Chapter 478: Chapter 463: Merging with Light and Dust [4000 Words Seeking Subscription]
The Bingchen Sect is a vassal sect of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, located at the far western edge of the Land of the Far West near the seaside, on a snow-capped mountain. The sect has previously produced Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, and currently has five Golden Core Stage cultivators.
Zhouyang’s current opponent, Tuoba Yunshuang, is recorded to have slain Tier Four High-Grade Demon Beasts alone, but there is little information about her adept divine techniques and tactics.
The two entered the battlefield one after another and soon met in the center, separated by several miles, where they stopped.
"Since you’re a woman, Zhou will let you make a move first!"
In mid-air, Zhouyang stood with sword in hand, his gaze fixed on Tuoba Yunshuang, stepping on the Ice Lotus Spiritual Artifact. His eyes flashed with a peculiar color as he spoke indifferently.
Upon hearing his words, Tuoba Yunshuang’s pretty face instantly turned cold, her eyes icy as she spoke chillingly, "Do you look down on women?"
"No, Zhou just doesn’t want to let a fairy beauty like you wither for no reason!"
Zhouyang shook his head with a sigh, expressing his heartfelt thoughts with a look of poignant emotion.
He was unwilling to kill innocents; even on the battlefield, he still hesitated to be the first to attack someone with no grudge or hatred.
Letting Tuoba Yunshuang make a move first was simply a self-consoling excuse from within.
However, Tuoba Yunshuang clearly did not believe the words of her enemy and instead thought he was mocking her, smiling coldly with a frozen expression, "Fine, that’s what you say, don’t regret it later!"
Before the words even fell, her jade hand waved, and instantly, a blue Ice Lotus the size of a bowl shot out from Tuoba Yunshuang’s hand, heading straight for Zhouyang.
"Fairy with such cruel intentions!"
Zhouyang’s expression changed slightly; he hurriedly waved his hand, summoning the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace," directly awakening the Flame Sparrow Artifact Soul within, transforming it into a Fire-Soaked Vermilion Bird to meet the blue Ice Lotus.
Vermilion Bird Sky Dance, flames soared high.
With Zhouyang’s current cultivation, this move was more than double the power compared to the past.
But as soon as the Fire-Soaked Vermilion Bird touched the blue Ice Lotus, a surge of blue chill suddenly exploded from within the Ice Lotus, instantly extinguishing the flames on the Vermilion Bird, and continued sweeping towards Zhouyang.
At this time, Zhouyang’s body flashed with golden light, already transformed into a golden rainbow, retreating quickly to the battlefield’s protective shield at the edge.
Even so, the terrifying blue glacier instantly covered more than half of the battlefield’s ground, naturally including Zhouyang within the battlefield.
Freezing an expanse of miles in one move, this was not something Purple Mansion Stage cultivators possessed; the blue Ice Lotus was evidently a treasure sealing the divine techniques of Bingchen Sect’s Golden Core Stage cultivator.
Tuoba Yunshuang took advantage of Zhouyang allowing her to make a move first to activate such a treasure, a truly malicious act.
"Arrogant and foolish man, die!"
In the sky, Tuoba Yunshuang looked at Zhouyang sealed in ice at the battlefield’s edge, a cold smile flashed on her pretty face. She raised her hand, immediately activating a Talisman Treasure, turning into a blue Ice Spear of a dozen feet to pierce through Zhouyang.
"The one who should die is you!"
Zhouyang let out a furious roar, activating the "Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique," directly using brute strength to crack the blue ice encasing him, jumping into the air.
Then he spat out a black turtle shield engraved with golden patterns from his mouth, transforming into a large shield blocking the blue Ice Spear.
In front of the "Profound Turtle Shield," a real Tier Five Middle-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact, the blue Ice Spear manifested by the Talisman Treasure seemed pale and weak and was bounced away on the spot.
Simultaneously, Zhouyang waved his hand, immediately activating a Tier Five Lower-Grade Attack Spirit Talisman "Celestial Halberd Mountain-Splitting Talisman," transforming into a ten-foot-long golden halberd slicing towards Tuoba Yunshuang.
Confronted with this strike that could split mountains, Tuoba Yunshuang’s pretty face changed color; she hastily took out and activated another Tier Five Spirit Talisman, turning into an Ice Flood Dragon of twenty to thirty feet long to meet the golden halberd.
Boom!
Tier Five Magic clashed in the air, spreading terrifying magical power, shattering much of the ice on the ground and forcing Zhouyang and Tuoba Yunshuang to retreat repeatedly.
However, Zhouyang was protected by the "Profound Turtle Shield," only retreating a few hundred yards before stabilizing, while Tuoba Yunshuang was forced back several thousand yards before stopping.
