It's no wonder Gu Linyue thought so highly of Mu Ci; she likely knew early on that Mu Ci had mastered the Asura Battle Technique.
Upon unleashing the Asura Battle Technique, Xin Ci's combat power surged, bringing her strength close to that of a Saint Emperor.
Xin Ci gathered the dense, bloody malevolent energy, concentrating it above her to form a blood-red longsword.
As the Asura Blood Fiend Sword appeared, an overwhelming aura of slaughter instantly enveloped the entire arena, sending chills down everyone's spines.
Seeing this, Lin Yexing's pupils contracted sharply. Far from being intimidated, he let out an excited roar.
"That's it! Let's see if your Asura Battle Technique is mightier, or if my Burial Sword Style is superior!"
With that, Lin Yexing's eyes gleamed, and his sword intent instantly soared to its peak.
The Burial Sword Style, a single sword to bury all!
The golden sword projection, spanning over a hundred zhang, slashed down fiercely, clashing directly with Xin Ci's Asura Hall Fiend Sword.
In an instant, the entire Immortal Martial Stage was engulfed in surging winds and turbulent clouds!
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion erupted, and the powerful shockwave instantly spread outwards, kicking up clouds of dust on the Immortal Martial Stage and obscuring the vision of all present.
When the dust settled, everyone's eyes widened as they fixed their gaze on the Immortal Martial Stage.
Both Lin Yexing and Xin Ci stood in their original positions, neither having moved.
Their clothes were slightly torn, with Xin Ci's being a bit more so, but Lin Yexing appeared far more disheveled.
"Pfft!"
Lin Yexing was the first to buckle, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face turning ashen pale.
His body swayed, and he couldn't help but half-kneel on the ground, gasping for breath.
Upon seeing this, everyone immediately realized that Lin Yexing had lost the previous clash!
This was truly incredible. The Burial Sword Style of the Burial Sword Pavilion had actually lost to the Asura Battle Technique of the Killing Heart Sacred Court!
Lin Yexing was now completely out of fighting strength. The Supreme True Meaning was not easily unleashed, and his internal True Essence had been completely depleted. At this moment, he could only barely maintain his posture and prevent himself from falling.
Xin Ci, on the other hand, aside from some torn clothing, was virtually unharmed.
At most, her True Essence had been slightly depleted, but with the aid of the Myriad Phenomenon Star Wheel Scripture and the Eternal Dao Scripture, two divine-tier cultivation techniques, she could quickly restore her True Essence.
"The Asura Battle Technique is indeed the Killing Heart Sacred Court's most potent combat art. I have lost this battle," Lin Yexing said, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to stand up, clutching his chest.
The Burial Sword Style was already his last trump card, and with his True Essence severely depleted, Lin Yexing could not unleash it a second time.
The woman from the Killing Heart Sacred Court before him showed no signs of discomfort. If the fight were to continue, it would only result in his own defeat.
As Lin Yexing declared his defeat, the disciples from the various Sacred Lands erupted in excitement.
"Lin Yexing actually lost!"
"This is too unexpected. I thought only Changyang Gushuo, Dugu Yunmeng, and Li Jianxing could possibly defeat him, but I never imagined Lin Yexing would lose to a female disciple of the Killing Heart Sacred Court."
"I've never heard of this female disciple before. When did the Killing Heart Sacred Court produce such a prodigy?"
...
Various discussions echoed from the spectator stands, everyone talking about Xin Ci's performance.
The Saint Lord of the Burial Sword Pavilion, Ji Juekong, had been very confident in Lin Yexing's strength. However, the fact that the young lady from the Killing Heart Sacred Court could defeat Lin Yexing caught him by surprise.
"Ji Honghao, I didn't expect your Killing Heart Sacred Court to have another prodigy hidden away. You've kept this genius disciple very well protected," Ji Juekong said to Ji Honghao with a half-smile.
Ji Honghao merely replied calmly, "Saint Lord Juekong is too kind. The Burial Sword Pavilion has produced talents throughout the ages; there's no need to dwell on this one disciple from my Killing Heart Sacred Court."
