Chapter 1304: Make A Breakthrough While I’m At It
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
He knew that the ability of the Luo Clan’s bloodline had something to do with s.p.a.ce. As the little princess of the Luo Clan, Ruoxin wielded the Dimension Silencer in her hand as well, which granted her fearsome might.
As for the Zhang Clan… thinking back, he had never asked Zhang Jiuxiao about their bloodline ability either, so he didn’t know what it was. But never in his dreams could he have imagined that it would be related to the secrets of time!
Time and s.p.a.ce, these were the two fundamental building blocks of the world.
Without a doubt, a person who could grasp time would have the world in his grasp too.
This would explain why despite his timely reflexes, the enemy still managed to bypa.s.s his defenses to land his attacks. Most likely, through burning his bloodline, Zhang Qian’s fist had affected his perception of time, thus resulting in his attacks appearing to be teleporting to him.
In a clash between experts, the difference between life and death banked on a fraction of an instant. If one could compress time, even if it was just one-hundredth of a breath, it could play a crucial role in the midst of a tight battle.
With such a powerful bloodline ability, it was no wonder why the Zhang Clan was able to remain as the number one Sage Clan on the Master Teacher Continent over the years.
However, it appears that burning his bloodline to tap into the Power of Time drains him swiftly as well. It doesn’t seem like he will be able to maintain that state for too long… Zhang Xuan a.n.a.lyzed.
As one who had cultivated the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, he knew very well that tapping into abilities that exceeded one’s cultivation would drain one’s life force or even potential.
It’s fortunate that I have the Eye of Insight, or else those two punches would have surely left me severely wounded at the very least… Zhang Xuan thought as a terrified shudder ran through his body.
It was due to the Eye of Insight that he was able to clearly perceive the other party’s punch trajectory in the nick of the moment and react accordingly. Otherwise, he would have surely suffered severe injuries.
“I’ll defeat you!”
While Zhang Xuan was still immersed in his thoughts, Zhang Qian had already managed to catch his breath, and with a furious roar, he charged forward once more.
He won’t be able to sustain that ability for too long. As long as I were to avoid his attacks and put some distance between the both of us, it shouldn’t be too difficult for me to defeat him! Zhang Xuan swiftly came up with a countermeasure.
So far, it appeared that there was a limit to the range of Zhang Qian’s Time Compression. So, if Zhang Xuan were to resort to long-range attacks instead, he should be able to overcome the other party’s attacks easily.
And everything else would be easy.
Hu!
With a step, Zhang Xuan executed the Unbounded Voyager, and reminiscent to teleportation, he abruptly appeared at the other end of the dueling ring.
Padah!
Barely an instant after Zhang Xuan left, Zhang Qian’s punch fell heavily on the area where he was standing previously. Had he been a split second slower, that punch could have very well landed on him.
Now!
Knowing that this was the ideal opportunity to launch an attack, Zhang Xuan tapped his finger in Zhang Qian’s direction.
Wu wu wu wu!
Four surges of sword qi burst forth, and they whizzed across the dueling ring to arrive before Zhang Qian in less than a fraction of a second.
Puhe! Puhe! Puhe! Puhe!
Those four sword qi stabbed right into Zhang Qian’s feet and palms, pinning him firmly onto the dueling stage with their momentum.
Hu!
After doing all of that, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
It was fortunate that Chen Leyao had given him a timely reminder of the matter, or else it would have been difficult for him to turn the tables around on Zhang Qian without using his Library of Heaven’s Path.
“You have lost.” Placing his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan gazed down on Zhang Qian coldly.
“I…” Zhang Qian’s eyes were filled with craze, but just as he wanted to speak, the complete exhaustion of his strength and the severe injuries he had sustained finally took a toll on him, and he caved in and fainted.
He had exerted himself too much by burning his bloodline.
He had gone all out in hopes of exacting vengeance and acquiring the final slot into the Elite Division, but his efforts ended up in futility.
While the cultivation of the young man before him wasn’t too high, his fighting prowess was nothing short of terrifying.
Hu!
A light breeze swept across the square, and a figure suddenly appeared on top of the stage—Zhang Yunfeng. He took a glance at Zhang Qian on the ground, and after confirming that the sword qi hadn’t struck any of the vitals, he heaved an inconspicuous sigh of relief. Following which, he waved his hand toward the bottom of the dueling ring.
