Chapter 620: Myriad Sword Qi Pierces the Heavens, Cleaving Chaos to Reveal the Azure Sky
The Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power-infused water, combined with the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor’s hydrokinetic field, surged under Zhang Yu’s command, violently agitating the surrounding seawater.
Though caught off guard, A-Zhen remained composed, swiftly unleashing countless Love Threads to form a defensive barrier.
As the two forces collided underwater, Zhang Yu felt his palm sink into something soft, like pressing into a cloud of cotton. The terrifying force of his strike was gradually dissipated by the Love Threads, layer by layer, until it completely vanished into the depths.
Zhang Yu’s full-power palm strike had been utterly neutralized.
Simultaneously, Mu Qiansi felt a faint sting at her fingertip — a tiny cut had been made.
Gazing at the flying sword concealed within Zhang Yu’s strike, Mu Qiansi realized that while she had neutralized the palm’s force, she had failed to block the hidden blade.
“You actually resisted my Love Threads?” Mu Qiansi asked, surprised.
She touched her face, transformed to resemble A-Zhen’s. “Don’t you like this look? I made myself look exactly like Bai Zhenzhen.”
Mu Qiansi was confident. With her mastery of the Great Harmony of Yin and Yang Celestial Melody, enhanced by her military-grade Bionic, any slight reaction to her allure would instantly plunge her opponent into a brief trance.
Zhang Yu glared at her hulking form, forcing down his visceral revulsion as he roared, “What’s the same?! And what if your faces match? A-Zhen is completely different from you — inside and out! You can’t even begin to compare to her!”
As he spoke, Zhang Yu hurled the Relay Ball skyward with all his might.
Watching the Relay Ball streak across the sky like a meteor propelled by the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, Mu Qiansi froze for a moment, her expression twisting in shock.
“You!”
She immediately realized that Zhang Yu had not only been completely unaffected by her charm enhanced by the Great Harmony of Yin and Yang Celestial Melody but had also pretended to be affected. Using the brief moment of close combat, he had stolen her Relay Ball.
“How did he… how did he manage that?”
“Even Kuang Tianqing couldn’t resist my charm. Why would he still try to ambush me?!”
Though shocked and furious, Mu Qiansi wasted no time, turning and rushing in the direction where the Relay Ball had disappeared.
Watching her retreating figure, Zhang Yu thought to himself that if destroying Relay Balls wasn’t against the rules, he would have at least tried to crush hers.
He slowly opened his palm to reveal a fleeting trace of blood — the drop that had dripped from Mu Qiansi’s fingertip when the sword grazed it.
Yet as the blood dissolved into his hand, Zhang Yu felt no reaction from the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor. Deep within the armor, the insatiable hunger for blood still churned.
“This blood doesn’t work either?” he wondered inwardly.
In the next moment, with a swift movement, Zhang Yu shot forward again at high speed, instantly overtaking Ling Pojun, who had just passed him, and reclaiming fourth place.
Watching Zhang Yu’s retreating figure once more, Ling Pojun cursed inwardly, “Back and forth, overtaking each other over and over… Are you playing games?!”
The final hurdle.
Bai Zhenzhen watched the confrontation between Zhang Yu and Mu Qiansi, her sword qi surging within her.
A faint smile curved her lips.
“This feeling… this emotional surge, it’s the deepening bond of friendship between Zhang Yu and me.
“And to wield detachment through attachment…”
Bai Zhenzhen clicked on the “Kuang Tianqing and Zhang Yu” video series again. A single glance sent her sword qi spiraling violently, far beyond anything she had felt before.
Suppressing a pang of heartache, a piercing realization flashed through her mind: “This is what it means to wield detachment through attachment.
“Only the most turbulent and profound attachment can unleash an equally profound and unwavering detachment.”
Having recorded Zhang Yu and Mu Qiansi’s live confrontation, Bai Zhenzhen pressed a hand to her chest, whispering inwardly, “First, I’ll immerse myself in emotion. Then, I’ll turn to detachment. This will unlock even more terrifying power within my Extreme Emotion Sword Dao.”
Simultaneously, the flying sword behind Bai Zhenzhen trembled slightly, as if reacting to her turbulent emotions.
Meanwhile, Kuang Tianqing watched the scene unfold, inwardly shocked: “Zhang Yu can so easily resist Mu Qiansi’s charm?”
She mused to herself: “No matter how powerful Mu Qiansi’s Great Harmony of Yin and Yang Celestial Melody is, she’s still only at the Foundation Establishment stage. To amplify her charm and manipulate Love Threads, she must still cater to her opponent’s aesthetic preferences.”
“The Great Harmony of Yin and Yang Celestial Melody at the Foundation Establishment stage isn’t powerful enough to make someone easily fall in love with a pile of dung.”
