Chapter 658: We All Have Trump Cards, But I’m Still Stronger Than You
The same thing done by different people would obviously result in different outcomes. Not even Xiang Qin, the most outstanding cultivator amongst the younger generation of the Myriad Domain, would dare try to grasp this sword barehanded. However, the only exception in the Myriad Domain was Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen extended a hand as the golden light around his palm abruptly brightened.
Plonk!
The body of the longsword of mystical ice landed solidly in his palm. A dull bang echoed around the arena, and Jiang Chen’s palm remained perfectly unharmed from the strike. w.a.n.g Han’s expression, on the other hand, abruptly changed as he drew upon his strength repeatedly in an attempt to pull his sword free from Jiang Chen’s grasp.
However, no matter how hard he tried, his sword didn’t move an inch. “How… how is this possible?” Even if his opponent’s was made out of metal and stone, there would still be some sparks, right? So what on earth was Mu Gaoqi’s palm made of?
“Isn’t this Mu Gaoqi a little too overpowered?”
“He caught the sword with his bare hand. Not even Xiang Qin would be able to do such a thing, would he?”
“The most unbelievable part is that he didn’t look hurt in the least. In fact, w.a.n.g Han’s the one who’s trying to pull away.”
Over on the Regal Pill Palace’s side, Palace Head Dan Chi was the only one who looked perfectly cool and collected in face of this outcome. Even Elder Lian Cheng’s well-built form trembled as he blurted out disbelievingly, “P-Palace Head… what on earth is going on?”
Shen Qinghong was even more surprised. Since when had the honest and introverted Mu Gaoqi that he knew of become this powerful? Not only had he tried to capture w.a.n.g Han’s sword with his bare hand, he’d actually succeeded in the attempt!
Nie Chong’s face was more or less the same as Shen Qinghong’s, filled with astonishment. Even the eyes of a cool beauty like Ling Bi’er were sparkling like stars. She looked overjoyed at this turn of events. She knew that Jiang Chen had improved tremendously, but she hadn’t expected him to be this powerful. Jun Mobai was observing the battle happening in the ring with an unfathomable expression, his eyes carefully evaluating the scene. However, he too was absolutely shocked by Jiang Chen’s power.
Dan Chi smiled calmly and said, “It is exactly because the world of martial dao is full of miracles that it is so attractive to all of us.”
He sounded a bit like a show-off, but no one could deny the truth of his words right now. Mu Gaoqi’s performance was, in every sense of the word, a miracle. In fact, it was the kind of miracle that no one’d had the audacity to imagine.
In complete contrast to the Regal Pill Palace’s completely delighted mood, the Sacred Sword Palace was utterly stunned by this. w.a.n.g Jianyu’s eyes betrayed his deep shock and bewilderment. Nevertheless, he had enough presence of mind to remind, “w.a.n.g Han, do not underestimate your opponent.”
w.a.n.g Jianyu was a formidable man. He sensed a hint of danger and unrest from this battle. He hadn’t expected an obscure cultivator like Mu Gaoqi to display such a ferocious level of combat power out of nowhere. He had to admit that Mu Gaoqi was absolutely capable of battling w.a.n.g Han on equal footing. In fact, the Regal Pill Palace disciple possessed enough strength to threaten w.a.n.g Han’s very life! That was why he reminded w.a.n.g Han to not underestimate his opponent.
“Sect Master, this Mu Gaoqi…” Those of Sacred Sword Palace voiced their doubts.
w.a.n.g Jianyu’s eyes were dark with meaning, “This boy possesses unfathomable strength. If w.a.n.g Han isn’t careful, he may very well lose against Mu Gaoqi.”
“What?!” Everyone in Sacred Sword Palace was absolutely flabbergasted at those words. In their eyes, their eldest senior brother was renowned throughout the Sacred Sword Palace and absolutely invincible. How could they even entertain the thought that he would lose? And to an obscure boy from the Regal Pill Palace no less? For a moment, no one in the Sacred Sword Palace could accept this statement at face value. Jin Feng couldn’t help but ask, “Sect Master, just what martial dao does Mu Gaoqi practice?”
w.a.n.g Jianyu sighed, “I don’t know either. In fact, I suspect that his martial arts legacy fundamentally exceeds the Regal Pill Palace’s level.”
