Chapter 23 Dual Breakthrough

Who in this world can live without shame?

Ye Chuxiao's saber not only cut through life and death, but also instantly clarified the originally chaotic concepts of good and evil within Zong Hou’s heart.

Those past deeds that he was ashamed of surged into his heart, questioning his very soul.

This duel gradually shifted from a superficial contest of saber techniques to a battle of spiritual cultivation.

At this moment, Zong Hou could only instinctively swing his saber to prevent Ye Chuxiao from getting closer.

In an instant, the saber danced like fire, densely packed and sweeping across the area. From an outsider's perspective, it would seem that Zong Hou was unleashing a powerful move, intending to take advantage of the situation to suppress Ye Chuxiao.

Therefore, at a certain level and realm, it becomes difficult to judge the strength and weakness of a fight with the naked eye.

Throughout the entire Arena Eleven, no more than five cultivators could clearly see the true contrast between Ye Chuxiao and Zong Hou's current advantage and disadvantage.

Ye Chuxiao's Yuanyang Saber soared into the sky, carrying the thunder of cutting through life and death. The saber energy was violent, and the supreme yang contained unparalleled power of judgment.

The seemingly powerful whirlwind of flames appeared chaotic and disorderly in the face of this saber, which seemed to embody the highest and most impartial judgment.

"Scatter!"

Ye Chuxiao uttered a soft cry.

The fiery light that filled the sky dissipated in an instant.

In an instant, arcs of lightning and the raging flames intertwined with the saber light, forming a dramatic clash of light and shadow.

After a fleeting moment of firework-like splendor, the lightning and flames were completely cleared from the sky.

Only then did the spectators realize in surprise that Zong Hou was actually at a disadvantage.

Although this conclusion was not surprising, it differed greatly from what they had seen with their own eyes.

Some Wen family cultivators, sitting in the audience, held shadow stones, recording Ye Chuxiao's battle as usual.

"Record, the target seems to have made new breakthroughs, suspected of touching the boundary of the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing), it is recommended to close the net as soon as possible," the Wen family cultivator holding the shadow stone whispered into it using secret language.

At this moment, Zong Hou finally stopped insisting on using only martial arts techniques.

Huge fire wings suddenly unfolded behind him, and terrifying whirlwinds lingered around him.

Wind and fire converged, forming a grand feast of wind and fire.

The originally crimson flames gradually transformed into a blue-purple hue under the blowing of the raging wind.

The rapidly soaring high temperature not only scorched and lashed the ground but also caused the surrounding temperature to suddenly increase sharply.

At this time, the cultivators sitting in the front row of the stands suffered again.

If their cultivation was not high enough, they could only honestly move back.

Otherwise, they might be roasted into dried corpses by the aftershocks of the high temperature.

Zong Hou compromised; he used spells and no longer relied solely on martial arts.

However, he was still filled with a desire to win this battle.

The turmoil in his heart did not completely affect the methods he displayed outwardly.

He was not a three-year-old child. He could not lose all his abilities and kneel on the ground crying just because there were huge fluctuations in his heart.

Zong Hou began to use spells, but Ye Chuxiao remained stubborn.

The Yuanyang Saber in his hand hummed, and its spirituality seemed to become more abundant and obvious under Ye Chuxiao's guidance.

Wind and fire formed a huge vortex, quickly surrounding and enveloping Ye Chuxiao.

Deep in the center of the vortex, the extreme high temperature seemed to tear through the defenses on Ye Chuxiao's body, completely melting him.

Slash with the saber!

The saber, carrying the lingering power of that judging slash, cut straight into the vortex.

The extremely violent airflow exploded with a bang.

The scattered air waves turned into terrifying wind pressure, spreading in all directions.

A defensive formation rose on the arena stage, blocking the impact of the battle's aftershocks.

However, the appearance of the formation also meant that this battle had better end within five minutes.

After all, the maintenance of any formation requires energy consumption.

The free arena could not provide too much long-term formation protection.

If Ye Chuxiao and Zong Hou insisted on continuing the battle, all losses after the battle would be borne by the loser...unless the loser was dead, in which case the winner would pay.

With a single slash, he tore through the wind and flames. Ye Chuxiao did not give Zong Hou a chance to shake his spiritual roots and draw more energy from heaven and earth to transform into spells.

Technique cultivators’ methods are powerful and their firepower is known to be the strongest among all cultivators, but their pre-casting time is relatively long, and they have few advantages in close combat and melee combat.

At this time, under Ye Chuxiao's constant pressing, Zong Hou had reached the end of his rope.

At this moment, facing Ye Chuxiao's oncoming saber light, the past years flashed through his mind like a comic strip.

Those once proud, regretful, joyful, and guilty moments condensed into an abundant yet decisive spiritual force, running through all his accumulated experiences.

It was like glass being shattered by a stone.

