Chapter 392
Chapter 392
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 393
Chapter Title: Meeting a Worthy Opponent
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In the Shattered World, the ancestors of the thirteen great families had their attention drawn to Chen Shi and Yang Bi, watching the two intently from afar without blinking.
Not only them—even the nearly two thousand deities in the Upper Realm were now looking over, ripples appearing on their otherwise serene, ancient-well-like faces.
Xia Tianjie was still recuperating from his injuries. He had been gravely wounded earlier by "Li Tianqing," and before he could fully recover, the invasion of the immortal's severed head and the Evil transformation had nearly turned him into an Evil.
He had only just recovered from the Evil transformation when he noticed the anomaly among the thousand-zhang-tall deities.
Xia Tianjie's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "Yang Bi and Chen Shi are about to clash!"
His heart surged with excitement as he struggled out of the palace. But each step tugged at his wounds, making him grimace in pain.
His injuries were severe, and the site of the clash was too far away. He was eager but powerless, able only to watch anxiously.
At that moment, a thousand-zhang deity drifted slowly past him. Xia Tianjie looked up to see Ma Zhe, Gao Shaokun, and the others standing on the deity's shoulder, waving to him.
Xia Tianjie gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and flew up to kneel on the shoulder of that thousand-zhang deity alongside them.
The shoulder was vast, like the peak of a mountain, with no fear of falling off.
Zhai Yuanyuan, Cui Xingcai, and the others were also there on the deity's shoulder. The deity flew toward the distance and soon reached an advantageous vantage point before hovering in place.
Everyone could hardly conceal their excitement. They had seen Chen Shi fight before, but that had only been him imitating Li Tianqing, not his true strength.
Now that Chen Shi's wounds were healed, he would surely go all out in this battle!
They had never seen Yang Bi fight either.
Yang Bi had received personal instruction from the thirteen ancestors, mastering the supreme arts of the thirteen families and fusing them seamlessly. The thirteen ancestors praised him highly, deeming him the greatest prodigy of the thirteen families in six thousand years.
For the disciples of the thirteen families, fully mastering their own clan's arts was already extraordinary. Mastering all thirteen families' arts completely was astonishing. But to fuse them perfectly after that? To Xia Tianjie and the others, that was otherworldly!
In their eyes, Yang Bi slacked off on cultivation most days, busy with this and that, only occasionally entering secluded cultivation for a few days—then astonishing everyone.
Now, they could finally witness Yang Bi's true power.
Meanwhile, in Huangpo Village, Chen Tang happened to glance back and froze.
Countless deities filled the sky, entering his view. But the deities weren't looking at him—they had all turned their heads in the same direction.
His heart stirred slightly as he instantly understood why the gods had shifted their gazes.
"Little Ten, has your showdown with Yang Bi begun?"
Upper Realm.
Xia Tianjie and the others were relatively close. Faint strains of qin music drifted into their ears, clear and ethereal, though not very distinct.
The music seemed to come from the distant heights, profound and hazy, carrying a trace of the elusive, otherworldly grace of immortals.
They lifted their heads to search for the source, vaguely glimpsing a patch of immortal light in the sky, with what appeared to be someone playing the qin amid the clouds and radiance.
But the music was so faint that without listening carefully, it was impossible to make out.
Yang Bi stood in midair, a gentle breeze blowing, fluttering his long robes backward.
He stood firm against the wind, young in years yet in the prime of his vitality, at the age of seventeen or eighteen.
Suddenly, his index finger twitched lightly.
The space around Chen Shi shuddered violently, blurring everyone's vision and making Chen Shi himself indistinct.
"Zheng."
A strand of qin music rang out, drawn out and lingering.
Chen Shi looked up in surprise toward the source of the sound.
Atop the immortal light, what played the qin was not a person, but a talisman seal. That seal blazed with brilliant light, shaped like an immortal playing the qin.
"Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score."
His heart jolted. The Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score was an immortal art recorded in the library of the Tomb of the True King!
Back then, he had entered the Tomb of the True King's library and opened the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score, but he had passed out from severe mental exhaustion after only a short time!
Many books in the Tomb of the True King's library were like the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score, extremely draining on the mind and causing Chen Shi to faint time and again.
In the end, he had chosen the Xiaolang Emperor Chapter Art.
Though the Xiaolang Emperor Chapter Art was also an immortal-level technique, it was far inferior to the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score, allowing him to read the entire book and memorize it by force.
He hadn't read the full Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score, but with his powerful memory, he had still retained fragments and phrases.
This qin music was precisely an offensive technique from the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score!
Space quaked as invisible blades flew with the music. Chen Shi's pupils contracted sharply. Around him, mountains and rivers suddenly surged into being, massive hexagrams emerging: Qian, Kun, Xun, Zhen, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui—the Eight Trigrams arrayed.
