Chapter 1075: Chen Zhu Xuan's Breakthrough

The instant Li Luo's blade edge came slashing down, the heavens ahead seemed to be split open directly by an invisible yet terrifying force, even the clouds parting in two.

Two torrents of blade light erupted from the blade's edge, and as the light flowed, they transformed into a golden giant dragon and a deep-azure ancient elephant.

The golden dragon and ancient elephant were enormously massive, radiating an overwhelming pressure.

Roar!

The two raised their heads in a long howl toward the sky, then shot forth violently; at the same moment, dragon and elephant converged, condensing in the next instant into a colossal blade wheel.

Ancient dragon and elephant patterns were inscribed upon the blade wheel, cold and sinister light flowing along its edges.

The blade wheel swept across the heavens, leaving a long, pitch-black scar upon the void.

Dense blade aura radiated from it, and most terrifying of all, the blade wheel seemed to contain a dreadful power, as though dragon and elephant were driving it forward.

The former Jin Yu Zhu Xuan Xiang Blade contained the divine power of the Zhu Xuan Xiang, but the reforged Dragon Elephant Blade could now slash forth blade light imbued with the power of dragon and elephant!

The Dragon Elephant Blade Wheel pierced through the void, in a stance of annihilating everything, and collided with the "Erosion Wind" spewed from the spirit eye between Chen Zhu Xuan's brows.

Yet the instant they made contact, Chen Zhu Xuan's face changed abruptly, for wherever the Dragon Elephant Blade Wheel passed, no matter how the Erosion Wind corroded, it could not pierce the blade aura radiating from the wheel.

On the contrary, wherever the blade wheel passed, the Erosion Wind crumbled away.

Chen Zhu Xuan's heart shook with shock; he hurriedly formed a seal with his fingertips, and at the same time spat out a mouthful of essence blood imbued with phase force, which landed on his fingertips, then he drew those two fingers across the "Spirit Eye" between his brows.

"Erosion Wind Flowing Light Blade!"

Chen Zhu Xuan shouted sharply, and the Erosion Wind spewing from the Spirit Eye began to rapidly condense, transforming into azure wind blades flowing with radiant light.

Then the wind blades whirled, forming what seemed a tornado, and collided with the incoming Dragon Elephant Blade Wheel.

Boom!

At the moment of collision, terrifying shockwaves of energy ravaged outward; the mountain forest below was directly leveled, peak after peak continuously crumbling apart.

Such a commotion startled Lu Ming, Deng Zhu and the others below, their faces shifting as they hurriedly raised their heads to stare at the point of collision.

Boom!

And as wave after wave of violent energy shockwaves continuously spread, the void trembling, the colossal Dragon Elephant Blade Wheel was seen plunging down savagely, directly slicing apart every last "Erosion Wind Flowing Light Blade" blocking its path.

The blade wheel pierced through, directly tearing a scar tens of thousands of zhang long and deep across this vast mountain range; the forests along its path were all split open.

Ah!

A shrill, wretched scream rang out.

Everyone hurriedly looked and saw Chen Zhu Xuan suddenly clutching his brow, face twisted in agony as he staggered back step after step.

After a moment, his hand trembled loose, and the Spirit Eye between his brows was seen to have developed cracks, as though a faint blade scar had been left upon it.

Fresh blood kept flowing down from it, staining half his face crimson, giving him a somewhat terrifying appearance.

Seeing this, everyone drew in a sharp breath; the "Erosion Wind Eye" by which Chen Zhu Xuan had made his name had actually been directly cracked open by Li Luo!

"Li Luo, I will make you die!"

Chen Zhu Xuan flew into a rage, his eyes blood-red; this outcome was something he had never anticipated—Li Luo's blade strike was far too ferocious, and even he had been unable to evade in the end, the blade light wounding his Spirit Eye.

"If talking tough could kill me, you wouldn't have shown up here." Li Luo's words were indifferent; gripping the Dragon Elephant Blade, his gaze was cold as a blade, constantly sweeping toward the vital points across Chen Zhu Xuan's body.

Chen Zhu Xuan's face twisted savagely; he stared fixedly at Li Luo, then suddenly pressed his palms together, his seal shifting.

"I'll show you how to be arrogant!"

As Chen Zhu Xuan's seal shifted, the eight resplendent Tian Zhu behind him erupted at this moment with heaven-shaking roars, then the eight Tian Zhu, spinning at high speed, swiftly converged toward the central position.

Eight pearls merging!

Boom boom!

As the eight Tian Zhu converged, Chen Zhu Xuan's aura immediately surged step by step; the energies of heaven and earth howled around him, as though forming a massive vortex.

"Eight pearls merging! He's attempting to break through to Xiao Tian Xiang Jing!" Lu Ming saw this scene, her pretty face changing drastically as she cried out urgently.

Li Luo, upon seeing this, was not particularly surprised, for Chen Zhu Xuan's strength had long been at the peak of the eight-star Tian Zhu Jing, but this man clearly harbored considerable ambition, attempting to break through to the nine-star Tian Zhu Jing; unfortunately, despite all his preparations, he had failed.

The achievement of the nine-star Tian Zhu Jing was simply not something an ordinary prodigy could accomplish.

And now he had been pushed to such a state by Li Luo, so he could only abandon his nine-star ambition and choose to break through directly.

