Han Yu's figure descended from the smoke-filled arena, his steps slightly unsteady, yet carrying a sharpness like that of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.
Li Hanzhou rushed forward in a few quick strides, unceremoniously landing a light punch on his shoulder, then raised his palm with a smile.
Han Yu raised his hand to high-five him, the crisp sound echoing as a faint but genuine smile appeared on his pale face.
His gaze swept over Xiao Chen, Jiang Che, and the others who had gathered around, finally landing on Ji Lingxiu, who was about to take the stage.
"Lingxiu," his voice remained calm, but now carried a weight to it, "be careful. Those people... possess a power that can peer into the cracks of one's heart and summon demons from within. It's impossible to defend against."
He had experienced it firsthand and knew just how insidious it was.
Ji Lingxiu, clad in crimson flame armor that made her figure appear even more upright and dashing, nodded heavily. In her phoenix eyes, battle intent and wariness coexisted.
"Rest assured, Senior Brother. I know what I'm doing."
She turned and walked steadily toward the arena.
Her opponent, the female cultivator Ding Tanghuan from the Upper Realm with her unpredictable spells, was already waiting in the field.
Ding Tanghuan wore a water-green robe; her appearance was lovely, but her eyes held a condescending scrutiny, and her lips curved into a faint, unsettling smile.
Before the competition bell had even rung, a subtle yet unusually clear voice transmission, like a thorn-laden vine, drilled into Ji Lingxiu's ears:
"City Lord Ji, commanding the grand Immortal Spirit City, your heroic bearing is truly captivating. But... facing your master who stands like a bright moon in the sky, unfathomably deep, have you ever harbored thoughts that cross the boundaries between master and disciple?"
These words were vicious to the extreme, striking directly at the most delicate corner of the heart—far more sinister than any frontal assault!
Ji Lingxiu's steps faltered. Her face turned cold as frost, and her gaze suddenly sharpened like an ice sword, shooting straight at Ding Tanghuan.
She did not react with the same spiritual upheaval Han Yu had initially experienced; instead, she responded with an almost cold anger:
"My master is like a mountain, like the sun and moon. I revere him, I fear him, I follow him. This heart of mine is bright and clear, visible to the sun and moon!"
"Do not use your filthy Upper Realm heart to measure my open and upright Lower Realm spirit! You only make yourself a laughingstock!"
The fake smile on Ding Tanghuan's face instantly froze, transforming into a trace of mortified anger.
"Sharp-tongued! Let's see how long you can last!"
"Dang—!"
The bell rang out like a battle horn!
Ding Tanghuan struck first. She knew well that Ji Lingxiu was powerful in martial combat and would never engage her at close range.
Her hand seals shifted, and spiritual energy surged around her!
"Xun Wind · Bind!"
With a slender finger pointed forward, invisible gale-force winds transformed into countless incredibly tough wind ropes, coiling toward Ji Lingxiu from all directions, attempting to restrict her movements.
"Li Fire · Burning Sky!"
Immediately after, she spoke true words, and scarlet flames appeared from nowhere, transforming into roaring fire dragons. Carrying the power to incinerate everything, they pounced toward Ji Lingxiu at the center of the wind ropes!
Wind fueled the fire; fire borrowed the wind's power! The interweaving of wind and fire instantly transformed the arena into a blazing inferno!
Ji Lingxiu faced this combined spell technique without a trace of fear.
She did not swing her Coiling Dragon Golden Spear. Instead, she brought two fingers together like a sword and gave a clear shout:
"Four Symbols Rotation, Black Tortoise Guards the North!"
"Om—!"
A heavy, mountain-like black sword aura of profound water suddenly rose before her. Above the sword aura, the phantom image of a turtle and snake entwined let out a skyward cry, radiating an intensely cold aura!
Those countless fire dragons crashed against the Black Tortoise sword aura as if striking an iceberg of ten thousand years. The flames suddenly diminished with sizzling evaporation sounds, unable to advance an inch!
"Geng Metal · Splitting Sky!"
Ding Tanghuan's expression remained unchanged as her hand seals shifted again!
Countless metal-attributed spiritual energies, gleaming with sharp white light, condensed into millions of fine, ox-hair-thin golden needles. Like a rainstorm, they shot downward, specializing in breaking through various protective qi barriers!
"Four Symbols Rotation, White Tiger Roars at the West!"
Ji Lingxiu's sword fingers turned, and a fiercely unmatched white sword aura shot into the sky, transforming into a majestic and ferocious White Tiger phantom that roared at the heavens!
The roar formed tangible sound wave impacts, shattering and sweeping away all those millions of golden needles!
