“Liu Yang?” Kui Xiao frowned.
This name… he had never heard of it before!
“Let’s head in to take a look.”
Knowing that it was much more effective for them to head in to take a look instead of asking all sorts of questions outside, Kui Xiao quickly immersed his consciousness into the Ethereal Token.
Over at the dueling ring, he swiftly caught sight of a young man scanning through the crowd intently. “Is there anyone else who would have to have a battle with me?”
There was no response.
The other party had won fourteen rounds so far, defeating even the number one core disciple of the Sevenstar Pavilion. Knowing the strength that the other party wielded, there was no way they would be so naive as to think that they would stand a chance against a monster of that caliber.
Thus, no one was willing to step onto the stage.
“Allow me to give it a try!” Elder Hong Wu declared.
It was just a moment ago that he had challenged all the elders and defeated them. He was still overflowing with fighting will.
“Be careful,” Kui Xiao advised.
The registration was swiftly completed, and before long, Elder Hong Wu was already assessing the opponent before him on the dueling ring.
The other party seemed to be in his twenties, but that being said, it was extremely easy to disguise one’s appearance in the Ethereal Hall. As such, it was futile to attempt to assess another person through his appearance in the Ethereal Hall.
However, most youngsters were reluctant to disguise themselves as elderly, and elderly disliked the notion of passing themselves off as youngsters.
Furthermore, through the other party’s mannerisms, Elder Hong Wu could gauge that the person standing before him was unlikely to be too old, perhaps fifty at most!
Elder Hong Wu sent a zhenqi telepathic message. “I am Hong Wu from the Sevenstar Pavilion. Is there any chance that we might be acquainted with one another?”
“Hong Wu?” The young man on the other side shook his head. “I don’t think that I know you.”
Hearing those words, Elder Hong Wu’s eyebrows shot up a little.
Even though he was not as famous as the Semi-Divinity realm Pavilion Master Kui Xiao, he was still a highly renowned figure within the Sevenstar Pavilion. There was hardly anyone in Biyuan City who did not know of him.
Yet, this person did not seem to recognize him at all.
Was he not a local of Biyuan City?
The young man seemed to have figured out something from Elder Hong Wu’s slight facial movements, and after a slight moment of hesitation, he said, “As long as you are willing to fork out 2,560 Ethereal Coins after your loss, I don’t mind saying that I know you if it’s important to you.”
Beyond the tenth round, the Ethereal Coins on stake would not double anymore, or else it could reach ridiculous amounts that no one would be able to afford.
In other words, all the matches beyond the tenth round had only brought Zhang Xuan 2,560 Ethereal Coins each.
Having won fourteen rounds consecutively so far, he had a total of 15,353 Ethereal Coins. He was not too far away from his goal of 20,000 Ethereal Coins.
Those words made Elder Hong Wu’s face collapse. He quickly shook his head and said, “Make your move!”
A person like you who doesn’t know how to talk must not have any friends at all!
If you know me, so be it. If you don’t know me, so be it too… Why do you have to make it sound like I’m begging you to notice me?
More importantly, why are you speaking as though my loss is already guaranteed? You might be the one losing 2,560 Ethereal Coins, just so you know!
Elder Hong Wu could not be bothered to waste his breath anymore. His silhouette blurred as he charged forward at an incredible speed. Raising his palm, he leaped up and thrust a palm strike toward Zhang Xuan from above.
Flowerless Palm!
The zhenqi gathered within the palm strike swiftly crept toward the young man like strands of vines.
Even though his cultivation had been lowered to the True Immortal realm, he was still able to bring out the true strength behind his Flowerless Palm. Countless vines shot forth and entangled themselves around the target. There was no incredible might nor decisive momentum, but the palm strike seemed to wrap around its target like a specter, binding him.
It was through this move that he had been able to emerge victorious over the many elders previously!
“Not too bad!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
The skills of the opponent whom he was facing at the moment could be said to be the strongest of the fourteen matches that he had fought so far.
The same as before, he retaliated with a single palm strike.
Against an opponent of the same cultivation realm, he would not even need to rely on his Library of Heaven’s Path in order to defeat the other party.
Huala!
It was as if his palm strike carried blazing flames, burning all the vines.
This anomaly caused Elder Hong Wu to narrow his eyes in shock. The next instant, he felt some kind of peculiar energy bogging down his body, leaving him unable to move at all.
Padah!
The palm strike struck his head squarely, and his lifeless corpse collapsed to the ground.
