energies of Geng Metal and Gui Water burst forth, the sword silks failed to hold their form, breaking apart, and two Sword Orbs almost shattered.
Zhong Shenxiu advanced and chopped again, the third slash—
But at this moment, Yuan Zhen retracted his Sword Orbs, and contained his Qi Mechanism, saying, "I concede."
The third slash did not fall.
Zhong Shenxiu’s Blade Light dipped low, his eyes like mirrors, gazing at Yuan Zhen, "You still have strength left."
"I concede," Yuan Zhen said lightly.
He indeed still had strength left.
Jiang Li’s pupils slowly focused, as if awakening from a dream, he looked at Yuan Zhen, ’Yuan Zhen still has a Sword Orb in my possession, this one is of the Fire Attribute, Yuan Zhen could at least control three Sword Orbs simultaneously, along with the Xiyi Sword Skill... His strength, is definitely not just what he’s shown.’
Zhong Shenxiu was also aware of this.
Unfortunately, since Yuan Zhen had already conceded, even if Zhong Shenxiu’s fighting spirit had not faded, it wouldn’t be right to strike again.
"Buzz—"
The Blade Light sliced through the air, carrying a slight hum, pouring its Sword Force onto the ground, leaving a long slash mark.
Zhong Shenxiu slowly turned around, looking at Jiang Li.
"Do you still need time to recover?" he asked.
In the end, only Jiang Li and Zhong Shenxiu remained.
Since everyone else had been defeated, they had essentially withdrawn from the competition for Ghost Gate; after all, there was only one Ghost Gate, and even if a second place was determined, there were no prizes, it was only necessary to decide one winner.
’Yuan Zhen still had reservations, not daring to reveal everything, preventing me from easily claiming victory, but...’
Jiang Li slowly stood up, lamenting, "What a pity."
It was a pity that he wasn’t at his peak now, not good to compare with Zhong Shenxiu.
It was a pity that this time, he couldn’t contest with Zhong Shenxiu anymore.
The final victor would be decided between Jiang Li and Zhong Shenxiu, and whoever won, Ghost Gate would ultimately fall into the hands of the court’s influence. Both Dinghu Sect and the Imperial College were on the side of the court.
This was undoubtedly something someone could not accept.
Thus, there would be no final match.
Jiang Li had already seen it, the person among the spectators, his eagerness brewing.
In the distance, Yang Ji placed his right hand behind him, palm facing upwards, an irregular iron sphere floating and spinning in his palm, the runes imprinted on its surface gradually illuminating, streaks of Thunder Light flashing.
While talismans were the common method of preserving killer moves within Mystic Sect, aside from talismans, there was another way to preserve such moves.
Outer Elixirs, or so-called Fake Pills.
Alchemy experts used metals like Gold and Mercury to refine Outer Elixirs, sealing compatible killer moves within, for their disciples to carry with them.
This kind of preservation through Outer Elixirs also required the disciples to infuse True Qi and Divine Essence to activate them, but unlike talismans, which constantly draw Divine Essence, it absorbed a large amount of True Qi and Divine Essence intermittently, having the disadvantage of causing weakness periodically, but also the advantage of not impacting strength.
Because talismans constantly drew on Divine Essence, they affected strength, whereas, with Outer Elixirs, this was not necessary.
Previously, Jiang Li noticed that Yang Ji only carried two trump cards within him because his third one wasn’t in his body.
The instant the Thunder flashed, its violent aura caught everyone’s attention. Yang Ji exerted force from his palm, and the crossing thunder and lightning carried the iron sphere through the air, its radiant Thunder Light suddenly entering everyone’s field of vision.
"Iron Armor Divine Thunder!"
Zhang Daoyi yelled loudly, "It’s Heavenly Gang Divine Thunder!"
The Iron Armor Divine Thunder from among the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Thunders appeared here, its violent aura verifying its Grade; it exploded violently, unleashing Thunder and Fire.
"Boom!"
A mushroom-shaped Calamity Cloud rose on Middle Finger Peak, the wild air currents washing over the land, and thunder and fire covering a radius of ten miles like a torrential downpour.
Then, as righteousness soared to the sky, Pure Light poured forth; Zhong Shenxiu and Yuan Zhen activated their trump cards simultaneously, protecting their bodies while attempting to dispel the Thunder and Fire, and Zhang Daoyi also manifested Yin Yang Qi above his head, forming a Taiji symbol.
Only Jiang Li, who was enveloped by Thunder and Fire, showed no signs of life.
Among those present, Jiang Li was openly known to lack a means of preserving his life. In this sudden attack, theoretically, there was no possibility of surviving.
Meaning, Jiang Li was dead.
Having surpassed Zhang Daoyi, and fought Hui Lun, the person was about to face Zhong Shenxiu when he died so abruptly and unexpectedly.
This sudden outcome shocked everyone present; then, Yuan Zhen decisively controlled his sword, rushing towards Ghost Gate.
Yang Ji chose this moment to act not simply to kill Jiang Li but to seize Ghost Gate; Yuan Zhen had already seen that figure approaching through the Thunder and Fire.
This was an opportunity.
Yang Ji’s opportunity to seize Ghost Gate; Yuan Zhen’s chance to take hold of Ghost Gate.