“I believe in eldest senior brother!”
“Yeah, eldest senior brother still has a lot of trump cards. I believe that he’ll definitely win out over the enemy.”
“We support the eldest senior brother! Destroy the Regal Pill Palace, eldest senior brother!”
Above the arena, w.a.n.g Han had unsuccessfully tried thrice to yank his sword from Jiang Chen’s grasp. His surprise only grew with each attempt.
“What tricks have you used, brat?” w.a.n.g Han suddenly felt like he couldn’t see through his opponent, even now. A formidable eye art, a formidable finger ability, and a formidable one-handed blade blocking technique. The diverse skills that Mu Gaoqi had displayed in the ring was worlds apart from the Regal Pill Palace disciple Mu Gaoqi that w.a.n.g Han remembered.
Had he been hiding his true strength all this time, pretending to be a pig so he could eat the tiger? When w.a.n.g Han thought about this, he couldn’t help but tremble in anger. You want to hide your true strength, is it? In that case I’ll beat you into a real pig!
With a step, he thrust his sword forwards instead of pulling it back to himself. Jiang Chen let out a laugh and twisted the sword, slipping it from w.a.n.g Han’s grip and into his hands. He smiled casually, “How nice of you to gift me this sword.”
w.a.n.g Han’s fury erupted. It wasn’t as if he had another choice. He had thrust the sword forward in an attempt to catch his enemy unawares, but he didn’t think that his opponent would be on guard against it as well. Now, it really did look like he’d simply handed the sword to his opponent’s hands. His opponent’s taunts made him feel even more humiliated by this failed attempt.
“Gift? You first need to be alive to accept it!” w.a.n.g Han’s fury had reached new heights. He unclenched his fist, and summoned a scroll into his palm. As the scroll rolled open, three b.a.l.l.s of snowy white light rolled off its surface. The three b.a.l.l.s of light hit the ground and expanded into three creatures, each at least ten meters tall. When the glow died, three white-haired Giant Icebears appeared.
Howl! Howl! Howl!
The Icebears raised their arms to the sky and let out earth-shattering roars. They sounded so loud and intimidating that the world itself seemed to cower before their might. The entire arena shook along with the roars.
Dongdongdong!
All three Giant Icebears brimmed with tremendous power, all at the level of the mortal sage realm. This turn of events caused a soft murmur of shock to begin from beneath the arena. The three ferocious and cruel Icebears were thick-limbed, bloodthirsty and terrifying. Their attack stance alone would probably cause the consciousness of weaker people to collapse on the spot. It was absolutely terrifying.
“Are those… Sealed True Saint Beasts?”
“Three true saint beasts at the level of mortal sage realm. What a favored disciple!”
“Oh no, oh no. Mu Gaoqi was a rare dark horse, but it looks like he’s going to be suppressed entirely from here on.”
“He still has time to concede defeat.”
“Yeah, no matter how powerful he might be, can he really withstand the combined attack of three true saint beasts and a w.a.n.g Han? No matter how powerful he might be, there’s no way he can fight one versus four.”
Everyone’s opinions turned from antic.i.p.ation to the depths of pessimism in an instant. But although they were in awe of w.a.n.g Han’s methods, they were also slightly dissatisfied with the path he was taking. After all, this was a duel, a one-on-one fight. This had just devalued the battle from a compet.i.tion of ability to a compet.i.tion of wealth. w.a.n.g Han was the number one genius of Sacred Sword Palace, but rather than fighting his enemy in single combat, he had chosen to employ such an dishonorable method instead. While summoning helpers this way didn’t count as breaking the rules, it was ultimately an unfair fight.
