Chapter 35: Heaven and Earth Lose Color

After a year of accumulating strength, Zhou Yi has gained many more means of dealing with enemies, and his trump cards are emerging one after another.

If one were to categorize Zhou Yi's various trump cards now, there is no doubt that the first tier is purely relying on swordsmanship and Divine Ability for combat; since these techniques have only been learned for a year, their power is not yet mature, so they can only be ranked in the first tier.

The second tier relies on physical combat using his martial soul and soul skills; his formidable physical constitution and the augmentation of various soul skills allow him to easily challenge those of higher ranks.

The third tier is the combined combat of his martial soul and his Divine Ability domain, which elevates his combat power to another level; this is also the limit of his personal martial prowess.

There is also a fourth tier: utilizing his martial soul or Divine Ability Talismans to incite natural disasters for combat; this is his strongest move at present. Before his personal strength reaches a certain realm, the power of natural disasters is far superior to human strength. The Qilin he once used against Tang Hao and the Heavenly Feather Dragon-Slaying Dance he used against Qian Renxue were both moves that could only deal damage far exceeding his own strength by borrowing the might of natural disasters.

If not for relying on natural disasters like thunderstorms and tornadoes, it would be impossible to make Tang Hao use his Avatar of the Martial Soul or to defeat Qian Renxue while she was wearing the Angel Divine Armor using only his own strength; it could even be called a fantasy. This is the power of nature.

Of course, besides these four tiers of attack modes, Zhou Yi's means of escape are also top-notch. For short-distance displacement, he has "Harmonizing with the Light and Dust," and for long-distance escape, he can rely on the talent newly awakened by Jin Ling: "A Journey of Ten Thousand Li on the Wings of a Peng." It can be said that he is perhaps the freest person on the Douluo Continent right now; if he wants to escape, no one can catch him.

As for today, he will use at most the strength of the first three tiers. It is not a life-or-death battle, and the natural disaster he could incite with his current strength would definitely leave Zhao Wuji severely injured or even dead. Today, he just wants to take this opportunity to integrate what he has learned and master it thoroughly.

Turning his gaze back to the arena.

As the two finished speaking, Zhou Yi directly drew the gorgeous sword at his waist, used "Harmonizing with the Light and Dust" to appear behind Zhao Wuji, and slashed at his back. This sword strike could be called extremely tricky; if it were an ordinary person, it would be impossible to block.

However, Zhao Wuji had earned his strength through his own fighting; years of combat experience, plus extreme vigilance, allowed him to barely condense a protective Qi shield on his back. But even with such a quick reaction, a shallow cut still appeared on his back.

This strike made him completely treat Zhou Yi as an opponent of the same level.

Zhou Yi was not in a hurry; one move missed, and the next followed closely. He teleported from the other side to strike again, while Zhao Wuji used his Vajra Palm to block repeatedly.

The onlookers could all see the power of Zhou Yi's swordsmanship—sometimes heavy as if light, sometimes as free-spirited as an antelope hanging by its horns. It didn't look like a fight at all, but rather like a sword dance that was pleasing to the eye. However, it contained countless dangers; if it weren't for a Spirit Master like Zhao Wuji who excels in strength and defense, they might have already suffered multiple wounds under Zhou Yi's elegant and sharp swordsmanship.

For a time, a series of clanging sounds rang out in the arena, and at the same time, the collision between the long sword and the protective Qi shield continuously produced golden sparks.

In the eyes of Tang San and the others, the speed disadvantage that was not a weakness became a true weakness here with Zhou Yi. The two attacked each other for a long time, and Zhao Wuji didn't even touch the corner of Zhou Yi's clothes. If Zhou Yi were to continue, attacking the same spot repeatedly, it wouldn't be long before even his protective Qi shield would be broken.

Zhao Wuji knew this was not the way, so he used his Third Soul Skill, Gravity Enhancement, and his Fifth Soul Skill, Gravity Compression, one after another.

"You slippery little monkey! Just wait until I catch you! I'll show you!"

In an instant, Zhou Yi's body lost control and was continuously pulled and dragged into the small black vortex in front of Zhao Wuji.

"Run! Are you still going to run?" Zhao Wuji was also angered by this kind of battle where he couldn't touch his opponent.

Taking advantage of the moment Zhou Yi was being continuously pulled, he slapped him with his full-strength Vajra Palm, but Zhou Yi did not panic.

He saw him close his eyes slightly, his sword-holding hand hanging naturally, and his whole person entered the realm of "heart like still water" and "unity of heaven and man" in an instant.

Then he whispered softly,

"Heaven and Earth Lose Color..."

Swish—

As the words fell, an astonishing sword intent spread rapidly from Zhou Yi's body to the surroundings, appearing slow but actually fast.

For a time, except for Zhou Yi, everything around—the scenery, objects, and people—turned black and white. The entire world fell into stillness, and only Zhou Yi possessed other colors, looking so striking.

The onlookers Dai Mubai, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and others, although their bodies were stilled, their brains were spinning rapidly. They were all stunned; what the hell is this...!?

