Lord Xue Ying

Chapter 463: Final Stage (2)

Translator: Radiant Editor: Radiant

Hong hong hong~

The two became even more frenzied as the fight kept going. Xue Ying occasionally pierced Wan Jiu, but it always turned out to be his mirage body that he struck. Clearly, Wan Jiu was deliberately letting Xue Ying hit him.

Pu.

Xue Ying's spear was like a venomous snake, thrusting forward and then immediately retreating.

"This…"

Wan Jiu's two bodies suddenly stopped, followed by one of them dissipating.

Only a single Wan Jiu was now standing in mid-air, and he was staring at Xue Ying in disbelief. "How…how did you…"

"Your blade technique wasn't quite perfect, and my luck turned out to be better than yours," Xue Ying said.

Wan Jiu's eyes were filled with unwillingness.

His technique wasn't perfect? Xue Ying's luck was better?

He was well aware, however, that he had yet to grasp hold of the true World Deity Heart. Despite calling his blade technique 'one becoming the world,' the fact stood that it had yet to reach that stage.

"Just a little bit more. Just a little…" Wan Jiu's inner heart fell to anguish. Had he defeated Xue Ying in the one-on-one fight, the outcome would have been wonderful. But now, in spite of attracting the attention of several powerful existences, he had essentially handed all that attention for Xue Ying to use as a stepping stone.

His body soon crumbled apart, and his consciousness returned to his body.

His two comrades were shaking their heads inwardly.

"Brother Wan Jiu was certain of his victory, but he still ended up losing by a small margin."

"Dong Bo put the lives of all four bodies on the line, and that eventually gave him the opportunity to triumph." It wasn't long before these two people also left. The only reason they had been sticking around was the oaths they had sworn.

Xue Ying shook his head with a smile as he watched those two depart.

This Wan Jiu was quite the formidable expert, but he had no way of knowing that I've already grasped hold of the complete World Deity Heart, or that I've created quite a lot of secret skills using it as a base. If we're to compare our comprehension of the World Deity Heart, there's no doubt my knowledge of the details is deeper than his. Xue Ying sighed inwardly. His so-called 'one becoming the world' blade technique had a glaring weakness which I could determine from a mere glance!

I only had to wait for an opportune moment to break through his blade technique. Xue Ying sighed once more.

"He put those mirage bodies out with no regard to their well-being, pushing forward to break apart his opponent's blade techniques and finally thrusting out at the right moment." The White Sand City Lord held onto a wine goblet as he looked up toward the scene of battle from within the mountain range. "All of that led to his eventual success."

"Is it not possible that he might have discovered a gap in the other party's blade technique during this very battle? This win is a testament to his own power," the Ink Cloud City Lord praised.

　　******

There was no way Xue Ying would so easily admit defeat. Wan Jiu tried to put on a dazzling display in hopes that the powerful existences would take the initiative to select him as a disciple, but Xue Ying was also chasing his own dreams. His greatest hope was that either His Majesty or one of the three Grand Elders would take him under their tutelage! Naturally, he would not accept defeat without even trying to resist.

Hu.

Xue Ying moved along the mountains range. With a step empowered by his Extreme Piercing, he casually approached and killed another venomous bug.

He then repeated the process, killing more and more bugs. Before long, his ranking rose up to the ninth position, occasionally even holding the eighth spot. But the other Deity experts were all formidable and had their own fortune, leaving Xue Ying to hover around the eighth to tenth positions.

The Deities within the mountain range were numbering lower and lower. 60, 50…

"Mn?" Xue Ying's expression suddenly changed.

He had just sensed a figure stealthily pass through the boundary of the mountain region he was in. Despite his expert having distorted his image, Xue Ying could still use his Mirage domain to clearly tell apart the other party's appearance. He had the same white robe, white hair, and white eyebrows as before—this was none other than Jiu She.

"You again!" Xue Ying began to flee by switching positions with his mirage bodies, not a hint of hesitation in his movements.

"Suppress!"

"Break!"

Jiu She chased after him while simultaneously unleashing his domain-related technique.

Even then, the Time Immemorial Body's toughness proved too formidable. In spite of it being at merely the third level…Jiu She was still unable to suppress and kill him using that domain technique alone.

Sou sou sou!

Xue Ying was in a mad retreat. He didn't even consider displaying his grade one Deity Heart in the course of this battle, being aware that the enemy of Sacred Master Crimson Dust might just forego his reputation to act against him. After all, anyone able to grasp hold of a grade one Deity Heart within 2,300 years was as talented as a grade one True Meaning Transcendent. He had already decided that he would rather die than reveal his true power.

