Zhang Yue’e drew her Moon Shadow Bow and revealed a graceful smile. "I’d like to propose a different kind of match. I wonder if Elder Wang would be interested in hearing it?"
Wang ng was regulating his breathing, trying to recover as much Elental Power as possible. In truth, he was far from as confident as he appeared, but he couldn’t afford to show any weakness. Zhang Yue’e watched him intently as she spoke.
"I’m listening."
"Let’s try a different challenge. You let take three shots at you. If none of them hit, I lose. How about it?" Zhang Yue’e proposed.
The crowd imdiately erupted in an uproar.
"In your dreams!"
"Why should he agree to that? Do you take us for fools?"
Zhang Yue’e paid them no mind, her gaze fixed on Wang ng. ’This proposal is a last resort.’ She could see that Wang ng’s Elental Power showed no signs of serious depletion. Though she knew he was conserving his strength, no one knew just how deep his reserves ran.
Since Wang ng wanted to save his strength for his fight with Mingren, there was a good chance he would accept her offer. And if he did, her odds of winning would skyrocket.
"We’ll do it your way," Wang ng said.
Zhang Yue’e hadn’t expected Wang ng to agree so readily; it was a pleasant surprise. Not wanting to give him any more ti to rest, she smiled faintly and announced, "First shot!"
With a hum, Zhang Yue’e’s Moon Shadow Bow erupted, Elental Power rippling out in a fan of brilliant light. A Blast Arrow shot forth.
Zhang Xiaojiang’s eyes narrowed. His vision was second to none, and he imdiately spotted a dark shadow shooting out right behind the first arrow.
The Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Arrow!
The explosive force and brilliant light of the first arrow were all a cover for the lethal child arrow that followed.
Wang ng’s figure blurred as he instantly dodged aside. The Soul-Seeking Arrow, fired second, carved an arc through the air as it pursued him.
At that mont, Zhang Yue’e unleashed her second shot. She had said "one shot," but nobody said it had to be a single arrow, as long as the attack was a continuous sequence.
Her attention to such details was truly impeccable.
—Bursting Group Shot!
Light exploded in all directions as a volley of Blast Arrows shot forward. Having just dodged the Soul-Seeking Arrow, Wang ng had no choice but to leap into the air to avoid the barrage.
Zhang Yue’e had achieved her goal. An airborne target was the ideal prey for an Arrow Cultivator.
Third shot!
This arrow had no frills. It was a pure prediction shot, fired at a point in the air before Wang ng had even arrived. It was a display of Zhang Yue’e’s rich combat experience. The first two shots were designed to force Wang ng to exhaust all his montum in dodging, and he should have been left completely breathless at this exact mont.
Her calculations were based on the fact that Wang ng wasn’t prepared to use his full strength. Her attack was designed to strike when he had power but no way to leverage it!
Her subtle and ticulous planning was on full display in this three-shot combo.
Wang ng’s desire to conserve his Elental Power was, in itself, an exploitable weakness.
The full-powered arrow shot toward him—fast, accurate, and ruthless—aid straight for his chest, the most difficult spot to dodge.
At this mont, Wang ng truly had all the power in the world but no way to bring it to bear.
But in that hair’s breadth of a mont, he raised Broken Heaven Edge vertically before his chest.
SHINK...
Zhang Yue’e’s third shot was all about maximum speed and ferocious, heart-piercing power. The arrow was made from the trunk of a thousand-year-old peach tree, allowing it to carry an imnse amount of Elental Power.
And Wang ng t it not with the flat of his blade, but with its very edge.
The Peach Wood Arrow split cleanly in two, the halves streaking past his ribs on either side.
BOOM...
Zhang Yue’e sighed to herself. ’If that was luck, then his luck is just too good. If I had used an iron arrow, the consequences of blocking like that would have been unimaginable. But it just had to be a Peach Wood Arrow. If he calculated that... then...’
The Fourth Sacrificial Battle: Wang ng is victorious!
