154 Balance of Power

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Water bombs exploded on everyone's faces, throwing them off balance. They appeared out of nowhere from all sides but the top youths reacted quickly. Most of them already had their armors but they still set up another set of Qi barriers around them. The Water Balls didn't do any damage to them aside from making them wet and being annoying. 

Xuefeng didn't mind that, playing around with them as he created a soft cloud behind them.

"My Queen, would you like to take a seat?" Xuefeng suggested as he held Tianshi's hand and she grinned, sitting down first. "Of course, my King." 

He laid down next to her and pointed at the screens above them. They could see both, themselves and the annoyed group, who hacked and sliced the water bombs he constantly sent at them. 

"Now we can relax and watch as the clowns try to kill us," Xuefeng commented casually. "It's quite amusing they think they can even reach us." 

"Sure~" Tianshi agreed immediately as she cuddled into his chest. "But I would rather hug. They are not that interesting." 

"Ayy, don't say that. You are going to hurt their feelings," Xuefeng muttered only to pause and agree, "Alright, you are right. They are pretty boring. If they can't even beat my Water Domain then that will be disappointing." 

"Daaaamn! The disrespect! Hahaha!" the Commentator laughed together with the crowd. "Only Xuefeng could pull it off! Relaxing on the cloud in front of all Water Land top youths!" 

Xuefeng only smiled at that, rubbing Tianshi's back. It was just a cover for them while Xuefeng began regenerating Tianshi's body. She already told him it was quite taxing to create and move all five of her Golems, so he made sure to ease her pain. 

Meanwhile, he still kept playing with their opponents, having an unlimited amount of Water Essence at his disposal. Although it wasn't his own, it was still enough as an appetizer. His own Water Qi would naturally cause much more damage. 

"Everyone, those bombs can't hurt us! We should push forward and finish him first else this will never end! He got the Elemental Bracelet!" 

Finally, one of the participants stood forward, leading the whole bunch. Li Wei, the original top seed for this tournament. Not anymore though. 

"With the Water Stone, he has unlimited power and can do this all day. He is trying to tire us out before finishing us. We can't let that happen," Li Wei called out as he slashed another two Water Bombs. "Too bad for him, those are too weak to defeat us!" 

He flew above them and raised his sword as he shouted, "Who is with me?!"

"Yeah!!!" Everyone followed suit, raising their weapons which hyped the conflict even more. 

The main battle would start soon!

As a response, Xuefeng caressed Tianshi's hair before extending the other. 

"Enjoy stage two~" Xuefeng announced playfully. 

Snap! 

The crowd already knew what it meant. 

"He snapped!!!" the Commentator cried out, causing Li Wei to get alert. 

"Watch out!" Li Wei ordered but it was too late. 

Winter has arrived. 

"Ahh! I'm freezing!" 

"Nooo! My legs! Fuck!"

Curses and screams filled the scene as the water on the ground began freezing their legs. They were mostly soaked from the constant bombarding of Water Bombs and now all the water began freezing. 

"Quick! Fly up!" Li Wei commanded immediately. 

Smart ones already reacted, raising in the sky while the overconfident got stuck. They began smacking the ice with their swords but no matter what they did, more and more ice appeared, locking them in place. Some even tried to fight the Ice with Fire but that it quickly faded away.

Twelve participants became ice statues, leaving only their heads that could only beg for help. They couldn't even break their tokens to escape. 

"Help me!" 

Those who escaped watched them cry for help but they didn't move till one female called out Li Wei's name.

"Li Wei! Help me please!" 

He dove down with his sword shining but Xuefeng laughed at his effort. 

"Too late!" 

Bang!

All twelve statues exploded into small chunks with their blood frozen into ice. 

"Fucking bastard!!!" Li Wei cursed as he flew back up while glaring at the screen. "You will die!" 

He didn't hesitate and rushed towards Xuefeng's location with others following him. 

"Haha! I am waiting here for you guys!" Xuefeng announced in laughter, feeling no remorse for the kills. They decided to go against him so they are solely responsible for their death. 

