Everyone on-sight watching the battle could feel their eyes popping out from their sockets. Most were in extreme daze.
It was a battle between the Celestial Sect of Wonder's immediate disciple and the Great Void Sect's immediate disciple. Furthermore, both of them were females.
Bai Xiqian, at that point in time, still appeared delicate and fragile. Everyone thought that something felt off about her using the Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip while using the Eight Styles of Huntian in battle. However, there was a tacit harmony.
"Cultivators of the martial way are normally brimming with vitality like the morning sun. Before she even acted, how could she conceal her inner spirit? How could she wield such an offensive attack while still maintaining such a fragile-looking exterior?" Someone asked in shock.
The person next to him responded slowly, "This is the mythical side of the Yin Yang Mantra of the Void and the Eight Styles of Huntian. It was similar to the Withered Glory Zen of the Buddhist cultivators, which concealed the vitality of life under a withered facade."
"For this move of the Great Void Sect, it concealed in a weak-looking body an explosively dynamic power."
"Her appearance may appear delicate and weak. However, when she attacked, her physical form brimmed with extraordinary power. Bai Xiqian had already understood the secrets of this move. As she did not reveal it in terms of her appearance, many people will have missed her powers out, particularly since the Yin Yang Mantra of the Void has no fiercer move."
The sharp contrast of Bai Xiqian attracted everyone's attention. However, the moment she attacked, attention from her was diverted to another person.
The other person as a young woman whose red hair burned like a flame. With her more dominating and fierce aura, she attracted everyone's attention away from Bai Xiqian.
Faced with Bai Xiqian's attack, and her kamikaze form of attacking, Yue Hongyan did not care too much. The long Golden Dragon Demon Battle Pole-Ax in her hands came crashing down on her opponent's head as if she wanted to cut Bai Xiqian in half.
"Taoist Yue is brimming with a strong killing intent," said Bai Xiqian. Her face was still expressionless. Her frail form, wielding the Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip, trembled slightly in mid-air.
In that tremble, her entire body disappeared into the void. Even her shadow was difficult to locate.
The location of Bai Xiqian's formation did not change in everyone's vision. However, everyone on-site could feel that Bai Xiqian was no longer at her original position.
If Yue Hongyan did not change her move, she would not hit her target.
The Flow of Light and Space was a powerful move of the martial way of the Great Void Sect. It was mainly used for concealment and offense. It was one of the few moves in the world where cultivators under the Nascent Soul stage could manipulate the void. In this aspect, it was the equivalent of Mount Shu Sword Sect's Shaoze Sword.
Within the Great Void Sect, the most powerful moves were no weaker than the Heaven-Ascending Spell Shi Tianyi had used.
However, what was strange was that while Bai Xiqian used the Flow of Light and Space and her physical form was no longer in Yue Hongyan's striking range, the giant metal whip was crashing down onto Yue Hongyan's head did not appear to be affected. It continued to smash Yue Hongyan with an apocalyptic power.
While it appeared that the two of them would both lose from this exchange, Bai Xiqian had already placed herself out of harm's way.
However, at that instant, Bai Xiqian suddenly felt that her form in the void was tightly locked.
Something appeared to have latched upon her agile form and she appeared incapable of moving independently.
She was slightly shocked and then, she was the tip of Yue Hongyan's Golden Dragon Demon Battle Pole-Ax. Space appeared to twist as everything twisted around the tip of the Golden Dragon Demon Battle Pole-Ax, which appeared to be the center of a vortex.
This center was unimaginably heavy. It was as if everything in the void was collapsing to this point.
Just like a black hole.
This black hole, that seemed capable of devouring space itself, was sucking Bai Xiqian's form out of the void forcefully even though she had cast the Flow of Light and Space!
This was Yue Hongyan's Space-destroying Spear Technique!
After she formed her aurous core, her ultimate move was raised to a next level and it became even more powerful.
Through the working of the black hole, Bai Xiqian not only failed to escape from Yue Hongyan's striking range, she was actually pulled closer to Yue Hongyan. If this continued, she would be killed by Yue Hongyan.
Bai Xiqian came to this conclusion at the first possible instance. Her eyes flashed as the power of her Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip became even more powerful.
Two opposite energies, one Yang and one Yin, burst from the black metal whip at the same time. A powerful attraction force could be felt from the whip.
It was different compared to the Space-destroying Spear Technique, which caused space to collapse. This power was formed by the powerful energy derived from Yin and Yang. It was akin to a grinder as it absorbed everything within it, grinding them to pieces.
At this instant, Yue Hongyan felt her movement slow. A powerful force appeared to pull her towards the Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip. She felt as if she was in a quicksand and escape was impossible.
Yue Hongyan did not panick. Instead, her eyes flashed as she bellowed, "Nice!"
Faced with such a powerful move, Yue Hongyan had no intention to retreat or defend herself. Instead, she let her innate power burst till its maximum point as she continued with her offense.
In her dictionary, 'retreat' did not exist. For her, it was offense after offense!
Bai Xiqian's eyebrows tightened and finally, her face changed color. The Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip in her hands brimmed with a powerful energy that prematurely burst forth. The whip slammed onto the Golden Dragon Demon Battle Pole-Ax.
"Boom!"
