Chapter 1186: Seven Swords
In Meng Duanxi's world, he had accidentally trapped himself within the Guishui Domain unique to the Liuguang Realm. But instead of panicking, he relied on his absolute strength to tear the famous Guishui Domain into a ragged mess.
However, what others saw was that after Meng Duanxi's second attempt to sever Shui Meiyin's water curtain, he suddenly froze in place. Then, the sword in his hand directly slipped from his grip and fell onto the Feng Shen Platform.
After that, as if possessed, he began to drift and dance wildly through the air, flailing his arms, his eyes vacant and unfocused. Soon, he had "danced" his way out of the Feng Shen Platform area and only then stopped.
Leaving the Feng Shen Platform area meant defeat.
Meng Duanxi descended from the air and left in dejection, his body and soul both feeling hazy.
He had lost.
Lost to Shui Meiyin, who was only at the Divine Spirit Realm, Level 1.
But he had absolutely no idea how he had been defeated.
Shui Meiyin possessed terrifying mental strength, capable of controlling others' hearts and souls. This, he naturally knew and had prepared against. But... from start to finish, he had never sensed any mental intrusion at all, completely unaware of when he had fallen under her spell.
The third match of the Feng Shen Group ended with this result.
Meng Duanxi, Divine Spirit Realm Level 9, defeated by Shui Meiyin, Divine Spirit Realm Level 1.
In terms of profound force alone, Shui Meiyin was absolutely no match for Meng Duanxi.
But her terrifyingly extraordinary mental strength completely bridged what should have been an insurmountable gap.
"Now do you understand?" Mu Bingyun said. "To be at the Divine Spirit Realm at age fifteen is already unprecedented. On top of that, she was born with a unique soul and possesses mental strength that defies all reason. Although she cannot achieve the perfect triple cultivation of wind, thunder, and earth like Luo Changsheng, if she were the same age as Luo Changsheng, on this Feng Shen Platform, her comprehensive abilities might be enough to crush even him."
Yun Che nodded but said nothing.
The fourth match was Shui Yingyue against Chao Feng. The result was without suspense; Shui Yingyue won easily.
Thus ended today's four matches of the Feng Shen Group, but the immense shock they brought lingered long. Jun Xilei's sword that instantly defeated Huo Poyun, Luo Changsheng's effortless destruction of Lu Lengluan's Huanglong Sacred Realm, Shui Meiyin's complete victory over Meng Duanxi across eight minor levels... all deeply shook every profound practitioner in the Eastern Divine Region.
Especially for those young practitioners who had always been confident in their own cultivation achievements, it was nothing short of an earth-shattering impact.
After a short rest, following the Feng Shen Group came the even more brutal Loser's Bracket battles.
In the four Loser's Bracket matches, four would be eliminated from the top sixteen, halting their journey in the Feng Shen Battle.
"First match of the third round of the Loser's Bracket: Yun Che of the Yin Xue Realm versus Wu Guike of the Shenwu Realm!"
This match once again firmly focused the countless gazes of the Eastern Divine Region.
But the focal point was definitely not the already famous Wu Guike, but Yun Che!
Shui Meiyin's victory over Meng Duanxi across eight minor levels could be considered a miracle. However, the most shocking and unbelievable scene of this Feng Shen Battle was undoubtedly yesterday's match where Yun Che completely defeated Luo Chang'an.
His utter fearlessness toward the Shengyu Realm, his almost cruel methods of retaliation, and the chasm of a major realm he crossed with strength that defied all understanding.
Everyone desperately wanted to see whether that had been a flash in the pan due to some special reason, or... whether he could continue the divine miracle that should have been impossible yesterday.
On the Feng Shen Platform, Wu Guike stood there, his posture proud but his expression slightly unpleasant.
No one knew the depth of his hatred and rage toward Yun Che... it was definitely thousands of times stronger than Jun Xilei's. Jun Xilei had suffered the humiliation of kneeling, but as for Wu Guike... even if he chopped Yun Che into a thousand pieces, it would be hard to vent the hatred in his heart.
And yet, his two biggest weaknesses in life were still firmly held in Yun Che's hands. Every time he thought about this, he was so suffocated with shame that his heart and liver felt like they might explode.
"Go... be extremely careful! The profound arts of the Shenwu Realm are extremely fierce. Try to use Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick as much as possible and avoid direct confrontation." Mu Bingyun reminded him.
"Mm!" Yun Che nodded, then leaped onto the Feng Shen Platform.
