Chapter 686: Dark Horse! Dark Horse!
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
As they watched Fan Xuefeng threw the bag filled with golden rings to Chu Yang, Shi Jingyun and Shi Shaoqian furrowed their eyebrows.
Seeing that, Fan Xuefeng smiled. That was his main goal. He betted that Chu Yang would make a mistake in his arrogance.
Without Kang Hai's restraint, Chu Yang could do as he pleased. He felt extremely safe as he was without any threat. His sense of security naturally fell and in the face of temptation, he became more greedy. He was unable to consider problems rationally.
Earlier on, with the threat of Kang Hai, Chu Yang was able to forgo seven golden rings. However, now that he was faced with the temptations of the seven golden rings again, he was unable to think and act calmly.
In other words, this could because of Chu Yang's self-confidence. He believed that as long as Kang Hai did not interfere, he was able to keep every single golden rings on his fingers.
However, Fan Xuefeng made use of Chu Yang's self-confidence. As the nature of the conflict changed, he placed Chu Yang at a disadvantage. Fan Xuefeng was not someone who could be so easily bullied.
Fan Xuefeng looked at Chu Yang and said, "Now, you can't leave."
With that, he called an incantation and said softly, "Seven Peaks True Form Formation, open!"
Mana swirled and Chu Yang instantly felt the objects in the bag changing shape. The entire bag burst open and the seven golden rings hovered in mid-air. Every single golden ring became covered in runes.
On the small golden rings, one could see spell formations carved on it. The seven golden rings combined their spell formations into one as they formed a giant spell formation over Chu Yang's head.
In the spell formation, the shapes of seven mountains flashed. Every single one of them weighed tons and they came crashing down onto Chu Yang's head.
Under the Seven Peaks True Form Formation, Chu Yang's form was pinned. He could no longer escape with his Vanishing Spell.
Shi Shaoqian and Shi Jingyun were slightly shocked but they both reacted quickly to this development. Fan Xuefeng was able to use the seven golden rings to cast a spell formation and lay a trap for Chu Yang, who fell for it immediately.
At first, Chu Yang thought that he could come and go as he pleased. Without any constraint, he felt completely at ease. Instantly, this sense of ease disappeared as the situation reversed.
Above Chu Yang, a golden number nine shone brightly. Chu Yang became encircled by Fan Xuefeng, Shi Shaoqian, and Shi Jingyun and he was like a lamb for slaughter.
Fan Xuefeng now possessed zero golden ring. While Shi Shaoqian and Shi Jingyun were unhappy with his ambush earlier on, they were trapped in the same situation as Fan Xuefeng. Arguing with him now would prove fruitless. Hence, they turned their attention to Chu Yang.
The battle was as exciting as a roller-coaster. Every single spectator in the Dharma Hall was taken aback.
In the Grand Heavens Pavilion, the group Immortal Soul stage elders shook their heads and sighed. Fan Xuefeng did not panic despite having faced setbacks. He planned calmly and coldly as he turned the situation around in his favor. Chu Yang was once again at his mercy. They were all very pleased with this young man.
The Sun Radiance Swordmaster looked at Lin Daohan and Yan Mingyue and said, "He truly lives up to his name as a Great Void Sect disciple."
Lin Daohan nodded his head slightly in thanks and Yan Mingyue shook her head and smiled, "The outcome of the battle has yet to be determined. Saying this may be premature."
As she said it, Chu Yang, who had metaphorically fallen from the clouds to the deepest canyon, did not panic despite the serious expression on his face.
While he was slightly surprised, he had expected something like this to happen the moment he accepted Fan Xuefeng's seven golden rings.
Fan Xuefeng exhaled. The situation of the battle had been saved by him. Now, he wondered what should he do next. He should take some time to plan so that he could retrieve the nine golden rings on Chu Yang.
As his mind turned, he did not pause his actions. Decisively with Shi Shaoqian and Shi Jingyun, the three of them rushed towards Chu Yang.
Chu Yang looked at Fan Xuefeng and thought, "Lucky you are a spell formation cultivator, for now, I could use objects without breaking any rule. Even if you aren't a spell formation cultivator, you cannot stop me."
"Lucky I am prepared. I can use this object to cover me, if not I may not be able to escape this time."
As he thought, Chu Yang opened his palms to reveal two sigils.
The two sigils began to shine simultaneously in the sky. One was slightly darker than the other. However, no one would believe that it was weak. Instead, it was like a shadow as it flitted in and out of everyone's vision.
The other one shone brightly and sharply. It was as bright as a rising sun.
While the light of both was different, there was no doubt that both were sword radiances.
Chu Yang pointed out with the longsword in his hand as his body merged with the sword. His body first merged with the first sword radiance, turning shadow-like. It was as if he was trapped in the void. Fan Xuefeng's Seven Peaks True Form Formation could no longer suppress him.
As Fan Xuefeng telepathically communicated with this spell formation, Chu Yang suddenly disappeared.
The shadowy sword radiance shone as it scraped off the runes carved on the golden ring. The seven golden rings were then reclaimed by Chu Yang.
At this time, Fan Xuefeng and the two others were very close to him. As their numerous attacks came down, Chu Yang turned into a shadow. As long as he actually existed, there was no way he could escape.
However, Chu Yang did not bother with them. In his shadow-form, he escaped from the spell formation and took away the golden rings. In the next moment, he separated his body from the shadowy sword radiance. Then, he merged with the brighter sword radiance and an astounding power could be felt shooting straight into the heavens.
