Chapter 228: Chapter 228: Battle with Yuan Zong
From Mo Ye’s appearance to his surrender, it only took three breaths of time. The viewers couldn’t exactly react with astonishment, but they were definitely surprised.
Though it was expected for those with high talent, strong power, and resolute will to not be weak, being so formidable as to make Mo Ye lose his desire to fight was somewhat terrifying.
What frightened people the most was, upon carefully reflecting on the fight from start to now, they suddenly realized that Shi Xiaole seemed to have no weaknesses nor vulnerabilities.
"I really shouldn’t have let go so casually back then."
A celestial beauty regretted quietly. She was Zhu Ling, the most beautiful woman in the Cloud Triangle.
After the battle at Snow Appreciation Pavilion, because Shi Xiaole refused her, Zhu Ling was very resentful and therefore ignored him. However, his performance in this grand tournament of heroes repeatedly pushed her limits, causing astonishment and bitterness in Zhu Ling.
Zhu Ling is unlike normal girls. Beneath her unparalleled beauty, she has an unyielding heart.
She knew clearly that with her own talents, she couldn’t make a name for herself in the martial world or be known to everyone. So her method was simple; find a true prodigy in the martial world and become his wife.
Originally, she considered the Four Outstanding Youths like Lu Erfeng, but compared to Shi Xiaole, they fell so short that they were unworthy of note. She made up her mind, this time she must carefully plan to approach Shi Xiaole.
As to whether he would look down on her because of her lack of martial talent, Zhu Ling did not think too much about it. A woman’s beauty and wiles are a type of talent, sometimes even more lethal than actual strength.
"Master, Young Master still has a few competitors left. Even if he loses all of them, he would still place in the top five."
Meng Qi said quietly, his lips trembling with excitement.
Who in Golden Phoenix Tower isn’t excited? The idea of being in the top five of the young hero ranking was something they didn’t even dare dream about before. If someone from the Cloud Triangle managed to be on the young hero ranking, even if they were in the eightieth place, the power that the gifted one belonged to would offer incense and kow-tow in gratitude to their ancestors.
As for the top five, it has never been accomplished by anyone from the Cloud Triangle in nearly a hundred years.
"Before the result comes out, don’t make irrelevant discussions."
Su Yanru said calmly, but only she knew how nervous she was at this moment, how urgently she wanted to run to that young man and hug him.
With Ye Liushuang and Mo Ye successively defeated, there were only four people left who were maintaining a complete victory.
Perhaps aiming to reserve the suspense, the referees temporarily changed the battle sequence, so none of the four ran into each other from the seventy-fifth to the seventy-seventh round.
Out of the four, Yuan Zong had two matches in the seventy-fifth round, with opponents being Fang Shenwu and Mo Ye.
Yuan Zong bursting out with Asura Martial Arts Scripture was terrifying. Even when Fang Shenwu executed the three styles of Shenwu, he still couldn’t pose any effective threat to Yuan Zong. After several dozen bouts, he ended up losing.
Mo Ye’s illusionary martial arts did cause some troubles on Yuan Zong, because not everyone’s heart and mind could be as horrific as Shi Xiaole’s. At the critical moment, Yuan Zong used a unique skill from Asura Martial Arts Scripture, forcibly using brute force to break the opponent’s illusion, thus claiming victory.
Also in the seventy-fifth round, Shi Xiaole finally faced off against Ye Liushuang.
First was the Shadow Star Fleeing Move, and then the Empress Claw. Ye Liushuang’s combat strategy against Shi Xiaole was exactly the same as when fighting Yuan Zong. She wanted to see what differences there were between Shi Xiaole and Yuan Zong when faced with the same moves.
Shh!
The sword flew up and instantly shredded the phantom.
