Chapter 477: Chapter 462: Instant Sky Slash! [Subscribe Please]
The first duel is important because it clearly boosts morale.
The old cultivator Gao Jianli from the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect has been in the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion for over a hundred years. It is said he has perfected the Swordsmanship and various Magic techniques of the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect. He once fought to a draw with a "Fake Golden Core" cultivator who had refined a Tier Five Magical Artifact.
As for Nie Feng of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, Zhouyang had also seen his introduction in the Cyan Origin Sword Sect’s reports. Zhouyang knew he was a genius who emerged during this war. Although he has only been in the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion for less than fifty years, he has the record of slaying Seventh-Layer Purple Mansion cultivators with three strikes of his saber, and his strength is equally unfathomable.
Once both entered the arena, they didn’t say much and quickly started to fight.
As the battle began, Zhouyang couldn’t help but glance at Zhao Hao, who was analyzing their opponent’s information for him.
Didn’t you say that no one would be willing to bring a Tier Five Magical Artifact onto the battlefield?
Now on the battlefield, both Gao Jianli and Nie Feng are wielding a Flying Sword and a Silver Saber, both of which are genuine Tier Five Lower Grade Magical Artifacts, and even those of premium quality.
Zhao Hao, clearly understanding the implication of Zhouyang’s gaze, could only force a dry smile with a face full of embarrassment: "Haha, the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect and the Great Brightness Immortal Palace are both major sects, the situation is different, different!"
Zhouyang thought to himself that three of his five opponents were also from the Great Brightness Immortal Palace!
Of course, these words that would embarrass someone to their face, he couldn’t possibly say out loud, so he just shook his head and didn’t respond to Zhao Hao.
Turning back to the battlefield, Gao Jianli and Nie Feng were evidently aware of each other’s prowess and immediately went all out, without any intention of probing each other.
The platinum flying sword and the silver-white long saber clashed and struck in mid-air, scattering terrifying Sword Qi and Saber Qi in all directions, tearing deep, unfathomable black fissures across the ground below, akin to a battle between Golden Core Stage cultivators.
However, after watching for a while, Zhouyang noticed that Gao Jianli was considerably more agile and adept in artifact mastery than Nie Feng. This was not only due to his use of the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect’s unique Sword Control Skill, but also because of the extended time he had spent refining that Tier Five Flying Sword.
As the involved party, Nie Feng naturally also discovered this problem, so after exchanging a few moves, he changed tactics.
In the sky, the silver long saber suddenly vibrated, instantly transforming into three sabers. One continued to tangle with the platinum flying sword, while the other two blitzed toward Gao Jianli at lightning speed.
Seeing this, Gao Jianli’s face slightly changed. He reached out his hand, quickly casting a golden Spirit Talisman, which instantly turned into a giant golden phantom enveloping him within.
Then, with a mind command, the phantom extended two palms, slapping towards the two silver long sabers.
After two loud bangs, the two silver long sabers were instantly shattered in the air by the phantom’s palms, revealing them to be clones split from the main artifact.
"Not good, Gao Jianli has fallen for it!"
An exclamation rose from the Anti-Light Alliance’s crowd, causing some of the observing Purple Mansion cultivators’ faces to change, feeling that this match might be lost.
However, those Golden Core Stage cultivators remained calm and did not reveal any change of expression.
Zhouyang glanced at the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect cultivators’ area and noticed that the high-tier cultivators there showed no change of expression, as if they had not even noticed Gao Jianli being tricked into revealing a precious Tier Five Spirit Talisman by the opponent’s minor trick.
"These people’s reactions..."
With a thought, Zhouyang settled down to watch attentively.
After the golden giant phantom outside Gao Jianli shattered the incoming attacks, it retracted its palms and resumed a defensive posture.
At the same time, Gao Jianli himself sat cross-legged in mid-air, closed his eyes, and quickly made seals with his hands, seemingly preparing some sort of secret technique.
On the other side, Nie Feng, who had previously smiled as he tricked out the opponent’s Tier Five Spirit Talisman, suddenly froze, his eyes turning sharp.
Although he didn’t know exactly what secret technique Gao Jianli was preparing, intuition and experience told him that he absolutely could not let the enemy safely cast a divine technique that required a lot of preparation time on the battlefield.
With a cold flash in his eyes, he immediately raised his hand and threw a red orb the size of a fist toward Gao Jianli.
Rumble!
The red orb hadn’t even reached Gao Jianli when it was punched and shattered by the golden giant phantom outside him, with the terrifying explosion light swallowing half of the battlefield.
This level of power even changed Zhouyang’s expression. He could confidently say that even if Zhao Hao beside him was to attack with full force, the power would be no more, and might even be less.
After all, the divine technique sealed in that red orb was equivalent to a direct attack by a Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator.
However, what was astonishing was that after the explosion light dissipated, Gao Jianli still remained in the same cross-legged position, without even a single hair moving.
"This..."
Zhouyang stared blankly at this scene, unable to comprehend.
"It’s the Celestial Spirit Sect’s strongest defense divine technique, the ’Celestial Spirit Shield.’ I didn’t expect the Celestial Spirit Sect to exchange such a treasure with the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect. It seems we’ve won this match!"
Zhao Hao saw Zhouyang staring blankly at the battlefield, and couldn’t help but explain the reason with a look of joy. Then he stopped analyzing Zhouyang’s opponents and focused all his attention on the battle on the field.