"Gen Mountain · Suppress!"
Ding Tanghuan pressed both hands downward. The arena ground shook violently as countless massive sharp stone spears burst from the earth, stabbing viciously upward toward Ji Lingxiu.
At the same time, a powerful earth-attributed gravity field suddenly descended, intending to pin her in place!
"Four Symbols Rotation, Azure Dragon Soars in the East!"
Ji Lingxiu's body moved with her sword. A vibrant green sword aura surrounded her, transforming into the image of an Azure Dragon's tail. It easily shredded the incoming stone spears, and even that heavy gravity field could not fully bind the Azure Dragon's leaping movements!
"Gui Water · Bone Erosion!"
Ding Tanghuan's eyes flashed with ruthlessness as she released her final hand seal. An eerie blue water vapor spread out, silently eroding Ji Lingxiu's protective sword aura. This water vapor carried the malicious effect of corroding spiritual power and wearing down the soul!
"Four Symbols Rotation, Vermilion Bird Burns the South!"
Ji Lingxiu's entire body burst with red sword aura, transforming into an elegant yet violent Vermilion Bird phantom. The intense Southern Ming Li Fire swept outward, instantly evaporating and incinerating that eerie bone-eroding water vapor!
In the span of lightning and sparks, the two had already exchanged dozens of rounds!
Ding Tanghuan's Five Elements spells came one after another, ever-changing and astonishingly powerful! Yet Ji Lingxiu handled them flawlessly with her exquisitely intricate Four Symbols Sword Formation!
The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise sword intents rotated endlessly, combining offense and defense. She wielded the principles of Five Elements generation and restraint to perfection, leaving the spectators below dazzled and exclaiming in wonder!
"The Four Symbols Sword Formation! It's the long-lost Four Symbols Sword Formation!"
"City Lord Ji has actually mastered such a supreme technique!"
"Too magnificent! The ultimate clash between spells and sword formation!"
Ding Tanghuan's expression grew increasingly dark as her attacks failed to produce results. She suddenly let out a cold laugh, her hand techniques becoming bizarre.
Mixed into the surging Five Elements spiritual energy around her was a strand of pink—romantic yet sinister energy.
Her hands wove like a spider spinning silk. Countless pink threads, finer than hair and nearly invisible to the naked eye, appeared from thin air.
They seemed capable of penetrating space, disregarding the fierce sword intent of the Four Symbols Sword Formation. As if alive, they wound around the sword aura and shot straight toward Ji Lingxiu's main body!
"Hm?"
Ji Lingxiu felt her entire body tighten. A strange power—not a direct assault, but carrying a sensation that stirred the deepest ripples of her heart, inducing a fall into depravity—came over her. The rotation of her sword formation showed a barely detectable hesitation!
On the high platform, Chen Chang'an's gaze suddenly turned cold as an abyss.
He recognized these pink threads!
Thread of Love! Not ordinary romantic sentiment, but a tribulation force from the Upper Realm. It could invisibly stir and amplify the emotional attachments of those caught in it until their dao heart collapsed and they drowned in the sea of desire or disintegrated completely!
This Ding Tanghuan actually practiced such a malicious technique, drawing down the Upper Realm's Thread of Love—and her target was none other than the master-disciple bond between Ji Lingxiu and himself!
The aura around Chen Chang'an instantly became incomparably frigid.
...
She did not swing her Coiling Dragon Golden Spear. Instead, she brought two fingers together like a sword and gave a clear shout:
"Four Symbols Rotation, Black Tortoise Guards the North!"
"Om—!"
A heavy, mountain-like black sword aura of profound water suddenly rose before her. Above the sword aura, the phantom image of a turtle and snake entwined let out a skyward cry, radiating an intensely cold aura!
That torrential rain of fire dragons crashed against the Black Tortoise sword aura as if striking a ten-thousand-year ice wall, the flames rapidly diminishing with sizzling evaporation sounds, unable to advance an inch!
The Four Symbols Sword Formation's radiance stabilized once more. Azure Dragon roared, White Tiger howled, Black Tortoise guarded the seas, and Vermilion Bird incinerated the heavens!
The Four Symbols rotated, blocking all of Ding Tanghuan's subsequent spell attacks outside!
Ji Lingxiu stood with her spear, breathing slightly heavily. Her cold gaze fixed on the stunned Ding Tanghuan as she spoke in a hoarse yet undeniably powerful voice:
"Unorthodox methods that confuse the mind—ultimately not worthy of the stage!"
The triumphant smile on Ding Tanghuan's face completely froze, transforming into disbelief and shock.
"You... you can actually sever the Thread of Love yourself?! How is this possible?!"
...
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