With a flick of his finger, True Qi exploded into a sky full of fire.
These sparks were in fact streams of True Qi, which suddenly expanded in the air, transforming into hundreds of eerie blue Ghost Fires.
Three zhang away, Xu Yunfan felt a faint chill creep over his body. He immediately tapped his toes on the arena floor. His Ten Extremes True Qi surged through his flesh and blood like a dragon, transforming into Pure Yang True Qi, which he unleashed with a flip of his hand.
Instantly, the Supreme Yang True Qi descended like a Golden Crow crashing to the earth, colliding with the Ghost Fire and erupting in a blinding white light.
"Hehehe... Daoist Master Xu, your Pure Yang Fire is still a bit lacking!"
Marquis Lv’s Python Robe billowed as nine icicles suddenly shot from his sleeves. They managed to pierce the Pure Yang True Qi barrier, aiming straight for Xu Yunfan’s major acupoints.
Xu Yunfan saw the nine icicles penetrate his Pure Yang barrier, a chill pressing toward his very organs, yet he made no move to block them. Instead, he circulated his True Qi, pouring it into his Dragon Scale Armor.
In an instant, the Dragon Scale Armor Leaves glowed with wisps of golden light. As the Armor Leaves pulsed, they even produced the sound of a dragon’s cry.
The icicles struck the Armor Leaves but could advance no further. Their surfaces became covered in a dense web of cracks before they were shattered into fine powder.
Seeing this, Marquis Lv’s gaunt face twitched, his voice as sharp as a night owl’s screech. "What a Taoist Sect! To think they would give you a piece of Tier Eight Divine Armor for protection!"
The crowd below erupted in an uproar upon hearing the old eunuch’s words, and all manner of gazes intertwined.
The moment Marquis Lv’s sharp, owl-like voice faded, the Mortal Martial People watching from below the stage exploded into a clamor.
"Tier Eight Divine Armor?!"
A burly, bearded man with two sabers on his back stared wide-eyed, his voice cracking. "The Taoist Sect was willing to give such a treasure to a disciple? How the hell is anyone supposed to fight this?!"
"A disciple? Have you not seen his Realm? He’s a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster! If not for the Great Zhou’s imperial examinations, would we ever get to see someone like him?"
A nearby Swordsman in green robes sneered. "No wonder he dared to take Marquis Lv’s Yin Evil Palm Power head-on... With Tier Eight Divine Armor for Body Protection, he could even withstand seventy or eighty percent of a killing blow from a Ninth Realm Grandmaster!"
In a distant pavilion, several Sect Elders exchanged glances. One of them, a white-bearded old man, stroked his beard and sighed, "Tier Eight Divine Armor... The Taoist Sect is dead set on propping up Xu Yunfan."
Another whispered, "It seems the rumors were true. The Taoist Sect’s scheme is immense this time; they’ve even brought out a sect-guarding treasure... But in all these years, how have I never heard that the Taoist Sect possessed such a piece of Divine Armor?"
The discussions below were a mixture of jealousy, indignation, and quiet calculation.
But no matter what, everyone understood one thing.
With Tier Eight Divine Armor, Xu Yunfan was already invincible!
At that moment, Xu Yunfan drew the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace from his waist with a reverse grip.
The mace’s body was crimson like molten lava. As he infused it with True Qi, its nine-sectioned Dragon Scale Pattern lit up one by one. The dragon’s head at the tip of the mace spat out a three-foot-long jet of flame, the heat wave distorting the air and even scorching the arena’s bluestone floor.
Marquis Lv’s pupils shrank. Only now did he clearly recognize the origin of the Dragon-Swallowing Mace. "The Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace from the previous dynasty?!" he blurted out. "How did a treasure like this end up in the hands of a junior like you!"
He dared not be arrogant. A Silver Silk Soft Sword slid from his sleeve. Its blade was as thin as a cicada’s wing, and when swung, it moved like a viper flicking its tongue, the edge glinting with the eerie blue sheen of poison.
It was also a Tier Seven Divine Weapon.
Xu Yunfan strode forward, bringing the Red Fire Mace crashing down with the force of the Eight Desolates Dragon Fall Mace Technique. Before the mace even arrived, the searing Gang Wind it generated pressed down on Marquis Lv, making his Python Robe flap violently.
But Marquis Lv gave a strange smile. His Soft Sword suddenly went rigid, its tip striking at a weak point seven inches up the mace’s body.
This was his counter, Overcoming Hardness with Softness.
When the two weapons met, the Soft Sword wrapped around the mace like a living thing, its poisoned edge slashing straight for Xu Yunfan’s wrist!
Xu Yunfan showed no sign of panic. With a soft cry, he poured his Ten Extremes True Qi into the mace, causing the Dragon Scale Pattern to erupt in a blinding red light.
