The Xia family had always been the leader of the Seven Courts, and their Triple Blade Will had left an entire previous era speechless. It released an incredible sharpness and a tyrannical aura; unless the third blade could not be released for some reason, there were very few who could face this technique head on.
Ling Gong gazed at Xia Jiuyou with a solemn face.
Unseen Light’s domain gradually restored itself around his body, and he frowned at Xia Jiuyou. “Weren’t you fighting against Shang Qing?”
Xia Jiuyou looked at Yuhua Mavis and then glanced at the other two ongoing battles. “I suddenly feel that the current circumstances aren’t right. The contest for the Cosmic Five really has nothing to do with your Innerverse. According to how things normally play out, I’m already one of the Cosmic Five. In that sense, your Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters are basically challenging my Cosmic Five.”
Quite a few heard these words, and they reflexively turned to look across the golden screens, only to see that his words were quite accurate.
The Ten Arbiters’ Liu Tianmu was challenging Shang Qing.
The Ten Arbiters’ Wen Sansi and the Innerverse’s Starsibyl were challenging Qiu Shi.
The Ten Arbiters’ Unseen Light was challenging Yuhua Mavis.
The Ten Arbiters’ Ling Gong had just joined the battlefield.
Ten Arbiters, Ten Arbiters, Ten Arbiters. It was all about the Ten Arbiters. The contest to determine the Cosmic Five was something that had originally been unrelated to the Innerverse, but since the Sixth Mainland had invaded and the Starsibyl Sect had fought for this opportunity at all costs, the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters had actually been allowed to participate on the highest stage in the Human Domain. Here, they were competing with the top youths of the Neoverse.
In the very end, four of the Ten Arbiters remained, and the Neoverse similarly had four people.
In one corner of the Mountain and Seas Zone, someone cried out, “We wouldn’t have realized it if he hadn’t said anything, but the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters are more than a little abnormal. There are actually four of them up on that stage.”
“Saying that we’re amazed isn’t even enough anymore. The Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters have to be defeated. Otherwise, our Neoverse will be humiliated.”
“The Ten Arbiters must be defeated!”
“Even if the Ten Arbiters are defeated, their reputation will definitely spread throughout the Neoverse, and everyone will know of them.”
…
Outside the Mountain and Seas Zone, one elder was surprised. “I hadn’t even realized that these Ten Arbiters who were nurtured in the Innerverse were actually able to rise to this level. They are standing in the limelight along with my Neoverse’s top youths.”
Highsage Shenwei was also surprised. “Is this why the Starsibyl Sect schemed so deeply? Was it all to allow the Innerverse to participate in the Astral Tower contest? The Ten Arbiters truly have not let them down.”
Mu En exclaimed, “Originally, I did not hold much hope for these ten, and I merely allowed them to participate. However, to my surprise, their abilities are actually quite impressive.”
Xia Meng’s gaze grew sharp, as the situation had developed into a contest between the Neoverse and the Innerverse. If the situation was recalculated, then according to the division of power, the Seven Courts would already be considered defeated. If not for Xia Jiuyou, not a single person from the Seven Courts would be standing on the highest stage. Also, Burial Garden had similarly failed.
The Three Dark Hands had truly fallen from grace.
The Innerverse was the one that had risen to power, along with one other person. Xia Meng looked at Lu Yin, as this child had relied on slightly more than a decade of cultivating to reach such a level, and he was just a mere Cruiser at that. Despite his realm, he had managed to compete with Yuhua Mavis. Once he became a Hunter, let alone an Enlighter, it was difficult to predict his future.
The circumstances of the universe had changed, and the Seven Courts had to change as well. Otherwise, they would eventually be eliminated.
Xia Jiuyou’s words redrew the battle lines atop the golden stage. Now, it was the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters against the Neoverse’s selected Cosmic Five.
Although Xia Jiuyou truly wanted to discover the true power of the Tri-Yang Technique, at this moment, the Nine Clones Secret Technique had not reached the step where it could reveal its full strength. Under these circumstances, he would be at a significant disadvantage against the Tri-Yang Technique. Besides, he was representing the Neoverse’s Xia family, and he naturally could not allow the Innerverse to interfere in the contest for the Cosmic Five. The Ten Arbiters’ had sufficient strength, and the Neoverse youths would not be able to suppress the Arbiters if they improved even one step further.
From the perspective of the Neoverse, they had to suppress the Innerverse regardless of if it was the older generation or the younger generation.
