The strongest Literary Prison in the Wen family’s possession was an eight by eight array, and Wen Sansi had actually cultivated the technique to that limit.
Once the eight by eight Literary Prison appeared, even Qiu Shi was trapped.
“Like all matters, think before you act. All Rounder Fairy, farewell.” Wen Sansi waved a hand and moved to leave.
The next moment, a frightening amount of star energy erupted out from the prison and caused the sea to surge.
Wen Sansi whipped around and stared at Qiu Shi in shock. This star energy belonged to an Enlighter!
In the Fifth Mainland’s younger generation, there was no one who had publicly become an Enlighter yet.
Only the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies had reached such a level.
However, the All Rounder Fairy Qiu Shi had actually broken into the Enlighter realm, and the combination of her terrifying star energy and her Cosmic Art completely shattered Wen Sansi’s eight by eight Literary Prison. After escaping, she immediately swung a palm at the Arbiter.
The difference between a Hunter and an Enlighter might appear to just be a difference of a single major realm, and the Ten Arbiters and others had long demonstrated their ability to cross realms and challenge Enlighters. However, the person before Wen Sansi was no ordinary cultivator.
Qiu Shi and Wen Sansi were two geniuses on the same level. Once someone with their level of talent reached the next realm, their strength would be completely different compared to other cultivators.
The Ten Arbiters had long been capable of becoming Enlighters, but they had postponed their breakthroughs in order to consolidate their foundations even further before taking that step. Breaking through to the Enlighter realm was a fundamental change in one’s being, and the greater one’s foundation as a Hunter was, the more drastically one would transform upon becoming an Enlighter.
The fact that Qiu Shi had dared to break through showed that she had accumulated a strong enough foundation, and her strength had clearly undergone a metamorphosis once she broke through.
Just one Cosmic Palm pressured Wen Sansi so much that he was unable to catch his breath. He instantly retreated, but he was still unable to evade the encroaching stars. “I told you that you should leave, but you didn’t. I’ll send you on your way then. The Cosmic Five has nothing to do with you.”
The floor of the sea rocked as a massive trench appeared beneath Qiu Shi’s palm. Rocks flew up from the seabed and shot up before crashing back into the sea.
In another place, the Ten Arbiters’ Ling Gong was also facing a difficult opponent: Yuhua Mavis.
The Mavis family had always been a mysterious group. They were known to hold the reins of the Human Domain’s finances, so they never lacked money. The members of the family also possessed an extraordinary strength. Yuhua Mavis had been born from the Treeheart, and she was the true nucleus of the Mavis family who possessed a strength that no one fully understood.
Ling Gong’s face looked serene. As one of the Ten Arbiters, she was fearless no matter who she faced. However, this Mavis woman was certainly able to shake Ling Gong’s confidence. In particular, wherever Yuhua Mavis passed by, flowers would bloom. This was a rather disturbing power.
“Leave. The contest at the Astral Tower belongs to the Neoverse, and it has nothing to do with your Innerverse.” Yuhua Mavis revealed a slight smile. Her countenance looked very warm, and she spoke with a gentle tone of voice.
The White Knight hefted her spear. “Just try it if you want me to leave.”
Yuhua Mavis sighed. “The Lingling clan, darlings of the universe who can merge multiple innate gifts into a single body. Against someone from your clan, nobody can be absolutely confident that they will win. However, you’re a Hunter. Thus, you can’t fight me.”
Ling Gong’s pupils shrank. “You’re an Enlighter?”
Yuhua Mavis looked up. “If one hasn’t become an Enlighter, then how could they become one of the Cosmic Five?”
She lightly stepped forward as green grass spread out from beneath her bare feet. It expanded across the seafloor towards Ling Gong, and the greenery suddenly formed itself into a giant fist that slammed itself at Ling Gong.
Ling Gong stabbed forward with her spear, and there was a snap as her spear shattered. The power of the green grass fist was enough to make Ling Gong doubt her life, and she was sent flying.
Throughout Ling Gong’s entire cultivation journey, she had never met an opponent with such overwhelming strength before, and this might was simply unexplainable.
Yuhua Mavis continued smiling, and the green grass that formed the fist spread out into a palm that grabbed at Ling Gong.