“Zhang Yu can so easily resist Mu Qiansi’s allure. This isn’t just a matter of his dao heart’s strength — does this guy’s aesthetic sense really differ from mainstream tastes?”
“Hmph, no wonder… no wonder he barely reacted to me last time.”
A flicker of amusement flashed through Kuang Tianqing’s eyes. “Zhang Yu… you’ve revealed a fatal flaw before me. Next time, next time I’ll completely devour you.”
Just then, someone shouted from the side, “Jiutian Liu is about to take first place!”
True Monarch Tranquility watched the live broadcast. He saw the Nine Heavens Divine Shuttle surge into first place like a bolt of lightning, becoming the undisputed leader of the race, virtually unassailable. He nodded inwardly, knowing everything was unfolding exactly as he had predicted.
“Currently, Jiutian Liu is in first place, Yu Yunzhan second, Xue Jiuyou third, Zhang Yu fourth, Ling Pojun fifth, Mu Qiansi sixth…”
At the same moment, another voice called out, “Ying Zhoufan has entered the water!”
“With his Celestial Demon Myriad Transformations’ dragon form, his underwater speed should be remarkable…”
“Remarkable? He’s practically catching up to Jiutian Liu already!”
With a swift whoosh, Ying Zhoufan’s transformed dragon twisted and turned underwater. The currents behind him seemed to coalesce into countless tiny hands, propelling him forward with frenzied speed.
Ahead, the water parted naturally at his command, like loyal subjects yielding before their ruler, daring not to obstruct his path.
Using his dragon body as a foundation, a high-speed tunnel of rippling water formed around him, allowing him to accelerate relentlessly, growing faster and faster.
As the colossal dragon surged forward, a deafening roar erupted, churning waves of water that swept up vast clouds of mud and sand, sending them surging in all directions.
“Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster!”
Ying Zhoufan unleashed a dragon’s roar, his twisting dragon body surging with renewed speed.
Having waited so long on the shore, his fury and battle lust had long since reached a boiling point.
At this moment, he had only one thought: to accelerate and catch up to Zhang Yu! Then he would crush this scum beneath his clawed feet.
Roar!
Arriving at the first registration area, Ying Zhoufan unleashed a thunderous dragon roar. The water churned with the agitation of countless fish, as if they had become his eyes and ears, scouring the entire area until they swiftly located a registration sphere.
After completing his registration, Ying Zhoufan roared and surged forward again.
Eighth place!
Seventh place!
Sixth place!
One by one, he overtook his competitors, his eyes burning with increasing fervor.
“Trash! Trash! Trash!”
“Useless, worthless trash!”
He maintained this frantic pace, relentlessly accelerating and pushing himself to his absolute limit. By the time two-thirds of the race had elapsed, Ying Zhoufan had already climbed to fourth place.
“Only Jiutian Liu in first place, Yu Yunzhan in second, and Zhang Yu in third remain ahead of me…”
“Two-thirds of the race is over, and I still haven’t caught up to him?” Ying Zhoufan thought to himself. “Is this guy really that fast?”
Just as his frustration began to simmer, he finally spotted Zhang Yu’s figure ahead.
“I’ve caught up to you.”
With a dragon’s roar, Ying Zhoufan unleashed towering columns of water that twisted into underwater whirlpools, surging toward Zhang Yu.
“Hmm?” Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. His water field expanded explosively, intercepting the incoming whirlpools.
The collision slowed him down, forcing him to turn and glare at Ying Zhoufan, who was rapidly closing the distance.
Hu Yuntao: “You little beast!”
Zhang Yu: “You’ve finally arrived? I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Scum, enjoy your bravado while it lasts,” Ying Zhoufan spat, his voice dripping with venom.
As he spoke, Ying Zhoufan had already closed the distance to the slowing Zhang Yu with lightning speed. He opened his mouth and spat out a round pearl, which hurtled toward Zhang Yu like a meteor.
With a thunderous explosion, the pearl slammed into Zhang Yu, sending him staggering backward. Before he could recover, a second pearl erupted from Ying Zhoufan’s maw.
“Military-grade magical artifact: Mountain-River Pearl,” Zhang Yu recognized instantly. “A magical artifact capable of storing vast quantities of water and altering its own weight,” he thought.
“Typically used to transport valuable liquid-processed goods.”
“But in combat, it’s just used… to smash people.”
The complete Mountain-River Pearl set comprised eighteen pearls. As Ying Zhoufan unleashed them one after another, the force behind each strike grew increasingly terrifying. His dragon body shifted and transformed repeatedly, unleashing a torrent of destructive power.
Yet, to Ying Zhoufan’s astonishment, Zhang Yu displayed even greater strength than in their previous encounter. Without the aid of any formation, he conjured towering waves and swirling sword shadows with every move, meeting Ying Zhoufan’s onslaught head-on and neutralizing every attack.
