A palace made out of Black Tortoise Steel was black and substantial. Thirty-three pillars connected the top with the base. Even the roof tiles were made from molten iron and joined together perfectly.
Who knows how many pounds this treasure must weigh?!
Ordinary people might not even be able to carry a single tile, but this was a weapon for Third.
“Boom!” The ten golden carriages were sent into disarray from Third’s attack. The iron chains connecting the carriages couldn’t handle the power and shattered.
“Pop! Pop! Pop!” Three carriages fell into the cold lake like three oxen drowning in the water, leaving behind only air bubbles on the surface.
Three more were deformed by the impact from the palace. Their golden light dimmed and the engraved formation was crushed completely. They continued to fly before crashing into the vast snowy plains, leaving behind three deep lines.
“Omni-Heaven Marquis’ golden chariots really are worthless. Their combat effectiveness isn’t special at all!” Third swung his sleeve to recall the palace to his palm.
The golden carriages were naturally quite powerful and Ning Fengdao’s cultivation was extremely high as well. However, he had suffered quite a blow right away. Six out of the ten carriages had been lost.
And that was only a single move!
“Swoosh! Swoosh!” Qin Ming and Ji Yunyun came out of the violet boat. They stood on the deck and emitted their bright spirit energies.
They were Ning Fengdao’s guests, so of course they had to support him at this moment.
“The disciples from the heretical school are indeed worthy of their reputation. Unfortunately, your school is currently in decline; the orthodox cultivation ways have won, yet you still dare to show yourselves and court death?” Qin Ming scowled.
“What a big mouth!” Third stomped on the lake and sent countless water droplets flying in the air. He fanned his sleeve as wisps of spirit energy shot up high. It froze these water droplets and covered them with a metallic aura before shooting them straight at his enemies.
Everyone was very cautious of these heretical disciples, so they didn’t dare to be careless.
Qin Ming’s sword technique was one level higher than before. His “Ten Thousand Swords, One Origin” technique had been mastered. One sword came out and turned into two, two into four, four into eight… In the end, 422 swords came out.
These sword images lined up into a line and rushed out like a torrent!
Meanwhile, an old iron scroll flew out from Ji Yunyun’s back. It was a painting sketched by a knife, depicting a formation adept in both offense and defense.
“Pluff! Pluff!” The 422 sword shadows were shattered by the water droplets, and the same went for the iron scroll!
Third’s cultivation was too high. Just two droplets alone were enough to defeat the other two’s techniques and severely wound them.
Qin Ming and Ji Yunyun lost at the same time. Their bodies went flying for a hundred feet before falling onto the snowy shore, creating two deep pits.
There was a bloody hole on Qin Ming’s chest as his blood stained the field. The liquid quickly froze as well. Ji Yunyun’s right hand was almost severed completely. Spirit lights were oozing from the wound.
Two geniuses from top clans of the Grand Southern Prefecture couldn’t even withstand one move when they were working together. They were defeated incredibly easily.
“Qin Ming lost just like that? But he is the number one youth of the Qin Clan right now.” Wang Meng couldn’t believe his own eyes. Even though Third was very powerful, he shouldn’t have won effortlessly.
The cultivators from the southern region couldn’t accept this swift defeat.
“It has nothing to do with talents, their gap in cultivation was just too great!” Feng Feiyun knew that his cultivation speed was quite fast and enough for him to deal with the younger generation. However, after seeing Su Yun and Third’s cultivation, he felt that there was still some way to go between him and the real youths at the apex.
He thought to himself: ‘My cultivation is still too low. How can I raise it in a short amount of time?’
Many people here were at grand achievement God Base. Only this level was qualified to participate in duels between geniuses. Otherwise, they could only act as spectators.
Feng Feiyun also wanted to fight to show off his skill. He craved for power more and more…
What was the point of having exceedingly high talents? Only practical battle prowess mattered in this case. For example, Shi Yelai’s talents were at the grand historical level, but because he was only a first-level Heaven’s Mandate, he couldn’t compare to his peers who had been famous for a long time. He was not even a match for Princess Luofu.
In order to become unbeatable, one must increase their battle capabilities first.
“Boom!” Ning Fengdao had been at grand achievement God Base for a long time and was ranked 40th on the pagoda’s list, but he was defeated by Third. He was injured by the palace and was down on one knee by the shore while constantly coughing up blood.
“Like I said earlier, the Wanxiang Pagoda has declined. Ning Fengdao, your talents aren’t bad, I had to use 30% of my power to defeat you. You might as well submit to my third hall, I guarantee you will be ten times stronger in just three years.” Third’s green face began to laugh deviously. The laughter didn’t disperse from the night sky for a long time.