This kind of breakthrough on his part could not be stopped, for it was something that had long been ripe for completion.

Yet Li Luo was not particularly afraid either; even if Chen Zhu Xuan completed his breakthrough now, it would be impossible for him to condense a "Tian Xiang Jin Yin"—without the "Jin Yin," naturally he could not fully unleash the power of Xiao Tian Xiang Jing.

The Dragon Elephant Blade in Li Luo's hand came slashing down, several fierce streaks of blade light piercing the void, cleaving straight toward Chen Zhu Xuan's head.

But facing Li Luo's attack, Chen Zhu Xuan merely swept his sleeve; azure phase force imbued with raging wind howled out from within his sleeve, carrying mighty energy, and directly shredded those several streaks of blade light to pieces.

The current Chen Zhu Xuan, compared to before, was unquestionably far more formidable.

"Li Luo, do you really think that just because you made it onto the Fenghua Ranking, you can look down on the prodigies of our Outer Shenzhou? No matter how stunning your talent, in our eyes, you are still a generation beneath us!"

"So if you want to act without restraint, you had better pick your opponent carefully!" Chen Zhu Xuan's ice-cold voice rang out across heaven and earth beneath the howling of the gale.

He extended a finger; wind-phase power gathered madly at the fingertip, condensing into several azure light pearls, within which seemed to lie worlds of storm.

Boom!

The azure wind pearls shot forth violently, and in the span of a single breath, they blasted toward Li Luo's face.

Li Luo gripped the Dragon Elephant Blade; the five resplendent Tian Zhu behind him burst forth with dazzling radiance, and his fierce blade light came cleaving down, slicing through the air, colliding with the wind pearls.

Hum!

The blade light split open the wind pearls, but the endless storms contained within poured forth in an even more violent manner; the Dragon Elephant Blade in Li Luo's hand erupted with the roars of dragon and elephant, and the phase force within his body was driven to its absolute limit, continuously dissolving the storm's assault.

His figure, too, was inevitably sent skidding backward by the impact.

Li Luo, relying on his three phase palaces, though only at the five-star Tian Zhu Jing, possessed a depth of phase force no less than that of a seven-star Tian Zhu Jing strong foe—of course, the premise being that this strong foe did not possess a ninth-grade phase.

And the wind phase that this Chen Zhu Xuan carried clearly had not reached ninth grade.

But... although Chen Zhu Xuan did not have a ninth-grade phase, with this impromptu breakthrough, he had far surpassed Li Luo in terms of phase force level.

Therefore, in this clash, it was unquestionably Chen Zhu Xuan who reversed the situation and gained the upper hand.

This scene likewise fell into the sight of countless spectators outside the battle platform, which actually invigorated some of them—finally, this Li Luo had met a tough nut to crack!

"This Chen Zhu Xuan does have some ability. He's been hiding this move, probably aiming for a first-tier quota." At the gathering spot for students of that Tianyuan Ancient Academy, Mo Yun witnessed this scene and commented with a smile.

"What Chen Zhu Xuan said is true enough. In terms of age, this Li Luo is only at the Three-Star Hall of the Holy Academy. He might be considered dominant within the Three-Star Hall, but if that alone earns him the title of 'Invincible Bearing,' then that evaluation is honestly rather cheap."

"Senior Zong Sha, what do you think?"

Zong Sha understood Mo Yun's meaning — he wanted to belittle Li Luo to prove that his failure leading the team in the Spirit Phase Grotto-Heaven this time was not his fault. He immediately couldn't be bothered to pay Mo Yun any attention.

Jiang Jiang Wanyu, however, slightly furrowed her delicate brows and said, "The results aren't out yet. Senior Mo Yun need not rush to conclusions."

Mo Yun grew even more annoyed upon hearing this. After all, his admiration for Jiang Jiang Wanyu was not something of just a day or two, but she had never given him the time of day. Now she was so openly favoring Li Luo, which made his heart flare with rage. Immediately, in a barbed tone, he said, "That is indeed true. This Li Luo seems to still be hiding a trump card of external beast power. I just wonder if he dares to use it."

Jiang Jiang Wanyu's pretty face went cold. She didn't want to pay him any attention either, her gaze fixed only on the battle stage.

There, Chen Zhu Xuan, who had temporarily gained the upper hand through his resonance power level, had already begun preparing to launch his attack.

But just at this moment, Li Luo took a calm, deep breath. Within that water-light resonance palace, on the surface of the clear lake, golden water droplets containing "Origin Qi" quietly shattered one by one.

Wisps of "Origin Qi" whistled out, merging with the resonance power within Li Luo's body.

Chen Zhu Xuan, who had been hovering in the air with violent wind beneath his feet preparing to strike, suddenly froze mid-step. His gaze, somewhat uncertain and wary, locked onto the space behind Li Luo.

He saw that, behind those five dazzling Heavenly Pearls—

—at this very moment, two more dazzlingly bright Heavenly Pearls slowly condensed into being.

Seven-Star Heavenly Pearls?!

Li Luo looked at Chen Zhu Xuan, whose expression was subtly shifting, and a smile also surfaced on his face.

"I may have no intention of claiming invincibility, but it is not for the likes of you to bluster before me."

"A mere Lesser Heavenly Phase practitioner who has yet to attain a Jin Yin."

"What of it if I cut you down?"