Everyone’s breathing on Regal Pill Palace’s side grew rapid. Ling Bi’er especially was feeling a sudden wave of regret for encouraging Jiang Chen to stand up for the Regal Pill Palace. Earlier, the reason she had been so expectant was because she was sure that Jiang Chen had the ability to fight w.a.n.g Han. However, she never imagined that w.a.n.g Han would use a dirty trump card like this. Any one of these three Giant Icebears were as strong as w.a.n.g Han in terms of offensive ability. In fact, their defensive power might even be stronger than w.a.n.g Han. Jiang Chen’s predicament immediately caused Ling Bi’er’s heart to thump rapidly. She almost gave in to her impulse and asked Jiang Chen to give up the match. However, she knew that Jiang Chen would never forfeit after he entered a fight.
“What do we do, Palace Head? This w.a.n.g Han is absolutely despicable!” Shen Qinghong squeezed his words through gritted teeth.
For a moment, Palace Head Dan Chi wasn’t sure what to do. He knew that Jiang Chen was strong, but he wasn’t sure if Jiang Chen could withstand a trial like this. “Gaoqi, be careful! Just do what you can.” Palace Head Dan Chi reminded him. He didn’t say it openly, but he was in fact granting Jiang Chen the right to concede the battle. If Jiang Chen admitted defeat now, Dan Chi wouldn’t blame him in the slightest. However, he had obviously underestimated Jiang Chen’s determination.
Jiang Chen smiled calmly upon hearing his advice, and turned to look at w.a.n.g Han, “What do you mean by this?”
w.a.n.g Han laughed and said, “What do I mean? Do you really not understand?”
“You plan to win by numbers?” Jiang Chen frowned.
“So what if I am? Do the rules say that I can’t do this?” w.a.n.g Han was extremely pleased with himself. It didn’t matter what method he used as long as he could defeat his opponent. In fact, this was precisely the outcome he wished to see. The more Jiang Chen acted this way, the more he thought that Jiang Chen was afraid.
“Do the rules allow this? Is it fine to win by numbers?” Jiang Chen glanced at the audience, but didn’t see any judges objecting to this state of affairs. He nodded slightly and looked back at w.a.n.g Han, who was feeling supremely proud at himself, “Let’s see who has the bigger army then.”
Jiang Chen’s hands flickered, as one golden light after another fell from his hands.
Taptaptap.
Golden prayer beads clattered as they landed on the floor. Like golden beans, they bounced on the ring’s floor. A flash of golden light later, the six beans disappeared to reveal six golden armored soldiers. They looked majestic, and they were all at the level of mortal sage realm.
The audience went crazy. Every new development seemed crazier than the previous, keeping their attention transfixed on the battle. Their hearts and emotions rose and fell again and again like a wild rollercoaster.
There had just been too many surprises in this battle. First, Mu Gaoqi had used his eye art to break through the locks of mystical ice. Then, he’d used his finger to shatter w.a.n.g Han’s walls of ice. They’d barely gotten over that when he used his bare hand to catch w.a.n.g Han’s sword. Finally, w.a.n.g Han summoned three Giant Icebears at the mortal sage realm level in an attempt to win by numbers and regain the initiative.
However, before he could convert this initiative into any sort of advantage at all, Mu Gaoqi had surprised everyone again and summoned six golden armored soldiers of his own. None of those soldiers were in any way weaker than the three giant bears. How could they not be entertained by these non-stop surprises?
“One of them hid beasts in his scroll, and the other scattered beans that transformed into soldiers. Amazing! This is truly amazing! They truly are the top geniuses of the Myriad Domain.”
“Tsk tsk, these bean soldiers are just too incredible. What on earth has Mu Gaoqi gone through to procure such a thing?”
“I can’t believe this is happening. Everyone’s underestimated the Regal Pill Palace. Mu Gaoqi is obviously gunning for first place in the rankings!”
For a time, the audiences were filled with conflicted emotions. Envy, jealousy, admiration and longing roiled in a unrelenting war in their hearts...