Forgive Tang San; as an outer sect disciple and a shut-in in his previous life, he didn't recognize what this was at all. If the elders of their Tang Sect were here, they would definitely be shocked. Isn't this one of the highest mental cultivation methods of the Daoist Sect, "Heaven and Earth Lose Color"? And it had even been transformed into sword intent by Zhou Yi.

And Zhao Wuji on the field had his pupils shrink; he also had some guesses. He thought of a certain legend: it is said that Sword Douluo Jian Chenxin once realized the Seven Kill Sword intent through the accumulation of half his life.

But at this age, how could this little brat realize sword intent? Among the known sword-type Spirit Masters on the Continent, it is only said that only Sword Douluo has realized sword intent.

While everyone was unable to move and lost in thought, Zhou Yi slashed with his sword. The next moment, he had already appeared several meters behind Zhao Wuji. Subsequently, the world slowly returned to normal, as if a black-and-white ink painting had been given color by a painter.

The vortex in front of Zhao Wuji shattered, and a sword mark that was neither deep nor shallow appeared on his chest.

"Sigh... the swordsmanship is still not practiced to perfection..."

Zhou Yi sighed lightly. Just now, this "Heaven and Earth Lose Color" only lasted for two seconds. Of course, this was aimed at Zhao Wuji; if it were aimed at Tang San and the others around, it could even last for 10 seconds.

And Tang Hao, who had been watching from the shadows from the beginning—Zhou Yi noticed that when his sword intent spread to him, he trembled slightly and then regained his color. This means that the current sword intent is not a threat at all to someone of Tang Hao's strength.

However, what he didn't know was how shocked Tang Hao was inside.

"I didn't expect that the little brat from back then has already grown so much?"

He looked at Xiao Wu and Tang San again and continued to think, "Xiao San, you must also work hard, if you don't want to repeat the tragedy of your mother and me."

In fact, Tang Hao is very tolerant of the younger generation, regardless of what faction they belong to.

As mentioned in the original work, when Tang San was in Shalu Zhi Du, he had been silently following him. With Tang Hao's strength, even the King of Slaughter did not discover him.

In the end, when Tang San saved Hu Liena on the Hell Road, he was actually very appreciative and gratified by Tang San's actions. It can be seen that he would not take action against young people or have prejudices because of hatred between factions; on the contrary, he is very tolerant and magnanimous toward the younger generation. Moreover, he is responsible enough for Tang San, personally following and protecting him.

In contrast, Bibi Dong—who knows how many geniuses from other factions she has devoured with her martial soul over the years... perhaps she had already fallen into madness because of Qian Xunji and the Rakshasa God.

Returning to the battle between Zhou Yi and Zhao Wuji,

Zhou Yi also had some understanding of his own swordsmanship strength. Although there was an extra cut on Zhao Wuji's chest, for someone with thick skin and flesh like Zhao Wuji, it could only be considered a minor injury.

"Kid, what is your relationship with His Excellency Sword Douluo?"

"I was lucky enough to learn a move or two from Senior Sword." After saying this, he sheathed his sword and threw the scabbard with the sword inside toward Zhu Zhuqing, and Zhu Zhuqing caught it with great tacit understanding. This sword could be considered a fine piece; as a gift from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he did not want it to be damaged.

"Hmph! Brother Yi is invincible! Grandpa Sword once said that Brother Yi's talent in the Dao of the Sword is incomparable!" Ning Rongrong, who saw Zhou Yi display sword intent again from the side, was very excited, turning into a little fan girl and bragging about Zhou Yi crazily to the others.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing keeping the sword safe, Zhou Yi looked at Zhao Wuji and said,

"Again!"

"What, you still have stronger moves?" Zhao Wuji didn't believe it; he thought the power of the sword intent just now was already his limit.

Zhou Yi, however, ignited his fighting spirit again and shouted loudly:

"Thunder! Dragon!"

Instantly, his whole body was wrapped in thunder, horns grew on his head, his two hands turned into dragon claws, purple dragon scales appeared on the surface of parts of his skin, and the surrounding air crackled with electricity.

With a "Boom—" sound,

A purple thunderbolt suddenly slammed into Zhao Wuji. Before he could react, he was kicked dozens of meters away by Zhou Yi.

Boom—

Boom—

Boom—

Zhao Wuji, like a cannonball, kept knocking down the surrounding buildings. In the blink of an eye, several uninhabited empty houses turned into a pile of ruins, and a large amount of dust drifted out.

After a while,

A heaven-shaking bear roar suddenly came from the ruins, and the phantom of a Vajra Bear appeared behind Zhao Wuji, who rushed toward Zhou Yi like a streak of light.

"Brat! You have completely angered me!!!"

Seeing this scene, the purple Thunder Dragon phantom that appeared behind Zhou Yi let out an even more heaven-shaking and resounding dragon roar; Zhou Yi did not dodge or evade, turning into a bolt of lightning and meeting the charge head-on.

"Boom—"

The impact generated by the collision of the two lights blew the few people watching the show nearby back several steps.

At this moment, the only two words in the hearts of the crowd nearby were, "Holy! Shit!!!"