Chapter 560: Chapter 166: This Is the End
Normally speaking, battles at this level aren’t even worth a Grandmaster’s glance.
Yet the few Grandmasters on the platform were all secretly frowning as they watched.
Yun Yifeng asked, "Can any of you tell where this man’s Martial Arts come from?"
Isle Master Yan Yang said, "According to rumors, he seems to be closely tied to the Buddhist Sect, and has cultivated the Vajra Unbreakable Technique to Great Success. But seeing him today, it doesn’t seem purely Buddhist Sect."
Yu Qingfeng frowned and said, "This boy’s Sword Skill is a bit strange. Sect Leader Yue, can you recognize it?"
Among those present, Yue Zhen was the Sect Leader of the Broken Mountain Blade Sect, his Sword Skill the strongest.
Yue Zhen said in a deep voice, "This man’s Sword Skill contains some Black Water Blade Technique from the Extreme North Cold Domain. The rest of his blade paths are chaotic and disordered, somewhere between blade and sword, with no fixed form. I’ve never seen the like."
The Drunken Elder remained silent.
He had in fact heard of a certain Sword Skill, one whose patterns were somewhat similar to what this boy was using.
Only, he did not quite dare to be certain.
Of course, the Grandmasters on the platform still believed there was no suspense in this fight.
Not to mention that He Shiyao had yet to use his trump cards.
Even if they kept entangling like this, with He Shiyao having opened his Ren and Du Meridians, his Inner Qi cycled endlessly, inexhaustible. Chen Tang simply could not afford the consumption.
At the back of the crowd.
The gaunt old man said, "This is the Butcher’s Skill blade work. But relying on just this, wanting to defeat He Shiyao is still not enough."
"Indeed."
The old crone nodded slightly and said, "That little drunkard is clearly holding back a hand. It’s just a matter of when he changes his moves."
After a brief pause, the old crone looked at the girl beside her and said, "That Brother Chen of yours is about to lose."
"He won’t."
The girl shook her head, her tone exceedingly firm.
Lady Peanuts grew curious and couldn’t help asking, "You trust him that much?"
The girl said, "Because Chen Tang hasn’t gone all out either."
"Oh?"
The few of them exchanged glances, but inwardly they did not quite believe it.
Facing the top of the Earth Ranking, someone a whole major Realm above him, with death on the spot at the slightest misstep—Chen Tang still dared to hold back?
The gaunt old man said, "Very well, I’d like to see what other means this man has."
Not far from them.
The black-robed man had originally planned to leave. Fights like this were, in his eyes, no different from children playing house—utterly dull.
Just as he turned away, he happened to glimpse Chen Tang’s blade, and suddenly halted mid-step with a soft "eh."
"That’s actually the Butcher’s Skill?"
The black-robed man’s expression turned strange as he muttered, "There are not many in this world who understand this move."
After watching a few more exchanges, the black-robed man grew even more astonished.
This makes no sense.
Even if this boy knew the Butcher’s Skill, he shouldn’t have been able to cultivate it to this extent.
In his comprehension of this move, the boy had practically reached the Grandmaster level!
The black-robed man closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and his expression changed!
"Entering the Divine State!"
The black-robed man opened his eyes, disbelief surfacing on his face.
Who possesses such methods, to open the Celestial Eye for this boy!
"Now this is getting interesting."
The black-robed man murmured softly. Around his pitch-black pupils, a faint ring of eerie purple light slowly appeared.
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On the Sword Discussion Platform.
Chen Tang holding back was not out of deliberate arrogance.
Emperor Wu had once warned him that the ability of Entering the Divine State could not be concealed from Grandmaster-level experts.
Once exposed, it could easily bring fatal disaster upon him.
There were as many as eight Grandmaster experts watching on the platform. The moment he used the Divine Light Slash, it would inevitably draw several of their gazes.
"We’ve played enough. Let’s end it here."
At that moment, right in the midst of their clash, He Shiyao suddenly spoke, his breathing still steady.
No sooner had he finished speaking than He Shiyao’s moves changed!
His left hand was still using a Palm Technique, but he shifted to a different set of moves.
It looked soft and weak, yet when Chen Tang tried to clash head-on, it was like striking a lump of cotton, his force completely sinking in.
Moreover, He Shiyao’s palm seemed to be sweating, turning extremely moist, and it carried a faint fragrance of wine.
