The destructive wheel could easily crush majestic mountains as if they were tiny mounds. This was something beyond the endurability of the flesh or the sword in Li Qiye’s hand.

Everyone immediately thought of the same idiom - a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

“Not bad.” Li Qiye smiled and made his move, betraying the crowd’s expectation.

He didn’t use a shocking merit law or a profound technique, not relying on sheer power from cultivation either.

He turned to the side while still facing forward and holding the sword horizontally with his left hand. This looked rather coarse and didn’t resemble a correct posture for sword fighting.

“Boom!” However, his blade somehow wedged perfectly between the teeth of the incoming wheel. He then added force and sent it straight back towards Void. The momentum of the wheel was just as strong as before.

Spectators couldn’t believe it. This included his opponents as well. Li Qiye once again did something impossible with such ease.

An explosion woke Void up from his stupor. The wheel was right in front of him.

“Break!” He tapped his palms together and formed a mudra before pushing them forward to release a spatial seal.

The wheel crumbled as a result and particles shot everywhere. Though it was a successful block, he still staggered backward from the impact. He took a deep breath and calmed his chaotic inner energy.

Confusion struck the crowd, rendering them speechless. They had no idea how to describe Li Qiye’s parry earlier. How the hell did Li Qiye parry that destructive wheel? 

During the fight between Dong Ling and Abyss Scion, Dong Ling performed the Ascension Martial Dao and bounced the scion’s slash back at him.

However, that wasn’t a bounce-back technique by Li Qiye. He simply held up his sword and used his hand as a fulcrum of sorts, picking the perfect spot and angle to divert the wheel. It didn’t require profound techniques and merit laws, only a simple yet effective movement.

It relied on practicality instead of the mysticality of the dao - using something so basic to defeat an extremely profound technique.

“What did I just watch?” Cultivators wouldn’t have believed this without seeing it with their own eyes.

Void’s attack came from a heavenly scripture. Its profundity was second to none. Alas, Li Qiye solved it using a stance that wasn’t impressive visually.

This was akin to a villager casually killing a golden true dragon with a punch. The stark contrast astounded the crowd.

“Just a coincidence, maybe? Sheer luck?” One expert said.

“No, it’s neither.” An ancestor sighed and responded right away.

“What sword art did he just use? Maybe that movement earlier is actually a sword art that just hides its profundity really well.” Another youth asked.

Most believed that Li Qiye must have used a special sword art. It’s just that they didn’t understand it enough and only saw a simple movement.

“I don’t think it’s a sword art, he merely moved his hand. It looked so elementary though.” A king responded.

“How can a simple movement defeat a heavenly art?” The youth didn’t buy it.

If the arts of the heavenly scriptures could be solved so easily, they wouldn’t have dominated for eras.

“This is a case of four tael moving a thousand catties.” An extremely aged big shot mused: “It requires absolute control over one’s power. Every sliver of force is precise, every inch of movement is accurate. That’s how he broke the unbeatable art.” [1]

“That’s a thing?” Listeners remained skeptical. It sounded plausible in theory but to actually pull it off in a fight?

“I argue that this is a true understanding of the grand dao. All laws become simple, the most complicated techniques are reduced to simplistic movements.” One ancestor agreed.

In reality, the big shots were confused. It was one thing for the Five Overlords to be able to do this, not Li Qiye since he hasn’t reached that cultivation level yet.

They knew that he had bizarre and inscrutable methods but in this case, this was the highest order of the dao. If these old men were right, then Li Qiye had grasped the true essence of the dao.

If anything, Peace Ocean and Void should have a higher mastery of the dao than Li Qiye. The crowd continued to abandon this idea of Li Qiye being a dao master.

“Incredible technique.” Peace Ocean couldn’t help but praise.

In that split second earlier, both he and Void couldn’t believe it. They shared the same thought as the others, that Li Qiye hasn’t reached that height yet.

Peace Ocean couldn’t have done the same thing to stop the Void Wheel. He would have used a supreme sword technique to nullify it.

“How interesting, let me give it a shot.” He couldn’t stay calm and wanted to test Li Qiye himself.

1. Ancient units are used for this common idiom in traditional martial arts novels. It’s rarer to see in xianxia/xuanhuan.  A tael is 50 grams, a catty is 500 grams. ☜