Chapter 488: An Uproar Throughout the Crowd

I doubt it's necessarily Zhen Tianlu who will win the top spot—hasn't Yuan Yao already formed a contract with the Responding Dragon? On the high platform, an Immortal Venerable stroked his beard, pondering, his piercing gaze fixed on the arena.

Hmph, who knows how much strength that Responding Dragon really has? Immediately beside him, another Immortal Venerable spoke, his tone mixed with doubt and anticipation.

At this moment, all the Immortal Venerables on the high platform held their breath and focused, their gazes like torches, locked tightly on the situation in the arena.

They all shared the same thought: this young woman Yuan Yao would surely summon the legendary Responding Dragon in this match.

They all wanted to witness firsthand just how majestic and awe-inspiring the ancient Responding Dragon's bearing was, and how tremendous its divine power.

Below the arena, the participating disciples from the Three Islands Nine Provinces all stared at the arena.

In the Flying Cloud Island team.

"Qian Xiong, in your opinion, who will have the upper hand in this showdown?" a disciple asked, leaning in and lowering his voice.

The red-clad man called Qian Xiong was none other than the Young Island Master of Flying Cloud Island, Qian Yunzhou.

He idly twirled a flawless white jade flute in one hand, its surface flowing with a faint spiritual light.

Qian Yunzhou raised his brows slightly, a fleeting, hard-to-notice smile flickering in his eyes, yet his gaze remained locked on the blue-clad girl on the stage; the corners of his mouth lifted unconsciously as he spoke with certainty and affection: "What need to ask? Naturally it's my clever and adorable little six sister."

"Little six sister?" the questioning disciple blinked, scratching his head in confusion. "Qian Xiong, I've never heard you have a sister like that—who is she?"

Qian Yunzhou smiled but said nothing.

That disciple was sharp; he immediately followed Qian Yunzhou's gaze and suddenly understood, everything becoming clear to him.

He narrowed his eyes playfully, lowered his voice, and teased: "Oh—now I get it! Qian Xiong, when did you take on this 'little six sister'? I haven't heard a whisper of it."

Upon hearing this, Qian Yunzhou glanced at him with the corner of his eye; the smile in his eyes instantly flickered with a hint of coldness.

The disciple's teasing smile froze instantly, his complexion shifted slightly, and a shiver ran through his heart.

He promptly shut up, not daring to make another teasing remark.

Under the gaze of the multitude, the two on the stage clasped hands in a courteous salute.

"First Province, Zhen Tianlu."

"Ninth Province, Yuan Yao."

After the referee loudly announced the start of the match, Zhen Tianlu's hand condensed a longsword, his whole body instantly exuding a fierce, overpowering aura; with a flick of his sword, dust on the arena floor surged upward.

Zhen Tianlu narrowed his eyes and said, "Fellow Daoist Yuan, my cultivation is higher than yours—I can let you have three moves."

"Really?" Yuan Yao asked, somewhat surprised.

Zhen Tianlu curled his lips. "Naturally it's true."

"Then I'll thank you first."

Yuan Yao's eyes glittered with a hint of mischief as she raised her bare hand; a five-colored longsword instantly fell into her palm, which she gripped tightly before drawing a deep breath, as if preparing herself.

Seeing this, Zhen Tianlu felt a flicker of contempt, not taking her seriously at all.

"First move—" Yuan Yao shouted clearly, her voice crisp yet carrying an irresistible force.

"Thousands of Myriad Laws, Myriad Qi Return to the Sword!"

In that instant, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth over the entire arena seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, suddenly surging violently.

The previously calm air was instantly twisted and compressed into visible, sharp gusts that whistled like a stampede of ten thousand horses, wildly rushing toward Yuan Yao's five-colored longsword in her hand.

Only see, after Yuan Yao's longsword absorbed a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, it suddenly burst forth with dazzling, multicolored radiance so brilliant it nearly blinded everyone.

