by Mars Gravity
One had the advantage in profound strength, the other had skills in draconic divine spear techniques. The two of them originally had a large level difference in profound strength, but now they were stalemated in the arena. The weapons collided countless times; space was disturbed for an extended time and it continuously rippled. As the audience in the great hall looked upon this scene, the fight was distorted the whole time. Duke Zihuan couldn’t get rid of Yan Chengkong’s spear shadows throughout the fight, and for the time being, Yan Chengkong also couldn’t really hurt Duke Zihuan.
Among all the Duke Palaces, there were also many who used spears, and Duke Zihuan had gone against many who used a spear as a weapon, but he hadn’t fought against anyone from the Yan Family. He’d never thought the power of the Yan Family’s Imperious Spear was this astonishing. The Heavy Profound Spear in Yan Chengkong’s hands attacked and defended freely according to his will. When he attacked, his spear sprung like the wind and clouds, with its momentum able to swallow mountains and rivers. It made the duke’s movements all seem sluggish, as it suppressed both his blade and flame. When Yan Chengkong defended, it was like placing an iron chain across the river, it was impervious.
The two of them exchanged over a hundred blows, but none of them could do anything to the other. Yan Chengkong was calm and steady throughout, but Duke Zihuan was getting impatient. Before the battle, he mocked Yan Chengkong harshly, even insulted the whole Yan Family, got scolded seriously by the Little Demon Empress, and was humiliated hard. Now, after a hundred exchanges, he still wasn’t able to defeat this person whom he had ridiculed in front of everyone. Instead, he was being suppressed, and he was extremely aggrieved and furious.
Duke Zihuan gritted his teeth, and suddenly roared deeply. The light on his Scarlet Blood Blade intensified, making a fierce ripping sound, tearing up the space… This strike was exactly the same “Blood Flame Strike” that defeated Mu Hengyi before, but because he had already exhausted much of his profound strength, the power of the “Blood Flame Strike” was far weaker than when it defeated Mu Hengyi.
A terrifying force headed towards Yan Chengkong, as he positioned his spear horizontally and entered a defensive stance, causing the power of the Blood Flame Strike to be decreased by seventy percent. At this moment, his eyes were flickering in the attack’s brilliance, but he didn’t retreat and disarm the thirty percent power left of the Blood Flame Strike. Instead, he turned the body of his spear, let the blood-colored reflection of the blade graze his waist, and the Heavy Profound Spear became like a dragon flying out of the seas. It created an unstoppable profound energy storm that passed through the Blood Flame Blade, and stabbed Duke Zihuan viciously on the shoulder… The instant the tip of the spear touched his shoulder, all of the power immediately collected at the spear tip, and passed straight through Duke Zihuan’s protective profound energy and armor.
Pfft!
A splash of blood splattered out from Yan Chengkong’s waist, and the tip of the Heavy Profound Spear was stabbed deep into Duke Zihuan’s shoulder, stuck in between his shoulder blades.
A sense of pain came from his left shoulder, and it, along with the feeling of humiliation, stimulated Duke Zihuan’s ferocious personality. His eyes widened and emitted a radiance of craziness, “Go… to hell!!”
Duke Zihuan’s whole body instantly started burning in blood-red flames, as if he just walked out of a pool of blood… Watching his movements, the Yan Family’s Patriarch, Yan Zijing, was shocked and became pale. He yelled loudly, “Kong’er, dodge it, quick!!”
“Blood Cage Nether Flame!!”
The blood-red flames suddenly burst open, and a terrifying aura shrouded Yan Chengkong as his pupils shrank, but he didn’t choose to abandon his spear and retreat. Instead, he gritted his teeth, and poured all the profound energy he had into the Heavy Profound Spear… The next second, it was as if his chest had been slammed with ten thousand sledgehammers, as he instantly lost consciousness.
Boom!!!