Looking at Yun Che, the corner of Wu Guike's mouth twitched noticeably.
In Wu Guike's eyes, Yun Che had always been a nobody—no, not even a nobody, just a piece of trash who had cheated by blackmailing him. If not for the leverage Yun Che held over him, he wouldn't have deigned to give him a second glance.
And now, he had actually become his opponent in the Feng Shen Battle!
"Begin the battle!" Quhui Zunzhe commanded coldly.
"What a coincidence, Young Master Wu," Yun Che said nonchalantly.
"You... are not worthy to be my opponent!" Wu Guike gritted his teeth.
"Heh!" Yun Che let out a low laugh, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
Boom!!!!
An incredibly violent burst of air exploded fiercely from Yun Che's body. He directly activated the Heaven-Shattering state. His aura skyrocketed at a terrifying speed. With a wave of his arm, the Heaven-Defying Sword grasped in his hand, his profound energy quickly turned into a light crimson color, as if stained with blood.
Perhaps spurred by the strength of Jun Xilei, Lu Lengluan, Luo Changsheng, and Shui Yingyue, there was a force in his chest demanding release. He went straight into his peak state.
In the spectator stands, everyone's expressions changed dramatically. In that single instant, the transformation of his aura was like the overturning of the heavens and the seas. Many almost instinctively thought their perception was malfunctioning.
Wu Guike, standing directly in front of Yun Che, felt as if a hurricane had struck him. His body was noticeably shaken, and his heart was filled with terror. He actually felt a suffocating sensation—an extremely strong one.
This... how is this possible!?
As his heart pounded, the Yun Che in his sight suddenly flickered. A vermillion sword light blasted toward him.
Clang!
Wu Guike, who had originally not intended to use a weapon, instantly summoned a heavy halberd. His gaze darkened, and his profound energy erupted like a volcano, meeting the vermillion sword light head-on.
Bang!!!!
A deafening boom, as if a massive air bladder had exploded. All the air within a dozen miles was expelled in an instant.
Sword and halberd clashed together, locked in midair. The entire audience was stunned. Wu Guike's eyes widened dramatically.
The Shenwu Realm had always disdained elemental power, instead specializing in the simplest and purest profound force. Their defenses were as solid as metal and their attacks extremely ferocious. Every strike was inevitably fierce and overwhelming. Thus, when facing someone from the Shenwu Realm, the worst thing to do was to clash head-on.
Mu Bingyun had warned Yun Che of this as well.
But Yun Che's very first move against Wu Guike was a straightforward, head-on collision, and it was Yun Che who initiated it.
When everyone thought Yun Che was seeking his own death, the outcome on the Feng Shen Platform left them all dumbfounded.
After a brief stalemate in the center of the platform, the two were... evenly matched!
In other words, Yun Che had directly blocked Wu Guike's fierce force head-on.
And the shock in Wu Guike's heart was far greater than anyone else's. Under that "impossible" suffocating sensation, he had struck with full force, holding nothing back, expecting to crush Yun Che in one blow. But he never imagined that Yun Che would completely block it, not even taking a single step back.
The immense recoil force caused a violent tremor in his internal organs.
But that was only the first sword. Yun Che's expression remained unchanged as the second sword blasted over.
Boom!!!!
Wu Guike's whole body shook violently, his arms momentarily numb.
Such a fierce release of force should have had a slow rhythm. But Yun Che possessed the Foxin Divine Meridian personally bestowed by Mu Xuanyin, allowing his profound energy to circulate and flow extremely quickly. Before Wu Guike could even catch his breath, Yun Che's third sword smashed down from the sky, its momentum undiminished compared to the first two.
Wu Guike's pupils contracted.
Boom!!!!
The heavy halberd in Wu Guike's hand, weighing tens of millions of catties, was smashed into a crescent shape by the sword. Wu Guike's face turned pale, his upper body leaning backward. He then slid back along the ground for hundreds of zhang. The moment he steadied himself, his entire body swayed, and three streams of blood poured from the corners of his mouth and nostrils.
"Wha..." The Shenwu Realm King, Wu Sanzun, shot to his feet, his face full of shock.
In the spectator stands, countless mouths hung open in exaggerated awe, unable to close for a long time.
And Yun Che's fourth sword arrived in an instant. Even through the energy barrier, everyone could clearly feel the majestic, ocean-overturning sword might. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it came from a young profound practitioner whose cultivation was only at the Divine Tribulation Realm, Level 8.
