pavilion master. Even such a person ended up succumbing to the Ancient Zither Eight Trigram Steps complemented with the Demonic Tune of Psychosis... How could that young man possibly withstand this?
If he couldn't withstand it, wouldn't he die on the spot?
"What's wrong with Elder Wu? Why is he using such a move on a junior?"
Upon understanding the graveness of the matter, the second elder's face turned crimson in fury.
No matter how unconventional and disrespectful that Zhang Xuan was, he was still a junior of theirs. As an elder of the Master Teacher Pavilion, a 4-star pinnacle master teacher, to attempt to kill your junior like that, aren't you going too far?
"I've no idea, but... Why does it seem like he is in a disadvantageous position despite having used this technique?" the first elder said with a bizarre look on his face.
"Disadvantageous position?"
The second elder was taken aback. He hurriedly turned his attention back to the stage, and with a look, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
At this moment, steam wasn't just puffing from Elder Wu's head anymore, it was puffing from his entire body, as though he had been thrown into a pot to be cooked.
Even though his footsteps didn't pause in the slightest, he was spurting blood with every step he made, as if someone was striking his chest with a giant hammer relentlessly.
The heck!
What was happening?
Despite launching a sonic attack that even the Seven Swords serial killer was unable to withstand, he was the one who was spewing blood non-stop... This sight was simply too bizarre!
"It's that Zhang shi..."
The first elder finally came to a realization, and he spoke with a slightly quivering voice.
"Ah?"
"That Zhang shi is using his spear to strike the formation plate. Even though it sounds erratic, every strike is aimed at the moment of weakness of the Demonic Tune of Psychosis, thus jolting Wu shi's zhenqi, resulting in his injury," the first elder said.
"There's such a thing as well?" The second elder widened his eyes in shock.
As a 4-star master teacher, he had broad knowledge spanning across innumerable subjects. Even so, he had never heard of such a thing before.
"I also find it bizarre but other than this, I can't think of any other reason!" the first elder said with a deep voice as he analyzed the situation. Even though he was the one saying so, he also found the matter completely inconceivable.
For a Transcendent Mortal 1-dan pinnacle fellow, with just a spear and a formation plate, to jolt a 4-star demonic tunist to the point that he was spewing blood...
This... can't be real, right?
"Subduing music with music!"
Seeing the sight, Pavilion Master Kang suddenly thought of something and his face paled.
"Subduing music with music?" Su shi and Ling shi hurriedly turned to look at Pavilion Master Kang.
"Un. This is an ability that higher ranked demonic tunist uses against lower ranked demonic tunist. By finding the flaw in the other party's melody and striking at that exact spot, one can send the other party's zhenqi into disarray, thus inducing severe injuries!" Pavilion Master Kang said slowly.
"Then... Pavilion master, I beseech you to save Zhang shi! He might very possibly be the one to represent our Master Teacher Pavilion for the Master Teacher Tournament so he mustn't get injured now..." Su shi pleaded anxiously.
"Save Zhang shi?" Pavilion Master Kang's face twitched. "The one who needs to be saved is Elder Wu! Furthermore, from the looks of it, it seems like he'll be reaching his limit soon!"
"Reaching his limit?"
Only then did Su shi and Ling shi realize that Elder Wu was spurting blood with each step he took.
"That... Pavilion master, it's just a test. There's no need for them to go to such an extent... I beseech you to stop the duel!" Ling shi said.
"Stop the duel? Subduing music with music is actually equivalent to pitting one's zhenqi against one's opponent's. It is impossible to stop it unless one side falls in defeat! If it could be stopped halfway through, Wu shi would have already done so... Do you think that he would go to the extent of executing the Ancient Zither Eight Trigram Steps, pushing on even when he is jolted to the point that he is on the brink of death?"
Pavilion Master Kang shook his head.
A demonic tune could be considered as an attack on one's soul, and that was an extremely profound and complicated subject. The worst case of scenario of forcefully interfering in a clash of zhenqi was physical injury. On the other hand, forcefully interfering in a clash of souls could cause permanent damage to one's head, thus turning one into an idiot!
