Chapter 778: Words as Blades

The cultivators of the Profound Armor Cave were discussing heatedly.

"Sure enough, the winner of this match belongs to Tie Zheng."

"The Blade Beast is too strong! When he eliminated Lu Zeng and Ao Pan, it already signaled the outcome of this trial."

The Hao-surnamed cultivator chuckled: "That may not be so."

The cultivators immediately cast suspicious glances.

The Hao-surnamed cultivator did not answer, but stared at Unlike Ning Zhuo in the arena, his appreciation for this young man deepening in his heart: "This junior Unlike Ning Zhuo is truly formidable."

By the edge of the Cloud Sea Cliff.

Crack.

With a crisp sound, the teacup in Ban Ban Ban Jie's hand showed cracks.

"What? Seeing Ban Ji was actually eliminated!" Ban Ban Ban Jie had just received this intelligence, and her heart was greatly shaken.

"Profound Armor Cave—"

"According to the results of the divination, this inheritance has quite significant significance for him."

"How could he be eliminated?"

"The most critical thing is, it wasn't Unlike Ning Zhuo who eliminated him, but that Tie Zheng!"

"No, it's not being eliminated by Unlike Ning Zhuo, which is good. He is Seeing Ban Ji's human calamity—"

"In this way, the winner this time is Tie Zheng."

"It's just that I don't know if he can secure the top spot in the end."

Ban Ban Ban Jie's brows were furrowed, her eyes unfocused. At this moment, her heart was in chaos.

Profound Armor Cave.

The final battle of this trial had already begun!

Unlike Ning Zhuo and the other three surrounded Tie Zheng, launching an offensive.

All kinds of weapons collided with each other, setting off bursts of air waves and making continuous explosions.

After fighting for a while, the battle intensity dropped sharply.

Having fought chaotically for so long, the cultivators in the arena were all exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Tie Zheng first fought two with one, and then killed Seeing Ban Ji and his group; at this moment, facing Unlike Ning Zhuo and others again, he also fell into a state of exhaustion.

He held a bronze kitchen knife in one hand, panting. He was covered in sweat and blood, soaking the messy hair in front of his forehead, and his aura was weak.

Unlike Ning Zhuo and the others all cast wary glances at the bronze kitchen knife.

Fighting until now, this bronze weapon had repeatedly demonstrated powerful might.

Tie Zheng narrowed his eyes; his vision was already showing double images, and he knew deeply that he had fought many fierce battles and reached his physical and mental limits.

"Cannot fight for long!"

He looked down and finally shifted his gaze from the beast ball at his waist to the kitchen knife in his hand.

The next moment, he slashed suddenly.

It was simple and unadorned, just a streak of dark shadow, yet it unleashed a fierce and rigid power capable of cleaving mountains and snapping peaks!

Unlike Ning Zhuo and the other four dodged one after another.

Fighting until now, Tie Zheng's physical strength was dried up, and the speed of his slashing knife was less than 30% of before. Unlike Ning Zhuo and the other four had also reached their limits, and their dodging speed was quite slow.

With two clangs, the kitchen knife fell, its trajectory straight, cutting off two more pieces of Profound Armor.

The kitchen knife's remaining power did not diminish, rushing straight at Unlike Ning Zhuo's chest.

Tie Zheng regarded Unlike Ning Zhuo as the number one target, prioritizing the elimination of the most threatening competitor.

Unlike Ning Zhuo's shield had long been lost, and even if he had it, it would be difficult to block the sharpness of the kitchen knife.

But he was not panicked; his right hand grabbed the air, and a brand-new piece of Profound Armor flew out, flying into his hand and turning into a bronze long whip!

Swish.

The long whip drove Unlike Ning Zhuo's wrist and arm to flip and shake, the whip body like a weak willow in the wind, soft to the extreme, brushing the kitchen knife lightly.

Using softness to overcome hardness; using curves to resolve straightness!

The artistic conception of the kitchen knife was resolved in this way, its offensive plummeted, and it was easily blocked by Unlike Ning Zhuo's remaining bronze weapons.

