Chapter 1233: Chapter 1231: The Strength of Miaojiang (Happy New Year’s Day, please subscribe and support!)
"Shi Xiaole, you really are formidable!"
Shi Xiaole had just returned to the outer ring when the Undying Ancestor was the first to laugh. Winning this tough battle was a credit to everyone’s efforts, but Shi Xiaole was going to take twenty percent of the glory.
Facing five opponents alone, his strength was now second to none, truly qualifying him to be ranked alongside Che Renzhong, Scorpion Lady, and Black Abyss Elder as a Heaven King-level powerhouse.
The rest nodded in acknowledgment or greeted with smiles. After all, they were overlords of their respective regions and, no matter how shocked or excited, they knew to maintain their demeanor.
It was the three elders of the dust who disregarded the attention of others, patting Shi Xiaole on the shoulder and giving him thumbs up, lavishing praise on him.
Shi Xiaole looked at Che Renzhong, who gave him a slight nod.
"To think we lost, that the South Sea actually lost to East Victory?"
The Sect Leader of the Demon Exorcism Sect was incredulous.
In the eyes of South Sea martial artists, the South Sea was the most flourishing in martial arts among the three regions. In reality, this was indeed the case when considering the quantity and quality of masters from the three lands, with the South Sea coming out on top.
But this defeat made the people of the South Sea realize that perhaps they had been too arrogant.
Aside from having the most number of leading figures, they had no advantage at all in the second-tier top combat powers, and perhaps were even lacking.
East Victory had Che Renzhong and Shi Xiaole, Miaojiang had Scorpion Lady and Black Abyss Elder, but who did the South Sea have? None.
At this thought, some people’s faces turned extremely ugly. They couldn’t even beat East Victory; against Miaojiang, led by the Chi Evil Great Witch, the odds of winning would only be lower.
Two beams of light shot out from the Fate Stele without any pause, marking the start of the second round.
As expected, it was the South Sea against Miaojiang.
Representing the South Sea was still Wind Wave Ancestor, and for Miaojiang, it was the only female among the five great witches, Poison Flower Great Witch.
"It looks like this time, you’re going to be last, the South Sea. Alas, it was you who proposed this competition. This is what you’d call ’lifting a rock only to drop it on your own foot.’"
Poison Flower Great Witch was a beautiful middle-aged woman with blood-red lips, her face full of scornful laughter.
"Victory has yet to be determined."
Wind Wave Ancestor, bristling with anger, swung his hook without another word and launched his move "Eradicate Wind Wave."
The fact that Poison Flower Great Witch was chosen to fight for Miaojiang spoke to her formidable ability.
Her weapon was a blackwood Ruyi scepter that she swiped gently, allowing thousands of flowers to bloom in the air, each radiating an extremely potent poison that would dizzy and swell the head of even the Forbidden Martial Emperor upon a single breath.
"Realm of the Wind Wave!"
Summoning the rules of rejection, Wind Wave Ancestor blocked a great amount of the poison and advanced swiftly.
"Free Viewing of Flowers!"
Poison Flower Great Witch remained calm, holding the blackwood Ruyi in front of her. Below her feet, a huge, dark, hundred-zhang flower bloomed, exuding a rich fragrance that ignored the barrier and pressed directly against the spiritual sea of Wind Wave Ancestor.
This was a rare type of spiritual poison technique!
In an instant, Wind Wave Ancestor’s face stiffened, and his barrier of Wind Wave began to lose control, nearly exploding on the spot. Seizing the golden opportunity, Poison Flower Great Witch struck relentlessly, targeting Wind Wave Ancestor’s vital spots.
Boom, boom, boom...
Wind Wave Ancestor spat blood with severe injuries, but Poison Flower Great Witch wasn’t much better off, having one of her arms blown off. It turned out that Wind Wave Ancestor had feigned even greater affliction from the poison technique to lower Poison Flower Great Witch’s guard.
"You old thing!"
Poison Flower Great Witch’s eyes flashed fiercely as she charged forward, alternating between soft palm strikes and venomous attacks, making her nearly impossible to defend against.
Wind Wave Ancestor, however, was far more straightforward. Regardless of her techniques, he unleashed violent whirlwinds at his opponent, locking her down without leaving any room to escape.
