Chapter 490: Fighting Xie Ziwen Again; Despicable
When Shi Hailong heard that, he was stunned. He immediately sent a voice transmission to Xiao Chen. “Don’t let him provoke you. Your strengths were almost on par before this. He clearly knows that your cultivation increased greatly in the Ancient Desolate Tower, and yet he is here to challenge you. He must have a secret technique that can increase his strength temporarily.
“The most important thing is that you just emerged from the Ancient Desolate Tower. You currently possess great Luck. If you lose, he will snatch away all the Luck you accumulated in the Ancient Desolate Tower. So, don’t ever let him provoke you. In the future, after you mature, you will be able to easily destroy him with one finger.”
Shi Hailong’s tone sounded very anxious. He said a lot of things in one breath, weighting the pros and cons of accepting the challenge as well as doing his best to prevent Xiao Chen from agreeing.
Shi Hailong had no choice but to be very cautious. If Xiao Chen was defeated, the Luck that the Heavenly Extermination Union obtained would also be affected. If that was the case, all his efforts would be for naught.
Xia Xiyan, Jiang Zimo, and the others also gave the same advice: “Xiao Chen, don’t agree to it. This fellow must have come prepared. He’s waiting for you to fall into his trap.”
When Xie Ziwen saw Xiao Chen remaining silent, he mocked, “Is that all the courage you have? How dare you even compare yourself to the Thunder Emperor. Xiao Chen, you disappoint me.”
Xiao Chen took two steps forward and carefully sized up Xie Ziwen with his gaze. Then, he said, “As you wish, come to the arena!”
Xie Ziwen laughed loudly and leaped onto the largest arena in the Tianwu Plaza. He acted like he had already won the match as he said, “Good, I was just waiting for you to say this!”
When Shi Hailong heard this, he said anxiously, “Xiao Chen, don’t be rash!”
Xiao Chen replied, “Elder Shi, rest assured. Naturally, I have my ways of dealing with this.”
Shi Hailong shook his head, sighed softly, and did not say anything more. Xiao Chen’s fight was of great importance. Even if he wanted to stop it, there was nothing he could do if Xiao Chen himself was willing.
The Trial of the Ancient Desolate Tower was an important matter in the Ancient Desolate Land. Countless people had already gathered outside the Tianwu Plaza long ago.
However, they had all been stopped outside the plaza by the Heavenly Extermination Union’s people. Now that the trial was over, the situation outside turned chaotic due to the interference of the Evil Moon Pavilion.
Droves of cultivators flocked to the Tianwu Plaza.
Xiao Chen pushed off the ground. His figure flashed through the air and landed on the arena in an instant.
“That person in white is the person who climbed to the eighth floor? Why is he only a Medial Grade Martial King? Is that right?”
“That should be correct. From the outside, I managed to see that he was the last person to come out. Cultivation is not the only thing that determines a cultivator’s strength.”
“However, this Xie Ziwen is really vicious. The other party has just come out of the Ancient Desolate Tower. If he defeats this person, then he will be able to snatch away all the Luck of this person.”
“Without any trump cards, he would definitely not dare to challenge Xiao Chen at this point in time. This is really interesting.”
The crowd discussed the recent occurrence. Some of the cultivators with better insight managed to guess Xie Ziwen’s purpose in challenging Xiao Chen.
It was currently noon. The blazing sun shone mercilessly on everyone. Xie Ziwen looked at Xiao Chen and said coldly, “You really dared to come up. The people who injure me, Xie Ziwen, never have a good ending. I will be taking away the Luck that you gained today!”
“Xiu!”
Right after Xie Ziwen spoke, he raised his state of fire to its limit. This time, he did not dare to be careless at all, neither did he dare to hold back.
Xie Ziwen sent out a palm strike, and a sea of flames appeared around him, moving like layer upon layer of waves.
Heatwaves spread throughout the surroundings, instantly raising the air temperature.
Shi Hailong’s expression changed. He said, “This fellow did indeed come prepared. He has comprehended his state of fire to the limit already.”
“Ka ca!”
Xiao Chen’s expression remained unperturbed. He placed his right hand on the Lunar Shadow Saber’s hilt and drew it at lightning speed.
“Boom! Boom!”
Thunder roared as Xiao Chen leaped into the air. A purple saber light appeared and he hacked down from overhead. This was the attack that the Martial Emperor Bai Shuihe executed earlier.
When Xie Ziwen saw Xiao Chen’s attack, a disdainful smile appeared on his face. “This is interesting. You are full of openings. The person styling himself as the White Robed Bladesman, fall for me!”
“Boom!”
The sea of flames surged around Xie Ziwen. He released red lights from his palm again and again. The huge flame rippled and formed a smooth palm.
A huge flaming palm manifested and the flames surged, heading for Xiao Chen’s unprotected chest.
Xiao Chen recalled the grace of Bai Shuihe’s attack and tilted his body slightly. The angle was sufficient for that huge flame palm to brush past his shoulder.
Xiao Chen twisted his wrist downwards, and the saber moved from top to down. The attack naturally turned into a stab.
“Pu ci!”
Xiao Chen landed and the tip of his saber penetrated Xie Ziwen’s chest by about one centimeter. Blood immediately spurted out.
Everything was within Xiao Chen’s plan; there were no deviations at all. He calmly told Xie Ziwen, “You have lost!”
Before that disdainful smile on Xie Ziwen’s face faded away, Xiao Chen had stabbed a vital spot on his chest while Xie Ziwen only sent out one palm strike.
If Xiao Chen pushed his saber in a little further, Xie Ziwen would immediately lose his life.
What happened? How did I lose? That attack was clearly full of openings. At the very best, that saber light was a little odd. How did it stab me in an instant?
