Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Sister Yan!” Ping Yang cried out loud. If Qian Yu hadn’t stopped her, she would have charged into the altar.
In fact, Mu Qingfeng, as well as the elders and disciples of Heaven Dao Pavilion were equally devastated when they saw the icy wave rushing towards Chi Guyan.
However, the snow-white and crystal-clear wave of ice eventually swallowed Chi Guyan. The pink dress was no longer swaying, and even her expression was frozen.
Under the gigantic tree, a massive amount of snow and ice covered the entire altar. The snow-white flowers bloomed completely in the snow and filled the surrounding area with a chilling air.
Amidst the snow and ice, Chi Guyan was still falling back.
However…
She could no longer move.
“Is she really frozen?! The spectating disciples couldn’t believe it when they saw Chi Guyan frozen in the ice. However, that seemed to be the truth.
“Finally… Did… Did I win?” Nangong Mu trembled at this moment as if he couldn’t stand steadily. It was also extremely straining for him to control the icy wave in such a wide range.
“Mu’er, watch out! Behind you!” Nangong Tian suddenly shouted at this moment.
“Behind me… What?!” Nangong Mu froze for a moment. He was about to leap forward instinctively, but he was too late, as a tremendous force had already struck his back.
It was a snake tail covered in five-colored scales. It appeared from beneath the altar laid with white-jade and whipped his back.
Boom!
Nangong Mu was sent crashing into the icy wave blooming with snow-white flowers. He spat out a mouthful of blood uncontrollably.
As soon as he crashed into the icy wave, a pink figure rushed out of the icy like a meteor. She was extraordinarily fast, and her longsword even became a stream of light as it zapped towards Nangong Mu like a bolt of lightning.
There was still ice on her pink dress and her hair was decorated with spots of snow. They looked like the dazzling stars in the night sky.
Chi Guyan looked a little pale and there was even a faint bloodstain on the corner of her mouth. However, that didn’t hinder her sword.
“Impossible!!!” Nangong Mu yelled frustratingly as if he couldn’t believe it. However, he didn’t become sluggish from disbelief. Instead, he looked a little insane.
An intense snow-white radiance burst out of his body almost in an instant, following which, tens of thousands of white flowers bloomed in the radiance.
The Green and Blue Dual Blade went straight against Chi Guyan’s sword. Instead of blocking her attack, the dual blade split up. With that, a green and a blue stream of radiance materialized into a white animal’s head covered in ice.
Its fangs were crystal-clear and its pupils were white as snow.
It was Green and Blue Slash.
It was one of the two Nangong Nobles’ secret arts that Nangong Mu had spent his entire life practicing. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to use it at this critical moment.
However, Chi Guyan didn’t seem to be fazed.
It felt like she didn’t even see the ferocious blow. The direction and momentum of her sword remain unchanged and stabbed the hideous animal’s head like a stream of light.
Slash! The sharp sword clashed against its fangs and produced a high-pitched and piercing sound.
However, Chi Guyan’s sword wasn’t stopping.
It forced its way through!
The crystal-clear fangs swallowed the sword entirely and tore Chi Guyan’s sleeve.
Slash! The fang stabbed her arm. Blood flowed out and stained the pink sleeve on Chi Guyan’s right hand.
The sword stopped!
A chilling breeze blew!
At this moment, the entire world seemed to have gone silent. All the disciples, regardless if they were from the Five Sects of the Holy Region or the other sects, opened their eyes wide.
They had never seen such an insane fighting style before.
Head-to-head. This was a true head-to-head battle.
“Ke…” A deep cough broke the silence, following which, drops of blood spattered the ground.
“Mu’er!”
“Guyan!”
Nangong Tian’s and Mu Qingfeng’s voices were heard almost at the same time. Both of them sounded extremely anxious and desperate.
“So, who knew that you’d show mercy?” Nangong Mu looked at the sword that penetrated his shoulder, then at the arm that was bitten by the white animal’s head. Blood was slowly flowing out from the corner of his mouth.
“Didn’t you show mercy to Qiu Jingfeng too?” Chi Guyan replied flatly. She didn’t even bother looking at her own arm.
“I did, but it was only because I knew that I could definitely beat him. Are you sure… That you could beat me?” Nangong Mu bit his lips softly.
“How would I know that without trying?” Chi Guyan replied.
“That sounds really familiar.”
“Yeah, he said that.”
“I’d stop fighting if I have a choice.” Nangong Mu’s expression became gloomier.
“It seems like you didn’t come to Heaven Zen Mountain just to take part in the Heaven Alliance Meeting.” Chi Guyan’s eyes lit up.
“Of… Haha. Chi Guyan, although we aren’t exactly friends, I’m unwilling to make an enemy of you. This has nothing to do with your strength. However, since this fight is destined, I won’t be holding back, because this is my duty!”
“Duty?”
“Everyone has a duty in life. Some people’s duty is supporting their family, some are after fame and wealth, and there are people who do it to vent their desires.”
“Then, what about you?”
“My duty is making sure that the seed blooms.”
“Making sure that the seed blooms?” Chi Guyan’s mouth twitched. Then, her eyes became extremely bright as she continued, “So, has the seed been planted already?”
“Haha…” Nangong Mu smiled ambiguously.
“Is your Gifted Bloodline the see…” Chi Guyan wanted to ask another question, but she didn’t finish her sentence.
That was because Nangong Mu had already moved.
He fell back rapidly and forcefully removed the sword that was in his shoulder. His Green and Blue Dual Blade also came slashing down at the same time.
Boom! There was a mark on the ground almost instantly. The snow and ice were sliced apart by his sword.
Just two steps away, Chi Guyan’s sword was pressing against the ground. Blood was dripping off the blade and onto the snow.