This was the true supreme art of the Drunken Immortal Tower, the Worry Relieving Palm!
The Drunken Immortal Tower’s Inner Strength cultivation was extremely unique, requiring wine as an aid, applied both externally and taken internally.
If they could step into the Innate Realm, the Innate True Qi of the Drunken Immortal Tower’s Martial Artists would even carry a hint of wine aroma.
If this Innate True Qi were allowed to seep into the body, the opponent might even fall into a drunken state, their strength greatly reduced!
Depending on the Cultivation Technique, some Innate True Qi carried certain attributes.
Some were blazing hot, some deathly cold, some highly poisonous, while the Innate True Qi of the Drunken Immortal Tower carried the attribute of wine vapors.
He Shiyao was only a Third Grade Martial Artist and had not yet reached that step.
But once the Worry Relieving Palm of the Drunken Immortal Tower was unleashed, it could stir up the wine vapors accumulated during ordinary cultivation drinking, precipitated in the limbs and bones, flesh and blood, and use them to exert tremendous influence on the opponent!
At the same time, the moves of He Shiyao’s right hand also changed.
He had previously been holding back, in truth because he was unwilling to use this Swordsmanship set.
The Drunken Immortal Swordsmanship, the top-tier Swordsmanship of the Drunken Immortal Tower, blended sword with drunken form—seeming drunk yet not drunk, using drunken intent and drunken bearing to confuse the opponent.
It emphasized a sword with no sword, intent with no intent; true intent hidden within no-sword.
Cultivation reached Great Success only when one could hide the sword within drunkenness—every move seeming drunk, the form drunk but the intent not, the steps drunk but the heart not.
The reason He Shiyao had switched from sword to fan was simply that the folding fan seemed more elegant and dashing as a weapon, with more room for variation.
Moreover, although the Drunken Immortal Swordsmanship was exquisitely marvelous, it contained many moves of falling, tumbling, and rolling; when performed, one’s body inevitably picked up dust, spoiling one’s grace.
Thus, he rarely used this Swordsmanship.
And there had been no one capable of forcing him this far.
But at this moment, he decided to hold back no longer.
Worry Relieving Palm in the left hand, Drunken Immortal Swordsmanship in the right.
The Worry Relieving Palm stirred up the wine vapors within his body, the aroma of wine growing ever thicker. Even the surrounding audience could smell a strong reek of alcohol!
Martial Artists with lower Cultivation felt their heads swimming, their faces flushing red.
Some even toppled forward and began snoring in sleep.
Yet on the Sword Discussion Platform, Chen Tang seemed not greatly affected.
As that wine vapor seeped into his body, a surge of his bloodline power washed through and dissolved it.
Even the deadly poison of the Dongyi Race could be forced out by Chen Tang’s bloodline, let alone this wine vapor.
What posed the greatest threat to him was still the Drunken Immortal Swordsmanship.
Chen Tang had been able to entangle with He Shiyao for several dozen exchanges mainly thanks to the Butcher’s Skill.
But the Drunken Immortal Swordsmanship was ever-changing: feigning defense to strike, yielding in appearance yet attacking in truth, dodging along the line of impact, slipping through the gaps, pointing east while attacking west.
Let alone Chen Tang—even when He Shiyao himself struck, he was not always certain where the blow would land.
The Butcher’s Skill found it hard, in that instant among so many variations, to pinpoint a flaw.
As a result, in the several moves that followed, Chen Tang’s blade strikes not only failed to land on the weak points of the Jade Bone Fan, but instead met its strongest parts head-on!
This was tantamount to clashing directly with He Shiyao.
During this time, Chen Tang even unleashed the Lion’s Roar, attempting a counterattack, but it had no effect whatsoever on He Shiyao.
He Shiyao, knowing of this move, had long been on guard.
Clang, clang, clang!
Sparks flew in all directions.
Chen Tang retreated again and again. He Shiyao’s overwhelmingly fierce Inner Power even numbed Chen Tang’s arm slightly from the shock!
And this was with the support of the Vajra Unbreakable Technique, Great Strength Vajra Hand, and Vast Sea Force.
Without these Divine Skills, the Eternal would probably have already been knocked flying from his hand!
As the situation on the field suddenly shifted, with Chen Tang revealing signs of defeat, some were overjoyed while others grew worried.
