Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Why change the venue to this so-called Thousand Terrain Secret Realm instead of using this s.p.a.cious arena? What the h.e.l.l are they up to now?”

Chu Kuangren frowned.

“Chu Kuangren, it's already an excellent feat for your Black Heaven Sect to come this far. But today, we will be the winners of this champions.h.i.+p!”

The Sky Emperor Palace Lord said to Chu Kuangren.

Chu Kuangren simply glanced at him. “That's funny, the Overlord Sage Tribe Leader said the same thing the last time as well, yet his Young Emperor was nailed to the wall in the end.”

“We shall wait and see then.”

The Sky Emperor Palace Lord was not angered at all and instead, he chuckled, behaving as if his orthodoxy had already won. It was like he had something up his sleeve.

“Hm, there's something fishy about this finals match.” Chu Kuangren stroked his chin as he swept his gaze across every single sky-pride from Sky Emperor Palace.

He activated his Eye of Revelation.

There had changed with the sky-prides as their strengths were still the same as before. Comparing them to Nangong Huang and the others, the latter's chances of winning were still quite high.

‘If that's the case, then why is the Sky Emperor Palace Lord so confident?'

At that thought, Chu Kuangren looked towards the adjudicator's booth.

“Is it possible that they've bribed the adjudicators?”

“No, that can't be. Is this sage orthodoxy that shameless? And even if they did bribe the adjudicators, are they really going to mess with the event in front of the public?” Chu Kuangren thought to himself.

Just as he was deep in thought, the finals had already begun.

The first match's representative from the Sky Emperor Palace was Jing Nian.

“Sect Leader, please allow me to fight.”

Jun Yi chuckled. Having witnessed Jing Nian's combat capabilities before in the previous rounds, she was confident that she could defeat her opponent.

Chu Kuangren then compared both of their information.

If it were single combat, Jun Yi's probability of winning was more than eighty percent, so he agreed to after giving it some thought. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

Jun Yi nodded and then walked into the arena.

She and Jing Nian glanced at each other before they walked into the circle of light.

When they appeared once again, both of them were already in a wide and empty cave that was filled with dimly lit candles all around.

Jun Yi looked at her surroundings and noticed that the stone walls of that cave contained a strange material, like some sort of ore.

“Is this place an ore vein?”

Jun Yi thought.

At that moment, a surge of palm qi suddenly swooped in from behind

A sword appeared in Jun Yi's grasp before she struck out a surge of blue sword qi in retaliation, disintegrating the palm qi to disintegrate. Taking advantage of that, she immediately retreated dozens of feet backward.

Opposite of her was the red-robed Jing Nian who was looking at her. With Daoist Rhyme surrounding her body, she then raised her arm and unleashed another palm attack.

“Is this the Sky Emperor Palace's Sage Technique, the Six Compounded Palms?”

Upon identifying that technique, Jun Yi proceeded to fight back with her sword.

She swung her sword and it was as if the blue sword qi had turned into a gus.h.i.+ng tide. That was the Sage Technique, Tide Surging Sword Art.

Since she cultivated water-based sword Dao, that technique suited her very well, and the power she had unleashed was even stronger than that of Nangong Huang's.

The continuous barrage of sword qi immediately nullified the palm qi. Jing Nian's expression suddenly changed for the worse as she was sent flying and smashed into a rock wall nearby.

“What a powerful sword qi.”

Jing Nian secretly exclaimed.

“Surrender if you don't want to suffer”

Jun Yi told her calmly.

“How can I possibly give up just like that?”

Jing Nian replied as she then took out a guqin. “I shall let you witness the power and appeal of the Empyrean Valor Tune, the first guqin Daoist Technique from the Sky Emperor Palace.”

However, Jun Yi was already das.h.i.+ng forward to attack her the moment she took out her guqin. Surges of sword qi were emanating around her like a cras.h.i.+ng tsunami.

Jing Nian's expression changed and her fingers moved.

Clangs of guqin music that was as majestic as the arrival of an emperor echoed within the cave, causing the whole cave to tremble.

The violent guqin music instantly shattered the sword qi around Jun Yi, blasting her backward. Even the sword in her hand trembled slightly.

