On the Floating Platform, piercingly cold winds blew. With their clothes whistling, five people stood on each apex of a pentagon, the direction of which represented the five elements of the universe: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, respectively. Because of the special rules of this match, none of them dared to take the initiative to attack the others. With great caution, everyone was on guard against the two people on either side.
A quarter had passed. By making use of this period, people could even finish a cup of tea. However, there was still no movement on the Floating Platform. Standing in the direction that represented gold, Su Zimu wore a gentle smile while shaking his folding fan. It looked like he was the most relaxed person.
Xiaoyue stood in the direction that represented water, poker-faced. Staying in the direction of fire with both hands clasped behind his back, Xiao Chen seemed to have no intention to attack the others first. But it appeared that One-dot Red, who was in the wood direction, wanted to attack Xiao Chen first. But he was afraid that the other three people would take the chance to sneak up on him once he launched the attack.
Yang Shaochen, who was in the direction of earth, already had cold sweat on his forehead. He appeared to be the most stressful person because his cultivation was the lowest among the five.
Seeing that they stood still for quite a long time now, many in the crowd below started to whisper among themselves. On the high platform, the three senior Elders also frowned. For the first time, such a temporary stalemate occurred. All the previous top five contestants who had participated in the Immortal’s Sword Assembly had a small disparity in their strength. But this time, except for Yang Shaochen, whose cultivation was slightly lower than the others, the other four people hid their strength deep and well.
Suddenly, Su Zimu smiled lightly. “Brother Xiao, you have unfathomable cultivation. Why not show us your strength first?”
Xiaoyue smiled and said, “I agree. After all, Brother Xiao has higher cultivation than any of us.”
Yang Shaochen echoed, “What Brother Su and Fairy Xiaoyue said is reasonable. I have the lowest cultivation, so I dare not show myself before Brother Xiao.”
Xiao Chen said lightly, “If you want to do it, then go ahead.”
As Xiao Chen’s voice fell, a several-meters-long beam of purple light suddenly rose up and shot at him. It was the first attack launched by One-dot Red.
After One-dot Red’s attack, Su Zimu waved his folding fan. Then, 13 beams of golden Sword Qi descended from the sky. Meanwhile, Xiaoyue swept her Duster, and suddenly, several thousand rays of Sword Qi appeared. Aside, Yang Shaochen chanted a spell fast and summoned five or six chains of golden light out of thin air.
All of a sudden, before the spectators could react, the wind rose and the clouds began to gather high in the formerly tranquil sky. After taking a closer look, they found that all of the four people chose to attack Xiao Chen first without a prior discussion.
For all four of them knew that if they did not get rid of Xiao Chen first, not one of them would have much of a chance to win the match later. In the previous talk, they had hinted to each other that they should first join hands to cast off Xiao Chen before anything else.
Xiao Chen gave a cold smile because he had already expected this. His two palms pushed forward and sent out two waves of earth-shattering power. The two waves of power roared past One-dot Red first. Hit by the power, One-dot Red could feel that his blood and Qi began to surge violently inside, and he was nearly knocked back into the air. Yang Shaochen had the lowest cultivation, so he dared not stand in sharp opposition to fight with Xiao Chen. Hence, he chose to stand in the distance and chant his family’s special spell, Soul-trapping and Mind-locking, to disturb Xiao Chen’s state of mind.
Su Zimu shouted, “Heavenly Thirteen Swords!” After that, all the 13 beams of Sword Qi cut right at Xiao Chen like a mighty army that no force could stop.
“Illusory Brilliance and Magical Moon!” Xiaoyue shouted in a sweet voice. Suddenly, countless crescent moons with purple radiance emerged in midair. They were like sharp curved blades. Then, she threw all of these moons at Xiao Chen.
“Heavenly True Fire — Three Thousand Ordeals!”
“Tao begets yin and yang, and then yin and yang beget all — Formless Great Tao!”
“Soul-trapping and Mind-locking Spell!”
High in the sky, Sword Qi was surging violently, and the opponents’ treasures were shining brilliantly. Upon seeing such a scene, Murong Xian’er stamped her feet anxiously. “How can they do this? How can all of them go against Brother Xiao Chen? They should not bully him like that! Don’t take such a bully! It is nasty!”
