Mu Shao"ai and Qin Xinyan both attacked Wan Gufeng from the flanks. Mu Shao"ai attacked with his telekinesis magic, trying his best to distract Wan Gufeng. His flying sword weaved dangerously around Wan Gufeng like a deadly arrow, its blade gleaming dangerously as it prodded his defenses for any chance to attack. From the other side, Qin Xinyan, the pyromancer of the School of the Savage Flames skillful in fire-based magic, was busy pelting one fireball after another at Wan Gufeng, helping to hara.s.s him as well.
Qingluan and Ziyun"er were the most skillful in close-quarters combat out of the most of them. But with the rest of their squadmates unavailable, they could only remain beside Xiao Chen to ensure his safety by parrying any blows that Wan Gufeng threw his way.
Luo Shangyan and Li Muxue held up the rear, helping to support the makeshift formation by providing healing magic to upkeep the True Energies of those unleashing their attacks. With the restoration effects of their magic, everyone could spare no expense and sustain the barrage of their retaliation without fearing their stores of energy would be depleted.
But alas, even in the face of the powerful barrage against him, Wan Gufeng was able to defend himself adequately, while disqualifying a few more contestants.
But the unified front of the contestants held on. No one would have dared to challenge a conjurer of the Nascent Soul Realm to a fight in real life. But this was the Forest of Illusory Moon. No one was at the risk of dying. What was more, was the experience and prestige of having battled a conjurer of the Nascent Soul Realm before.
It did not take long for the unified front of contestants to suffer more losses. But Wan Gufeng was barely looking well. The attacks that everyone cast at him had barely grazed him, but they were enough to reduce his clothing to nothing more than tattered rags that he looked like a haggard beggar and the disciples that had infiltrated the tournament with him were all injured as well.
As the battle held on, more and more contestants were removed from the Forest. Eventually, there were many lone contestants whose teammates had been disqualified. Knowing that they would stand no chance in sufficient Hearts of Illusory Moon in time, they diverted their hopes to another more realistic goal: removing Wan Gufeng from the tournament. Some began mocking and jeering at him, "You"ve been fighting for so long, Senior Wan! Did you not pledge to bury all of us here?!"
"Senior Wan is getting old! He has no more strength!" Another quipped.
Then another yelled at him angrily, "Just because you possess the levels of the Nascent Soul Realm, that doesn"t mean the world revolves around you! Have a taste of our fury!"
But Xiao Chen"s expression was tense and troubled. There was something wrong with his Nine Heaven-scorching Flames magic. He could not use it, although he wished to, fearing that the force of the magic might not only wound his allies, it could rebound and seriously injure him as well. "Is this because of the enchantments here in this Forest?"
Wan Gufeng was furious. At any other time and location, he would have long butchered everyone here rather than to endure the insults hurled at him. But this was the Forest of Illusory Moon and there were numerous enchantments in place to restrict him from using his full power.
"I SEE! HOW DARE YOU! MONGREL PUPS! LET ME TEACH YOU ALL SOME MANNERS!"
He roared with all his wrath and threw his arms up and channeled his powers. The tattered sleeves of his robes fluttered in the winds as his energies churned, resonating with the vital force of Nature that everyone could feel the ripples in the air. Two huge fireb.a.l.l.s came alive in the air above him and he cast them at the few contestants who had mocked and derided him!
With a quick look, Xiao Chen could see that the strength of the fireb.a.l.l.s was too great for them to withstand! Anyone being hit by the fireb.a.l.l.s would surely be seriously wounded despite the enchantment to ensure their safety. He hurriedly summoned his True Energy; the Unsullied he carried shook in response to his call and shot into the air like a flash of blazing lightning, piercing straight at the two fireb.a.l.l.s with ardent tenacity!
Xiao Chen watched the white bolt of light that was the Unsullied collided with the fireb.a.l.l.s. First came an onrushing tide of blinding, white light, and then a shockwave from the explosion swept across the whole battlefield, throwing many of the contestants off-balanced. Xiao Chen had destroyed the fireb.a.l.l.s, but there were still many of his allies who were hurt by the explosion.
Yu Yifeng looked at Xiao Chen and noticed that something was wrong with his expression. "What"s wrong?" he asked hastily.
Xiao Chen shook his head quickly. He peered at the nine miniature fireb.a.l.l.s still dancing around his palm. They were barely flaming, hardly more than glowing embers now. But this did not escape Wan Gufeng"s eye; seeing an opening, he threw a bolt of magic at Xiao Chen. Fortunately, Yu Yifeng tossed his sword into its way before it could hit Xiao Chen. The sword deflected the fatal blow, although it too was. .h.i.t away by the powerful blow.
"The Dance of the Arcing Rainbow!"
Yu Yifeng chanted aloud while steadying himself. Calmly, he performed several handseals and cast his magic. The clouds far up high began to stir, swirling violently as if a storm was coming. Yu Yifeng"s sword shot up the sky in a ray of golden light and plunged into the clouds and thirteen bolts of golden light rained down from above, descending at blinding speed down to the ground like a flock of eagles swooping down on a prey!