Then the Eight Trigrams paired into sixty-four variations: Marsh over Heaven, Fire over Heaven, Thunder over Heaven, Wind over Heaven, Water over Heaven, and so on!
"Buzz!"
The Marsh over Heaven hexagram evolved. Centered on him, the area within ten li instantly transformed into a vast ocean suspended in the sky. With a piercing sound, the inverted sea was cleaved flat by an invisible blade.
That invisible blade spanned over ten li wide. Though obstructed by layer upon layer of waves, its power remained terrifying as it plunged deep into his domain, slashing forward!
The Mountains and Rivers hexagram reached Chen Shi, turning his domain into mountains and rivers. Peaks thrust up from the ground, only to be sliced in half at the waist one after another.
In Chen Shi's domain, black winds howled and thunder boomed. Xun winds and thunder struck the invisible blade, finally blocking the power of this strike!
Chen Shi's body shook violently, forced back by the immense force, sliding several li before barely halting!
Just then, the qin music rose again. The talisman atop the cloud-light suddenly changed, becoming another seal shaped like an elder bending to pluck the strings.
Chen Shi's expression shifted. Around him, his domain cycled through Fire over Heaven, Thunder over Heaven, Wind over Heaven, and other Ghost God Domains endlessly, blocking the second move of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score!
"How many techniques of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score has he mastered?"
His eyes flickered. When he had read the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score back then, he had only seen two moves before fainting.
The first move: Chan.
Corresponding seal: High Supreme Chamber Spirit Natural Nine Heavens True Mother Dao Lord.
The second style: Lan.
Corresponding seal: Jade Void Four Dippers Central True Seven Dawn Scattering Splendor Dao Lord.
Talisman seals were used to depict gods and demons; invoking a seal would manifest the corresponding god or demon!
Thus, when Yang Bi executed these two moves, the visions of two Dao Lords playing the qin appeared atop the cloud-light.
These two moves, Chen Shi could anticipate. But if Yang Bi had mastered the third, he wouldn't be able to predict it and would fall into peril!
Around him, Earth over Mountain and Heaven over Earth evolved layer by layer, blocking the second move of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score!
Chen Shi's vital energy churned, his primal spirit trembling. Suddenly, he saw the Scattering Splendor Dao Lord seal atop the cloud-light dissipate, a new seal forming. Without thinking, he activated the third new seal, striding out with lightning underfoot, thunder coiling around his body. With a crackle, he turned into a bolt of electric light shooting straight for Yang Bi!
He couldn't wait for Yang Bi to unleash the third move of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score.
He had seen the first two moves and could barely block them with such difficulty. The third's power was likely even greater. Standing there taking hits, even with his grasp of the Sixty-Four Hexagram Variations, he would probably be injured!
Yang Bi saw the lightning hurtling toward him. The twenty-li distance was crossed in an instant, yet he remained unflustered, drifting back elegantly. Though his posture was graceful, his speed was extreme, no slower than the third new seal!
He had once raced Chen Shi on foot, chasing the white-clad immortal together, and they had been evenly matched. He knew Chen Shi was strongest in close combat—if approached, he might be slain in one or two moves.
But Yang Bi was confident he could always keep at least twenty li between himself and Chen Shi, never allowing intrusion into that range!
His understanding of Chen Shi ran deeper than Chen Shi imagined.
Chen Shi's cultivation progress had always been within his grasp. When Chen Shi refined the Thirty-Six Hexagram Variations in Huangpo Village, his informants had recorded and reported it. He had even deduced, with his own intellect, that Chen Shi had likely comprehended the full Sixty-Four Variations, with the extra twenty-eight not yet demonstrated.
He admired Chen Shi immensely.
Granny Sha's Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art was an excellent technique, sufficient to reach the Great Vehicle Realm and quite impressive. But to eyes like his, a scion of a great family, arts comparable to it were countless.
Yet in Chen Shi's hands, this art had been transformed from mundane to divine, evolving from the Three Ghost God Variations to the Sixty-Four Hexagram Variations,
manifesting sixty-four Ghost God Domains and elevating it to immortal grade!
If not for his limited cultivation, he might truly have evolved it into an immortal-level art!
Unfortunately, Chen Shi was only at the Body Fusion Realm now, unable to verify if the path of merging with the Sixty-Four Variations was viable.
Yang Bi knew the Dao arts Chen Shi wielded and was fully prepared.
Every Dao art of Chen Shi's was within his expectations!
He raised his hand and flicked his sleeve forward.
Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score, third move: Dun.
Corresponding seal: High Supreme Void Natural Nine Heavens True Mother Dao Lord.
That Dao Lord seal seemed to project the Dao Lord himself, raising a hand to sweep the immortal qin.
From the Nine Heavens, qin music erupted, like glass beads poured into a jade plate, filling the air with crisp clinking!