On the Floating Platform, Xiao Chen alone could not deal with the four of them at the same time. They besieged Xiao Chen, continuously launching various attacks to fight against him. Only seconds later, Xiao Chen’s clothes were cut into pieces.
Raising his eyebrows, Su Zimu smiled. “Brother Xiao, watch out! Mystic Sky Northern Underworld Fan!” As soon as he finished, Su Zimu waved his folding fan. Then, countless wind blades covered the sky and came at Xiao Chen at an exceedingly fast speed.
Xiaoyue smiled. “Brother Xiao, you deserve to be called the best one in the East Continent. Then, take my ‘Wind Flower Snow Moon’!” She swept out with the Duster, then countless petals mixed in with snowflakes popped up. They looked beautiful. But in fact, they were dangerous.
Facing the attacks coming from all directions, in addition to Yang Shaochen wielding the Soul-trapping chains aside, Xiao Chen was now unable to deal with the situation of incessant crises. Suddenly, he vehemently stamped his left foot on the ground and instantly kicked the piles of rubble into midair.
“Absolute Domain!”
Along with the fading of the four words, the rubble all over the sky froze immediately in midair, and then a mysterious force spread out. First, it pinned down Su Zimu’s Mystic Sky Northern Underworld Fan in the air. Shortly after that, One-dot Red’s Purple Ying Sword stopped moving. Finally, even Xiaoyue’s Duster Sword was motionless. Of course, Yang Shaochen’s Soul-trapping Chains were out of action long ago.
Now, the four of them were unable to move as if Xiao Chen had become the master of this small space at this moment.
“What?” The people below looked at each other with astonishment, and all their expressions changed. Right after that, there were bangs incessantly lingering on. The sounds came from the south and north sides of the spectators’ area. It turned out that some people from prominent families had crushed the teacups in their hands because of the shock.
A white-bearded old man was so excited that he stood up and exclaimed, “Absolute Domain! It is the Absolute Domain! Has he reached the Nascent Soul Realm? Who is this young man?”
“He is Xiao Chen, who came here from the East Continent some time ago!”
“Amazing! Awesome! I reached the Nirvana Realm many years ago, but I cannot understand the mysteries of the Absolute Domain! This man has a very promising future!”
Sounds of amazement rose continuously from the crowd. On the high platform, even the three Elders of the Immortals’ League stood up in shock. At first, they thought that Xiao Chen defeated Zuoqiu Yang by using some mystic art a few days ago. But now, when they witnessed Xiao Chen trap the four people at the same time, they were absolutely sure that Xiao Chen used the Absolute Domain. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen had reached the Nascent Soul Realm for real. For a time, the three Elders could not help sighing with feeling.
On the other side, the faces of all the people from the Ling family, the Zuoqiu family, the Order of the Divine Fire, and Wan Gufeng became extremely ugly in an instant.
Meanwhile, among those people from the Jade Qing Sect, Murong Xian’er cheered him on. “Brother Xiao Chen, hurry up! Beat them up quickly!”
On the Floating Platform, Xiao Chen said coldly, “Have the four of you enjoyed yourselves to the fullest when you hit me just now?” As soon as he finished, he thundered. Without warning, a potent force spread out around him, and a massive cloud of dust arose. Then, the four people were shaken out into the air by this force.
They were directly thrown to about 20 meters away. At this moment, Xiaoyue rolled up the Duster. Immediately, she landed on the Floating Platform and stood steadily. After drawing a few spells on his hands, Su Zimu also managed to come to a stop. However, Yang Shaochen was directly knocked off the Floating Platform. As for One-dot Red, he finally kept his feet when he retreated to the Floating Platform’s edge.
Su Zimu’s heart sank all of a sudden because he had never expected that Xiao Chen had cultivated the Absolute Domain to this point. “It seems that he is really my third aunt’s son. He is a Xiao family member,” Su Zimu thought. Then, he smiled bitterly and said, “Well, Brother Xiao’s cultivation is amazing, which puts me to shame. I will compare notes with you if there is any chance some other day.”
The implication was that he would still fight with Xiao Chen in the future. After he said that, Su Zimu closed the folding fan and cupped his fists at Xiao Chen. Then, he gently tapped his toes and floated down the Floating Platform. His figure still appeared so elegantly that it made many girls scream out.