Zhang Yue’e hadn’t managed to drain much of Wang ng’s energy. The disciples of Thunderlight Hall threw their arms in the air and roared. Their dream was becoming a reality; they were now just one step away from an even greater miracle.
The atmosphere instantly tensed. The most crucial mont had arrived.
Even at a ti like this, the Senior of Lingyin Hall maintained his elegant smile. This was Mingren’s signature style.
Ever since Li Tianyi had arrived at Lingyin Hall, he seed to have stolen the spotlight. The Senior of any other Sub-Hall would have been uncomfortable, if not jealous, but Mingren was different. It seed everyone had forgotten that he was the true number one expert of Lingyin Hall.
Mingren stepped onto the Dueling Platform and clasped his hands. "Brother Wang, my apologies. I’m afraid I’m taking a huge advantage here."
Wang ng smiled faintly. "Brother Mingren, please."
After four consecutive matches in the Sacrificial Battle, Mingren certainly had plenty of room to maneuver. As the strongest practitioner of Talisman and Sword Dual Cultivation, no one knew just how far he had progressed in recent years.
"The sword’s na is ’Hidden.’ I forged it and nad it myself."
As he spoke, Mingren’s Elental Power began to rise slowly. The final, most crucial battle of the Sacrificial Battle had begun.
An atmosphere similar to the one from the battle with Li Tianyi erged as their Sword Monta pressed against each other. This ti, however, it was clear that Mingren held the advantage. The after-effects of Wang ng’s fight with Li Tianyi were beginning to show.
SHIING... Mingren vanished from his spot, instantly lunging at Wang ng. Reacting a fraction of a second slower, Wang ng also moved, and their figures reappeared in the center of the platform.
CLANG! Their sword edges crossed, sending Elental Power flying in all directions.
Wang ng’s body trembled, however slightly. For a battle between experts, that was more than enough. Mingren shoved forcefully, flinging Wang ng’s figure away. In this direct contest of power, Mingren had already taken the upper hand. His Elental Power was stronger than Wang ng’s to begin with, and his combat experience was far richer. With Wang ng exhausted from four previous battles, the balance had decisively shifted. The situation was spiraling out of Wang ng’s control.
Mingren’s sword, Hidden, began to suppress Wang ng, but he still hadn’t used any Talismans. "Brother Wang, my apologies. I know your Elental Power is greatly depleted, but as the Senior of Lingyin Hall, I have a responsibility to all its disciples. I have no choice but to press my advantage."
As he spoke, Mingren’s Elental Power surged to the Twenty-Third Layer, putting Wang ng in an even more difficult position.
"Mingren sure is clever."
"Please. That guy is the most cunning one in all the Nine Halls. He doesn’t stick his neck out like Ning Zhiquan, he’s popular, and he’s strong. If I were Ning Zhiquan, he’s the one I’d be most wary of."
Jia Shidao spoke with his eyes narrowed, seeming to be perpetually half-asleep.
"Oh, co on. You’re just jealous he’s so popular. His smile is genuine, not like your fake one that doesn’t reach your eyes," Qiao Qian teased.
On the platform, Mingren wasn’t playing any fancy tricks. He was simply using his superior Elental Power and stamina to force Wang ng into a direct sword fight. He wasn’t worried about Wang ng breaking free; the reputation of Talisman and Sword Dual Cultivation wasn’t just for show. A Dual Cultivator controlled the rhythm of the battle. The very fact that Mingren wasn’t using his Talismans was a form of pressure in itself—the unspoken threat of the Five Elents was always looming.
Visibly, Wang ng was being pushed back step by step. Even though he was using Twenty Layers of power, Mingren’s Elental Power was approaching the twenty-fourth layer. Fresh and rested, he was giving Wang ng no quarter.
After nearly a hundred consecutive strikes, all one could say was that Wang ng’s tenacity was astonishing. But in the end, Mingren found an opening.
