Chapter 674: Hot Topic Figure
Gripping the sword hilt with both hands, the spiritual energy on the battle platform rapidly converged toward Zhang Ruochen, forming a vortex of spiritual power.
Zhang Ruochen shot forward together with the Gushui Sword, crossing through the thunder and lightning in an instant, clashing with the sword thrust by Zhao Wuyan.
With a thunderous roar, a powerful wave of sword energy surged from the tips of the two swords, slamming into the formation light walls surrounding the battle platform. The twenty-zhang-tall platform trembled slightly.
The force of the rebound sent both men hurtling backward simultaneously, landing at the edge of the platform.
A bloody crack split open on Zhang Ruochen’s right wrist, and blood trickled down his fingers, dripping onto the ground drop by drop.
Zhang Ruochen felt as if his entire right arm had been severed, wracked with pain, and even his meridians had suffered considerable damage.
“In the end, my cultivation is still a bit lacking. If I could break through to the fifth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, dealing with this would be much easier.” Zhang Ruochen silently circulated his true qi, channeling it into the meridians of his right arm to begin healing.
Although that strike hadn’t injured Zhao Wuyan, it had shattered his protective saintly aura, leaving a sword mark on his collar and tearing a one-inch-long gash.
One could imagine that if the sword had deviated just a little more, Zhao Wuyan’s throat would have been pierced.
Zhao Wuyan felt a chill run through his limbs and dared not let his guard down again. At the same time, he realized that this opponent indeed possessed the strength to fight him and should not be underestimated.
“Your mastery of the sword is truly impressive—at least reaching the eighth layer of Sword One, perhaps even the ninth. However, your cultivation is still too low, and you are destined to lose today.”
Zhao Wuyan was quite confident, harboring an unshakable belief in victory. He mobilized his full strength and struck the ground hard with his war sword, the tip colliding with the platform’s formation.
“Boom!”
With the sword tip as the center, layers of circular airwaves surged upward, accompanied by the roar of wind and thunder, rushing violently toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhao Wuyan was also a clever man, knowing how to borrow force to attack his opponent.
The force he borrowed came from the battle platform’s formation, using its power to disrupt Zhang Ruochen to a certain extent.
Of course, not everyone could borrow the formation’s power. A slight misstep would not only fail to borrow force but also cause the user to suffer backlash from the formation.
Only by controlling power with extreme precision could one achieve the technique of borrowing force to strike.
“Interesting.” Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly.
The layers of surging airwaves slammed into Zhang Ruochen, pushing him backward as he slid.
Sliding to the edge of the platform, Zhang Ruochen lightly tapped his toes, leaped up, and hovered three zhang above the ground, easily evading the airwaves below.
Then, the crowd below saw black, cyan, and yellow pillars of energy condense beneath Zhang Ruochen’s feet, lifting him into the air. It was the support of these three energy pillars that allowed him to stand suspended.
“Those are three types of fundamental Five Elements powers—water-attributed spiritual energy, earth-attributed spiritual energy, and wood-attributed spiritual energy,” said a contestant at the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, visibly shocked.
“Could it be... Lin Yue has cultivated the legendary Three-Spirit Treasure Body?”
“That must be it. Only a Three-Spirit Treasure Body can contend with a Saintly Body.”
Qi Feiyu gently nodded her snow-white chin, a bright light flickering in her eyes. She thought to herself, “This is getting more and more interesting. Even the rare Three-Spirit Treasure Body has appeared. Just how many trump cards does he have?”
She had come to watch the match precisely to see if Zhao Wuyan could force out Lin Yue’s true strength.
Clearly, Zhao Wuyan was indeed strong, continuously pushing Lin Yue to reveal his cards.
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen controlled the Five Elements power, transforming it into an attack. The water-attributed spiritual energy condensed into clusters of liquid ice, forming sharp, pointed ice spikes.
The earth-attributed spiritual energy coalesced into massive boulders, while the wood-attributed spiritual energy formed vines.
With a wave of his arm, hundreds of ice spikes shot toward Zhao Wuyan like a volley of arrows, dense and overwhelming.
At the same time, the earth-attributed spiritual energy formed a colossal stone mountain, weighing who knows how many tens of thousands of jin. The mountain’s body nearly covered the entire battle platform, pressing down violently.
“Taixuan Asks Heaven.”
Zhao Wuyan’s eyes flashed with a sharp light. He kicked off the ground, shooting upward like a cyan pillar of light. With a single sword thrust, a massive arc of sharp sword energy split the great stone mountain apart.
Broken stones rained down to the ground.
“Swish!”
Suddenly, to Zhao Wuyan’s right, a three-meter-tall boulder cracked with a web-like pattern, and a figure shot out from within—it was Zhang Ruochen.
Holding the sword in his left hand, Zhang Ruochen struck like a phantom, thrusting out unexpectedly, leaving only a dazzling flash of sword light.
A flicker of surprise crossed Zhao Wuyan’s face. He hadn’t expected Lin Yue to hide inside the stone mountain, and he hadn’t sensed it at all beforehand.
