Chapter 595: State of Kings.h.i.+p
Silent and viewless. There was no sound and nothing could be seen. Only the ethereal bright light was visible.
There was a ‘ka ca’ sound and a resonant dragon roar reverberated within the bright light. The boundless emotionless autumn wind blew strongly, sweeping away all the specks of light.
As the autumn wind blew, Bai Qi, who was in midair, moved together with the wind, holding his saber with one hand. When the crowd looked over, they saw that Yue Chenxi lay on the ground, looking very pale and weak.
The morning sun behind Yue Chenxi was already dim, so void of light that only a pale glow remained. It was like a lamp that had burned up all its oil and would be blown out by the wind at any moment.
A long crack on the stage split the Wind Cloud Platform in half. As lightning flashed, the Wind Cloud Platform slowly healed.
Bai Qi sheathed his saber. The autumn wind drifted above the stage, circling as it poured into the scabbard.
When Bai Qi alighted on the stage, there was a trace of blood in the corner of his lips. However, his physical state was much better than Yue Chenxi’s.
It was clear who was stronger with one glance.
Bai Qi’s golden dragon roared ferociously and took a bite out of Yue Chenxi’s twenty-three-meter-long golden dragon. After that, it grew to twenty-eight meters long, catching up with Sima Lingxuan’s.
Yue Chenxi, who was on the ground, tried to stand up despite her weakness. Bai Qi knew her condition, so he sent out a cool breeze with a wave of his hand and helped her up.
Yue Chenxi said softly, “Many thanks.”
Bai Qi gave Yue Chenxi a deep look. This girl had endured three moves from him. Respect flashed in his eyes as he performed a cupped-fist salute. “I have to thank you as well. You allowed me to discover some of the insufficiencies of my Four Season Saber Technique. I hope that we still have more chances to exchange moves with each other in the future.”
“I will be glad to!”
With the verbal exchange of these two, the tense atmosphere of the earth-shattering intense battle from earlier vanished like the wind.
This was how this generation of cultivators was: winning straightforwardly and in an upright manner; accepting loss wholeheartedly; meeting victory or defeat with equanimity; letting go of everything in their hearts.
The Supreme Sky Sect elders watching the match also smiled and nodded their heads. Yue Chenxi had lost only one match. Given her strength, she would definitely be able to make it into the top five. This was considered the Supreme Sky Sect’s best result in history.
The two walked off the Wind Cloud Platform. The various experts of their respective backers quickly received them. These experts used their deep cultivation and miraculous medicines to treat the two’s injuries. Both soon recovered their combat prowess.
In this round, Xiao Chen’s opponent was Dongfang Yubai, a disciple of the one of the Great Jin Nation’s ten great sects. The two had never interacted with each other before.
Facing the highly popular and unfathomable Xiao Chen, Dongfang Yubai still maintained a hopeful heart. He still had some hidden trump cards, so he did not choose to concede defeat.
Xiao Chen was not in a rush, either. Hence, he did not mind exchanging a few moves with this person. Only when this opponent exhausted all his trump cards and had no other Martial Techniques that incited Xiao Chen’s interest did Xiao Chen lose patience.
Then, he used his sixty-percent-comprehended saber intent and attacked with the Lightning Tribulation Saber Technique. He defeated Dongfang Yubai in three moves, using absolute power to make him give up hope.
After defeating Dongfang Yubai, Xiao Chen’s golden dragon grew larger, becoming twenty-six meters long. He was now only one meter short of reaching twenty-seven meters. However, there was still some distance to reaching Bai Qi’s golden dragon’s length.
This was the result of not having enough resources. After all, Xiao Chen had never partic.i.p.ated in the previous Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion, never gotten the chance to gain more Luck.
However, Xiao Chen did not overthink this. As long as he reached the peak, his Luck would naturally be more than anyone else’s.
“Next match: Sima Lingxuan versus w.a.n.g Quan!”
After twenty moves, w.a.n.g Quan, who used his Cloning Technique to save himself, could not endure any longer. Sima Lingxuan did not even have to use his Quintessence.
Sima Lingxuan only used the state of kings.h.i.+p and the Emperor’s Swordplay combined with his sixty-percent-comprehended sword intent. w.a.n.g Quan was unable to retaliate. After losing to Xiao Chen, then Sima Lingxuan, w.a.n.g Quan could no longer compete for the top three ranks.
Just as the ninety-fourth round came to an end, another battle of giants appeared. It was Xuanyuan Zhantian versus Chu Chaoyun. In the elimination round, they had chosen to tacitly declare a draw to preserve their strength. That match had ended in a draw after one move.
Draws were not permitted in the ranking matches; there had to be a victor. Furthermore, neither of the two had suffered a loss yet. Now, at this crucial moment, they could not afford to lose. If they lost here, they would lose the chance to climb to the peak. They had to put in their full effort.
“Xuanyuan Zhantian has comprehended a higher-level state of kings.h.i.+p. Chu Chaoyun probably still has trump cards that he has not revealed yet.”
“These two are about as strong as each other. Their match will definitely be more intense than Sima Lingxuan and w.a.n.g Quan’s match.”
“They have almost equal odds of victory, but I favor Xuanyuan Zhantian more. After all, he was previously the only partic.i.p.ant to dare to oppose Sima Lingxuan so far.”
The amount of attention this match received was clearly more than what Sima Lingxuan and w.a.n.g Quan’s match received. Xiao Chen could clearly make this out from the discussions.
Xiao Chen was also very interested in this match. He always had a certain fear of Chu Chaoyun, feeling that he was unfathomable.
