Chapter 481: Chapter 466: Promises Are Not to Be Made Lightly! [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
After more than seven hours in total, all ten death duels at the Purple Mansion Stage level were completed.
The final result was that the Great Brightness Immortal Palace won six matches and lost twenty people, while the Anti-Light Alliance won four matches and lost twenty-three people.
From this result, the Anti-Light Alliance undoubtedly lost, not only losing the number of matches and a large amount of resources but also three more people than their opponent.
However, this is just the result of the death duels at the Purple Mansion Stage level. What truly determines the outcome of this war is still the results of the death duels at the Golden Core Stage level.
The role of a Golden Core Stage cultivator is equivalent to ten Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion cultivators. If the Anti-Light Alliance can just win one more match at the Golden Core Stage level and kill one more opponent, they can reverse their defeat.
The death duels at the Golden Core Stage level still adopt the best of five formats, but at this time, the referees were replaced by Nascent Soul Stage cultivators from both sides.
Unlike the death duels at the Purple Mansion Stage, in the Golden Core Stage duels, participants do not carry Tier Six Spirit Talismans or other treasures beyond the Golden Core Stage level, and not every Golden Core Stage cultivator participating in the fight has a Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivation.
Many of the Golden Core Stage cultivators who appeared on the field have only Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivation.
These participants have one thing in common: all of them are white-haired and have little lifespan remaining.
These people go on the field not because they have the ability to kill across tiers, but because they can use the strongest power of a Golden Core Stage cultivator, self-detonating their Golden Core to heavily injure the opponent’s powerful cultivator.
The battlefield of the death duel spans only a few dozen miles. Even if a Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivator reacts quickly to evade the epicenter, they still have to withstand a huge amount of self-detonation damage.
If they are unlucky and happen to be at the center of the blast, even a self-detonation from an Early Stage Golden Core cultivator has a high chance of directly killing a Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivator!
Because of the terrifying power of a Golden Core self-detonation, Golden Core Stage cultivators generally do not pursue their peers to the death, forcing them into a point of desperation.
Unless they are confident they can kill the other before they self-detonate their Golden Core, or they can timely avoid the blast’s epicenter and fend off the remaining force during the self-detonation.
Zhouyang had never before witnessed a Golden Core Stage cultivator self-detonate their Golden Core.
Whether it was the self-detonation of the Ninth-Layer Golden Core Demon Cultivator Blood Nether at the Yin Puppet Sect site or the self-detonation of the Tier Five Demon Beast "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros" during the first battle at Rhino Horn Continent, he missed witnessing them both as he was at the edges of those battlefields.
Of course, he did not feel any regret; instead, he always felt a great relief afterward that he wasn’t present.
With two Tier Five High-grade Arrays guarding the current battlefield and a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator overseeing to calm the aftershocks of the magical combat, he could finally safely witness the grand scene.
Indeed, the scene was incomparably magnificent!
When a Sixth-Layer Golden Core cultivator, practicing a Metal Element Technique, self-detonated their Golden Core, the battlefield was engulfed with golden light, a terrifying brilliance strong enough to blind low-tier cultivators, rising instantly and transforming the battlefield within dozens of miles into a world of golden light.
As the detonation’s power spread, the battlefield’s already scarred ground appeared as if a shovel had scraped it, a few feet of soil was shaved away into thin air.
The area within more than a dozen miles from the explosion’s center core saw a massive subsidence of twenty to thirty feet, creating an incredibly large explosion pit.
Under the monstrous impact of such explosion power, even the incredibly sturdy Tier Five High-grade Array shook relentlessly.
If the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator hadn’t stabilized the Array personally, the Array might have been blown apart directly.
"So this is the power of a Golden Core self-detonation? Truly terrifying and awe-inspiring!"
Outside the battlefield, Zhouyang gazed upon the devastated scene left by the dissipated golden light, a look of awe filling his face as he exclaimed with reverence.
He had never seen a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator fight personally, nor did he understand the extent of destruction they could cause, but from the earlier situation, the power of a Golden Core Stage cultivator’s self-detonation seemed no less potent than the ultimate weapons from his previous life.
If he were to say that the power of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators could surpass the mightiest ultimate weapons of his past life, he wouldn’t find it unbelievable anymore.
At the same time, he felt extremely fortunate about one particular matter; he was lucky that when he killed Zhong Chuming and Ba Yan’Er, these two Golden Core Stage cultivators did not self-detonate their Golden Cores in desperation. Otherwise, no matter how many methods he had, he likely wouldn’t have survived until today.
It was also ironic; Zhong Chuming and Ba Yan’Er probably could not believe before their deaths that they, as dignified Golden Core Stage cultivators, would fall at the hand of a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator.
