Worthy of being Spirit Hall's Golden Generation!
All three of them were Spirit Kings above rank fifty, battle-hardened and perfectly synchronized from countless fights together.
Hu Liena, as a control-type Spirit Master, commanded the flow of battle.
Xie Yue and Yan, meanwhile, were the sharp blades to break the enemy head-on.
With such a formation,
Even a Spirit Sage above rank seventy would not dare to be careless.
This opening offensive—
Though slightly flawed when Hu Liena's Charm failed,
Xie Yue and Yan's combined strike
Still made all of Li Zhexian's friends blanch in shock.
Fierce.
Decisive.
Almost sealing off every path of retreat!
As Li Li Zhexian's figure was swallowed by the surging magma,
Xie Yue, blades in hand, pressed the attack without hesitation.
The entire spectator stand fell into dead silence.
Everyone held their breath, hearts clenched tight as though gripped by an invisible hand.
However—
The very next second—
Step—
Step—
Footsteps rang out, like water splashing apart.
A white-robed figure strolled calmly out of the pillar of lava.
That heat, fierce enough to melt metal, had not harmed him in the slightest. Instead, his aura seemed even more overwhelming than before.
Crimson molten rock slid down his white robe, dripping off in streams.
A few droplets clung to his jet-black hair—
Like frozen, blood-colored stars.
"What?!" Yan cried out in disbelief. The audience gasped in a cold breath, their eyes wide.
Lava…
Had no effect on Li Zhexian?!
And at that very moment of shock,
Xie Yue's attack arrived.
His clones split forth, moon blades slashing through the air—
Four vicious angles converging on Li Zhexian.
Clang—!
A streak of cold light suddenly appeared.
The Qinglian Sword stood before Li Zhexian, blocking the strike.
Xie Yue's face suddenly changed.
At the instant his moon blades clashed with the Qinglian Sword's edge—
A surge of sharpness beyond imagination traveled along the blade.
As though it would split his weapons in two.
Immediately after, he met Li Zhexian's cold gaze.
From Li Zhexian's brow, a sword mark of the Qinglian sword slowly emerged.
It was as if countless invisible swords had condensed from the air itself, sword intent spreading in every direction.
The chill of it made every hair on Xie Yue's body stand on end, his pupils shrinking rapidly.
"Not good! Fall back!"
With a sharp shout, Xie Yue stomped the ground, his figure skimming low as he shot backward.
Both moon blades crossed tightly before him.
But the invisible swords were already streaking forth.
A storm of piercing clangs erupted—
The endless clash of steel against steel.
In moments, all three of his clones were shredded to nothing.
"Second Spirit Ability—Blazing Rock Shield!"
Yan's furious roar followed.
His second Spirit Ring lit brilliantly beneath his feet.
The stage trembled violently.
Stone and lava surged together, condensing before Xie Yue into a molten shield over a meter thick.
The invisible swords pelted down upon it like a torrential storm.
In the blink of an eye—
Stone cracked, lava splattered!
After only a dozen breaths of resistance, that seemingly indestructible Blazing Rock Shield crumbled apart beneath the assault of sword qi.
The violent shockwave swept outward, carrying shards of stone and molten rock.
Exposed behind it stood Hu Liena and her two teammates, side by side.
The audience roared in an uproar.
They had collapsed in a single exchange!
The Golden Generation's three-on-one assault—was actually being suppressed by Li Zhexian?!
In the Emperor Team's preparation area, Bai Baoshan grinned wide with excitement.
Li Zhexian's friends burst into cheers.
Meanwhile, Dai Mubai and Tang San, who had been staring fixedly at the battle, had faces gone pale.
When Li Zhexian had fought them before—he had still been holding back his strength.
Zhu Zhuqing clenched her slender fists, trembling with excitement.
Beside her, Xiao Wu clutched her arm, gasping in shock.
Ning Rongrong bit down on her lip, sorrow pooling ever deeper in her eyes.
...
In the VIP stands,
Bibi Dong's expression was calm as still water.
But within, she knew the truth:
The three greatest geniuses Spirit Hall had cultivated with all its resources… were being suppressed by Li Zhexian alone.
Her face, however, betrayed not the slightest ripple.
...
On the arena stage—
Seeing Li Zhexian holding his own so effortlessly against the Golden Generation,
Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and the others finally let out their pent-up breaths.
Yu Tianheng let out a thunderous roar.
His dragonized arm bulged with veins as he charged ferociously at his opponent.
"Golden Generation," he bellowed.
"Show me all your strength!"
"The way you once humiliated the Emperor Team—today, I'll return it in full!"
His words—
Were far too blunt.
And showed utterly no regard for the so-called Golden Generation.
Li Zhexian stood ten-odd meters away from Hu Liena and the other two.
At his brow, the mark of the Qinglian Sword shone brightly,
while countless inivisible swords of qi swirled around his body.
This was none other than the profundity of the Fourth Realm of Sword Dao: "Everything Can Be a Sword."
He strode toward the three.
With his first step,
a purple Spirit Ring rose beneath his feet.
With his second step, another purple Spirit Ring appeared.
With his third step, a magnificent Spirit Ring emerged, glowing with shifting attributes, etched with twelve sword feathers.
A surge of Spirit Power burst forth from him.
His hair whipped wildly, white robes snapping in the storm.
Clearly, he bore only three Spirit Rings.
Yet the aura radiating from him—
Suppressed even his three Spirit King opponents.
Across the stands,
many experts' eyes glinted with unease.
"This Spirit Power… it's not something a Spirit Elder should possess."
Li Zhexian had already reached the fourth realm of sword dao.
His aura was sword.
His edge, hidden yet lethal.
Unless he willed it,
no one could probe the true depth of his Spirit Power.
But the Golden Generation were still geniuses, the pride of Spirit Hall.
After their brief moment of shock,
their counterattack came at once.
Hu Liena's five Spirit Rings began to flash in rapid rhythm, cycling from her fifth down to her first.
With each light,
the red glow around her body intensified.
At the same time—
Xie Yue moved.
Twin crimson moon blades in hand,
he shot toward her like lightning.
And at the moment their bodies overlapped—
the blades passed straight through.
A surge of dazzling red light exploded from the point of contact.
It swallowed them both.
And surged outward as a crimson tide—
flooding toward Li Zhexian.
This was their Martial Soul Fusion Ability—Charm Demon.
Its effect was tyrannical beyond compare:
Within the crimson field, all enemies suffered—
Fifty percent reduction to senses,
Fifty percent suppression of Spirit Power,
Fifty percent reduction in speed!
"Hmph!"
Facing the crimson tide surging like a sea of blood,
Li Zhexian gave a cold snort.
Beneath his feet, the magnificent Spirit Ring etched with twelve sword feathers suddenly flared with dazzling light.
"Third Spirit Ability—Qinglian Twelve Tribulations!"
Since the start of the tournament—
This was the first time Li Zhexian had used a Spirit Ability granted by a Spirit Ring.
Before the eyes of countless astonished Spirit Masters in Spirit City—
Twelve Qinglian swords manifested out of thin air, crashing down to the ground.
They encircled Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan in a sword formation.
And as the array locked into place—
four of the Qinglian swords thrummed violently.
Each one brimmed with a distinct sword intent: the sharpness of stars, the union of frost and flame, the formlessness of wind, the destruction and rebirth of thunder…
Four overwhelming forces of sword intent surged through the formation,
raging unchecked within.