Chapter 250: The Tyrannical Hongyan
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Yue Hongyan pointed her Black Ember Pole-Ax at Wang Jiannan, and her intentions were clear.
Wang Jiannan’s face lost all color and went completely pale – it appeared that this was caused by fear.
He was not afraid of Yue Hongyan, but of what Prince Chong Yun might do.
Indeed, Prince Chong Yun turned with an expressionless look and glared at him. "I remember you saying that progress was smooth?"
Wang Jiannan hurried replied, "My Prince, please let me explain…"
"I don’t have the patience for this. You resolve it here immediately." Prince Chong Yun waved his hand and said with impatience.
"Yes, sir." Wang Jiannan was relieved. As long as Prince Chong Yun did not pursue the matter, he was confident he could turn the situation back.
He eyed Yue Hongyan as his emotional state returned to composure. He leapt out from the company of people and deliberately said in a calm manner, "Hongyan, it’s been a long time. Come, let me check your progress!"
Yue Hongyan raised her eyebrows and said no more. With one step backwards, she launched herself at her foe with incredible speed, much like an arrow leaving its bow.
The Purple Cloud Grandmaster was a little shocked as he witnessed what just transpired. "This girl seems to be the Lin Feng’s direct disciple. She should only be in the Foundation Establishment stage, right? Yet, she took the initiative to challenge an Aurous Core stage cultivator. Could it be that every disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is insanely prodigious?"
The Azure Clouds Grandmaster thought for a moment and replied, "Let’s just wait and see. There was a disciple under the Celestial Sect of Wonders named Wang Lin, and during the Battle of Shazhou City he was in the Foundation Establishment stage himself and swept all other Foundation Establishment stage cultivators."
The Red Cloud Grandmaster’s eyes flickered and said, "There must be something unnatural about the mantra and abhijna of the Celestial Sect of Wonders."
Previously, Yue Hongyan had only just entered the middle level of the Foundation Establishment stage but had the courage to challenge two adversaries, who were in the ending stages of the Foundation Establishment stage. Back then, she was only practicing the Mantra of the Apocalyptic True Flame.
Currently, her foe was an Aurous Core stage cultivator, Wang Jiannan. It was certainly incomparable to the aforementioned, but Yue Hongyan’s mantra had by now been improved and changed to the Grand Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams, and her power was far greater than before.
No matter what changed, however, the straightforward and direct fighting style was a constant. She soared every step of the way.
Initially, Wang Jiannan thought he would have no trouble dispatching Yue Hongyan with his superior powers as an Aurous Core stage cultivator. However, after two of his spells were forcefully broken through by Yue Hongyan, he knew he was gravely wrong.
"Blizzard!" Wang Jiannan erased all his disorganized thoughts from his mind and began to treat Yue Hongyan like a real enemy. The spell he cast whipped up a blizzard around the area with him at the center of it. The dome of winds and the snow covered had a radius of more than a hundred feet and covered everything within.
Under the influence of the snowstorm, the gusts of winds would carry dark and cold magic and attack the adversary. Even if the other party could successfully block and repel the gust, the hidden dark magic within would have already disseminated through his body and it would be too late.
Yue Hongyan took big steps and stormed through the blizzard. Her tight purple suit began to radiate and uncountable streaks of light twisted and folded into tessellated hexagons.
The tessellation of the hexagons formed a plate of armor that looked like glass. At first sight, it might seem weak, as if it was a piece of furniture for decoration, but it emanated an intense and unmovable aura of energy.
It was an Aurous Core stage item, the Ancient Jade Armor.
The front of the armor radiated light in all directions and formed a hexagon-shaped screen.
The hexagonal screen hovered in the air and did not look like it was going to dissipate.
The streaks of light danced about and the hexagonal screens in the air proliferated and ultimately tessellated into one beehive-like piece, forming a complete wall.
The wall of light bent backwards and formed a dome over Yue Hongyan, protecting her, and shifted forward as she moved forward.
Innumerable gusts of cold wind battered on the dome of light but could not damage it more than the scratches they left on the latter.
Wang Jiannan was speechless. In the blink of an eye, Yue Hongyan had already arrived in front of him. With a wave of her Black Ember Pol-Ax and the likeness of a roaring dragon, Yue Hongyan went for the killer blow.
"No wonder this girl is so outrageous. She has an Aurous Core stage magic item given to her by the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders," Wang Jiannan thought to himself, "Her magic item has superior defensive abilities. I may not be able to pierce through the dome of light – looks like it’s going to be hard to teach her a lesson today."
Wang Jiannan placed his hands together as thoughts ran through his head. He made a gesture and casted another spell, this time bringing the gusts of cold wind spinning around him.
Yue Hongyan’s Black Ember Pol-Ax stabbed onto the protective layer of wind and snow. The torque of the snowstorm diverted the force of the attack and even the direction of exertion was pushed to another side.
Wang Jiannan opened his mouth in the midst of everything and said, "Yue Hongyan, you have indeed improved so much since we last met. I am extremely glad. As for this fight, let’s call it a draw."
Lin Feng heard his words from inside the pavilion and chortled to himself, "You cunning little shit."
Both parties had yet to exchange more than two moves and neither of them was at a disadvantage and Wang Jiannan already suggested a draw. The onlookers would only think that he was trying to maintain his status as an Aurous Core stage cultivator and was unwilling to battle Yue Hongyan due to the fact instead of him being afraid of her.
As an extrapolation of his words, their battle would only seem like a senior giving pointer to a junior.
How could Yue Hongyan not detect his nonsense? She scoffed and flared her red eyebrows. Instead of replying him, she simply swept the Black Ember Pol-Ax in a half-circle and released a fearsome wave of power.
