Chapter 106: Speechless!
Chapter 106: Speechless!
Xu Ziyan’s continuously spinning sword tip had already stabbed into the ice block. Instantly, ice shards flew everywhere. The sword tip quickly approached the Baihui Acupoint on the top of Yang Linglong’s head.
“Boom——”
With a loud explosion, ice shards shot out rapidly in all directions. From within the sky full of ice shards, a golden spear tip precisely stabbed the spinning, downward-thrusting sword tip. There was a grating, teeth-aching sound of impact. Xu Ziyan’s body was thrown backwards through the air. While still in the air, her hand loosened. The Flying Sword gently fell, circled back under Xu Ziyan’s feet, and Xu Ziyan stood steadily on the Flying Sword, looking down coldly at Yang Linglong.
Only at this moment did Yang Linglong free herself from the passive situation. Having been humiliated so greatly in front of so many people, her heart was filled with extreme fury. Flames burned in her eyes. She separated her hands, and a golden light lit up across the sky. In an instant, the sky was filled with countless golden short spears, tightly surrounding Xu Ziyan.
On the High Platform, Yang Rui let out a heavy breath, then glanced smugly at Xu Haoran before sitting back down steadily. Xu Haoran, however, grew tense now. But seeing that Yang Rui had already sat down, he felt he shouldn’t remain standing either, so he also sat down. Yet, his body leaned forward slightly, and his eyes never left Xu Ziyan, who was trapped within the golden short spears.
“Water Veil Celestial Splendor!”
Xu Ziyan in the air suddenly began spinning rapidly. A curtain of water instantly appeared around her body. As Xu Ziyan spun swiftly, within a few breaths, it formed a vortex, shielding Xu Ziyan inside.
“Go!”
Yang Linglong let out a sharp shout. The sky buzzed with a humming sound. Ten thousand golden rays shot towards the rapidly spinning vortex. Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at the next clash between the two. This time, however, it had changed to Yang Linglong attacking and Xu Ziyan defending!
What was Xu Ziyan’s Cultivation Level? The First Layer of the Foundation Building Stage! So, even though she only released the Water Veil Celestial Splendor of the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage—which should originally have been a very thin layer—it couldn’t withstand Xu Ziyan continuously releasing the Water Veil Celestial Splendor. Layer after layer flew out spinning, and in just an instant, she had released five layers. Seeing this from the High Platform, Yang Rui was utterly speechless. He thought to himself, what kind of freak is this Xu Ziyan? The spell she released indeed seemed to be at the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage, but how could she release so many in succession? Even someone at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Stage might not be able to release so many spells in such a short time!
Was her constitution different? Or was her Cultivation Method different? Could she store vast amounts of True Essence within her body? Yang Linglong in the air was also speechless. She was now intensely curious about Xu Ziyan, wondering what other surprising moves she might pull.
Countless golden short spears crashed against the Water Veil Celestial Splendor. The vortex’s rotational force alone reduced part of the power of the golden short spears. Combined with a full five layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor, it just barely managed to block Yang Linglong’s Golden Spear Art. By the time the golden short spears completely dissipated, the Water Veil Celestial Splendor released by Xu Ziyan also popped and vanished.
“Whew——”
A collective sigh of relief echoed across the entire Central Plaza. The fight between Yang Linglong and Xu Ziyan was lightning-fast, with attacks and defenses switching in the blink of an eye, leaving the spectators breathless and thoroughly exhilarated.
Xu Haoran secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But when he looked at Xu Ziyan in the air, his expression turned grim again. Up in the air, Xu Ziyan’s face had turned somewhat pale. At this moment, Xu Ziyan did not seize the pause in Yang Linglong’s assault to counterattack. Instead, she stood on her Flying Sword, watchfully eyeing Yang Linglong. Anyone could see that Xu Ziyan now lacked the strength to counterattack and was on the verge of collapse. If Yang Linglong could launch just one more attack, Xu Ziyan would surely be defeated, and there was a high probability she might even die.
Had Xu Ziyan truly exhausted her strength? The answer was naturally no. With Xu Ziyan’s Foundation Building Stage Cultivation Level, how could she turn pale and run out of True Essence after just one bombardment from Yang Linglong? This was intentional on Xu Ziyan’s part. Her fierce assault had not harmed Yang Linglong in the slightest; it had only consumed some of Yang Linglong’s True Essence. But Xu Ziyan knew that the reason she had been able to drain Yang Linglong’s True Essence earlier was due to her successful sneak attack, catching Yang Linglong off guard. She had held the advantage, but now that advantage was gone. Even if she attacked again, Yang Linglong, who had already recovered her composure, would naturally not give Xu Ziyan that chance again. She wouldn’t be able to drain Yang Linglong’s True Essence like before.
Therefore, Xu Ziyan pretended that her internal True Essence was severely depleted and she was struggling to continue. She used her energy to force her face to turn deathly pale and adjusted her breathing to appear uneven. This made everyone believe she was about to give up. Consequently, Yang Linglong would think that just one more attack would finish Xu Ziyan off.
“Ten Thousand Spears Art!”
