Chapter 1088 Sword of Space and Time
John and Araxus stood up from their seats, as did almost everyone in the crowd. The battle had instantly been turned on its heels, as Ji'Han had unleashed a terrifying Sword Art, destroying Jaxus' domain before he could react. While the crowd stood from the shock of the turn of events, John and Araxus had stood for another reason. "Was that?" Araxus mumbled with shock in his voice.
John nodded silently, his eyes glued to the explosion filled arena.
Ji'Han's Sword Art, the Sword of Space and Time, had used his Dao Lord stage Sword Dao comprehensions as a base, while a fusion of Space and Time had been used to augment it further. While the fusion of the Space and Time Dao's was rudimentary at best, even lower than John's fusion of Lightning and Power in terms of the fusion quality, such Dao's were so profound that comprehending them separately was nearly impossible, let alone fusing them together.
The level of both space and time used in that fusion had been at the Dao Adept level, most likely limited by Ji'Han's control over the Dao of Time, which was even more ethereal and esoteric than the Dao of Space. His grasp on the spatial Dao was far beneath Lilian, and his grasp of the Time Dao was far beneath Laia, but fused together, the result had been absolutely shocking. A deep breath left John's mouth as he exhaled deeply, his battle lust climbing to a point that he felt like flying into the arena to fight Ji'Han right here and now. The explosion faded while everyone looked on with shock and awe, revealing the arena once more. The domain was no longer present, having been completely destroyed by Ji'Han's Sword Art.
Jaxus hovered in the sky, his body swaying slightly as wounds covered his body and blood slickened his skin. He coughed, a mouthful of blood spewing from his mouth and onto the ground below. Jaxus wiped his mouth with his right sleeve, a grim look on his face as he stared at Ji'Han.
"What was that Sword Art?" Jaxus asked, voice slightly hoarse. Many glanced at the formation screens at this time, eyes widening as they noticed Jaxus' health below fifty percent, revealing the extent of the damage he had sustained from his domain being forcefully destroyed. They drew in a deep breath, also noticing that Ji'Han's Qi reserves had tanked considerably, hovering around sixty percent.
Ji'Han's health was also lower than before, the damage he sustained from Jaxus' assault taking its toll. While at sixty percent it was not as low as Jaxus' health, Ji'Han was not able to heal as well as Jaxus, and so the damage was more permanent as far as the battle was concerned.
Despite everything that had happened, both fighters had pushed the other to the limit, both living up to their hype as the two pinnacle geniuses of the world. "Does it matter what it was?" Ji'Han replied calmly.
"No, I guess not," Jaxus sneered, then roared loudly, his domain broken but not his fighting spirit. The remnant Yang energy of the domain explosion began to swirl back towards Jaxus as he activated his Life-Yang Restoration Art, counting on his healing ability to outlast Ji'Han's stamina. All he had to do was land one critical blow on Ji'Han, and he would not be able to heal from it as easily as Jaxus could heal his own wounds. "You've improved considerably since our last battle," Ji'Han said calmly as he raised his sword, pointing the tip towards Jaxus. "But it's time to end this battle."
Seeing Ji'Han use the same art, Jaxus flared with power and dashed to the side, attempting to dodge the attack. At the same time, thousands of swords sprung to life around Ji'Han, soaring through the air in all directions, filling the sky all around him and Jaxus.
Jaxus sneered and slashed his saber outwards, unleashing an inferno of yang, knocking aside all the nearby swords. While doing this, his true focus was still on Ji'Han, who continued to point his sword directly at Jaxus. He knew he had to be prepared to dodge the instant Ji'Han activated that art, or he would be skewered like his Yang lotus had been. As he soared through the sky, a point of light appeared in the sky as Jaxus unleashed another Blooming Lotus, Falling Star. The point of light enlarged into a fiery lotus, one brimming with calamitous power. It exploded a moment later, blasting aside all the swords from Ji'Han's sword domain and towards Ji'Han himself.
Ji'Han moved his sword and slashed it outwards, sending a sword-image towards the explosion. The sword-image carved the explosion into two halves, both halves blasting onto the ground on either side of Ji'Han. He then pointed his sword back towards Jaxus', who gritted his teeth with frustrated despair and changed his direction, speeding towards Ji'Han instead to force close combat.
"Smart, but not enough," Ji'Han said, then suddenly vanished. The crowd gasped in absolute shock as Ji'Han vanished like a ghost, his figure disappearing from the entire arena. Jaxus' eyes went wide with shock, his instincts flaring a moment later, warning him of danger from behind.
A dozen yards behind him was one of Ji'Han's floating swords, which by itself was not threatening enough for Jaxus to care about. The sword blinked out of existence a moment later, instantly replaced by Ji'Han himself. 'A spatial based movement art!' John thought, seeing through the movement art immediately. Compared to his own movement arts, at least before he started developing his own arts, it was so much more profound that it was insulting to compare the two. The entire process happened nearly instantly, with Ji'Han moving forward before Jaxus could turn around. The point of his radiant sword Whiteflame touched against the back of Jaxus' neck, ready to pierce into it at a moment's notice.
Jaxus' instantly froze, no longer moving, while the crowd gasped with shock, awe, and for some, despair.
"Concede," Ji'Han said with his sword ready to pierce forward at a moment's notice. "This battle is over."
"Heh," Jaxus scoffed with annoyance. "With my Life-Yang Restoration Art, I can survive you slicing into my neck. This battle is not over."
He had not yet moved, as doing so would force Ji'Han's hand. Ji'Han narrowed his gaze, then raised his sword tip slightly. The crowd gasped again, this time with horror, as the sword tip was pointed directly as Jaxus' head. Despite his Life-Yang Restoration Art, he would instantly die like all others if his brain, as well as soul, was pierced through directly.
Jaxus' gritted his teeth, grinding them with angered ire. "You couldn't dare," he muttered through gritted teeth. "You'd be disqualified."
"I'd sooner choose disqualification than defeat," Ji'Han said calmly, his words so firm and sincere that none, not even Jaxus himself doubted them. Everyone fell silent, not wanting to make a single sound as they awaited what came next. The only sound filling the arena came from Jaxus, whose grinding teeth sounded like mountains moving against each other.
His head then slumped forward slightly, and a deep sigh filled with fiery heat escaped his mouth.
"You win…again. I concede."
Silence filled the arena for what felt like an eternity. Then everything and everyone exploded into a calamitous uproar, with no one, not even the sovereigns, able to fully contain their emotions.
Before the Yang-Dao Sect Elder could appear and speak, the announcer roared loudly, her voice filling the entire arena with contagious excitement.
"In the most amazing battle that I have ever witnessed in my entire life, the victor, and still undefeated heavenly genius…Ji'Han of the Sword-Dao Sect!"
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