From the very start, Chu Chaoyun had not revealed many trump cards. Now that he is facing Xuanyuan Zhantian, Xiao Chen could use this chance to see how strong Chu Chaoyun’s true power was.
Xuanyuan Zhantian was extremely cautious as he faced Chu Chaoyun. He brandished his Heavenly War Halberd and a vast sea appeared behind him, spreading in all directions.
Xuanyuan Zhantian immediately raised his vast state of water to the peak. Waves surged, rising and falling. He stood on that vast sea, holding the Heavenly War Halberd and looking in all directions proudly.
“Rise!” Xuanyuan Zhantian shouted and a huge wave surged out of the sea. The wave carried him higher as he held the halberd with two hands and hacked down.
“Boom!”
A pillar of light descended from the sky, encasing Chu Chaoyun. Within the golden light, he exuded a holy aura. His clothes and hair all gave off a faint golden glow.
“Xiu!” A melodious hum rang out. Chu Chaoyun drew his sword and a sword intent surged out. When he swung the sword, it gave off a bright light.
When the halberd approached, the golden sword easily blocked Xuanyuan Zhantian’s mighty attack.
“Berserk Dragon Burst!”
Since this move failed, Xuanyuan Zhantian quickly changed moves. The water under his feet started churning, forming a huge whirlpool. Then, it turned into a flood dragon in the form of a waterspout.
Waves surged and a strong wind blew. The strong state of water spread throughout the entire Wind Cloud Platform, making one feel as if they were engulfed by a vast sea—very minuscule and insignificant.
Chu Chaoyun smiled gently as he watched the incoming Berserk Dragon Burst. He did not advance further, choosing to retreat, instead. His deep eyes flickered with a brilliant light. As he looked at the waterspout, it seemed like everything was just an illusion to him.
“Heaven Destroying Sword!”
The light of Chu Chaoyun’s sword gathered and condensed into a thread, turning into a dense sword light as it fired out. With the support of sword intent, the golden light tore fine cracks in s.p.a.ce.
“Roar…!”
A m.u.f.fled roar came from the waterspout. Xuanyuan Zhantian, who was hidden within, swung his halberd. He quickly retreated when the berserk waterspout was just a few centimeters away from Chu Chaoyun.
The waterspout burst, turning into drops of water falling from the sky. When the drops of water landed on the Wind Cloud Platform, they exploded.
The energy contained within the water droplets created a horrifying shock wave and boundless strong winds. Just one water droplet contained so much power, surprising everyone.
As the golden light moved around, the stronger water droplets turned into hazy steam before they reached Chu Chaoyun. Focusing his gaze, Chu Chaoyun took advantage of this opportunity to grab the initiative to make a sharp counterattack.
“Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!”
The sea surged, waves roared, and light filled the land. Amidst the horrifying waves, the two exchanged moves. In an instant, they each executed at least a hundred moves.
Chu Chaoyun was the kind of person where once he grabbed hold of an opportunity, he would be very difficult to deal with. The longer things dragged out, the boundlessly larger his initially tiny window of opportunity would grow.
In this compet.i.tion, many of his opponents had been forced into dead ends this way. Before they could even use their best moves, they had been defeated.
Using the opening from Xuanyuan Zhantian’s execution of the Berserk Dragon Burst, Chu Chaoyun counterattacked and kept the upper hand since then. The chain of endless attacks accompanied by flickering golden light never stopped.
I can’t let this go on!
An awareness of the situation appeared in Xuanyuan Zhantian’s heart. He knew he should take action now, while the situation could still be salvaged. If they continued like this, Chu Chaoyun would fully control the rhythm of the battle.
By then, even if Xuanyuan Zhantian did not want to, he would still lose. Perhaps he might end up like the others, not even having the chance to use his best move.
I am the proud son of heaven, king of the four seas. Might of the king, sweep through everything before me! Xuanyuan Zhantian roared out in his heart. Finally, he unleashed his state of kings.h.i.+p. In that instant, eighty-one pillars of water erupted from the vast sea behind him, soaring to the sky.
The entire sea surged as the overwhelming state of kings.h.i.+p poured out. Xuanyuan Zhantian’s aura suddenly changed and his Heavenly War Halberd roared like an ferocious flood dragon as it swept across.
An astonished expression flashed in Chu Chaoyun’s eyes. Then, he instantly sent out a golden screen of swords before retreating.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Rage of the King, Splattering the Mountains and Rivers with Blood! The screen of swords that Chu Chaoyun sent out at the last minute was futile. The Heavenly War Halberd tore through the barrier effortlessly and struck the sword that Chu Chaoyun held over his chest.
Chu Chaoyun’s Qi and blood were shaken as he was knocked back. When he landed, he left deep footprints on the stage.
“I did not expect his state of kings.h.i.+p to have already reached such a level. He did not need any time to switch over to it.”
After circulating his energy for a bit to help with his injuries, Chu Chaoyun muttered to himself, “I misjudged him. Hence, the expected ending is gone.”
After unleas.h.i.+ng the state of kings.h.i.+p, Xuanyuan Zhantian’s strength increased greatly. His aura reached a level where others felt suppressed. Then, he looked coldly at Chu Chaoyun.
Xuanyuan Zhantian shouted ferociously, “Receive my attack! Point at Heaven, Stamping on Earth!”
The sea surged and Xuanyuan Zhantian pointed his halberd at the sky. A berserk energy surged forth and a formless energy wave launched out of the halberd’s tip. A small hole appeared in the Wind Cloud Barrier.
The Wind Cloud Barrier that an Inferior Grade Martial Monarch could not break was broken by Xuanyuan Zhantian’s Point at Heaven, Stamping on Earth! Several Martial Monarch experts of the City Lord’s residence changed their expressions.