The mace trembled, its intense heat searing the Soft Sword red-hot. Marquis Lv was forced to retract his sword, but not before half his sleeve was singed away.
Xu Yunfan seized the opportunity to spin, sweeping the Red Fire Mace toward Marquis Lv’s waist. But the marquis soared into the air like a phantom, tapped his toes on the back of the mace to flip backward, and simultaneously threw three Bone-Piercing Nails straight at Xu Yunfan’s eyes and throat!
Xu Yunfan didn’t dodge or evade. His gaze was like a torch. After long cultivation of the Linn Character Technique, his spirit was already powerful, allowing him to clearly see the trajectory of the Bone-Piercing Nails thrown by the old eunuch.
He formed a sword with the fingers of his left hand, condensing his Pure Yang True Qi into a golden glint. With three quick flicks, he shattered the nails in mid-air.
But his right wrist suddenly changed its move. The Red Fire Mace switched from a sweep to an upward thrust. The fire dragon on its tip roared, and a pillar of flame shot toward the sky!
In his haste, Marquis Lv swung his sword in a circle, his cold energy condensing into an ice mirror to block the attack. But the flames instantly vaporized it, and steam filled the entire arena.
In the mist, Marquis Lv’s figure abruptly vanished. When he reappeared, he was behind Xu Yunfan, the poisoned gleam of his Soft Sword thrusting at his neck!
One had to attack the weak points of an opponent clad in Divine Armor.
Xu Yunfan seemed not to notice. Marquis Lv rejoiced inwardly, but as the sword’s edge touched its target, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
The tip of the sword felt like it had struck solid iron. Xu Yunfan’s muscles bulged, becoming hard as Profound Steel, and his skin took on a Bronze sheen.
’It can’t even be pierced by a Divine Weapon?!’
Marquis Lv was horrified and tried to retreat, but Xu Yunfan swept back with his mace. Sparks flew from the Dragon Scale at the mace’s tail, and it smashed into Marquis Lv’s right shoulder, fracturing the bone!
Marquis Lv staggered backward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. A vicious look flashed in his eyes, and just as he was about to make a move...
Xu Yunfan suddenly stopped and said nonchalantly, "That’s about enough."
Marquis Lv froze. Before he could react, he saw Xu Yunfan grip the mace with both hands. The Dragon Scale Pattern on its body lit up completely, and the nine-sectioned mace seemed to connect, transforming into a fiery dragon’s phantom that coiled around him.
The arena floor beneath his feet collapsed with a ROAR. All of his Ten Extremes True Qi flowed into the mace. The dragon’s mouth on its tip opened, unleashing its full, ultimate power for the first time with a heaven-shaking dragon’s cry!
"Ten Extremes, become one."
A single strike of the mace descended like a Celestial Fall.
The phantom fire dragon swelled to ten zhang, bearing down on Marquis Lv with the force to incinerate mountains and boil seas.
Marquis Lv shrieked and swung his sword to parry, but the Divine Weapon, the Soft Sword, snapped like a dry twig. The instant the wind from the mace touched the top of his head, flames erupted from his seven orifices, the bones throughout his body popped and cracked, and his Python Robe turned to ash.
"No!"
Amidst a blood-curdling scream, Marquis Lv’s body was crushed into a pulp by the vast True Qi. The aftershock blasted a three-zhang-deep pit into the arena, sending shattered stone flying like rain.
When the dust settled, Xu Yunfan stood holding the mace in one hand. The crimson glow of the weapon slowly faded, leaving only Marquis Lv’s charred, dismembered limbs embedded in the bottom of the pit as proof that what had just happened was no illusion.
Xu Yunfan swept his indifferent gaze across the surroundings. His eyes passed over the crowd below like a blade, and wherever he looked, the once-raucous Mortal Wanderers fell silent, bowing their heads, not daring to meet his stare.
He gently caressed the Dragon Scale Pattern on the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace with his fingers. The weapon’s body was still warm, its searing heat flowing into his palm.
He hadn’t used his full strength in this battle, yet he had already pushed the Ninth Realm old eunuch into a corner from which there was no escape.
’He was just testing his moves?!’
On the viewing platform, Chen Wei’s pupils shrank. The Long Spear in his hand buzzed with a WMMM, and the veins on his knuckles bulged from the force of his grip.
He stared intently at the arena, a mixture of shock and anger churning within him.
Marquis Lv cultivated the Yin Evil Dao! His Body Technique was as fast as a Gale; an ordinary Ninth Realm expert would be lucky to even touch the corner of his robes!
And yet, on the arena floor just now, Xu Yunfan had toyed with him like a child, pressing him with one mace strike after another until Marquis Lv was in a pathetic state!
’If I were to go up there, could I win?’