In battles like those, they naturally wouldn’t be willing to use the life-ending means of self-detonation that destroys both body and soul against what they originally thought to be a junior who could be easily crushed with a flick of a finger.
Now, the situation on the battlefield was quite different. Those cultivators self-detonating their Golden Cores and fighting to the death were doing so with a heart ready to die. If they couldn’t win, they would die. Since losing means death, they would naturally self-detonate their Golden Cores to take the enemy down with them!
The cultivator who just self-detonated their Golden Core was from the Great Brightness Immortal Palace. Even though their opponent sensed something amiss before the self-detonation and left the blast’s epicenter in time, they were still struck so hard by the blast that they spat blood and became unable to fight.
A Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator was devastatingly injured by a Sixth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator at the cost of their life, an occurrence rare among battles below the Golden Core Stage.
In the ensuing time, the roar of Golden Core self-detonations never ceased, as virtually every defeated cultivator would use their own detonation to take their opponent down with them.
Indeed, in battle, some Golden Core Stage cultivators did succeed in making their opponents perish along with them through the mutual destruction of self-detonation.
However, according to the rules of the Death Arena, a cultivator who first self-detonates their Golden Core, even if taking their opponent down as well, is considered the loser of the battle.
Not all Golden Core Stage cultivators can successfully detonate their core though; some are often slain by their opponents before they can.
"The third Death Match of Golden Core Stage cultivators, the third battle, begins now. Participants: Li Cangyuan of the Anti-Light Alliance, Du Yunfeng of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace."
As the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator acting as referee announced the names of the new participants, Zhouyang’s gaze sharpened instantly, revealing a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He shifted his gaze towards Li Cangyuan, the participant from the Anti-Light Alliance.
Li Cangyuan, besides his given name, also carries the title "Cangyuan Wanderer" and is the City Lord of Yu Country’s "Cangyuan Immortal City."
According to Zhouyang’s original plan, after participating in the Death Match, he would take his Dao Companion, Xiao Ying, for a visit to Yu Country’s "Cangyuan Immortal City" to see the Zhou Family members settled there and decide whether to agree to marry Zhou Guangxiang to the descendant of the pursuing "Cangyuan Wanderer."
Yet, unexpectedly, he had not completed this plan before witnessing the "Cangyuan Wanderer" heading into the Death Match.
"Strange, why would the Cangyuan Wanderer, a leader of a force, with over a hundred years of lifespan remaining, engage in this Death Match?"
Zhouyang looked at Li Cangyuan, who had already flown into the battleground, filled with confusion.
Golden Core Stage level Death Matches are not responsibilities typically imposed on cultivators from lesser forces unless they volunteer; it is the duty of the top six sects of the Anti-Light Alliance and other sect clans with Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.
This was why Zhouyang had such doubts.
After pondering, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity and discreetly transmitted his inquiry to Zhao Hao nearby.
Zhao Hao, being a Golden Core Stage cultivator, was somewhat informed about the matter and promptly explained upon hearing Zhouyang’s query.
It turned out that the Cangyuan Wanderer was indebted to a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from early years and had promised to repay with his life if asked.
This time, the sect of that benefactory Nascent Soul Stage cultivator lacked a suitable cultivator for the Death Match, and with Cangyuan Wanderer’s prospects of advancing to Nascent Soul Stage dimming due to age, he was sought to fulfill his promise.
Despite wholeheartedly wishing to avoid the Death Match, Cangyuan Wanderer had no choice but to step in, honoring his own vow to someone he couldn’t possibly defy.
"So, pledges made must be fulfilled even at great peril, with tears..." Zhouyang mumbled, reflecting upon his own promises.
He rarely made promises, but when he did, they were guaranteed to be fulfilled.
And currently, the hardest promise to fulfill was the one to Master Cyan Yang.
Master Cyan Yang had said that once Zhouyang reached Golden Core Stage, he should come to the Profound Sun Immortal Sect for a major event.
For a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator to term a matter as significant foretold extreme danger!
Therefore, upon seeing Cangyuan Wanderer, forced to repay gratitude through a perilous match with a peer, Zhouyang felt as though witnessing his own future, unexpectedly similar.
"Alas!"
He sighed deeply, watching the slender silver-haired elder on the battleground, silent for a long time.
The "Cangyuan Wanderer" was destined for a grueling battle, as his opponent was a Seventh-Layer Golden Core cultivator, with a cultivation just one layer below his own as a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.
In such a fight, even if he managed a few successful moves, he would have little ability to prevent or escape his opponent’s self-detonation.
"Hopefully, he survives!" Zhouyang thought, filled with empathy.