Chapter 308: One Won, One Lost

"Poof~"

The weeds on the ground turned dry, instantly bursting into flames, only to be burned to nothingness in a single moment, turning into ashes.

The yellow soil rapidly turned red.

Some stones began to melt.

In her panic, Zhang Suannai assembled four layers of Spirit Power Defense.

One layer was ten centimeters from her body, one was pressed against her clothes, one was pressed against her skin, and the final layer was beneath her skin. Yet, in this blazing sun, the outermost layer of Spirit Power Defense was instantly burned away, the second layer also rapidly diminished, and her entire set of clothes was burned red and translucent, gradually reaching its limit. However, the skin beneath the clothes remained as crystalline as jade under the Spirit Power Defense, even appearing faintly translucent.

Sustaining herself in this environment consumed a massive amount of Spirit Power every instant.

Zhang Suannai felt very bad right now.

As the second layer of defense collapsed, under the confrontation between Spirit Power and high heat, her entire skin became translucent to the extreme, as if made of jade or glass.

Her whole body was glowing.

When the third layer of defense also rapidly reached its limit, her body began to turn red, her skin wrinkled, her muscles atrophied, and waves of water vapor rose from her body; she could hardly control her own body anymore, wanting only to curl into a ball and scream in pain.

There was nothing in her eyes, only light.

Pure white, blinding light.

But suddenly, she felt no heat at all.

The world seemed to quiet down all at once.

Perhaps this had already exceeded the limit of her nerves, or perhaps her nerves had already collapsed.

Immediately after, the light before her eyes gradually dimmed.

Zhang Suannai had seen surveillance footage online of workers accidentally falling into steel-smelting furnaces; when they made contact with the red-hot molten steel, they would not struggle or scream. In that instant, they seemed to lose consciousness and sensation, just burning quietly, swallowed by the molten steel like mannequins.

Was she like that now?

But this hadn't even been a second.

"No!"

Zhang Suannai actually regained her focus.

"Whoosh..."

Countless Sword Lights instantly turned back, circling her densely, and then she grabbed her Long Sword, pushing her speed to the limit, intending to charge out of this area.

On the spectator stand, many big shots narrowed their eyes, staring intently at that blazing sun, ready to enter the arena at any moment.

Zhang Suannai's senior brother had even grabbed his Long Sword.

"Whoosh!"

A piercing whistle.

A figure rushed out from the blazing sun, her power and momentum pushed to the limit; her reddened clothes seemed to drape her in flames, and the circling Sword Lights were like scattered stars.

Zhang Suannai rushed in front of Chen Shu in an instant, her body rotating in the air to build momentum, all her Spirit Power and sword momentum gathered; the swinging Long Sword seemed as if it would tear through space. In that split second, she, while rotating, had already seen Chen Shu's constricted pupils.

A heaven-shaking sword strike slashed down!

Countless Sword Lights followed closely behind!

"Clang!"

The two swords collided.

The swords were of the same material, but upon colliding, the one in Chen Shu's hand shattered instantly, as if made of ice, while Zhang Suannai's sword remained completely undamaged. At the same time, the Sword Qi and sword momentum brought by this strike shattered, acting like countless tiny knives, cutting through his clothes and carving dense wounds into his body.

Fortunately! Zhang Suannai, having rushed out of the Small Blazing Sun Art, was already injured, and her movements were clearly distorted! Fortunately! Chen Shu had used a Beast Pill when advancing to the Sixth Stage, causing his physical abilities to be directly strengthened to the level of a Sixth Stage Martial Cultivator!

If it were a normal Spirit Cultivator, taking this strike from a Sword Cultivator of the same stage would likely have resulted in a severe injury.

Chen Shu endured the pain, using the immense force of the collision to retreat, and pushed the Wind-Following Step to its limit, the powerful Spirit Repulsion pushing him backward.

As he flew backward, the Sword Lights pursued.

These countless Sword Lights were reflected in Chen Shu's eyes, rapidly approaching and growing larger.

Almost simultaneously, immense force surged from Chen Shu's palms, and countless invisible tracers flew out from behind him, making contact with the Sword Lights and creating a thunderous explosion.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

"Whew..."