He could move his Water Qi everywhere as he wished and it just happened he had a lot of it, already Dual Cultivating two days to the peak of his capacity. No matter how much Qi he used, Ling was constantly producing more for him. 

Naturally, even if his Water Qi was almost endless, he couldn't kill them all at the same time. Twelve was still a satisfactory result for him. 

Xuefeng watched them all fly above the tree crowns which was just as he predicted. Thanks to the Water Stone, he could now do everything he wanted, gaining full mastery over Water Element. Even if before he found it hard to manipulate Water into Ice, it was a piece of cake now. 

"Will Xuefeng just let them approach him just like that?" the Commentator wondered right before Xuefeng raised his hand again. "Oh! Oh! Oh! He is going to snap!" 

Everyone already knew what it meant. 

"Welcome to round three!" Xuefeng called out, bringing hype to the stage. 

Snap!

"He snapped!" 

"Quick! Use Teleports to get closer to them!" Li Wei ordered but the winter found them again. They were already halfway when their target disappeared from view, replaced with thick white mist. 

Snowstorm!

The wind blew as the snow formed in the sky, disorienting the whole group. Only a small part of the Arena where Xuefeng and Tianshi rested was snow-free. 

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

The crowd saw nothing inside but the number of explosions was impossible to count. Xuefeng unleashed his full power, slicing and dicing with ice swords while the Water Bombs froze everyone, making them unable to respond. No matter how powerful one was and how many arts they knew, the dangers of coldness shouldn't be underestimated. 

Seeing the destruction, he had to evaluate Princess Shan and Jiao's strength as that was terrifying. 

"Did I overdo it?" Xuefeng questioned awkwardly. He felt like an adult playing football with five-year-old kids. 

The advantage the Elemental Bracelet gave him was just too much. He finally realized why everyone was trying so desperately to kill him and get it for himself. 

He could see their struggle in the snowstorm. No matter how many shields they had, it was for naught as his constant barrage of attacks wore them down quickly. They tried to teleport but with no vision and Spirit Awareness blocked by him, they couldn't find Xuefeng's location. 

Some even tried to dive to the ground only to realize everything was frozen as well, with the situation no different than the sky. 

"Is this over?!" the Commentator exclaimed as the whole stand stood up in confusion. "Is Xuefeng going to win just like that? The waiting lobby just reported multiple Participants giving up and the number is going up with each second!" 

'Xuefeng—' Ming began but Xuefeng didn't let her finish. 'I know.' 

He stood up while lifting Tianshi with him and kissed her. 

"It's time for me to do the final clean up. Wait for me here." 

"Good luck," Tianshi nodded in understanding as if knowing he will leave beforehand. 

"Huh? Xuefeng is going to fight personally?" the Commentator announced surprised when the snowstorm stopped and the explosions ceased. 

Although everything was frozen, the sky cleared up, displaying fifty survivors. 

"Congratulations! It seems you are strong enough to face my own blade," Xuefeng called out as his body covered in Golden Armor once again, his Dragon Edge gripped firmly. 

Li Wei glared at Xuefeng as he flew up to face them in the sky, one versus fifty. They didn't hesitate and popped numbers of pills into their mouths, not giving up but Xuefeng didn't hurry to kill them.

"Fifty! They survived Xuefeng's snowstorm! They still got the chance! The ultimate battle is about to start!" the Commentator began to hype and the crowd cheered for them. The narrative changed and now it was Xuefeng who was the villain. 

"And here I thought I could finish you effortlessly. Too bad, even the Elemental Bracelet has its limits else this would be over already," Xuefeng commented casually, blatantly laying on purpose. "Fifty of you should be enough to test my current strength without using the Elemental Bracelet." 

"So the Elemental Bracelet has limits after all! I knew it was too good to be true!" the Commentator confirmed Xuefeng's lie, eating him from the hand. 

Xuefeng could already hear the gossip about him, saying he is nothing without the Elemental Bracelet. Human behavior was simple to understand, especially in the Cultivation world. If he abused a Godly treasure, his fame would be short-lived. 

Being high profile also required balance else he would become someone even he would feel scared of. 

"So," Xuefeng began, aiming his sword at them. "Shall we start?"