After the first round, the remaining eight participants were given half a day to recuperate. Some like Ji Shuye, Duan Muli, Xia Yushan, and Li Mu who won with relative ease did not need to rest. But Yang Linyin’s condition was far more dire.
Sweat slid down Yang Linyin’s brows as he circulated the true qi within his body. The true qi within his body had extreme heat and was like an inextinguishable fire. Every once in a while in his dantian a flicker of a small core bearing cold yin energy would appear but immediately disappear.
“Senior brother, I won’t be able to use my yin form in the upcoming match. I’m afraid that I won’t be Five Changes Sword’s match.”
Five Changes Sword was the moniker that outsiders had started to call Xia Yushan since he was in the Core Formation realm, it wasn’t popular at first but after he had entered the Nascent Soul realm many more people started to address him as Five Changes Sword due to his sword that seemed to be able to change to any of the five elements at a moment’s notice.
“It seems that the battle with San Mirong caused more damage than we thought. If we had known this, throwing the match may have been a better option. San Mirong and Xia Yushan can just injure the other, letting us reap the benefits.” Duan Muli said with a frown.
Yang Linyin’s constitution was unique and it allowed him to master the Dual Yin Yang Transformation technique. It allowed the user to form a True Yang Martial Body and a True Yin Spiritual Core, but it was like two sides of the same coin. Only one could appear at any time. Yang Linyin had already been forced into his Yin Form during the earlier trials and now he was stuck in his Yang Form.
If he reached a high enough level, he could switch interchangeably and even merge the two forms together and display the supreme power of Taiji. But Yang Linyin’s realm was too low for that at the moment.
“There is no point in pondering about what if. Who is to say that Eternal Night’s San Mirong would not happen to defeat Xia Yushan and all her competitors to attain the Heavenly Lotus Seed?” Yang Linyin idly commented. “It is better for another sect to get the Heavenly Lotus Seed than allowing a disciple of the Eternal Night Sect a chance to attain the treasure.”
Duan Muli grunted. His facial expression only darkened for a moment before it returned to normal.
It was very abnormal for a single disciple to have attainments in both Yin and Yang like Duan Muli and Yang Linyin. Most Eight Pillars Sect disciples only had partial attainment in either Yin or Yang not like those two. It could be considered a rare fortune for the Eight Pillars Sect to have two disciples with the potential of merging Yin and Yang into the supreme Taiji. Especially during their troubling times.
But because of this, both Yang Linyin and Duan Muli had formed a rivalry and become each other’s opponents. They were both considered candidates for the position of Sect Master in the future and whoever showed more potential and promise would be rewarded with more resources.
If handled incorrectly, then the existence of these two could lead the Eight Pillars Sect into an even bigger downward spiral. Perhaps the reason Duan Muli and Yang Linyin hadn’t fought seriously was because of the pressure brought on by the Eight Pillars Sect’s enemy on Earth Continent.
Soon half a day passed and the second round of the third trial began.
Ji Shuye stepped onto the stage with a serious expression on her face as she gazed at her opponent.
“Eight Pillars Sect Disciple Duan Muli, please advise.”
“Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Ji Shuye, please advise.”
Although Ji Shuye felt a bit apologetic, her junior brother who fought Duan Muli did not even manage to bring out his true abilities. They were not on the same level at all.
But Ji Shuye didn’t fully show her abilities either.
Both of them were promising seeds raised by their sects, because they were separated by the endless seas the only information they had were rumors and what they gleaned from their short time in the Three Heavens Connection Meeting and the Trial Land.
Ji Shuye didn’t try to use her Spiritual cultivation base to fight and instead immediately released the power of her Martial Body and brought out her halberd. But it was one halberd but two. She held one in each hand, it was a scene that was in complete contrast to her doe-like eyes but Ji Shuye appeared extremely domineering.
Duan Muli sensed the change and his eyes immediately sharpened. One eye became completely black while the other became completely white.
With a valiant roar, Ji Shuye leapt high into the air with her halberd poised to strike down like a falling meteor. It was an incredibly forthright move that exposed many weak points.
Duan Muli pointed his fingers at Ji Shuye and unleashed eight steel spiked chains towards Ji Shuye.
But it was as if Ji Shuye was covered in an invisible barrier, all the spiked chains bounced off of her without even touching her robes. But the chains were not meant to deal damage to her and they instead began to wrap around Ji Shuye.
“Hmpf!” Ji Shuye snorted derisively and and explosive air was released from her whole body, causing the chains to be deflected. But with a few hand movements from Duan Muli, the chains began coiling around Ji Shuye, out of the range of her air bursts.
But even though she was trapped in a steel chain ball, her trajectory had not changed at all. Duan Muli took a step back as Ji Shuye crashed at his previous locations and the ground below splintered with inconceivable force. Even the chains were sliced into tiny fragments that flew everywhere.
The tiny chain remnants even battered Ji Shuye’s robes, but they did nothing to her at all. Very soon those chains dissipated into thin air, they were materialized from Duan Muli’s qi after all.
