Chuan Xinlou looked very casual. He calmly raised his hand and threw out the white pagoda still hovering in the air. He didn’t bring out any attack-type weapons, which showed that he didn’t put Ning Cheng in his eyes at all.
Ning Cheng wanted Chuan Xinlou to look down on him. However, he decided not to use the Nirvana Spear. Although sturdy and resilient, the Nirvana Spear was only an unprocessed raw material. It would not provide him with much help in a fight of this level.
Instead, Ning Cheng took out a different spear, a pseudo-top ranked Dao Artefact. Ning Cheng created this weapon during the arrangement of the Star Protecting Grand Array. Moreover, it was the best weapon of the batch.
Ning Cheng had not yet fully activated the spear when Chuan Xinlou’s white pagoda shot out several deadly looking white beams of light one after another.
Ning Cheng, as a body-refining powerhouse with a Starry Sky Body, didn’t initially care about these white beams of light. However, when these light beams tore through his domain, Ning Cheng knew that he had underestimated their power. The white beams quickly tore through his domain and carried a faint aural trace of Dao Charms, which had almost instantly suppressed him to the point that he found it somewhat difficult to breathe. It felt as if these white lights wanted him to kneel.
Chuan Xinlou hasn’t even used his killing move, yet that faint aural trace had suppressed him to the point of having difficulty in breathing. It showed everyone that Ning Cheng’s imposing aura was the one on the losing end.
This Chuan Xinlou truly has the strength to back up his words. Ning Cheng initially wanted to keep the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort hidden, but at this time, how could dare do such a thing? The next moment, he brought out the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort. The moment it came out, its overflowing thunder rays created another vague projection of a fortress around it. Although the thunder rays that made up this new fortress grew indistinct closer to the centre, one could clearly make out the ancient walls at the edge. Regardless, the flashing thunder that flowed through the thunder fort gave it a mighty appearance.
“PaPaPaPa….” A moment later, the white rays of light from Chuan Xinlou’s white pagoda collided with the thunder rays of Ning Cheng’s Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort, creating bursts of crackling-like noises as the white beams of light exploded. At the same time, the suppressive force around Ning Cheng also disappeared almost instantly, which made him feel quite relieved.
The cultivators standing on the sidelines looked on in shocked silence; not only did Chuan Xinlou’s display of strength shock them, but the power of Ning Cheng’s heaven-defying thunder fort had also surprised them thoroughly.
Moreover, the spectating Heavenly Emperors had to work together to negate the explosive force and still suffered injuries, but the explosion had no visible effect on this hall.
“Good thunder fort, it really is a good weapon…..” Yi Jiufeng was a fanatic when it came to collecting weapons. Therefore, the moment she saw Ning Cheng’s thunder fort, her eyes instantly lit up.
Everyone understood that Ning Cheng most likely was not an opponent against Chuan Xinlou based on the previous exchange. The fight hadn’t even started, and Chuan Xinlou hadn’t even gone all out, yet Ning Cheng already looked like a rat trapped in a box.
When Chuan Xinlou saw Ning Cheng’s thunder fort, his eyes also lit up, “Sect Master Ning’s treasury seems to contain some interesting things. It even has a thunder fort that can block the circulation of my Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda’s Dao Charm. But if Sect Master Ning only has such skills, then better not blame me for being rude……”
Ning Cheng gave a calm retort, “I may have more treasures, but they can’t compare to your Good Fortune Treasure.”
Knowing that Ning Cheng was very good at sophistry, Chuan Xinlou chose not to talk to Ning Cheng anymore. Instead, he just chuckled and spoke in a calm voice, “Sword Dao Mountain…..”
“Chichi…..” Sounds similar to something tearing the void suddenly emerged. At the same time, the white radiance filled with Dao Charm that circulated around the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda suddenly reversed. In its place, thousands of cyan-coloured sword-lights started condensing before shooting out from the periphery of the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda.
These thousands of cyan sword lights then transformed into a sword array, which completely locked down the area surrounding Ning Cheng. At the same time, the Dao Charm flowing around the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda flowed out and connected with the sword formation to form several sword waterfalls that blotted the sky.
