Chapter 212.1: Lu Changsheng Unleashes His Divine Might, Annihilating All in a Single Strike! All Seventeen Powers Tremble in Fear!
"Th-This has to be thirty-five divine techniques by now, right?"
"Just how many divine techniques has he practiced?"
"To practice so many divine techniques... I can tell he's still very young, not even fifty. How did he practice so many divine techniques at such a young age?"
"The number of techniques isn't even the craziest part. It looks like every single one of his techniques is at Perfection. Otherwise, how could those unremarkable defensive techniques actually resist the lightning net inside the Yin-Yang Annihilation Pagoda?"
"Dozens of divine techniques pushed to Perfection..."
The spectators were dumbfounded, and most of them felt a chill down their spines. At this point, no one even cared about the divine techniques themselves. What stunned everyone was their quantity and the fact that they were all at Perfection.
Even Li Guang was deeply shaken, and he knew that Lu Changsheng still had many cards left to play; his real trump cards were a handful of extraordinarily powerful divine techniques, not some basic defensive techniques.
Of course, Li Guang was unaware that even those formidable, offensive divine techniques were at Perfection.
Normally, practicing even one divine technique was incredibly difficult, let alone dozens of them. Still, some managed to do it. Supreme Dao Foundation martial artists with no hope of reaching the Divine Ability Realm, in particular, had no choice but to throw themselves into practicing all manner of divine techniques to offset their disadvantage in combat power.
However, bringing dozens of divine techniques to Perfection like Lu Changsheng had was nothing short of fantasy, yet that fantasy was unfolding before everyone's eyes.
Time went on, and soon, it had been two hours[1] since the first round began. Every martial artist or Dao Lord still alive was moved out of the Yin-Yang Annihilation Pagoda.
"They're out."
"Haha, the Dao Foundation expert under my command survived the first round."
"Mine, too. This first trial wasn't that big of a deal, was it?"
"My Dao Lord didn't even break a sweat."
Among the eighteen influential individuals, most wore smiles. Only four were downcast, as their contestants had been eliminated.
Four eliminations were not much, but considering that these contestants were at the very pinnacle of their respective realms, one had to admit that this trial hadn't exactly been easy. Only the Dao Lords, with their defensive enchanted treasures, had survived the trial with relative ease, but that was all.
"Congratulations, everyone!" Wu Shun spoke up. "Now, let us proceed with the second trial. The fourteen remaining contestants will be bound by no rules whatsoever and may strike at one another at any time. You may even join forces with other individuals. Take note that this time, ten of you will be eliminated. Only four shall advance to the third trial.
"To ensure that none of you will purposefully avoid battle, you are forbidden from leaving the boundaries of this manor. The moment you step outside, you're eliminated. Is everything clear?"
Some of the fourteen experts were visibly anxious. Wu Shun's words had made their hearts sink. They realized that they were about to take part in a survival-of-the-fittest battle, with no rules whatsoever. Except for the boundaries of the fighting grounds, there was absolute freedom.
"Only four out of fourteen, huh?"
Everyone quickly realized that this would be an incredibly brutal battle.
Wu Shun swept his gaze across the fourteen contestants. "No objections, I take? Very well. Then let the second trial begin!"
Swoosh!
The instant Wu Shun's voice fell, almost everyone retreated immediately, frantically distancing themselves from any opponents. Lu Changsheng did the same, as he realized that going after a specific adversary in such a battle would be sheer folly.
If the strong clashed, the remaining opponents would lie in wait and pounce at the right moment, seizing the opportunity. As for joining forces, that was quite unlikely. Even the fighters who knew each other well would likely not take such a big risk in such a high-profile competition.
Then again, in a battle with fourteen people and no rules, no one could possibly predict what would happen by the end.
The fourteen quickly spread apart. Lu Changsheng had withdrawn to an empty corner, his eyes narrowing slightly. He did not need to keep an eye out for every single contestant, as his Sense Domain was more than enough to keep track of everyone here.
The same was true for the rest. This manor was large, but only by the standards of ordinary people. To supreme Dao Foundations and supreme Dao Lords, this kind of manor was no bigger than a box. As such, the strategy of hiding and waiting for the others to fight was simply unrealistic.
Yet, no one dared to make the first move, and they seemed to be saying, "If you won't attack, I won't either."
