While it looked like Xiao Chen defeated Di Xinhan in one move, it was truly a miserable victory. His robes were dyed with blood, and his internal organs all suffered significant injuries. Completely recovering in a short period was practically impossible.
Tang Xun smiled so sinisterly that his eyes were reduced to slits as he said, “I know the state you are in now. You no doubt want to defeat me in one move as well in order to avoid aggravating your injuries. Unfortunately, I will not give you this opportunity. My Five Poison Sect is the best at long, drawn-out fights, torturing the opponent to death.”
Right after Tang Xun spoke, he did not bow politely or give Xiao Chen any chance to reply. He simply threw a palm strike.
An inexhaustible, poisonous black fog spewed out of Tang Xun’s palm. In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire arena.
The thick poison fog seemed to both have and not have a form.
The poison fog was clearly thick and was sticky. However, it was rather illusory as well. When one tried to grab it, they would end up with nothing. It seemed extremely strange.
“This is the Five Poison Sect’s Phantom Poison Palm!”
All the spectators immediately recognized this poison fog. They all revealed expressions of horror.
This kind of Martial Technique was extremely insidious. It could not be executed with just one’s Cultivation Technique or Martial Technique. It also needed the King Grade poison that the Five Poison Sect specially refined for one to successfully execute it.
But once successfully executed, it would not be easy to eliminate; it was extremely challenging to deal with. Even the older-generation Great Perfection quasi-Emperors could only flee at the sight of this poison fog.
“This is not easy to handle; the people of the Five Poison Sect are originally hard to counter in the first place. Furthermore, Xiao Chen was just injured. His body is at its weakest. Now that the poison fog appeared, he will be further injured.”
“Even before the fight started, Tang Xun already claimed the advantage.”
“Given Tang Xun’s craftiness, he will not face Xiao Chen head-on. He will keep using poison to wear Xiao Chen down. When Xiao Chen is completely weakened, Tang Xun will go and humiliate the Azure Dragon King.”
“However, even if he wins in this manner, it is not too glorious.”
Several people sighed softly. It looked like even though Tang Xun held the advantage, he did not gain much favor.
If Tang Xun behaved like a proper man—like Di Xinhan—even if he lost, the crowd would still consider him a hero.
Using a poison fog to deal with a weakened person who was just injured was simply too unsightly.
“Haha! Azure Dragon King, if you want to beg for mercy now, I can keep this short. Otherwise, this Phantom Poison Fog will continue to acc.u.mulate in your body, further injuring you over time. By then, it will be hard for you to bear.”
Tang Xun’s pleased, maniacal laughter came from the poison fog.
“Don’t think for too long. Otherwise, even if you beg me like a dog, I will not show you any mercy at all.”
Tang Xun came and went like the wind, seeming to have merged with the Phantom Poison Fog and impossible to find.
Xiao Chen tried several times to use a strong wind to blow away the poison fog but was unsuccessful. So he gave up on the attempt; instead, he opened his mouth wide and sucked.
He sucked in all the poison fog and tossed it into his dragon-shaped Heavenly Seal.
Although the poison fog covered the entire arena, when Xiao Chen tossed it all into his incomplete Heavenly Seal, it was like a poison dragon thrown into a boundless sea.
Aside from kicking up some waves, the poison dragon could not stir up a storm at all.
Even after using hundreds of Holy Spirit Veins, Xiao Chen’s Heavenly Seal was still not full, and he had not succeeded in forming it yet. What did this little bit of poison fog count for?
Xiao Chen did not even intend to refine this poison fog. He simply let it run its course and perish on its own in the vast Heavenly Seal.
When the poison fog disappeared, Tang Xun reappeared with horror splashed across his face. He found this feat extremely incredible. “How can this be? You actually swallowed up the Phantom Poison Fog!”
Xiao Chen did not feel like bothering with him. He raised his hand and mercilessly sent out a palm strike.
A bright moon rose behind him, burning like a flame with hot-bloodedness as fuel.
As Xiao Chen threw the palm strike, countless figures leaped down from the moon. This was a palm of lofty aspiration and hot-bloodedness.
This palm strike seemed to light a flame in everyone’s heart—one that was inextinguishable and indomitable for thousands of years. Everyone felt the Azure Dragon King’s lofty aspirations, which were higher than the sky.
With the suppression of cultivation and the Martial Technique’s rank, Tang Xun could not resist Xiao Chen’s Thousand Year Flame and got knocked directly out of the arena.
When Tang Xun landed, injuries covered his entire body with nowhere left intact. If Xiao Chen had not retained his calm and held back, this palm strike could have shattered all of Tang Xun’s bones into powder.
The moon set as Xiao Chen withdrew the move. Then, he stood upright with his hands clasped behind his back before calmly looking around. He said, “Anyone else willing to fight me? If you can block two moves from me, then I, Xiao Chen, will admit defeat, admit myself to be unworthy of claiming the Dragon’s Gate’s last mountain tablet!”
The moment Xiao Chen said that, the crowd burst into an uproar over the Azure Dragon King’s clear and indisputable tyranny.
Some people wanted to make a reb.u.t.tal. However, when they thought of how Xiao Chen defeated all his opponents with one move, from the moment he ascended to the arena and broke the Bright Moon Sword Dance, they had nothing to say.
No matter whether you are an outstanding talent of the previous Four Seas Hero Gathering or the Holy Scion of an Immortal Holy Land, I will defeat you with just one move.
This performance proved that at this moment on this day, the Azure Dragon King was indeed qualified to issue such a statement. Within the same generation, only he had the right to say something like this.
