"Powerful..."Witnessing such a scene, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao and Elder Feng felt their bodies turning cold.
They could not help but imagine themselves being in the same position as Bai Xuansheng.
They had been confident in their ploy against the Blackback Tortoise, especially since they had devoted many resources and spent months preparing for it. They had thought that with all they had done, it should not have been too difficult for them to capture the Blackback Tortoise. However, little did they know that the other party was simply going along with them in order to lure them into its trap.
Honestly, Citadel Lord Bai Xuansheng was truly a formidable cultivator. If not for the aid of the Silverback Mayflies, there was no doubt that the victor of the duel would have been Bai Xuansheng.
However, the environment always played a key factor in the outcome of a battle. Bai Xuansheng failed to take this into consideration, so he ended up landing himself in such a tragic state within a few blows.
Had Elder Liu not seen through the Blackback Tortoise"s ploy in advance, they would have charged right into the trap and ended up in the same position as Bai Xuansheng, or perhaps even worse!
Hong long!
Even after successfully launching a powerful attack, the Blackback Tortoise did not let down its guard. Instead, it dived back into his tortoisesh.e.l.l and continued ramming toward Bai Xuansheng.
Til kill you!"
For the roles of the hunter and the hunted to be reversed all of a sudden, Bai Xuansheng was incredibly indignant. With a ferocious roar, he brought out three swords and drove them forward.
As expected of the head of the Blackmirror Citadel, the three swords were all at Heavenly High Immortal-tier!
Ding ding ding!
The swords clashed against the sh.e.l.l of the Blackback Tortoise, but they did not even leave a scratch or hinder its speed at all.
Bai Xuansheng narrowed his eyes. In the face of such a situation, what choice did he have other than to turn tail and flee?
He had lost his Semi-Divinity artifact, his arms and ribcage were fractured, and his innards were jolted. If this continued, he would die for sure!
Boom!
Before Bai Xuansheng could get far, the Blackback Tortoise struck his back once more, smas.h.i.+ng him all the way into the ground.
"We have to make a move right now!" Zhang Xuan remarked as he released the Spatial Formation and rushed out.
Pavilion Master Kui Xiao and Elder Feng, who had been watching the situation intently, quickly dashed out from their hiding spots.
They knew that Bai Xuansheng would really lose his life if they continued biding their time. The Sevenstar Pavilion was not close with the Blackmirror Citadel, but they had no intention of letting Bai Xuansheng die like that, especially given the recent movements from the Hall of G.o.ds.
The Blackback Tortoise immediately noticed the presence of Zhang Xuan and the others, but it did not rush into making a move. Instead, it waited patiently to see what they were up to.
"Pavilion Master Kui, we"ll be counting on you," Zhang Xuan said.
"Un, don"t worry." Pavilion Master Kui Xiao nodded as he charged forward as if a bolt of lightning.
He swiftly channeled of his energy in his palm, generating a surge of energy so immense that the surrounding water began bubbling nonstop. All the Silverback Mayflies that were gathered around the Blackback Tortoise immediately dissipated into ashes under the outpour of energy.
On the way to the Sea of Exiled Stars, in repayment for helping him achieve a breakthrough, Zhang Xuan had given Pavilion Master Kui Xiao and the others some pointers on their battle techniques. Even though it had only been a few short days, they managed to make ma.s.sive advancements in their fighting prowess.
It was the same Bolting Lightning Clutching Clouds as before, but it was at least two times stronger! Lightning crackled from his hands, making it seem as if he was the G.o.d of Thunder.
Sensing danger, the Blackback Tortoise immediately retracted its body back into its sh.e.l.l and revolved its body. As a result, the lightning in Pavilion Master Kui Xiao"s hands simply scorched the surface of the sh.e.l.l before being deflected away.
The attack had failed to inflict any internal injuries to the Blackback Tortoise.
"That tortoise is formidable," Zhang Xuan murmured.
Not only was it fast, it also possessed a ma.s.sive tortoisesh.e.l.l that allowed it to easily deflect any sharp strikes. Pavilion Master Kui Xiao was not weak by any means, but it was apparent that even he was having trouble trying to hurt the latter!