There were not many members of the older generation in the Innerverse who could truly make people in the Neoverse notice them. The few that could belonged to the Sword Sect, the Daynight clan, the Beast Tamers Flowzone, the Lingling clan, and a few more. There were only about a dozen of them despite the passage of so many years, and those at the pinnacle of the Innerverse were at Nightking Dijiang’s level, but that was not the peak in the Neoverse.
The younger generation similarly felt a need to suppress the Innerverse’s youths, and there were no exceptions.
It was already completely unexpected that the Ten Arbiters had managed to achieved such impressive results on this stage, but they were still limited up till this point.
Xia Jiuyou moved to deal with Ling Gong, Yuhua Mavis faced off against Unseen Light, Shang Qing was against Liu Tianmu, and Qiu Shi fought against both Wen Sansi and Starsibyl.
This was the current battlefield atop the ultimate stage.
Although the Innerverse held high hopes for the Ten Arbiters, the current circumstances did not seem optimistic for them.
Unseen Light’s secret technique, Black Coffin, had indeed managed to injure Yuhua Mavis, but she had recovered incredibly quickly. Now, she was now on guard against it, so it would not be easy for Unseen Light to use it again. As a result, was quickly crushed by Yuhua Mavis.
Ling Gong was similarly suppressed by Xia Jiuyou. No matter if it was his Triple Blade Will or his Yōu Reinforced Palm, both techniques worked in tandem with his innate gift and were very problematic for White Knight.
Shang Qing did not even need to be mentioned. From the very start, his Tri-Yang Technique had completely tied up Liu Tianmu. Even if she managed to use the Thirteen Swords, she was not able to fight against him.
Beneath the golden stage, Lu Yin’s heart sank. At this rate, there was no doubt that the Ten Arbiters would be defeated. The Cosmic Five would still be from the Neoverse. Although Lu Yin wanted to participate, the Ten Arbiters each had their own pride, and none of them would allow a bystander to intervene in their battles. Wen Sansi might be taking advantage of Starsibyl’s strength, but it was possible that they had formed an agreement before, and it might very well be counterproductive for Lu Yin to attempt to interfere.
Lu Yin could not help but glance over at Lan Si. If this person became an Enlighter, then he would qualify to intervene, as his Vacuum Palm was not weak. Unfortunately, Lan Si had no interest in breaking through.
And where had Liquor Hero gone off to?
Lu Yin was not the only one who could see where the battles were headed to, as everyone could tell that the Ten Arbiters were on the brink of defeat.
While dodging Qiu Shi’s Cosmic Art, Starsibyl glanced across the golden stage and gently tapped out with a finger. She had not been injured, but for some reason, there was a line of fresh blood dripping down the corner of her lips. This was from overexertion.
Qiu Shi noticed the blood and frowned. A Celestial Sword sliced at Starsibyl.
Wen Sansi pushed the Celestial Sword aside. He was curious as to what Starsibyl was about to do.
Some distance away, Ling Gong had moved into her Skycastle, and she used the sound of the grand bell to attack Xia Jiuyou. He raised his hand and consecutively unleashed the Triple Blade Will, and the power of the third blade was absolutely horrifying.
At this moment, beams of light appeared on the ground and connected it to the sky. The first beam of light shifted the third will blade slightly while the second beam once again moved the will blade a tiny bit. A total of ten beams of light followed closely after. Ultimately, the third will blade was fully diverted, and it swept past the Skycastle.
Ling Gong frowned as she looked over at Starsibyl.
Xia Jiuyou turned around and looked at her as well.
Starsibyl had used this technique before, and she relied on the power of divination to predict a will blade’s trajectory in advance before shifting the will blade.
Ling Gong was not the only one, as Liu Tianmu had similarly received help from Starsibyl; her Calculations of the Abacus was even able to disturb attacks of Shang Qing’s Tri-Yang Technique.
Starsibyl could not help the Arbiters attack, but she was able to support them by predicting their opponents’ attacks and creating disturbances and openings.
Starsibyl alone was able to disrupt the entire battle, and she was doing her best to manipulate the entire situation in order to turn the tables.
Shang Qing glanced at Starsibyl. “Ignorant.”
The second strand of ancestral qi vanished only to reappear behind Liu Tianmu and fiercely attack her.
“Sword of Protection.” Liu Tianmu growled as a sword light managed to isolate and block the first strand of ancestral qi, though she was not able to block the second qi flow. Her shoulder was struck by the Tri-Yang Technique, and her entire body was blasted a thousand meters back, the violent force nearly crushing her five organs. She could not stop herself from spitting out blood.
Shang Qing stood in place, unmoving. He looked like a deity with those two strands of ancestral qi that were able to suppress everything.
