Looking at Zhu Yi and Shao Qingcheng locked in battle, silence fell upon the Tidal Sword Elder, Vivant Joy Holy Man, Red Dragon King and the Solar Sage.
They, the bystanders, had a clear view of what had transpired.
Although Shao Qingchen"s Immortal Soul Avatar had briefly turned back into human form, the duo had been at a stalemate for quite awhile.
Zhu Yi"s Four Appearances Sky Formation and Essay of the Sages had worked hand in hand to seal Shao Qingcheng"s attacks.
But this was a temporal measure at best. Shao Qingcheng was, after all, an Immortal Soul elder already.
Should any one of Zhu Yi"s defenses falter, Shao Qingcheng would once again be able to call upon the Meteor Aurora Technique. This time, his power would have expanded, and even if Zhu Yi were to harness the Supreme Ancient Holy Apparel, his safety was not guaranteed.
But out of the stalemate, Zhu Yi suddenly made a move that left the audience with their mouths agape.
Just as he was fighting Shao Qingcheng, he suddenly left his Nascent Soul and attempted the condensation of his cosmic form!
Zhu Yi"s soul looked like him when he was ten years old and a coa.r.s.e-looking branch from a Cloud Forest Tree appeared above his head and a crus.h.i.+ng amount of spiritual energy poured down from above.
With the support from the spiritual pressure, Zhu Yi could match Shao Qingcheng"s mana.
This increase in spiritual energy fueled his Supreme Ancient Holy Apparel, Essay of the Sages and Four Appearances Sky Formation, while thoroughly powering up his nascent soul.
All of Zhu Yi"s powers seemed to be contained in this human-like form, as it expanded and transformed into a giant.
"He"s asking for it!" commented Solar Sage.
Going beyond one"s abilities was no easy feat, especially with the cosmic form. To condense one"s cosmic form was even more difficult.
Condensing one"s cosmic form during a battle was not something that had not happened before. However, in most cases, they were killed before the transformation could even begin.
That was because a slip in focus was fatal in cases where one was not stronger than the opponent by a large margin. Without so much as a blow, anything the opponent did could distract one from perfecting one"s transformation, resulting in one"s self-destruction.
Anyone would love to chance upon an opponent that was so reckless. It would be an easy victory.
But Zhu Yi went straight to condense his cosmic form without a single hint of hesitation. Without any fear at all!
Zhu Yi"s hands danced in the air as words formed in the trail left by his fingers, gathering voluminous amounts of spiritual energy and pouring it into the humanoid giant.
The forms of the dragon, phoenix, tortoise and Qilin all appeared and entered the human-like form.
Instantly, a four-faced, eight-legged giant appeared before the crowd, sitting astride on top of a giant Qilin, followed by a dragon which was trailing around him. A bright phoenix seemed to be floating above his head, shrieking as a warning to all who dared to challenge its authority.
Each of the giant"s four faces contained a different persona.
The Knowledgeable one, the Wise one, the Strict one and the Cultured one.
The eight elements transformed into eight different limbs, which paired up to look for the four faces, resulting in every face matched with two limbs. ]
The Knowledgeable one was holding onto stacks of books while the Wise one held pen and paper. The Strict one held onto a ruler used to discipline disciples while the Cultured one was strumming a musical instrument.
Inside the void, the gigantic zither sat atop the back of a giant tortoise, which lay next to the giant silently.
Countless words danced in the air, forming scriptures, which preached morality, that pranced around the giant.
Shao Huayang and the rest were too far away to see exactly what was happening. They could only tell that Shao Qingcheng"s meteors surged with immense power that seemed to be able to tear the sky away from the earth, and were pounding away at Zhu Yi"s Four Appearances Sky Formation and Essay of the Sages.
Seeing Shao Qingcheng forcing Zhu Yi into a defensive position seemed to bring smiles to Shao Huayang and company.
"For someone in the intermediate Nascent Soul stage to possess such power is truly remarkable. But you have lost your way and overestimated your power. Challenging an Immortal Soul stage cultivator would only result in your humiliation!"
"Your pride is your weakness. The smooth-sailing journey you had thus far ends here today, and this defeat will stagnate your progress for some time to come if it does not destroy your cultivation."
"And I will surpa.s.s you and reach the Immortal Soul stage before you can even smell it, leaving you to choke on the dust behind me. I pray that the heavens spare your life today, for I will return to defeat and kill you myself!"
Just at this moment, there was a rumbling above the golden bridge. From the void emerged a gigantic humanoid. Sounds of scriptures being read could be heard as soft light rained down gently.
Shao Huayang and the other cultivators stared dumbly.
Even Tidal Sword Elder, Vivant Joy Holy Man, Red Dragon King and the Solar Sage seemed to be mildly surprised at this sight as well.
Although Shao Huayang and the rest could not see clearly what was happening, they could tell for sure that Zhu Yi was withstanding Shao Qingcheng"s attacks while brewing his own cosmic form.