“How's this possible?”

Jun Yi could not believe it.

She had seen Jing Nian's guqin music in the previous matches before, yet the power of her opponent's guqin music at that time was not as terrifying as this.

‘How did it get so powerful all of a sudden?'

Even Jing Nian could not believe it herself as well, let alone Jun Yi.

“What's going on?”

“Wait…” As if she had suddenly noticed something, Jing Nian looked at the cave walls surrounding her and uttered with shock, “This is an ore cave, and the ores here seem to be echo ores.”

Echo ores, like the name suggested, was a kind of rock that could produce echoes. However, one or two echo ores alone could never amplify the power of one's guqin music.

However, they were now in an echo ore vein!

Only because Jing Nian was in here could the power of her guqin music amplify so much. She could even easily defeat an Honorable Supreme if she were to face off against one here.

“Hah, the heavens are on my side too!”

Thinking that it was her good luck that landed them in this compet.i.tion location, Jing Nian then began to strum her guqin excitedly.

Waves of guqin music started to reverberate like crazy within the echo ore vein. With the extra help that this location provided, her guqin music would last longer and double in its power!

Boom, boom!

Wave after wave of guqin music slammed onto Jun Yi like a cras.h.i.+ng tide. Despite Jun Yi's efforts to resist and channel her sword qi, she was still at a severe disadvantage before the might of that attack which was strengthened by their location.

In a short while, Jun Yi had been heavily wounded. She gripped her sword firmly, attempting to use her spiritual power to resist the guqin music, and forced her body to attack. However, her consciousness began to fade away under the influence of the guqin music.

Champions.h.i.+p arena, inside the skybox.

A surge of rage-filled Daoist Rhyme swept out.

Chu Kuangren stared daggers at the adjudicators' booth. “I demand an explanation right now. Why is there an echo ore vein at the compet.i.tion location?”

The Thirteenth Prefect could feel his stomach churn under the pressure of Chu Kuangren's aura, but he then summoned his courage and replied, “The Thousand Terrain Secret Realm contains various surroundings and terrains. This current compet.i.tion location is just one that was randomly chosen.”

“So you're telling me that it's our bad luck that we got an echo ore vein as the compet.i.tion location?”

Chu Kuangren retorted.

“Please calm down, Sect Leader Chu. You can't possibly blame the adjudicators for your bad luck, right?”

The Sky Emperor Palace's Lord chuckled.

“Whether it's bad luck or not, I suppose you, the Sky Emperor Palace's Lord will know more about it than me,” Chu Kuangren said as he held back his rage.

“Bad news, Sect Leader, Jun Yi can't hold on for much longer.”

Murong Xuan uttered with a heavy tone.

Under the influence of the guqin inside the echo ore vein, Jun Yi was already starting to bleed from her nostrils, mouth, eyes, and ears, but she still continued to resist. Though it was clear to the audience that she was not going to win.

“We shall admit defeat for this match!”

Chu Kuangren uttered coldly to the Thirteenth Prefect.

There was no way he would sacrifice Jun Yi's life for the sake of this compet.i.tion.

“The match will only end if the contestant admits defeat, or it has been determined that she has lost consciousness and could not resist. Otherwise, even you, Sect Leader Chu do not have the right to stop the fight before that happens.”

The Thirteenth Prefect replied with a hint of delight in his eyes.

He had lost so many soulstones to Chu Kuangren, so he naturally resented the latter, and it delighted him to see Chu Kuangren admitting defeat.

Hum.

A surge of sword qi instantly swept by the Thirteenth Prefect, splitting the adjudicators' booth into two. The secretly delighted Thirteenth Prefect was so frightened by the sudden sword qi that he stumbled onto the ground. A cold chill ran down his spine and spread across his entire body soon after, making him feel as if he had survived the gates of h.e.l.l.

“Don't make me rip the First City apart!”

Chu Kuangren warned as his ice-cold gaze struck through the Thirteenth Prefect like a sword.

This time, the Thirteenth Prefect did not dare say anything else as he hurriedly opened the circle of light, instantly transporting both Jing Nian and Jun Yi to the arena.