HSSB511: Are you sure you want to get beaten up by me?
Seeing that Li Sheng had successfully mastered the sixth sabre of the Seven Seas Dragon Slaying Sabres, the Shattering Extinguishing Sabre, even Elder Dong of the Water Crystal Palace turned solemn, a serious expression appearing on his face.
Both sides knowing each other well, the Water Crystal Palace martial practitioners were fully aware of what this sabre entailed.
All the Water Crystal Palace martial practitioners who had followed Zhang Haocheng here, Elder Dong included, would likely have met their doom if they had had to face the current Li Sheng when in the late Essence Spirit stage.
While he was still a late Essence Spirit Martial Grandmaster, this was a truly powerful opponent.
Let alone the current top ten Essence Spirit experts, considering all the top ranked Essence Spirit experts of all time, the current Li Sheng was in contention for the number one position even amongst them.
However, while the people of Water Crystal Palace were shocked, they were not worried.
Facing Li Sheng, Zhang Haocheng slowly took out a certain something.
Everyone here who recognised the origins of this object instantly had their expression change.
In a decisive battle between the two sides, it was not forbidden for various artifacts and treasures to be used by them. Therefore, if Zhang Haocheng had just taken out a powerful treasure, no one would have felt much about it. At most, they would just have said that he felt somewhat lacking in self-confidence against Li Sheng.
However, what Zhang Haocheng had taken out was a sword.
Everyone knew that Water Crystal Palace did not cultivate in the sword.
Zhang Haocheng had also not secretly learnt some supreme sword art from a fortuitous encounter. It was indeed true that he didn’t use swords.
This sword was his spoil of war.
A mid-grade spirit artifact was not all that rare and valuable with regard to the prominent sects of the Seven Pillars of Good and the Six Evil Sects.
However, those who recognised this spirit artifact all knew this sword’s original owner, the ‘Roiling Sea Hero’ Leng Kun, an early Essence Talisman Martial Grandmaster who was rather well-known amongst solitary practitioners.
There was lawlessness everywhere, those lawless criminals who cared not about the background of others as they just acted as they liked and fled the scene after. Leng Kun was infamous in this regard.
For martial practitioners like Leng Kun, the presence of the sword signified the presence of its owner.
Now that his accompanying weapon had fallen into Zhang Haocheng’s hands, his fate did not have to be explained.
The higher one went, the smaller the difference in strength between martial practitioners at the same cultivation level and the greater the difference in strength between different cultivation levels, with the ability of martial practitioners to surpass levels in battling a superior opponent correspondingly growing rarer and rarer as well.
However, there were always those extreme few, those geniuses amongst geniuses and experts amongst experts, who had the ability to break this general rule.
Whether it was Zhang Haocheng or Li Sheng, both of them were figures like this.
Of the current top ten Essence Spirit experts, there had always been a noticeable difference between the two of them and those ranked below them.
Even so, however, that Zhang Haocheng had been able to slay the early Essence Talisman stage Leng Kun whilst himself only at the late Essence Spirit stage still left everyone feeling stunned.
After all, the difference between slaying an opponent and obtaining his weapon was miles apart from simply defeating that opponent in battle.
Even though being a solitary practitioner by birth, Leng Kun’s martial foundation had not been as solid as that of those who came from Sacred Grounds like Water Crystal Palace and the Dragon Slayer Sect, he had still been a true Essence Talisman Martial Grandmaster.
His expression calm, Zhang Haocheng stood silently there with that sword in his hand. Not requiring any movements or words, he had already suppressed the domineering pressure from Li Sheng’s Shattering Extinguishing Sabre.
While mastering a supreme martial art that others were not able to was indeed a shocking achievement, in an actual battle, it was still the final results that one would be convinced by at the end of the day.
Even the Dragon Slayer Sect martial practitioners had stern expressions on their faces as they emotionally felt whilst being unwilling to admit it, “As befitting of the number one Essence Spirit expert.”
Just having shown up, the heated atmosphere between the two fighters had already reached a peak.
The other martial practitioners present all had their spirits lifted greatly.
It was not that there were no battles amongst experts who were stronger than Zhang Haocheng and Li Sheng.
However, it was comparatively rarer for there to be a battle such as this, with the first and second ranked of the top ten Essence Spirit experts deciding who was superior in a head-on battle which might even lead to one of them dying.
