Chapter 509: Indomitable Force
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The Heart and Soul Jade, a low-grade treasure specifically enchanted to protect one’s mind and soul. As a wandering cultivator, Zhu Guannu takes his own defense very seriously.
Of course, in his daily life, Zhu Guannu rarely encounters fellow cultivators of the same level who would use mind-attacking techniques against him, so this Heart and Soul Jade is seldom put to use.
At this moment, within Zhu Guannu’s sea of consciousness, the remaining few sword lights collided with a shimmering light shield, causing ripples to appear on the shield’s surface.
The power of the sword lights was decent, but that’s all it was!
Zhu Guannu sensed the situation within his sea of consciousness, his eyes filled with a hint of arrogance. However, his brow furrowed immediately because more than a dozen sword lights arrived in front of him.
Compared to elemental techniques, mind-attacking techniques were much faster to execute. At this distance, it was almost as if the attack happened as soon as the thought crossed their minds.
The protective barrier of blood and qi from earlier had been pierced, and it had not fully recovered yet. Therefore, these sword lights encountered little resistance as they pierced into Zhu Guannu’s sea of consciousness and directly hit the protective shield of the Heart and Soul Jade.
The shield began to tremble violently. The strength of a single sword light was nothing to be concerned about, but facing over a dozen of them was a different story.
A sense of impending danger filled Zhu Guannu’s heart as another dozen sword lights arrived and collided with the still-shaking shield.
This time, the shield couldn’t hold on any longer and shattered instantly.
Zhu Guannu instinctively glanced at Chen Fei, his pupils involuntarily shrinking upon seeing Chen Fei’s calm expression. Were these mind-attacking sword lights really coming from Chen Fei?
A few days ago, Miao Wanhong had specifically informed Zhu Guannu that Chen Fei’s mind-attacking techniques had a sinister nature, urging him to be cautious.
At that time, Zhu Guannu had taken it into consideration but hadn’t been overly vigilant. After all, he had the Heart and Soul Jade, a precious artifact that was generally quite effective at defending against most mind-attacking techniques.
More importantly, mind-attacking techniques were a double-edged sword. Among peers, using such techniques without causing self-harm was difficult. Even the most sinister mind-attacking techniques had to adhere to this principle.
Otherwise, mind-attacking techniques would have become the primary means of attack among martial pract.i.tioners. However, in reality, they were typically only used to bully those with lower cultivation levels.
It was truly impressive to have mastered a powerful mind-attacking technique, but after using it, one’s own mind would be shaken, and at most, the opponent would be harmed more. This was the strategy to gain an advantage.
However, what was happening here was entirely different. These mind-attacking techniques seemed endless, directly shattering the protection of the Heart and Soul Jade.
What was even more crucial was that Chen Fei seemed completely unaffected.
Zhu Guannu looked at Chen Fei’s eyes and realized that Chen Fei was not putting on an act. Even though these mind-attacking techniques had been shattered and dissipated, they had absolutely no effect on Chen Fei.
This was simply beyond reasonable comprehension!
“Hmph!”
Zhu Guannu let out a m.u.f.fled snort as his consciousness in his sea of consciousness had transformed into a majestic bell and drum. Faint ripples swept back and forth within his sea of consciousness, colliding with the sword lights.
This was a mind-attacking technique that Zhu Guannu had intentionally cultivated. Apart from the Heart and Soul Jade, Zhu Guannu had taken extreme care in protecting his own consciousness.
Zhu Guannu looked down upon so-called geniuses and had little regard for those within sects because he did indeed possess the capital for arrogance.
With his talent in this martial art technique, ordinary individuals would find it difficult to compete, until he encountered Chen Fei today.
Although this mind-attacking technique was exceptional, there were just too many sword lights, one wave after another, as if they would never end.
Moreover, the collisions between their consciousness were a case of hurting oneself to harm the enemy. Even with limited defenses, damage and injury were unavoidable.
What made Zhu Guannu uncomfortable was that what should have been a situation of mutual harm seemed to have no effect on Chen Fei whatsoever.
He truly seemed completely unharmed!
In Zhu Guannu’s hand, the blade contained a surging blade essence, and at this moment, it began to waver. The divergent types of elemental forces clashed with each other, as if they were on the verge of exploding in the next moment.
Chen Fei stood casually in mid-air, watching as Zhu Guannu’s movements slowed down.
If it weren’t for his advantage in martial arts techniques, Chen Fei’s initial plan was to use mind-attacking techniques to disrupt his opponent, preventing them from controlling the power of the Profound Origin Pearl.
The Profound Origin Pearl required extremely strong control to forcefully contain the power of others, and this control stemmed from one’s consciousness. If the consciousness became unstable, the so-called control would become a joke.
Uncontrollable power wouldn’t be an a.s.set but rather a hidden danger within the body, just like Zhu Guannu at this moment.
Outside the battlefield, because the distance was too great, the onlookers didn’t have a clear view of the situation.
However, they could sense that Zhu Guannu’s blade essence was becoming unstable.
Miao Wanhong and Hu Yanwu exchanged a knowing glance, both thinking of Chen Fei’s completely unreasonable mind-attacking technique.
They had actually warned him about this, but when they saw Zhu Guannu’s Heart and Soul Jade and the bit of mind-attacking technique he displayed, they had let their guard down slightly.
But now, seeing the situation unfold, it became clear that no matter how good the protection was, it couldn’t withstand Chen Fei’s abnormal mind-attacking technique.
The question remained: what was the underlying principle? Mind-attacking techniques weren’t supposed to be like this. It was one thing for them to be continuous, but the fact that there was no recoil at all made it seem as if this mind-attacking technique didn’t even belong to Chen Fei.
