Chapter 241: Charging the Realm During Battle

The crucial third round determined the spots for entering the Sages' Holy Land, leaving everyone's nerves stretched taut.

This feeling was as if one step forward led to the vast blue sea and sky, while one step back meant all efforts were in vain.

Because if one did not enter the Sages' Holy Land, all efforts made here would vanish like bubbles.

In the morning, within the Lingxi Dao Arena where the morning light spilled down.

Although a hint of summer heat remained in the wind, which vaguely carried a touch of desolation, the dryness had become so slight it was imperceptible; instead, there was an added chill of autumn, perfectly matching the fair weather.

The Seven Great Xian Sects and the thousand-year-old aristocratic families were all gathered here, among them twenty-four practitioners of the Realm of Profound Understanding sitting upright; one could see saber Qi crisscrossing and heavenly light flashing frequently on the stage.

Zheng Lei was indeed a soft persimmon; in terms of strength, entering the third round was truly scraping by.

In other words, his luck played a large part.

The person challenging him was Ba Yang, who had broken through his realm just before the match, and his saber strikes were like swallowing mountains and rivers.

Wei Bo, in the second match, was better than Zheng Lei; his own strength was not weak, and the reason he was challenged was because the family-transmitted technique he relied on was heavy on defense but weak on offense.

In such a duel, if the opponent did not strike ruthlessly, the opportunities would be much greater.

After all, defense cannot win a match.

Everyone who had watched Wei Bo knew that from the group stage to the third round, whenever he encountered a powerful opponent, the strategy Wei Bo adopted was to use his family-transmitted Heavenly Light Guidance to grind away the opponent's spiritual energy.

The opponent challenging him was Li Yunlang, who had received much attention beforehand.

However, unlike the straightforward battle with Zheng Lei, this match ultimately had changes, because in this match, Wei Bo changed his technique, and the intense aura of slaughter made people's eyes light up.

This person had been holding back before.

But Li Yunlang's Qi energy also rose abruptly, his aura suddenly becoming rigid, giving Wei Bo even greater suppression.

Seeing this scene, some people's expressions became much more solemn, such as the group from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's Management Courtyard, as well as Cao Jingsong, Wen Zhengxin, Ban Yangshu, and Pei Ruyi, along with Xiang Kuangcheng and Wei Rui.

They were not concerned about Wei Bo, nor were they concerned about Li Yunlang; it was just that the fact that both of them had been holding back stirred their nerves.

The duel between Wei Bo and Li Yunlang ended before noon, and the ultimate winner was Li Yunlang.

After half an hour of rest and recuperation, everyone's gaze began to focus on the north and south sides; in fact, long before the previous two duels, eyes had been constantly darting between these two directions, because everyone knew that the battle to follow was the reason they had come here today.

Before long, the young master in brocade clothes on the south side, draped in a black gauze robe, walked to the front of the stage carrying a heavy sword, while a figure in white robes with a sword also drifted over from the north, stopping at the waiting area.

Seeing this scene, everyone could not help but fix their gaze.

Yesterday, Ji You had dueled Chen Ruiyang, stubbornly using a head-on confrontation stance to slash until Chen Ruiyang was backlashed by his own Ten-Stage Slash, sparking discussion throughout the entire garden.

A wild private cultivator with no background walking step by step to this point actually made those aristocratic family disciples, who had been pampered and had family legacies, feel quite humiliated.

The influence of the Heavenly Dao Assembly was immense, and many aristocratic families with daughters, besides watching the battle, also harbored the intention of choosing a son-in-law here.

However, since yesterday, the phenomenon of boasting about one's aristocratic background had clearly diminished.

Because after Ji You defeated Chen Ruiyang, the more one boasted about one's family background, the more it made one seem useless.

But even now, everyone could not understand why he had chosen Yan Hao; it made no sense.

Ji You also had others present when he went to the Immortal Supervision Bureau yesterday; they all knew Ji You went extremely early, and at that time, Wei Bo had not yet been chosen.

If the two of them had dueled, many people felt Ji You's chances of winning would be extremely high, and entering the Sages' Holy Land would be a certainty; who knew he would make such a decision.