On the other side, One-dot Red was not willing to give up, but he was fully aware that he definitely was not a match for Xiao Chen at this time. So with a flick of his sleeve, he also left the Floating Platform.
By himself, a man fought hard against the four top youths. Those spectators below continually cheered for Xiao Chen. After today, Xiao Chen would once again become famous throughout the Middle Continent. At this time on the Floating Platform, only Xiaoyue did not choose to leave.
Xiao Chen turned around and looked at her and smiled lightly. “What? Does Fairy Xiaoyue want to enlighten me with a few more moves?”
Xiaoyue frowned a little but said nothing. It seemed that she was trying hard to weigh the pros and cons of each choice. “If I draw forth the Autumn Water Sword, I may be able to defeat him today. But I’m afraid that Xiao Chen is petty and will bear me ill will after I defeat him.”
After a long time of consideration, Xiaoyue looked up. Her eyebrows moved as softly as water, which looked very charming. She chuckled and said, “Brother Xiao, your cultivation is far above mine. I am not that talented, but I still would like to compete with you today.”
As her voice fell, her words made a stir in half of the audience below. Xiao Chen had reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Xiaoyue, who always concealed her strength, was the descendant of the Ancient Immortal Clan with the Divine Weapon of the Archean Eon. Which one of them was stronger?
For a time, they had a lively discussion. But as the audience’s opinions varied on that point, no decision could be reached. At this moment, a strange old man wearing purple clothes and a mask appeared out of nowhere.
“Hey! It is a battle between the descendant of the Ancient Immortal Clan and the cynical youth Xiao Chen. Which one will you steak your money on? Make a concrete decision! Hurry up to bet! The gambling begins!”
On the high platform, Perfected Immortal Qing Chen immediately covered his forehead and passed a wisp of Divine Consciousness to that old man. “Junior Brother, today so many people from noble and decent families are present. Can you stop messing around?”
The old man was Zi Mo. Upon hearing the words, he smirked and sent back a piece of Divine Consciousness. “Rest assured, I’m wearing a mask so that no one can recognize me.”
“Senior Xiaoyao Zi! I want to bet. I want to bet!”
“Senior Xiaoyao Zi, I want to bet!”
“Senior Xiaoyao Zi…”
Countless people flocked to him.
On the Floating Platform, Xiao Chen smiled lightly. “Good.” At this moment, he did not want to think and speak too much because Xiaoyue was so much like Qianyu Nishang from before.
“Then, please show some mercy to me later on, Brother Xiao!” Xiaoyue stepped forward. “Whoosh!” The Autumn Water Sword flew out of its sheath. In an instant, the dazzling sword cast a thousand beams high in the sky and immediately caused the world to lose its colors. Within tens of thousands of meters around it, people could only see the brilliant sword.
A surging ancient immortal force instantly enveloped the entire square. Compared to its performance when it dealt with Yu Yifeng last time, the ancient Autumn Water Sword’s performance this time was much more shocking.
Xiaoyue whispered a spell and then pointed at Xiao Chen with her two fingers. “Autumn Water Sword! Go!”
The Autumn Water Sword’s body shivered. Immediately, it turned into a shooting star with a long light tail and dashed over to stab Xiao Chen. Everywhere it passed, broken stones splashed. Under the impact of the mighty ancient immortal force, the whole Floating Platform started to swing violently. The air was full of the sounds of wind whistling.
Broken stones rolled down, and dust was all over the sky. The wind and sand blinded many people, but they still did not want to miss this incredible scene. They fixed their red eyes on the light curtain and just let their tears continue to stream down.
Looking at the Autumn Water Sword, Xiao Chen suddenly felt a stab of pain in his heart. “Will the Autumn Water Sword that I gave to Qianyu Nishang that year finally come to cut me this time?”
However, when the Autumn Water Sword was about 30 cm away from his glabella, it suddenly stopped. The white radiance of the sword gradually faded away, revealing two lines of tiny characters on its end. They were the names that Xiao Chen and Qianyu Nishang engraved on the sword: Nishang, Yichen…
Slowly, the Autumn Water Sword started to tremble. When the wind blew over the sword, the sword body rang lightly as if it were whimpering, and it refused to move even a little bit more forward to stab Xiao Chen.