Xie Ziwen now had a stunned expression; he could not understand how he lost despite thinking about it.
He was not the only person who did not understand. The thousands of cultivators present found it very strange too.
One move, only one move…Xiao Chen unexpectedly defeated Xie Ziwen in one move. The onlookers remembered the big fight between the two of them just seven days ago.
At that time, Xiao Chen had defeated Xie Ziwen after a hundred moves only because of Xie Ziwen’s carelessness. However, after seven days, he unexpectedly finished off the other party with one move.
The crowd fell utterly silent. Everyone stared at Xiao Chen in shock. Zuo Mo revealed a deep, pondering look before saying, “There is more than meets the eye to this saber strike!”
Ding Fengchou said softly, “I just managed to notice this. The movements are closely linked with one another. It looked like there were hundreds of openings, but in reality, there was none. However, there are still some flaws with the changing of positions. This is probably because it is a newly learned technique.”
Jiang Zimo nodded enviously. “I wonder what benefits he managed to obtain on the upper floors? Unexpectedly, he gained such strength.”
After Shi Hailong recovered from his mild astonishment, he finally reacted. He smiled and said, “This brat…no wonder he was so confident. I worried for nothing.”
“I have not lost yet. It is impossible for me to lose!”
Suddenly, something odd happened. Xie Ziwen grabbed Xiao Chen’s saber with his hand and then quickly moved backwards. After that, he took out a Medicinal Pill and popped it into his mouth.
“Boom!”
The Medicinal Pill immediately melted and Xie Ziwen’s aura soared rapidly. His hair and clothes fluttered as strong winds howled behind him.
“Bang!”
Xie Ziwen ignored the wound on his chest and let loose another palm strike. A huge flame palm the size of a small hill appeared and pressed towards Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen’s expression changed slightly. Unexpectedly, this huge flame palm gave him a sense of danger.
Xiao Chen did not block blindly. He pushed off the ground and retreated backwards.
“Pa!”
When the flame palm hit the ground, a palm-shaped pit appeared in the arena. Countless stone shards blasted out into the surroundings.
Shi Hailong said sullenly, “Half-step Martial Monarch…what kind of Medicinal Pill is that? How could Xie Ziwen’s strength be boosted to half-step Martial Monarch in an instant?”
The flow of the battle reversed instantly. Xie Ziwen, who had swallowed a mysterious Medicinal Pill, suddenly became as strong as a half-step Martial Monarch.
As Xie Ziwen fired off palm strikes, a berserk Essence poured out of him with the torrent of attacks. This prevented Xiao Chen from counterattacking.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Explosions rang out continuously. Xie Ziwen’s frenetic offensive completely shattered the resilient arena, reducing it to a pile of rubble.
He is very strong. However, he became a half-step Martial Monarch only by forceful means. His aura is unstable. Although his energy seems quite wild, it is not that dense. I should wait awhile longer.
Xiao Chen calmly analyzed the situation. His figure flashed and headed for another arena.
“Hu chi!”
Xie Ziwen quickly followed after him, sticking tightly to him.
The two figures flashed and landed on another arena. Xie Ziwen smiled and said, “Xiao Chen, aren’t you very powerful? Why aren’t you attacking? Let’s see where you can run to!”
“Thousand Flaming Palms!”
Xie Ziwen took a deep breath and released a resplendent red light from his right palm. Like a miniature sun, the light seemed as bright as daylight.
“Boom!”
Xie Ziwen spat out a mouthful of turbid Qi before shouting a warcry. Then, he thrust the palm that shone as brightly as the sun forward.
The palm strike blasted out and flaming palms rained down like a meteor shower aimed at Xiao Chen. Such a large AOE attack could not be dodged.
Xiao Chen raised his head to look at the rain of flames that filled the sky. He muttered, “It is time to end this. A half-step Martial Monarch is merely this strong.”
The purple Qi whirlpool in Xiao Chen’s body spun quickly. A surging, pure lightning-attributed Essence flowed through his meridians and poured into his saber.
The energy that Xiao Chen poured into his saber was extremely dense. It filled the saber without leaking at all.
The pitch-black saber immediately flickered with a bright purple light. Its very plainness created a sharp contrast to Xie Ziwen’s berserk Essence.
“Break!”
Xiao Chen shouted as he thrust his saber forward. The flaming palms descending from the sky immediately burst apart.
“Break! Break! Break!”
Xiao Chen did not move from his spot as he faced the rain of flaming palms. His feet remained rooted to the ground as he stabbed at all the flaming palms flying at him.
Without exception, all the flaming palms that were stabbed shattered into countless sparks before vanishing completely.
Xiao Chen made it seem effortless, as if the berserk Essence directed at him were only tiles.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
When the flaming palms that missed Xiao Chen struck the ground, they blasted the arena into a pitiful state. Cracks covered the arena as a cloud of dust filled the air.
Everyone clearly knew that these flaming palms might look small and weak, but they had extraordinary might. They were definitely not tiles.
However, when facing the flames that filled the sky, the white-robed bladesman calmly shattered the flaming palms with ease.
Such a large difference seemed incredible. After all, these flaming palms were very strong. This created confusion in everyone’s hearts.
When Shi Hailong saw this scene, his restless heart relaxed. Given this, Xiao Chen had a fifty percent chance of victory at the very least.
Xie Ziwen’s chest tightened. What he had eaten was a Rank 7 Blood Essence Pill. It could raise his strength by fifty percent for the duration for a joss stick to burn.
[TL note: In ancient China, the duration for a joss stick to burn is considered to be thirty minutes. For brewing a pot of tea, that is fifteen minutes.]