Chapter 358: Last technique of the duel

In the audience, several juniors realized they had been holding their breath for a while now. The fight between the two geniuses was intense beyond words. Although they were both 3rd-grade Mortal Warriors, they were clearly on par with middle Mortal Warriors, or even half-step Spirit Warriors. Right now, the only real difference was their reserve of Qi. As they had not yet begun to gather Fire Qi in their Middle Dantian, they could only use the Qi within their Lower Dantian. Thus, their capacity and consequently their stamina was lower.

That was the reason why the elders thought they had used their Qi Manifestation too much. Just like Martial Aura, they had let it disperse too much. Since they had a limit to how much energy they could use, it was best to only focus it where it was necessary. For Mortal Warriors and even Spirit Warriors for the most part, Qi Manifestation was not fully under control. It was a result of how their Qi was used in their martial art. In a sense, it was similar to an array formation.

Only someone who had a very profound understanding of his martial art could truly control his Qi Manifestation. It would have been best for the both of them to use their Martial Aura more than their Qi Manifestation in order to preserve Qi. But they had probably wanted to fight all-out and enjoy themselves. After all, they were young and this was a friendly duel. This was not a life or death situation where being exhausted could lead to further troubles.

Right now, everyone could see that they had used most of their stamina already. They could still fight but after an entire day, they were running on fumes. In fact, they both had just enough for the final assault. This one last move would decide the duel.

No matter what the result would be, Cao Yun's reputation was restored. The first-years who had believed that maybe he had run away from the crisis knew better now. There was simply no reason for him to run away. Apart from Spirit Warriors, no one could take him down. The other rumor stating that he had helped for some secret mission began to spread like wildfire. It was now way more believable. Even the disciples who had seen him fight before were shocked. He had improved beyond their wildest dreams.

In a few decades when he would become a Spirit Warrior, they could not imagine how powerful he would be. As of now, he could fight three or four grades above his own cultivation. But as a 1st-grade Spirit Warrior, could he fight a 3rd-grade Spirit Warrior?

The difference between the grades of the Mortal Warrior realm after opening all the Five Prodigious Gates was essentially the quantity of Qi and how much of it one could use at any given time. Depending on the strength of those Five Prodigious Gates, a cultivator could use way denser Qi which would increase the strength of the Qi Manifestation exponentially.

For Spirit Warriors though, the difference was related to one's soul. As such the disparity between grades was wider, but never equal between two given grades. For example the difference between a 1st-grade and a 2nd-grade Spirit Warrior was smaller than between an 8th-grade and a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. Even a half-step Sage was way beyond a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. That didn't mean that they were invincible but they had a clear advantages over lesser cultivators.

Ling Hui was a bit vexed that most people only talked about Cao Yun's future. Zhi Yin was not that much older than he was. She was just a year older than him actually. Her future would be just as bright, if not brighter in fact. Contrary to Cao Yun, she had not received the help of Spirit Master Xiao. Of course, considering her talent, many elders and chief elders had helped her. But in the end, she had always preferred cultivating alone. Zhi Yin did not want to rely on others too much. That was one of the main reasons behind her founding of the Heavenly Swallow Faction.

There were other reasons but they were mostly moot now.

Before she could get jealous and angry, Ling Hui heard people talk about her idol.

"Chen Guo is impressive but Fairy Zhi is even better, don't you think?"

"Well, she's older. She's almost out of the Wubei Sect in fact."

"What are you spewing? She's only one year older! Besides, Cao Yun has clearly an advantage in term of raw physical strength. Yet, even at close quarters, she was not beaten at all. She had a slight disadvantage, but she got out of it."

"Yeah! I thought she was done for when he trapped her in such a fight. But she fared way better than expected."

"They're both awesome. I heard that Fairy Zhi was really going to leave our Wubei Sect, that's such a loss. Having her as an inner disciple would have been great!"

As everyone was anticipating the last assault, they were talking while staring at the platform. Not a single spectator took their eyes off of the two fighters.

Right now, they were both catching their breath. The mind attack and the hour-long close quarter fight had taken a toll on them both. And they wanted their last technique to be perfect. In their minds, the two of them were imagining many scenarios. Just like Cao Yun, Zhi Yin was able to enter her sea of consciousness. Although she had not his mind cultivation, she had a powerful mind nonetheless. Right now, there was one technique she had not tried yet. It was risky but no matter what she imagined, the fight ended either in a draw or a defeat for her. Only this technique had a real chance to bring her the victory.

