"Wait a minute!"
Under Xuan Zhi’s furious shout, ridian Qi was already erging from Guan Hu’s body when Yun Xiao suddenly cut in, causing a sneer to flash through Xuan Zhi’s eyes.
"What? Have you finally thought of begging for rcy?"
Xuan Zhi felt a discharge of anger, sneered, then added: "Yun Xiao, don’t say that this prince is rciless. The condition remains the sa: crawl over, kowtow three tis to this prince, and cut off your own arms. Perhaps then, this prince might consider sparing your dog life!"
It appeared that Xuan Zhi believed Yun Xiao spoke out because he realized his dire situation; after all, there is no chance for survival against the united forces of a late-stage and a mid-stage ridian Gathering Realm cultivator.
"Your Highness Xuan Zhi, you might have misunderstood!"
Just as Xuan Zhi, filled with triumph, awaited Yun Xiao’s imminent plea for rcy, the young man in rough clothing gently shook his head, then said: "I was wondering, if I managed to break through by entering the third level of Jade Pot Cave, would he still continue to act against ?"
"What... did you say?"
As soon as Yun Xiao voiced this, both Xuan Zhi and Guan Hu were taken aback, having never even considered such a scenario—it simply seed impossible.
In their minds, they still regarded Yun Xiao as just a peak ridian Introduction Realm cultivator. Even if he was formidable, there was no way he could surpass Guan Hu, not to ntion, there was Xuan Zhi glaring like a tiger by the side.
"Boy, stop wasting ti. There is no ban on life and death within the Jade Pot Cave and no strong cultivator from Jade Pot Sect will co to save you here!"
After a montary pause, Guan Hu seed to realize a possibility, hearing him, Xuan Zhi quickly caught on, with the sneer in his eyes deepening even more.
"What, is my question hard to answer?"
Seeing the reply was beside the point, Yun Xiao slightly frowned. To be honest, without invoking the power of Ancestor Vein, he wasn’t exactly sure he could defeat Guan Hu.
Yun Xiao wasn’t planning to engage in a prolonged battle with Guan Hu on the second layer of the Jade Pot Cave; his ultimate goal was the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the third layer.
Having acquired so understanding of the Jade Pot Cave, Yun Xiao wanted to conserve energy for the battles against the formidable Vein Demons in the third layer. If he were to show his trump card here, it might substantially lower his chance of obtaining treasures in the third layer.
"Yun Xiao, if you can really breakthrough and enter the third layer, then consider it your good fortune. Otherwise, submit to your fate obediently!"
This ti, Xuan Zhi actually answered Yun Xiao’s earlier question, but in truth, he never seriously considered it possible; hadn’t he used "we" in his speech?
Clearly, Xuan Zhi was positioning himself as part of the conflict, indicating Yun Xiao’s opponents were not just Guan Hu, the Guardian, but also Xuan Zhi, the Third Prince of the Empire.
In fact, if Yun Xiao could really enter the third layer, according to the rules of Jade Pot Cave, the Guardian indeed could not pursue him further to attack. Of course, this didn’t include Xuan Zhi, but with Xuan Zhi’s strength, taking on Yun Xiao alone, the outco was uncertain.
Having obtained the answer he wanted, Yun Xiao no longer hesitated but simply reached out his hand, pointing to the eager Guan Hu and softly declared: "Then... let’s begin!"
As his voice fell, the first to make a move was Yun Xiao himself. Stepping forcefully on the ground and raising dust, his speed suddenly increased like a ghostly apparition, and in just a blink, he reached right in front of Guan Hu.
"Bring it on!"
Although Guan Hu was not a ridian Refining Master, his Outer Sect skills were several tis more potent than those of Zhao Xingwu from the Zhao Family. As he roared, ridian Qi poured into his right arm, which seed to visibly grow thicker.
As a late-stage ridian Gathering Realm cultivator, Guan Hu’s attack combined with strong physical strength, resembled a massive iron rod sweeping horizontally towards Yun Xiao, the force of the sweep causing even Xuan Zhi standing nearby to secretly feel alard.
Speaking of which, the Guan Family of Imperial City is one of the three great families of the Xuanyue Empire, with a subtly intricate relationship with the Royal Family, and great ambitions. From a young age, Guan Tong and Guan Hu brothers, close in age to Xuan Zhi, were sent to the Royal Family to beco Xuan Zhi’s right-hand n.
As the Third Prince of the Royal Family, Xuan Zhi had long held a sense of superiority before the Guan brothers, but now, witnessing Guan Hu’s ferocious power, he finally realized that, after three years apart, the brothers who had entered Jade Pot Sect might have changed a lot from before.
This is still Guan Hu, who has relatively low cultivation among the Guan brothers. If Guan Tong, who ranks third on the Mortal List, were to make a move, it would be a sight to behold.
Although Xuan Zhi feels resigned, the strength of Guan Hu’s sweeping arm strike is stunningly formidable. Even Xuan Zhi himself wouldn’t dare to take it head-on, let alone Yun Xiao, who he believed was only at the Peak of ridian Introduction Realm.