Aside from Xiao Chen, no one else could say this.
The ten judges of the Lunar Palace could no longer remain unmoved as they discussed this. After fighting to this point, Xiao Chen’s strength went without a doubt.
Even if he stepped down now, these judges would consider giving the Dragon’s Gate’s mountain tablet to him.
There was nothing much to say about this. Even if these judges did not like the Azure Emperor’s descendant, they had to acknowledge Xiao Chen’s current strength and elegance. The Lunar Palace still possessed that magnanimity and confidence.
However, Xiao Chen chose to continue fighting. This made things complicated. If someone really could block his moves as he said, then the Dragon’s Gate’s mountain tablet might not go to him.
“The Cyclic Astral Palace’s Holy Son has yet to appear. Let’s continue watching!”
The head judge of the Lunar Palace made a decision. Whether to give the Dragon’s Gate’s mountain tablet to Xiao Chen or not would depend on this final battle.
The other judges nodded gently, indicating they had no objections.
Yue Bingyun, who had been listening to the judges’ words, shook her head slightly. She could not help looking at Xiao Chen, who was in the arena.
Can he still defeat Chu Yang with one move in his current state?
“Senior Brother!”
In the Cyclic Astral Palace’s jade pavilion, Fu Hongyao called out to Chu Yang, who was preparing to go down. Worry showed on her face.
Chu Yang stopped walking, but he did not look back. Then, he sighed and said, “Hongyao, I promised you that I would repay the humiliation that Xiao Chen caused you. I will definitely keep my word.”
After saying that, Chu Yang leaped towards the highest arena.
The instant Chu Yang emerged, the many cultivators in Bright Moon Plaza suddenly discovered that the sky had turned dark. When they raised their heads, they saw stars twinkling.
Next came a piercing feeling in their eyes like needles stabbing; the sensation was extremely hard to bear.
After circulating their energy for a while, the situation improved. When the spectators squinted and looked, they gaped, revealing horror on their faces.
At some point in time, a huge sun had appeared in the sky. Its light was too dazzling. From the very instant it manifested, it eclipsed the blazing sun—even to the point of exposing many scenes of the Starry Heavens for everyone to see.
However, after an instant, the dazzling light blinded everyone.
“It’s the Sun Palace’s Chu Yang. He is finally coming out!”
“If he also loses to Xiao Chen, then no one will dare to fight Xiao Chen anymore.”
“Given Xiao Chen’s current state, defeating Chu Yang in one move seems rather difficult.”
While everyone watched, that huge sun, the bearer of all the Heavenly Starry Ocean cultivators’ final hope, slowly descended to the arena. However, it did not land.
Chu Yang remained hovering in midair as he looked at Xiao Chen coldly like a king. Then, he said indifferently, “Azure Dragon King, you are really arrogant now. However, don’t forget, no matter how arrogant you are now, if you don’t become a Martial Emperor in time, you will just be a short-lived person.”
As Xiao Chen stood upright with his hands behind his back, he retorted calmly, “Who can say for sure what will happen in the future? You must be Chu Yang. I do have a lot of grudges with the Cyclic Astral Palace. In today’s battle, no matter the result, let’s write off all these grudges.”
Chu Yang smiled and said, “That suits my intentions. However, don’t blame me for not reminding you, you’d best take out your Lunar Shadow Saber. Otherwise, I fear that after this battle, you will no longer have the courage to draw your saber in your short life.”
Xiao Chen shook his head; he felt that there was no need for him to draw his saber.
When Xiao Chen did not move, showed no intention to draw his saber, rage flashed on Chu Yang’s face. Chu Yang said, “You short-lived fellow, you have only twenty years left. Don’t think you’re really a major character.
“Today, I want to see how you are going to defeat me in one move. You might want to take away the Dragon’s Gate’s mountain tablet in the final moments of your life, settling all your final wishes. However, I, Chu Yang, will not let you do as you please.”
Right after Chu Yang spoke, the blazing light on his body burned fiercely like a flame.
The piercing light appeared once more. The experienced crowd quickly closed their eyes, afraid of suffering injury.
Only after a while did the crowd circulate some energy to their eyes and carefully squinted.
The spectators saw that Chu Yang’s aura had risen by another level. His body appeared within a red-hot sun, and there was a scarlet sun mark on his forehead.
A huge, indistinct image of a Sun Bird appeared behind him. He was like a sun descending on the world.
The air in Bright Moon Plaza became parched and hot, inflicting a stuffy sensation on everyone and making them break out in a heavy sweat.
“It looks like the rumors were true. Chu Yang did do his closed-door cultivation in the sun. Otherwise, this mysterious phenomenon would not be this horrifying.”
“Do you see the sun mark on his forehead? That is the sign of successfully cultivating the Sun Sutra.”
“Xiao Chen is really in trouble now. Even if he were at full power, he probably would not be able to defeat Chu Yang.”
“So what if he wins? In the end, he has only twenty years to live. Could it be that he really thinks he can advance to Martial Emperor in time? He might as well just give up and exchange it for a favor.”
“Chu Yang is right. No matter how powerful he is, he can only live for twenty years.”
“Twenty years…he cannot live past fifty. That is rather tragic. As for me, no matter what, I should have no problem living to three hundred.”
Seeing Chu Yang’s horrifying aura, the many cultivators all started discussing.
A short-lived person with not much time left. A has-been genius that was merely a meteor.
This was not the first time Xiao Chen heard such words since the start of the Four Seas Hero Gathering.