“Too… Too strong!”
“This Gui Ya, I fear he may be able to crush even inner sect disciples… He truly is the strongest under Foundation Establishment!”
“This kind of combat abilities in the Qi Condensation surely must be because he had come into contact with the Realm of Mind Materialization. It must be like that. To hold such a frightening power only means that he have an enigmatic mind!” Regardless of whether it was the South Bank or the North Bank, after that brief moment of silence, they all started discussing in a low voice.
It seemed no one dared to speak loudly at the moment. The other North Bank Heaven’s Chosen had mixed feelings, none wanted such a strong rival in the same generation. As for the South Bank, although Shangguan Tianyou was silent, his heart was certainly not calm. Gui Ya seemed to have defeated a Heaven’s Chosen the way a Heaven’s Chosen would defeat an ordinary disciple.
It was evident that Gui Ya and the other Heaven’s Chosen were on two different levels.
Bai Xiaochun too felt alarm as he watched. Gui Ya had only made two moves, yet both these times he had shocked the entire audience.
At this moment, the top six had been decided. Four from the North and two from the South Bank. Shangguan Tianyou, Bai Xiaochun, Gui Ya, Xu Song and the Gongsun siblings.
The disciples knew that in the following Heaven’s Chosen War, the third and final stage, the six fighters would duel each other, deciding their rank from first to sixth based on the amount of their victories.
If one were to win all five battles, they would naturally place first!
In the past thousand years, the one to sweep all others and take the title had always appeared from the North Bank. And all of the North Bank outer sect disciples knew that this time… Gui Ya would be that person. Even compared to the previous winners, he was obviously on a whole different level.
The South Bank was silent. If it hadn’t been for that Gui Ya, they felt that Shangguan Tianyou would have some hope of winning. But now that he had appeared, it would be difficult for Shangguan Tianyou to compete for the top.
“Second place is good too…” The South Bank disciples sighed. Many eyes fell on Bai Xiaochun, whom they couldn’t get an accurate feel of no matter how hard they tried. Ever since he had arrived back at the sect’s door, he had never seemed to have fought with anyone.
The single impression they had was that he had survived the Fallen Chen Clan’s hunt, else he would’ve been dead…
Silence fell as most lost hope, resigned that the South Bank would lose once again. Lose in numbers of disciples entering the top ten, and lose the first place.
Compared to the South Bank, the North Bank outer sect disciples were bursting with excitement, their eyes filled with anticipation. Viciousness appeared as most stared at Bai Xiaochun.
“The rules of the top six won’t change. This time, Bai Xiaochun is bound to suffer!”
“Right, according to the rules, he is required to fight everyone, meaning… our South Bank’s shining stars can all destroy him over and over again and vent the North Bank’s anger from earlier’s humiliation!”
It wasn’t only the ordinary disciples thinking that, Xu Song and the Gongsun siblings looked at Bai Xiaochun with a sneer hanging on their faces, confident in their victory.
Bai Xiaochun lowered his head as he lamented.
“Cultivation is for reaching longevity, why all the bloody fights…” He felt helplessness as he looked at the angry North Bank disciples glaring at him and shook his head. Ou Yangjie’s voice suddenly rang out.
“The third stage of the Heaven’s Chosen War will begin with the standard rule of deciding the rank based on the amount of victories! First battle, Shangguan Tianyou and Xu Song, come take your places! Gui Ya and Gongsun Yun are next, and in the last are Gongsun Wan-Er and Bai Xiaochun!”
As his voice echoed, a beam of light shot down from the terrace straight at the arena, instantly splitting it into three sections, each divided by a wall.
Shangguan Tianyou’s eyes burned brightly as he lunged forward, quickly appearing in the first section of the arena, and the North Bank’s Xu Song soon followed. Their eyes locked, and each was met by a solemn gaze.
Without any superfluous words, they stared at one another. With a flourish, beastial roars echoed from beside Xu Song as three beasts appeared. Their features were distinct, but they all had the same ferociousness. They charged Shangguan Tianyou with haste just as a massive whale’s maw appeared in the air above Shangguan Tianyou’s head, looming in to swallow him.
In the same moment, the floor below him cracked as tentacles sprung forth.
Nearby, Gui Ya slowly walked out as well. On the other side, Gongsun Yun remained silent, the insects writhing inside his eyes. He knew how powerful his opponent was, but he wasn’t just going to give up. His eyes shined brightly.
“Regardless of how strong you are, I’m still going to fight!” Taking a deep breath, his robes wriggled as he joined Gui Ya on the second section.
Gongsun Wan-Er snorted coldly as she walked out while glaring at Bai Xiaochun.
Something like that scared him the least, so Bai Xiaochun firmly stared back. And so the two walked up on the third section, their eyes remaining locked.
As soon as Bai Xiaochun appeared on the stage, all the North Bank disciples turned their attention away from the other two sections as angry roars spread from the audience, all of them stared at Bai Xiaochun furiously.
“Senior Sister Gongsun, kill that damned Bai Xiaochun!”
“Kill him!” Chants resounded as coldness flickered in Gongsun Wan-Er’s eyes. She didn’t summon her prismatic phoenix, instead, she formed a hand seal with her right hand and pointed between her eyebrows. Immediately, a prismatic glow spread from within her body as the temperature dropped and frost covered the ground.
“Concede. Once I make my move, even I fear what may happen.” Bai Xiaochun blinked as he kindly spoke.