Break!” She yelled softly.
With that, the white animal’s head that was biting her arm, now free from Nangong Mu’s control, was shattered completely. It turned into chunks of ice and fell to the ground.
Despite that, there were four visible holes on Chi Guyan’s arm that the fangs left behind, and blood kept flowing out nonstop.
However, the bleeding stopped soon enough. No one knew if it was due to the ice covering the wounds or if Chi Guyan had controlled her blood flow.
“No matter how powerful you are, you are only at Rebirth State. Even if you could stop the bleeding, your right arm wouldn’t recover completely in less than an hour!” Said Nangong Mu after he glanced at the four bloody holes on Chi Guyan’s arm.
“Yup, you’re right.” Chi Guyan nodded. Then, she wielded the sword with her left hand and pointed it towards Nangong Mu again.
“Left hand” Nangong Mu’s expression changed a little. He bit his lips softly, and without uttering another word, stabbed the Green and Blue Dual Blade into the ground, saying, “Tree of God!”
Boom!
As he said that, the ground that was covered with snow and ice started trembling violently. Then, an icicle grew out of the ground.
The icicle was as thick as a tree branch. There were even crystal-clear leaves glowing chillingly on the icicle.
Boom! Chi Guyan’s sword came crashing down onto the icicle branch, splitting it into two instantly. The broken ice fell to the ground.
However, there seemed to be more than one icicle.
While Chi Guyan sliced the first icicle branch into two, the second, third, and fourth one appeared…
In mere moments, dozens of icicles that looked like tree branches started surrounding Chi Guyan. Each of them was glowing chillingly.
Boom boom boom… Chi Guyan leaped around in the air and her sword struck relentlessly to prevent the icicles from getting close to her body.
However, the icicle branches growing from the ground became thicker and thicker. Eventually, a huge trunk appeared and grew towards the sky at an insane rate.
“It’s a tree!”
“A tree made of ice!”
“It looks almost identical to the gigantic shadow in the sky!”
The surrounding disciples were left agape with shock when they saw the gigantic ice tree.
Chi Guyan’s expression also changed a little at this moment.
“Tree of God?” She obviously heard what Nangong Mu had said. However, she wasn’t left with too much time to think, because there were too many icicle branches.
“Guyan, Nangong Mu’s Gifted Bloodline is the Tree of God. The Tree of God that grows in the Wintry Land!” Mu Qingfeng immediately reminded Chi Guyan while she was flying around the icicle branches.
“The Tree of God that grows in the Wintry Land… Could it be the legendary tree that connects the gates to the three realms…” Chi Guyan’s expression finally changed.
She obviously knew about this legend about Yan Huang’s era.
However, this legend was so ancient that no one would even think about it unless they were reminded.
‘Tree of God?’
‘How does Nangong Mu suddenly possess the Tree of God’s Gifted Bloodline?’
‘Seed…’
‘Nangong Mu mentioned a seed just now.’
‘Furthermore, he said that his duty is ensuring that the seed eventually blooms.’
All these questions crossed Chi Guyan’s mind. Then, she connected all the questions and thought as hard as she could.
“Could it be…” A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and with that, her expression changed completely.
She was just about to say something when she felt a tremendous force on her back that pushed her forward. As a result, an attack hit her arm again.
“Watch out, sister Yan!” It was Ping Yang’s anxious voice once again.
Meanwhile, Chi Guyan gritted her teeth tightly because she knew that if she was distracted, the icicle branches swinging around madly would be too much to handle even for her.
To make things worse, her right hand was injured so she was wielding her sword with her left hand.
Boom! She destroyed another branch that came from beneath her feet. The chunks of ice crashed onto the ground with a loud noise.
“Chi Guyan seems to be at her limits!”
“Yeah, she could have gone after Nangong Mu’s vital point just now, but she spared Nangong Mu for some reason.”
“I’m afraid that she is returning the favor of sparing Qiu Jingfeng’s life. However, she lost a great chance to beat him and landed herself in a tough spot now.”
“Therefore, one must merciless when it’s necessary!”
The spectating disciples were nervous for Chi Guyan and sighed softly as she was driven into a corner.
Rumble!
The icicles were still rushing out of the ground. Moreover, they were growing taller and taller, as if a gigantic ice tree was growing from the ground.
“What is Nangong Mu trying to do?” Mu Qingfeng stared at the gigantic ice tree. For some reason, he felt a sense of crisis.
It was an unexplainable feeling. He felt that this gigantic tree wasn’t simply just a technique.
That was because if it was simply a technique…
It was definitely over the top.
This sounded like an unfounded idea, but the matter of fact was that there were too many branches. If it was simply meant to defeat Chi Guyan, he wouldn’t need to summon so many branches.
What if it wasn’t a technique used to defeat Chi Guyan?
In that case, what would it be?
Mu Qingfeng couldn’t be certain. After all, Nangong Mu had obviously entered a state of insanity currently. Under such conditions, it’d normal if he was over the top or a little too ‘wasteful’.
Boom! The gigantic ice tree finally grew out of the ground completely. It stood erected atop Heaven’s Peak, and its huge icicle branches blocked the sunlight. It was glowing dazzlingly like a massive crystal.
Meanwhile, Nangong Mu was kneeling on one knee and panting nonstop. Blood was flowing down from his shoulder, tainting his snow-white armor.
It was obvious it wasn’t easy for him to create such a huge commotion.
However, Nangong Mu looked extremely determined. Although he was trembling nonstop, he was still staring intently at Chi Guyan, who was entrapped by the gigantic ice tree.
“Tree of God… Blo… Bloom!” Nangong Mu stumbled. He sounded a little brutal and also a little serious.