“Commander Xu has good methods.” After five minutes went by, a feminine voice rang out. Ge Qianqiu gently touched the ground and his entire body was like a kite, floating softly onto the martial stage. “Allow me to receive the teaching of Fellow Daoist’s great move!”

Over the course of his floating over, his hands suddenly glimmered with two golden halos. Before he landed on the ground, he flipped his palm and countless golden qi swallows swooshed towards Xu Yangyi to fiercely peck him.

“Flipping Clouds!” Following his voice, soft and tender like a woman’s, a sharp cry reverberated throughout the arena. No less than several hundred qi swallows covered the entire stage!

“Just a mere fist!” As Ge Qianqiu fell to the ground, his eyes already carried the joy of success. “I don’t believe it! If you receive this move of mine, you can’t just make one fist!”

Xu Yangyi’s move from moments ago completely astonished him even now. Ruminating back and forth in his mind, there was only this method! Every opportunity was to be seized, a bag of tricks put to use. Xu Yangyi had said one fist, so he would force the other to make countless of fists! He didn’t believe that this commander had the gall to tell him to restrain himself on the spot!

“He’s cheating!” Several hundred qi swallows revolved around Xu Yangyi to form a golden vortex. In the next second, the cultivators below who hadn’t even reacted yet collectively began to shout angrily!

“Ge Clan? Isn’t this cheating of yours really too shameless?!”

“Hehe, do you lack so much faith in yourself? It’s not enough to show this disgrace and then use a ranged-attack divine ability?”

“If the Ge Clan is selected first as a result, I won’t accept it!”

Elder Ge’s old face was flushed red. Ge Qianqiu hadn’t even made a sound just now, but immediately jumped over! He still thought his descendant had the self-confidence, but hadn’t expected that Ge Qianqiu would use such an obvious cheat!

Confronted with a qi attack of several hundred swallows, who would be able to remain motionless? A Qi Condensation cultivator wasn’t a Foundation Establishment cultivator! Qi still wasn’t capable of pure external manifestation! All of it was “attached”! This was also the current root cause that Xu Yangyi’s body techniques and divine abilities were combined together in use!

The golden vortex became increasingly larger. Ge Qianqiu turned his nose up and scoffed towards everyone’s arguments. A king if successful and a bandit if defeated. What good was there to say?

Ding ding ding…

 At this time, countless sounds of clashing metal were heard from the golden swallow vortex. Everyone’s expressions were gloomy. Had action finally been taken?

“No…” Executioner Twelve carefully sensed and abruptly inhaled. “He hasn’t made a move! His qi hasn’t even stirred once… but… but…”

But… in the vortex, a spiritual pressure that commanded all to feel terror exploded with a rumble! Xu Yangyi was on the same level as them, all of them at the middle stage of Qi Condensation. However… that spiritual pressure seemed to have been cut off… from the body of a Core Formation ancestor! It was similar… to a person suddenly looking upon a tremendous hair. The kind of dread and mental fear that was fundamentally impossible to get rid of!

At this very moment, Xu Yangyi’s serene voice echoed from the vortex. “Ten Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment.”

“T-T-T-Ten T-Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment?!” Quan Ningyue nearly jumped!

The bald man was the first to spread his mouth wide open, looking incredulously at the golden vortex. Elder Ge believed himself to have misheard. It was unknown how many people who clearly understood this move had their chin almost drop to the floor!

This was a scam, right…? You’re kidding me, aren’t you? Nowadays, cheaters couldn’t brag without reason, right?

[1]

The instant that Ge Qianqiu heard this name, all his pores tightened! The Qi Condensation realm was insufficient to fill his eyes, but faced with a Core Formation ancestor’s divine ability… he was at fault! Subsequently, he immediately relaxed, only then becoming aware of the cold sweat that wet his entire body.

“Scared me to death…” he took a long and deep sigh. “I thought he really was.... W-W-W-What is this?!?!?!” A second later, his spirit departed his mortal coil! Not only that, everyone’s bewildered expressions had converted into shock, not even needing a tenth of a second.

The sky had gone dark. Each person clearly saw that the shadows beneath their feet… had been stripped from them.