Like ice being broken by an iron rod.

Like a bright red dot suddenly appearing on a piece of paper covered with messy black lines.

At this moment, in this instant, Zong Hou's mind took a step forward.

It was this step that allowed him to enter the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing). All his accumulated knowledge, thoughts, and ideas achieved a thorough understanding at this moment.

In terms of spiritual realm, he was undoubtedly in the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing).

It was just that his physical body, methods, and energy accumulation were still stuck below the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) and needed time to transform.

But in any case, his realm was now a step higher than Ye Chuxiao's.

Facing Ye Chuxiao's oncoming saber light, Zong Hou's eyes were calm, and he returned a strike with his backhand.

The seemingly ordinary saber strike, after being unleashed, became as majestic as the clear sky and the great sun, bright and dazzling, impossible to look at directly, impossible to resist.

This aura rushed straight into the stars, affecting subtle changes in the celestial phenomena.

Someone looked up in a daze, as if they saw a second blazing sun hanging high in the sky.

"No way! Zong Hou actually broke through during the battle!"

"Isn't this only a plot in storybooks?" Someone guessed the truth and exclaimed.

They couldn't believe that this kind of scene, where someone directly broke through in the midst of a fierce battle, would actually play out right before their eyes.

Although the cultivators in the Wasteland Fighting World (Huangdou Jie) were fond of fighting and mostly used fighting to quickly promote the growth of their cultivation, it was rare for them to break through during a battle.

Most of them still accumulated through battle, and then in the subsequent summarization, keenly captured the direction and successfully broke through.

Facing Zong Hou's step forward and successful breakthrough, Ye Chuxiao was not surprised but delighted.

Therefore, Zong Hou had become an even more 'suitable' opponent for him.

A cultivator who only had the realm of the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) but lacked the foundation of the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) meant that the actual gap between them was not that great.

And fighting against such a Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) cultivator was simply the best thing for Ye Chuxiao.

Zong Hou was like a mirror to him.

At this moment, Ye Chuxiao intuitively felt that he was only one step away from pushing open that door.

He didn't have time to think about what he was missing.

As long as he continued to fight, the result would naturally appear.

At this time, Zong Hou, who had returned to using saber techniques, transformed the saber light into a blazing sun. No longer in the previous aggressive but also unstable state, his saber stance was particularly heavy, crushing the airflow. In front of the saber's edge, vortices of airflow were rotating, tearing at Ye Chuxiao's figure and blocking Ye Chuxiao's space to avoid.

At this time, Ye Chuxiao could only rely on his strong physical foundation, supplemented by some other methods, to forcibly charge through the airflow vortex, passively dodging Zong Hou's powerful saber edge.

Even so, when Zong Hou's precious saber fell in front of Ye Chuxiao, Ye Chuxiao could only parry passively.

If the Yuanyang Saber were not sturdy and powerful, it would probably be vaporized by Zong Hou's powerful edge upon collision.

Even so, the originally bright light of the Yuanyang Saber appeared a little dim at this time.

This time, Ye Chuxiao was forced into a dead end.

But standing on this desperate situation, Ye Chuxiao's eyes became brighter and brighter.

Death energy continued to permeate around him.

A strong death aura entangled and accompanied him.

The first saber of Eternal Life (Chang Sheng), which had not yet been unleashed, was pushed by an instinctive demonic nature towards the second saber that had not yet been mastered.

The closer to death, the closer to eternal life!

This seemed to be a vicious curse.

The Eternal Life (Chang Sheng) Saber... or the Death-Seeking Saber?

At this moment, Ye Chuxiao simply did not have time to think more carefully.

In a trance, in Ye Chuxiao's eyes, the bleak and desolate death energy suddenly added infinite vitality.

The darkness of death and the verdant green of life merged together, giving off an undefinable purple light.

This purple... seemed like the rhythm of the Dao of creation.

"Life and Death are of One Hue!"

Ye Chuxiao unleashed the second saber of Eternal Life (Chang Sheng).

This saber was a saber to reverse life and death.

The boundless death aura was cleaved into infinite vitality by the effect of this saber.

The closer to death, the closer to eternal life!

Zong Hou, wielding his saber as if wielding the great sun, was also forced back by Ye Chuxiao's sudden outburst.

Afterward, he had to quickly swing his saber, shining out more light like the blazing sun, to barely resist the attack from the Life and Death as One Hue (Sheng Si Gong Yi Se).

However, the more confident Zong Hou was in resisting and counterattacking, the more intense and persistent the risks and crises he faced became.

Life and Death are of One Hue (Sheng Si Gong Yi Se) referred not only to Ye Chuxiao, the one wielding the saber, but also to Zong Hou, the one facing it.

In Ye Chuxiao's case, death could be transformed into vitality, but in Zong Hou's case, all vitality was permeated with the intent of death.