This was precisely the reason why such a clash couldn't be stopped unless one falls in defeat!
"Isn't this a test of Soul Depth? Why did it suddenly turn into... a clash of tunes?"
Su shi and Ling shi's faces paled.
Wasn't this a test on one's Soul Depth? Why did it suddenly turn into such a fight?
Not to mention, it seemed as though neither side was willing to give in until one of them falls in defeat?
They knew that this fellow was a troublemaker, but never in their dreams did they expect that he could cause such a huge ruckus in a test of Soul Depth...
Su shi and Ling shi stared at one another in frenzy.
"I... don't know either!"
Pavilion Master Kang felt even more dismal.
For the number one expert of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance to be helpless before such a situation, he couldn't help but feel frustrated.
More importantly... He still had no idea how such a situation occurred!
He couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"What happened?"
"Can that be considered as inscribing on the formation plate?"
While the other master teachers were so astounded that they could faint from shock itself, Ruohuan gongzi, Fu Xiaochen, and the others widened their eyes at the sight before them. They felt as though their heart was threatening to leap out from their throats.
They had tasted the prowess of the Demonic Tune of Psychosis for themselves earlier, and they knew how powerful it was.
Even when Elder Wu was just sitting there calmly, they found themselves unable to withstand it already. Now that he was going to the extent of even executing the Ancient Zither Eight Trigrams Step, how could they possibly withstand this?
But why... was the young man before them completely fine?
A long moment later, Fu Xiaochen thought of a possibility and said, "That fellow must have learned some bizarre music technique that allowed him to curb Elder Wu's Demonic Tune of Psychosis via knocking on the formation plate!"
Other than this, he couldn't think of any other plausible explanation.
In his view, that Zhang Xuan fellow must have, by some incredible stroke of luck, learned a music technique that happened to curb Elder Wu's music, thus putting Elder Wu in a disadvantageous situation.
Ruohuan gongzi harrumphed.
"So what if he can curb Elder Wu's Demonic Tune of Psychosis? This test is on one's Soul Depth. What is important is the number and exquisiteness of the strokes! It's futile no matter how well he strikes the formation plate with his spear!"
The others also realized this and nodded their heads.
Indeed, this test was on their Soul Depth, not their battle prowess. Even if one were to leave Elder Wu spurting blood with any step, if one couldn't leave behind sufficient strokes on the formation plate, it would be meaningless!
"Don't worry, I've been paying attention and all he has been doing is to stab his spear onto the formation plate randomly... In the end, for the sake of showing off, he forgot his primary goal. That makes him nothing more than a clown!"
Waving his hands grandly, Ruohuan gongzi continued saying.
So what if you are capable of curbing the Demonic Tune of Psychosis?
If a question asks you what one plus one is, and you answer with a complex mathematical theory, no matter how advanced your theory is, you still aren't answering the question. It's an erroneous response!
"The Demonic Tune of Psychosis is about to end!"
Suddenly, a voice amidst the crowd sounded. Everyone turned their gazes over.
At this moment, Elder Wu was puking blood as he advanced forward. He was already no less than three meters away from Zhang Xuan, and the sound of the collision between the two grew louder and louder. By this point, both sounds were already intricately mixed together, making it impossible to differentiate the Demonic Tune of Psychosis from the knocking sounds.
But judging from the flow of time, the three minutes duration for the test was about to be up.
"Let's hope that... Elder Wu will be fine!"
Looking at the massive pool of blood on the floor and the ghastly pale face of Elder Wu, everyone prayed solemnly.
Just as everyone had guessed, the test was indeed coming to an end soon.
The Demonic Tune of Psychosis had already reached its conclusion.
"Alright!"
Noticing that, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He had been busy clashing with the demonic tune via striking at the moments of its flaws, and as such, he hadn't noticed the peculiarity in his surroundings yet.
Flicking his wrist, he was just about to finish the last note when he turned his head to the side and saw a completely pale face beside him.
"AHH!"
Shocked, Zhang Xuan's instinctively whipped his spear at the other party.