In the blink of an eye, those two had already exchanged more than ten blows. The sheer might from their confrontation caused the Sea of Little Mirror to boil up. Steam rose endlessly from the surface of the water.
The shockwaves from the duel between two Semi-Divinity realm experts were more than enough to destroy everything within a radius of ten thousand li.
If not for the fact that they were underwater, this battle would have drawn many experts to the area.
Spectating the battle in wonderment from the side, Elder Feng could not help noticing a peculiar detail, and a frown formed on his forehead. He turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, "Why doesn"t the Blackback Tortoise use its ram against Pavilion Master Kui?"
When the Blackback Tortoise was fighting with Bai Xuansheng earlier, it had relied heavily on its powerful rams in order to cripple the latter. Yet, when faced with Pavilion Master Kui Xiao, it seemed to be taking a more pa.s.sive role in the battle, primarily focusing on defending against the other party"s attack.
"It"s apprehensive of the Double Ripples Water Formation, so it doesn"t dare make a reckless move," Zhang Xuan said with a light chuckle.
Elder Feng widened his eyes as he came to a realization.
The Blackback Tortoise was truly a wary individual. The area where it moved around throughout the battle had been outside the perimeter of the formation, such that the formation would not be able to hurt it even if they activated it now.
"No, that"s not right... Wasn"t it waiting for the Double Ripples Water Formation to activate earlier to trap Citadel Lord Bai so that it could kill him? Doesn"t that mean that it isn"t afraid of the formation?" Elder Feng asked.
"Well, the situation is slightly different now. It might still have been able to squander its energy carelessly earlier, but it can"t afford to do so anymore," Zhang Xuan replied.
Those words made Elder Feng frown.
This huge fellow had simply been ramming its humongous body around, not bothering to use its zhenqi or any of its other talents. It should have plenty of strength left in it, so why did Elder Liu make it sound as if it was already in a drained state?
"Those Silverback Mayflies are capable of rendering even a Semi-Divinity artifact powerless. It"s true that the Blackback Tortoise"s defense is impressive, but do you really think that it wouldn"t suffer any damage when it has been the main target of the Silverback Mayflies throughout the battle?" Zhang Xuan asked.
Even at this moment, there were still plenty of Silverback Mayflies attached to the body of the Blackback Tortoise. Considering how they were able to bring down a Semi-Divinity artifact, it was impossible for the Blackback Tortoise to be completely unaffected by them even with its powerful defense.
"Since that"s the case, why don"t we join in the battle too?"
Hearing that the Blackback Tortoise was swiftly getting worn down, Elder Feng heaved a sigh of relief as a glint flashed across his eyes.
Zhang Xuan waved his hand and said, "No rush. Since it"s biding its time, we should do the same."
Having complete trust in the young man, Elder Feng did not question his judgement and continued spectating the battle.
During this period, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao and the Blackback Tortoise exchanged another twenty blows. The former"s offense had clearly become a little wearied, lacking the ferocious aggression from before. Similarly, the latter seemed to be extremely exhausted, taking in large breaths of air.
At this moment, the Blackback Tortoise opened its mouth once more.
Hu!
The diamond crystal that had done in Bai Xuansheng earlier flew out from its mouth and headed right toward where Pavilion Master Kui Xiao was.
"Humph!"
There was no way Pavilion Master Kui Xiao would not be guarded against this move after witnessing what had happened to Bai Xuansheng, but just as he was able to dodge to the side, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Don"t dodge it."
It was Zhang Xuan.
With a light smile, he reached forward and grabbed the diamond crystal.
Hu!
The diamond crystal immediately vanished from sight. He had thrown it into his storage ring.
"This..."
This time, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao was not the only one who was taken aback by the situation. Even the Blackback Tortoise was visibly stunned.
The reason it had endured so many blows was to wait for an opportunity to toss the diamond crystal toward its enemy, but who could have known that this fellow would suddenly appear from nowhere to throw it into his storage ring?
This was no ordinary diamond crystal. It harnessed a tremendous amount of energy, producing light that could even be seen from ten thousand li away! How could the storage ring possibly not explode from something like that?
If it was possible for them to keep it with a storage ring, they would have already done so! Why would they bother going through so much trouble to dodge to the side?