Wu Guike looked up, gritted his teeth, and churning air waves surged around him, stirring up a peculiar Shenwu Law.
"Jinwu Tianyu!!"
With Wu Guike's low roar, the aura of the Feng Shen Platform twisted abruptly.
Yun Che's movement froze in midair. He felt as if he had suddenly fallen into a thick, sticky swamp. An extremely domineering aura fiercely suppressed his body and profound energy, causing his aura to plummet as if trapped in a cage.
"Damn it!" Mu Bingyun cried out softly.
Wu Guike took a heavy breath, revealing a twisted, sinister smile. He grabbed his heavy halberd horizontally and thrust it toward Yun Che.
Yun Che's gaze turned cold. Under the suppression of the Jinwu Tianyu, his movements were noticeably slower. But on the Heaven-Defying Sword, a dazzling blue light suddenly burst forth.
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding
In an extremely dense yet surprisingly pleasant sound of crystallization, the dazzling blue light spread rapidly, in an instant filling every corner of the Jinwu Tianyu, turning the colorless suppressing domain into a deep icy blue.
Ping!!
In the next instant, like a star exploding, light fragments filled the sky, carrying the Jinwu Tianyu into complete and utter shattering.
Domains are all connected to one's own energy flow. The more thoroughly they collapse, the greater the backlash. Wu Guike, who was gathering force to charge at Yun Che, received a heavy blow. His whole body convulsed violently, the profound energy he had just gathered directly scattered, and a surge of blood rushed upward. Before he could spit it out, a storm had already blasted over mercilessly.
Bam!!
This sword struck him solidly. Wu Guike's right ribs collapsed, and he was sent flying violently, hurtling dozens of miles through the air. When he hit the ground, he skidded for several more miles.
The spectator stands were dead silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Cough... cough..."
Wu Guike rolled over, spitting up blood wildly. Above him, the nightmare-like pressure was already approaching again, not giving him even a moment to catch his breath.
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack...
All of Wu Guike's bones cracked and popped. He forced another surge of profound energy and raised his halberd to meet the attack.
Boom!!
Sword and halberd clashed again. The blood vessels in Wu Guike's eyes burst. He barely managed to block it, but the tremendous shock forced blood to gush from all seven of his apertures.
Boom!!
The second sword. Both of Wu Guike's arms lost feeling instantly, every vein on them exploding. The heavy halberd flew out of his hands.
Bam!!
The third sword. Wu Guike's last protective profound energy shattered like an eggshell. His entire body was sent flying like a piece of rotten meat, crashing down at the edge of the Feng Shen Platform.
"Guike!!"
Wu Guike's whole body convulsed, his arms struggling to lift. His shrinking pupils seemed to be experiencing the most absurd nightmare in the world. But within a few breaths, his arms fell limp, and there was no further movement.
Quhui Zunzhe's spiritual sense swept over Wu Guike. His chest heaved heavily a couple of times before he announced, "Wu Guike is unconscious, his journey in the Feng Shen Battle ends here!"
"Yun Che wins! He advances to the fourth round of the Loser's Bracket tomorrow!"
As Quhui Zunzhe's voice fell, there was no cheering or uproar, only a long, deathly silence.
The entire Yin Xue Realm stared with bulging eyes, the Shenwu Realm forces looked on in shock, and the various Realm Kings all flashed with light of amazement in their eyes.
Jun Xilei's brows slanted like swords, Shui Yingyue was slightly lost in thought, Shui Meiyin covered her delicate lips with her hand, her beautiful eyes flickering repeatedly. Even Luo Changsheng's gaze lingered on Yun Che for a long time.
Wu Guike, a favored son of heaven at the Divine Spirit Realm, Level 8.
And Yun Che was only at the Divine Tribulation Realm, Level 8.
A full major realm of difference!!
Yun Che's crushing victory over Luo Chang'an yesterday had filled everyone with extraordinary curiosity and expectation for him. In this match, they all secretly hoped for a similar miracle. But subconsciously, few truly believed he could defeat Wu Guike.
Because Wu Guike was no Luo Chang'an. Yun Che's victory over Luo Chang'an had already shaken the Eastern Divine Region. To cross an entire major realm... that was an act against the Dao that had never occurred in the entire history of the God Realm and was simply impossible.
Even Shui Meiyin could not do it... and besides, she relied on soul power, not profound force.
But...
Not only did Yun Che win, he did so... in just seven swords!