Everyone within the hall of Fengtian Mountain started at the abrupt challenge issued by the white-haired youth.
"Did he hit himself in the head?" Yuwen Fengtian wondered. "Given his rate of improvement, he should have an eighty percent chance of becoming a prime disciple if he has a month to prepare, right? Why would he need to rush like this?" It really did seem like a fool's errand.
"You guessed wrong. I think he's pretty smart. Perhaps he knows he did too well and we have our eyes on him. That's why he wants to become a prime disciple as soon as possible," Su Yunchi said with furrowed brows.
"So he really looks down on Wuyou that much, eh?" Su Jiudao said with a cold chuckle and a look of displeasure. "Wuyou's at the ninth level of Unity, even stronger than Zhenxing!"
"So he's grown arrogant and proud after winning so many battles, eh?" Yuwen Kaitai mocked. "Young people are always this hot blooded. Doesn’t he know that he only has one chance to make the challenge? If he loses, he'll have to wait three more years."
Everyone's gazes fell on Su Wuyou.
"Wuyou, teach him a lesson. If you have a chance, kill him. Your uncle won't stop you," Su Jiudao said. Su Zhen was his little brother, after all.
"Yes, Dad." She stood up, wearing a fierce expression. The scene where Tianming had cut off her little sister's pinky finger surfaced in her mind.
"You definitely cannot lose! Don't let him become a prime disciple, got it?" Su Yunchi said.
"Yes, Grandfather!" She looked down and glanced at Yuwen Shendu, who was watching Tianming emerge from the battlefield.
"Shendu, I'm going now."
"Okay."
"Won't you say anything?"
"No. Just do your best and kill him. The seniors will take care of the rest. I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake for you."
Hearing that, Su Wuyou finally smiled with confidence. "Come to think of it, it's the first time someone's looked down on me like that!"
Even she found it laughable. She had relied on her own efforts to become a prime disciple, rather than going through the backdoor her family had made for her. Even her faction relied on her for their prestige. She was the most talented female disciple at the ninth level of Unity, and she’d begun exploring the arcane mysteries of the Heavenly Will stage. Not to mention, she was the first female prime disciple in three generations. Having heard Yuwen Shendu's words of encouragement, she stepped onto the battlefield.
Back at the First Grand-Orient Battlefield, everyone had their eyes wide open as the topmost beauty of the entire sect descended from the skies, her long white dress fluttering like the wings of an angel; she looked like a goddess descending from the heavens. The hair that danced in rhythm with her dress flowed like a waterfall and her tall, yet soft figure radiated charm. Her dainty physique only added to the cold way she carried herself.
"You're about to die. Guess I'll be able to fulfill your death wish before a month even passes." As she spoke, she drew a snow-white longsword that looked like a piece of gemstone, crystal clear and razor sharp. It was a grade seven beastial weapon: Paradisal Silk. It was just as beautiful as it was efficient at killing. Su Wuyou had relied on this blade throughout her path of slaughter to become a prime disciple.
Behind her, a gigantic, snow-white snake popped out of the lake. It was three times the size of the Hundred-eyed Winged Serpent and had a pair of white wings, which looked much better. Though it looked pure, it was rather terrifying due to the eyes all over its body that numbered at least ten times those of the Hundred-eyed Winged Serpent, making for quite an eerie look.
This was a third-order saint beast, much like the Bloodfiend Taotie, and it had thirty-eight stars. It was just a bit shy of being a fourth-order saint beast. It was called the Thousand-Eyed Winged Serpent.
White Thousand-Eyed Winged Serpents were considered oddities in the Su Clan, as most of them had joint fire and poison type beasts. However, this white serpent was actually an ice and poison type.
Su Wuyou, with Paradisal Silk in hand and her lifebound beast behind her, glared at Tianming. She seemed like a proud and aloof glacier that only melted for those she cared for. To other people, she was frozen solid.
When the two faced each other off, all the disciples watching forgot to breathe. Even the seniors watched them solemnly amidst the tense, silent atmosphere.
"Where's your lifebound beast?" Su Wuyou said as she charged forward like a fairy. The snake flapped its wings and descended above Tianming.
"They're still resting. I don’t need them to deal with you," he said, squinting.
It was pure arrogance, thought most of the people watching. They were Unity stage beastmasters, so unity fields played a huge part in their fights. Fighting without lifebound beasts brought no advantages at all. This wasn't a challenge, it was child's play! He was wasting his challenge opportunity. Even Tianming's most devout fans watched with funny gazes as they wondered what kind of end he would suffer from his arrogance.
Though Tianming knew that Ying Huo and Meow Meow were indeed tired out from the fight with Yuwen Zhenxing and the rest, there was no point in telling them about it.
"I've overestimated you. Just now, I was feeling a little nervous about coming down. But now I see that you're nothing but a pathetic bumpkin who just got lucky." Su Wuyou looked at him like an elite would, when facing a person unbefitting of their status. At that moment, her sword came striking in tandem with her serpent's descent. The serpent's eyes let out a blinding white light that enveloped the whole arena, turning Tianming's surroundings into nothing but a white void. It was as if he had returned to Prime Tower.