The blood flame exploded, and Yan Chengkong was thrown out backwards into the distance. When he was caught by Yan Zijing in the air, his chest was already torn and bloody. But Yan Chengkong wasn’t the only one who was thrown out backwards in the blood flame. In the instant that the blood flame exploded, the Heavy Profound Spear that Yan Chengkong poured the last of his powers into, pierced directly through Duke Zihuan’s shoulder, and poked open a real, transparent hole. The rest of his power pounded Duke Zihuan high up in the air, causing him to crash into the east wing with his blood sprinkling all over… That Heavy Profound Spear fiercely pierced the seats in the east wing, without any hint of blood on its surface.
“Chengkong!”
“Zihuan!”
Both sides were extremely shocked. None of them thought that the two of them who were originally at stalemate would meet such a tragic outcome in a single instant. To ignite those streaks of blood flames, Duke Zihuan did not hesitate to exhaust his entire body’s profound strength, and his body was pierced through with a transparent hole. It was impossible for him to continue fighting. But Yan Chengkong was no better than him; the front of his flesh was all torn, and his internal organs were all shifted. If it weren’t for his strong willpower, he would have been unconscious already. However, it was impossible for him to continue fighting.
This battle, Yan Chengkong and Duke Zihuan had achieved “mutual destruction”.
“Brothers of the Under Heaven Clan, thank you for your help!” Facing the heavily injured Yan Chengkong, Yan Zijing was fairly calm.
“Don’t worry, with us here, your son will definitely be alright,” two Elders from the Under Heaven Clan said as they nodded. They reached out their palms, and a dark green light shrouded Yan Chengkong’s wounds.
Under the natural healing power of the elven race, even though Yan Chengkong’s injuries were serious, they quickly stabilized. He took a deep breath, and said with shame, “Father, your child’s cultivation was too immature… I let you down…”
“Don’t blame yourself.” Yan Zijing said reassuringly, “After all, Zihuan is ranked fourth in the Illusory Demon Seven Scions. There’s a huge gap between you and him. To have such a result, Father is already very proud of you. Concentrate and calm down now, don’t talk anymore.”
Duke Zihuan was finally defeated, but none of the expressions on anyone from the west wing eased up in the slightest. Because it took five people for them just to beat Duke Zihuan.
“Sigh, the difference in strength between the two sides is too great.” Many in the hall were sighing.
“Yes, I don’t understand why the Yun Family accepted the challenge… Even though they would rather lose the battle than lose their dignity, when losing this miserably, what dignity is left?”
“There’s also a Su Family. I heard that Su Zhizhan from the Su Family is one of the best in the Twelve Families’ young generations. He should be able to recover some disadvantages.”
“Come on, Helian Ba from the Helian Family, second and third rankers of the Illusory Demon Seven Scions Duke Hui Ye and Duke Yuan Que, none of them are weaker than Su Zhizhan. And first rank Duke Hui Ran… it’s not exaggerated at all to say that just his strength alone is enough to beat the twelve people from the other party single-handedly!” a citizen of Demon Imperial City stated while he shook his head.
Chapter 550: Zhizhan’s Last Stand
Clap, clap, clap…
Duke Huai stood up as he clapped and he said while laughing, “Marvelous, that was truly a marvelous battle. I would never have thought that in this series of contests, there would actually be a scenario where both contestants would defeat each other. It is truly exciting to the point where this duke simply could not have imagined it. However…”
Duke Huai looked directly at Yun Qinghong and laughed, “Are you sure your side still wants to continue? You have gone through roughly half of your representatives just to take down one of ours. This result is truly regrettable and this duke simply does not feel at ease continuing
this contest any longer. However, from this duke’s understanding of Patriarch Yun, no matter how ugly Patriarch Yun’s loss turns out to be, he will still resolutely soldier on, correct?”
“Hahahaha,” Yun Qinghong also started laughing, “Duke Huai, you truly understand this Yun well. However, your words are seriously puerile and ridiculous. Our contest has merely just begun, but you have already asserted that we have lost. Isn’t it a bit too early to say that?!”
“Hahaha!” Duke Huai let out three great laughs, “Ah this truly sounds like the words that you, Yun Qinghong, would say! Then let this duke clearly see where your confidence comes from, Yun Qinghong! But what this duke really wants to see is how much longer your arrogance can last… Wen Bo, you are our side’s second representative, so you’re up next.”
