by <unknown>
"You, however, are unworthy!"
Xie Xinghuo was so angry that he was actually laughing. "Haha. Hahahaha. I didn't know that the tongues of the barbarian Cultivators can be as tough as your venom. But I do wonder if your weapon is as sharp as your tongue!"
Narrowing his eyes, Li Yao said scarily, "Alright, alright. Now that you are determined to be killed, Fellow Cultivator Xie, I'm willing to fulfil your wish. However, a small fry such as yourself is far from enough. Do you have any senior brothers, masters, or best friends? Hurry and invite them over. Find as many of them as possible and make sure you write down how exactly they want to be killed. I guarantee that your wishes will be satisfied!"
"You…" Xie Xinghuo was so infuriated that his head was dizzy.
"Why are you not going?"
Two green flames glittered inside Li Yao's eyes and darted into the depths of Xie Xinghuo's soul.
He might have been showing off, but he did not intend to kill anyone.
He had killed countless people in this life, and they all deserved to be killed.
Punishing someone for what they said or killing someone because of fury was not what a Cultivator who grew up in a modern society ruled by law should do.
The two green flames rushed into Xie Xinghuo's brain and suddenly exploded. Xie Xinghuo shuddered abruptly, and the entire world turned into a creepy devil's cave. When he looked at Li Yao again, the guy was a hideous ghost king!
Cold sweat popped up on his forehead. He finally realized that he might have pissed off someone that he should not have. After an exclamation, he was frozen on the spot.
Li Yao noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ling Lanyin was striding close with a few empyreal swordsmen.
It was obvious that the girl was fearing that he might go on a killing spree when he was moody and even retaliate against the Spiritual Mountain Sect later, which would cause infinite trouble.
Li Yao took the opportunity to stop the oppression. He shook his sleeve and walked away.
The minor conflict soon spread out. Many Cultivators were pointing at the two of them. The name of 'Spiritual Vulture' spread among the Cultivators, too.
When Qi Zhongdao heard 'Master Spiritual Vulture', he gazed at Li Yao solemnly and suspiciously again.
It made Li Yao respect him even less.
Li Yao stared at Yan Liren. The dwarf Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator had finished calculating the sky. Now, he shifted his eyes to the Cultivators on the spot. He looked as silly as before, and his lips continued shivering nonstop. His short, thick fingers were jabbing randomly. There was no telling what he was calculating.
This time, his eyes were cast to Li Yao.
However, they did not make eye contact. Like two streams of smoke, the stares from them simply passed each other without crossing.
Li Yao could tell that Yan Liren was not regarding him as a 'person'. For the guy, he was just an object, or an obstacle, on the sword test field.
Li Yao finally understood what exactly Yan Liren was calculating with his full attention.
He was calculating the number of the 'obstacles' on the sword test field, as well as their size, distribution, and possible movement, in order to measure their influence on the fight later!
Yan Liren is a certain winner! Li Yao thought to himself. He was willing to bet his head on it!
At this time, Ling Lanyin, having put on a purple long dress, walked to the 'bullseye' at the center of the sword test field elegantly.
Starting from the bullseye, the rings on the ground were all humming and releasing immense spiritual waves.
"Seniors, Fellow Cultivators, welcome to the Dragon Spring Meeting of our sect!" Ling Lanyin bowed. "In every Dragon Spring Meeting, we exhibit both the blades and magical equipment that we have produced in the past five years and the primeval treasures that we have collected from everywhere for the seniors and fellow Cultivators to appreciate and study!
"The Dragon Spring Meeting this year will be even more spectacular than usual because three swords from the primeval era have been completely polished!
"The three ancient swords that have recently been polished in our sect may not have been forged too marvelously, but their sharpness is still quite impressive!
"To trigger the full brilliance of such ancient swords, two unparalleled experts are mandatory!
"Today, our sect is honored to have Master Righteous One, grand leader of the Grand Mystery Sect, join us to test the swords with Yan Liren, the elder of our sect, with so many seniors and fellow Cultivators to observe. You have all brought light to our shabby sect!"
Ling Lanyin's words triggered a round of whispers. The Cultivators on the Grand Mystery Sect's side all looked quite awful.
The news that they had in the beginning was that the Purple Pole Sword Sect had finished polishing one secret sword from the primeval era recently and intended to compete with Qi Zhongdao's Heaven Flipping Seal.
It never occurred to them that the Purple Pole Sword Sect did not polish one ancient sword but three!
However, that was also expected for the competition of Cultivators because magical equipment was part of their capabilities. As long as they could carry the weapons and support the weapons with their spiritual energy, they could bring however much magical equipment they wanted. Not just three, even if the guy was playing with thirty swords at the same time, there was nothing that the bystanders could do except compliment his capability.
The Purple Pole Sword Sect has indeed put their all into keeping the interests that they have earned to themselves! Li Yao thought to himself and looked forward to the competition even more. What were the 'primeval swords' and the 'Heaven Flipping Seal' exactly?