Noting the gesture, Zhang Yu hurriedly rushed onto the dueling ring and fed Zhang Qian several recovery pills before carrying him down.
Zhang Yunfeng finally turned his attention to Zhang Xuan, and with a face devoid of expression, he remarked, “It seems like you are quite powerful after all.”
“To offer pointers to Zhang Qian remotely such that he could at least take a blow or two from me… You aren’t too weak yourself either.” Zhang Xuan replied composedly.
“Offer pointers to Zhang Qian remotely?”
“Isn’t that flouting the rules?”
“The Zhang Clan is really getting arrogant!”
“This is too much. Just because they wield great influence in the Sanctum of Sages doesn’t mean they can blatantly disregard the rules like that!”
A huge commotion broke out amidst the crowd.
The Challenge of the Defeated was a fight to vie for the precious and limited slots in the Sanctum of Sages, so fairness was extremely important. It was one thing for Zhang Qian to burn his bloodline, but to think that he would have another person guiding him from behind. This was a clear infringement of the rules!
Not expecting the other party to be able to see through his little moves and even expose them publicly, Zhang Yunfeng’s impa.s.sive expression immediately darkened a little, “Do you dare to face me in a duel?”
“Sure, it’ll be my pleasure.” Zhang Xuan replied calmly.
He had been rather p.i.s.sed off at how the other party had been playing little tricks behind his back. Since the other party had come knocking on his door, he didn’t mind teaching him a lesson.
“Good!” Seeing that Zhang Xuan had agreed to it, Zhang Yunfeng smirked.
He stood unmovingly on the spot, but for some reason, his figure suddenly seemed to tower. His aura swiftly intensified, to the point that it seemed as though he would tear apart the seals around the dueling ring.
Weng!
In the next moment, a faint light barrier of roughly five meters in radius materialized around Zhang Yunfeng.
And standing in the middle of the light, Zhang Yunfeng felt like an indomitable existence.
This is a true Dominion? Zhang Xuan’s face turned grim.
This was the first time he was seeing a Grand Dominion realm expert casting a Dominion. Not only did it cover an area greater than his, the power pulsating within it was also even purer and more profound.
“The difference in the fighting prowess between each realm grows progressively larger as one advances further up the Saint realm. Zhang Xuan might be powerful, but against a Grand Dominion realm cultivator of Zhang Yunfeng’s caliber, it’s unlikely that he would stand much of a chance.” Elder Han Zhu frowned.
From Leaving Aperture realm onward, the gap of a single realm could possibly mean a difference in fighting prowess by severalfold.
It was for this reason that while Zhang Xuan could easily defeat opponent eight to nine cultivation stages stronger than him at Transcendent Mortal, but beyond Saint realm, most of the time, challenging an opponent that was even six to seven cultivation stages higher than him was already difficult for him.
It was not that Zhang Xuan was getting weaker, but the gap between each cultivation stage was simply increasing exponentially.
This was similar to how even though the differences between one and two and one billion and two billion were both by a factor of two, their differences in terms of absolute values were immense.
Such was the case for Primordial Spirit realm and Grand Dominion realm too. The four lightning tribulations in between created a vast gap that was nearly unbridgeable between the two realms.
In the first place, it was already a huge surprise to see Zhang Xuan defeating the Half-Grand Dominion realm Zhang Qian. Now that he was faced against the Grand Dominion realm primary stage Zhang Yunfeng… No matter how Elder Han Zhu looked at it, there was just no way Zhang Xuan could win.
“Based on the situation in the previous battle, he would indeed be no match for Zhang Yunfeng.” Elder Liu nodded.
As a Saint 8-dan master teacher, he possessed a keen, discerning eye. From the earlier fight, he could roughly gauge Zhang Xuan’s strength.
Against normal Grand Dominion realm experts, Zhang Xuan might still stand a chance. However, faced with a genius from the Zhang Clan… the odds were that he would lose.
“Then…” Elder Han Zhu was taken aback.
Since the outcome of the battle is already clear, why are we still allowing them to fight?
“As geniuses, they have their own pride. Even if we manage to stop them here, Zhang Yunfeng will just find another way to challenge Zhang Xuan. Since that is the case, it would be much better to settle everything here!” Elder Liu replied.
“More importantly, I’m interested to see just how much potential does Zhang Xuan harness within him!”
If they didn’t settle the matter today, the Zhang Clan would just continue to find other reasons to hara.s.s Zhang Xuan in the future. It was probably in view of this that Zhang Xuan accepted Zhang Yunfeng’s duel without any hesitation too.