He would wait until he became a stage two World Deity to reveal his capabilities. By then, the only people who could kill him without him even getting to react were the Bloodshed God Emperor or the Temporal Island Lord. Powerful existences at their level would generally not act against someone like him.

Once he became a stage three World Deity, and even without the agreement in place, the Bloodshed God Emperor himself would be unable to kill him, a Realm Lord.

That was why he decided to be patient. It was only through sufficient patience that his future could truly be dazzling.

"Jiu She, why must you go so far to pursue me?" Jiu She's persistence dumbfounded Xue Ying, but it didn't stop him from fleeing across the many mountain regions.

Shua.

Just as he passed the boundary to another region, a fat old man with white hair appeared right before him.

Xiu.

A dazzling light suddenly crossed through Xue Ying's body.

"That's a grade one Deity Heart–" Xue Ying looked with wide eyes toward the fat old man. He recognized this old man as none other than the one to take first place in both the ranking stange and the survival battle of the Nine Rigid Prefecture Selections—Monarch Yue. Rumors said that he originally called himself Emperor Yue, but only the most extraordinary existences of the Deity world dared refer to themselves as emperors. He thus decided to change his appelative to Monarch Yue. The title of monarch was, after all, a bit more reserved than something like 'emperor.'

"I was never in any rush to display my skills, not until the very last moment. And the person I chose to finally dispose of is you, Dong Bo." The fat old man smiled. If he was going to kill someone, he would clearly kill the person who attracted most of the attention from the powerful existences.

Xue Ying's body dissipated, followed by the return of his consciousness to his body.

Sou.

Jiu She arrived at the scene. He looked toward the fat old man and sneered. "Who could have known you've also grasped hold of a grade one Deity Heart."

"What, is it not true that if Dong Bo hadn't appeared, you would have also hidden your skills throughout the Calm Sea Prefecture?" The fat old man waved his hand to take out a blood-colored dagger before. He then smiled a sinister smile. "How about a one-on-one fight?"

"Show me just how formidable you are, then." Jiu She's eyes were filled with killing intent.

Xue Ying's consciousness returned to the outer perimeter of the Myriad Flower Feast, where over a thousand Deity experts had already been sent back to their bodies. At the moment, only thirty people or so were still in the battle.

"Brother Dong Bo, who would have thought you would suffer another sneak attack by those grade one Deity Heart people." Seventh Mei Yu giggled from nearby.

"Indeed, that Monarch Yue expert has quite the sinister temperament. He should have discovered long ago that Jiu She was chasing me, so he laid in wait for the exact moment when I would cross the boundary of that mountain region. Only then did he launch that sneak attack." Xue Ying shook his head helplessly. He truly was too young, and he attracted the attention of too many powerful existences. That caused so many to plan on killing him so as to redirect some of that attention toward themselves.

They only got two or three sentences in when Jiu She, who was also from the Calm Sea Prefecture and sat close to him, began regaining his consciousness.

"What's wrong Jiu She? Did you actually lose?" Xue Ying deliberately poked at Jiu She's wounds.

"Hmph." Jiu She's expression was ashen-gray.

He had just fought a one-on-one battle against Monarch Yue, and he lost.

Having grasped the Boundless Deity Heart, he should normally have had a very low chance of losing. However, the outcome of any battle was ultimately unpredictable.

"That sinister geezer." Jiu She turned brusquely to look at the illusory figures still battling within the mountain range, one of them being Monarch Yue.

Without warning, a World Deity guard walking into that space, which attracted the attention of the many Deity experts. Normally, a World Deity guard would only come over at such a time to deliver a command token. Taking the initiative to send an expert alongside the command token represented that a powerful existence was willing to accept someone as their disciple! This was essentially the powerful existence taking the initiative to accept a disciple and was an extremely rare occurrence.

The number of people who could attract the attention of powerful existences in the course of a Myriad Flower Feast, to the point that they would be invited to become their disciple, could be counted on one's fingers.

"Who is he here for?"

"He's heading in this direction. He's looking for me."

The many Deities were nervously watching, thirsting to see whether they were selected. Even the ones who finished below the hundredth place held a glimmer of hope that they would be invited! After all, one's rank didn't matter, as long as a powerful existence was willing to take the initiative. They would end up under them either way. Xue Ying, for instance, had only cultivated for 2,000 years or so, and the White Sand City Lord had long since explained that, as long as he participated in the Bloodshed God Palace Battle, he could finish on a rank lower than the top hundred and still be chosen without a doubt.

"Dong Bo." The tanned World Deity guard smiled as he passed a golden command token over to Xue Ying.

　　**