Duan Muli sighed and soon a coin sword appeared in his hands. Although the blade was formed from numerous cash coins and seemed dull, Ji Shuye quickly used one of her halberds to block the slash from it and use her other hand to strike at Duan Muli.
But when Duan Muli’s strike connected with the flat side of her halberd, an enormous force caused her to be sent flying back.
Ji Shuye looked at Duan Muli in a slight daze. She could not detect Duan Muli having any martial cultivation, yet in a competition of pure strength between them she had been pushed back.
And it was uncontested!
Ji Shuye slammed the sharp ends of her halberds into the ground and formed several hand seals.
Duan Muli who saw this charged at her, the coin sword’s edge began to cycle between black and white.
But Ji Shuye was faster and the top of her robes exploded into tiny pieces. But before the audience could enjoy the sight they soon saw the bandages that covered her whole torso and left only her shoulders uncovered. The disappointment in the audience only grew when Ji Shuye grew a second head and another pair of arms. Now each pair of hands wielded a halberd.
The moved the two halberds in cross pattern in front of her and defended against Duan Muli’s sword. She frowned when she found herself still being pushed back. Ji Shuye allowed her body to be pushed back but she dispersed the force within Duan Muli’s attack at the same time. But Ji Shuye didn’t back off completely as she immediately moved within Duan Muli’s range again and unleashed a combo of attacks using both her halberds.
Each of the halberds seemed to contain enough power to split a mountain in half.
But Duan Muli didn’t back off either as he attacked with his coin sword. When his sword met with Ji Shuye’s halberd, her halberd would be pushed back and her momentum and balance would be thrown off.
At the same time since he only had one weapon, Duan Muli dodged her other halberd’s attack by the slimmest of margin. He was like a fish in the water while Ji Shuye was a mortal trying to use her hand to capture him.
The continued this balance between more than a hundred moves. Duan Muli’s plan was very simple, he wanted to exhaust Ji Shuye’s power and hide most of his abilities and techniques from his competitors. But as time passed, Duan Muli realized that Ji Shuye still had a lot of energy and did not seem to slow down at all.
Finally when Duan Muli’s coin sword clashed against Ji Shuye’s halberd again, the cash coin on the sword scattered and Duan Muli was only left with a hilt.
Ji Shuye was stunned for a moment but she quickly capitalized on it and unleashed a flurry of moves against Duan Muli who danced through them.
Duan Muli made a single hand seal and half of the eighteen scattered coins became black while the other half became white. At this instant a taiji symbol appeared below Duan Muli and Ji Shuye.
Not Good. Ji Shuye’s skin turned deep bronze in color with a divine light and her halberd emitted a gold light as well. But the moment the changes appeared, they began to disappear at the same time. In the same instant Duan Muli’s skin also took on a bronze tint and his bladeless hilt emitted a sword made of golden energy.
The spectators immediately turned wary at the formation Duan Muli used.
No one else was affected as Ji Shuye as she felt her true qi began to be sucked out of her body and her technique’s strength be absorbed by Duan Muli. She was unwilling so she began to burn her blood essence and a red glow covered her body and her halberds.
But even that was sucked away towards Duan Muli. Without having to do anything Duan Muli gained the power of a martial expert who burned their blood essence.
Everything Ji Shuye did, Duan Muli would absorb and take for himself.
There was unwillingness in Ji Shuye’s eyes as she clashed again and again with Duan Muli, but with each passing moment her momentum weakened while Duan Muli defended yet his advantage grew bigger and bigger.
After another thirty moves, Ji Shuye suddenly sighed and she dispersed her techniques and stopped burning her blood essence.
“I have learned much, thank you for your guidance.” It was a clear admittance of defeat.
“You let me win.” Duan Muli cupped his hands and walked off the stage.
Ji Shuye returned to the assembly of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples in defeat. She didn’t say anything as she sat down with an unwilling expression.
Xia Yushan sighed as he took out a cloak and covered Ji Shuye with it before walking towards the stage. Ji Shuye looked at Xia Yushan’s back with a deep look while her grip tightened on the cloak.
“Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xia Yushan, please advise.”
“Eight Pillars Sect Disciple Yang Linyin, please give me your guidance”
When the match began, Xia Yushan instantly drew his sword and unleashed a sword light that contained the colors of the five elements.
Yang Linyin didn’t even have a chance to defend before he was struck out of the arena. This carried none of Xia Yushan’s usual way of defeating his opponents. Although he seemed the same, there was a trace of unpleasantness in his heart and Yang Linyin simply became the unlucky victim that was vented on.
Yang Linyin could only bitterly smile at what his senior brother’s action caused.
The match between Li Mu and Heng Huesheng was rather one sided as well. Heng Huesheng was not able to make Li My display any abilities he had yet to display, unlike Ji Shuye who forced Duan Muli to reveal his formation.
The next battle afterwards pitted an Eternal Night Sect disciple against a disciple of the Saint Scholar School.
Although the Saint Scholar School’s disciple had superior technique but he was not able to overcome the difference in battle experience and lost to the disciple of the Eternal Night Sect.
