“Rakanishu!”
“Whew.”
As the last fallen demon was sliced in half from head to toe, Mo Zihan exhaled a hot breath.
Although these fallen demons were weak and cowardly, they ran incredibly fast. Clearing a demon colony meant that after wiping out the high-tier demons, she still had to hunt down and eliminate these scattering fallen demons one by one, which really wasted a lot of time.
But compared to undead colonies, Mo Zihan still preferred dealing with demon colonies. The main reason was that the undead colonies were just too annoying. A Skeleton Priest would stand right behind the abominations, necrotic knights, and bone dragons, making it impossible to take them out first.
If she ignored them, the moment she shattered an undead creature with a punch, the Skeleton Priest would wave its staff in the next second, and the collapsed skeleton would rise from the ground to besiege her again.
So, demon colonies were much simpler to clear. She only needed to kill one fallen demon first, and the rest would scatter in all directions. Then, she could systematically take down the fallen demon mages and other high-tier demons to complete the clear.
In just seven days, she had cleared over a dozen monster colonies, eliminated a few opponents trying to fish in troubled waters along the way, and climbed into the top one thousand. This rank didn't seem particularly high, but that was because Mo Zihan had not used the special power of her Heavenly Martial Bone, double pupils, or spirit monkey bloodline yet. She had earned every single point with her martial arts, punch by punch.
“1,382nd. This rank should be secure for now. The surrounding monster colonies are basically cleared out. If I expand any further outward, I'll have to clash with those two.”
Mo Zihan looked toward the north first, then toward the south.
The two she referred to were the other innately divine contestants she had observed earlier.
Over the past few days, soaring sword-qi would shoot up from the north from time to time. That Sword Cultivator with the Natural Sword Heart seemed to love picking fights.
The one to the south used a monster-farming strategy like Mo Zihan, but when he farmed monsters, he went absolutely wild and lost himself, as if slaughtering brought him immense pleasure. He would unleash his full power even when facing ordinary, low-tier species like skeletons and fallen demons.
His crazed demeanor made the nearby contestants too terrified to approach. As it turned out, even in the transcendent world, no one wanted to mess with a madman.
Suddenly, a majestic voice echoed through the air.
“Due to the wanton slaughter by the contestants, the number of monsters in the competition world has dropped to less than thirty percent. The World Bosses, as the guardians of this world, are extremely furious.
“This rage has allowed them to break through their regional restrictions, permitting them to move freely across the world to hunt down those contestants who carry heavy blood debts.
“At the same time, the wails of the dying monsters have awakened the Hell Demon Kings sleeping deep underground. The seal on the Hell Demon Kings will be released much earlier than planned. The exact timing is unknown; it could be in a month, in three days, or perhaps... the very next second?”
Mo Zihan looked up. She was very familiar with this voice; she had even guided its owner once before.
Hearing Chen Xu's words made Mo Zihan scratch the back of her head.
“Oh no. Hearing Uncle Chen's tone gives me a bad feeling. He used this exact same tone back when he and Senior Brother Li Hu were planning to do something bad.”
Thinking of this, Mo Zihan shivered.
No, she couldn't stay here anymore. Since her points were enough, she had to find a place to hide first and watch how things played out.
A mysterious light flashed within Mo Zihan's double pupils. She swept her gaze across her surroundings, taking everything into her mind.
“Oh? There's a good spot over there! Shoot, that battle maniac from the south is coming. Time to retreat!”
Mo Zihan's blood-qi suddenly erupted. Moving like an agile ape, she leapt into the mountain forest at incredible speed. Her blood-qi gradually morphed into a faint natural aura, helping her blend into the environment.
Bang!
A three-pointed double-edged lance fell from the sky, landing dead center on the spot where Mo Zihan had been standing just moments ago.
Following that, a pair of cloud-stepping boots lightly touched down on the pommel of the weapon.
“Tsk, boring. Running away already?”
Seeing Mo Zihan avoid the fight, the youth muttered. Pulling his leg back slightly, he kicked hard, launching the three-pointed double-edged lance into the air once more.
This time, his target was the Sword Cultivator further to the north.
“Hehe, my favorite thing to do in life is snapping a Sword Cultivator's sword. Natural Sword Heart, let's see if your sword is harder, or if my Heavenly Eye is stronger.”
Sure enough, upon sensing the three-pointed double-edged lance hurtling toward him from the south, the Sword Cultivator with the Natural Sword Heart did not flee. Instead, he looked up slightly and thrust his sword forward.
A surge of sword-qi soared into the sky, scattering the clouds and startling the beasts and birds.
Inside the livestream room, Xiao Yan captured this scene just in time. He quickly took over the role of the broadcast director and switched the camera feed.
“Viewers, with the competition progressing to this point, we are about to witness the first duel between star contestants!
