Chapter 257: If You Want to Win, Listen to Me!

Su Donglai's face was expressionless, coldly silent.

Seeing this, the smile vanished from He Zaiyun's face, and his gaze turned sullen.

"Fine! Today let me have a taste of the eleventh-ranked Hidden Dragon's skill!"

As his words fell, without waiting for the referee to announce the start, his figure drifted like a swimming fish, weaving a curved trajectory across the arena, tearing through the air, and surging to stand before Su Donglai.

Whoosh!

Su Donglai slashed out with a blade, a fierce blade Qi flashing and vanishing in an instant.

"Boom~"

Accompanied by a deep, muffled roar, He Zaiyun's attack was sliced apart by Su Donglai's single blade strike.

He Zaiyun let out a low growl, his surrounding aura surging violently as his Ninth Stage Innate cultivation was unleashed without reservation; with a sharp "clack," the iron fan in his hand suddenly shot six cold-gleaming spikes from its tip, darting forth like venomous snakes emerging from their den, fiercely stabbing toward the vital points all over Su Donglai's body.

Swoosh~ swoosh~ swoosh~

The shrill sound of cutting wind whistled across the arena.

Su Donglai swung his blade to parry, channeling true Qi into the blade body; the two fought fiercely into a tangled melee on the arena, the clang of metal against metal ringing unceasingly in their ears.

Yet Su Donglai's blade technique was fierce—every strike a killing move—and carried a heart-palpitating blade intent. Within only a few exchanges, He Zaiyun was forced to retreat again and again; the ease on his face was gone, replaced by utter gravity.

"Hmph!"

He Zaiyun snorted coldly, and within Chen Mu's keen perception, a violent, destructive aura within him erupted with a thunderous roar.

Boom~

The air above the arena seemed instantly compressed, then was savagely torn apart by an invisible force!

He Zaiyun's six spikes at the tip of the iron fan actually detached and flew out, transforming into six fierce silver lights that, from different angles and along extremely tricky trajectories, launched a storm-like assault surrounding Su Donglai!

"Clang~ clang~ clang~"

Boom!

Boom~

Su Donglai's expression did not change; the long blade in his hand swept down like rain, the blade light weaving into an airtight barrier that blocked all six silver-light attacks with apparent ease.

But just then, He Zaiyun let out a great shout, and his free left hand suddenly slapped violently toward the sky.

Whoosh-roar—

A tremendous sound abruptly exploded across the sky.

A massive palm print, compressed from countless air currents, appeared out of thin air like a descending storm, instantly covering the entire arena and an area of several dozen meters around it!

The terrifying oppressive force caused the crowd closest to the arena to cry out in panic, scrambling backward in disarray.

Chen Mu stood in place, his figure utterly still, his gaze locked tightly on He Zaiyun, his heart stirring slightly.

"Storm Intent—and it's reached the Second Heaven!"

This powerful Intent force even disturbed the clouds above the plaza, shattering them in an instant; the turbulent air currents swirled and converged, forming a visible giant vortex above the arena, with all its power locked dead-on onto Su Donglai on the stage!

Su Donglai's face grew utterly solemn; he dared not be careless. As he swung his blade, the long blade in his hand blazed with dazzling light, killing moves unleashed one after another, the fierce blade Qi tearing the air and leaving clear trails behind.

Yet, facing He Zaiyun's violent assault that fused Storm Intent with six top-grade spirit-armor-level spikes, Su Donglai began to appear overmatched; the blade-light barrier was compressed again and again, and his feet involuntarily slid backward.

"Is that all you've got?!"

He Zaiyun shouted at the opportune moment, his voice carrying provocation and arrogance.

Su Donglai's face remained expressionless, but his eyes suddenly grew sharp as a blade.

His surrounding aura abruptly changed, that killing blade intent soaring to its extreme in an instant!

Within Chen Mu's perception, Su Donglai's essence, Qi, and spirit condensed in an instant, climbing to their peak.