It was as if a patch of space had been destroyed. The soundwave from the impact alone was enough to cause some lower level cultivators to feel dizzy. Some of them collapsed.
Everyone was shocked and many moved back quickly. They did not want to be hurt.
The cultivators with higher mastery all wore serious expressions on their faces. They were shocked that such a terrifying power came from two female combatants who were deeply skilled in the martial way and brimming with raw, physical force.
The first contact the two sides made so terrifying. Any mistake would have killed one of them immediately or worse, killed both.
After the first move, the two fought at an increasing pace. In a few rounds, they exchanged a few more blows. The two of them appeared to have turned into female dragons as they dominated the entire scene.
"While they're temporarily at a draw, Yue Hongyan of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is only an early-Aurous Core stage cultivator, right? While disciples of the Celestial Sect claim to be invincible in their own tiers, that was probably in comparison to other, normal cultivators. Now, her opponent was an immediate disciple of the Great Void Sect. If she could defeat a late Aurous Core stage cultivator with her current mastery, that will be truly shocking." Everyone around them was awe-struck.
However, some Nascent Soul stage cultivators looked at the battle worriedly. Bai Xiqian's current power was able to challenge some Nascent Soul stage grandmasters. It may even be more powerful than some Nascent Soul stage grandmasters with lesser battling experience.
However, Yue Hongyan was even more shocking. Despite her early Aurous Core stage mastery, she was able to battle Bai Xiqian to a draw.
What made everyone more shocked was the fact that Yue Hongyan appeared to be moving faster and faster. Her expression became more and more relaxed.
In reality, Yue Hongyan did feel more relaxed. In her opinion, her opponent may be brimming with mana and possessed a powerful ultimate move. However, the pressure she felt was nothing compared to what she had felt in the Void Battleground against Marquis of Jinghuan's mid-Aurous Core stage avatar.
There was no other experience. Bai Xiqian, who spent the majority of her life cultivating in the depths of Mount Baiyun, could possess the most mythical spell and be extremely well-versed in terms of the martial way. However, she could not compare to Yue Hongyan's experience from a hundred battles, where her will and instinct were forged from mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
For a martial artist, this was the most important thing.
Unless the disparity in power was able to suppress one party, a martial artist who relied only on practice could never surpass a martial artist who had experienced a hundred battles. A chasm existed between the two in terms of experience and willpower.
Bai Xiqian's expression was seriously serene now. She was aware of the changes in the battle as well as her disadvantage compared to Yue Hongyan.
"Xiqian heard that Taoist Yue had another master. I wonder how is he doing?" In the battle, Bai Xiqian suddenly opened her mouth and said, "Do the two of you still keep in touch? If the two of you meet, I wonder how will you two react."
Yue Hongyan's entire body froze and her movement slowed by half a second.
Her interaction with Zhang Lie surfaced in her mind in a succession of rapid images. The last image in her mind was the sight of a limitless and endless sea of green fire.
In the sea of green fire, the many people of the Covenant of Liefeng, many of whom she had interacted with on a daily basis, were all reduced to ashes, including the women, elderly and children.
In the sea of green fire, a young man smiled at her. This is a scene that would always be carved in her memory. It was like a form of sleep paralysis. Anytime she thought of it, she would be paralyzed.
Her movement slowed, but Bai Xiqian's didn't. The Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip sliced through the air in a straight line like the tail of a dragon and came straight towards her.
Yue Hongyan froze for only a moment. She reacted to it quickly. However, she lost the upper hand. She could only parry the blow with her pole-ax.
"Huang Dang!" Yue Hongyan's Golden Dragon Demon Battle Pole-Ax was whacked out of position by the Huntian Demon-Breaking Whip. Her body lost cover at that instant.
At that moment, Bai Xiqian advanced forward and quickly closed the distance. She was almost right next to Yue Hongyan. Her empty left hand seized his opportunity as her index finger and middle finger stretched and extended. They went straight for Yue Hongyan's cheeks.
Her originally slim and slender fingers appeared to have changed completely. Her index finger was black and brimming with Yin energy while her middle finger was white and brimmed with Yang energy.
Her two fingers gave off two diametrically-opposite powers and as they struck at the same time, the two different powers were unimaginably sharp.
However, at this point, Bai Xiqian's gaze met Yue Hongyan's. Her heart sank.
She realized that Yue Hongyan, whom she believed had lost her focus and was now in a position of disadvantage and danger, did not show any sign of fear. Neither was she vexed by her mistake. Her two bright-red pupils burned intensely and sent a chill down her spine.
"The angrier this person is, the scarier..."
Just as this thought surfaced in Bai Xiqian's mind, she heard Yue Hongyan say coldly, "As a martial artist, you still have a long way to go."
With that, Yue Hongyan steadied her stance and her left fist went to her waist as she made her body into a thick pole.
Her two feet rested steadily on the ground, which tremored for a while. Her entire body was akin to a pillar that was firmly entrenched on the ground and had merged with the ground into one entity. The aura she gave off was super heavy.
In that stance, her entire body became like a heaven-supporting pillar or a mountain, firm, and ever-standing.
When her left fist went to her side, she did not punch out. However, at that point, it was filled with an explosive destructive power. It was as if a series of explosions had gone off in the heavens above!