“Previously, with advancement as their primary goal, most star contestants maintained a tacit understanding, avoiding direct conflict to farm points and eliminate ordinary contestants first.
“Now that the monsters are almost completely cleared out and the majority of ordinary contestants have been eliminated, the star contestants are finally beginning to test each other.
“The screen shows Wu Ya, a Sword Cultivator ranked 2,199th among the favorites to win, and Sun Jian, the Little Great Sage ranked 1,835th.
“What are our two guests' thoughts on this battle between star contestants?”
Bu Xingtian took the microphone.
“According to the records, although Wu Ya only has a Natural Sword Heart, he has already progressed quite a distance along the Path of the Sword. Furthermore, he comes from the Immortal Realm, where legacies are generally highly refined and complete. His strength is not to be underestimated.
“On the other hand, Sun Jian possesses innate divine strength, a Heavenly Eye on his forehead, a full set of epic-tier equipment from the Myriad Crucible, and even a legendary-tier weapon. However, he is merely a prodigy from a minor realm. In terms of cultivation techniques, combat experience, and breadth of knowledge, he might be inferior to Wu Ya.”
“Oh? So Brother Bu favors the Sword Cultivator, Wu Ya? What about Brother Fang?”
Xiao Yan looked at Fang Kurong. Taking the microphone from Bu Xingtian, Fang Kurong voiced his opinion.
“My thoughts align with Brother Bu's. Innate divinity is indeed powerful, but the gap in techniques, knowledge, and combat experience is a major factor in actual combat.
“Moreover, even if we only look at their innate divine abilities, compared to a Natural Sword Heart and a forehead Heavenly Eye, the innate divine strength Sun Jian possesses is practically just a filler ability.”
“Hahaha! So both Brother Bu and Brother Fang favor the Sword Cultivator?”
“Oh? Could it be that Brother Xiao favors Sun Jian instead?”
Bu Xingtian and Fang Kurong glanced at each other, then turned to look at Xiao Yan.
However, Xiao Yan shook his head.
“No, I also favor Wu Ya. After all, he is a disciple under both Dao Lord Huangtian and Dao Lord Qingming.”
Hearing this, Bu Xingtian and Fang Kurong immediately rolled their eyes and scoffed.
“Tsk.”
“Pfft!”
“Ah, they've already started. One strike of the sword, and heaven and earth shake. This is a secret technique from the personal sword scriptures of those two Dao Lords. We're in for a good show.”
Wu Ya thrust his sword forward. The momentum of heaven and earth was swept up by his sword intent. The momentum of the mountain forests and the hanging clouds merged, pressing down from all directions.
Sun Jian had never seen such a bizarre technique before. Unsure of how to block it, he held his three-pointed double-edged lance horizontally across his chest and roared.
“Break!”
The red mark on his forehead split open, revealing a white-pupiled Heavenly Eye that unleashed a dazzling golden light aimed straight at Wu Ya's face.
Seeing this, Wu Ya instantly changed his stance. With a twist of his blade, the momentum of heaven and earth shifted accordingly, warping the space in front of him in layers and bending the golden light of the Heavenly Eye away.
“Hmph! Take this!”
Sun Jian shouted. Unleashing his divine strength to the limit, the ground beneath him cracked as he lunged forward, raising his weapon high before bringing it down in a fierce chop.
Facing this full-force strike backed by innate divine strength, Wu Ya displayed the pride of a Sword Cultivator. He did not dodge. Instead, he met the attack head-on, blade against blade, sword intent clashing with raw physical force.
“Boom!”
“Hummm—”
As the sword and lance clashed, a prolonged hum vibrated through the air. Billowing shockwaves rolled outward, but Wu Ya steadily blocked the strike.
Before Sun Jian could recover his strength for a follow-up attack, Wu Ya pressed his left index and middle fingers together into a sword hand, tapping the hilt of his sword. A beam of sword-qi shot out, forcing Sun Jian to jerk his head aside to dodge.
The sword-qi zipped past, and a few drops of blood splattered onto the ground.
Sun Jian's face contorted with rage. He redoubled the force in his hands, pinning Wu Ya down with sheer strength.
At the same time, the Heavenly Eye on his forehead opened wide like a full moon. Within its pupil, purple lightning crackled faintly, radiating a majestic heavenly pressure.
Wu Ya frowned. He wanted to withdraw his sword and change his technique, but he was pinned down by the other's monstrous strength, unable to break free.
“How troublesome. I wanted to hide this a bit longer.”
In the next instant, a majestic aura rose from Wu Ya's body. In that split second, he seemed to transform into an entirely different person.
“Master was right. I truly cannot underestimate the heroes of the world.”
Wu Ya, holding his sword with his right hand, continued to withstand Sun Jian's crushing weight.
He raised his left hand, making a grasping motion in the empty air.
“Sword, come!”
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