King of Ten Thousand Years

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Success with One Finger

"Well done. I, Nangong Yu, owe you one."

Nangong Yu’s gaze swept over Luo Tian, filled with a hint of approval and gratitude.

If Luo Tian hadn’t spoken up, he wouldn’t have even known there was a Mist Shadow Warrior at the Seventh Layer of Meridian Opening here. He’d nearly been blindsided.

"Nangong Yu! I was the one who found this Seventh Layer Realm Mist Shadow Warrior. Back off, now!"

Tang Wei roared, his expression turning foul.

"The Holy Mansion trial is all about personal strength. There’s no such thing as calling dibs."

Nangong Yu’s voice was clear and unhurried.

WHOOSH!

His slender frame left a trail of graceful, unpredictable afterimages as he rapidly approached the Armored Warrior.

When it came to the speed of his Body Technique, Nangong Yu was unmatched in the entire arena. Even Tang Wei had to concede he was inferior.

Perhaps.

Only Luo Tian’s Perfection Level Body Technique might have a slight edge in close-quarters agility.

"A Spirit Level Body Technique, and his level of mastery is quite high."

Luo Tian’s eyes flickered. As expected of someone from one of the Seven Great Martial Arts Families of the Azure Cloud Kingdom.

"Piss off!"

Tang Wei roared, his palms erupting with a mass of Fist Force like a crimson cloud, which blasted toward Nangong Yu.

WHUMP!

With an indifferent expression, Nangong Yu’s fair palm quivered, and a layer of qi waves with green veins coiled around it, extending about a foot as if he were about to strike from a distance.

BOOM!

The two forces, each comparable to the Seventh Layer of Meridian Opening, crashed into each other, kicking up a whirlwind of dust that instantly shredded two or three nearby Mist Shadow Warriors.

"How terrifying!"

"Hurry and get back...!"

The nearby youths scattered and retreated.

However.

A few of Tang Wei’s followers, including Qi Hong and Wu Chuan, weren’t so lucky.

They had been attacking the Armored Warrior, but now that Tang Wei was distracted by Nangong Yu, the warrior was left unchecked.

SWISH!

The Great Sword in the Armored Warrior’s hand swung out, sending several massive waves of Sword Light through their bodies.

"Aaaahhh...!"

The screams were incessant. Wu Chuan, who took the brunt of the attack, was cleaved in two.

"Young Marquis, help me—"

Qi Hong executed his One-Armed Saber Technique, attempting to resist.

SLICE!

In the next moment, his remaining arm was severed by the Armored Warrior’s ranged Attack.

"No...!"

Qi Hong completely broke down, collapsing limply to the ground before being swept away by the Array’s mist.

Its bloodlust unsated, the heavily injured Armored Warrior swung its Great Sword and charged toward the other youths nearby.

"Run for it!"

The youths who had been watching from the sidelines now fled in a panic.

At this moment, because too many people had gathered, the Array automatically condensed a large number of Mist Shadow Warriors, nearly a hundred in total.

’This has turned into a huge mess.’

Luo Tian’s mouth twitched. He felt a prickly sensation on his back, coming from the unfriendly gazes of the Mentors watching from above the valley.

Initially,

the Mentors had created the Armored Warrior specifically to stop Luo Tian’s "farming" strategy.

They never would have expected

that this Armored Warrior would become such a hot commodity, even becoming the deciding factor for first place.

But now,

the Mentors couldn’t just eat their own words and recall the Mist Shadow Warrior from the Seventh Layer of Meridian Opening.

「Inside the valley.」

Nangong Yu and Tang Wei were still locked in a fierce battle, the sounds of their clashes terrifying to behold.

"Tang Wei, as long as I’m here, you won’t succeed," Nangong Yu said with a faint smile.

He had the most Starlight Marks. He didn’t need to kill the Armored Warrior; he just had to stall Tang Wei for a little while until the trial ended to secure first place.

Just then, the situation took another unexpected turn!

WHOOSH!

A beautiful and noble young woman in palace attire gracefully leaped into the fray.

"Princess Yunxiu!"

The crowd of youths, their faces full of awe and admiration, cleared a path for her.

At this moment,

the three strongest geniuses were all gathered in one place!

’She’s here too?’

Nangong Yu and Tang Wei immediately stopped fighting, wary of a third party taking advantage of their conflict.

Any one of the three great geniuses who managed to slay the Armored Warrior would claim the honor of being number one among the new students of the Holy Mansion.

’That damn commoner! If not for him shouting, I would already be number one by now.’

Tang Wei was seething with rage, hating Luo Tian to his very bones.

