Pale Shadow said with a detached emotionless voice, "And so the fight ends with the victory of Daoist Lightning Tyrant."
The people below cheered for joy.
Of course, only a small portion of them cheered that Arthur had won. The rest of the audience was silent and didn't know what to feel.
The feeling of the members of the audience mirrored what the two golden core fighters were also feeling. One of them was happy, while the other was conflicted about what to feel.
Arthur was happy to win because it meant that he would get the three rank 5 formations used to protect the border of the outer sect and the other rank 5 formations used to protect the inner sect.
On the other side, Green Viper was feeling conflicted because his loss was bad, but his loss made him realize that his son hadn't died unjustly.
He also felt conflicted about his loss because he felt that Arthur had cheated. But this didn't stop him from speaking amicably with Arthur.
As the two of them descended back to the outer sect, Green Viper said, "Truly, lightning is a cheat. It is too powerful an element for mortals to wield. The fact that you can wield it without repercussions makes you truly worthy of the title of Lightning Tyrant."
Then he asked Arthur, "How did you manage it? Is this related to the fact that you fused the lightning and wood elements to create your foundation?"
Arthur laughed off the question and didn't reply.
It was clear to other golden core cultivators that he wasn't being consumed by lightning whenever he wielded it, and it was also clear that he had two elements within him, but that didn't mean that he had to help them make the links.
Instead of talking about the source of his peculiar ability to wield lightning so easily, he changed the subject of the conversation.
He said, "You're also impressive. You can even wield your life energy as external energy. What is that giant green snake you made of poison called?"
Green Viper was easily distracted by the question. He said with pride, "It is a battle art. Unfortunately, it consumes too much energy."
Then he said with some regret, "If I were fighting someone wielding another element other than lightning, even if they were wielding fire, I would be able to resist their attacks with only my body to some extent because my body is strong."
"My body is strong, but it would only make me turn into a durable punching bag for you because your lightning is insidious. I had to use my battle art to prevent your lightning from touching me, which escalated my loss."
Arthur retorted, "All I hear is that you should have surrendered right from the start in order to avoid the loss. It was your fault for being stubborn."
Green Viper shook his head and said, "If I didn't even try and see for myself what made it capable of killing my son, I wouldn't be satisfied."
Arthur nodded and asked, "I hope you've gotten your closure now."
Green Viper nodded and said, "I have. I also feel like I am ready to break through to the seventh transformation. I have you to thank for that."
After saying this, he laughed boisterously.
Arthur raised an eyebrow and said, "I guess you're welcome."
He didn't care that Green Viper had used him to polish his cultivation. But Pale Shadow cared a lot and didn't like it at all.
She and Green Viper belong to the same generation and have always been competing. They are now in the sixth transformation of the fourth mortal coil. Before them stands a bottleneck that divides them from those at the late stage of the fourth mortal coil.
It should have taken them a few decades to advance to the seventh mortal coil. But Green Viper appears to be ready to break through ahead of time.
If Green Viper successfully advances, he will leave her behind. She can't have that at all.
She decided to catch up to Green Viper as soon as possible. So she said to Arthur, "I think we should fight."
Arthur shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't do that. The first fight wasn't part of my duties, so there is no way that I will allow a second one to happen."
She hummed and said, "We'll see."
She didn't believe that Arthur wasn't going to fight. What she thought of what he said was that he was saying those things as a negotiation tactic to raise the price that he will be paid in order for him to fight her.
She believed that Arthur was trying to make her pay a high price for him to fight her because she was there when Purple Vine had negotiated with him and made him fight Green Viper.
She had witnessed the exchange of benefits, so she knew that what she should do is not to talk to Arthur to convince him but to offer him benefits.
Unfortunately, she didn't have benefits to offer now. She will need some time to gather the benefits. When she does, she will return to Arthur to negotiate with him again.
Her eyes glowed with the light of wisdom as she thought of this. She was confident in her deduction, and it made her feel a certain sense of superiority for seeing through Arthur's tactics.
Arthur didn't know what she was thinking. But he knew very well what he was feeling.
He was feeling immense anticipation for the rank 5 formation diagrams that he was about to be given. His anticipation remained with him all the way to meet Purple Vine, who was supposed to be the one to give him the memory crystals containing them.
If anything, his anticipation only increased over time. Then the anticipation imploded into a concentrated ball of excitement after he received the formation diagrams.
He quickly thanked Purple Vine. Then he bid farewell to the three golden core cultivators.