Third was even younger than Ning Fengdao, but his cultivation was too frightening. Numerous disciples from the pagoda here had to lower their heads in silence.
Ning Fengdao felt hesitant. Not only was he defeated physically, he also lost mentally. Was the Senluo Temple really stronger than the Wanxiang Pagoda? Were their cultivation methods also better?
He thought: ‘If that wasn’t the case, then why did I lose? This must be the case! It has to be! Joining the Senluo Temple will give me a more promising future!’
Feng Feiyun stood next to an old willow tree by the lake. Little Demoness was still holding her kitty and his sleeve. Her round eyes were fixated on Ning Fengdao.
“Bro, he is ranked 40th, a young prodigy, why won’t he stand up?” Her voice was sweet. Due to a lack of experience, she didn’t understand everything.
Feng Feiyun replied: “He’s scared. A mutilated body can stand again, but a defeated heart will forever kneel on the ground.”
“Bro, you’re a liar, he’s standing up right now!” She watched as Ning Fengdao slowly stood up.
“The truth is that he’s still on his knees.” Feng Feiyun held her tiny hand tightly and left towards the snowy plains, leaving two lines of footprints, one big and one small.
The howling storm engulfed their bodies with snow.
Many experts from the pagoda were still here, such as the third prince of Dazhen, Shi Yelai, Princess Luofu, and some others hiding in the darkness. However, Feng Feiyun didn’t want to watch any longer after that battle.
Even if someone could defeat Third or all three of the lords here, the pagoda had lost in terms of morale. [1. This is a tricky line for translation; it can be taken both literally and metaphorically. The one here is metaphorical. The literal translation would be “it has lost people”, which could be referring to Ning Fengdao deflecting, but since that is only implied, I chose the safer route.]
She asked: “Bro, are we not fighting for the names on the holy monument?”
“If you want to compete, then I can take you back.” Feng Feiyun continued forward at a quickened pace.
“Bro, if you don’t want to, I won’t either.” She followed right behind him. Even though her steps were shorter, her speed remained the same as him.
After these two were gone, the battle near the lake didn’t stop. No one realized that they left, nor did they care.
Bi Ningshuai slipped away as well. It wasn’t because he was disappointed by the disciples of the pagoda, it was because he was afraid of someone among the three lords. He thought about running away as far as possible to never see that person again.
Wang Meng, on the other hand, stayed behind. He enjoyed watching the fun no matter the occasion.
And tonight was destined to be very fun!
***
Even after four days, snow still covered this region. The cold and nasty wind was blowing fiercely as well.
The snow looked like goose feathers and never stopped falling. The snow piles grew on the ground as if the world had re-entered an ice age.
“The Wanxiang Pagoda has been utterly defeated by the Senluo Temple. Ten fights, ten losses! Is it because the heretical school is too powerful, or is it because the pagoda has fallen?”
In a tattered temple near a hillside covered in cobwebs, cold wind squeezed in from one of the broken walls, carrying in countless snowflakes.
The ruthless breeze was even colder than before. The water inside a bronze pot in the middle of the temple had frozen completely into a block of ice.
A fire had been started in this broken temple. A group of refugees was unceasingly talking about what happened four days ago back at the lake.
“I heard the Grand Historical Genius from the pagoda also fought during the tenth battle, but he could only exchange 3,000 moves against the fourth prince before being miserably defeated.” These men were shabbily dressed. They were local cultivators of Trinity that had lost their sects from the invasion of the corpses. Their peers were virtually all massacred.
It wasn’t until recently when the talents all over the world rushed into Trinity to kill corpses that their situation became better.
Someone said: “Princess Luofu didn’t fight. If she did, maybe the pagoda could have won one round!”
“The first princess of the Senluo Temple with the red lotus didn’t take action either, but someone did say that those two fought somewhere else. Who knows who won?”
“Sigh! In any case, the number one sacred ground in the world has lost ten rounds. I’m afraid their disciples won’t be holding their heads high for a long time in the future.”
“The heretical schools want to come out again and trample over the pagoda to shock the world!”
A youth asked from outside the temple: “Then did anyone leave their names on the holy monument?”
Even the urgent gales outside couldn’t drown out this youth’s voice!
The refugees inside stopped talking and looked out the tattered windows!
“Clat, clat!” Two different footsteps could be heard approaching. A young man wearing the pagoda’s uniform came inside while holding a little girl’s hand to escape the thick snow.