After knocking out his opponent, Zhang Xuan found that his fortune had indeed grown by another 2,560 Ethereal Coins, causing him to heave a sigh of relief. He turned his attention to the crowd once more and said, “Alright, who else wants to have a battle with me?”
He had already gathered 17,915 Ethereal Coins so far. He just needed to defeat one more opponent in order to raise 20,000 Ethereal Coins!
“Even Hong Wu ended up losing so quickly?”
Beneath the dueling ring, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao took a sharp breath.
Elder Hong Wu had just fought all the elders in the Sevenstar Pavilion, and he had not even faced a single defeat. Yet, when faced with this fellow, he was defeated within a single punch!
Just who in the world is this person? Pavilion Master Kui Xiao frowned. He’s probably not from our Sevenstar Pavilion. Otherwise, we should have long heard of him.
The fact that the other party was able to enter the True Immortal realm Ethereal Hall showed that his cultivation had reached the True Immortal realm. If put in the Sevenstar Pavilion, the other party would be a core disciple at the very least.
Given how the other party was able to defeat the top ranker Meng Han and Elder Hong Wu so easily, the Sevenstar Pavilion would definitely have noticed him a long time ago if he was a core disciple of the sect. There was no way that he could have remained unnoticed!
“Liu Yang…” Kui Xiao pondered for a long time, but no similar name came to his mind.
Seeing that no one was stepping forward to accept Liu Yang’s challenge, the First Elder hesitated for a moment before leaping into the ring. “I’ll try facing him.”
Even though his cultivation was at the Heavenly High Immortal realm, in terms of prowess, he was far stronger than Elder Hong Wu. It was only because his age had exceeded a hundred years old that he was unable to challenge the Azure Bridge.
Nevertheless, seeing how this Liu Yang was able to defeat Elder Hong Wu so easily, he could not help but wonder how he would fare against the young man.
In the ring, Zhang Xuan’s heart had been leaping in trepidation when no one was stepping forward after some time, so he was particularly relieved when he saw Elder Hong Wu stepping forward. With a deep sigh of relief on the inside, he beckoned with his hand and said, “Let’s begin.”
He was determined to get this over and done with as quickly as possible so that his opponent would not have a chance to back out. Otherwise, he just might fail to raise enough Ethereal Coins.
As for why he had gone with the name ‘Liu Yang’…
Well, he had no choice. His usual choice of names such as ‘I Am Low Profile’ and ‘I Am Very Handsome’ were simply too indicative of his true identity. Thinking back, since he had blurted out ‘Zheng Yang’ back at the Myriad Beasts Hall, instead of burning his brain cells trying to come up with a refreshing, creative name, he might as well just use another of his direct disciple’s names.
As long as he did not choose Zhao Ya or Wei Ruyan, it should be fine.
This was so much less stressful.
“Let’s begin then.” The First Elder of the Sevenstar Pavilion nodded.
From the very start, he launched a powerful frontal strike.
In an instant, dozens of palm afterimages appeared in the air. They were connected to form something reminiscent of a chain.
Dragon Transformation Palm!
It was said that upon reaching Major Accomplishment, the practitioner would be able to warp their palm into a divine dragon and bring devastating damage upon their enemies.
“Formidable. I never thought that he would have trained the technique to such a level within the past few years. He’s already close to reaching Major Accomplishment.” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao nodded.
Ever since he achieved a breakthrough from the Semi-Divinity realm, he had rarely fought with High Immortal realm experts like the First Elder. As such, he had no idea what kind of level the other party had reached.
Thus, when he saw this move, he could not help but nod in approval.
The Dragon Transformation Palm was one of the most difficult battle techniques to cultivate in the Sevenstar Pavilion, but he was still able to achieve such a high level of mastery in it. To be honest, not even Pavilion Master Kui Xiao had absolute confidence in achieving victory.
“It’s just a pity that he’s beyond a hundred years old. Otherwise, Elder Hong Wu would surely be unable to defeat him.” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao shook his head in lamentation.
It was impossible to reach the Semi-Divinity realm just through normal cultivation. It did not matter no matter how talented one was.
The only way was to enter the Azure Bridge and venture into the Hall of Gods!
The main reason that he was at his current realm was because he had been able to enter the Azure Bridge a hundred years earlier.
There was no doubt that Elder Hong Wu was not too bad either, such that there was no one currently in the Sevenstar Pavilion who could match him. However, the other party was still a little lacking compared to him back then.
“Of the Six Sects, only the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion is in a slighter better position,” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao remarked.
