Chapter 180 - Cycle Battle, Start! (1)
"What are we betting on?" Chen Xi's face turned a shade of pink. In such a grand setting, it was hardly appropriate for her to wriggle out.
"How about whoever collects the most War of Immortals Jades by the end of the first day's battle?" Yun Xiao proposed.
Chen Xi chuckled, "Your breakthrough last night sent you flying high, didn't it? Bragging in front of me now, are we?"
"Enough chit-chat! Are you in or not?" Yun Xiao pressed.
"I start with 99 more War of Immortal Jades than you," Chen Xi remarked with an air of nonchalance.
"No worries. Consider it a handicap," Yun Xiao replied confidently.
"Have you come down with a fever?" Chen Xi said, playfully checking his forehead.
"Are you in or not?"
"Of course, I am! But mark my words; no teaming up with the other four to let you win!" Chen Xi warned.
"With hundreds of thousands of eyes on us, I'd never cheat," Yun Xiao assured.
"What's the stake?" Chen Xi inquired.
"If I win, you have to promise me one thing," Yun Xiao said.
"What might that be?" Chen Xi eyed him suspiciously, sensing mischief in the air.
Grasping her hand and gazing deeply into her eyes, Yun Xiao whispered, "From this moment on, you don't get to die unless I give you the nod."
With that, he playfully pinched her cheek, and then, arm in arm with Stray Dog and Zhao Xiaotang, confidently strode into the War of Immortals.
And Chen Xi? She remained, momentarily stunned.
Afterward, the duo, radiant as sculpted jade, each headed to their designated section—the Arena Champion Battle and the Cycle Battle!
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At platform number one Yun Xiao, alongside his four companions, stepped onto one of the square cells on the checkerboard battlefield.
The square stretched three thousand feet in both length and width. Towering walls encircled them, reaching heights of over a thousand feet. Above them, a translucent formation sealed the ceiling, forbidding any escape by flight.
In essence, five thousand prodigious talents participating in the Cycle Battle were now caged like birds in ornate boxes!
"After entering, I can't keep an eye on Chen Xi's situation anymore... As if!" Yun Xiao mused internally. Over at the Arena Champion Battle, the Moon Fairy's eyes remained sharp. Every movement on that side was within Yun Xiao's knowledge. Now, it was a waiting game.
While it seemed like they were waiting for midnight, in truth, they were awaiting the final bets from every corner. The entire Heavenly Realm lit up, a dazzling display against the night. Tensions brewed beneath the surface. Hundreds of thousands held their breaths in anticipation.
Stuck on the battle platform and with time on his hands, Yun Xiao decided to cultivate. He began to consume pills that would attract the Wind Fire Tribulation, hoping to harness its power.
"Probably in the thick of the fight, that tribulation will descend upon me," Yun Xiao sensed.
Meanwhile, Chen Jin and the rest were gearing up, their final push before the grand event. Their eyes fixed on the black walls of the adjacent square. Beyond those walls were the elite talents of the Azure Leaf faction, ready for the showdown.
Without a doubt, they had all reached the Establishment Wind Fire Tribulation Realm. Even though the barriers remained intact, tension crackled between the two sides, like oil meeting water.
Their battlefield was not just any stage—it was the Heavenly Realm's chosen showcase and the very focus of the Cycle Battle.
The air was thick with anticipation.
And then, the War of Immortals finally began.
“The Ascension Board!” A gleaming golden leaderboard appeared high in the sky. Though it held three hundred spots, only sixteen names were currently etched upon it, each followed by the number one hundred. It symbolized their golden War of Immortal Jades.
Each name was preceded by a realm's designation. Yun Xiao's eyes scanned the entries, landing on—
"Divine Dawn Immortal Empire - Chen Xi: 100 pts"
"Demon Continent - Tian Lu: 100 pts"
"Only those with more than two War of Immortal jade tokens will be listed," Yun Xiao surmised. The leaderboard updated in real-time, so once his name made the cut, it would be accompanied by which nation he represented—Divine Dawn Immortal Empire.
With the board's appearance, the majority of the Heavenly Realm's cultivators' gazes converged on one name—Chen Xi.
"Who'd have thought in our Immortal Empire, both our ruler and our top prodigy would be women?" a voice mused.
No sooner had the words settled, than the entire War of Immortal battleground began to tremble.
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At the Ascension Gate, You Fengya glanced back, locking eyes with both Mu Tianshi and Ye Qingtian. Their gazes, intentional or not, slid over to the Supreme Marshal who stood near the railing, his presence chillingly distant.
"Five against four. We slaughter them like pigs! Strategy, tactics, trump cards—all are in place," Mu Tianshi declared, his face a mask of gloom.
"That Yun Xiao only wants to fight a round, flaunt his Sword Soul in public, and humiliate the demons to boost morale. We must annihilate him with thunderous might to prove our loyalty to the Demon Continent," You Fengya stated.
Had this not been the case, Mu Tianshi probably would have sent the Violet Sky Immortal Empire or the Demon Continent representatives to face Yun Xiao's team. Put plainly, they wanted to handle their dirty laundry themselves. Their reputation was at stake! As for the outcome? It was all just a gamble.