After Princess Yunxiu’s arrival, the scene became a three-way standoff between her, Nangong Yu, and Tang Wei.

Strangely,

Princess Yunxiu remained standing where she was, showing no intention of joining the struggle between the other two geniuses.

Suddenly,

her phoenix eyes turned, her gaze landing on a handsome, green-robed youth.

"Hm?"

Luo Tian froze, feeling uncomfortable under Princess Yunxiu’s hostile gaze.

’Could it be...’

’...that Princess Yunxiu is still holding a grudge over my Qi Observing conclusion that she was a "beauty cursed with a tragic fate"?’

If that was the case, Luo Tian supposed he would just have to accept the consequences.

After all, his words had been disrespectful towards Princess Yunxiu, practically a curse.

"Spreading malicious rumors and stirring up trouble."

Princess Yunxiu snorted coldly and transformed into a graceful white blur, closing in on Luo Tian.

Luo Tian immediately felt a pressure no less intense than Tang Wei’s.

"Wait! I spoke without thinking! A person of your noble status, Your Highness, surely you don’t need to take it to heart?"

Luo Tian activated his Perfection Level Wandering Body Step, using the nearby Mist Shadow Warriors as cover to keep his distance from Princess Yunxiu.

"Spoke without thinking?"

Princess Yunxiu’s face was like frost. "Then who, I ask, caused this entire mess?" she snapped.

"..."

Luo Tian fell silent.

It was true.

The Armored Warrior had been created because of him.

This whole chaotic scene was his fault as well.

"What’s the matter? No more excuses?"

Seeing Luo Tian remain silent, a flicker of disappointment crossed Princess Yunxiu’s phoenix eyes.

She had attacked to probe Luo Tian’s true strength.

’I actually thought he was some hidden master who saw through my terminal illness.’

Princess Yunxiu sighed inwardly.

Still,

she had a very poor opinion of "rumor-mongering" types like Luo Tian.

SWISH!

Princess Yunxiu decided to teach Luo Tian a lesson. Her graceful body soared through the air as she once again gave chase.

’This woman is nuts!’

Luo Tian cursed under his breath. Like a nimble fish, he weaved through the crowd of Mist Shadow Warriors with a few sharp turns, shaking Princess Yunxiu off his tail.

’His Body Technique isn’t bad, but...’

Princess Yunxiu was slightly surprised, but a faint smile touched her lips.

Luo Tian was fleeing in the direction of the Armored Warrior.

’Not good!’

Luo Tian’s Spiritual Sense quickly registered this.

SWOOSH!

A wave of Sword Light from the Armored Warrior’s slash swept past him. Relying on his powerful Spiritual Sense, Luo Tian anticipated the move and dodged just in time.

However,

Princess Yunxiu had deliberately blocked one of his escape routes.

"Good! Excellent!"

A venomous look on his face, Tang Wei flickered into motion and blocked another direction.

This was the perfect opportunity to kill Luo Tian. He wouldn’t even have to do it himself; he could use the Armored Warrior to finish the job.

Subtly,

Tang Wei, Princess Yunxiu, and the Armored Warrior formed a triangular encirclement, boxing Luo Tian in.

"You... you’ve forced my hand!"

Luo Tian took a deep breath, his gaze turning razor-sharp.

WHOOSH!

His robes billowed as his swift and agile figure took the initiative, circling closer to the Armored Warrior.

At that same moment,

a diagram appeared in Luo Tian’s mind. It depicted a misty, armor-clad figure.

On this diagram of the Armored Warrior, there were over a dozen red dots.

Among them,

the brightest red dot was located at its navel.

It turned out

that back when Tang Wei was fighting the Armored Warrior, Luo Tian had used the Celestial Book to perform an Inference on it.

The Armored Warrior was a being of mist formed by the Array. It had several fatal nodes on its body. As long as one of these weak points was struck with a sufficiently powerful Attack, the warrior would dissipate.

’This kid?’

Everyone present was stunned to see Luo Tian approaching the Armored Warrior.

"Haha! That commoner truly has a death wish!"

Tang Wei’s face was a mask of cruelty.

"Don’t! Get back here...!"

Princess Yunxiu’s face paled, and she couldn’t bear to watch.

She had only wanted to teach Luo Tian a small lesson, not kill him.

But she never expected

that Tang Wei would block Luo Tian’s other escape route, forcing him into a dead end.

"A pity. He was a promising sapling."

Above the valley, a few of the Mentors sighed with regret.

"That kid has been so clever this whole time. Why would he fly into the flame like a moth?"

The white-robed elder’s brow furrowed slightly.