Not waiting for the aftermath of the magic to completely dissipate, Zhouyang waved his hand, and sixteen "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords" shot out, slicing towards Tuoba Yunshuang.
This time, Tuoba Yunshuang had already used the blue Ice Lotus that sealed the divine techniques of a Golden Core Stage cultivator and a Tier Five Spirit Talisman; the only thing left threatening Zhouyang was her last Tier Five Spirit Talisman.
Zhouyang believed that as long as she had any rationality left, she wouldn’t immediately use the only treasure that might enable a comeback.
As expected, upon seeing sixteen red flying swords shooting over, Tuoba Yunshuang immediately recalled the blue Ice Spear Talisman Treasure and then summoned a Blue Ice Pendant Spiritual Artifact and an ice pot spiritual artifact shaped like a teapot, focusing entirely on resisting Zhouyang’s counterattack.
But she didn’t realize that this decision directly led her into the abyss of death.
Zhouyang soon set up the "Eight Desolates and Six Harmonies Demon-Slaying Sword Array," trapping Tuoba Yunshuang within, then directly activated the divine techniques attached to the "Great Derivation Divine Light Sword," causing sixteen flying swords to burst into raging flames.
At this, the blue chill spewing from the ice pot spiritual artifact immediately lost its effectiveness.
Facing the sword array’s attacks, relying solely on the blue Ice Spear Talisman Treasure and the Blue Ice Pendant Spiritual Artifact proved insufficient. Tuoba Yunshuang was soon exhausted by Zhouyang’s depletion of the power of the Talisman Treasure, breaking the defense shield formed by the Blue Ice Pendant Spiritual Artifact.
Then Zhouyang didn’t give her a chance to activate the remaining Tier Five Spirit Talisman; he directly executed "Qianyang Celestial Sword," decapitating her.
"The first battle of the fourth round of Death Arena, Cyan Origin Sword Sect Zhouyang wins!"
After confirming Tuoba Yunshuang’s death, not waiting for the Anti-Light Alliance’s judge to announce the result, the judge from the Great Brightness Immortal Palace’s side had already taken the initiative to declare the victory.
However, this wasn’t out of kindness; rather, he had extremely malicious intentions.
Because according to the rules of the Death Arena, once one side wins, as long as they don’t leave the field, the other side can immediately send the second person onto the arena.
Seeing Zhouyang won so easily, it was evident he guessed Zhouyang wouldn’t leave the field; thus, he didn’t want to give Zhouyang any time to recover his magical power.
The judge on the Anti-Light Alliance’s side intended to delay time for Zhouyang but soon felt the icy gaze from the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace’s side, which chilled his heart, prompting him to promptly announce the result of the match.
And just as he announced the match result, the judge from the Great Brightness Immortal Palace’s side immediately declared loudly, "The second battle of the fourth round of Death Arena, Cyan Origin Sword Sect Zhouyang, Great Brightness Immortal Palace Gu Zhen!"
Gu Zhen was a white-haired, white-bearded, pockmarked old man. Judging by his appearance, it was clear that he had little lifespan left. Even if he didn’t participate in this death battle, he wouldn’t live many more years.
Cultivators like him were common in the Death Arena. They usually voluntarily joined death battles to exchange sect support for their descendants and disciples.
Such cultivators were also very dangerous as they were determined to die. To achieve victory, they would go to any lengths, even willing to die along with their opponents.
Therefore, as soon as Zhouyang saw Gu Zhen entering the battlefield, he immediately launched an attack, controlling his flying sword and striking towards the enemy.
It’s true he did not wish to unnecessarily kill the innocent, but a dangerous enemy like Gu Zhen could hardly be considered innocent. Moreover, he harbored a grudge against the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
Having previously observed the battle from outside, Gu Zhen had already witnessed the power of his Sword Array and naturally didn’t dare be trapped by it.
He raised his palm, quickly sticking a spirit talisman on himself. Instantly, after a flash of white light, Zhouyang lost sight of Gu Zhen’s figure.
"Damn it! It’s the Great Brightness Immortal Palace’s ’Harmonious Light and Dust Talisman’. I didn’t expect them to be willing to provide such a talisman to a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator. Zhouyang is in danger now!"
Outside the battlefield, Zhao Hao saw Gu Zhen suddenly vanish and couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
The "Harmonious Light and Dust Talisman" was a unique talisman of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, a light-element magic talisman that was extremely difficult to make.
When used for invisibility, even Golden Core Stage cultivators would find it hard to detect an invisible cultivator, let alone a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator.
Zhao Hao knew that Zhouyang was strong, with many hidden cards, but facing an unseen enemy, hidden in the dark, ready to perform a sneak attack, how could Zhouyang defend?
The answer was soon revealed.