The words “second representative” was heavily emphasized by Duke Huai and the mockery in his tone could be heard by all. As his voice fall, a tall and big young man flew up in the air and landed in the arena.
Illusory Demon Seven Scions’ rank five —— Duke Wen Bo! And just like Duke Zihuan before him, he was also at the Tyrant Profound Realm level five.
And from the west wing, another person immediately took the air as well and he landed in front of Duke Wen Bo. This person was also the strongest person sent out by the west wing so far —— Also amongst the Illusory Demon Seven Scions, the sixth ranked Duke Yong Yi!
Both people belonged to the Illusory Demon Royal Family and both of them were also part of the Illusory Demon Seven Scions, so their strengths were not far apart. This was in addition to the fact that they had often dueled many times and had also gotten used to each other’s Golden Crow Flames and profound arts. So the battle between the two of them was exceptionally ferocious as they fell into a stalemate, and it was only after thirty minutes of battle that the winner was finally decided… Duke Wen Bo barely scraped a victory while Duke Yong Yi fell in defeat!
The west wing lost once again! And they were caught in the miserable scenario where they were at five losses and one draw.
Even though Duke Wen Bo had won, all of his moves and hidden cards had been played. He had sustained many wounds in battle, and his profound energy had been greatly exhausted. So in the seventh contest that followed, he fell to a young duke from the west wing who still found him rather challenging.
The eighth match: West wing’s Duke He Song versus the Lin Family’s Lin Hanchuan —— It was Lin Hanchuan’s complete victory!
The ninth match: West wing’s Duke Jia Rong versus the Lin Family’s Lin Hanchuan —— Lin Hanchuan wins yet again!
At this point, the west wing where the Yun Family was at had a record of one win, one draw and seven losses! And there were only four people left who were still eligible for battle.
The tenth match: Illusory Demon Seven Scions’ rank seven: Duke Yu Palace’s Duke Ying Nan versus Lin Hanchuan —— Duke Ying Nan wins!
The eleventh match: Duke Ying Nan versus Nangong Family’s Nangong Yan —— Duke Ying Nan achieved a pyrrhic victory. And while the west wing had finally won two consecutive victories for the first time after their last two fights, not a single person from the west wing had an expression of joy on their face. Even though Ying Nan had won, he had completely exhausted his strength, so he was bound to lose the following match. And at that time, the west wing would be down to three people, while the other side would still have eight. Moreover, the other side’s elite four had not even shown their faces yet.
The twelfth match: Duke Ying Nan versus Bai Family’s Bai Jie —— It was undoubtedly Bai Jie’s complete victory!
The west wing was only left with three competitors: Su Zhizhan, Number Six Under Heaven and the Yun Family’s unknown representative.
In the thirteenth match, Number Six Under Heaven took the stage. The elven race possessed the strong ability to use profound bows while having abundant innate talent, but the nature of their profound energy determined that their attack power would not be too high. Moreover, as contests of this nature took place within a confined boundary of an arena, the strength of their profound bows would also be greatly restricted. So once it was Number Six Under Heaven’s turn, he would be subject to an immediate and irreversible disadvantage and despite struggling bitterly, the miracle of the weaker triumphing over the stronger did not occur. He was defeated by Bai Jie.
So far, the two sides had fought thirteen matches and the west wing had lost ten representatives while the east side had lost a mere four. And besides Bai Jie, who was currently representing the east, they still had seven other young elites who had yet to battle. Among these young elites were the Xiao Family’s Xiao Donglai and the Jiufang Family’s Jiufang Yu who were at the Tyrant Profound Realm level four, the Chiyang Family’s Chiyang Yanwu who was at the Tyrant Profound Realm level five, the Helian Family’s Helian Ba who was at the Tyrant Profound Realm level six and the ones ranked number two and number three among the Illusory Demon Seven Scions, Duke Yuan Qiao and Duke Hui Ye who were also at the Tyrant Profound Realm level six.
There was still even the head of the Illusory Demon Seven Scions, Hui Ran, whose profound strength had actually reached the astonishing level of Tyrant Profound Realm level eight!