Upon seeing the two strands of ancestral qis shoot towards her again, Liu Tianmu clenched the hilt of her sword tightly and raised her blade to point at Shang Qing. As the tip of the sword moved, the sword light vanished, and at that moment, Shang Qing’s pupils shrank as he immediately retreated. Simultaneously, the third strand of ancestral qi moved to defend his front. The powerful sword light slammed into the ancestral qi, forcing Shang Qing a dozen steps back. This was the first time that Liu Tianmu had managed to move him at all. It was the Eleventh Sword: Particle Diffusion.
Liu Tianmu did not want to force Shang Qing to merely retreat, and she had not accounted for being forced to evade the two offensive strands of ancestral qi. Beams of light appeared on the ground and connected to the sky. From the distance, Starsibyl called out, “Move aside.”
Liu Tianmu had a cold expression on her face. Since ancient times, the Thirteen Swords had always been peerless, and the users of the Thirteen Swords did not need help from anyone. Rather than escaping with others’ help, she would rather trade injury for injury. The Tri-Yang Technique was indeed very powerful, but Liu Tianmu did not believe that Shang Qing’s innate defenses were that impressive.
When she saw the two ancestral qis that were about to hit her, Liu Tianmu’s originally falling blade suddenly swept out. Nobody expected her to be able to use the Thirteen Swords one after another, as each of the Thirteen Swords was astounding on its own. Additionally, she had just used the Eleventh Sword, and this next move was actually the Twelfth Sword: Profound.
When Yōu Qi had used the Eleventh Sword: Particle Diffusion, he had managed to cripple Lan Si. Although Lu Yin had managed to dodge the attack by using the Ce Secret Art, that had been due to Lu Yin’s alert state, and he had only succeeded through a combination of sheer luck and a secret technique. Shang Qing had relied on his Tri-Yang Technique to block the Eleventh Sword, but he could not block the Twelfth Sword.
As the sword light flashed, blood spurted as Shang Qing’s expression changed. Red filled his vision; he had been cut and injured.
After stepping foot onto the Mountain and Seas Zone, this was the first time Shang Qing had ever sustained any injury. Up till now, no matter whom he had fought against, even when he had faced off against Ku Lei and others joining forces, no one had ever managed to harm Shang Qing in the slightest. In fact, no one had been able to force him to take even half a step back. However, at this moment, he had just been wounded by Liu Tianmu.
The Sword Sect’s Thirteen Swords were the Human Domain’s most powerful sword techniques. The Twelfth Sword had been used by Liu Tianmu, and it had managed to injure Shang Qing.
At this moment, everyone was watching.
Liu Tianmu had suffered from the attacks of two ancestral qi strands after releasing the Twelfth Sword, and it was readily apparent that she had been severely injured. Her face was ashen as she collapsed on the golden screen. She was no longer even able to maintain her sword formed from star energy, and the blade vanished.
Shang Qing looked down at her. Both of his shoulders had been cut by the sword, and a wound had been torn open. This was a sword cut, and there was even remnant sword qi within the wound.
His injuries were not severe, and although it appeared to be a massive wound, it was not enough to affect him.
Shang Qing looked at the fallen Liu Tianmu off in the distance, and he was shocked. “Who knew that someone would actually be able to harm me during this Astral Tower contest.”
As the Tri-Yang Technique revolved around him, he gazed at Liu Tianmu with a serious expression. “You’re indeed qualified to become one of the Cosmic Five, but unfortunately, you won’t live that life.”
Liu Tianmu collapsed to the golden screen. Her eyes went slack as she stared at the sky; she won’t live that life? If she had managed to comprehend the Thirteenth Sword, then things might have turned out differently.
Off in the distance, Starsibyl’s heart sank when she saw that Liu Tianmu had lost.
Out of all the Ten Arbiters, Starsibyl had favored Liu Tianmu the most. The unrivaled reputation of the Thirteen Swords had given Starsibyl a great deal of hope, and seeing Shang Qing be injured was proof that Liu Tianmu had not been a disappointment. Unfortunately, the Arbiter was still a bit lacking, as the Twelfth Sword was not enough to defeat Shang Qing. Instead, Liu Tianmu herself had fallen.
As Starsibyl thought about this, she looked at the other battle, and her expression changed. She saw Unseen Light facing Ling Gong, who was looking at Xia Jiuyou. Unseen Light’s hand was raised up, ready to strike down.
Ling Gong’s surroundings suddenly went black, and it was as though she had been enclosed within a coffin. Secret technique: Black Coffin.
Many were taken aback at this development, as Unseen Light had actually attacked Ling Gong.