Seeing through the Blackback Tortoise"s bewilderment, Zhang Xuan asked with a smile, "Are you wondering why I am able to keep this diamond crystal in my storage ring?"
With a flick of his wrist, the diamond crystal immediately materialized above his hand, floating quietly in the air.
"W-what?" The Blackback Tortoise widened its eyes in disbelief. "You actually managed to tame the diamond crystal?"
In order to make use of the power of the diamond crystal to lure the Silverback Mayflies, it had burned its blood essence after swallowing the diamond crystal in order to forcefully tame it...
But in the blink of an eye, the diamond crystal had become another person"s property!
While the diamond crystal was not a weapon, something of its tier was bound to already possess its own spirit. Once it had pledged loyalty to a master, unless its master died, it would never switch allegiance. Just what in the world did the young man do?
"I did. I killed the spirit in the diamond crystal and reenchanted a new one. Naturally, who else would the new spirit submit to other than me?" Zhang Xuan replied calmly.
Then, he flicked his finger.
Weng!
The diamond crystal flew right toward the Blackback Tortoise before glowing even brighter than before.
Hula!
The agitated Silverback Mayflies immediately rushed over and encircled the Blackback Tortoise tightly.
"I underestimated you lot," the Blackback Tortoise said as it stared deeply at Zhang Xuan.
Without any hesitation, it turned around to flee.
Its initial plan had been to take down Pavilion Master Kui Xiao as well, and by devouring the two of them, it would have been able to raise its cultivation. However, its plan had been foiled by this young man.
At this very moment, its energy was nearly entirely depleted, so it had no choice but to flee for the time being.
"Don"t you think that it"s too late for you to think about leaving only now?" Zhang Xuan remarked as he took a step forward.
Weng!
The billowing sea immediately quietened down, as if it had been sealed by some kind of power. Even the rampaging Silverback Mayflies had fallen silent.
Shocked, the Blackback Tortoise quickly picked up speed to ram its way outward, but it was swiftly rebounded by some sort of barrier. Its face turned livid as it uttered in disbelief, "What kind of formation is this? How can it be so powerful?"
It had made sure to examine the area carefully before, and it was certain that the formation that had been prepared for it was the Double Ripples Water Formation. While that formation was able to trap it for a brief moment, as long as it charged its way out desperately with all of its might, it would still be able to make a safe getaway.
So, what the h.e.l.l was this?
He had actually been rebounded by the barrier even though he had already put all of his strength behind the collision. What kind of formation was this?
All formations would require energy to sustain them. There were no clear pulsations of energy in the area, so how was such a resilient barrier formed?
"The Double Ripples Water Formation is just an ordinary Confinement Formation. It wouldn"t have been able to trap you. So, I made some modifications to it, expanding its area and prowess. All this while, the formation has been absorbing the energy released by the three Semi-Divinity realm fighting here. For this reason, unless I release this formation personally, it"ll be no different from three Semi-Divinity realm experts blocking your pathway. You don"t stand a chance at all," Zhang Xuan explained.
Since the formation that Elder Feng had prepared was insufficient, he had no choice but to modify it slightly.
The main reason he had not interfered in the fight so far was to allow the formation to gather more energy, such that it would reach a level where the Blackback Tortoise was no longer able to breach the barrier. Only with this would they be able to hold the swift Blackback Tortoise there.
"The formation has been absorbing our released energy? Who the h.e.l.l are you?"
The Blackback Tortoise tried a few more times, but it was just as Zhang Xuan had said. Even if it was at its full strength, it still would not have been able to breach the barrier. Knowing that it did not stand a chance at all, its face turned extremely livid.
The cultivation of the young man before it was not too high, but he was able to tame the diamond crystal and set up such a powerful formation. It was as if he was the true mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes, and everything had gone according to his calculations! Just who in the world was this person?
The Blackback Tortoise was still thinking that it would be able to make its name through this battle in the Sea of Little Mirror so that no humans would dare disturb it anymore, but after all the scheming that had gone around, it had still ended up being done in.
"You want to know who I am?" Zhang Xuan looked at it and smiled. "Little Tortoise, acknowledge me as your master. Acknowledge me as our master, and I"ll tell you who I am."