Not only was Shao Qingcheng"s attacks not doing real damage, it seemed to be hastening the rate of condensation!
Despite how Zhu Yi appeared to be fainting as his face grew paler, his soul only grew bigger and stronger, as the cosmic form becoming increasingly clearer.
"He"s using his battles with the Immortal Soul stage cultivators to shave off the unnecessary bits in his techniques while refining the essence of his power," commented Vivant Joy Holy Man. "But this is also because he has reached the peak of the middle stage of the Nascent Soul stage. He was but one step away from completing the cosmic form in the first place."
Lin Feng smiled and replied, "Such an experience is hard to replicate. Even when he wants to breakthrough other levels in the future, it will be hard to repeat today"s feat again."
"But without sufficient confidence, I"d say he would dare not be so impulsive. He must have calculated that this battle with Shao Qingcheng would give him the breakthrough to the final Nascent Soul stage."
The Tidal Sword Elder and the rest might have understood what was happening but they kept mum and remained solemn. What Zhu Yi did today was more than enough to leave an impression on these Immortal Soul stage elders.
Finally, when Shao Qingcheng escaped the influence of the golden bridge and unleashed enough power to overcome the Four Appearances Sky Formation and Essay of the Sages, Zhu Yi"s cosmic form materialized with a bang!
His nascent soul grew to look like him when he was twelve, signifying his attainment of the final Nascent Soul stage.
The coa.r.s.e-looking branch from a Cloud Forest Tree shrunk to release sufficient spiritual energy for Zhu Yi"s mana recovery. It achieved the effect of soothing the nascent soul and stabilizing the cosmic form.
"Fairly speaking, the difference between us was really negligible," said Zhu Yi calmly. "But now, it"s no longer negligible."
As he spoke, his giant cosmic form stomped once on the golden bridge, sending incredible sparks flying like fireworks.
Now that he was in the Advanced Nascent Soul stage, Zhu Yi"s prowess surged and the power of the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel increased manifold. In a fury of sparks and scriptures, Zhu Yi began to push back Shao Qingcheng"s Meteor Aurora Technique.
"The more you seek destruction, the more I call for resurrection and salvation!"
"Regardless of the tribulations and disasters that might stand in my way, I will lead the ma.s.ses to salvation and to their own inner peace!" shouted Zhu Yi.
"Shao Qingcheng! You did not share a pleasant relations.h.i.+p with my mother! You were definitely involved in my mother"s death in some way! I shall spare you your life so that you can clean her grave and beg for forgiveness!"
Her face turned cold as the mere thought of begging for forgiveness was already more humiliating than death could ever be.
She retaliated, "Clean the grave of that b*tch Meng Bingyun? I only spared her grave from destruction on Hongwu"s account!"
"You had better go now!" cried Zhu Yi.
His cosmic form rumbled like thunder as his Four Appearances Sky Formation"s Sky Revolution throbbed.
It oscillated between expanding to envelop the sky and shrinking to the size of a speck of dust.
The oscillation created immense pressure that pounded hard on Shao Qingcheng"s Immortal Soul Avatar, resulting in an unbelievable amount of pain.
It felt as though the avatar was about to turn into dust like the sky formation.
Zhu Yi"s Four Appearances Sky Formation now went into full offensive mode. In a bid to complete his cosmic form previously, it had gone into total defense, but now it no longer needed to fend off any attacks.
"Advanced Nascent Soul Stage, cosmic form?!" Shao Qingcheng felt the wrath of Zhu Yi"s attacks, "He actually achieved the cosmic form while battling me? Impossible!"
She felt a wave of despair and humiliation.
A middle-level Nascent Soul stage cultivator making a breakthrough while fighting an Immortal Soul stage fighter.
And it was not because Shao Qingcheng showed mercy or withheld any attacks, but solely due to Zhu Yi"s own ability and resolve. The rage she felt was overwhelming, tearing at the seams of the avatar.
But against Zhu Yi"s counter-attacks, the rage was doused immediately as she reverted to her composed self.
She glanced at Zhu Yi once again before she ended her Meteor Aurora Technique.
If she could invoke the powers of the luminaries, her technique would greatly increase in capability and she would definitely go head-on with Zhu Yi. But Zhu Yi"s Four Appearances Sky Formation and Essay of the Sages was creating a barrier that stood in between Shao Qingcheng and her full power, and there was no reason for him to choose a more difficult path to victory.
Denying one access was Zhu Yi"s battle model, the more the opponent wanted something, the more he would not let them have it.
The world created by Shao Qingcheng"s immortal soul started spinning, creating a force field around the Immortal Soul Avatar by linking all the s.p.a.ce surrounding her.
This was no doubt the secret technique of the Heaven"s Gate, the Heaven"s Curse!
Performed by the Immortal Soul stage Shao Qingcheng, this defensive technique was far greater than the previous demonstration by Yi Cangchen.
"It"s pointless," said Zhu Yi and the golden bridge crashed downwards once more.