The other side was only left with Su Zhizhan who was at the Tyrant Profound Realm level six. As for the Yun Family, they did not even have any proper candidates to send out because among their young generation, the strongest was only at the Tyrant Profound Realm level two.
This contest between both sides did not have any suspense even from the start and no one felt that the current scenario was the least bit odd. In fact, everyone felt that the side the Yun Family was on had just lost in a much too miserable fashion.
The various great powers within Demon Imperial City gave silent sigh. This was only a competition between the young generation of both factions, and even though it could not be indicative of their true strength, it was clearly sufficient to demonstrate just how dominant Duke Huai’s faction was; and his faction possessed a strength that completely suppressed their opposition! And this contest which was deliberately arranged by Duke Huai was arranged with two goals in mind. The first goal was to drive out the Yun Family; the second goal was to use pure strength to oppress and cruelly destroy the other faction’s presence, to grind the dignity and prestige of the other faction, the Little Demon Empress included, completely under their heel.
And once the Yun Family had been expelled, the Little Demon Empress would not have the ability to contend with Duke Huai anymore. Once that happened, Duke Huai would only need an opportunity, whether natural or manufactured, to usurp this Illusory Demon World Demon Emperor’s throne…
The faces of all the people on the west wing were shrouded in a cloud of gloom. Once Number Six Under Heaven had lost to Bai Jie, they only had two people left that were eligible to do battle and realistically in their hearts, it was akin to only having one person left. This was because the Yun Family really did not have a single person among their young generation who was up to task.
“Ah.” Su Xiangnan slowly let out a sigh. He patted Su Zhizhan on the shoulder as he said, “Zhizhan, the conclusion has already been reached and our defeat as already been determined… In fact, it has been determined from the very start. It’s your turn now. Whether we can get back any of our dignity is now up to you and you alone.”
“I understand but not matter the result, I will definitely give it my best shot!”
After he had finished speaking, Su Zhizhan grabbed his weapon and soared into the sky, landing in front of Bai Jie who had just won over Number Six Under Heaven. He pointed his sword straight and the aura that radiated out from him was incomparably rich and strong. He did not even show one hint of weaknesses in regards to the great failure of his own faction as he declared, “Su Family’s Su Zhizhan presents himself! I have never been willing to cross swords with a woman, so it would be better if you simply surrendered and got off this stage.”
He faced Bai Jie, who was clothed
in white and had a figure that was taller than most women. Her face was flushed red and she faintly showed signs of tiredness as it was made clear that her recent battle with Number Six Under Heaven was not easy at all. But upon hearing Su Zhizhan’s words, she let out a cold laugh and said mockingly, “Your side has lost in a completely miserable manner so I don’t really know where you are getting the nerve to speak so arrogantly from. And right now, you especially don’t have the right to look down on us women.”
“Ah, no, I think you’re mistaken there,” Su Zhizhan said softly as he gave an extremely contemptuous laugh, “I, Su Zhizhan, will definitely never look down on women, I only… look down on ungrateful and traitorous women who are no better than mongrels!”
“You’re courting death!” Those venomous words caused Bai Jie to erupt in fury and her jade sword exploded forward. In an instant, the shadow of an enormous white tiger appeared behind her. The image of this white tiger roared at the heavens and the sound of its roar spread through all four corners of the great hall, causing it to tremble. And in that instance, a strong gale rose up and surged violently. This howling gale was sufficient enough to suppress the roar of the white tiger and the arena seemed to be engulfed in thousands upon thousands of windstorms.
“It’s the Bai Family’s Tiger Roar Domain!”
Bai Jie’s domain instantly radiated outwards to envelop the entire arena. Su Zhizhan’s hair and clothes were flying wildly as the wind howled all around him. However, his body was nailed to the ground, unmoving. Then, he raised the longsword in his hand and attacked, his sword sweeping forward.
Within Bai Jie’s domain, besides herself, the strength and speed of every other person would be heavily restricted, but the speed of Su Zhizhan’s sword was still as swift as a bolt of lightning. The might of his sword swept away all of the violent hurricanes around him as a huge tear was immediately formed in Bai Jie’s domain. Su Zhizhan sprang forward and every step he took tore a rip in Bai Jie’s domain.