When the words left his mouth, Gongsun Wan-Er couldn’t help but remember the scene with Bei Hanlei. Her face flushed as her fury rose.
“Silence, you lecher! I will make you pay!” As she spoke, she waved her right arm, summoning a blade of ice which shot straight at Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun made an innocent face. Despite his kind warning, he had ended up as a lecher? Sighing, he patted his storage pouch with his right hand. Countless talismans appeared and he skillfully slapped them onto his body.
With a rumbling sound, protective glow appeared, ten zhang thick and vibrant. Astonishingly, that wasn’t all. Bai Xiaochun equipped his Divine Crane Shield and yet another light flashed from within it, surrounding Bai Xiaochun, adding one more light screen.
On his wrist, the bracelet given to him by Li Qinghou was activated as well, enveloping his whole body and making Bai Xiaochun seem as though he had already become black in colour.
In addition, the Turtle-shell Pot was on Bai Xiaochun’s back… leaving the whole audience dumbstruck.
Not only that, Bai Xiaochun’s actions were also skilled and unbelievably fast, allowing everyone to tell with a single glance that those actions were frequently done.
The North Bank disciples stared blankly as the ice blade slimmed down after encountering Bai Xiaochun’s light screen before finally falling apart.
And within the light screen, Bai Xiaochun was unscathed.
But that wasn’t all, what enraged the North Bank disciples the most was that within that light screen, Bai Xiaochun stood with his hands clasped behind his back and his chin raised, eyes staring at the clouds in the sky as he he assumed an expert’s look.
“Too weak. I would never fight someone who can’t even penetrate my protective layers.” Bai Xiaochun flourished his sleeve and clasped his hands behind his back again as he spoke lightly.
Gongsun Wan-Er’s eyes had almost popped out as she stared at Bai Xiaochun. She had fought many battles before, and it wasn’t like she had never met someone specialising in defense. But it was the first time she had witnessed a defense like Bai Xiaochun’s.
She was looking at over tens of protective layers. That Divine Crane Shield, that black bracelet on his body, and that huge pot on his back! And she could also discern that Bai Xiacohun was wearing multiple layers of leather armour!
She felt giddy as she stared as if in a trance.
“Shameless! To have so many protective talismans? And all those defensive magical treasures, dammit, this is a battle between Heaven’s Chosen! Not a battle of who has the most resources!”
“Senior Sister Gongsun please, please kill him. I feel like I’m going to explode, this Bai Xiaochun’s face, I want to punch it so bad!”
As the North Bank was in an uproar, the South Bank also stared blankly. Some of the Scented Cloud Mountain’s disciples in particular filled with emotion. Especially a certain young man who teared upon seeing the scene. He understood the North Bank’s anguish in great detail, and that was because he was the one who had been tormented by Bai Xiaochun’s protective light during the smallcompetition that year.
Even the the Sect Head and the others on the terrace were rendered speechless, glancing at one another and laughing wryly.
In the third arena section, Gongsun Wan-Er gritted her teeth. She did more hand seals as countless ice blades appeared, forming a huge cyclone flying at Bai Xiaochun with a monstrous roar. The ice blades were razor-sharp, cutting apart quite a lot of the protective layers before the Divine Crane Shield released a light, melting them all away instantly.
“Still too weak.” Bai Xiaochun spoke proudly, overjoyed with his overwhelming strength.
The scene only angered the North Bank disciples even further. If it wasn’t for the fear of breaking the sect’s rules holding them back, they would have lunged out and slaughtered Bai Xiaochun.
Gongsun Wan-Er’s eyes burned with fury. Gritting her teeth once again, she began summoning even more ice blades, without any intention of pausing. An endless storm of ice blades shot at Bai Xiaochun. Bai Xiaochun’s heart skipped a beat as the light screen collapsed under the fearsome onslaught. His Divine Crane Shield sprung immediately, protecting him and allowing him to relax. He sighed in relief and raised his chin. He was just about to open his mouth to speak.
Suddenly, Gongsun Wan-Er screamed with her hair disheveled, a loud explosion sounded from her body and blood spilled from her mouth. Shockingly, between her brows emerged a flower of blood and ice. All around her, the energy of heaven and earth violently surged toward her in an imposing and unprecedented manner.
At the same time, an earth-shaking cheer exploded out from the North Bank as the disciples screamed excitedly.
“It’s Senior Sister Gongsun’s Iceblood Flower!”
“This Iceblood Flower is Senior Sister Gongsun’s trump card, even those at the ninth level of Qi Condensation can’t stop it! This Bai Xiaochun’s defences shall fall!”
The Iceblood Flower flew out, exuding a shockingly chilling aura. The surrounding temperature plummeted as it shot towards Bai Xiaochun’s position. The Iceblood Flower was unstoppable as it obliterated all the protective layers before it. But just when the Divine Crane Shield was about to block it, it unexpectedly split in two. One half hit the shield while the other surrounded it, appearing suddenly in front of Bai Xiaochun and slamming against his chest ruthlessly.
Bang. The sound of the impact rang clear as Bai Xiaochun looked down surprisedly. As though he had been hit by a snowball, he dusted his clothes and raised his head to look at Gongsun Wan-Er with disheveled hair, staring at him dumbstruck.
“Take your time, I’ll take a look at how the other duels are going.” Saying this, Bai Xiaochun turned around and headed towards the first and second sections, enjoying the view and even cheering here and there, truly asking for a beating...
This week’s sponsored chapter. Special thanks to Loc P. who sponsored this chapter.
Edited by: Crimsonguard, Arch