"Heaven and Earth Variation!"
Chen Shi strode forward. Yang Bi's face showed surprise. With that step, heaven, earth, and space suddenly contracted. No matter how fast Yang Bi retreated, he could only watch himself hurtling toward Chen Shi!
Or rather, colliding.
As he retreated, he smashed right into Chen Shi!
Though he had anticipated this move, the true reversal of heaven and earth still shocked him profoundly!
Despite his preparations, he was still a bit too slow.
"His speed is too fast—I could only execute half the move!"
A golden court emerged behind Yang Bi's head, like an immortal court, enveloping him in immortal light.
"Boom!"
Chen Shi's fist smashed into the golden court, nearly shattering the forming structure. Yang Bi was hurled back, and at the same instant, the third move of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score invaded Chen Shi's domain, now mere inches away!
Chen Shi let out a long whistle. His domain retracted sharply into his body, primal spirit domain and flesh merging as one. The sixth new seal circulated within, his body surging with turbulent divine power. In the cramped space, his form bounced like a leaping pellet.
He twisted aside from one invisible blade, slapped another to shatter it, then spun to kick a third aside!
He swept horizontally, leaped for a knee strike, whirled for a chopping blow, sidestepped for an elbow thrust!
His movements dazzled the eyes, as if one became ten, unleashing countless close-combat techniques in a fleeting instant!
The third move of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score struck invisibly, impossible to guard against fully—yet he blocked it raw with his supremely tyrannical flesh and combat prowess!
Chen Shi flipped up like a wisp of green smoke, whistling through the air toward Yang Bi, who was still flying back, ferocious as a tiger pouncing on prey!
This chain of attacks had pushed him to his limit. Any slight shortfall, and he would have been bisected by the invisible blades!
But this same chain left Xia Tianjie, Ma Zhe, and the others dazzled and speechless.
Even the thirteen family ancestors in the Shattered World were dumbfounded.
Gao Xuan stammered, "Did you see that? He broke an immortal technique with close combat! An immortal technique—"
He let out a cry of astonishment, more shocked than when Chen Shi had elevated the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art to immortal grade.
After all, the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art wasn't created by Chen Shi; it had Granny Sha's foundation, and he had merely advanced and deduced from there—not creating from nothing.
But shattering an immortal technique's assault with pure physical means? That was too astonishing!
The other ancestors watched with pounding hearts. Zhai Zhongming murmured, "No wonder the True God bestowed the Innate Dao Embryo upon him—who else is worthy?"
Chen Shi's feet trod lightning, his speed accelerating. Amid the electric light, his gaze flickered with brewing thunder in his eyes. Yang Bi had just blocked his assault with the Supreme Golden Court Wonderful Scripture—another immortal art, also from the Tomb of the True King's library!
Chen Shi had seen little of this immortal art, remembering only a few phrases, one or two moves at most.
"He's running out of tricks—only cultivated the first three moves of the Jade Sovereign Nine Heavens Score, no fourth. The Supreme Golden Court Wonderful Scripture,
he probably hasn't mastered much either. If he uses it again, I'll have a chance to break his defensive art!"
Chen Shi strode out, unleashing Heaven and Earth Variation again. Yang Bi's retreat turned into a rush toward him.
At that moment, purple aurora blazed around Yang Bi, his aura surging higher and higher.
"Supreme Purple Aurora Art! Another immortal art! How many does he know?"
Chen Shi neither dodged nor evaded. Two hundred fifty-six talisman seals suddenly manifested around him, forming the Spirit Banner Ten Absolutes Array with his own power. Two hundred fifty-six deities arrayed against the Supreme Purple Aurora Art in a thunderous clash!
Yang Bi's eyes gleamed: "As expected, the Spirit Banner Ten Absolutes Array! Right on cue!"
As the Ten Absolutes Array formed, he paused his feet, summoning one deity's seal beneath him. His body transformed into that deity, striding forward to usurp its position like a cuckoo in the nest, crippling the array's power.
The two collided explosively. Chen Shi's body shook and swelled section by section, instantly becoming the Thunder Ancestor True Body. His hands reached out, countless heavenly thunder crashing down with crackling fury.
Yang Bi dodged repeatedly amid the lightning, retreating.
Chen Shi's brow split open, a massive bolt of electric light shooting forth. Yang Bi shifted from Supreme Purple Aurora Art to Supreme Great Bright God Mantra, layers of divine incantations shielding him. Struck by the beam from Chen Shi's eyes, he was repelled dozens of li but landed steadily, unscathed.
"He predicted all my attacks." Chen Shi raised an eyebrow, oddly not pursuing but holding his ground.
Yang Bi shook out his hands, looking at Chen Shi in surprise, thinking to himself: "He seems to know a bit about every immortal art I wield."
"Time to get serious." Both thought simultaneously.