Ling Xiao’s Hell Dragon Armour bore dozens of small holes, with faint traces of blood visible. Though only superficial wounds, it showed he hadn’t completely dominated his fight with Ji Mingkong.
This was expected.
After all, Ji Mingkong was a genius, with higher cultivation, plus her Nature Dragon Soul and Heavenly Mechanism Martial Soul. By all accounts, she shouldn’t be weaker than Ling Xiao.
Yet, when people saw Ji Mingkong, many furrowed their brows.
She looked no better than Ling Xiao, perhaps even more dishevelled.
Her once-neat hair was cut unevenly, and her Nature Dragon Armour was slashed with numerous marks, resembling something scavenged from a scrap heap.
More astonishingly, her shoulder bore a deep, bone-visible wound.
Her injuries were far worse than Ling Xiao’s.
However, the Nature Dragon Soul’s recovery ability was extraordinary, healing such a wound in moments, leaving no trace.
It seemed both had attacked and defended, each taking and dealing blows, but Ling Xiao held a slight edge.
This was unacceptable to the Heavenly King Sect.
Even if Ling Xiao could fight Ji Mingkong this long, he should be the one more injured, more battered. Why did it seem the opposite?
The atmosphere was so tense that everyone wanted to speak but dared not, as if speaking would make them eternal sinners.
The oppressive silence was stifling.
Crack!
A loud noise from the protective barrier broke the suffocating tension, allowing everyone to breathe.
The referees quietly repaired the barrier. A broken stage was one thing, but a shattered barrier could harm nearby spectators, even ordinary citizens of the Holy City.
After a pause, Ji Mingkong took a deep breath, looking at Ling Xiao with a complex expression.
She thrust her slender sword into the stage, forming a strange hand seal.
The Heavenly King Sect members grew tense.
“Mingkong, is that necessary?” Sikong Zun shouted.
He knew what she was about to do. The next move was terrifyingly powerful but would harm her as much as her enemy, a desperate technique used only when all else failed.
“It’s necessary!” Ji Mingkong shook her head, resigned. She didn’t want this, but Ling Xiao’s strength forced her hand.
“Sigh, I never expected this Ling Xiao to be so formidable, pushing Mingkong to this point,” a Heavenly King Sect elder sighed.
“Well, that girl’s finally met her match. She never took other young warriors seriously before,” Yun Ya, Ji Mingkong’s aunt, said, surprised.
Yun Ya knew her niece’s temperament. Ji Mingkong had always dismissed other young warriors, claiming the Holy Dynasty needed only one Saintess, and others were beneath her.
Yet Ling Xiao had driven her to this extreme.
“I’m worried,” Dai Yuling said, clutching Lan Yuer’s hand, trembling.
Even she could sense the terror of Ji Mingkong’s next move.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. You know Ling Xiao; he hasn’t played all his cards yet,” Lan Yuer said, though inwardly anxious, maintaining a calm facade as Dai Yuling’s master.
“Brother Ling will win!” Long Chen said, recalling Ling Xiao’s transformation into an Ancient Golden Dragon in the Dragon Land.
He knew Ling Xiao’s strength far exceeded what he’d shown.
“I hope so,” Leng Hao, usually confident in Ling Xiao, couldn’t help but worry.
“Tianyan, can you see through this?” Jin Guang Tianzun asked.
“No, I can’t read either of these kids,” Tianyan replied.
On the stage, as Tianyuan energy poured into the sword embedded in the ground, Ji Mingkong bathed in green light, her hair floating in midair, her clothes fluttering.
Her feet gradually lifted off the ground.
This wasn’t the Dance of the Sky technique but the sheer force of her power.
The slender sword rose, pointing at Ling Xiao.
Whoosh!
The green light surged, Ji Mingkong’s expression turning fierce. The energy enveloping her seemed ready to explode.
“Ling Xiao, this is the final move. Let’s settle who’s stronger!” she declared.
Without Ling Xiao, she would be the Holy Dynasty’s top genius, the true Saintess, the foremost of the Six Young Masters, the chosen one.
But Ling Xiao stood in her way, the greatest obstacle to her ambitions.
She loathed him yet had to defeat him.
“Is this your strongest move? Impressive. Looks like I need to get serious!” Ling Xiao said, taking a deep breath and raising his hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Raging Wind Sword, Thunder Shadow Sword, Rain-Covering Sword, Purple Lightning Sword, and Mist Sword all appeared, orbiting his body, glowing with different colours.
In the sky, the Eye of the World opened.
Behind him, a peerless demonic sword emerged.
The Eye of the World unleashed energies of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and mist, infusing the five swords.
The killing intent from Ye Gushan’s martial soul behind him poured into the swords as well.
His power surged, growing stronger.
In the void, Ji Mingkong’s technique took shape, the green light on her sword reaching its peak, enveloping her entirely.
The terrifying power made her tremble.
She couldn’t fully control this move’s devastating effects.
She only knew it was immensely powerful. She had tried it once as a Heavenly Pulse warrior but never again after reaching the Heavenly Human Realm, fearing its destructiveness.
As the green light on her sword reached its zenith, a massive figure appeared behind her.
It was the founder of the Heavenly King Sect, a fierce general under the Human King, rivaling the Moonflower Heavenly Maiden in strength.
“Heavenly King’s Canon: Jade Shatter!”
Rather jade broken than tile whole.
She’d rather die fighting than admit defeat.
This was the founding ancestor’s ethos, reflected in the Heavenly King’s Canon’s self-sacrificing attacks.