The greatest goal of those from the Six Sects was to enter the Hall of Gods and snatch the ‘神 (God)’ character.
Snatching the ‘神 (God)’ character was not just an act of vanity that brought pride and honor to one’s sect. More importantly, this ‘神 (God)’ character was also the key to reaching Semi-Divinity.
Sects without it could only rely on the centennial descent of the Azure Bridge to push for a breakthrough. If not for the Azure Bridge, even if a sect was filled with monstrous geniuses, none of them would ever have the chance to peer into the Semi-Divinity realm.
The founder of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion had once snatched half a ‘神 (God)’ character from the Hall of Gods, and it was for this reason that their Ascendant Cloud Sword God Formula, when trained to the limits, could allow one to surpass the limits of a High Immortal and become a Semi-Divinity realm cultivator!
The chances were slim, but nevertheless, it still represented a ray of hope.
On the other hand, the Sevenstar Pavilion and other sects did not enjoy such privilege at all.
As for the Ethereal Hall…
It was known that it had managed to snatch an entire ‘神 (God)’ character, but the entire organization remained veiled in mystery. There was no one who knew where its headquarters were and how many experts it had.
But one thing was for sure. The leader of the Ethereal Hall who had snatched an entire ‘神 (God)’ character back then, Hall Master Kong, definitely had the ability to raise Semi-Divinity realm experts and even beyond that!
These thoughts swiftly flitted through Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s mind before he turned his sights to the dueling ring once more.
After executing the Dragon Transformation Palm, the First Elder seemed to have morphed into a soaring dragon, bolting from place to place with a speed so swift that it was nigh impossible to accurately determine his whereabouts.
The crowd felt as if they were seeing a massive dragon towering on top of the dueling ring, treading around the place and launching attacks from all directions. It was such an impressive sight that it was hard to tear one’s eyes away from the battle.
Not bad! Zhang Xuan thought.
There were indeed plenty of formidable experts on the Forsaken Continent.
After fighting fifteen rounds, he was starting to think that this was all the experts of Biyuan City, so he could not help looking down on this new challenger. However, it seemed like this new challenger was instead a worthy opponent.
Putting everything aside, just the other party’s palm strike was a joy to behold. Even for him, if he showed the slightest gap, there was a chance that he could lose the battle.
Zhang Xuan activated the Eye of Insight, and before long, he was able to discern some of the flaws in the other party’s moves. Using his finger as a sword, he jabbed forward with incredible speed.
In order to avoid revealing his identity, he still chose not to use the Gods’ Sword Intent for this move. That being said, he did infuse the crux of the Heaven’s Path Sword art into it.
This single jab carried a transcendent aura to it. It appeared to be a simple move, but somehow, it was impossible to predict its trajectory, as if it did not follow a predetermined path as the laws of the world would have enforced. If there was one word to describe it, it was simply unfathomable.
As soon as it appeared, it seemed to gravitate toward the offensive trajectory of the Dragon Transformation Palm.
Hu!
Mysteriously, it felt as if the dragon in the sky was drawn to the finger jab as well. It simply continued rushing toward the sword qi, as if a moth drawn to a flame.
Seeing this, Zhang Xuan could not help but chuckle.
This was a move that he had casually come up with after being inspired by how Elder Yuan used the Northern Sea Dragon Orb to tease the Serpentine Dragon.
In this case, he used his sword qi to form a gravitating power that capitalized on the momentum of the Dragon Transformation Palm to draw it toward his finger jab, causing the other party to lose control of his own body.
“Go!”
Zhang Xuan’s sword qi shot forth.
Boom!
A resounding explosion echoed in the air, causing the entire dueling ring to tremble nonstop.
The First Elder never would have thought that the other party would use the momentum of his own palm strike to control his movements. Everything happened so swiftly that before he could even recover, a stabbing pain had already pierced his throat.
Lowering his head, he realized that the other party’s sword qi had sliced through his neck.
“What a formidable offense. I have never seen swordsmanship like this before…”
With a creak, the First Elder’s head fell to the ground with a bewildered look on his face. Soon after, his body collapsed into a heap as well.
Even at the moment of his death, he dared not believe that his ultimate technique had been undone by a mere surge of sword qi.
“This…”
Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s body stiffened. He was so shocked that he could hardly speak a word at all.
To be able to neutralize the Dragon Transformation Palm and kill the First Elder within a single move… just who the hell is this fellow!
With such fighting prowess, would I stand a chance against him if I stepped forward?