Stuck under Chuan Xinlou’s sword array filled with his weapon’s Dao Charm and domain, ordinary Eternal Realm cultivators would find it impossible to move. If they couldn’t even move, they might as well give up resisting at all. Moreover, although it was a spirit technique, it was much more effective and more powerful compared to other spirit techniques. Using a weapon to manifest a sword waterfall that could suppress space directly, it left no room for any form of resistance.
Moreover, although these sword waterfalls had merged with Chuan Xinlou’s Dao Charm to become powerful enough to suppress space, these sword waterfalls were not the end of its transformation. After connecting these sword waterfalls together, the sword waterfalls then suddenly turned upside down, forming into sword peaks, looking just like an endless mountain range. Any living creature, trapped within this inter-changing sword waterfall and mountain range, would turn into dregs within seconds.
Ning Cheng’s Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort kept shrinking under this spirit technique, and the thunder rays flowing around it started disappearing one after another, annihilated by the sword lights. Under the continuous onslaught, the blue thunder fort’s projection finally started crumbling. In the end, it looked nothing like a fort but more like a dilapidated ruin.
“Boundless Maximal Flames……” Ning Cheng remained calm. Although he could feel that a gap still existed between him and Chuan Xinlou, Chuan Xinlou can only dream about killing him off this quickly.
“Boom…..” A fiery explosion ripped through the centre of the sword mountain.
A raging void collapse followed, and the sword mountain and the sword waterfalls formed by Chuan Xinlou disappeared into the violent void collapse. A moment later, a horrifying flame burst out from the origin of the collapse, followed by a flame trace, an axe intent, and a hint of spear intent.
The explosion following the void collapse had already blown away 70% of Chuan Xinlou’s sword mountain, while the flame trace and the murderous axe and spear intents annihilated the rest.
After that blinding explosion, the entire hall turned quite once again, while Ning Cheng stood still in the same spot. Except for slightly messy hair, no one could tell that he was in a disadvantageous position just a moment ago. As for the Chuan Xinlou’s Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda, it had visibly dimmed, which forced Chuan Xinlou to look at Ning Cheng in some disbelief.
“It was not a real space spirit technique just now, but a spirit technique infinitely close to the laws of space.” Yi Jiufeng sucked in a cold breath and spoke in a low voice.
Qiao Jierui sneered, “Infinitely close to the Laws of Time, and even infinitely close to the Laws of Space. Hehe, let’s all just get a fake spirit technique and forget about the rest. Since everything is just a fake, why do we need to put in a lot of effort to cultivate and grow stronger?”
Nobody spoke or chimed in; everybody understood that even if Ning Cheng used a fake space spirit technique, it was not a small matter at all. If they were in Ning Cheng’s spot, even they couldn’t guarantee a successful block against Chuan Xinlou’s Sword Dao Mountain.
“No wonder you’re so arrogant. You indeed have a few tricks up your sleeves, using fake laws to cover up the flames you use.” Chuan Xinlou taunted. At the same time, the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda started powering up again, transforming into a tall white pagoda. If it weren’t for the temple having a ceiling so high that no one could see it, this Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda would have most likely broken through it.
This time, the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda directly smashed down towards Ning Cheng, causing Ning Cheng’s Celestial River Domain to crack apart like a spider web. This Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda even suppressed the newly re-formed Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort, forcing it to shrink once again. This time, the lightning arcs around the blue thunder fort did not pose even half a threat to the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda.
“Kacha……” The blue thunder fort issued a crisp sound, which forced Ning Cheng to spit out a mouthful of blood. Chuan Xinlou’s strength had reached such a high degree that he couldn’t put up even a decent defence with the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort.
Seeing Ning Cheng spit out blood, Chuan Xinlou sneered, “You think you’re the only one who can use fire? Let me show you my Burning Sky Eroding Sun…..”
Burning Sky Eroding Sun was actually a spirit technique; rather, the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda formed because of this spirit technique. With Ning Cheng successfully angering Chuan Xinlou, Chuan Xinlou decided to use this spirit technique in tandem with the pagoda to crush Ning Cheng into slag, despite having access to other spirit techniques.
A powerful suppressive force covered the entire hall. Not to mention Ning Cheng, even the cultivators on the sidelines started to feel difficulty in breathing.
Striking Order’s eyes flashed with horror. He had thought that joining forces with Ning Cheng would scare Chuan Xinlou into taking a step back. But now he understood that if Chuan Xinlou wanted to kill him, then even if he teamed up with Ning Cheng, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Chuan Xinlou’s strength practically knew no bounds, and he couldn’t even dare to imagine the limits of it.
