Chapter 536: Fighting Bai Zhan
Chapter 536: Fighting Bai Zhan
“Ancient Conveying Formation! Each time it’s activated, it exhausts a hundred thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones. What is happening?” someone who recognized the formation exclaimed.
Bai Zhan’s expression became more and more relaxed. He looked at Xiao Chen as though Xiao Chen was already a dead man.
Xiao Chen only had one hour left. There was no time; he could not afford to delay any longer.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
Xiao Chen bowed slightly and placed his right hand on his saber hilt. Suddenly he started running quickly and a strong wind howled.
Bai Zhan’s gaze turned cold. He said, “Reckless fool, you really dared to make a move against me.”
The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted. Bai Zhan sent out a palm strike that he had been preparing behind his back. A huge ice palm appeared out of nowhere and pressed towards Xiao Chen.
“Break!”
A purple light flared as Xiao Chen drew his saber. An overwhelming killing intent poured out. The huge ice palm was immediately chopped in half before shattering into countless ice shards and falling to the floor.
When Bai Zhan saw Xiao Chen break the ice palm, he appeared shocked. Half a year ago, Xiao Chen had to use one of his trump cards to break it. Now, Xiao Chen dealt with it with one saber strike.
“Roaming Dragon’s Nine Transformations! Clear Wind Chop!”
Xiao Chen’s figure wavered and became nine. Nine cool breezes blew at Bai Zhan and the overwhelming killing intent disappeared.
When the overwhelming killing intent suddenly vanished, the surrounding air turned from heavy to relaxed. The bystanders were all astonished.
“Excellent fellow! His control over his killing intent has almost reached a level where he can control it as he pleases.”
“I can control my killing intent as I please to. However, his killing intent is on a different scale compared to mine. This fellow is quite strong.”
Bai Zhan was astounded. It was hard to imagine that Xiao Chen could reach such a level in half a year.
However, I did not stagnate in the past half year, either.
Bai Zhan did not lose his confidence; he still expected to have the last laugh. Furthermore, all he had to do was last for one hour. By then, eight Martial Monarchs, who could kill Xiao Chen in seconds, would arrive.
“Thousand Flaming Palms!”
Bai Zhan shouted ferociously as he moved the hands that he held behind his back. The surrounding cold air suddenly surged and turned hot.
The shift from the state of ice to the state of fire was as smooth as flowing water. There was no impediment whatsoever.
Countless flaming palms descended from the sky. Those flaming palms looked very solid, the palm lines of those palms were very clear, and even the ridges on the fingertips were very distinct.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
When the palms landed on the floor, they blasted deep holes in it. Unexpectedly, the special floor of the Divine Dragon Warship could not withstand the might of the flaming palms.
The floor beneath everyone’s feet started to shake. No one could stand stably.
The nine Xiao Chens moved like the wind, weaving between the flaming palms, and rushed at Bai Zhan.
Just as the nine Xiao Chens approached, they merged together. The previously vanished killing intent surged out. A saber light appeared as Xiao Chen hacked down.
“Icy Mourning Spirit Palm!”
Bai Zhan shouted and the fiery rain of flaming palms in the air gathered in his hands. They turned into bone-chilling palms, fire and ice instantly interchanging.
“Bang!”
The saber light slammed into the ice palm. A powerful shock wave immediately exploded out together with surging Essence.
Bai Zhan’s complexion paled. He was forced back a hundred meters by this attack. He looked very surprised, having unexpectedly lost in regard to Essence.
“Pa! Pa!”
He sent out two palm strikes where he was. Cold wind blew from one palm and a heat wave from the other. Xiao Chen was instantly trapped between two extremes. The contrast was hard to bear and Xiao Chen slowed down.
Bai Zhan had rich combat experience, far beyond what the Four Young Masters had. The moment Xiao Chen showed an opening, Bai Zhan immediately grabbed hold of the opportunity, rushing forward to smash a palm strike on Xiao Chen.
This palm strike contained a bone-chilling energy that invaded Xiao Chen’s blood vessels and meridians.
“Boom!”
Laughing maniacally, Bai Zhan promptly sent his left palm over, the one containing the boundless fiery energy.
The close combat resulted in Xiao Chen’s saber losing its effectiveness. Bai Zhan intended to take Xiao Chen down in one burst, completely trampling on him.
It was a good plan. However, Bai Zhan did not know that Xiao Chen’s close combat techniques were no weaker than his Saber Techniques.
“Berserk Dragon Fist!”
A dragon roared and an azure dragon head appeared on his left hand as Xiao Chen punched.
The fist and palm collided, resulting in sparks flying. Xiao Chen’s horrifying strength exploded out. Bai Zhan’s arm went numb. This punch knocked Bai Zhan back by ten meters.
However, Xiao Chen did not even move a step back. He swung his Lunar Shadow Saber and drew a scarlet arc. Flickering with electricity, the arc blocked Bai Zhan, who was rushing forward again.
The two continued exchanging moves in midair in such a manner. Horrifying shock waves propagated into the surroundings, astonishing the spectators.
Bai Zhan had exquisite combat experience. After he realized that he was inferior to Xiao Chen in regard to Essence, he immediately changed his strategy. He switched rapidly between the opposing attributes of ice and fire to deal with Xiao Chen. This resulted in him not being at a disadvantage.