"The ancient swords are unbelievably formidable. The Heaven Flipping Seal is also the ultimate treasure in the world. The blast will certainly be overwhelming upon their collision!
"Our sect has established ten levels of defense barriers on the sword test field. Seniors and Fellow Cultivators, please choose a place to watch the game according to your capabilities in case you are accidentally injured!"
Bo! Bo, bo!
While Ling Lanyin was talking, the ten rings embedded in the ground generated spiritual shields that were aimed at the internal side one after another. They were like transparent eggshells covering the sword test field layer after layer.
It was not until then that Li Yao realized what the enormous 'arrow target' on the ground was for.
The collision between the extraordinary weapons of Qi Zhongdao and Yan Liren would certainly be crushing. The blast resulting from the furious collisions and the broken pieces when their magical equipment crossed could possibly injure the bystanders.
There were ten rings on the arrow target. If someone observed the battle at the periphery, they would be protected by ten defense barriers. Even if some broken pieces penetrated through the ten barriers, their strength would be greatly diminished.
Of course, those who were confident in their own ability and were not scared of ending up as a collateral were free to stand closer to the center.
The closer the audience was to the 'bullseye', the fewer protective barriers there would be and the more dangerous it was.
Because the spiritual shields were emitting colorful waves themselves, which would slightly twist the space around, the scene inside would certainly be fuzzy if someone observed the battle through ten barriers.
The closer they were to the center, the better the view they would have. It was the same logic as watching a football game.
This was the time where the audience's capabilities and courage were tested.
Those who were confident in their Cultivation and intended to observe the competition of the two top experts clearly could naturally stand at the center, which was closest to the battle.
But for those who were merely joining the show for fun, they would be better off staying back for their own sake!
Tragedies where the bystanders were injured had happened in the Dragon
Spring Meeting before. All the Cultivators were quite familiar with the tradition. When the round defense barriers slowly rose up, most of the Cultivators began stepping back.
Some of them moved to three layers back, some moved to five layers back, and some went to the tenth layer, only to discover that few fellow Cultivators were around. Blushing, they gritted their teeth and moved forward two layers.
Only the fifty or so experts in the Nascent Soul Stage, and some of the Cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation Stage who might be overly confident about themselves, were still standing at the innermost place, where there was absolutely no protection. They could be hurt by the attacks of the two experts at any time.
Li Yao was naturally one of them.
Crossing his arms, he stared at Yan Liren coldly but simply ignored the suspicions of the fellow Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the 'first circle' who had been famous for a long time.
Xie Xinghuo from the Spiritual Mountain Sect moved three rings back. While looking for his friends and seniors from the sect, he searched for Li Yao, too.
When he noticed that Li Yao was moving forward instead of retreating and reached the first ring, he gasped and felt that his teeth were aching even more.
"Junior Nephew Xie, why are you in such a panic?"
A super obese guy, who must have weighed more than two hundred and fifty kilograms, squeezed next him, the fat all over his body shaking.
"Senior Uncle Liao!"
Finally finding a life-saver, Xie Xinghuo hurried to bow before he gnashed his teeth. "For your information, Senior Uncle, the barbarian Cultivator Master Spiritual Vulture was arrogant enough to insult not only the Spiritual Mountain Sect but also Master Righteous One just now. He even despised all the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty!
"He also said that I should ask as many seniors as possible to be killed together. He—he was obviously disregarding your Divergent Mountain Sect, Senior Uncle Liao!"
"Yes. I heard your conversation just now," Senior Uncle Liao said with a smile. Intense killing intent was beaming out of his eyes, which were almost blocked by fat. "To think that a frog from the southwest can be so arrogant! How hilarious!
"Where's this Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture? Huh. He dares to stand in the first circle?"
'Senior Uncle Liao' rolled his eyes and laughed in amusement. "Is he really such an ignorant guy who doesn't even know the toughness of the Dragon Spring Meeting? Let's just wait and see how he humiliates himself later!"
Clang!
The sound of weapons meeting made everybody on the spot stop talking, and the field was gradually occupied by an unpredictable air of solemnity.
All the spectators stood straight in their respective circle.
Qi Zhongdao and Yan Liren, the Iron Saint and the Sword Maniac, walked slowly toward the 'bullseye' at the center of the sword test field!
Chapter 1394: This Is Too Unbelievable! |
When the two super experts stood together, it was almost a caricature.
They were entirely the opposite of each other.
Qi Zhongdao was tall and slender, like a black nail, while Yan Liren was short, fat, and only reached the waist of his opponent, with such fair skin that he almost looked like a piece of white bread.
However, the collision of their unparalleled auras was rippling out. All the bystanders could not help feeling that their pores were constricted to the minimum, and they could not even smile anymore.
For a moment, the people, grass, trees, wind, clouds, sunlight, and everything else on the Bronze Censer Peak seemed to be frozen.
Qi Zhongdao and Yan Liren attracted each other like two magnets.