Yet some Sword Lights still pierced through.

Relying on the agility of the Wind-Following Step and the way the Tracer Technique obscured Zhang Suannai's vision, Chen Shu shifted horizontally to the left from his straight-line retreat. The Sword Lights, no longer controlled by Zhang Suannai, shot behind him one after another, crashing into the Defense Barrier at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena and sending out violent ripples.

But there were still a few he didn't dodge.

Several more wounds appeared on Chen Shu's body.

However, the intense battle did not give him the chance to feel the pain; in less than a second, Zhang Suannai chased after him again, colliding with Chen Shu's tracers.

"Boom!"

Her advancement had also used a Beast Pill, giving her a physique comparable to a Sixth Stage Martial Cultivator. Relying on this powerful physique, she directly smashed through several bombardments that were like heavy artillery and emerged from the explosion. Her clothes, burned bright, had not yet dimmed; amidst the violent explosion, they began to tear, turning into tiny fly-ash that seemed like fireflies circling her and chasing her.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Zhang Suannai gritted her teeth, her momentum undiminished.

Layer after layer of Spiritual Barrier was pierced through by her one by one.

At this moment, she seemed to have transformed into a sword, an indestructible sword, and her expression was resolute, completely devoid of her usual playful demeanor, like a goddess of slaughter.

The female Sword Immortal was reborn from the fire, returning to the mortal world.

Looking at her like this, her whom even the Small Blazing Sun Art could not handle, Chen Shu already realized that if he didn't use his Spirit Body, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to beat her.

Just then, Zhang Suannai suddenly felt the Spirit Power in front of her become violent again, and light lit up in the air once more.

"Small Blazing Sun Art!"

But this time, it was centered on Chen Shu himself.

Zhang Suannai did not hesitate, flying backward.

The dense Sword Light behind her turned sharply downward, then soared back into the sky, changing direction in this manner, and followed her as she flew backward.

Small Blazing Sun Art, how many times can you use it?

Zhang Suannai thought to herself while retreating.

However, she discovered that the violent Spirit Power suddenly calmed down, and the light that had just flared up dimmed instantly; the Small Blazing Sun Art had been canceled by him before it could even be unleashed, the intense light dissipated, and only one figure stood in the original spot.

That person lowered his head with eyes closed, hands pressed together.

"Poof..."

The yellow sand on the ground was blown up.

A massive, magnificent divine statue appeared behind him, its face bearing a slight resemblance to his, also with head lowered and eyes closed, hands pressed together, expressionless, as if it had existed between heaven and earth since the ancient era.

"Damn, that's cool..."

Zhang Suannai widened her eyes.

Because of the scorching heat of the sun just now, her vision was still dim and chaotic, patches of light and patches of black, yet that divine statue was so conspicuous, as if it were the center of the world.

But she had no time to ponder—

The divine statue had opened its eyes and pushed a palm toward her.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Over a hundred crimson rays of light flew out from both sides of the divine statue, dragging long tails in the air, tracing graceful arcs as they converged and flew toward her.

"!!"

Zhang Suannai felt the crisis!

"Swish!"

She was seen forcibly driving her severely scorched body, swinging her Sword with all her might, as streaks of Sword Qi rotated and slashed forward.

The Sword Light behind her also poured out in full force.

"Boom!!"

The violent explosions merged into one.

The shockwave kicked up dust, rippling across the earth, and reached her in the blink of an eye.

"Swish!"

Zhang Suannai thrust her Sword upward from below.

The shockwave in front, as well as the dust and sand, were all split open by this sword strike, and she stood in place, with only the breeze blowing her charred clothes and her curled, half-burnt hair; it could not shake her figure, nor could it shake her will.

The Spirit Power in the air rioted once again.

This time it was more terrifying than before, sweeping across the entire Martial Arts Arena.

There was nowhere left to hide.

"Hoo..."

Zhang Suannai slowly exhaled a breath, her heart actually calming down.

Countless Sword Lights danced and hummed behind her, changing shapes, finally condensing into a huge Light Sword, and she also raised her Long Sword, which contained half of her remaining Spirit Power, and it immediately spun and flew up, rushing into the sky to serve as the tip of this huge Light Sword.