"After the duel begins, you must be careful that this Yan Hao might be holding back."

"You saw Wei Bo and Li Yunlang just now; compared to their previous battles, they were like different people, and this Yan Hao is naturally the same."

"I just observed his Qi for a moment and only saw a blur; he must be hiding something."

The three managers of the Management Courtyard came to the waiting area together and gave him a series of exhortations.

Ji You nodded: "I will be careful."

"Actually, you might as well have chosen Wei Bo; you saw it just now, if you faced him, the risk would be almost negligible."

"The choice is made; thinking about it now is meaningless."

The three managers also knew this logic, and as they fell silent, they could not help but look toward the southwest.

Standing there was a group of elders with white hair and beards, wearing the immortal robes of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, their expressions gloomy and faintly tinged with anger; they were the elders who had come to participate in the Dao discussion at the Heavenly Dao Assembly.

Yesterday, when the news of Ji You challenging Yan Hao spread, these elders, who originally did not care much about the disciples' duels, suddenly went to Ji You and told him to withdraw from the duel.

It was not because they did not want Ji You to lose, but because they did not want their own Dao discussion to fail.

The Heavenly Dao Assembly had been like this for thousands of years; the disciple battles had a very direct impact on the Dao discussion battles.

After all, if you are there lecturing, arguing about the Heavenly Dao with your opponent, impassioned and spitting everywhere, and it turns out the disciples in your sect are either losing or winning by cheating, then even if the Dao you speak of is brilliant, it simply cannot stand.

Over the past few days, Wang Gaocen and Gu Zetao had been defeated one after another, and Xiao Hanyan had won a miserable victory by secretly using a magic tool, which had already begun to affect their Dao discussion.

They were already feeling urgent, and later, upon hearing that Ji You had slashed Chen Ruiyang into waste with eight swords, they had relaxed slightly; who knew Ji You would actually pick the opponent with the highest risk in the ring match.

They were unwilling to see such risk and naturally wanted to intervene in this matter.

As a result, Ji You did not pay them any mind at all, just chuckled twice.

The Elder Pavilion was instantly furious, and then in a fit of anger, they were angry for a moment.

Because they suddenly discovered that they had nothing they could use to threaten Ji You; whether it was elixirs, spirit stones, or techniques, they had nothing.

Ji You held his sword and entered the arena, walking to the circular stage and standing still, while Yan Hao, draped in a gauze robe, also walked onto the circular stage and raised his eyes to look him over.

"You could have originally entered the top ten, but your choice is truly poor; I am very curious, the people of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan were actually willing to let you choose me, or rather, you chose me without informing them."

"Otherwise, I think no one would be willing to face me in this round."

"Victory can sometimes cloud the mind, which is why cultivation emphasizes a clear Dao heart; your cultivation base is still lacking."

That someone dared to choose him on the first day of the challenge match truly made Yan Hao feel surprised, thinking someone had gone insane.

Later, someone told him about this person slashing Chen Ruiyang with a sword, making him realize that this Heavenly Tian Shuyuan disciple was not an ordinary person; he also seemed to be following the path of the heavy sword, but to him, this was useless.

Yan Hao spoke as he reached out his hand, grabbed the gauze robe draped over his shoulders, and slowly untied it; as that layer of gauze fell to the ground, the aura around his body gradually began to emerge.

The next instant, the scene was in an uproar; many people could not help but stand up from their seats, their eyes staring fixedly at Yan Hao, feeling something unusual from his aura.

"He... he has merged with the Dao?"

"Yan Hao has merged with the Dao!"

"No wonder, no wonder in the previous few battles, I always felt he seemed to be hiding something; in reality, he was hiding the aura of breaking through the barrier!"

Yan Hao looked at Ji You at this moment, a trace of arrogance flashing in his eyes.

His goal from the beginning was not as simple as the top ten; he wanted to take first place, he wanted to enter the deepest part of the Sages' Holy Land to find the Sages' inheritance; this matter was very important to their Heavenly Jianfeng.