"Slash!"

Accompanied by a tearing, strange sound, Su Donglai gripped his blade with both hands and fiercely slashed out a condensed, solid-as-reality, ten-meter-long terrifying blade gleam.

Wherever the blade gleam passed, He Zaiyun's violent spike storm was forcibly split apart and shredded to pieces.

"Boom~"

"Rumble!"

Amid the explosions, He Zaiyun's figure shook violently; he groaned, a wisp of fresh blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but he did not fall—instead the fighting intent in his eyes burned fiercer, and he let out a great laugh.

"Hahaha, now that's more like it!"

"You take one of my moves too!"

As his shout fell, Chen Mu keenly sensed an obscure spiritual ripple spreading out from He Zaiyun—

A spiritual attack!

Su Donglai was about to press forward in pursuit when his figure suddenly stalled, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer; his face instantly went pale, and his gaze also showed a momentary glaze.

He Zaiyun seized this fleeting chance; with a thought, those six spikes that had been sent flying once more transformed into silver lights, attacking from extremely tricky angles toward Su Donglai, whose aura was in disarray and whose mind had been wounded!

Su Donglai forcibly endured the stabbing pain in his mind, barely dodging while swinging his blade to parry, but his movements were clearly sluggish by several degrees, and his aura was also far weaker than before.

A cold light flashed in his eyes, killing intent bursting forth—he was clearly enraged by this treacherous method.

Just as Su Donglai was preparing to disregard everything and use even more extreme means to counterattack, Chen Mu's calm voice, transmitted through true Qi, clearly entered his mind.

【Have you forgotten the rules of the match? You can't kill your opponent!】

Su Donglai's moving figure gave a slight start, his violent aura faltering for a beat, but it soon recovered—only the killing intent in his eyes had收敛ed somewhat, as he still tried to find a way to break the deadlock.

Chen Mu's voice sounded again.

【I believe you can kill him, but beating him is hard. If you want to win, listen to me!】

【Who are you?】

Su Donglai transmitted via true Qi, asking Chen Mu, 【What's your purpose in helping me?】

【Who I am, you'll know once you're done.】

Chen Mu replied through true Qi transmission, 【I'm helping you because I want to make a deal with you—one within your capabilities.】

【Good!】

Su Donglai responded decisively almost the instant he heard the transmission, without the slightest hesitation.

Decisive enough!

Chen Mu thought to himself, quite appreciative of this.

Su Donglai was a rogue cultivator, having gone through over a hundred great and small battles, but they were basically all life-and-death fights!

Speaking of experience in killing and fighting for his life, he was very rich, every move vicious, but when dealing with sparring challenges where no one dies, especially when facing opponents like He Zaiyun who possessed special means and powerful Intent, his on-the-spot adaptation and combat strategy appeared relatively one-dimensional.

Benefiting from the many experience cards absorbed previously, Chen Mu's horizons and knowledge in combat were extremely broad, especially the teaching experience just absorbed, which made him nothing short of a master in guiding people against enemies.

Chen Mu had only watched the fight between Su Donglai and He Zaiyun for a few moments before rapidly analyzing the key to the battle situation!

He Zaiyun's hard-to-defend-against spiritual attack was the biggest difficulty that Su Donglai, who had no spirit-protecting treasure, could not avoid.

If one did not pay the price of fighting for one's life, to defeat He Zaiyun, one must find his flaw and exploit it.

Chen Mu discovered that He Zaiyun's Storm Intent was indeed formidable, having already reached the Second Heaven, its power astonishing.

But his Wu Gong foundation was relatively ordinary.

It was not that his cultivation method was lacking, but rather that He Zaiyun himself had not grasped and excavated his cultivation method deeply enough, his use of true Qi remaining superficial, including the upper-grade spirit weapon iron fan in his hand, which he merely performed simple wielding and thrusting with, failing to bring out its true wondrous uses!