Ye Liushuang soon figured out the difference. Everyone said that Yuan Zong was aggressive, but at least, he still responded to her moves. But this Shi Xiaole, he sealed off her retreat as soon as he took action, completely disrupting her rhythm.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Shi Xiaole moved quickly and his sword was even faster. With the enhancement of the Wind Intent Realm, he took advantage of the opponent’s gaps to the extreme. Ye Liushuang was horrified to find that she didn’t even have the chance to use the Flying Flower move or Chase the Moon move.
It’s really unbelievable!
"Miss Ye, please."
The speed of Shi Xiaole’s sword slowed down slightly, and his face wore a smile.
But this kind of smile in Ye Liushuang’s eyes was clearly a form of invisible contempt. With anger surging up in her heart, Ye Liushuang used one hand for the Flying Flower move and another for the Chase the Moon move, and astonishingly broke free of the shackles of the moves in her wrath.
"Impressive."
Raising his sword, gathering danger from both mountains and rivers, Shi Xiaole swished his sword in the air. Amid the crackling sound, chilling air mixed with Sword Qi burst out together.
His Internal Power hadn’t yet been fully dissipated when the tip of his sword pointed at Ye Liushuang’s throat.
"You’re ruthless."
Ye Liushuang gave Shi Xiaole a deep look. Relying on the intuition of a female and martial artist, she felt that his sword was three points stronger than when he defeated Fang Shenwu.
And this still might not be his limit.
Ye Liushuang suddenly had a terrifying thought. Was Yuan Zong really a match for this kid?
Apart from Yuan Zong and Shi Xiaole, Yue Tianlin also faced off against Fang Shenwu in the seventy-sixth round.
"Dragon-Slaying Sword Qi."
"Three Styles of Shenwu."
Sparks fired off as though it was raining upon plantain leaves. This time Fang Shenwu had a fully adjusted, full-strength fight against Yue Tianlin, making it difficult to determine the outcome.
But the Three Styles of Shenwu were excessively draining his Internal Power. After several dozen bouts, its power gradually weakened and Yue Tianlin seized the chance, smashing his defense with a single stroke.
"Yue Tianlin also won against Fang Shenwu, well, I’m even more eager for his fight with Shi Xiaole now."
"Haha! That’s going to happen very soon."
Compared to the top three contestants who kept winning, Xue Changqing always appeared very low-key. But no one dared to underestimate him because he had previously defeated a series of martial experts like Su Zhi’er, Xu Canghai, and Nangong Yang.
In the seventy-fifth round, his opponent was Lin Gaofei.
In the seventy-sixth round, he fought two matches in a row, against Ye Liushuang and Mo Ye respectively.
The seventy-seventh opponent was Fang Shenwu.
Without exception, all of these opponents were defeated, and for some unknown reason, whether it was the weakest Mo Ye or the strongest Ye Liushuang, all were defeated within forty-nine swords strikes from him.
"What an Ice and Snow Swordsman Xue Changqing is."
Yue Tianlin sneered. The opponent had a unique quality that made people unconsciously underestimate his danger. Fortunately, Yue Tianlin had some cards up his sleeve and did not fear anyone.
In successive fierce contests, eventually, the seventy-eighth round began.
Everyone’s hearts seemed to be tickled by a cat’s hair, eager to see the quarterfinals among the top four, so even the other matches, which might have made the top ten, were watched absent-mindedly.
Finally, the previous thirty-nine matches came to an end.
The first referee stood up. At this moment, the large Hero Peak and its adjacent peaks fell silent. Clearing his throat, the first referee loudly announced: "The fortieth match, Yuan Zong versus Shi Xiaole."
Whoosh!
After a moment of silence, the scene exploded like a pot of boiling water. The momentum was so huge that it seemed to disperse the clouds in the sky.
Yuan Zong, the leader of the Four Heaven Kings, the number one genius of Asura Mansion, had won the first place in the Heroes Tournament at the age of eighteen, breaking the record of Qingxue State for many years.
Five years later, just how strong he was, no one knew, because in previous matches, no one had been able to force out all his strength.