Ling Gong’s expression grew cold, and her innate gift instantly appeared as the sound of a clock’s strike rang out. Everything seemed to pause for a moment when the Skycastle appeared.
Ling Gong’s Skycastle was known to suppress everything. Once it appeared, a corresponding phenomenon would ring out, causing fear to directly strike any listeners’ hearts.
Yuhua Mavis exclaimed, “What a powerful innate gift! It’s a pity that there’s such a huge gap between us at this moment. An innate gift won’t be enough to compensate for that.”
The green grass began to frantically grow once again, and it formed a hand that grew larger and larger until it reached a size that covered the entire mountain range. Then, it descended towards the Skycastle.
The Skycastle shot up into the sky, and Ling Gong launched herself forward with her spear pointed forward as she stabbed at Yuhua Mavis.
There was an explosion. A dozen cultivators off in the distance seemed to be fighting against each other over some treasure when the Skycastle and the giant green hand collided. The shockwave caused by the collision swept across the seabed, and it quickly enveloped the dozen of fighting cultivators. The ones who did not react in time were crushed and instantly lost consciousness as they were thrown down to the seabed.
The massive sea itself trembled as the terrifying shockwave burst forth from the surface of the sea and thundered into the sky. There was another explosion that warped the void, and spatial tears spread out in all directions.
Down on the seafloor, Ling Gong stared at Yuhua Mavis in utter disbelief, as her spear had been casually grabbed by the woman while her Skycastle had been smashed apart by the massive green hand. How was this possible?
Yuhua Mavis smiled. “You really are tremendous. Is this the power of the Ten Arbiters? If I hadn’t broken through to the Enlighter realm, it would have been extremely difficult to fight against you. But unfortunately, there is too much of a difference between us now.”
She strengthened her star energy, and the spear that Ling Gong had formed through her own power shattered once more as Ling Gong was thrown aside by Yuhua Mavis.
The Ten Arbiters were each being targeted, and Shang Qing had even been searching for them ever since he had arrived in the Mountain and Seas Zone.
Once the Astral Tower contest started, all of the Ten Arbiters had faced an onslaught of attacks, both from individuals and from nearby groups of cultivators. Not a single Arbiter was left to wander about freely.
Lan Si had met a few joint attacks from Neoverse cultivators, but he had not encountered anyone that posed too much of a threat yet.
His luck had been relatively good while Wen Sansi and Ling Gong were among those with the worst luck.
Everyone was searching for the Mountain and Seas Zone’s inheritances, and quite a few cultivators were traveling within the currents.
Whirlpools appeared one after another, each one indicating the presence of a treasure beneath the waves.
On the seafloor in one particular area, a dozen cultivators were fighting over a stone plaque. A sword light streaked through the area, and the dozen cultivators all froze. They blankly turned to look at a place off in the distance, and at that moment, they felt that death had descended upon them.
The moment this person unsheathed her sword was the moment their destiny had reached its end.
This was the Ten Arbiters’ Liu Tianmu, whose sword qi rose into the clouds.
The dozen cultivators all retreated. This person was absolutely powerful, and those who were more tactful could sense just how powerful Liu Tianmu was.
Liu Tianmu easily retrieved the stone plaque, but then she suddenly set it back down again as she slowly turned around. There were some vacant black flames burning on the seabed, and it was possible to vaguely hear the sound of a horse’s hooves. There was a distinct sound with each step that struck the ground, but nothing could be seen.
Others could not see anything, but Liu Tianmu could. There was a strange-looking horseman immolated in flames. He rode a black warhorse and carried a war flag on his back.
This appearance could not be any more characteristic of Burial Garden.
A mournful and desolate whistling was heard down on the seabed, and it became louder and louder. This whistle came from the horseman from Burial Garden. The vacant black flames slowly spread out, and they eventually surrounded Liu Tianmu.
“Leave… the Mountain and Seas Zone,” the phantom-like black rider spoke in a cold voice, but his eyes were even colder.
Liu Tianmu unsheathed her sword. “Try me.”
“I’m Yōu Qi,1 and I will indeed weep as I send you on your way. Goodbye.” As he spoke, the whistling sound reached an even higher pitch as the black flames converged to form a spear while the warhorse charged forward. The horseman then stabbed at Liu Tianmu, but she slashed out with her sword: First Sword.