"You also broke through and obtained the seventh piece of Profound Armor?!" Tie Zheng stared.

The other three cultivators felt terrified.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was too good at hiding; having fought chaotically for so long, he actually hid such a big trump card!

At this moment, even the cultivators of the Profound Armor Cave felt surprised.

"What's going on? Where did he get the seventh piece of Profound Armor?"

"I clearly saw that after he collected the sixth piece, he rested on the spot and waited until the third stage opened!"

"Cheating! Unlike Ning Zhuo cheated!!"

"No, perhaps like Tie Zheng, this is the field Profound Armor he brought in himself."

The Hao-surnamed cultivator said lightly: "No, this is indeed the Profound Armor in my cave. Unlike Ning Zhuo did not cheat; it was I who took action to disguise and cover up his actions."

The Hao-surnamed cultivator was the leader of this trial, and now that he took the initiative to admit it, it immediately attracted many inquisitive glances.

The Hao-surnamed cultivator had a draft ready, and now his expression remained unchanged, speaking slowly: "I had already sensed something wrong in the second stage."

"I had a premonition that there would be a contest between Unlike Ning Zhuo and Seeing Ban Ji, so I acted on impulse and disguised Unlike Ning Zhuo's subsequent performance."

"Sure enough, in the third stage, the Ban family openly cheated, disregarding our reputation, and infiltrated so many people just to support their Seeing Ban Ji."

Everyone then realized.

The Hao-surnamed cultivator possessed the highest authority in the arena and could control the Profound Armor Cave's great formation more deeply.

He faked the disguise in front of all the cultivators, hiding it from everyone, including Ban Ban Ban Jie, who had been waiting for first-hand news nearby.

In fact, after Unlike Ning Zhuo refined the sixth bronze fan, he only rested for a while before rushing to the next battle without stopping.

After a bitter battle, he successfully took down the bronze whip.

Later, when he arrived at the karst cave, Unlike Ning Zhuo had been hiding this trump card and did not expose it easily.

The Hao-surnamed cultivator revealed the truth, and the cultivators couldn't help but exclaim repeatedly.

"This Unlike Ning Zhuo is too good at hiding!"

"He is truly able to endure; such a trump card was actually hidden until the very end before being taken out to use."

"He didn't dare to take it out, right? You know, in the first half of the chaotic battle, Ao Pan was always in the arena. If he had seen such a good long whip, he would definitely have fought for it with all his might."

"Unlike Ning Zhuo's luck is also too good! Not only did he collect the seventh piece of Profound Armor, but in terms of martial arts artistic conception, it actually countered the kitchen knife Tie Zheng obtained."

Tie Zheng approached, the kitchen knife in his hand slashing at Unlike Ning Zhuo with the momentum of ten thousand jun.

Unlike Ning Zhuo took a step back, slightly extending his arm forward to give the long whip in his hand time to react.

The bronze long whip moved with Unlike Ning Zhuo's arm and wrist like waves, even driving the infusion of magic power, and the long whip danced along the trend.

Without blocking it hard, the whip tip brushed lightly against the outside of the kitchen knife, hooking and guiding it!

Swish—hum!

In the fierce friction, gold sparks splashed, and the sound made people's teeth ache.

The fierce kitchen knife was cleverly deflected by the flexible arc of the long whip, slashing heavily on the cave wall to the side, and for a time, broken stones burst like rain.

"Again!" Tie Zheng gritted his teeth, his heart sinking to the bottom of the valley.

This was not the first time.

His several attacks had all returned without success under the long whip, and all kinds of efforts turned into bubbles.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Tie Zheng breathed heavily, panting like a bellows, air pouring into his body, as if tearing his lungs, and every breath brought him a burning sensation.

What made him even more anxious was that there were double images before his eyes, and his spirit was exhausted, bringing a hypnotic feeling that became more and more intense.

Although the kitchen knife was strong, to activate the martial arts artistic conception within it required fierce consumption.

This consumption was not just physical strength, but more importantly, mental strength.