Both exhausted all their skills, unleashing killing moves one after another, leading to a grueling battle which ultimately concluded with Poison Flower Great Witch’s victory.
Of course, she too was in bad shape, heavily wounded and having her right arm and left leg ripped off by Wind Wave Ancestor right before his defeat, who then chose to self-destruct, leaving Poison Flower Great Witch covered in wounds and beyond recognition.
Without any time to recover, the second contestant from the South Sea was the Black White Master. At this stage of the fight, the strategic placement of troops had little effect; what mattered was the raw strength of the contenders.
To deny Poison Flower Great Witch the chance to get close, Black White Master took up a huge halberd with black and white broad beams of light twining around it, charging forward.
The move was his killing skill, "Indifferent Yin and Yang."
Clang!
Poison Flower Great Witch indeed chose to self-destruct, but instead of blowing up her body, she detonated her spiritual poison technique, emanating waves after wave of exotic fragrance.
Even under Black White Master’s full defense, a small portion managed to penetrate his body, causing his complexion to turn grey and his body to sway.
Without giving any respite, Miaojiang’s second great witch made her entrance right away, cutting down with her strongest strike the moment she appeared. The blade’s light was pitch-black, like an evil moon, with ghostly howls and wolf cries echoing faintly.
Splat!
As blood rained down, Black White Master lost his lower body, uttering agonized screams filled with both fury and unwillingness, "Despicable and shameless!"
"Foolish. It would be idiotic of me not to seize an opportunity."
Ghost Blade Great Witch let out a long, sinister laugh, slicing one attack after another. Dark blade gleams turned the void into ink black, the murky distortion trembling as if countless monsters struggled within, desperate to burst out.
Seriously wounded, Black White Master could not compete, constantly overwhelmed. As he attempted to self-destruct, Ghost Blade Great Witch kept her distance. After a battle lasting several 2-hour periods, Black White Master was drained of his power and was defeated.
Although Ghost Blade Great Witch was also injured, it was not critical, but she had expended more than half of her strength, far from her peak condition.
Under these circumstances, the third South Sea contestant wasn’t the Great Battles Emperor but the Five Elements Axe Emperor.
The people could quite understand this arrangement.
The Great Battles Emperor was the stabilizing force of the South Sea, a pivot of strength. If even he stepped down while Miaojiang still retained powerful combatants, it would mean immense pressure for the South Sea.
The reason why leading figures had fought first against East Victory was that they thought East Victory’s lineup was thin, and that by eliminating the Three Elders and Che Renzhong, victory seemed assured.
Who would have imagined that in just a short five-year period, Shi Xiaole would grow to such an extent, showing a talent even more astonishing than before.
"Kill!"
The Five Elements Axe Emperor fought desperately. After his limbs were blown off, he used his body, head, and spirit as weapons, continually moving in combat, tangling with the Ghost Blade Great Witch in an attempt to wear the opponent down further.
"Ghost Moon!"
After a standoff of about a quarter of a two-hour period, the Ghost Blade Great Witch sneered as he chopped off the Five Elements Axe Emperor’s head. The latter was also a tough one, his body exploding like a shell. Worn out from the fight, the Ghost Blade Great Witch lost half of his body and knelt on the ground, in an extremely bad state.
The fourth to enter the fray was the Startling Thunder Emperor.
His strength was even higher than that of the Five Elements Axe Emperor. Every thrust of his spear brought down layers of lightning, filled with explosive and vigorous energy, which to a certain extent, was the perfect counter to the shadowy Ghost Blade Great Witch.
Of course, the main reason was that the Ghost Blade Great Witch was left with less than ten percent of his power, hardly enough to suppress his opponent anymore.
"Hahaha, die, moonfall upon the earth!"
Beams of black light shot out from inside the Ghost Blade Great Witch, his body disintegrating directly as his essence blood turned into power, making this strike incredibly potent.
Hiss hiss hiss!
The recently-arrived Startling Thunder Emperor nearly vanished into smoke, left with only half a head.
After exhausting two giants and two emperors from South Sea, the tide turned, leaving them at an absolute disadvantage in the situation.
Shush!