At that, Wu Shun frowned and announced, "By the way, if more than four contestants remain after two hours, then all of you will be eliminated. In that case, first place will be ranked according to your seating here in the manor."
Hearing that, the fourteen contestants went pale, and their eyes turned to the seats of the eighteen forces within the manor.
The seating had, in fact, been scattered, so no one truly held the head position. Even Wu Shun was not seated at the head. But there were indeed seats nearer the front, and the foremost of those belonged, strikingly, to the Wang Clan.
The Wang Clan's expert was a Foundation Establishment Dao Lord, and his face changed in an instant.
"Run!"
The Dao Lord wanted to flee, but a supreme Dao Lord beside him reacted faster.
"Restrain!"
It seemed to be a kind of talisman that had the word "restrain" on it. The talisman blazed with light, conjuring an enormous character for "restrain" that came crashing down from the air and slammed straight onto the Wang Clan's Dao Lord.
Even though the Wang Clan's Dao Lord had already released his enchanted treasure in advance, it seemed to make little difference. In that instant, the Dao Lord froze from head to toe, completely retrained.
In truth, the talisman was not particularly strong, and could only restrain the Wang Clan's Dao Lord for a single instant. In a one-on-one fight, that sliver of time would not have been much trouble for a Dao Lord, given the protection of his enchanted treasure.
However, the current situation was different. The moment the Dao Lord froze up, several Mind Spaces materialized at once. Then, terrifying divine techniques blotted out the heavens, pouring down on the Dao Lord like a murderous torrent.
The Wang Clan Dao Lord roared in terror. "NOOOO!"
But it was useless. These Dao Foundation experts were all battle-hardened veterans, and none of them would pass the opportunity for a free elimination.
Boom!
The divine techniques erupted, each one a supreme compound technique of at least five Principles. All that destructive power converged on Dao Lord of the Wang Clan at once.
Crack!
His enchanted treasure shattered instantly, and not a single scream escaped the Dao Lord's lips before he was obliterated completely.
Just like that, the Wang Clan's Dao Lord was gone, and now, only thirteen supreme experts remained.
Thud!
The member of the Wang Clan slammed his palm down on his chair, his face flushed red. The clan had spent an exorbitant amount to recruit that Dao Lord, only for him to be blasted away in an instant. He had not even made it to the final round.
Naturally, the Wang Clan representative was furious, but no one paid him any mind. Rather, everyone's gaze turned to the seat behind him.
"Huh?" Li Guang was startled slightly, and his expression changed drastically.
Brother Lu, this is bad...
He understood at once that Lu Changsheng was in an extremely dangerous situation. Anyone could end up just like the Dao Lord of the Wang Clan, and Li Guang was desperately praying that it wouldn't be Lu Changsheng.
"Hah! Let's see how you contend for first place, Li Guang. You probably won't even make it past this round!" Qi Tianyi snickered, not forgetting to mock his rival.
However, Li Guang had no attention to spare for Qi Tianyi. He turned his gaze to Lu Changsheng, his eyes wide open and his lips pursed taut.
Please... just hand in there!
The other twelve supreme experts also stared at Lu Changsheng. Only a few of them were trying to slowly approach Lu Changsheng, while the rest remained wary and kept their distance.
The one seated in the very last position after Lu Changsheng was a Dao Lord, and he had no desire to act. If Lu Changsheng died, would it not be his turn next? If things went on this way, the last four standing would surely be the four forces seated furthest back.
At first, the others had not thought it through carefully. Or rather, they had not yet come to their senses, acting only on their first instinct to surround and kill the Wang Clan's Dao Lord.
However, the Dao Lord's gruesome death had served as a warning to the other combatants. If they actively hunted their opponents, they would essentially be doing the work for someone else. As such, the combatants were being even more cautious than in the beginning.
However, there were four figures who charged fiercely, without a shred of hesitation. Two of them were Dao Lords, and the other two were Dao Foundation martial artists.
Without a doubt, they were from the four forces ranked at the very bottom of the eighteen. Four would remain in the end, no matter what. So, these four combatants that were on the offensive decided that as long as they joined forces, they would have nothing to worry about, no fear of anyone cutting them down from behind.
"Let's go!"
And their target was none other than Lu Changsheng. They pounced at the same time, every bit determined to cut him down.
1. Yes, the author wrote this according to the raws ☜
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