Absolutely no logic to it!
Inside the Blood Battle Arena,
“Ah!”
Zhu Guannu suddenly let out a long roar, his eyes had turned completely red, and the shock to his consciousness made it impossible for him to concentrate. Sensing the tremors in the blade essence in his hand, Zhu Guannu forcefully shattered the bronze bell in his consciousness and suppressed the sword lights in his sea of consciousness.
Countless ripples swept through Zhu Guannu’s sea of consciousness, shattering all the sword lights one by one. Zhu Guannu’s gaze gradually regained clarity, and he once again regained control of the blade essence in his hand.
The self-shattering bronze bell could be considered the last desperate move of this mind-attacking technique. In the short term, ordinary mind-attacking techniques wouldn’t be able to intrude into Zhu Guannu’s sea of consciousness.
The sword lights from earlier, although incredibly sharp, relied more on their quant.i.ty than overwhelming individual power. The power of a single sword light was not overly exaggerated.
And the situation within Zhu Guannu’s sea of consciousness right now was designed to counter such mind-attacking techniques with less individual strength.
Suddenly, Zhu Guannu felt the presence of a figure in front of him. Zhu Guannu’s heart trembled, and he instinctively swung the blade in his hand. However, just as the blade moved, another sword light attacked.
This new sword light, which had just appeared, felt different to Zhu Guannu. Compared to the previous sword lights, this one was far more formidable.
Before Zhu Guannu could react, this sword light had already pierced through his consciousness like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter. Neither the ripples created after shattering the bronze bell nor his consciousness’s own defenses could stop this sword light in the slightest.
In one of the two spatial grids, Chen Fei had released an original version of the “Profound Slaying Sword.”
“Ah!”
Zhu Guannu shouted loudly as the power of the Profound Origin Pearl within his body exploded. In an instant, not only were all seven of his orifices bleeding, but his body also had several large holes blown through by the blade essence.
Outside the Blood Battle Arena, everyone watched this scene with rapt attention.
The battle had changed so rapidly that it was almost impossible to keep up. Despite this, there were still many aspects they couldn’t understand or decipher.
Chen Fei’s calm demeanor from start to finish sent a shiver down the spines of Mo Shi Yi and the others.
Inside the Blood Battle Arena,
“Roar!”
The roaring sound of a dragon and elephant resonated in Zhu Guannu’s ears. A bone-chilling coldness swept over his entire being, and even with his consciousness severely damaged, he was stimulated by this coldness, regaining a momentary reaction.
Zhu Guannu lifted his head and saw the Qianyuan Sword in Chen Fei’s hand approaching him.
The whole world seemed to have quieted down, with only the tip of the Qianyuan Sword inching closer. Zhu Guannu’s entire body trembled, seemingly resigned to his fate of facing imminent death.
“Break!”
At this moment, Zhu Guannu became completely calm, no longer having the luxury to ponder what had just happened. But he understood that if he didn’t do something immediately, he would undoubtedly die.
The years of struggling from the bottom to the top had honed Zhu Guannu’s mind, making him much calmer in the face of life and death than most people. Even his instinctive reactions surpa.s.sed his conscious thoughts.
The Trans.m.u.tation Art! The Heart-Breaking Technique! The Aperture-Cracking Technique!
Three forbidden techniques were activated within Zhu Guannu’s body, and his aura surged like a blazing fire shooting up into the sky.
For others at the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, using even one forbidden technique would result in severe energy depletion afterward. Using two would likely mean being unable to fight for several years.
Directly using three, and doing so recklessly, would not only have severe consequences afterward but also make it nearly impossible to progress further in the future.
Zhu Guannu had a somewhat unique const.i.tution that allowed him to mitigate some of the aftereffects, but at the same time, using all three had pushed him to his limits. One more forbidden technique, and he might instantly succ.u.mb to death.
Zhu Guannu’s skin had long since shattered, blood vessels exposed, and in the blink of an eye, he became a b.l.o.o.d.y figure. At this moment, Zhu Guannu’s combat power had reached its peak, surpa.s.sing even most mid-level Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators.
Although it was just a single strike, this strike was entirely under Zhu Guannu’s control and surpa.s.sed the attack Mo Shi Yi used to eliminate Yu Shoucheng.
“Die!”
Zhu Guannu’s voice resounded throughout the Blood Battle Arena as he swung the blade toward Chen Fei.
Chen Fei’s clothes clung tightly to his body from the wind pressure, and the blood flames had ignited at some point. The spatial grid opened, and a strand of sword essence attached itself to the Qianyuan Sword.
“Boom!”
A violent force swept through the surroundings, causing the entire Blood Battle Arena to tremble violently. Mo Zhongxun’s expression changed slightly, and he immediately boosted the power of the formation to prevent the shockwaves from tearing it apart.
Inside the Blood Battle Arena, a figure was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the ground and creating a ma.s.sive crater that pierced through several dozen meters of soil.
In the pit, Zhu Guannu’s body was covered in fresh blood, unrecognizable, and he was on the brink of death.
In mid-air, Chen Fei still stood in his original position, but compared to before, he appeared somewhat miserable, with several wounds on his body, including one that pierced through from front to back along the heart.
Yes, that wound was inflicted by Chen Fei himself. At the same time, Chen Fei prevented the Suppressing Dragon Elephant from restoring him, making his current aura appear somewhat weakened.
Zhu Guannu struggled desperately, and the injuries within his body were rapidly healing.
Chen Fei appeared in the deep pit, looking at Zhu Guannu with a hint of surprise in his expression.
Zhu Guannu sensed Chen Fei’s presence and opened his eyes, meeting Chen Fei’s gaze directly. In that moment, a fleeting sense of confusion appeared in his eyes..