Chapter 178: Showdown! Li Yi
In the spectator stands, the crowd exchanged glances.
“That Han Yuan… is quite magnanimous.”
“He’s always been like that in his bouts—victory and defeat are clear-cut, no dragging things out.”
“If he’d been at full strength, forget defeating Song Yan—he might have given him quite a headache.”
Song Yan watched Han Yuan depart, a flicker of emotion stirring in his heart.
In the cultivation world, someone with Han Yuan’s broad-mindedness and magnanimous temperament was actually quite rare.
But what he said was entirely true. The strong earned respect; the weak could only inspire fear. This was the iron law of the cultivation world.
To earn the respect and fear of others, one had to become strong.
And both he and Song Yan were, step by step, walking toward that position of “the strong.”
Before long, two more rounds of the finals concluded.
Under the watchful gaze of the masses, the final matchup for the last round was finally announced.
“Center Arena, Number Nine Li Yi, versus Number Seventeen Song Yan.”
“…”
The presiding elder had spoken only the first line, but the cultivators watching from all around erupted in a tidal wave of excitement.
“It’s finally here! Li Yi versus Song Yan!”
“This bout will likely be the pinnacle of the entire Day of the Final Battle!”
At present, both Song Yan and Li Yi remained undefeated—nine victories apiece.
Their scores were identical—eighteen points—tying them both for first place.
Even Yuwen Yue, who had been meditating with closed eyes, suddenly snapped them open and raised his wine gourd for a long draught. “At last, the wait is over!”
In the preparation area, Xiang Zhaoling swung her legs and grinned toward Sun Zhengfu beside her. “Senior Brother Sun, who do you think will win?”
Sun Zhengfu’s complexion was still somewhat pale, but he steadied himself. “Senior Brother Li Yi’s halberd techniques are formidable, but Junior Brother Song’s flying sword is equally keen.”
Xiang Zhaoling was somewhat speechless. “Well, that wasn’t obvious at all…”
“Er…”
Song Yan ascended the stage with measured steps. Li Yi was already waiting at the far end.
Li Yi had been waiting for this battle for a very long time, yet now that the moment of confrontation had arrived, his mind had settled into an unusual calm.
He held the black-and-red great halberd inverted, its blade resting on the ground. The two faced each other.
“Junior Brother Song,” Li Yi grinned, battle intent blazing like a roaring fire, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
The presiding elder wasted no further time, announcing in a resonant voice, “Begin.”
The words had barely faded when Li Yi swept the great halberd horizontal and stamped the ground with devastating force!
BOOM—
The Debate Arena trembled. An indescribable aura erupted violently from his body, and black-and-red spiritual energy began to churn across the surface of the halberd.
Faint arcs of crimson lightning flickered to life around him, appearing and vanishing in the same breath.
“Zhao Xi Jing!”
The black-and-red spiritual energy and the thin tendrils of lightning converged above and behind Li Yi’s head.
They coalesced into the phantom of a scarlet full moon—a flash, and it was gone!
With the Eye of the Void sword pupil active, Song Yan could perceive the flow of spiritual energy across the halberd, yet he could not penetrate that strange aura, nor could he divine the origin of those lightning arcs.
“What in the world is this…”
He felt Li Yi’s presence suddenly surge with overwhelming intensity. The sensation was strangely familiar to Song Yan.
It was somewhat like… his own sword intent.
“Junior Brother Song…”
“Take this!”
Li Yi stamped again, his body lunging forward like a ferocious tiger, the great halberd sweeping across in a devastating arc.
Song Yan dared not be careless. He activated the Cloud-Traversing Intent, his form flickering. Simultaneously, his sword finger traced a line, and Green Snake Within the Sleeve erupted in an instant!
Massive sword qi coiled and constricted like serpents, crashing headlong into the halberd.
CLANG—
Amid the clash of iron and steel, the sword qi shattered—yet the halberd’s momentum did not diminish!
Untethered Vessel shot forth in a streak, black-and-white sword light hurtling straight for Li Yi’s face. The light appeared slow but was in fact blindingly fast—already before him in the blink of an eye, forcing him to recall the halberd.