While in midair, the two executed their killing moves, sending out all sorts of Martial Techniques. Resplendent lights flew all over the place. The two seemed to be evenly matched; the fight was very intense.
As time passed, Bai Zhan slowly lost ground. Xiao Chen’s state of massacre was too strong.
The killing intent poured into Bai Zhan’s bones, affecting his movements. At first, the influence was not great. However, over time, fluctuations appeared in his mental state.
When Bai Zhan attacked, he could not help but reveal some openings. Xiao Chen grasped them and another horrifying wound appeared on Bai Zhan’s body.
At some point in time, Xuanyuan Zhantian, mounted on his Royal Dragon Horse, suddenly appeared among the crowd. He watched with interest as the two fought.
The Southern Sea’s Four Heroes and the Western Sea’s Seven Knights were also attracted by this marvelous fight. Everyone walking by stopped to watch, occasionally commenting.
Bai Zhan shot a glance at the Ancient Conveying Formation. He saw that there were already eight vague figures above the Ancient Conveying Formation. When the eight vague figures fully materialized, they would be sent over.
I cannot drag this out any longer. If I keep dragging this out, I will be defeated.
Bai Zhan used a big move to force Xiao Chen back before quickly retreating. Looking at Xiao Chen from high in the air, Bai Zhan asked sternly, “Do you dare to let the next move be the deciding move?!”
Xiao Chen brandished the saber in his hand and pointed it at Bai Zhan. He replied, “Exactly what I am thinking.”
Bai Zhan shouted a ferocious warcry. The ice-attributed and fire-attributed Spiritual Energies of heaven and earth gathered together relentlessly.
Fire and ice were opposing attributes. However, with Bai Zhan’s control, he managed to merge them together. A huge whirlpool formed in front of him; it looked very weird.
The whirlpool had the destructive frenzy of a raging inferno and the chill of ice. The two energies merged together to form a new type of energy. Countless ice shards and sparks spewed out of the whirlpool instantly.
The ice shards and sparks contained tremendous energy. When the ice shards struck the onlookers, wounds appeared on their faces. It felt very painful, like knives cutting them.
The others were startled and quickly deployed Essence shields. The sparks and ice shards struck the shields, and clanging sounds rang out.
“Ice and fire oppose each other; this is the law of nature. How can they be merged together?”
“This is inconceivable. How did he achieve this move? I can’t figure it out.”
Xuanyuan Zhantian’s expression changed after a while. He muttered, “So that is how. It is not a true melding. Instead, he just managed a delicate balance. Once the balance is broken, they will erupt with a horrifying energy, giving the opponent a lethal blow.”
The leader of the Southern Sea’s Four Heroes added, “Ice and fire cannot tolerate each other. Forcibly merging them will generate a huge destructive force. Before he makes his move, he suppresses this destructive force, which he will leave to his opponent to handle. What a brilliant line of thought!”
“The Evil Moon Pavilion’s Bai Zhan lives up to his reputation. He truly is one of the peak geniuses of the Great Jin Nation,” the Western Sea’s Seven Knights’ leader sighed with evident respect in his tone.
Even the experts present nodded in acknowledgment of Bai Zhan’s move. Everyone all withdrew another few hundred meters.
Even Xuanyuan Zhantian was no exception. This was because they could anticipate how destructive this move would be. Getting caught in its shock wave would not be good.
“Die! Raging Frost Flame Wave!”
Bai Zhan pushed both his hands forward. The ice-and-fire whirlpool in front of him turned into two spiraling waves of light, quickly spinning as they headed for Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen frowned slightly. He was preparing to use Wukui Moves Heaven to deal with him. However, when he saw Bai Zhan’s Raging Frost Flame Wave, he knew that his Wukui Moves Heaven would not be able to withstand that destructive force.
Xiao Chen thought carefully and had an idea. He said to himself softly, “I’ll use that move, then. I will use the might of heaven and earth to deal with the destructiveness of your fire and ice.”
He moved his energies according to the Four Season Saber Technique’s circulation method. A cold wind started to blow.
The crowd even saw snowflakes in the cold wind. Ice filled the place; the boundless cold put everything into hibernation.
“Strange, why do I feel that it just became late winter?” The crowd was distracted by the strangeness of the phenomenon.
As the snowflakes drifted down in the cold wind, Xiao Chen’s saber suddenly moved. A sudden clap of thunder roared out.
The thunder contained a desolate killing intent. When this thunder roared, all the cold wind and snow instantly vanished.
Replacing them was the cool breeze of spring. Everything woke up from their winter hibernation and they cried out.
This was the first move of the Four Season Saber Technique, Spring Saber. Xiao Chen used the state of spring thunder. It carried a strand of killing Qi, commanding ten thousand beasts to cry out.
[TL note: I am not sure if the author got the Saber Technique’s name confused or not. Earlier there was a mention of Spring Thunder as well as First Clap of Spring Thunder, Ten Thousand Beasts Cry Out. The only explanation I can give is that Spring Saber might be the generic name of the move and as different people get different comprehension, they might have different names for the technique.]
A surging energy came from the saber, accompanied by a berserk roar of thunder. This was the might of nature. Winter ends and spring arrives; the cycle of nature cannot be blocked.
A boundless force spread out from the saber’s edge. This was the pure force of nature: the cycle of the seasons, the end of winter and the start of spring.
Xiao Chen infused this cycle, using spring thunder as a primer, into this Saber Technique. The surging force suddenly burst forth.