In Xuan Zhi’s view, if Yun Xiao didn’t want to be smashed to the point of breaking his muscles and bones by this strike, his only choice would be to dodge, to avoid such overwhelming force impacting his body.
But in the next mont, Xuan Zhi’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets, as he shockingly found that Yun Xiao didn’t dodge as he had expected. Instead, he blocked with his arms in front of his chest and chose to withstand the blow head-on.
Bang!
With the ridian Qi of the ridian Gathering Realm Late Stage bolstering his formidable physical strength, Guan Hu’s strike emitted a loud crash. However, contrary to Xuan Zhi’s expectation that Yun Xiao would be killed or at the very least seriously injured, he saw the young man in rough clothes only take three steps back and then firmly regain his stance.
"ridian Gathering Realm Early Stage?!"
Xuan Zhi, also a low-level Mortal Rank ridian Refining Master, quickly recovered from his brief shock. He then clearly sensed the burst of ridian Qi from Yun Xiao, and what Xuan Zhi himself didn’t realize was that his voice trembled subtly as he spoke.
Perhaps deep down, Xuan Zhi felt increasingly threatened by Yun Xiao. After all, back in dicine Valley, Yun Xiao, with only Late Stage ridian Introduction Realm power, had managed to escape from him. Upon their next encounter, this young man had forcefully advanced to the Peak of ridian Introduction Realm.
Now, in their third clash, Yun Xiao exhibited a ridian Qi Cultivation that had astonishingly reached the ridian Gathering Realm Early Stage, which seed utterly unbelievable to Xuan Zhi.
While Xuan Zhi could attribute Yun Xiao’s previous improvent to the Purple Energy Flower Lotus, now he wondered what had occurred, questioning how this young man had ascended another realm in just seven or eight days, particularly to a significant rank like the ridian Gathering Realm.
Even Yun Xiao, who had been at the Late Stage of ridian Introduction Realm, had almost defeated Xuan Zhi, who now had the Peak of ridian Introduction Realm. Xuan Zhi firmly believed that facing Yun Xiao at the Early Stage of the ridian Gathering Realm, he might genuinely no longer be a match for him.
Not to ntion the shock Xuan Zhi felt from witnessing Yun Xiao’s displayed power, Guan Hu, Yun Xiao’s opponent from the Late Stage of the ridian Gathering Realm, was even more tumultuously shaken in his heart.
Compared to Xuan Zhi, Guan Hu knew the formidable power of his sweeping arm strike even more profoundly – it was not just a simple sweep but a powerful low-level Spiritual Rank ridian Technique.
Guan Hu believed that even cultivators of the sa rank at the Late Stage of ridian Introduction Realm who dared to block it head-on would definitely end up with their arms broken.
However, the reality was that Yun Xiao only took three steps back and didn’t seem to be greatly disordered in his aura. This clearly indicated that under the attack of such a powerful ridian Technique, the young man had not sustained any damage.
At this mont, Guan Hu had clearly sensed Yun Xiao’s true cultivation level. Yet, to him, a practitioner in the Late Stage of ridian Gathering Realm, whether the opponent was at the Peak of ridian Introduction Realm or the Early Stage of ridian Gathering Realm made little difference.
But it baffled Guan Hu that this "ant" of a young man who might have just advanced to the Early Stage of the ridian Gathering Realm could withstand such a powerful attack from his ridian Technique.
"Hmm?"
However, just as Guan Hu suppressed his shock and prepared to gather ridian Qi for another attack, he suddenly felt two extrely strange energies within the right arm that he had just used to attack.
One energy was intensely hot, burning like charcoal, making the area where his arm had contacted Yun Xiao’s right arm feel afla; the other portion, where it had contacted Yun Xiao’s left arm, felt extrely cold.
These paradoxical energies occurring simultaneously in his body made Guan Hu realize he understood less about Yun Xiao than he thought; and he wondered what these energies were and how they had transferred to his body.
Perhaps only Yun Xiao himself had a faint idea of what was happening, as he had activated a Fire Attribute Ancestor Vein when he broke through to the ridian Introduction Realm and a Cold Ice Ancestor Vein upon advancing to the ridian Gathering Realm.
This coexistence of contrasting energies within him was indeed a strange phenonon. However, by now, Yun Xiao had already accepted this fact, and these two extre energies of ice and fire had actually given him a slight advantage in this clash.
Despite Yun Xiao retreating three steps under that arm sweep, only he knew that having progressed to the Early Stage of ridian Gathering Realm, facing Guan Hu from the Late Stage of ridian Gathering Realm, he was no longer utterly powerless. Even more, after deploying so hidden tactics, he might even have a chance to erge victorious.
Of course, Yun Xiao had already decided beforehand that his primary goal was to overco Guan Hu, the guardian, and enter the third level of Jade Pot Cave. Now, it seed that this target might not be so difficult to achieve after all.
But what Yun Xiao did not know was that the strike he had just endured was not Guan Hu’s full strength, for the latter had previously thought that it would be too deaning to use his full power against a youngster at the Peak of ridian Introduction Realm.
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