As their fierce battle raged, Zhang Yu’s clothing tore apart, revealing the armor beneath.
“Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor?”
Ying Zhoufan’s brow lifted as Zhang Yu’s intelligence flashed through his mind.
“Didn’t the report say he hadn’t finished this armor yet? No wonder he can create such massive waves underwater.”
“Previously, his overall strength was at best mid-tier among all competitors, but now he’s clearly at the top.”
“It seems the buzz and exposure he gained from the last match have propelled his strength to new heights once again.”
With this realization, Ying Zhoufan’s gaze grew increasingly predatory, as if he yearned to utterly crush Zhang Yu and absorb his fame to nourish his own ambition.
Seeing Zhang Yu turn to flee, Ying Zhoufan roared, “Don’t even think about escaping!”
Yet the battle raged on as they retreated, a tumultuous clash of magic and steel. Ying Zhoufan unleashed all eighteen of his Mountain-River Pearls and even spat out another military-grade magical artifact, the Monster Summoning Banner, commanding countless monsterfolk Soul Cultivators to swarm Zhang Yu. Yet none of these attacks could subdue him.
Ying Zhoufan’s brow gradually furrowed. “This won’t do. I’m wasting too much time on this guy. How am I supposed to win the race at this rate? The others are catching up.”
Just then, Ying Zhoufan suddenly sensed a surge of Magic Power erupting from Zhang Yu’s body, violently agitating the surrounding seawater.
Propelled by the Seven Absolutes Bionic and supported by the Inverted Kunlun Chain Formation Diagram, Zhang Yu’s Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power shattered its previous limits, erupting with explosive force and surging wildly across the seabed.
Before their eyes, the artificial sea floor transformed into a chaotic landscape of flying sand and shifting rocks, with countless rock strata either rising abruptly or collapsing inward.
Seeing this, Ying Zhoufan’s expression darkened slightly. “No… it’s not water, but earth.”
Sensing the fluctuations in spiritual energy within the water, Ying Zhoufan’s shock deepened. “Where did this formation come from?”
“And… this place is…”
Only then did Ying Zhoufan realize that during their relentless pursuit and intense battle, they had unknowingly crossed into the next registration area.
“When did he set up this formation?”
Zhang Yu remained silent, naturally unwilling to reveal that shortly after setting out, he had begun breeding Demon Beasts, dispatching them to the registration areas ahead for reconnaissance and construction.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “This underwater race requires us to complete one lap around the artificial sea, and the starting and finishing points are quite close to each other.”
“That’s why, shortly after entering the arena, I dispatched the Demon Beasts to the registration areas at the back.”
“Unlike me, who had to circle the entire arena, the Demon Beasts could reach those areas much sooner, even completing some preliminary construction.”
“By the time I arrived here, I activated the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power to finish the remaining major tasks…”
Zhang Yu took a step forward, landing on a rock stratum that had risen from the ground.
“Formation, activate!”
In the next moment, surging spiritual energy converged upon Zhang Yu.
The entire terrain of the area materialized in his mind.
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Yu telekinetically extracted hundreds upon thousands of long stone pillars from the earth using the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power.
As the Heaven and Earth Cataclysmic Heartless Heart Weapon activated, large swathes of the area began to glow with spiritual light, transforming into temporary magical artifacts, starting from the rock stratum beneath Zhang Yu’s feet.
Each stone pillar flickered with a chilling sharpness, like flying swords, all aimed at Ying Zhoufan’s position.
A chill crept into Ying Zhoufan’s heart. He tried to retreat, but a locking Sword Intent, the Great Sun Moral Sword Intent, had already sealed his escape.
“Ten thousand sword qi soar to the heavens, cleaving chaos to reveal the azure sky…”
Seeing these lines of text projected above Zhang Yu’s head, a deeper chill ran through Ying Zhoufan’s heart. Is this the Myriad Paths Artisan Group’s slogan? A signature move? He’s about to unleash a killer move!”
Ying Zhoufan’s dragon body flickered repeatedly, yet he found the Sword Intent still locked firmly onto him, impossible to shake off.
Violent water waves surged from Ying Zhoufan’s body. Just as Zhang Yu braced himself, anticipating a devastating attack, a voice transmitted through the water reached his ears.
“Zhang Yu, what do you say to joining forces?”
Ying Zhoufan: “With your Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor and Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, combined with my dragon form and military-grade Bionic, we could become the fastest duo in the arena.”
Sensing Zhang Yu’s skepticism, Ying Zhoufan continued through the water waves, speaking in a way that made it impossible to record: “Monsterfolk discrimination? It’s all just hype to fool the poor. You don’t actually believe that, do you?”