There was a bang and an explosion as a sharp attack sliced out and cut the sea apart. The dozen cultivators who had remained behind were all overwhelmed, and they dropped down as fast as they could before the slash tore through the void and reached them.
“What the?” One cultivator was in complete disbelief. The power of this attack was just too terrifying. If they had even touched it, they would have died without question.
The other cultivators exchanged glances as well, and they stared into the distance in shock.
Liu Tianmu’s sword had been formed from star energy, and although her First Sword had stopped the spear, the sword had also begun to shatter, as the star energy that formed it was actually being incinerated by the black flames. She had also been struck by a frightening strength, which forced her to continuously retreat.
The horse whinnied. All of its hooves blazed, and it exerted itself once more. Liu Tianmu frowned, and she instantly used the Fourth Sword. Countless sword shadows appeared around the pair before eventually merging into a single sword body that sliced out.
Yōu Qi’s spear turned even darker, and he thrust the spear forward as his warhorse charged. The tip pierced the void.
There was another bang as the sea roiled. The void seemed to shatter as spatial cracks spread out in all directions like lightning while the sea split open.
Liu Tianmu’s eyes went wide; human and sword merged into one. The sword and domain merged, and then human and domain merged. Fifth Sword.
Bang
There was another explosion, but this time, Yōu Qi was forced back, and not even his warhorse was able to resist the blow, being pushed back several steps.
Yōu Qi’s black spear that was formed from the flames had been sliced apart, and Liu Tianmu leaped up high before slashing down at Yōu Qi. When the sword qi landed, it shot right past him and the warhorse, striking the seafloor.
Liu Tianmu’s pupils shrank. This was not right! The next moment, her wrists were grabbed, and the black flames spread across her body. These vacant black flames felt cold to the touch, but they burned her skin.
Liu Tianmu’s sword swept out: Sixth Sword, which was a defensive stance.
Yōu Qi was forced back once again, but this time, Liu Tianmu also retreated.
There were a hundred meters between the two people, and they stared intently at each other.
“What sort of existence is Burial Garden?” Liu Tianmu spoke, carefully enunciating every word.
Yōu Qi’s strange, cold eyes bore into her. “Within the same generation, there are few who can exchange blows with us. I acknowledge you, Liu Tianmu of the Sword Sect.”
“It’s still too early for you to say such things. You are very bizarre, but you’re not invincible. As long as I can find a flaw, with the strength that you’ve shown, you might not be able to receive my acknowledgement,” Liu Tianmu coldly retorted.
Yōu Qi smiled with an expression that did not seem to be a smile; it was impossible to discern the truth. The mournful whistling sound rose to an even higher pitch, and the black flames that covered his body spread upwards until they covered his head as well. Then, the flames then gradually formed a—book. It was a strange book that burned with black flames.
“Ten thousand years ago, there was a powerhouse known as Dun Jiu who had an innate gift of shielding that could block all manner of items and weaponry.2 I wonder if your sword can break his shield.” As Yōu Qi slowly spoke, a giant shield emerged that moved around his body like a stream of water. The horse neighed and then dashed towards Liu Tianmu as Yōu Qi ferociously thrust his spear forward.
Liu Tianmu tightly clenched the hilt of her sword as she watched the black speartip race towards her. She slowly lifted her sword, and her clothes billowed about despite the absence of wind. “Tenth Sword, Starslayer.”
There was a whoosh, and a formless sword qi swept out. The sea and air were both visibly cut apart, and the stars seemed to spread over the area like a blanket of stars, and they drifted down into the seabed.
The Thirteen Swords: each sword had reached the level of an ultimate sword technique, and countless people yearned to learn them. Each sword also demonstrated a different power when wielded by different people.
However, no matter whose hands wielded it, once the Tenth Sword was used, the power of the technique would always be shocking.
The Tenth Sword, Starslayer, was incredibly powerful.
The seafloor itself was swept away as the sword technique sliced out, and only gradually did the sea restore itself.
The shield moving around Yōu Qi’s body had been sundered, and the black flames had also completely vanished from his body, revealing a person wearing black armor. This was Yōu Qi.
[1] Qi means to sob/cry or tears. ☜
[2] Dun means shield, like Aden (Ah Dun). ☜