The four semi-finalists were Duan Muli, Xia Yushan, Li Mu, and the disciple of the Eternal Night Sect.
But it was apparent to everyone that Duan Muli, Xia Yushan, and Li Mu stood head and shoulders above everyone else. And to this point only Duan Muli revealed some of his abilities.
While Xia Yushan did display a technique that he had not used before, it was only one swift strike and nothing much could be gleaned.
Li Mu hid even more than the previous two.
The rest time was still half a day and soon the first match of the third round began, Duan Muli vs Xia Yushan.
“Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xia Yushan, please advise…”
“Eight Pillars Sect Disciple Duan Muli, likewise.”
Once the Duan Muli finished his words the air instantly became tense as Xia Yushan revealed his mid Nascent Soul realm.
Xia Yushan had only entered the Nascent Soul realm less than five years ago and throughout the Three Heavens Connection Meeting and the dangerous moments in the Trial Lands he never revealed that he had increased his cultivation base.
Xia Yushan’s actions could be seen as an open declaration of challenge against Duan Muli who was at the peak Nascent Soul realm.
Xia Yushan brandished his sword and five lotuses of each of five elements appeared. Each one had five petals and was created from sword qi and revolved like a terrifying saw.
Duan Muli’s face tensed and his eyes changed. One back completely black while the other became completely white and he revealed his sword with a blade created from eighteen cash coins.
The five lotuses floated towards Duan Muli and surrounded him in a circle.
Duan Muli felt as if space around him was being constricted and even his senses began to diminish and grow chaotic when he tried to peer past the colored lotuses. It was as if Duan Muli only existed in a world within the confine of the five lotuses.
He tapped his cash coin and caused it to disperse, half the coins became black and the other half became white. A taiji symbol was created on the ground and spun in a circular motion and caused the five lotuses to dim. In comparison to when it spun when Duan Muli used it against Ji Shuye, the speed was obviously slower. The five lotuses spun in the opposite direction, their speed was even slower than the taiji symbol and Duan Muli could no longer feel the constrictive power of the five lotuses.
At this moment Xia Yushan who was already within the taiji symbol stepped forward towards Duan Muli, his sword displaying a watery light.
Xia Yushan seem to move in concert with the taiji symbol and swung his sword down at Duan Muli. But Xia Yushan’s sword swung upward instead and Duan Muli pierced towards Xia Yushan with a blade that was composed of a white colored energy.
Xia Yushan frowned and tried to move to the left, but his body moved towards the right in the end!
“Grk!”
Xia Yushan managed to block Duan Muli slash by deflecting it with his sword but his shoulder was still injured from the piercing attack.
He felt as if almost all his motor controls were reversed.
But Xia Yushan still unleashed his sword techniques in a head on clash against Duan Muli. With every confrontation, Xia Yushan’s clumsy strikes became more and more refined.
After more than a hundred exchanges between the two Xia Yushan began to push Duan Muli back. And just as it seemed as if Xia Yushan’s was about to deliver a critical blow on Duan Muli, Duan Muli’s energy sword became pitch black in color.
Xia Yushan who was in the middle of a piercing attack felt as if his whole body accelerated and his body moved forward. His eyes hardened as he saw the upcoming tip of Duan Muli’s sword.
With how his body was moving at the moment, he would be sending himself to be pierced against Duan Muli’s sword.
His qi was already in circulation and if he forcibly canceled his technique, he would cause an internal backlash and allow Duan Muli a critical opportunity to deliver a devastating blow. Xia Yushan remained calm as his sword took on five colored glow and his speed returned to normal, but it was still not enough to stop himself from being impaled by Duan Muli’s sword.
At this moment the sword in Xia Yushan’s hand seemed to have become five, one of the sword was placed to block Duan Muli’s sword while the other four continued their path towards Duan Muli.
The black sword in Duan Muli’s hand suddenly became half white and Xia Yushan suddenly found his body incredibly slow and cumbersome. Not just him, two of his five swords became slow while the other three became fast and their direction all scattered.
It was as if Xia Yushan’s defenses and techniques were being peeled away one by one to reveal his defenseless core.
Just as it seemed that Xia Yushan would be dealt a fatal blow, the five lotuses that was going against the flow of the taiji symbol shone brilliantly as a line stretched out from their center towards Xia Yushan.
At that instant a beautiful five colored, five petal lotus that enveloped both Xia Yushan, Duan Muli, and the taiji symbol, materialized.
Xia Yushan disappeared from Duan Muli’s view as five versions of XIa Yushan appeared and surrounded Duan Muli; they were only differentiated by their robes that correlated to the five colors. All of them unleashed a sword strike representing one of the five elements to create an attack that was not just the sum of its parts.
The audience who were watching this battle couldn’t help but be dazed. In the last clash between the two proud geniuses, the multiple reversals all took place within mere moments of each other and most of them couldn’t even keep up.
Only Li Mu could calmly analyze it all, even San Mirong had an ashen expression although she understood more than the rest.