Since he had been the one to receive Luo Tian’s group, he had been paying closer attention to the boy.

SWOOSH! SWISH!

The Armored Warrior unleashed four or five consecutive waves of Sword Light, three of which hacked directly toward Luo Tian.

Each wave was powerful enough to instantly kill a Martial Artist at the Fifth or Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening.

And yet,

as if he could see them coming, Luo Tian moved like an elegant, agile fish, avoiding all three attacks with just a few nimble twists and dodges.

Not only that,

but Luo Tian also moved even closer to the Armored Warrior.

’Heh, with such heavy injuries, its attack power and speed are both more than thirty percent weaker than they were at its Peak,’ Luo Tian noted.

Luo Tian stared at the Armored Warrior, which was now just inches away.

This spur-of-the-moment idea of his was a bit risky, but it was going much more smoothly than he had imagined.

"Is he trying to...?"

The color drained from Nangong Yu’s and Tang Wei’s faces.

Looking at the Starlight Marks above Luo Tian’s head, his count was second only to the three strongest geniuses.

’Could it be...’

’...that this kid is about to do something crazy?’

Snatch the prize from the tiger’s mouth, right under the noses of the three top geniuses and in front of everyone?

"Hmph! Even if the Armored Warrior only has sixty percent of its combat strength left, there’s no way that commoner can finish it off quickly," Tang Wei analyzed rationally.

But for some reason, he still felt a sense of unease.

"Star Condensation and Chasing the Sun!"

Luo Tian activated his Divine Vein and True Qi. A sharp, deep blue aura of Sword Pointing energy shot out a foot from his fingertip, tracing a profound arc through the air.

SHIING!

The brilliant beam of energy, like a cold star, first dodged the Armored Warrior’s intercepting Great Sword, then stabbed unerringly into its "navel."

In that instant,

time seemed to freeze.

The Armored Warrior’s rampaging form froze solid.

The cruel, cold look on Tang Wei’s face was frozen in place, still silently cursing Luo Tian to be sliced in two.

’I’ve doomed him...’

Princess Yunxiu couldn’t bear to watch and was about to close her eyes, but she found herself captivated by the supreme brilliance of that Sword Pointing technique.

In that same instant,

the Mentors above the valley wore expressions of shock and disbelief.

"That’s the Star Condensing Sword Point! By the looks of it, he’s almost at the Third-Layer."

"No, that’s not right! The Star Condensing Sword Point has nowhere near that kind of power...!"

Especially the white-robed elder, whose eyes flashed with a sharp light. "This kid... everyone has underestimated him!"

PFFT!

Luo Tian’s finger stabbed into the navel, sinking several inches deep.

Under normal circumstances, even if he had gone all out, it would have been nearly impossible for him to break through the Armored Warrior’s Defense head-on.

But,

in its battle against Tang Wei and the others, the Armored Warrior had been covered in wounds, its armor long since battered and cracked.

Therefore,

Luo Tian’s finger strike had penetrated so smoothly.

"It’s just one finger strike. That shouldn’t be a big problem." Tang Wei and Nangong Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

But in the next moment,

a "CRACK" was heard.

The Armored Warrior’s stiff body suddenly shuddered.

Cracks spread out from the wound at its navel, covering its entire body like a spiderweb in the blink of an eye.

FWOOM!

The incomparably mighty Armored Warrior dissolved into a cloud of mist.

For a moment, the entire field was dead silent.

The geniuses from over a dozen commanderies stared, dumbfounded.

"No! How is this possible—"

Amidst Tang Wei’s furious roar, a brilliant cascade of Starlight Marks surged toward the space above Luo Tian’s head.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

There was an incredible number of Starlight Marks, as beautiful as fireworks.

At a rough glance,

nearly thirty Starlight Marks leaped one by one to the space above Luo Tian’s head.

HUMMM!

The Starlight Marks above Luo Tian’s head became blindingly bright. In the span of a single breath, his count surpassed Tang Wei’s.

"That commoner stole my prize!"

Tang Wei’s face turned livid as he let out a hysterical roar.

But it wasn’t over yet.

After the second breath, Luo Tian’s Starlight Mark count surpassed Princess Yunxiu’s.

"He... actually succeeded."

A peculiar light shone in Princess Yunxiu’s phoenix eyes. There was no sense of loss at being surpassed.

After the third breath,

HUMMM!

the accumulation of Starlight Marks above Luo Tian’s head was complete. In an instant, his count was poised to surpass even Nangong Yu’s.

"This... How is this possible?!"

Nangong Yu was dumbfounded, an expression of utter disbelief on his handsome face.