The Chi Evil Great Witch arrived at the inner circle, carrying a dark, profound bow that seemed capable of swallowing the sun and moon.
Seeing this, the Great Battles Emperor pursed his lips tightly and, wielding the Shark Tooth Whip, also soared out into battle.
Among all those present, the Chi Evil Great Witch was the only adversary the Great Battles Emperor was unsure he could defeat; not only was the witch’s strength close to his own, but he also possessed a divine weapon.
"Great Battles Emperor, it seems South Sea is set to lose again. You came with overwhelming force and yet you’re headed for third place," the Chi Evil Great Witch chuckled.
"As long as I defeat you, the rest won’t be a problem," the Great Battles Emperor replied coldly.
The Chi Evil Great Witch shook his head, too lazy to burst the bubble of the other’s self-deception. He picked up the Witch God Moon-drawing Bow on his back and, without a word, slowly began to draw the bowstring.
An extremely dangerous feeling enveloped the Great Battles Emperor, as if he was being tracked by a supreme deity, causing the hair on his body to stand on end. However, the Great Battles Emperor did not take advantage of the moment to attack, as he knew all too well how cunning the Chi Evil Great Witch could be—it might just be a trap to lure him in.
Indeed.
The Chi Evil Great Witch gently released the bowstring and laughed, "Such opportunities are rare. I’d prefer to defeat you with my own strength."
With one hand mimicking the gesture of drawing a bow and the other pinching and releasing nimbly, a whoosh sounded as an arrow of Vigorous Air materialized from nothing and shot swiftly towards the Great Battles Emperor.
"Humph!"
The Great Battles Emperor responded with his own Vigorous Air whip, lashing out at the air arrow.
From long-range attacks to close combat, the two world-class experts, both among the top three in strength in the East Victory world, clashed time after time, alternating between attack and defense at a speed that left most unable to keep up with their minds, causing them to exhaust their mental energy simply by trying to follow the fast-changing scenes.
"My strength is about seventy percent of theirs," Shi Xiaole thought, not merely watching the battle as a bystander.
This level of contention was tremendously valuable, offering a chance to learn from others and see more of his own shortcomings.
Others with the same thought were the likes of Xuanyuan Di and Qi Muchu, few in number. But due to their mental power, what they saw was far less than Shi Xiaole.
Che Renzhong, on the other hand, had sparkling eyes full of insight.
Just then, the situation in the arena suddenly shifted.
The Chi Evil Great Witch, who claimed to favor a fair duel, suddenly pulled the Witch God Sun-drawing Bow at extreme speed.
As the bowstring was drawn, the light from the surroundings was rapidly absorbed, turning the world pitch-black as if returning to a time before creation, with no way for even mental power to penetrate.
Thud!
Upon releasing the fingers, the Witch God Sun-drawing Bow emitted a deep sound like a hammer striking, and the world was destroyed in darkness.
But the Great Battles Emperor was no pushover. He, too, had no intention of adhering to the agreement. Empowered by his own strength, the Shark Tooth Whip was like an aurora cutting through darkness, sweeping fiercely across.
Clang...
Both figures coughed up blood and quickly clashed together again.
This battle was crucial not only for the subsequent battle situation but also because neither was willing to be defeated by the other, nearly draining the power from their blood in their mortal combat.
In the end, the two top powerhouses settled for a draw. Such a result undoubtedly pronounced the death sentence for South Sea.
"People of South Sea, come out and meet your doom," said the Black Abyss Elder, twisting his head like a tiger leaving its mountain, sounding utterly ferocious.
Liu Ruofei lost.
The Heavenly Martial Emperor lost.
The Thousand Swords Emperor lost.
They all fell from a single move. As powerhouse experts of the second echelon in East Victory, the Black Abyss Elder exhibited dominating strength, winning all three encounters with his lethal moves.
Last were Xuanyuan Di and Qi Muchu. The two proud geniuses, unwilling to admit defeat, unleashed their limit-breaking power, ultimately ending with self-destruction, ten times more ferocious than when they faced Shi Xiaole.
Together, they managed to vanquish the Black Abyss Elder, maintaining the last vestiges of South Sea’s honor.
This round, Miaojiang won.