That was the effect of the serpent's spiritsource ability: Sky-piercing Aqualuna. As Tianming's vision turned white, it was as if he had arrived at a cavern. The ground beneath him was moist and chillingly cold. He looked up and saw a full moon that radiated a cold aura. Like tentacles, the frost enveloped his body.
"An illusion?" It appeared that the serpent was capable of that as well as using poisons. Sandwiched between the frosty swamp he found himself in and the moon above, he found it rather hard to move. However, he was well aware that the real killer move would come from Su Wuyou's sword, and the beast's other abilities.
"Li Tianming, I'll send you on your way to your next life!" The next instant, her dress fluttered like a blooming flower falling through the air. Countless sword strikes came striking down from the flower, putting Tianming in a dangerous predicament. Su Wuyou's methods were far more terrifying than Yuwen Zhenxing's brute force attacks. The illusion, coupled with the chill from his surroundings, made him feel like he was surrounded by a sea of poison and frost. Su Wuyou had unleashed her all to kill Tianming, concentrating all the fatal blows in one suspenseful moment.
Tianming looked like he had taken the full brunt of the strikes, unable to save himself, but was that really the case? When Tianming used his third eye to see, the world looked completely different. The illusion was gone and all he saw was Su Wuyou coming at him. The winged serpent above him used another ability, Sea of Death, and rained down poison from above.
"Nothing more than petty tricks to obscure my vision," Tianming said with a smile. Ying Huo and Meow Meow were indeed not needed to help, for Tianming would burst with power in the next moment. He pierced Onyx Dragon into the ground and summoned Archfiend into his hand, sending it whipping out to meet his foe's attacks.
Soul Hook! The chain was aimed at the serpent flying above that still thought Tianming was under the illusion's spell, only to be taken off guard and have its eyes pierced by the chain. It rapidly dodged to one side and the illusion crumbled.
However, the next strike came in quick succession: Death Requisition. Archfiend was too fast and fierce. The serpent attempted to use Sky-piercing Aqualuna once more to confuse Tianming, who simply used Celestial Wings and Spatial Wall to stave off Su Wuyou and countered the serpent with Bewildering Eye. It was one eye against a thousand, yet it caused all of the serpent's eyes to close. While Death Requisition didn't hit the serpent's vitals, it did shred its wings.
Right after that, Tianming withdrew the whip for the next strike. "Transcendence!" This was the most powerful move in the Life-Death Whip Art. The serpent's skin was immediately split open as all of Archfiend's spikes embedded themselves into it and the whip wrapped around the serpent's head.
"Come here!" Tianming pulled, sending the serpent crashing down in front of Su Wuyou. The pull was so strong that parts of the whip tore out, causing the beast to shriek in the most horrid voice imaginable as it blossomed with a fountain of blood. The struggles of the serpent only exacerbated its wounds, as it was still bound by Archfiend.
"Whiteriver!" Su Wuyou cried with rage as she paled. All she could do was watch her lifebound beast dance around like a pup on Tianming's leash, despite the fact that it was a few times his size. "Impossible! Sky-piercing Aqualuna can't have not worked on you! How could you know where Whiteriver was?! Impossible!"
Su Wuyou was still coldly looking at the situation from above. She found it hard to accept the reality of the situation. What was worse was that Tianming had wrapped the serpent up with his chain-whip and was swinging it around like a bat toward her. Su Wuyou dodged, but her serpent was smashed against a boulder.
"So you're really confident and proud of yourself, eh? Wanna send me to the next life? Don't be afraid, Su Wuyou." He smirked and zipped toward her, dragging the serpent along the ground that was littered with chunks of jagged rocks and slamming it against boulder after boulder along the way, causing quite a lot of small rocks to be embedded in the serpent. All Su Wuyou could do was evade with a grim look. Soon, the serpent didn't even have enough energy to struggle. It was at its last breath. She didn't dare to look up for fear of seeing the disappointed looks others were giving her, as well as the looks of awe they were no doubt showering Tianming with. Her pride had been completely shattered!
"I dare you to let it go and fight me fairly!" she cried helplessly.
"Sure."
She didn't expect he would agree so easily. Tianming kept Archfiend away and drew Onyx Dragon, pointing it at her.
"You guys really are too weak. Aside from the time I had to fight myself, none of the fights I've been in have caused me to use this sword." His gaze taught the rest what ruthlessness truly was.
Faced with Onyx Dragon pointing at herself, and with her serpent on the brink of death, Su Wuyou felt her scalp numb. She would never dare act so arrogantly again.
"Die!" All she could do was yell to muster the courage she didn't have. She knew how humiliating it would be if she really lost. What was worse was she would be seen as a pathetic disappointment by Yuwen Shendu, and wouldn't be able to face him again! There was nothing left for her but to fight to the death!
Using Paradisal Silk, she executed a supreme unity-ranked battle art three times in succession: Godlure, Godchase, and Godslay. All three strikes came, each stronger than the last, and the final strike contained the will to slay a god. Thousands of swords manifested from the three strikes, turning the rocks on the ground into powder as they shot toward Tianming.
Tianming was as calm as a deity. Wielding his sword in both hands, he took a heavy step forward, concentrating his will and causing his ancestral blood to boil.
Voidgod Sword Intent, Starfall!
The strike ushered in countless explosions rising towards the sky. It was an attack meant to fell the stars themselves!
