Gu Qianxun and Fang Chan were standing across from each other on their platform.
A battle between the top representatives of two cities in the third round was a rather rare occurrence, and the nearby stands were packed with spectators who were eagerly awaiting the commencement of the battle.
Instead of returning to the lobby, Han Li had also found a seat in the spectator stands to watch the battle from.
"I learned a lot from our last battle, Fellow Daoist Fang. I had thought that it would have to be at least the semifinals before I encountered you again, but it looks like our rematch has come early," Gu Qianxun said.
At this moment, Fang Chan had become a completely different person compared with his usual dull and foolish self, and his eyes were glowing with fierce battle intent as he said, "I'm very pleased to be able to do battle with you again, Fellow Daoist Gu."
"Begin!" the referee declared, and Gu Qianxun immediately launched herself forward, stomping a large hole into the ground beneath her in the process.
Her body was like a speeding arrow, covering a distance of over a hundred feet in the blink of an eye, and she was seizing the initiative as she lashed out with a delicate-looking fist.
Around twenty to thirty profound acupoints lit up over her arm, and all of the air within a radius of several dozen feet exploded violently in the face of her tremendous power.
However, Chen Yang's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
Fang Chan possessed an incredibly powerful physical body, second only to Zhu Ziyuan of Profound City out of all of the combatants in the Five City Martial Gathering, so it was clearly unwise for Gu Qianxun to be engaging him in close quarters combat.
A hint of surprise flashed through Sun Tu's eyes upon seeing this, and Fang Chan was also slightly taken aback, but that didn't affect his reaction speed at all as he lashed out with his own right fist in response.
The two fists clashed with an explosive boom, sending powerful shockwaves erupting in all directions.
Fang Chan's expression changed slightly as he was forced back three steps in retreat, with each step leaving a deep footprint and large cracks on the ground beneath him.
Chen Yang and Sun Tu were astonished to see this, but before they even had a chance to process what they had just witnessed, Gu Qianxun's sleeve erupted into shreds, revealing a rainbow armband on her arm.
There were twenty-one specks of white light on the armband, and it looked as if it were fuse to the skin on Gu Qianxun's arm, making it appear as if the specks of white light were profound acupoints on her body.
"That's a conjoined star artifact! I thought thait was still a project in development, Fellow Daoist Liu Hua," E Kuai exclaimed as he turned to Mistress Liu Hua with a raised eyebrow.
"I was finally able to perfect it after close to a hundred thousand years of experimentation," Mistress Liu Hua replied with a smile, while the other city lords turned to him with stunned expressions.
Han Li looked up at the people on the elevated platform with an intrigued look in his eyes.
They hadn't been communicating through voice transmission, so he was able to overhear their conversation, but he had never heard of a conjoined star artifact before.
A gash that was around half a foot in length had been sliced into Gu Qianxun's lower abdomen, while large holes had also been pierced into Fang Chan's body, but neither of them paid any heed to their injuries as they continued to clash over and over again.
The entire platform was trembling violently beneath them as if it were struggling to contain their power, and all of the spectators were a little dumbstruck by the intensity of the battle.
Fang Chan's was desperately trying to turn the tables, but Gu Qianxun's physical prowess was superior to his thanks to her conjoined star artifact, and her spear techniques were also extremely dangerous and versatile. As a result, Fang Chan was constantly being forced back, and before long, he had arleady reached the edge of the platform.
An agitated look flashed through his eyes as he swept both of his axes through the air to knock the golden spear aside, then opened his mouth up wide as a layer of white light emerged over his face, while a series of profound acupoints appeared near his nose and mouth.
Immediately thereafter, a burst of white soundwaves erupted out of his nose and mouth before sweeping toward Gu Qianxun.
However, Gu Qianxun had clearly already anticipated this attack, and she instantly darted away to the side to evade the soundwaves.
In the blink of an eye, the white soundwaves spread over an area of several thousand feet.
By the time they reached the spectator stands, the soundwaves had already become far less potent, but many of the spectators still experienced whole-body numbness, immobilization, and even asphyxiation.
Han Li just so happened to have been caught within the soundwaves as well, and to his surprise, his entire body had become so numb that even lifting a finger had become a very difficult task.
Even though Gu Qianxun had reacted very quickly, she was still able to completely evade the white soundwaves, and her body instantly stiffened, while her face turned deathly pale.
However, in the next instant, an unnatural flush suddenly appeared on her face, followed by her entire body. Her skin began quivering as if there were something moving beneath it, and she instantly regained her mobility befored thrusting her golden spear at Fang Chan's waist.
Is that the Hazy Helmet Technique? No, she's managed to shrug off the effects of the soundwaves by forcibly elevating her bloodline powers to their peak, Han Li thought to himself with a contemplative expression.
However, this was clearly extremely taxing on the body, and he didn't know how many more times Gu Qianxun would be able to employ this strategy.
Fang Chan clearly hadn't anticipated that Gu Qianxun would be able to immediately retaliate even after being struck by his soundwave attack, so he was a little slow to dodge, and Gu Qianxun's golden spear sliced a gash into his waist that was deep enough to expose bone.
Fang Chan's eyes instantly turned bright red as a string of cracks and pops rang out from his joints, and his body abruptly swelled to twice its original size, while his skin turned a dark red color.
In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a ferocious humanoid beast, and his aura was instantly significantly elevated, while the wounds on his body began to rapidly heal.
What was even more astonishing was that the white light emanating from his profound acupoints had also turned a bright red color, releasing bursts of crimson energy that swirled around him.
The nearby space trembled and buzzed, while the entire platform was also quaking violently, and a series of cracks began to appear on its surface, as if it weren't unable to withstand Fang Chan's power.
On the elevated platform, both Chen Yang and Sun Tu were looking on with serious expressions, while a hint of intrigue had also appeared in E Kuai's eyes.