Therefore, before coming here, he had long since prepared to break through the barrier just before the match.

Actually, in his view, the third round did not really require breaking through the realm to deal with, but among the thirty people who advanced, three had broken through the realm first, which made him slightly worried.

But this was also good; having hidden for so long, Yan Hao suddenly had a feeling of complete liberation, his whole body's Qi energy bursting forth, gradually filling the closed barrier.

Seeing this scene, the people of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan changed color drastically.

They knew Yan Hao had a backup plan, but they did not know he had hidden such a big one.

Even Cao Jingsong, who had always blindly trusted his own wicked disciple, could not help but knit his brows at this moment.

And the most intense reaction came from the elders of the Management Pavilion; they were originally grumbling because Ji You did not obey the decree, and at this moment, seeing that Yan Hao was already at the Initial Realm of Merging with the Dao, besides being indignant, they also felt a sense of vindication.

"Acting so stubbornly and arrogantly, I fear our Heavenly Tian Shuyuan will lose again."

Elder Xiao finished speaking and could not help but want to scold a few more times, but was suddenly enveloped by a chill, his scalp tightening, and he immediately opened his eyes wide, turning his head to look at the small building not far away.

And where that chill came from, Yan Shuyi was looking at an elder beside her, with a faint smile: "Seventh Uncle, how has your health been lately?"

"Many thanks for the concern, Inspector; this old man's health is quite good."

"Seventh Uncle also knows that I have never entered the Sages' Holy Land, so I always feel curious in my heart; besides accelerating cultivation, what else exists in this Holy Land? Seventh Uncle, can you enlighten your niece?"

"This Holy Land is full of wonders; besides being able to listen to the Heavenly Dao personally, causing cultivation to advance rapidly, it is said that there are also inheritances of the same origin as the Sacred Artifacts, connecting to the Heavenly Dao itself, but for so many years, no one has ever found them."

"Same origin as the Sacred Artifacts, so that's how it is..."

Yan Shuyi looked at Yan Hao in the arena, her gaze slightly cold.

The gazes of Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu were originally on Ji You, their faces full of worry; after all, it was they who had influenced Ji You back then, making Ji You choose Yan Hao here, and it was not until they heard this conversation that their mouths opened slightly, and they turned their heads to look at Yan Hao.

Actually, although breaking through the realm just before the match is not prohibited by the rules, it is mostly disdained by everyone; with Yan Hao's personality and strength, breaking through the realm early in the third round was not entirely necessary.

Moreover, he hid this matter of charging the realm very thoroughly, and even those around him were not very clear about it; it was not until yesterday that some aura accidentally leaked out.

In other words, the path he took was even more steady than his personality, which also indicated that what he was plotting was not just this, or perhaps what Heavenly Jianfeng was plotting was not just this.

The two felt their hearts sink and looked toward their own Inspector.

For more than a decade, Heavenly Jianfeng had been trying every possible way to find a method for the Spirit Mirror to choose its master again...

Thinking of this, the two suddenly pulled away from the worry just now and fell into even greater worry, their lips even turning grayish-white.

Only Ji You, after seeing the aura Yan Hao displayed, lowered his head and glanced at that gauze robe, unable to take his eyes off the orange-yellow embedded within it.

Another good thing this poor ghost had never seen before...

"Is that made of gold?"

"?"

Just at this moment, the bronze gong in the arena suddenly resounded.

A biting aura suddenly whistled out from the circular stage, the thick sound of sword humming resounded throughout the field; even though the killing intent was blocked by the closed barrier, its sense of pressure was transmitted in all directions, instantly making people feel a sense of palpitations.

Ba Yang, who had no family legacy and no deep background, was able to push all the way here just by crossing one more realm.

Then, for an immortal sect bloodline like Yan Hao, who was born noble, covered in legacies, and had now passed the threshold of Merging with the Dao, the terrifying nature of his combat power could naturally be imagined.

Boom!

The sword roar was like an angry thunder piercing the ears, the sound waves making everyone's eardrums ache.

Amidst the thick resonance, Yan Hao held the heavy black mysterious iron sword, looked down from the air with cold eyes, and slashed down; the sword body dragged out a pitch-black aura, as if a mountain were collapsing.