On the battlefield, it was clear that Nie Feng had not expected this outcome. Seeing that his strongest attack could not harm the enemy in the slightest, his face was instantly filled with panic.
It was easy to imagine that Gao Jianli would rather use a treasure sealed with the "Celestial Spirit Shield" to take his strike without moving. The secret technique he was preparing would undoubtedly be an earth-shattering blow.
"I must interrupt his spellcasting!"
A flash of terror crossed Nie Feng’s face, and his expression turned ruthless. He immediately produced a Tier Five Spirit Talisman, transforming it into a massive Silver Thunder Ball, hurling it at Gao Jianli. Surprisingly, it was a rare Tier Five Lower-Grade Thunder Talisman.
But at that moment, Gao Jianli, who was sitting motionless with eyes closed, suddenly formed a spell seal quickly with his hands and pointed his sword fingers at the platinum Flying Sword, uttering in a low voice: "Slash"
As soon as the word "Slash" was spoken, the platinum Flying Sword suddenly vanished from its spot, only to reappear hundreds of feet behind Nie Feng.
"Instant Sky Slash! It’s the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect’s secret sword skill, Instant Sky Slash!"
"Who would have thought that Gao Jianli was such a genius, mastering this Sword Sect secret skill only at the Purple Mansion Stage that even Golden Core Stage cultivators may not grasp!"
Exclamations arose suddenly, and it wasn’t just Zhao Hao beside Zhouyang. Many Golden Core Stage cultivators who recognized the origins of Gao Jianli’s sword couldn’t help but gasped with amazement.
As these exclamations echoed, Nie Feng’s body suddenly split at the chest and fell to the ground, unmistakably dead beyond any possibility of survival!
In the first match of the deadly duel, Gao Jianli of the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect claims victory!
"The ’Instant Sky Slash’ is one of the most formidable sword skills of the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect. This sword technique allows a Golden Core Stage cultivator’s attack to appear suddenly in front of the enemy, like the Nascent Soul Stage’s Instant Teleportation divine technique, taking the opponent by surprise, leaving no possibility of defense!"
"Facing a sword skill attack like the ’Instant Sky Slash’, interception is impossible, as even a Golden Core Stage cultivator cannot detect its movement trajectory. One can only rely on one’s defensive means to endure it. Survive, and you live; fail to endure, and you die!"
On the battlefield, the victorious Gao Jianli had already withdrawn, replaced by two other cultivators engaged in a duel. Yet outside the battlefield, discussions about his spectacular sword strike were still abuzz, with Zhao Hao analyzing the strike for Zhouyang upon his request.
The Cyan Origin Sword Sect also practices the way of the sword, so it naturally has a deeper understanding of the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect, the foremost Sword Dao sect in the Land of the Far West, than the average person.
After listening to Zhao Hao’s analysis, Zhouyang recalled that sword stroke in his mind, gently nodding in agreement with what was said.
That sword indeed had no detectable trajectory, as if it appeared out of thin air. Not to mention the cultivators watching from behind two layers of Array Protective Shields, even Nie Feng himself on the field probably didn’t sense anything.
If he had sensed even a slight trace, reacting with his body even a little, his corpse wouldn’t have been so cleanly severed.
And because Gao Jianli executed that strike with a Tier Five Flying Sword, even if Zhouyang had swapped places with Nie Feng at that time, his body likely couldn’t withstand that sword.
This realization sent a shiver through him, and he dared not underestimate the talents of the world anymore.
There are so many geniuses in the Cultivation Realm, so many secret techniques. His strength may be considered invincible at the Purple Mansion Stage from a comprehensive perspective, but that doesn’t mean other Purple Mansion Stage cultivators lack the means and power to kill him.
Someone like Gao Jianli, with a sword skill like "Instant Sky Slash," would pose a life-threatening danger if encountered carelessly.
The first deadly duel ended swiftly.
Of the planned five battles, only four were held, resulting in the victory of the Anti-Light Alliance.
With the first victory, the morale of the Anti-Light Alliance surged instantly, even the few Nascent Soul Stage cultivators overseeing the battle couldn’t suppress their smiles.
However, the good times didn’t last long. As the second deadly duel began, the Anti-Light Alliance first lost two cultivators back-to-back, and then the third combatant was killed on the field even at the cost of severe injury to their opponent.
The second deadly duel saw the Great Brightness Immortal Palace achieving a sweeping victory over the Anti-Light Alliance with a score of three to zero!
After suffering a three-zero defeat, the Anti-Light Alliance cultivator who appeared for the third deadly duel was under immense pressure.
Despite exerting every effort and staking their lives, the third deadly duel ended with a narrow two to three defeat to the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, losing three ninth-layer Purple Mansion cultivators once again.
Watching one ninth-layer cultivator after another, with cultivation similar to his own, die tragically on the battlefield, Zhouyang, witnessing from outside, felt immense pressure, losing the initial calmness he had.
Unlike others, he had to win three consecutive matches; otherwise, participating in this deadly duel would be in vain.
The challenge of winning three consecutive matches is vastly greater than winning just one.
"The fourth deadly duel begins now. First to take the stage: Zhouyang of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, Tuoba Yunshuang of the Bingchen Sect!"
With the announcers’ voices echoing, Zhouyang, having been identified, nodded gently to Zhao Hao and Han Xiao, who were watching him expectantly, and his body transformed into a golden light shooting towards the battlefield.
Meanwhile, a dignified and beautiful woman in blue attire also flew from the Great Bright Immortal Palace cultivators’ ranks on the other side, landing within the battlefield.