It was like a vicious circle, completely enveloping the two of them.

And within this envelopment, Ye Chuxiao did not stop progressing, nor did he stop transforming.

This Life and Death are of One Hue (Sheng Si Gong Yi Se) saber was integrated by Ye Chuxiao into the 'Water' stance of the Nine Styles of the Saber Lord (Dao Zhu Jiu Shi).

The setting sun and lone ducks fly together, and the autumn water shares the same color as the long sky!

The color of the sky and water may not be better than the Life and Death as One Hue (Sheng Si Gong Yi Se), but the water reflects the sky and has the power of the heavens.

Life and death are just a link in the cycle of the Heavenly Dao.

Ye Chuxiao could not directly integrate the Heavenly Dao into his saber technique, but he could use water as a mirror to reflect the light of the sky, the color of the sky and water.

When Ye Chuxiao comprehended this second saber, his realm naturally broke through.

Following Zong Hou, he also achieved the feat of breaking through in battle.

When this newly born saber completely fell.

Facing this saber that seemed to spread out like a vast lake, but reflected the ever-changing colors of the sky, the great sun in Zong Hou's saber could only be reduced to a silhouette in the color of the sky and water.

"Xiao Ye also broke through!"

"This is crazy! A duel, and both of them broke through in battle. When did breaking through in battle become so casual?" Someone questioned jealously.

But their questions could not affect the entire battle from entering its final climax.

Buzz...!

This was the sound made when saber edges clashed.

The sound of the two sabers vibrating at extremely high frequencies against each other burst out with a sound frequency that was initially difficult for ordinary people to capture, then constantly became louder, and finally became extremely ear-piercing.

At this point, no more spectators dared to sit in the front row to watch the fight.

They all retreated to the fourth row and beyond and set up their respective defensive measures to resist the invasion of the battle's aftershocks.

And what they were enduring had already been weakened by the protective formation.

The saber lights moved apart, and the precious saber in Zong Hou's hand shattered all over the ground.

What he was holding was never the real blazing sun.

And this false blazing sun eventually dissolved on the water surface reflecting the light of the sky.

Zong Hou looked at his blood-stained palm, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes, but there was no discouragement.

"You won, thank you for your mercy!" Zong Hou said.

Ye Chuxiao said, "Don't thank me. My Saber of Questioning the Heart (Wen Xin) did not really throw you into chaos. This either shows that you have a firm heart, and even if you have done countless evils, you have no worries and are a true great demon, or it shows that you have very few guilty deeds in your heart. I prefer the latter, so you should not die."

Zong Hou nodded upon hearing this and said, "Tyrant Saber (Ba Dao)... Tyrant Saber (Ba Dao)! This title is not suitable for you."

"Heavenly Saber Questioning the Heart (Tian Dao Wen Xin), Water Reflecting the Sky (Shui Se Ying Tian)! You should be called Heavenly Saber (Tian Dao)."

"Whatever, today's battle was hearty and fulfilling. Both of us have gained a lot," Ye Chuxiao said, sheathing his saber.

Zong Hou glanced around and then said, "Someone asked me to challenge you, but... it was my own decision to come and fight you."

Ye Chuxiao nodded and said, "I know, I am a thorn in someone's side. I am aware of that."

Ye Chuxiao then added in his heart: "After today, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold back any longer!"

When he was below the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing), Ye Chuxiao was a thorn in the Wen family's side, a thorn in their flesh, but ultimately not a serious problem. It was not worth spending too much energy, let alone wasting the Wen family's good reputation.

Therefore, the Wen family deliberately guided, and even invited some unorthodox cultivators to challenge Ye Chuxiao, intending to let Ye Chuxiao die in the arena.

But now, Ye Chuxiao had broken into the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) and was only one major realm away from the top-level realm cultivator in the ordinary sense.

For the Wen family, this was definitely no longer a mere 'petty thief,' but a major threat.

"Well, it's time to harvest the first batch of 'fruits' today!"

"I originally wanted to wait a few more days!"

"I just hope that the people the Wen family arranged to take action won't waste my premature harvest," Ye Chuxiao thought.

Zong Hou was defeated, but he achieved his goal and successfully advanced to the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing).

Without being too polite with Ye Chuxiao, he directly left.

And Ye Chuxiao said goodbye to his enthusiastic fans and returned to the small courtyard.

In the small courtyard, within the increasingly complex and cumbersome array of seals, invisible energy light locks hung one figure after another upside down.

Counting them, there were at least twenty or thirty people.

Among them, some were heretical cultivators that Ye Chuxiao had defeated head-on in the arena, and some were evildoers that Ye Chuxiao had secretly captured.

Now they were all imprisoned here by Ye Chuxiao, planted with Dao rhythms, and taught the Secret Technique of Ascending the Tower (Deng Lou Mishu).