Despite Ning Cheng bearing the full brunt of it, he could still feel the suppressive force acutely while breathing even when standing on the sidelines. Could he have survived if Chuan Xinlou had directed this power at him? He knew his own limits and knew that he couldn’t be like Ning Cheng, who still could stand while facing this horrifying suppressive force. If it’s this difficult for Ning Cheng, then it’s already a blessing that he hadn’t broken off all ties with Chuan Xinlou.
Not only Striking Order but Yi Jiufeng, Qiao Jierui, Zhangkang Tianji and the others also felt the same fear. Chuan Xinlou rarely if ever used his real skills, so today was the first time for most to witness at least a fraction of Chuan Xinlou’s real power.
Seeing Ning Cheng vomit another mouthful of blood under the suppression, Chuan Xinlou taunted him once again, “Sect Master Ning, this isn’t even my most powerful Dao Charm spirit technique. If you can actually withstand it, I might consider showing you what a real Dao Charm spirit technique looks like. Unfortunately, looking at your conditions, it doesn’t look like you can hold for much longer under my Burning Sky Eroding Sun.”
Chuan Xinlou’s words caused the hearts of Yi Jiufeng and the others to sink even further. Yi Jiufeng always had the impression that Zhangkang Tianji was the most powerful of the four. But now it seems that Chuan Xinlou, who usually laughs around and reads a lot, was the most terrifying of all.
“Boom….” Immediately following Chuan Xinlou’s words, a blazing white sun violently burst out from the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda. Everyone could feel the suppressive force even when the blazing sun hadn’t come out. But now that it actually came out, the horrifying heat made the suppression even more unbearable.
Tang Yitang and Striking Order looked at Ning Cheng sympathetically. Under such conditions, it would already be a miracle if one could use a defensive weapon against this horrifying burning sun, let alone fight back.
Striking Order quickly made up his mind. After this incident, he would definitely return to Chuan Xinlou’s camp once again. Even if Chuan Xinlou wanted to take away his Striking Order Starry Sky, he would have to let it go.
Ning Cheng felt neither sorrow nor joy. When it came to Chuan Xinlou’s blazing sun, he didn’t bring out any weapon. Although this Burning Sky Eroding Sun looked powerful, as long as it did not make physical contact with him, it would have no effect on his Starry Sky Body.
Just when the Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda and the seemingly boundless white blazing sun were about to completely envelop Ning Cheng, and burn him into slag, the long spear in Ning Cheng’s hand slowly pierced out.
The way Ning Cheng controlled the long spear looked as if Ning Cheng was not attacking his opponent at all, but sending a flower to his lover. A gentle, soft and graceful push without any hints of impatience.
“What does he want to do?” Everyone looked at Ning Cheng in surprise. No one knew what Ning Cheng wanted to do.
Something’s not right; the sky burning sun doesn’t seem to have any effect on him, strange…
Yi Jiufeng was the first to notice this difference in Ning Cheng, and her eyes immediately lit up. Chuan Xinlou also felt something wrong. Ning Cheng didn’t seem to show any fear towards his Burning Sky Eroding Sun Spirit Technique or the pressure from his Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda that had transformed into a giant peak thousands of feet tall.
However, at this exact moment, Chuan Xinlou felt the time around him stagnate. A setting dun appeared right in front of his eyes; although it moved quite slowly, it overflowed with sadness and melancholy.
Chuan Xinlou showed a sneer. Did he really want to use that pseudo-spirit technique? Did Ning Cheng go blind already?
However, the next moment, Chuan Xinlou quickly realised that something had gone horribly wrong. He couldn’t break free from this pseudo-spirit technique.
No, this was not a pseudo-spirit technique, but the real Laws of Time. Time had truly gone still at this moment. Even his Burning Sky Eroding Sun Pagoda and his Burning Sky Sun Eroding Spirit Technique had stopped moving as if frozen in time. Moreover, he couldn’t feel the flow of anything around him. When Chuan Xinlou tried to connect with his thoughts, he found that even his consciousness had turned immobile. He could only stare with horrified eyes as Ning Cheng’s long spear ‘slowly’ approached him.
