Chapter 234: Shocking the Entire Arena!

As the sword incantation was cast, a flame sword qi, dozens of meters long and as solid as physical matter, slashed forth like a blade of heavenly retribution, meeting the dominant slash of the knife-light.

As a mysterious weapon, the "Sunken Long Jian" had its power at this moment unleashed to half its potential; even so, its blade hummed, faint dragon roars echoing alongside it, its aura far surpassing the mid-grade spiritual blade in Huang Kaiyuan's hand.

"Boom!!"

The knife and sword qi collided violently, unleashing a deafening roar!

A violent shockwave erupted from between them, lifting every stone slab in the courtyard, and nearby Zhenwu Corps soldiers were thrown backward by the air blast, stumbling and losing their footing.

Many among the Postnatal Realm were flung into the air, crashing into the courtyard walls, groaning and screaming without end.

Huang Kaiyuan, facing Chen Mu, felt a scorching, immense force travel up his blade, numbing his arms, his heart filled with shock.

"Damn it!"

"Chen's qi is clearly only at the Innate level—why is it so dense and dominant? And this sword, this sword art!"

Huang Kaiyuan was stunned.

Chen Mu laughed loudly, "Again!"

Boom~

Boom!

Amidst muffled explosions, both figures leapt upward simultaneously, fighting from the ground to mid-air!

Swish!

Shhh~

Boom boom boom!

Knife-light and sword-shadow wildly interwove and clashed in mid-air, producing an unending clang of metal on metal; stray knife qi and sword qi tore through the clouds above.

On the ground, every Zhenwu Corps soldier, as well as nearby civilians and martial artists drawn by the commotion, stood frozen in awe.

In their perception and vision, the qi fluctuations around Chen Mu were clearly no more than Seventh Stage Innate!

Yet Huang Kaiyuan was a genuine Earth Altar Realm Divine Bridge expert.

Yet.

These two, with such a vast cultivation gap, now fought evenly in mid-air, evenly matched!

"My god! Chen… Chen Inspector is holding his own against Earth Altar Realm Master Huang?"

"This… how is this possible? Am I seeing things?"

"Is this the Dragon's Nest List prodigy?"

"I told you—Chen my lord may be arrogant, but his strength is absolute! See? Did you see?!"

"Such a powerful sword art—and that sword, so strong!"

"It's a mysterious weapon! The sword in Chen my lord's hand is a mysterious weapon!!"

"…"

A chorus of gasps, shock, and disbelief erupted among the crowd.

In mid-air, Huang Kaiyuan grew more and more alarmed with each strike; he had unleashed every one of his secret techniques, his knife movements like a storm of rain and wind, yet he could never break through Chen Mu's sword art—flawlessly defensive, radiant and righteous, yet secretly bristling with lethal counterattacks.

"Damn it! How can he be this strong?!"

Huang Kaiyuan, both shocked and furious, seeing no progress despite prolonged assault, his eyes flashed with malice—he decided to risk everything!

He sharply gathered his spirit and activated a newly acquired, still unrefined spiritual technique—

An invisible, formless spiritual strike, sharp with murderous intent, like a poisoned needle, stabbed directly into Chen Mu's spiritual consciousness!

This was his hidden killing move—he was confident it could severely wound or even destroy the soul of a peer-level martial artist!

Yet.

The moment this spiritual attack entered Chen Mu's range, the "Three Laughs Buddha Beads" in his chest warmed slightly, a gentle, tranquil force quietly rippling outward, dissolving the murderous spiritual strike into nothingness.

Chen Mu felt no discomfort whatsoever; he merely sensed the attack through his keen perception.

"Hm? Spiritual attack?"

Chen Mu's eyes turned cold; as he shattered the knife qi from Huang's latest strike, an invisible ripple suddenly coalesced at his third eye.

Shocking Spike!

An invisible, needle-sharp spike, far denser, sharper, and more insidious than Huang Kaiyuan's crude spiritual technique, struck after but arrived first, piercing instantly into Huang Kaiyuan's unguarded spiritual consciousness!

Huang Kaiyuan was still stunned by Chen Mu's lack of reaction—when the next instant, his head felt as if a red-hot iron cone had been driven deep into his skull; searing pain flooded his mind, and he let out a piercing, agonized scream.

"Ahh~!!"

Screaming, Huang Kaiyuan's body froze mid-air, lost balance, swaying drunkenly, his assault utterly collapsing.

Swish! —

The Sunken Long Jian slashed in one fluid motion, a condensed flame sword qi like a blazing ribbon, striking squarely against Huang Kaiyuan, whose defenses were shattered by the agony in his brain.

"Puh—"

Huang Kaiyuan, as if struck heavily, spat a torrent of blood, his ribs shattered, his internal organs violently shaken; his entire body fell like a severed kite, plummeting straight down from dozens of meters in the air.

"Bang~!"

With a muffled thunderous crash, Huang Kaiyuan slammed onto the blue stone street outside the Zhenwu Corps gate, smashing a crater several meters wide, cracks spreading like a spiderweb in all directions.

The mid-grade spiritual blade in his hand flew free, clattering far away, its aura now chaotic and unstable.

Chen Mu floated gently down from the air, robes fluttering, spotless, holding the Sunken Long Jian, standing still beside the crater, calmly gazing at Huang Kaiyuan, gasping for breath at the bottom.

The entire street fell utterly silent, not even a pin could drop.

Everyone who witnessed this—Zhenwu Corps personnel and onlookers alike—held their breath, faces filled with utter shock and reverence.

Innate overcoming Earth Altar! And winning so decisively!

Dragon's Nest List rank thirty?

Dragon's Nest List rank ten would be more like it.

In the crowd.

Chen Ze gaped wide, his eyes bulging, pupils contracting, his body trembling faintly without even he himself noticing, both hands clenched tight.

"How is that possible!"

"How could Chen Mu possibly be that strong, able to defeat even an Earth Altar realm cultivator!?"

Both at the Seventh Stage of Heaven, yet facing a Perfect Stage of Heaven, Chen Ze had already found it thorny.

Yet Chen Mu—good grief—even Huang Kaiyuan of the Earth Altar realm Divine Bridge wasn't his match!

All along the way rushing to the prefecture city, Chen Ze had been pondering how to execute his Wu Gong, how to defeat Chen Mu.

Even if he couldn't win, he had to at least pull even.

However, seeing Chen Mu strike with his own eyes, witnessing the ferocious power Chen Mu unleashed—even though the mystic weapon in hand gave him some convenience.

But Chen Ze's eyesight had not yet declined.

Whether it was Chen Mu's true Qi, or his sword art, the faintly discernible sword momentum—none of it was something he could overcome.

Although before his defeat, Huang Kaiyuan had let out a miserable shriek, suspected to be Chen Mu using a spiritual attack.

No—he had absolutely deployed a spiritual attack!

But this precisely reflected Chen Mu's strength and talent.

Spiritual Wu Gong, secret arts—these aren't something just anyone can cultivate.

The "Hidden Sword Palace" also had Wu Gong in this area.

Chen Ze had once attempted to cultivate it, and the result was half a year spent just barely scraping into the threshold.

Yet Chen Mu could use it to wound an Earth Altar realm Divine Bridge expert.

The gap between the two…

Simply couldn't be compared!

At this thought, Chen Ze felt grateful he hadn't yet challenged Chen Mu.

Otherwise…

Slap!

A palm suddenly landed on Chen Ze's shoulder.