Every particle of natural Spirit Power in the Martial Arts Arena seemed to be glowing and heating up, converging into a sun.

One second later.

The entire Martial Arts Arena seemed to have transformed into a blazing sun.

The other contestants in the spectator stands no longer dared to look directly, either covering their eyes with their hands or turning their backs; only a few Spirit Cultivators used special methods, and even then, they could only see illusory black shadows within this intense light, moving at extreme speeds.

Xiaoxiao covered Taozi's eyes with her hands.

Ning Qing pulled her over, drew her in front of herself, and covered her eyes.

Xiaoxiao was obedient and did not struggle.

In the Martial Arts Arena, the divine statue remained with hands pressed together, leaning forward slightly, watching the world with an indifferent expression.

The giant sword traveled from left to right, passing through the center of the newly born sun.

Zhang Suannai held her sword and followed closely behind the giant sword.

Slowing her speed down further and further, one could see the Sword Light composing the giant sword constantly disintegrating and melting under the high temperature, yet new Sword Light kept appearing, barely filling the gaps left by the disintegrating and melting light; the Long Sword at the very front had already turned bright red.

Zhang Suannai, behind it, was even more engulfed in flames.

Crimson earthen walls arched up from the ground, only to be pierced through one by one by the giant sword, and streaks of Spiritual Barrier appeared out of thin air, only to be penetrated by the giant sword as well.

Chen Shu stood within the blazing sun, suspended in mid-air, expressionless.

In his eyes, the world was completely swallowed by the intense light; beneath the glare, there was only that incoming Light Sword and the Sword Immortal behind it.

One sword and one person, possessing an unstoppable momentum.

However, this blazing sun had only just risen.

The light was still growing stronger, the temperature was still rising higher, and the power was still continuing to climb.

The rate at which the giant sword disintegrated quickly exceeded the rate at which it was replenished, and the Long Sword at the very front had already lost its tip—in the center of the Small Blazing Sun Art, even with the reinforcement of Zhang Suannai's Sword Control Technique, it was difficult to maintain its sharpness; every time it pierced through a layer of defense, a section would vanish, and the Sword Light would shatter into stardust.

Chen Shu's eyes reflected the figure of Zhang Suannai.

This was a sword of ultimate desperation.

The giant sword was already on the verge of disintegration, and the Sword Immortal was also at the end of her strength; what supported them to continue moving forward was an unreserved belief, unreserved. And she did not even notice that the clothes on her body were shattering bit by bit, turning into countless fireflies glowing with red light, chasing after her.

The jade-like skin underneath was exposed inch by inch.

Seeing this, Chen Shu's eyes widened instantly.

The incoming giant sword did not make him blink, the shattering Sword Qi did not make him frown, but this scene caused him to lose his composure—if this continued, perhaps she could rush through, perhaps not, but regardless, her clothes would likely not be saved, and there were at least a hundred pairs of eyes staring from outside the Martial Arts Arena right now.

"!"

Chen Shu's brows furrowed tightly.

The intense light vanished abruptly, the world seemed to turn dark, leaving only the scarlet ground emitting white smoke.

The giant Sword had already crumbled to its final state, with only two or three streaks of Sword Light remaining; the clothes on Zhang Suannai's body were already tattered beyond repair, yet in the very next instant, she charged before Chen Shu, wielding a Long Sword that had melted down to only half its length.

At the final moment, her eyes reflected Chen Shu's frowning expression; in that split second, she had already sensed something was wrong, but she and her Sword had already reached Chen Shu.

The Sword tip came to a difficult halt.

Zhang Suannai looked utterly disheveled, and her entire body burned with pain; she forced herself to muster her remaining Spirit Power and propped up her body, which was already at the end of its tether, hovering in the air to meet his gaze.

"Why did you... hold back?"

Zhang Suannai's voice was also distorted, as if she were about to collapse at any moment; she held onto her last bit of strength and her last shred of expectation: "Is it because your Spirit Power is exhausted, and you've conceded?"

"..."

Chen Shu lowered his head to look at her clothes, which were in a state worse than a beggar's and on the verge of exposing her, and pondered for two seconds:

"I'm afraid of seeing your little willy."