Seeing this scene, everyone could not help but hold their breath.

Many people had watched Ji You's previous battle and seen Chen Ruiyang, who started with the Ten-Stage Saber, directly slash open all the Qi energy he had stirred up; at this moment, Yan Hao used an even more domineering method, crushing all the surrounding Qi energy with just his thick sword Qi, his soaring sword intent making the entire barrier tremble constantly.

Sword intent is something formed by the resonance between the sword Dao itself and heaven and earth; it is said that before sword intent that is difficult to parry, some people cannot even draw their swords.

They passively substituted themselves for Ji You under this black sword, seemingly already feeling the intense pain of the giant mountain smashing down and crushing their spines, causing a chill to instantly shoot up their spines.

Especially Ba Yang, whose entire complexion could not help but turn pale.

Being the same person who broke through the realm just before the match and entered the same realm, at this moment, he felt an extremely obvious gap.

This battle should end very quickly, because this sword is very difficult to catch!

Amidst the wind and waves, Yan Hao's eyes were cold, slashing with his sword, his power reaching ten thousand jun.

Clang!

Just as everyone was judging whether Ji You could catch this opening sword, the harsh sound of metal clashing tore through the stagnant air like tearing silk, making everyone's temples throb.

But what was astonishing was that the heavy sword that crushed everything did not slash all the way down without obstruction as imagined, but was directly pressed in mid-air amidst a splash of sparks.

It was not a matter of catching or not catching.

At that time, Ji You held his sword horizontally amidst the wind and waves, the three-foot green blade in his hand making that mysterious iron heavy sword hum constantly, but it could not advance an inch, stunning everyone for a moment.

Ji You's build was of the lean type, like a scholar, looking quite delicate, but after he made his move, the aura around his body changed drastically; the original elegance faded away, replaced by the grim pressure of a dormant beast about to choose someone to devour.

At this moment, a scorching aura erupted from his entire body, surging and magnificent, like flames from a furnace, spreading in all directions.

On the west side of the high platform, Chen Ruiyang, whose arms were bound by bandages, knitted his brows, his spiritual sense trembling.

In yesterday's duel, Ji You's power had already far exceeded his imagination, and the power he displayed today was even more unfamiliar than the day before.

At this moment, Yan Hao's pupils constricted; under the heat wave, his heart trembled violently.

For a sword practitioner, the sword is a part of the body; although it is not a bare-handed fight, there is still a tactile sensation when the two blades intersect.

And the feeling fed back by his sword just now made him feel as if he had slashed into something unshakable...

Just at this moment, Ji You loosened his sword and turned his wrist; the Dao sword that had been clashing with him suddenly soared into the air, and as he waved his hand, another sword appeared in his right hand, raised along with his arm.

Veins bulged under his skin like coiled ancient vines; as his arm gathered strength, his muscles tightened like a fully drawn bowstring, and the aura surrounding his body became even more scorching; then, he saw the Dao sword in front of him slash down with a boom.

With a hum!

That intense sword Qi seemed to cut through the air, making people's skin ache, and at the same time, wherever the sword edge passed, ripples constantly appeared in the air.

Yan Hao's scalp tightened; he was all too familiar with the ripples cut out by that sword edge, because his strongest sword could also make the air stagnate for an instant.

With a clatter, the three-foot green blade in front of him fell wildly, and a heavy Qi energy instantly filled his arms.

The Qi energy that crushed everything came to the edge, slashing Yan Hao back three zhang, the heavy sword in his hand shaking until the web between his thumb and index finger ached.

Sure enough, after an immortal sect descendant crosses the threshold of Merging with the Dao, the difference from others is still very large.

Ji You could not help but mutter after dropping his sword, his fighting spirit beginning to rise even higher.

His goal from the beginning was to make Yan Hao lose more ugly; when he started, he had already held nothing back, his physical strength fully bursting forth; the only thing he did not use was the sword Dao of Spirit Sword Mountain.