Still, Zhao Wuyan was remarkably skilled, reacting with incredible speed. With a light shout, he rapidly descended, trying to evade Zhang Ruochen’s lethal strike.
“Let go.”
The Gushui Sword swept across Zhao Wuyan’s right wrist, colliding with his skin with a metallic grinding sound, sending sparks flying.
Ultimately, the Gushui Sword broke through Zhao Wuyan’s physical defenses, severed his tendon, and left a deep, bloody gash.
Zhao Wuyan let out a muffled groan. A sharp pain shot through his arm, and his war sword flew from his hand, caught steadily by Zhang Ruochen.
Both landed on the ground again. Zhao Wuyan clutched his bleeding wrist, retreating hastily in a somewhat disheveled state.
Zhang Ruochen had already seized Zhao Wuyan’s sword, holding it in his left hand. “Another fine sword at the twelfth-rank True Martial Treasure level. If you concede, I’ll return it.”
With his tendon severed, Zhao Wuyan’s right hand was completely incapacitated. It would take at least a day to reattach the tendon using pills.
Though his combat power was greatly reduced, Zhao Wuyan showed no sign of yielding. He snorted coldly, “It’s just a twelfth-rank True Martial Treasure. Even if you take it, it’s no big deal. I hope we meet again in the final battle. Then, I’ll show you my true strength.”
Though defeated by Zhang Ruochen’s sword, Zhao Wuyan was deeply unwilling, feeling that his carelessness had allowed his opponent to exploit a weakness and overturn him in a ditch.
In truth, he still had the strength to fight. If he unleashed his trump cards, he might even turn the tables completely and win.
However, Zhao Wuyan noticed that the wound on his wrist wouldn’t heal, and his meridians were extremely painful, as if Lin Yue had used some underhanded trick.
After all, Lin Yue, this “villain,” had always had a bad reputation in the Liangyi Sect.
Zhao Wuyan vaguely sensed that the situation was unfavorable. Continuing the fight might not be good for him.
In that case, letting Lin Yue win one round was fine.
He would defeat him in the final battle instead.
Without looking back or asking for his sword back, Zhao Wuyan walked straight down the battle platform and then left Zhizhi Spiritual Mountain.
All the contestants were somewhat stunned.
“What’s going on? Zhao Wuyan clearly still has the strength to fight and could turn things around. Why did he suddenly leave the platform?” Many were puzzled.
Among the contestants, the oldest, Dao Xuanqi, said thoughtfully, “On the surface, we only saw Zhao Wuyan’s right-hand tendon severed, but that might not be all. Perhaps his injuries are worse than we think.
If it were just a severed tendon, it would only reduce Zhao Wuyan’s combat power somewhat.
But Zhang Ruochen’s strike sent a sword energy into Zhao Wuyan’s meridians. That sword energy contained the power of time. Even with Zhao Wuyan’s cultivation, it would be hard to neutralize it quickly.
If the fight continued, even if Zhao Wuyan won, he would be severely injured and unable to handle subsequent battles.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen was hoping Zhao Wuyan would keep fighting, so he could use a delaying tactic to wear him down into a serious injury, preventing him from participating in the final battle.
That would mean one less opponent in the decisive round.
“He’s a clever one.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled, stored away Zhao Wuyan’s twelfth-rank True Martial Treasure-level sword, and walked straight down the platform.
Lin Yue’s victory naturally surprised many. Most had only regarded Lin Yue as a sword prodigy.
Now, all contestants had to take him seriously, viewing him as a major adversary and a hot topic for the top ten.
Just as Zhang Ruochen reached the foot of Zhizhi Spiritual Mountain, a faint sound of wind came from behind. Then, with a flash of movement, Xu Changsheng appeared before him, standing under a tree four zhang away.
With two rounds of battles over, it was already deep into the night. The surroundings were pitch black, with only the firelight at the mountain’s peak and the occasional clamor.
Zhang Ruochen stopped, glanced at Xu Changsheng standing in the darkness, and said, “Senior Brother Xu, do you have any advice?”
Xu Changsheng’s gaze was quite cold. “Lin Yue, I’ve looked into you specifically. Four months ago, you were only at the Heavenly Extreme Realm. Your talent was decent but not top-tier.
After just one training trip to the Eastern Domain Evil Land, you not only stopped indulging in women and pleasure but also suddenly reached the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm and cultivated Sword One to the ninth layer. It’s as if you’ve become a different person.”
From start to finish, Xu Changsheng stared intently at the “Lin Yue” before him, observing his expression.
To his disappointment, Zhang Ruochen remained calm throughout, showing no unusual signs.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. “What does Senior Brother Xu mean?”
Xu Changsheng snorted coldly. “I suspect you’re no longer the same Lin Yue. Perhaps you’re some evil person from the Black Market wearing Lin Yue’s skin.”
“If I weren’t Lin Yue, do you think the Half-Saint Ancestors wouldn’t have noticed? Senior Brother Xu, if you have too much free time, you’d better focus on improving your sword realm. Otherwise, you might not even make the top ten in the final battle. If that happens, it won’t be me who looks bad.” Zhang Ruochen said with a faint smile.
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