Shi Xiaole, the biggest dark horse of the tournament, an incredible talent proficient in both the sword and the blade. Before the competition started, very few people knew about him. But with his performances, he indefinitely left an indelible impression on all.
Elegant demeanor, unpredictable strength, no weak points, a fighting style of always hitting his mark - everyone wanted to see just how far he could ’dark horse’.
"Yuan Zong, it’s time to show your full strength. Let everyone see."
The Mansion Lord of Asura Mansion coldly grunted.
These days, he looked through Shi Xiaole’s files and found out that the boy was only seventeen years old. If twenty-three-year-old Yuan Zong were to lose to Shi Xiaole, it would indeed be ridiculous.
"It turns out you are the one standing in front of me. And judging from your appearance, it seems like you think that the ninth level of Asura Martial Arts Scripture is nothing to you."
On the stage, Yuan Zong squinted dangerously.
"Any martial arts technique is only as good as the person who wields it."
Shi Xiaole responded, thumb touching the hilt of his sword.
"You are very reasonable. However, no matter how you put it, you will never be a match for me. I will make you despair."
Yuan Zong’s thick eyebrows fluttered up, his long hair flowing automatically without wind.
As he spoke, a massive aura of iron, blood, ruthlessness, and tenacity surged out from the 48,000 pores all over his body. His left hand extended, a ball composed of red internal power kept spinning in his palm. He hurled it at his opponent, directly blasting a crater in the surface of the arena.
"This is, an attack power truly at the Xuan Qi’s first layer level."
The disciples of the Mechanism Pavilion were shocked, and they cried out in astonishment.
In many previous matches, some masters could also cause damage to the stage, but it was all done with their full strength, approximately equivalent to the strength of a normal first-layer Xuan Qi master.
But Yuan Zong was different, his casual performance clearly showed that his current attack power had reached the level of a normal first-layer Xuan Qi master.
"The tenth layer of the Asura Martial Arts Scripture!"
People like Old Mr. Ma from the Qiongjia Gang, Xia Lingwei, the city lord of Queen City, and the palace master of Twin Absolute Palace all felt Yuan Zong’s aura and looked at him in utter astonishment.
No wonder he was so confident from the beginning. At the ninth layer of the Asura Martial Arts Scripture, Yuan Zong had easily defeated Ye Liushuang. Now at the tenth level, how much stronger had he become?
Who among his peers could compete with him in a fight?
"He had this up his sleeve?"
Yue Tianlin’s handsome face turned grave. He had counted on Shi Xiaole to test Yuan Zong’s depth before the match. Now that it was tested, he felt like he was facing a formidable enemy, and for the first time, felt unsure about his ability to win.
"This is terrifying, absolutely terrifying."
"I heard that the later the levels in the Asura Martial Scripture, the greater the improvement each level brings. Good heavens, just how much strength did Yuan Zong use previously?"
"Shi Xiaole is definitely going to lose."
The spectators were all shocked, with the discussion instantly overwhelming the entire Heroes Mountains.
At this point, even the members of the referee group, as well as a monk and a Taoist under the welcoming pine, were all paying extremely close attention to the domineering Yuan Zong. Under the latter’s aura, Shi Xiaole had become an invisible foil.
"Now, do you still think you can fight me?"
Yuan Zong’s momentum was intimidating as he stared at Shi Xiaole across from him.
"How would I know if I don’t try."
There was no panic in Shi Xiaole’s eyes, only excitement and anticipation.
Previously, although he claimed to be psychologically prepared, his body wasn’t fooled. The strength of his opponents could not arouse his subconscious interest. Now, Yuan Zong finally made his body tense, achieving a state of unity of mind and body for the first time.
Shi Xiaole let go of his restraint. In an instant, the released Brahma-I Unity roared like an enraged dragon, operating to its limit. An enormous force, as thin as a cow’s hair, blasted out brazenly, pushing and pulling indistinguishably, neither hot nor cold. Amidst the continuous hissing sounds, it directly penetrated Yuan Zong’s painstakingly constructed invincible momentum.