Though he said this outwardly, inwardly he thought, "Don't ask me. Even as the Saint Lord of the Killing Heart Sacred Court, I don't know we have such a genius in our Sacred Land."
Seeing Ji Honghao's attitude, Ji Juekong let out a cold snort.
"Hmph! Ji Honghao, your disciple Mu Ci's strength is indeed commendable, but if he were to face Li Jianxing of my Burial Sword Pavilion, he would likely stop there."
He believed that Lin Yexing's loss to Xin Ci was merely due to a disadvantage in understanding the Supreme True Meaning. If Lin Yexing had unleashed the Burial Sword Art, the outcome might have been different.
The three Saint Lords, Ling Qinghan, Wan Guimang, and Xuan Qingming, watched the cold exchange between Ji Honghao and Ji Juekong without uttering a word.
They were well aware of the relationship between these two Saint Lords.
Ji Honghao and Ji Juekong were originally disciples from the same clan, both individuals of exceptional talent.
Unfortunately, after the Ji clan was annihilated, the two parted ways and embarked on their own paths of cultivation.
As time passed, the two once-talented youths had become the Saint Lords of two great Sacred Lands.
...
On the Immortal Martial Stage, after the battle between Lin Yexing and Xin Ci, Changyang Gushuo, Dugu Yunmeng, and Li Jianxing also took to the stage one after another.
With their strength, they dispatched their opponents in no more than five moves each.
Now, only Changyang Gushuo, Dugu Yunmeng, Li Jianxing, and Xin Ci remained as the final four disciples from the Sacred Lands in the Sacred Land Grand Competition.
Ji Honghao was already quite satisfied with Xin Ci's performance. For the Killing Heart Sacred Court to reach the top four in the Sacred Land Grand Competition was already their best result in recent years.
Ji Honghao harbored no illusions about Xin Ci being able to defeat the three peerless prodigies: Changyang Gushuo, Dugu Yunmeng, and Li Jianxing.
Following the arrangements of the referee elders, the matchups for the remaining four Sacred Land disciples were announced.
"Dugu Yunmeng of the Northern Cold Sacred Land will face Mu Ci of the Killing Heart Sacred Court."
"Changyang Gushuo of Shenxiao Palace will face Li Jianxing of the Burial Sword Pavilion."
Amidst the fervent discussions of countless Sacred Land disciples, the battle between Dugu Yunmeng and Xin Ci commenced.
Both Dugu Yunmeng and Xin Ci, who appeared in her female form, were considered stunning beauties with impressive strength by the onlookers.
However, more people seemed to support Dugu Yunmeng's victory.
Based on the strength they had currently displayed, Dugu Yunmeng was slightly superior.
She had cultivated the Northern Cold Sacred Land's Supreme True Meaning, the Three Pure Profound Ice Art, to the Shangqing realm.
If Lin Yexing's grasp of Supreme True Meaning was merely superficial, then Dugu Yunmeng, who had reached the Shangqing realm, could be considered to have achieved minor success.
In the eyes of others, even if Xin Ci had mastered the first three layers of the Asura Battle Technique, its power was at most equivalent to the Sanqing Profound Ice Art at the Yuqing realm.
It was almost impossible for her to contend with the Three Pure Profound Ice Art at the Shangqing realm unless Xin Ci could unleash the first six layers of the Asura Battle Technique.
Gazing at Dugu Yunmeng opposite her, who was as beautiful as a secluded lotus, Xin Ci dared not be careless.
She could clearly sense that the strength of this prodigy from the Northern Cold Sacred Land surpassed that of Lin Yexing.
Dugu Yunmeng wore a snow-white gown, her beauty exquisite, like a high-mountain flower standing on a snow peak, an ice-cold aura emanating from her that kept people at a distance, like a snow mountain fairy.
Although she hadn't unleashed the Three Pure Profound Ice Art, Xin Ci felt as if the temperature on the Immortal Martial Stage had dropped significantly due to Dugu Yunmeng's presence.