Xu Ziyan’s act naturally didn’t escape Yang Linglong’s notice. Yang Linglong’s gaze sharpened. She once again raised her hands high above her head, pulling them apart to the sides. Golden light flashed again in the sky, and countless golden short spears materialized out of thin air, once again surrounding Xu Ziyan at the center.
“Water Veil Celestial Splendor!”
Xu Ziyan’s figure began spinning once more. The vortex formed by Water Spiritual Energy took shape again. And what was even more speechless-inducing was that, although Xu Ziyan looked like she was straining with great effort, she still managed to produce five layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor.
At this point, not only was Yang Linglong on the Duelling Platform speechless, and Yang Rui on the High Platform speechless, but even Xu Haoran felt speechless. All the guests below the platform were utterly speechless too. Only the younger generation of the Xu Clan cheered excitedly.
“Ten Thousand Spears Art!”
“Water Veil Celestial Splendor!”
“Ten Thousand Spears Art!”
“Water Veil Celestial Splendor!”
“…”
“…”
The entire venue, both on and below the High Platform, was collectively stupefied. On the Duelling Platform, Xu Ziyan seemed on the verge of collapse every time, yet she always managed to exhaustively release five layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor. Meanwhile, Yang Linglong’s consumption was increasing rapidly. Her internal True Essence reserves had now dropped to the level of the late Second Layer of the Qi Refining Stage.
Yang Linglong also realized that if things continued like this, she didn’t know if she could defeat Xu Ziyan, but she herself probably wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Gritting her silver teeth and hardening her heart, she decided to go all out and use her final trump card. Her hands continuously formed Hand Seals in front of her chest. With a loud shout:
“Linked Spears Art!”
As her palms moved, one massive golden spear after another condensed above Yang Linglong’s head. They whooshed through the air one after another, smashing towards Xu Ziyan. The power of just one spear was enough to shatter two layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor released by Xu Ziyan.
Xu Ziyan’s heart jumped. She knew Yang Linglong was going all out. If she still only released five layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor, it would definitely not be enough to block the Linked Spears Art Yang Linglong was unleashing! If she released a few more layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor, she could probably block it, but that would seem too fake. Someone at the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage, who was barely holding on, suddenly being able to release even more Water Veil Celestial Splendor? Wouldn’t that make people suspicious?
Therefore, Xu Ziyan quickly made a decision: pretend it was time for a breakthrough. After releasing another five layers of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor, Xu Ziyan forced her energy, causing the Spiritual Energy around her to suddenly churn, showing signs of a breakthrough. She ran the Water Ice Art to its limit. Her Foundation Building Stage Cultivation Level operated hidden within her body, attracting the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth to swarm towards her. However, the Breath-Concealing Talisman still masked her true Cultivation Level as the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage. Thus, with the appearance of the First Level of Qi Refining Stage, but with the Spiritual Energy fluctuations of the Foundation Building Stage, it looked exactly like the signs of a Cultivator at the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage breaking through.
“Is she breaking through?” That was what most people thought.
“How is this possible?” Yang Rui was stunned.
“She’s breaking through during battle?” This was still the thought of most people.
“I didn’t kill her, but forced her to break through instead?” Yang Linglong’s face showed disbelief.
“She’s breaking through in battle again! She’s simply too strong!” This was the collective thought of the Outer Hall Disciples who had witnessed Xu Ziyan breaking through once before during her fight with Xu Hualing.
Xu Haoliang clenched his fists, his expression complex. “What kind of monster is this!”
Up in the air, Yang Linglong’s face tightened. Rarely did panic appear on the face of the Northern Region’s Top Talented Maiden. Gritting her teeth, she madly channeled the True Essence within her body into her hands. In an instant, golden light flashed across the sky, and twice as many massive golden long spears now hovered above Yang Linglong’s head, their cold, gleaming tips pointing at Xu Ziyan.
“Go!”
Yang Linglong shouted loudly. The eighteen long spears above her head shot towards Xu Ziyan in unison with a whooshing sound. And just at this moment, Xu Ziyan had already adjusted the Breath-Concealing Talisman to show the late peak of the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Stage. In the eyes of the outsiders, they saw Xu Ziyan open her arms to the sides, give a slight tremble, and then the aura around her suddenly surged violently. Her Cultivation Level had broken through the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage and reached the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Stage.
“Whoa——”
The crowd below the platform completely erupted. Xu Ziyan’s sudden outburst made everyone feel a sense of exhilaration, as if they themselves were the ones erupting. Of course, this excluded those forces hostile to the Xu Clan. In their eyes, amidst the astonishment, confusion, jealousy, and resentment, there was also a trace of admiration.
The eighteen long spears shattered the final layer of the Water Veil Celestial Splendor released by Xu Ziyan and sharply shot towards her.
“Eee——”
Xu Ziyan let out a long cry, resembling both a Phoenix Cry and a crane’s call. From around Xu Ziyan, eighteen Water Pythons as thick as a human thigh suddenly condensed. They wrapped around the eighteen golden long spears, coiling tightly around each one layer by layer. From the outside, the golden long spears were almost completely obscured from view.