Before Spirit Rune Hall, countless gazes were dumbstruck as they stared at the scene in the Genesis Qi mirror.
One could only watch as the Spirit above Zhou Yuan"s head raised both its arms, and reached towards the falling giant Spirit stamp, before slowly lifting it!
*Uproar*!
It was as the atmosphere had exploded as a torrential flood of noise engulfed the area.
"How can this be?! How can he lift little senior sister Xia Yu"s Spirit stamp?!"
"Little senior sister Xia Yu is at the mid Corporeal stage!"
"Wasn"t Zhou Yuan being suppressed earlier?!"
"......"
The Spirit Rune Peak disciples especially were unable to believe their eyes. Every single one of them was barely able to speak, clearly extremely shocked by the sight they had just seen.
They had originally believed Xia Yu"s victory was already set in stone. Who would have imagined such an earth-shaking turn of events at the final moment!
"This…"
Su Wan"s mouth opened and closed as she dazedly stared at this scene, her hand still on Gu Hongyi"s shoulder to console her to accept reality. Who could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, Su Wan would become the one who needed accept reality instead.
"How is this possible?" Mumbled Su Wan.
Beside her, the dimness in Gu Hongyi"s eyes had completely vanished, replaced by a dazzling splendour. She grabbed Su Wan"s wrist and said with an overwhelmingly bright smile, "Senior sister Su Wan, I told you that it won"t be good to give a verdict before its over."
As Gu Hongyi lifted her head to look at the young figure inside the Genesis Qi mirror, she gently bit into her red lips. It seemed that he would never easily give up no matter what kind of difficulties he faced. Such will power and tenacity was truly admirable to Gu Hongyi.
While Gu Hongyi was glowing with joy, the smile on Lu Xuanyin"s face rapidly turned rigid as her complexion became ashen. It seemed that she had basically been slapped in the face by Zhou Yuan again?
Beside her, the corners of Xu Yan"s mouth twitched slightly, a skin deep smile on his face as he said, "Zhou Yuan is truly surprising…"
The only two individuals that had been able to sense Zhou Yuan"s transformation were Ye Ge and Li Qingchan. They stared hard at Zhou Yuan"s figure, as amazement appeared in their eyes.
"His… Spirit has advanced!"
It was obvious that only by stepping into the mid Corporeal stage would his Spirit finally gain the power to resist Xi Yu"s Spirit stamp.
In other words, Zhou Yuan"s gamble had paid off.
He had borrowed the tremendous pressure from Xia Yu"s Spirit stamp to force put himself in a dangerous situation, allowing his Spirit to reach its limit and ultimately break through this limit, completing the breakthrough.
It may seem simple when described, but who knew how much risk was involved.
After all, not just anyone would have the b.a.l.l.s to challenge one"s limit at such a time, because failure would result in terrible injuries.
But Zhou Yuan seemed to not know the meaning of fear.
Li Qingchan"s cold and clear gaze stared at his figure in amazement as she mumbled, "No wonder Yaoyao is so confident in him, it appears that it is I who has underestimated him."
The amazement on Ye Ge"s face slowly receded, returning to calmness. Zhou Yuan"s last-minute breakthrough had exceeded everyone"s expectations, but it would only put him on the same level as Xia Yu. She currently still had the power of the boundary to augment her strength, and Zhou Yuan would not be her match even if he was also at the mid Corporeal stage.
...
Rumble!
The Spirit above Zhou Yuan"s head slowly stood up, its arms slowly lifting the giant Spirit stamp as if it was carrying a mountain. In the end, a circular pulse of Spirit light exploded.
Dong!
The giant Spirit stamp was finally sent flying, hurling towards Xia Yu on the mountain peak.
Xia Yu beckoned with her hand, and the stamp transformed into translucent light that submerged into the spot between her brows. She lowered her head to stare at Zhou Yuan, as she said with some admiration, "Senior brother Zhou Yuan, I never imagined that you would make use of my Spirit pressure to aid in completing your breakthrough."
Zhou Yuan"s decisiveness and boldness had shaken Xia Yu"s heart.
Zhou Yuan stretched his neck from side to side as he stood up from the giant crater, while his Spirit slowly descended and submerged into his head.
"Little senior sister Xia Yu is too strong, leaving me no option but to take a risk." Zhou Yuan chuckled as he felt the vigorous Spirit power between his brows. His Spirit had become even more corporeal and condensed than before, multiplying the amount of Spirit power he could utilise by over a dozen times.
This made the surroundings become even clearer in Zhou Yuan"s senses. In fact, he could already faintly feel the paths of the flowing Genesis Qi in the vicinity.
Xia Yu looked at Zhou Yuan and earnestly said, "Senior brother Zhou Yuan, if we were not in the boundary, it would likely be tough to predict which one of us would triumph over the other. Unfortunately, we are in the boundary and I have the absolute homeground advantage, so I hope that you can admit defeat because you have no chance against me."
"It was really hard for me to reach the mid Corporeal stage, so I should give my new found strength a test drive, right?" Zhou Yuan grinned.
Xia Yu helplessly shook her head. "It seems that senior brother Zhou Yuan has not given up yet. Since that is so, let us continue."
The Genesis Rune Brush in her hand began to flicker the moment the final word left her lips.
Rumble!
However, Zhou Yuan was even quicker. A rune rapidly took shape at the tip of his falling brush, and propelled his body forward like a gust of wind.
After advancing to the mid Corporeal stage, Zhou Yuan could clearly feel his increasing swiftness and fluidity in drawing Genesis Runes.
Xia Yu also completed her move at this moment. One could only watch as the mountain burst open, sending out giant boulder after boulder that ruthlessly shot towards Zhou Yuan.