Although Tie Zheng was a martial cultivator, he practiced the lower dantian; among essence, qi, and spirit, although spirit was not the shortest board, it was far from the foundation of essence.

Tie Zheng knew deeply that he couldn't persist for long, so he took the risk of using the kitchen knife to break the situation, not expecting Unlike Ning Zhuo to also take out a weapon of the same level.

If it were the sixth one, which could only use magic power to urge sharpness, it would not be enough to block the artistic conception of the kitchen knife.

Tie Zheng had already smelled the scent of defeat.

The current battle situation was clear at a glance.

Unlike Ning Zhuo and the other three cultivators joined forces to resist this Jin Dan.

"To break the situation, I need to persuade these three, reveal the truth of strength and weakness, join forces, and attack Ning—" This thought flashed in Tie Zheng's sea of consciousness like a meteor, disappearing without a trace.

He opened his mouth, and finally sighed faintly in his heart, deriving a sense of helplessness and irritability.

If it were a cultivator like Ao Pan, perhaps he could take action, but Tie Zheng's temperament was isolated, and he had practiced alone in the mountains for many years, making him do this kind of maneuvering—

He was not unable to see the path to victory, but he didn't even have the interest to try.

"This kid Unlike Ning Zhuo—I'm afraid that his previous injury and loss of the shield were all done on purpose!" Fighting to this moment, Tie Zheng also caught a glimpse of the truth.

Clang, clang, clang—

All kinds of weapons collided in mid-air, five figures kept flying, coming and going, advancing and retreating.

Finally, the exhaustion reached its limit, causing Tie Zheng's retreating footsteps to slow down.

"Opportunity!" Unlike Ning Zhuo's eyes shot out brilliance, his feet stepped on the profound steps, his figure was driven by the bronze long whip, and the martial arts artistic conception also penetrated his whole body, making him sway like bamboo shadows in the wind.

Unlike Ning Zhuo easily dodged Tie Zheng's several weapons, his wrist shaking and vibrating suddenly.

The long whip danced in mid-air, instantly taut like a string, and after the flexible force of the collapse was condensed to the extreme, it erupted with a bang, hitting the blade body and penetrating straight to the hilt!

Tie Zheng's web between his thumb and index finger cracked, and blood shot out. The kitchen knife in his hand was shaken off and flew out, smashing into the distance with a "clang"!

The other three cultivators were overjoyed and hurriedly pounced, one of whom had a strange look in his eyes, changed his path halfway, and pounced toward the kitchen knife.

Unlike Ning Zhuo ignored it and took the opportunity to launch a wild attack on Tie Zheng. But the other two cultivators saw this and were seriously affected, losing their footing for a time.

Tie Zheng practiced martial dao, his temperament was unyielding, and naturally, he was unwilling to be defeated like this, so he finally reached out and patted his waist, knocking down the beast-head copper ball.

Blade Beast Glancing Light!

Green Flow Copper gushed out, emitting a cold blade light, instantly taking shape, turning into a blind and earless blade leopard beast.

A large number of blades made a buzzing sound, and the Blade Beast turned into a bronze bolt of lightning, pouncing straight at Unlike Ning Zhuo!

Wherever it passed, whether it was stalactite pillars or stalagmites, they all collapsed with a bang, turning into powder.

The other three cultivators dodged in panic, wishing Tie Zheng and Unlike Ning Zhuo would fight each other and both be injured.

Facing the Blade Beast, Unlike Ning Zhuo showed no fear, having expected it long ago.

He pushed with both palms, and all kinds of bronze weapons under his control flew around in front of him, turning into a battle formation.

Clang, clang, clang—

The next moment, the Blade Beast crashed into the battle formation.

A series of metal explosions, weapons and the Blade Beast collided with all their might. The Blade Beast was like a meteor, full of momentum.

And the weapons cooperated with each other, forming a wave-like defense line.

Although Unlike Ning Zhuo's bronze shield was lost, it was replaced by a stronger bronze long whip.

The long whip used softness to overcome hardness, snapping and whipping, continuously weakening the Blade Beast's momentum.