“This… This… This is…” Zhao Wuye sluggishly watched his own shadow leave his body and rush frantically towards the golden vortex. It seemed to leave together with his thoughts, as well.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

 In a twinkling, endless shadows all condensed in the air. At this moment, formless and incorporeal shadows appeared to solidify! Soon, the sky above was an expanse of blade, spear, sword, and halberd, so dense that wind couldn’t pass through. Hatchet, battle-axe, hook, and trident, the eighteen martial arms, all kinds of weapons under the sun! 

Merely… all of them were vaguely brimming with a terrible black qi! The arena was like a funeral hall! A domain of deathly stillness! None dared give voice! A Dao Master’s divine ability had been reconstructed! An identical likeness!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

 Without giving anyone time to react, the weapons rained down towards the qi swallows! In the wake of a whizzing sound, any swallow that clashed against a weapon was transformed into flying ash in an instant!

Boom!

 A violent qi wave suddenly erupted where Xu Yangyi was standing! It was a black heavenly curtain! A lost paradise of shadows!

“ROOOAR!!!” After everyone’s hair flew back, a several-meter-long shadow dragon appeared before their eyes. Coiling around Xu Yangyi, it released the snarl of a Core Formation divine ability at all the Qi Condensation cultivators!

One who challenged the dragon’s might would be slain without mercy! Amidst the shadow dragon, Xu Yangyi wore a strange black armor. A moment ago, those swallows had pecked it, but they surprisingly hadn’t even left a white mark!

“This… is a magik artifact bestowed by an ancestor…” It wasn’t known who said this, but these words rang out after a minute of deathly silence Yet soon, it was quiet as before.

Xu Yangyi coldly looked at the dumbfounded Ge Qianqiu. He dared to take out this magik artifact. If someone asked questions later, he could just explain that his ‘friend’ had allowed him to test it out. On the contrary, there was nothing to be scared of. However… in no way did he want to allow opportunistic people to join his legion.

You like to cheat? Whatever, my cheating methods are much more high-end than yours! Still using a divine ability? Mediocre. A Core Formation magik artifact will tell you straight what a mobile fortress is! A qi barricade!

[2]

He deeply sensed the formidable might of the Shadowlumen Armor. There unexpectedly wasn’t even a fraction of an injury from a middle-stage cultivator’s attack! Furthermore… the experience of controlling a Core Formation divine ability with his own hands practically ensnared his mind like a drug!

This might… was powerful to a perverted degree! However, he pushed down on this addiction in a fleeting moment. After all, this was an external power. Moreover… on that day, the Ten Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment had forcibly obstructed Ancestor Floatingcloud’s Six Desires Extermination!

As he faintly pondered, Ge Qianqiu was already completely stunned. Which… director’s screenplay was this? How… could the Ten Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment appear?

“Fellow Daoist Ge…” At this instant, Xu Yangyi’s voice drifted over. Ge Qianqiu opened his mouth a few times, yet discovered it had gone dry. He couldn’t even say a word.

However, as he felt a dagger twisting in his heart, a hoarse voice was heard from the stage below. “Commander Xu… please be lenient… The Ge Clan… concedes defeat… and will abandon this opportunity…”

On the stage below, Elder Ge, who was at the late stage of Qi Condensation, distantly bowed to Xu Yangyi’s figure at nearly a right angle. “This business is the Ge Clan’s blame. I offer my own apologies and hope Fellow Daoist Xu can be lenient.”

Xu Yangyi nodded. Glancing at Ge Qianqiu, he faintly smiled and cupped his hands. Ge Qianqiu’s face was burning hot! Even now… the other was disinclined to speak with him? 

It was indeed like this. If it weren’t for Ge Qianqiu only just acting to force Xu Yangyi’s fist, he would’ve already been a dead man. Since the other party had withdrawn, Xu Yangyi naturally didn’t feel like bothering with such a person.

A weakling.

Even if a sheep’s talents were better, it still wouldn’t possess a lion’s heart! He didn’t say a thing, and the armor he was donned in quietly faded away. Facing the stage below, he cupped his hands again. There was triumph in silence over sound.