As Zhouyang watched Gu Zhen disappear before him, he immediately thought of the renowned "Harmonious Light and Dust Talisman" unique to the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
So he immediately exercised the "Separation Fire Golden Eye" divine techniques, trying to spot the invisible figure of Gu Zhen.
Unfortunately, although the "Separation Fire Golden Eye" divine techniques possessed abilities to break illusions and invisibility, his cultivation was still low, not even reaching Minor Divine Power, making it impossible to see through the invisibility effect of such a Tier Five spirit talisman.
Upon realizing the divine techniques were ineffective, Zhouyang immediately raised his hand and took out a Tier Five spirit talisman.
This Tier Five spirit talisman wasn’t one of the two talismans the Cyan Origin Sword Sect had given him; rather, it was the Tier Five Lower-Grade Spirit Talisman "Weak Water Corrosive Immortal Talisman" he had exchanged from Zhao Hao with Ba Yan’Er’s head.
Upon activating the talisman, it instantly transformed into a cloud of weak water rain covering several acres. This weak water was a highly toxic water, and a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator would require a large amount of magical power to dispel even a single drop.
Zhouyang wasn’t using the weak water rain cloud to kill but to force Gu Zhen out using the power of the weak water.
After summoning the weak water rain cloud, he immediately activated the "Fire Separation Vermilion Bird Furnace," releasing rolling true flames to burn the falling weak water, turning the splashing weak water into black steam and rain mist.
Then he used a hand technique to release the low-tier magic "Gale Technique," using wind to spread the rain mist across the battlefield.
This rain mist formed from weak water still contained the corrosive poison of weak water. Foundation Establishment cultivators trapped within also faced the danger of death.
The "Harmonious Light and Dust Talisman" could only make Gu Zhen invisible and undetectable, but couldn’t protect him from attacks.
If the toxic mist of weak water contacted him, as soon as he used magical power to dispel it, Zhouyang would naturally immediately notice him.
Even if he tried to endure with his physique, the poisonous mist of weak water would corrode the power of the "Harmonious Light and Dust Talisman," causing imperfections in the perfect invisibility, detectable by Zhouyang.
"Brilliant! Using weak water mist to break the invisibility of the ’Harmonious Light and Dust Talisman’—what a wonderful strategy, utterly brilliant!"
Outside the battlefield, Zhao Hao watched the unfolding events with astonishment and joy, his expression a mixture of surprise and delight.
The "Weak Water Corrosive Immortal Talisman" was given to Zhouyang by him, and he hadn’t expected Zhouyang would not carry the single-target spell attack talisman given by Sect Leader Han Xiao, and instead bring this range spell attack talisman, and it truly proved beneficial.
Looking again at the battlefield, after Zhouyang spread the toxic weak water mist, he simultaneously released the "Profound Turtle Shield" to circle around him several yards away, while scanning the battlefield with his divine sense, trying to find the invisible Gu Zhen.
He knew Gu Zhen would certainly launch an attack before the invisibility broke, and what he had to do was block the opponent’s attack and counterattack.
In some ways, like before, he was forced to wait passively for the enemy to strike first.
There it is!
When the toxic weak water mist engulfed half the battlefield, Zhouyang’s divine sense finally detected something abnormal.
His heart tightened, and he immediately controlled a flying sword to slash at the spot.
Sword light flashed past, and a transparent crystal butterfly with invisible wings was truly like crystal, instantly sliced into pieces by the flying sword.
Not good!
Zhouyang’s expression changed drastically, and without thinking, he fully activated the "Profound Turtle Shield," releasing a large protective shield to guard himself from head to toe, simultaneously operating the "Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique" to activate the Body-Protecting Dragon Scale Armor divine technique.
And almost like he reacted beforehand, a white Treasure Pearl suddenly appeared above his head, exploding into a terrifying white-gold flame, landing on the protective "Profound Turtle Shield," and burning fiercely.
This terrifying white-gold flame was certainly the flame divine techniques cultivated by a Golden Core Stage cultivator, and not the commonplace kind, but a powerful fire element divine technique.
The protective shield released by the "Profound Turtle Shield" twisted violently under the flame’s burn, draining Zhouyang’s magical power even more intensely, several times over.
Simultaneously, Gu Zhen emerged over a dozen miles away, raising his hand and unleashing a Tier Five Thunder Talisman flickering with silver lightning.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, a thick, towering silver lightning column crashed down from the sky like divine retribution, striking the "Profound Turtle Shield".
Like the proverbial straw breaking the camel’s back, in an instant, the protective shield of the "Profound Turtle Shield" was shattered, sending Zhouyang flying out.
Without obstruction, the white-gold flame immediately caught up with Zhouyang, enveloping him completely.
"It’s over!"
Outside the battlefield, a group of Anti-Light Alliance cultivators watching sank in despair, shaking their heads and sighing as they gave up hope.