After all, using Spirit Sword Mountain's sword Dao to defeat Yan Hao would only show that he himself was strong, not make people feel Yan Hao was weak.

But even so, this was not something that could be easily resisted.

Because according to his theory, the pure physical strength he obtained after body refinement reached the level of Merging with the Dao.

While he was thinking, a loud shout suddenly rang out; Yan Hao opened his Qi energy fully, his entire body's spiritual energy surging out, and at the same time, he raised his sword, the Four Profound Mountains of the sword Dao splitting the wind and slashing the waves.

With a boom.

That mysterious iron heavy sword was slashed back again, and Yan Hao directly pulled a thin sword from the sword body.

As the sword Qi soared into the sky, a sharp sword hum exploded like a cold light, slashing toward Ji You's face at high speed.

Ji You dodged to the side and retreated, at the same time picking up his sword and slashing horizontally.

Amidst the saber light and sword shadows, the audience was silent, only seeing the powerful iron swords constantly clashing, with only one thought in their minds.

That is, who is in the Realm of Profound Understanding, and who is in the Realm of Merging with the Dao?

They did not know why they could not understand, why they could not judge...

Cao Jingsong also watched the figure on the ring with a pounding heart at this moment; after taking a few deep breaths, he could not help but mutter to himself, "My wicked disciple."

He knew that Ji You, who refined his body, might have the strength to fight someone in the Realm of Merging with the Dao, but that was based on Ji You using the Spirit Sword Mountain sword Dao, not relying on pure Qi energy slashes.

Until this moment, he knew that this wicked disciple had never used his full strength before.

What kind of monster did he bring out of Yuyang County because of a moment of compassion back then?

Just as the sword shadows were constantly flickering, a sword hum different from the past rang out like the sound of clear silver bells, rapid and fast.

Seeing this scene, the disciples of Spirit Sword Mountain could not help but have their hearts moved.

Dao Sword: Bai Hong Illumination.

Not bad; everyone thought that Ji Shidi (Senior Brother) Yan's heavy sword was the fatal killing intent and felt that his thin sword was just to make up for the lack of speed and for use in emergencies.

But no one knew that his thin sword could be stronger, faster, and sharper.

With a clatter, the clashing of metal in the arena suddenly stalled for an instant.

Everyone gathered their spiritual sense and saw Ji You in the wind and waves stepping back; his white robe was slashed with a long, narrow sword mark, and his inner shirt seemed to be torn as well, revealing his smooth, jade-like chest.

"It lives up to being Bai Hong Illumination, it's just a pity Ji You dodged too fast; this sword didn't slash him, it only slashed his clothes!"

"No matter, as long as there is an opportunity, sooner or later it can be slashed."

"Look at this Ji You's sword-using habit; every three swords he slashes, there seems to be a step back, as if he is forcing himself to stand at the very center of the circular stage to feel comfortable!"

"Why would it be like this?"

"It's his personality; I also need to align my lapels when folding clothes to feel at ease, but what I'm talking about is not the lapels, but Ji Shidi Yan's opportunity; this step back is Ji Shidi Yan's opportunity!"

Actually, the people of Spirit Sword Mountain had a very good impression of Ji You, especially under the propaganda of the masked storyteller; many people felt he was a disciple raised outside by Spirit Sword Mountain.

But at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, the two represented two immortal sects; they naturally supported Yan Hao more and hoped to see an opportunity to break the situation.

In their eyes, Yan Hao's sword Dao cultivation was higher; they could see this bit of opportunity, and he would naturally see it too.

Just at this moment, Ji You slashed out three fierce swords, beating Yan Hao until he no longer had the arrogance he had at the beginning, but was full of ferocity, and he indeed, as the Spirit Sword Mountain disciples expected, looked at Ji You's step-back movement.

But for some reason, in that fleeting moment of opportunity, he did not draw that thin sword again.

Hum!

The spiritual energy around Ji You's body leaked wildly; he stepped into the sky and slashed down with a sword carrying ten thousand jun of power; with a thud, Yan Hao was slashed until his blood and Qi surged uncontrollably, his aura beginning to become chaotic.

(End of chapter)