"Heavenly Blade Rune!"
With a shake of his wrist, the Genesis Rune Brush flitted across the air, leaving behind a complicated rune. A sharp aura pulsed from the rune as the surrounding Genesis Qi surged towards it, transforming it into a hundred foot long glowing blade. The deadly blade zoomed forward, seemingly leaving a cut in s.p.a.ce itself when it pa.s.sed.
Shck!
The glowing blade swept forth, slicing apart the rocks as it chopped downwards at Xia Yu like a guillotine.
However, Xia Yu quickly slammed her foot into the ground, causing thick rock walls to rise from the mountain below her feet and block the glowing blade.
Swis.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+
Zhou Yuan took the initiative, sending out rune after rune with quick flicks of his hand. The Genesis Qi in the area stirred as a storm of attacks engulfed Xia Yu.
However, Xia Yu met Zhou Yuan"s offensive with a fearless smile. By tapping into the endless power from the boundary, she easily neutralized Zhou Yuan"s entire bombardment.
As Ye Ge had predicted, though advancing to the mid Corporeal stage had placed Zhou Yuan on the same level as Xia Yu, she still had the homeground advantage from the boundary.
In the boundary, she had access to its almost boundless power.
The best outcome Zhou Yuan could achieve was to drag the fight from his almost certain defeat to a stalemate.
But even if he managed to do so, his side would not be able to break out of the boundary.
In addition, both Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao would ultimately exhaust all of their energy as time pa.s.sed, while Jin Zhang Xia Yu would remain undefeatable due to the boundary"s power.
Ye Ge was not the only one who came to this conclusion. As the fight between the two parties continued, more and more of the numerous disciples in front of Spirit Rune Hall also began to realize this.
"From the looks of it, Zhou Yuan won"t be able to win even after advancing to the mid Corporeal stage."
"Turning around what looked to be almost certain defeat is already very amazing of him. He is no simple individual."
"He does have some ability. Unfortunately, breaking through the boundary looked to be hopeless."
"......"
A look of pity was likewise revealed on Su Wan"s face as she remarked, "Truly a pity that he"s still unable to obtain victory."
This time, Gu Hongyi smiled faintly and said, "Senior sister Su Wan"s expectations are too high, it"s already very amazing for him to have forced little senior sister Xia Yu into a deadlock."
She was clearly already very satisfied by Zhou Yuan"s performance today.
Su Wan nodded in agreement. A trace of graveness appeared in her eyes for the first time when she looked towards Zhou Yuan again. After the earlier breakthrough, he now had the qualifications for her to see him as an opponent.
"It seems that the outcome won"t change…"
...
Rumble!
Numerous Genesis Rune attacks collided against each other, quite a grand sight to behold.
Another wave of runes met, destroying each other.
Xia Yu looked at Zhou Yuan with her bright eyes and said, "Senior brother Zhou Yuan, why do you continue with this useless a.s.sault, it"s only a waste of energy."
"Is that so?"
Zhou Yuan"s gaze flashed as the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand suddenly jerked. Its snow-white brush hairs abruptly shot forth, wrapping around the mountain top below Xia Yu"s feet like a long white whip, as his figure was pulled towards the mountain in a flash.
Upon seeing this, Xia Yu pointed her brush, as a roaring stone serpent emerged and charged towards Zhou Yuan.
The Saint Rune in Zhou Yuan"s eyes spun as his figure shot into the stone serpent"s giant mouth. A few breaths later, a ripple violently pulsed from the serpent"s belly, the rune within its body destroyed by Zhou Yuan.
Boom!
The stone serpent"s body exploded into countless rock fragments.
A figure shot out, das.h.i.+ng up the mountain in a few breaths.
Xia Yu"s hands came together, the mountain top shuddering as countless sharp spikes rose from the ground, sealing off Zhou Yuan"s path.
However, Zhou Yuan was surprisingly quick. He shuttled past the countless earth spike, and appeared directly in front of Xia Yu like a phantom.
Xia Yu was naturally alarmed by Zhou Yuan"s sudden appearance before her, but immediately regained her calm as she weakly said, "Senior brother Zhou Yuan, we can"t rely on our Genesis Qi cultivation here, so it"s useless even if you come all the way here."
"Moreover, this is the core, making the power I can utilise here even stronger."
The instant her words faded, the ground around her began to swell as rock wall after wall emerged, looming at Zhou Yuan from all directions.
Zhou Yuan looked at the young girl before him, whose seemingly weak appearance seemed to contain a sliver of cunningness, as he grinned and playfully said, "Is little senior sister Xia Yu really so confident in your Spirit?"
"If so, shall I test it?"
He suddenly took a step forward, his body nearly touching Xia Yu"s.
As his male presence swept over her, Xia Yu"s face turned a little red as she took half a step back in a somewhat panicked manner.
However, Zhou Yuan"s head suddenly loomed towards her, his face rapidly growing in Xia Yu"s eyes. Under her panicked and alarmed gaze, he gently placed his forehead against hers.
When their foreheads touched, they could both feel each other"s breaths, their faces practically meeting.
Xia Yu"s faec instantly turned beet-red.
Before she could cry out in embarra.s.sment, however, her expression suddenly changed. She had felt Zhou Yuan"s Spirit ferociously charge towards her when their skin touched.
"Have a taste of the terror I"ve experienced."
A low voice sounded in Zhou Yuan"s heart.
Xia Yu"s Spirit violently trembled, finding herself now in an endless starry sky. Her Spirit stood this starry sky as a seemingly endless mottled divine grindstone slowly loomed towards her, bringing with it the overwhelming aura of destruction.
In an instant, endless fear frantically rose in Xia Yu"s heart like weeds.