Chapter 234
Just who the hell was that Liyu kid?
Elder Ting’s thoughts were churning violently because the scene he was witnessing was not something that was supposed to be possible. Yes, everything that Liyu had done and accomplished so far was not supposed to be possible. They shattered every sort of logic.
They made no sense whatsoever.
How could a first-stage Qi Gathering cultivator cause such an upheaval in the tournament and make it all the way to the final, with several of his opponents who were supposed to crush him instead being crushed by him? All of that, of course, didn’t make any sense.
And yet, what was even crazier was the fact that all of that paled in comparison to what Liyu was doing now…
Elder Ting’s body was trembling.
He could barely contain himself from barging straight into the tournament ground and trying to see whether that Liyu kid was some kind of existence from the heavens. What Liyu was doing was something Elder Ting had, hands down, never heard of before.
Not in history.
Not in any records.
Not even in thought or belief.
How could someone in the first stage of Qi Gathering possess such control over his Qi that even Core Cultivators would pale in comparison to him? He had such mastery over his Qi…
To the extent that whenever he executed any move, there was never, ever any waste. Not even in a microsecond. Whether it was strengthening his body, executing a combat move that required the utilization of Qi, or anything else, he never wasted even the tiniest amount of Qi.
That kind of efficiency was something even Elder Ting couldn’t boast that he could do. He could manage it if he concentrated. But being able to continue doing it to the extent that it seemed like an instinct, like breathing, like something that had become a natural habit…
That was not something even someone as powerful as Elder Ting could manage.
And as if that wasn’t scary enough, what he was doing after that was something even more shocking. He was using his own Qi to interfere with the World Qi around himself.
It was something that only those in the legendary state could do with ease. But that was precisely why they were called the Legendary State. Even someone like Elder Ting couldn’t interfere with the World Qi whenever he pleased.
He could do it once.
Maybe multiple times.
But it was tiring.
It was like trying to push a massive boulder with a frail body. Possible? Yes. But tiring? Totally.
And if it was something tiring for Elder Ting, a Core Cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core Realm, then one must understand just how absurd it was for a mortal-stage cultivator to even attempt something like this.
That was the peak of madness.
If those at the peak of the Foundation Realm tried to interfere with the World Qi, they would probably suffer Qi depletion on their very first attempt. That was already speaking of those at the peak of the Foundation Realm.
As for Qi Gathering…
Never.
They could never even attempt it.
That was reality.
And yet…
And yet that reality was being shattered right before Elder Ting’s face. Liyu was interfering with and manipulating the flow of Qi around him as if it belonged to him.
And using it, he was both overwhelmingly weakening Shi Tian’s attacks before they could reach him, while at the same time using the World Qi to make his own attacks so much more powerful.
It was something Elder Ting could only describe as ingenious.
Perfect.
Totally perfect.
He saw no flaw in Liyu’s control at all.
What was this?
Elder Ting spent a long time analyzing what he was seeing. And finally, he came to a conclusion. Liyu must have two personas.
The first one was the feral and prideful one. The one that was most likely his main personality. That one was more than a freak.
And then there was his second persona…
This one.
The one that gave off the vibes of a lazy genius.
He was strong.
Calm.
And totally efficient in attacking, evading, and defending. It was as if he were a wise old sage who had been reborn into a mortal vessel.
Elder Ting had no idea that what he was thinking was the closest thing to the truth after all.
Lazy Rayden was a powerful immortal whose strength was even far beyond Elder Ting’s in terms of power, skills, experience, and practically every other path. Before he died, that was.
And now, he was a clone of Liyu…
The one currently facing off against Shi Tian.
His power might have plummeted so much that it was pitiful, going from being at the peak of the Immortal World to becoming a mortal once more. And yet, his combat style, fighting skills, battle IQ, and many more things were still with him.
He might have spent the majority of his last life slumbering, but in terms of anything related to battle and combat, he was a legend. Especially when it came to the utilization and use of spiritual energy.
For him, it was like breathing.
And his physique made its utilization even far easier.
Facing off against Shi Tian while fighting at twenty percent of his true self, he was slightly serious. Not like his unserious self.
With him being serious, he was far, far more powerful since he was no longer operating within the one-to-three-percent range that he normally operated with. Even when he had dueled the original in the Beast Forest a while ago, he had only been operating at five percent.
If Liyu knew, he might have fainted in pure disbelief.
Not only Elder Ting was drawn in by the way Liyu was battling and rough-handling Shi Tian. The other leaders were just as stunned.
The battle between Liyu and Shi Tian was like that between a trained veteran warrior and a baby.
The difference was too vast.
Too enormous.
In terms of power and raw might, Shi Tian dwarfed Liyu. Yet, in terms of combat skills, Qi utilization, and more…
Liyu had totally disrupted and surpassed him.
And it wasn’t by a small gap either.
It was too vast.
Back to the stage.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Several palm strikes landed on Shi Tian’s body, and he was sent skidding backward. His leg carved a deep trench into the ground as he finally came to a halt.
What was happening to me?
What was happening?
Why was nothing working against him?
It was almost as if he was facing a senior far above him. And what made it even worse was the fact that he was stronger.
He could feel it.
He knew it.
Yet, he was the one who had been getting thrashed around.
Pain was radiating from every fiber of his body. And what was worse…
His heart was aching even more.
The suppression he had placed on it to coagulate the damaged tissue and stem the blood overflow wouldn’t be able to last much longer. He didn’t have any more choice.
He had not been planning on using this after all.
His blade had been destroyed, and the attack he wanted to unleash was something that required a powerful blade to execute. He picked up the damaged, broken blade and held it firmly in his hand.
He hadn’t wanted to use it with his broken blade after all.
The residue would pass into him instead of dispersing, meaning he would suffer harm as well.
But now…
He had been pushed to his absolute limit.
There was no way he could continue battling Liyu in hand-to-hand combat. He was not his match. So he would end this just like he had done earlier.
With the sword in his hand, Shi Tian began the Wind Sovereign Art.
First Form…
Wind Step.
Second Form…
Drifting Gale.
Third Form…
Thousand Wind Transverse.
Fourth Form…
Wind Veil.
Fifth Form…
Vacant Wind.
Sixth Form…
Nine-Fold Gale Barrier.
Seventh Form…
Wind Severance.
Eighth Form…
Skyfall Execution.
All the forms were being used at once. Just like before, the moment all the forms combined, they formed a tide of massive destruction.
Just standing before it was enough to make someone feel dread.
No…
It was enough to make entire armies feel weak and helpless.
The surge of destruction rushed forward, a massive tide of devastating wind that seemed capable of swallowing everything in its path.
Seeing the terrifying tide of destruction rushing toward him, seemingly coming to claim his life, Liyu sighed.
He just wanted to sleep in peace.
And now he had to deal with this.
Such a troublesome day…
He shook his head and muttered.
“Too troublesome.”