"It's a shame," Ye Qingtian remarked somberly. "If Xingchen were still with us, with someone of his caliber, why would we fret about this?"
Hearing this, You Fengya bristled with displeasure. The one leading the charge for their side now was his own son! With the battle about to commence, it wasn't the time to reminisce about someone long gone, the grass grown over his grave.
Swallowing his irritation, You Fengya stepped into the spotlight, his gaze piercingly fixed on his son. Midnight had arrived. With an imposing aura, he thundered, "On behalf of the Immortal Empire, I declare that the War of Immortals begins!"
His proclamation echoed, setting the night ablaze. A cacophony of cheers erupted, the collective roar shaking the heavens and the earth. All bets were closed. The entire Heavenly Realm was wide awake, every eye focused on the first battlefield. The battleground rumbled and vibrated!
On the Arena Champion platforms, the real challenges began, one after the other.
Meanwhile, in the Cycle Battle area, the towering walls that separated the squares suddenly sank. What were once two separate squares now fused into one arena, as if two insects had been trapped together in a sealed room.
"Look at the first square!" many voices cried out.
Ninety percent of the onlookers fixated their gaze on this place. This was largely because the early bouts during the Arena Champion battle were rather one-sided, and there weren't any evenly matched fights in the Cycle Battle yet. The spotlight of the opening round was solely on platform number one.
At the heart of this spectacle was the proverbial pig protected by four guards.
"Stay sharp! Protect Yun Xiao!" Chen Jin and the others were visibly on edge.
With his military background, Chen Jin led with strict discipline. Stray Dog, the Martial Cultivator with a physique akin to a demon, stood towering by his side. Nangong Xu and Zhao Xiaotang positioned themselves on his left and right.
Yun Xiao stood safeguarded in the rear-middle, heavily protected. Observing this formation, many whispered, "He really is the sacrificial lamb..."
Many were aware of Yun Xiao's purpose for joining the battle. Rumor had it he aimed to publicly display the Eternal Joy's Sword Ring, to intimidate the Demon Continent and boost the morale and confidence of the human race. It was a critical move!
Opposing him was the likes of You Qingzhi and his group, determined to prevent such a display.
The moment the walls lowered, the five students from the Grand Temple who had taken the lead in the protest days earlier, appeared before everyone. Radiating righteousness and wrapped in an aura of nobility, they had the demeanor of their elders.
True representatives of the Grand Temple!
"Yun Xiao! You shouldn't have..." You Qingzhi, amplifying his voice, was about to lay some moral accusations, setting the stage for a lethal move. However, before he could finish, a sudden flash of white streaked from the opposite side.
"Where did he go?" Even Chen Jin felt the swift blur of that white figure.
Stunned, he whipped his head around. The figure they had been so ardently protecting, their pig had vanished from behind them.
"Look there!" Zhao Xiaotang's eyes widened, pointing ahead.
Chen Jin, Stray Dog, and Nangong Xu looked up. There, floating above the heads of You Qingzhi's group, was Yun Xiao.
The youth in white robes waved his hand with a flourish.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM! The night sky erupted with five consecutive, thunderous explosions. Out of nowhere, five massive balls of fire formed, blazing like five suns hanging simultaneously.
With a downward push of his palm, those fiery orbs streaked across the sky, illuminating the heavens, before crashing down onto the unsuspecting quintet.
"What the heck...?" A dazzling young woman named Chai Huachi went pale.
"Elemental Scripture, Fire God's Wrath!" You Qingzhi exclaimed in horror.
The five of them acted quickly, hastily conjuring defensive daoist spells. But they were evidently too slow.
Their spells had barely taken shape when the massive fireballs descended upon them, engulfing them entirely. A raging inferno spread out, and the five now charred figures were sent hurtling through the air.
At the Ascension Gate, at least a dozen officials from various Immortal Empires shot to their feet.
"Impossible!" Mu Tianshi's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. He growled, "Fire God's Wrath, how can there be five of them?"
Since the inception of the Grand Temple, there had always been just one! But now, there were five! Each one with a force several times mightier than when Yun Xiao had obliterated the demons in the Grand Temple. And all this in just a few days?
The battle had barely started, and Mu Tianshi's heart felt like it had been pummeled with rage, teetering on the brink of collapse. Everyone knew Yun Xiao was a prodigious genius. But his prowess always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone's wildest imaginations.
Five Fire God's Wraths, unleashed with such formidable force, rattled the entire battlefield in a single move.
And then, Yun Xiao landed on the ground with a resounding thud! With a thunderous roar, the ground quaked mightily, and countless mounds of dirt and rock surged like a tidal wave!
"Go!" The youth in white robes gestured sharply, and those mounds of dirt transformed instantly into golden sands, striking the five prodigies from the Grand Temple who were at the Establishment Wind Fire Tribulation Realm. It was like molten metal being poured!
"Ahh!" Chai Huachi was a moment too late with her defense, unable to escape the mad rush of golden sand. She was ensnared by the molten gold, turning her on the spot into a gilded statue.
In her final moments, her face held nothing but sheer disbelief.
What kind of monster was this?
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