It was like a sudden solar dazzle. Chu Yang chose Shi Shaoqian, who was already injured, as his target as he charged out of the encirclement.
Right after he broke free, he teleported to somewhere faraway, leaving Fan Xuefeng, Shi Jingyun, and Shi Shaoqian behind him.
The cultivators in the Dharma Hall burst out in acclaim. No one would have thought that Fan Xuefeng could turn the situation around so quickly. In the end, he was able to an unfortunate situation to his benefit as he broke free from the encirclement.
He was able to escape with nine golden rings despite the combined attack of Fan Xuefeng, an immediate disciple of the Great Void Sect, Shi Shaoqian and Shi Jingyun, both of whom were direct disciples of the Great Qin Empire. Everyone was shocked by his performance.
Earlier on, he used his cunning to succeed. This final escape proved that this young disciple, born in the Ethereal Mountain and not very well known beforehand, was also very powerful and should not be undermined.
As the spiritual conference progressed till now, Chu Yang could be said to be the second dark horse after Zhou Yuncong.
In the eyes of the crowd, he was more surprising than Zhou Yuncong. While Zhou Yuncong was one of the rare disciples under Yang Qing, he was ultimately still from the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Hence, it was not surprising that he was this powerful.
However, before he stepped into the Starry Treasure Pagoda, Zhou Yuncong appeared to have over-cultivated and lost his way. This lowered everyone's expectations of him and hence when he pulled off his counter-attack, everyone was genuinely surprised.
However, for Chu Yang, everyone thought from his appearance and actions that he came here to network rather than to compete. Hence, they labeled him as someone who was just here to fill up the slots or to take a vacation.
In the Grand Heavens Pavilion, every single Immortal Soul stage elder was shocked. This time, every one of their gazes fell onto Chu Yang. Some of them, however, did not focus on Chu Yang exclusively.
The Heavenly Master Swordmaster looked at Lin Feng and Lin Daohan and asked, "If I did not see wrongly, I believe that Chu Yang used the Heavenly Vast Sword Talismans of the now-defunct Heaven's Gate?"
The Lightning Swordmaster, Supreme Radiance Swordmaster, Azure Pulse Swordmaster, Sun Radiance Swordmaster, Great Barren Swordmaster, and the Starry Swordmaster all had serious expressions on their faces.
Heaven's Gate was eradicated before these Immortal Soul elders were even born. Hence, records of this sect only appeared in some of their records.
Lin Daohan said slowly, "It is indeed Heaven's Gate Heavenly Vast Sword Talismans. In the two sword talismans, they contained the
Southwest You Heaven Sword and the Southeast Yang Heaven Sword of the Great Nine Heavens Holy Sword Technique of Heaven's Gate."
The Lightning Swordmaster slapped the armrest of his seat and said, "No wonder, while his swordplay technique resembled that of the Ethereal Mountain Sect, it was still evidently different. In some aspects, it appeared better. That is because he carries with him the Heavenly Vast Sword Talisman."
His voice then turned soft as he took a deep breath and said, "Did he learn the Heaven's Gate Great Nine Heavens Holy Sword Technique? Or did he managed to find the Heavenly Vast Sword Talisman through sheer luck?"
If he was the former, then it would be momentous. If it was the latter, then it did not matter as much. The Heavenly Vast Sword Talisman was a specialty of Heaven's Gate and given to its weaker disciples for self-protection. Its restrictions and seals were unique and even the disciples of Heaven's Gate themselves could not learn the true secrets of the Great Nine Heavens Holy Sword Technique with the talismans alone.
Any attempt at experimentation would make the talismans self-destruct. Both the Great Void Sect and the Mount Shu Sword Sect possessed some talismans but to their great dismay, they were unable to find out the secrets of the Great Nine Heavens Holy Sword Technique.
The Heavenly Master Swordmaster looked at Lin Feng and said slowly, "Let's not rush things. Once the conference is over, the Master of the Celestial Sect shall ask that child some questions."
The Ethereal Mountain Sect had grown closer to the Celestial Sect of Wonders over time as it became more distant from the Mount Shu Sword Sect. Hence, it could be considered to be part of the Celestial Sect's territory. These matters would naturally involve Lin Feng.
Lin Feng smiled and said, "Yes, there's no rush."
Everyone's head turned to the light image projected before them. After they saw Chu Yang obtaining the nine golden rings, he then rushed to the hill where he hid his first golden ring.
With that golden ring, he now possessed ten golden rings. As long as no one tried to sabotage him, he could progress safely into the third stage.
Now, only four people completed the task of the second stage.
Number one was Xu Yunsheng of the Celestial Sect of Wonders' Heavenly Temple!
Number two was Dao Yuting of the Celestial Sect of Wonders' Forest Abode!
Number three was Chen Xingyu of the Great Void Sect!
His appearance ensured that the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders did not sweep the top three placings. It also made others anticipate the third stage.
However, number four was another disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, it was little Lin Tong of the Inferno Precipice.
The many elders in the Grand Heavens Pavilion looked at each other and thought for a long while. "I believe that the next person would be Kang Hai of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect? Time is almost up."
Everyone's gaze focused on Kang Hai in the light image. Just as it seemed that he was going to be called out, something happened. A human silhouette appeared before Kang Hai.