"Break!"

With a sound, in an instant a colossal seven-colored sword blade, condensed to the utmost extremity, formed at the tip of Yuan Yao's sword and then came down like a heavenly cleave aimed at Zhen Tianlu's head.

That blade was so huge it nearly covered half the arena; wherever it passed, space rippled faintly, carrying the force of mountains overturning and seas overturning, making the spectators below feel their scalps tingle and hearts pound, as if the blade were swinging toward them.

"What?!" Zhen Tianlu's arrogant expression froze instantly, replaced by utter disbelief.

He never imagined that Yuan Yao's first move would possess such terrifying power!

He no longer dared to be careless in the slightest, unleashing all his spiritual power and hastily raising his sword to block.

Boom—

With a deafening roar, the seven-colored blade clashed violently with Zhen Tianlu's longsword.

The violent energy shockwave spread outward from the two, causing the protective light curtains around the arena to tremble violently.

Zhen Tianlu felt a tremendous force surge from the sword, as if a mountain were pressing down on him; his tiger's mouth split instantly, blood spraying.

He managed to block the blow, yet was still shoved back several steps by the incomparable force.

Moreover, several streaks of piercing sword qi broke through his defense, lacerating his cheeks and drawing a trickle of bright blood.

An uproar erupted throughout the crowd!

Everyone was stunned by this earth-shattering blow.

No one expected Yuan Yao's first move to be this formidable!

The promised three concessions now look more like a joke.

Zhen Tianlu's complexion shifted repeatedly in an instant.

In the next instant, Zhen Tianlu realized Yuan Yao's second sword technique was also closing in!

"Sixfold Whirlwind Slash!"

The blade whipped up a hurricane, slashing toward Zhen Tianlu at breakneck speed!

Zhen Tianlu tried to dodge, but he didn't expect the blade's whirlwind to instantly split into six sword-wind hurricanes that surrounded and assailed him!

Zhen Tianlu swiftly raised his sword to block, yet due to his underestimation, a bloody sword mark still landed on his back.

He groaned in pain.

Yuan Yao's swordsmanship was exquisite, the power she displayed far surpassing her cultivation level.

But what shocked everyone even more was what came next—

Yuan Yao lightly turned her wrist, using her sword tip as a pen and her spiritual power as ink, quickly tracing a profound and intricate formation seal in midair.

That seal was initially only palm-sized, glowing with a faint light, but as she finished the final stroke and thrust her longsword forward into its center—

Hum—

That Dharma seal suddenly blazed with light, instantly expanded dramatically, and in the next moment turned into a huge formation totem covering most of the arena, hovering in midair!

"This is... " a knowledgeable immortal on the high platform exclaimed, his pupils contracting sharply as he cried out in disbelief, "A high-rank formation?!"

"No, wrong! This aura... this is a Saint-rank formation!" an old immortal specialized in formations sprang to his feet, his voice trembling slightly with excitement, his eyes locked tightly on that graceful figure on the arena.

"A Saint-rank formation?! My heavens! At this age, actually able to lay out a Saint-rank formation?!"

"Holy crap! She isn't a sword cultivator?! How… how is this possible?!" Beneath the arena, gasps and sharp intakes of breath rose and fell.

The people of the Three Islands Nine Provinces were completely in an uproar, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

"Saint-rank formation!" On the stands, those formation masters and grand masters who usually looked down on everything and were hard to move could no longer stay composed, all rising to their feet in agitation.

"Yuan Yao… she is actually a grand master of formations?!"

"My great-grandparents! A sixteen-year-old grand master of formations! This… this is simply defying heaven! Genius! No, this is a peerless monstrous genius! Throughout the entire cultivation world's history of tens of millions of years, one cannot find a second monster who achieved Saint-rank formation at such a young age!" A white-haired old master beat his chest and stamped his feet, his face overflowing with indescribable joy and excitement.