The Blade Beast felt extremely stifled; many heavy attacks were guided, falling to the stone ground, wasting combat power without any results.

The vibration of the blades weakened rapidly, and even in the uniform buzzing, there were streaks of noise.

Unlike Ning Zhuo's sixth bronze fan was also a main attack weapon. The wind blades and fire waves set off forced the Blade Beast back one after another.

This scene stunned everyone.

The cultivators of the Profound Armor Cave almost widened their eyes; the destruction expected from the Blade Beast did not appear, but instead, the battle formation Unlike Ning Zhuo created on the spot exerted good defensive might!

"The Blade Beast is clearly much weaker than before!"

"This kind of weapon is not good at long battles, isn't it?"

"No wonder Tie Zheng hasn't used it since he eliminated Lu Zeng and Ao Pan."

The cultivators realized.

"In that case, the final winner of this Rising Cloud Trial is still unknown!"

"Tie Zheng is a Jin Dan cultivator after all—"

"From the current point of view, it is also possible for Unlike Ning Zhuo to win."

"No, they might also both be injured, eventually letting the remaining three cultivators take advantage. This situation has happened in previous years."

The cultivators communicated frequently.

In their eyes, the outcome had originally been decided, but unexpectedly, at the last moment, suspense arose again, which undoubtedly increased everyone's interest in watching the battle.

The Blade Beast Glancing Light killed through the battle formation; although Unlike Ning Zhuo dodged, he was still injured, blood flowing continuously.

The Blade Beast Glancing Light pounced on Unlike Ning Zhuo; Unlike Ning Zhuo's battle formation intercepted again, Glancing Light's impact was weakened every time, and the buzzing sound of the blade vibration dropped from tearing the eardrums to harsh, and then to hoarse—

The bronze luster that shone all over its body also dimmed in the continuous wear and tear. Even the blades showed a large number of rolled edges, and even gaps.

A flash of brilliance appeared in Unlike Ning Zhuo's eyes, feeling that the time was ripe, and he shouted at Tie Zheng: "Fellow Daoist Tie Zheng, our contest to this point is enough. Glancing Light's sharpness is already dull; if we continue to fight, this beast will definitely be destroyed."

The Blade Beast Glancing Light was not the Profound Armor in the Profound Armor Cave, but Tie Zheng's own.

That is to say, even if it reached the standard of being broken, it would not be teleported out by the great formation, and in the end, it would fall into a situation of total destruction.

Hearing this, Tie Zheng's eyes twitched, and he slowly put down the bronze long bow in his hand.

Fighting to this moment, Unlike Ning Zhuo was also in a sorry state, blood and sweat mixed, panting, covered in injuries.

But Unlike Ning Zhuo was still high in fighting spirit, and the shout just now was full of energy.

This kind of physical and mental foundation made Tie Zheng look sideways. It was hard to believe that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could have such a solid basic quality.

Tie Zheng's sea of consciousness was already exhausted, bleeding from seven orifices, with double images before his eyes, drowsy, only supporting himself with willpower.

Tie Zheng was not worried about himself; in the Profound Armor Cave's Rising Cloud Trial, his life could be preserved.

But he was really worried about the safety of the Blade Beast Glancing Light.

Tie Zheng was different from others; having suffered a lot of betrayal, he trusted his Blade Beast the most, treating them as partners he could trust in the world.

Tie Zheng dissipated his weakened spiritual sense, mobilized it with difficulty, Glancing Light retreated a few steps, suddenly turned around, and ran back to Tie Zheng's feet, still baring its fangs at Unlike Ning Zhuo.

Tie Zheng stretched out his palm and gently stroked the Blade Beast's head, as if it really possessed life and was his beloved pet.

"Forget it, I admit defeat." Tie Zheng sighed, looking at Unlike Ning Zhuo with complex emotions.

The next moment, the great formation activated, teleporting him and the Blade Beast out of the arena.

Without a master, the Profound Armor he had refined all became ownerless objects, falling to the ground one after another. ===== CHAPTER 779 =====