"Fellow Cultivator Yan," Qi Zhongdao said casually, "the two of us are flattered by the Cultivators in the world as two of the 'Three Saints' of the Great Qian Dynasty. But we have never—"
"Hush!" Yan Liren's ever-shivering eyes suddenly stopped and focused on his opponent's body. He said solemnly, "Enough talking. Let's fight!"
Hardly had he finished his sentence when Yan Liren's spiritual energy split the ground below his feet into hundreds of cracks, each of which was charging at Qi Zhongdao like the sharpest sword!
Qi Zhongdao's face color changed. Web-like cracks appeared below his feet, too, which pierced Yan Liren's cracks at fast as lightning!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of cracks joined, shattering the entire area. Countless pebbles soared into the sky with the boost of their spiritual energy and blossomed in midair, only to be enveloped by their spiritual energy again. The previously plain pebbles all turned into colorful, translucent gems before they darted toward the enemy from unbelievable angles in hundreds of dazzling streaks of brilliance.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!
Every pebble that was poured with spiritual energy was broken apart by the hostile pebbles into the tiniest powder. The powder was then absorbed by them again and circled around him in the shapes of hideous monsters.
The two unparalleled experts in the world of ancient Cultivators began their competition in such an expected way!
During the first collision, although they controlled their strength precisely and the broken stones did not splutter out, the blast resulting from the crash of immense spiritual energy still rushed out.
Most of the blast smashed the defense barriers. Quite a few of the barriers were shivering and flickering under the blow.
The Cultivators outside of the defense barriers all changed their face color greatly. Many of them took another step backward in silence.
In the innermost circle, many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators had activated their spiritual shields.
Only a few Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, including Li Yao, were still roaming amid the surging tides of the spiritual energy blast.
Li Yao did not even activate the spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul Stage. He merely accelerated the flow of spiritual energy inside his body and kept himself at the middle level of the Core Formation Stage.
The experts who did not bother to defend themselves were quite obvious. They noticed each other immediately.
Most of the people other than Li Yao were seniors who had been famous for a long time.
Their faces were all solemn as they were not sure whether Li Yao truly boasted incredible techniques or was simply fearless because he was ignorant of the consequences of being involved in the blast.
Wait until your head is cut off!
In the third ring, Xie Xinghuo and his 'Senior Uncle Liu' from the Divergent Mountain Sect sneered to themselves with fury shooting out of their eyes.
Swoosh!
After the two unparalleled experts were done testing each other, they performed the real deadly moves in the second round.
Yan Liren turned into a completely white ball of light as he rolled over the entire sword test field. Dozens of colorful flying swords darted out of his Cosmos Rings quickly, which were a hundred times more powerful than the pebbles just now!
In comparison, Qi Zhongdao was truly like a nail that had been bashed into the ground. No wonder how overwhelming the enemy's attacks were, he stood absolutely still, except that he shook his sleeve and released a hundred black iron rings.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every iron ring swallowed a flying sword precisely.
Dazzling light was flowing on the dense rune arrays on the iron rings, putting them in various colors. An immense strangling force was generated, as the iron rings intended to mince apart all the flying swords!
Yan Liren was expressionless in the first place, and there was nothing except for 'seriousness' on his face. Now, he grew even more focused. Every flying sword was shivering violently, raising sparks on the iron rings that could blind the audience!
Crack!
A lot of flying swords were contorted by the strangling iron rings, falling apart into thousands of pieces!
Clang!
But many iron rings were broken by the dazzling brilliance unleashed by the fly
ing swords, too!
It was almost as if two shooting stars were colliding above everyone's head. Thousands of pieces were darting away faster than five times the speed of sound in the purple and red fire due to the friction with the air!
Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!
In the first circle, the spiritual shields of many Cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation Stage were ripped apart by the pieces instantly, which almost left a few bloody holes on their body. Frightened, they hurried to step backward to the second ring and the third ring!
The spiritual shields of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, on the other hand, were much sturdier. The pieces were even blown into powder after they hit them, raising a hazy, colorful mist around the Cultivators!
The Cultivators were apparently not as calm and unhurried as before. They were all gritting their teeth and activating their arts to the maximum.
Even a lot of experienced Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who did not open up the spiritual shields a moment ago were secretly clicking their tongues. They were taking out their defensive magical equipment and opening up the spiritual shields one after another.
Those who were still at ease were only Li Yao and two or three experienced Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
Li Yao seemed to notice none of the thousands of incoming pieces. To observe the battle from the best perspective, he was even walking around in the 'storm'.
It was rather strange that, perhaps because he was lucky or perhaps he had truly calculated everything well, his every movement happened to allow him to avoid the scourge of the broken pieces and the sweeping auras!
In the most dangerous encounter, a broken iron ring where Qi Zhongdao's massive spiritual energy still lingered was only two inches away from his temple. Had he tilted his head, his brains might have been blown out!
However, he simply walked past it without any expression, not even bothering to blink his eyes.