While those who had higher cultivation bases would be able to easily defeat Zhang Haocheng and Li Sheng based on their higher cultivation bases, the battle before them virtually entailed the peak battle encounter possible at the Essence Spirit Martial Grandmaster stage.
Especially with both the fighters having had nine leaves blossoming into nine flowers, also individually being from the two powerhouses, Water Crystal Palace and the Dragon Slaying Sect, which really left this battle full of content and suspense.
Even Fu Enshu felt extremely interested by it as well.
However, as she stood there, the experts of Water Crystal Palace and the Dragon Slayer Sect all paid attention to her.
The polluted undercurrents that usually surrounded the Deep Sea Corridor where the three seas met had actually disappeared to be replaced by Sweet Pouring Raindrops that they were seeing now for the first time. Their hearts could not help but pound even more at that.
The two figures that were indistinctly visible within the water vein formed of the Sweet Pouring Raindrops rather attracted their attention as well.
While Zhang Haocheng and Li Sheng were both focused primarily on each other, they could not help but be concerned by the unexpected situation before them as well.
Some martial practitioners whom they were acquainted with hurriedly explained the situation. After hearing about it, the Water Crystal Palace and Dragon Slayer Sect martial practitioners all frowned.
The leading martial practitioner of Water Crystal Palace, Elder Dong, asked in a heavy tone as he looked at Fu Enshu, “Are you a member of the Sacred Evil Sect?”
Fu Enshu’s expression was indifferent as she answered, “I only heard about that sect by word of mouth a few days ago.”
Elder Dong and the others were all still frowning in consideration when a Spirit Rhino Island martial practitioner hurriedly exclaimed, “The youth who was with her broke through a powerful barrier in the Bewildering Maze Sea using the Blood Ghost Heavenly Talisman of the Sacred Evil Sect! My sect’s senior apprentice-uncle Fang confirmed it personally, it can’t be wrong!”
Hearing his words, Fu Enshu did not seem troubled, merely laughing contemptuously.
Elder Dong asked, “Are you talking about Fang Zhaohong? Where is he?”
That Spirit Rhino Island martial practitioner pursed his lips, “It was precisely because senior apprentice-uncle Fang saw through that youth’s deception that he was slain and silenced by the demonic Sacred Evil Sect.”
“Senior apprentice-uncle Yue, what do we do now?” A Dragon Slayer Sect martial practitioner approached the leading Elder, asking him quietly.
The leading Elder of the Dragon Slayer Sect, Elder Yue, shook his head, “Just watch and see.”
The Sacred Evil Sect was strange and mysterious. While it was one of the Six Evil Sects, the other martial practitioners who followed the path of Evil felt extremely cautious regarding them as well.
Li Sheng opened his mouth for the first time since he had appeared, his voice cold as a sabre, “Killing a mere Jiang Xiong isn’t worth anything much.”
Gazing at the figures within the water vein formed of Sweet Pouring Raindrops, Zhang Haocheng said, “However, it is said that he is still in his twenties.”
Li Sheng said coldly, “I am not concerned about whether he really is from the Sacred Evil Sect. In having come here today, I intend to have a battle with you to see who between us is the true number one Essence Spirit Martial Grandmaster of our Vast Ocean World.”
“If I do not perish after having battled with you, I will naturally meet him in battle then.”
Zhang Haocheng said, “In having killed Jiang Xiong, it is already sufficient proof that he has the qualifications to battle with the two of us. Having actually never heard of a person such as him before this, I feel inclined towards exchanging some moves with him first.”
Li Sheng’s expression turned cold.
Zhang Haocheng continued, “In him being here, it also influences the battle between us. The three of us should be the most powerful amongst the Vast Ocean World’s Essence Spirit Martial Grandmasters, right? Let’s not bother our Essence Talisman stage Elders. We can just spar here for a bit.”
He condensed his voice with his true essence and transmitted it towards the water vein formed of the Sweet Pouring Raindrops, “What do you say?”
Before his words had landed, a light laugh suddenly resounded from within the water vein, “Are you sure you want to get beaten up by me? Now why would you want that?”
The next moment, an unceasingly flickering glow surged from within the water vein as Yan Zhaoge’s figure slowly rose upwards amidst that radiance.
Li Sheng was greatly enraged by those words while Zhang Haocheng knit his brows as well. However, as they looked over, they were instantly stunned on the spot.
Everyone present was rendered wide-eyed and tongue-tied.
A scene of light arose above Yan Zhaoge’s head, ten spirit leaves appearing, a single spirit flower swaying from each of these spirit leaves.