A single strike batted aside Wang ng’s defense, and in that instant, Mingren flicked a Talisman from his left hand.
At that mont, the faces of every Talisman Cultivator in the audience flushed red.
With no need for a verbal Spell, Mingren had instantly unleashed the Poison Lotus Heart-locking Pulse-breaking Triple Ring Array Kill.
It wasn’t that Wang ng didn’t want to dodge; Mingren had completely locked onto his opening from the very beginning. The seemingly simple attacks had perfectly cut off his path of retreat. Mingren’s Sword Techniques were incredibly ticulous, never seeking a one-hit-kill, but instead constantly pushing Wang ng closer and closer to his breaking point. And at this mont, Wang ng had finally reached his limit.
As the triple curse of the Poison Lotus landed on Wang ng, he was completely overwheld by excruciating pain and loss of control, severing his ability to use any other Magic.
Only then did Mingren clear the way with his Sword Qi, letting out a thunderous roar: "Holy Hall Sword—Sky-Splitting Fierce Light Slash!"
SHIIING! SHIIING! SHIIING!
A vast wave of Sword Qi blasted toward Wang ng.
Ever since inheriting the Godhood, Wang ng’s relationship with power had been in a strange state. His aptitude for Magic was actually a remnant from before the Godhood was sealed. This remnant was so powerful that only now, for the first ti, had soone managed to back him into a corner.
This was the true terror of the Sacrificial Battle.
His stamina, Spiritual Power, and Elental Power were all pushed to their absolute limits. What remained was Wang ng’s true essence.
’Is there nothing left?’
Wang ng tried to feel a trace of fear, but even with death staring him in the face, the very concept seed nonexistent.
His last bit of Elental Power vanished. For a mont, everything froze. Then, a minuscule trickle of Godhood Power leaking from the Heaven and Earth Spirit Locking Array dripped like a single drop of water into his Sea of Fate.
Suddenly, his Sea of Fate erupted in a blinding flash of light. Five completely different spheres of light appeared, shifting from chaos into a perfect order.
The Five Elents Technique—tal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—generating and regenerating in an endless cycle!
Unity of Heaven and Man!
WHOOSH...
Wang ng disappeared. Mingren’s sure-kill strike slamd into the empty Dueling Platform, sending shattered stone flying everywhere.
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone, including Mingren. His use of Talisman and Sword Dual Cultivation had been flawless. How could anyone possibly have escaped that?!
Floating in the air, Wang ng felt an inexplicable impulse. The Godhood had changed so much about him. Even with it sealed, Wang ng had never completely escaped its influence. Moo Shan’s Godhood brought power, but it also brought fragnts of Moo Shan himself—a negative influence on a complete soul. Under the full, imnse power of the Godhood, Wang ng would have never been able to find his true self. The sealing of the Godhood was his first opportunity, but it was his intimate connection with Yang Ying that truly awakened him and made him realize sothing was wrong.
After all, what normal young man would actively avoid a girl he liked? That was absolutely not normal.
And just now, the transcendent power of the Five Elents Technique—a power that belonged to Wang ng alone, sothing Moo Shan could never have achieved—had finally allowed him to ntally overco Moo Shan’s influence. He was Wang ng. He could master and digest the Godhood’s power.
The reason he hadn’t lost himself completely was all thanks to the presence of his friends, people like Zhang Xiaojiang and Hu Jing. Wang ng could give up on himself, but he could never abandon his friends. And it was because of them that he had never left the Holy Hall.
That was what led to this mont of enlightennt.
This sliver of insight made Wang ng feel as if he had been reborn. To him, the Godhood was no longer a burden, but a tonic.
Wang ng reveled in his realization, a joy no less profound than the relief of surviving a catastrophe. He craved power and strength, but he absolutely did not want it to change who he was.
What he didn’t realize, however, was that the spirits of the Five Elents—tal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—were beginning to manifest visibly around his body.
The Heaven and Earth Five Elents Array! (To be continued...)
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