[3]

This period of silence… was even longer. Previously, everyone was still struggling to outdo one another. However, the first challenger Meng Butong had been sent flying out. The second challenger Ge Qianqiu was unscathed, yet his trickery had drawn out the great killing tool of the Ten Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment. Whoever the third challenger, they no longer dared to rashly mount the stage.

In their hearts, many people were beginning to sound the drum of retreat. This trial… A single fist, a truly unordinary fist. This fist was too heavy. On the floor, many people were simply unable to give birth to the idea of receiving it!

“No one’s making a move?” At this time, a crowing voice was heard. A short figure slowly walked on stage step by step. Following this person’s arrival on stage, everyone’s eyes brightened. Likewise, they needed one person to be selected first! This allowed them to know that there was still an equal freak able to take on a monster like Commander Xu!

This person… had quite the chance!

“Reddust Executioners. Twelfth-seed assassin.” Garbed in martial attire and with buzzed hair, he’d covered his face with a mask throughout the entire recruitment process. A slender man around 1.73 meters tall who wore camouflage from head to toe ambled over on stage. He used a scorching gaze to study Xu Yangyi. “You may call me Zhan Twelve.”

[4]

Xu Yangyi’s eyes also began to shine. He would soon know whether or not an expert was making a move. This was no empty talk. As Zhan Twelve had arrived on stage, there wasn’t the slightest sound. Moreover, the other was wearing military boots!

Already used to cat-walking…?

 Xu Yangyi grew solemn for the first time. 

It’s an expert.

“Please.”

Zhan Twelve cupped his hands, and Xu Yangyi similarly did so. 

“Please.”

Two seconds of silence. After two seconds, Zhan Twelve had vanished! In the arena, each cultivators’ eyes saucered. This was also their first time seeing the Reddust Executioner’s assassination divine ability!

“Shadow Dance!” 

In the absence of sound or dust, Xu Yangyi’s nerves faintly pricked. Relying on his outstanding spiritual sense, he immediately discovered a gale was attacking behind him!

Its destination… was his backbone! As expected of an assassin… As the hare arose and the hawk descended, the crook of Xu Yangyi’s mouth surprisingly curved upwards. The blood in his veins has also started to finally boil. 

If a cultivator’s qi sea was destroyed, qi couldn’t be utilized. If the spiritual sense was destroyed, a cultivator would die. But if the body was injured, movement would be likewise affected! If the backbone suffered damage… the entire body would be paralyzed and soften entirely!

“Starfire!” In a twinkling, Xu Yangyi jumped up. In the air, he left behind several afterimages, but he clearly sensed… he hadn’t thrown off his opponent!

“Good!” Xu Yangyi raised a brow. This was the first person able to keep pace with his bodily technique!

“Then try this out.” Both his hands swiftly formed a seal. “Life Sacrification!” All of a sudden, his speed explosively increased. However, he hadn’t foreseen that the murderous will behind him, so sharp it was solid, followed like a shadow to the body!

“Chest, activate!” Following a soft cry, so faint that it couldn’t be heard, this murderous will oddly swiveled below him to his surprise! At this moment, Xu Yangyi was in a state of rapid forward charge. If he didn’t stop, this murderous intent would cut him in half!

“What a sinister move, heh…” The demon slayer slightly grinned, yet didn’t slow down! Instead, his speed became even faster!

Wind Brandishes Traces!

But even through three consecutive speed increases… this murderous intent was actually still close on his heels!

1. 不打草稿 - “Brag without reason”, something along the lines of illogical boasting. Another phrase.

2. “Medicore”. Author uses English: “LOW”, but I’m not quite sure how it fits the situation. The best analogy I was able to find was a slang somewhere along the lines of “something is called high class, but is sarcastically low grade”.

3. “Triumph in silence over sound”. Line from Tang Poet Bai Juyi. An idea of “Better being quiet sometimes versus loud”.

4. The character for Zhan is what I translate as “Executioner” in “Reddust Executioner” Literal Chinese is “behead red dust”. Red dust is a common saying that refers to all the pleasures/things of the human world.

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