But Li Yi laughed with unrestrained delight. The halberd’s blade swept around and met Untethered Vessel head-on.
BOOM!
Using the momentum, he vaulted backward. The instant his toes touched the ground, the halberd’s force surged anew, its speed even faster than before.
The great halberd, together with Li Yi himself, transformed into a streak of black-and-red arc light—like a roaming dragon circling a city, bearing down with killing intent.
“Rao Long Cheng!”
This technique was simply too fast—even the Cloud-Traversing Intent could not dodge in time.
Song Yan had no choice but to surround himself with sword qi, holding Untethered Vessel before his chest, and receiving the halberd blow head-on.
CLANG— He was driven back several steps in succession, and a metallic tang had already begun to rise in his throat.
Fierce.
On the elder’s platform, Daoist Lijun watched Song Yan with a faint trace of surprise. “He has comprehended sword intent, yet he still does not know how to employ it? How curious.”
On the stage, Song Yan did not hesitate. Green Serpent sword qi wreathed Untethered Vessel, and he slashed upward from below with blinding speed.
Severing Tide!
The might of Severing Tide was staggering. Yet what astonished Song Yan was that Li Yi showed not the slightest intention of dodging!
The black-and-red spiritual energy around his body surged inward, condensing over the halberd.
He held it before his chest.
“He’s going to receive it head-on?!”
Song Yan’s pupils contracted. He could hardly believe it.
The sword qi descended like a splash of ink, slashing upward at tremendous speed, colliding with Li Yi’s great halberd.
BOOM—
The tremendous impact from the great halberd sent Li Yi’s body hurtling uncontrollably into the sky.
Yet at the corners of his mouth, a feverish smile had appeared.
This is it…
This kind of battle!
How it made the blood…
BOIL!!!
The sword qi dissipated. Li Yi still hung in the air. Song Yan’s sword finger traced a line, and eighteen sword shadows, bearing the spiritual intent of wind and thunder, circled around him.
But Li Yi paid them no heed. He slowly rotated the great halberd held before his chest, pointing the blade toward the ground.
At the same time, a war cry brimming with boiling battle intent rang across the entire arena.
The black-and-red spiritual energy around his body detonated once more, and that figure plummeted earthward at terrifying speed.
“Ji Guan Shan!”
BOOM!!!
A tremendous explosion erupted across the Debate Arena. The dust and wind cleared swiftly, and the scene that emerged left every spectator struck dumb.
The Debate Arena was now covered in countless fractures.
And at the very center of those fractures stood Li Yi, his great halberd buried in the stone.
The white sword shadows that had surrounded Song Yan had all been shattered by that violent eruption of spiritual energy.
Now, his true aura was finally revealed in its entirety.
“…”
Song Yan stared at the youth across from him, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Before such an overwhelming aura.
No matter who stood here, they would feel the stirrings of retreat.
A premonition of defeat at this man’s hands slowly rose within him…
No!
“That aura… it is clearly similar to my sword intent—even less refined than my own perfected sword intent—yet how can it make him this powerful…”
Li Yi raised the great halberd high overhead and brought it crashing down.
This halberd bore the weight of a thousand mountains. Before it even descended, the pressure of the black-and-red spiritual light had already begun to crack the stone platform beneath Song Yan’s feet.
“…”
Song Yan’s sword finger tapped rapidly. Untethered Vessel was held before his chest, black-and-white spiritual light blazing to its fullest.
At the same time, from beneath the Sword-Suppressing Dao Residence, every last stream of sword qi surged forth.
Densely packed white sword shadows, carrying gusts of wind and thunder, swept across the sky above the entire Debate Arena in swirling torrents.
“Am I seeing this correctly…”
In the spectator stands, Kong You gazed at the sky full of sword shadows, his face a mask of disbelief.
“Thirty-six sword shadows!”
From the sword box on his back, a full thirty-six sword shadows had emerged, howling across the central Debate Arena.
Simultaneously commanding thirty-six sword shadows.
This was the current limit of Song Yan’s divine sense.