"That"s the secret technique of the Jade Qing Sect! The Dance of the Arcing Rainbow!" A startled voice yelled.
The thirteen golden shafts shone brilliantly in all their splendor and divinity. There was no one who was not awed and stunned by its awesomeness that could cover all foes and allies alike. Wan Gufeng raised his head to observe the impending strike aimed at him with narrowed eyes. "So this is the infamous secret technique of the Jade Qing Sect? It was rumored that this technique was the reason that the Jade Qing Seven was so powerful! There is truth to the rumors after all."
Knowing better than to take Yu Yifeng"s attack lightly, he channeled his True Energy and infused them all into a protective shield. A crack of thunder rumbled in the distant sky as the thirteen golden shafts fell in unison, each looking more dangerous than the rest.
But "dangerous" was a mere understatement; as the golden shafts drew closer to their target, everyone finally felt the might of the Jade Qing Sect"s most guarded technique. The ground shook vigorously as if in fear with rocks and gravel rolling everywhere like ants scurrying to safety before a storm. Then everyone felt a shockwave that fell like a hammer and saw plants and trees being reduced to smithereens. Immediately, everyone comprehended the danger to remain in the vicinity and sounded calls of retreat. They withdrew to a safe distance and waited to see how Wan Gufeng would fare against such a deadly technique.
But no one saw how Mu Shao"ai"s expression became shrouded by shadow. The realization that the Leader had given Yu Yifeng his own sword, the Startling Rainbow Sword and had also taught him the most secret technique of the Sect, the Dance of the Arcing Rainbow, had filled him with jealousy and grudge.
But Qingyu was feeling worried. Despite the terrible might of the Dance of the Arcing Rainbow technique, Yu Yifeng simply wielded not enough power and finesse to unleash the technique"s full potential. One single ray of light would have been enough to utterly defeat Wan Gufeng, if it was Perfected Immortal Qing Chen himself who had cast the magic. The current rendition was merely one-tenth of its full power, notwithstanding the fact that Yu Yifeng"s reckless use of this technique could have seen himself wounded due to the rebound of the technique.
All thirteen rays of gold slammed into the ground, laying waste to an entire tract of land, including the spot where Wan Gufeng was standing. But to everyone"s horror, Wan Gufeng emerged fine and well from the midst of the settling dust. With a disdainful toss of his sleeves, he sneered with ice in his voice. "So this is the most powerful technique of the Jade Qing Sect?"
Yu Yifeng went pale. The technique had not only exhausted his True Energy, but he was also badly disappointed that his enemy had virtually escaped unscathed!
"Let me send all of you out now!" Wan Gufeng declared smugly. He reached an arm into the sky and grabbed his fists. The clouds churned and balled into a gigantic ma.s.s above his head and everyone could feel the pressure and tenseness of his powers slowly rising.
The contestants all felt the same petrifying panic, their feet rooted to the ground in fear. Wan Gufeng"s aura grew stronger and stronger that it spanned across the entire battlefield and everyone who felt it was frozen with terror. With their greatest nightmare coming alive, the contestants" will to fight on slowly ebbed away.
Realizing that their options were dire, Xiao Chen spared no more thought. He tossed fire little fireb.a.l.l.s from his palm at Wan Gufeng"s way and directed them at him. The three miniature flames flew in his direction while meshing into a single ball of flames, larger and stronger as they drew closer to their mark.
Wan Gufeng could not move at first. He stared with disbelief the b.a.l.l.s of flames that Xiao Chen had cast at him and hardly moved. It was only when they were close, he finally felt the peril of the destructive force they contained. He leaped backward and warped to a spot more than 100 hundred feet away, just in time to see that the spot that he had been standing on a little more than a few seconds ago bursting and cracking into a sea of fire that turned every piece of wood and leaf into cinders and ash.
Despite his years of experience and the great power he wielded, Wan Gufeng could not help feeling a chill on his spine. He would have suffered an incapacitating injury if not for the warning of his spiritual senses, even with the protection afforded by his True Energy. His gaze wandered slowly to the conjurer who spelled his downfall: Xiao Chen. For the first time since the start of the tournament, he no longer regarded the younger man with contempt and disdain, but instead with pure hatred and bitterness.
But he was hardly the only one surprised; curious and disbelieving stares began to fall on Xiao Chen. No one had expected that the spell he used, while appearing to be weak and frail, was more powerful than Yu Yifeng"s Dance of the Arcing Rainbow.
The malice in Wan Gufeng"s eyes waxed greater and greater. "This cannot wait! He must be eliminated today," he thought cruelly, "with time and resources, he"ll one day become a foe to the Order of the Divine Fire!"
Driven by this compulsion, he took one resolute step forward and vanished, teleporting quickly to just in front of Xiao Chen. Unlike before, he was truly h.e.l.l-bent on killing Xiao Chen instead of merely breaking his jade note! He would sever his Spiritual Meridians and destroy him once and for all!