“Alright then.” Hearing those words, Elder Han Zhu nodded before falling silent.
At the very least, if they were to settle their scores in the Challenge of the Defeated, should any life-threatening circ.u.mstances arise out of the duel, they would be able to intervene immediately, so Zhang Xuan’s life wouldn’t be in danger.
“You can go first.”
While the two elders were conversing with one another, Zhang Yunfeng was finally done with his preparation. He raised his hand and gestured for Zhang Xuan to make the first move.
On the other hand, knowing that Zhang Yunfeng wouldn’t be an easy opponent, Zhang Xuan had no intention of holding back either. With a flick of his left hand, the furious might of the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm rushed toward Zhang Yunfeng. At the same time, he also lifted his right hand and tapped forward.
Grand Constellation Finger!
Executing two Saint intermediate-tier battle techniques simultaneously, Zhang Xuan had gone all out from the start.
Hu!
Standing before the two attacks, Zhang Yunfeng leisurely took a step forward.
Weng!
As soon as the palm strike and the finger art came into contact with his Dominion, they were immediately deflected just like how a river flow parted before a ma.s.sive boulder. It didn’t seem to have caused the slightest bit of effect on Zhang Yunfeng at all.
“This…” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
As expected of a Grand Dominion realm expert of the Zhang Clan, the other party was much more frightening than he had thought!
“What about this?” With a furious roar, all kinds of attack burst forth from Zhang Xuan—palm strikes, punches, finger arts, and many more. In the blink of an eye, the entire dueling ring seemed to have been plunged into an ocean of zhenqi.
Boom boom boom!
The furious a.s.sault caused sonic booms to explode relentlessly in the air.
Even if it was Zhang Qian who had tapped into the power of his bloodline, he would have surely been sent into a fl.u.s.ter from this overwhelming barrage of attacks.
But Zhang Yunfeng simply chuckled lightly and waved his hand lightly.
Hu la!
Upon contact with his Dominion, the barrage of attacks was deflected to his back as well, inducing countless ripples to diffuse on the seal around the dueling ring.
He’s still perfectly fine even after all that? Zhang Xuan felt as if his mind was going to explode.
That was really way too overpowered!
He thought that with that barrage of attacks, he would at least be able to tear open the other party’s defenses. Yet, it barely did a thing at all!
Was he really completely helpless before the other party without a sword in hand?
“I have already given you a chance to attack me, so it should be my turn now.” After deflecting all of Zhang Xuan’s attacks, Zhang Yunfeng spoke up before tapping his finger forward.
Tz la!
A surge of pure energy immediately shot forth from the tip of his finger.
“Hm?”
Accelerated by Zhang Yunfeng’s Dominion, the surge of pure energy appeared right before Zhang Xuan’s chest in an instant. Realizing that he would have no time to dodge at all, he could only hurriedly raise his palm to defend himself.
Tzzzz!
The powerful momentum of the finger art traveled through Zhang Xuan’s palm and struck his body like a comet, forcefully pus.h.i.+ng him back. As a result, a ma.s.sive gorge was dragged out on the dueling ring.
Hu!
It took a great deal of effort before Zhang Xuan was able to regain his balance once more. He felt his zhenqi running erratically in his body, and as if someone had scalded with palm with blazing inferno, an indescribable pain a.s.saulted his hand.
Even a simple finger art of his wields so much strength? Zhang Xuan was alarmed.
He might have successfully withstood the finger art, but if this were to go on, the duel would surely end with his loss.
“Not too bad. The fact that you were able to withstand my attack shows that you do have some capability.” Zhang Yunfeng remarked as he raised his palm, preparing for the next attack.
At this moment, however, the young man before him abruptly raised his hand up high.
“What’s wrong? Are you going to surrender?” Zhang Yunfeng asked with a contemptuous smile on his lips.
“That’s not it. I just would like ten breaths to myself.” Zhang Xuan replied.
“Ten breaths?”
“I admit that I am not a match for you with my current strength. In any case, it’s already unfair that a Grand Dominion realm cultivator like you is facing a Primordial Spirit realm cultivator like me at your full strength. So, I want ten seconds to sort out my thoughts…”
Exhaling deeply, a smile emerged on Zhang Xuan’s lips as he continued, “… as well as to make a breakthrough while I’m at it!”