In the blink of an eye, thousands of aggressive strikes began to hammer upon the spinning blizzard enwrapping Wang Jiannan.
"This kind of aggressive force is definitely not what a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator should possess. What kind of mantra is she learning from the Celestial Sect of Wonders?"
Wang Jiannan was trying his best to resist the pressure from Yue Hongyan – how could he not feel embarrassed?
However, he was confident that Yue Hongyan would not be able to break past his barrier. "The closer I bring in the snowstorm, the stronger this Spinning Snowstorm Technique gets. There is no way you’re breaking through all that."
Under Yue Hongyan’s relentless assault, the Spinning Snowstorm continually contracted and seemed as if he was retreating backwards.
Even so, the onlookers could tell that the defensive ability of the Spinning Snowstorm was getting stronger and stronger, but Yue Hongyan’s aggression seemed to be getting gradually weaker.
The Red Cloud Grandmaster let loose a heavy sigh. "She could force an Aurous Core stage cultivator into a full defensive mode – that is quite an achievement in itself."
As her voice dropped, the Red Cloud Grandmaster’s expression became one of intense astonishment. "This is…"
Just at that moment, a sphere of black flame began to concentrate upon the tip of the Black Ember Pol-Ax. The sphere of black flame flickered with streaks of red light and grouped together into a huge fiery hurricane. The sphere continued to spin around the Black Ember Pol-Ax until it reached the tip of the latter.
This point was incredibly heavy – the mass was so great that everything in the immediate vicinity seemed to be collapsing towards it.
Wang Jiannan was taken aback. "From her previous moves, this should be the Apocalyptic Spear Technique."
"When the Apocalyptic Spear Technique is trained to the pinnacle of its potential, the spinning fiery hurricane could produce a huge gravitational force. The foe would be forced forward and would be unable to retreat. This much, I know." Wang Jiannan observed the scene with continued awe.
"However, that kind of suction depends on the strength of our mana pools. Mine is superior – she’s unable to suck me in."
"Even so, such a scene is truly astonishing. Surrounding matter began to collapse into the singularity as if there was a mini-blackhole consuming everything around it. This could not possibly be the effect of the Apocalyptic Spear Technique, so what technique is this?!"
Everybody watching the battle had their attentions focused on Yue Hongyan’s move.
Even though they were not the targets, the onlookers began to feel a mysterious force pulling them towards the point in question, much like a moth attracted to fire and eventually flying to its death. They knew they would perish in the black flames but they could not resist the attraction.
This was Yue Hongyan’s own innovation after practising the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams.
The Space-Destroying Spear Technique!
Xiao Yan watched on from the side and slowly nodded his head.
"She managed to attain enlightenment on some spatial mysteries and she’s only in the Foundation Establishment stage. Her talent at this is undeniable!"
Prince Chong Yun was also surprised by the move. He glanced at Yue Hongyan’s eyes and realized that the red pupils of hers were full of invasiveness and flickering with an intimidating gaze.
Wang Jiannan was not given further opportunities to react as the force of Yue Hongyan’s Space-Destroying Spear Technique began to slam onto his Spinning Snowstorm.
The impacts were not that great. Instead, all the winds and the snow in the snowstorm released by Wang Jiannan were instantly sucked into the singularity at the tip of the Black Ember Pol-Ax.
A scene such as this shot fear into the hearts of the audience.
Wang Jiannan could not be more stunned. He wanted to retreat but even he began to gravitate towards the Space-Destroying Spear Technique.
"You dare!" Wang Jiannan was desperate and could not hold back any longer. His Aurous Core shook intensely as he explosively released the mana and power within his body. A small snow-white pill materialized in the air.
In the moments following the fact, the snow-white pill exploded and countless streaks of snow and wind shot out.
Even though he had already used his trump card, the Snowstorm Explosion, Wang Jiannan did not underestimate his enemy. He flung out a Nascent Soul stage purple talisman and it morphed into a thunderbolt, heading straight for Yue Hongyan.
It was a matter of life and death. After clearing his head, he could no longer bother about Yue Hongyan being Prince Chong Yun’s target and gave no chances. He released all the power that he could possibly muster in his battle against Yue Hongyan.
The force of an Aurous Core stage cultivator fighting for his life was naturally a force to be reckoned with. What made it scarier was that the Nascent Soul stage purple talisman was equivalent to a Nascent Soul stage cultivator striking out a blow with all his might. In comparison, Yue Hongyan was only a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator and this move was akin to nuking a tank. The two sides were simply on different levels.
The thunderbolts and thunderclouds were looming dangerously close to Yue Hongyan.
No matter how strong the Space-Destroying Spear Technique was, it could not alter the fact that Yue Hongyan was, after all, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator and the force of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator’s all-out blow would definitely eliminate the former.
The Purple Cloud Grandmaster and the Red Cloud Grandmaster glanced at each other and simultaneously shook their heads.
Yue Hongyan was Lin Feng’s direct disciple, and even though it was her folly by challenging someone stronger than her, the Sword of Radiance Sect was still accountable if she perished on Xingyun Peak.
The Red Cloud Grandmaster split open the sky and prepared to receive this attack on behalf of Yue Hongyan.
"Do not worry," the Azure Clouds Grandmaster suddenly voiced out from beside her. "Even her own master is unworried."
The Purple Cloud Grandmaster and the Red Cloud Grandmaster were momentarily stunned as they suddenly recalled Lin Feng was still in the pavilion.
"He’s not worried?" The Purple Cloud Grandmaster frowned slightly. "Unless…"