In all honesty, she didn't really care about winning. But she thought that Cao Yun was the perfect opponent against whom she could test her technique.

On the other hand, Cao Yun could use several techniques he had not yet showcased. He was certain he could not beat Zhi Yin directly without using his Drop of Wrath though. His only hope of winning the fight without this outside help was not to win the martial art fight but the duel. Indeed, there were rules to the duel that didn't exist in a real fight. He could count on them to win. Otherwise, he only saw the possibility of a draw. Zhi Yin was just too resourceful and he had already used too much Qi. By refusing to fully use his Bai Hui until now, his Qi Manifestation had wasted more Qi because he needed to compensate for its instability all the time.

The two fighters took their weapons in hand. Suddenly, a silence fell upon the entire plaza. Everyone, even the elders and chief elders, were waiting for the final move. Chief Elder Baishen and Spirit Master Xiao were ready to act if either of them was in danger. Although they were not trying to harm each other, it could happen. There were even high risks that it would happen considering the determination in their eyes.

The two of them restricted their Wei Qi around them to increase its density. Instead of Qi Manifestation, they used Martial Aura this time. Their weapons seemed to change in nature. Cao Yun was holding a giant pillar covered in blood while Zhi Yin had a piece of eternal ice in her hands. On one side, there was a veteran who had bathed in the blood of thousands of war. On the other side of the platform, there was a cold tyrant who had no emotion and looked upon the world with disdain. Their weapons were affecting how they appeared to everyone else.

Then, all hell broke loose as they unleashed their techniques. Zhi Yin used all the Qi she had left to focus it around the blade of her sword.

'Mount Tai Parts the Lake of Heaven'.

A thin layer of icy water appeared along the movement of the blade in the air. It almost cut through the array formations around the platform. Such an attack was clearly able to cut Cao Yun in half in his current condition. Even with his entire Wei Qi, he would have sustained an injury. But with the fatigue, he would be split in two.

At the same moment, Cao Yun had simply stabbed in front of him using his loyal 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky'. He had only used his Spear Aura with no form of Qi Manifestation within the attack. But within his body, he had activated 'Dragon's Heart' and had used his blood cultivation to increase the strength of his upper body. Thus, he caused a pseudo-Qi Manifestation through his blood. For almost everyone, there was no difference at all.

For Chief Elder Baishen and a few others though, the difference was clear. Many of the chief elders did not see anything unusual. But the ones who did could not necessarily figure it out. Then Spirit Master Xiao's voice resounded in their minds.

"He caused a Qi Manifestation through his blood. I've already seen that from high members of the Huang family. With a powerful bloodline, they can recreate the phenomenon that only demonic beasts can produce. The advantage is that it uses the Qi within the blood so even if Chen Guo's Lower Dantian is empty, he can use it. And according to some, it might even be more powerful than traditional Qi Manifestation depending on the purity of one's blood. Right now, I would say that Chen Guo's blood is incredibly pure but I do not know which bloodline he has in his veins."

Cao Yun's blood came from the Drop of Wrath. In a way, his bloodline was Axiu Qian's, an asura who had almost reached the highest levels of cultivation. Of course, it was powerful even if it was only a fraction of his true bloodline. Once the Po of the Drop of Wrath was fully repaired by his own Po, Cao Yun would be able to unleash even more of its power.

With the combined effects of his Spear Aura and his bloodline, 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' turned into the bloody horn of a dragon. Behind Cao Yun, the two eyes of the Azure Dragon appeared briefly. Zhi Yin had the vision of a primordial beast facing her. With a single move, it could kill her without any hesitation. There was nothing to do to resist such a force of nature. Even her own determination wavered for an instant. The Qi Manifestation of 'Mount Tai Parts the Lake of Heaven' flickered.

Both attacks were close to striking the other opponent. Each one of them was fully committed in their own technique. They would not bulge and were ready to take the hit head-on. But at the last moment, Zhi Yin tried to protect herself.

'Peng Turns to Kun'!

Her sword moved in front of her to block the spear long enough for her to move out of the way. Contrary to her own technique, the spear was targeting a precise point. Even with her last movement of the sword, her previous technique's Qi Manifestation was still going toward Cao Yun. She had retracted her blade at the very last moment.

'The Son of Heaven's Spear and Shield'!

Cao Yun did not retract his spear at all. Instead, he strengthened his defense. The full might of Zhi Yin's technique struck his neck. His Wei Qi tried to resist. All of a sudden, an intense cold spread to his skin and his Wei Qi got crushed. Then, he felt the cold touch of the blade on his skin. Chief Elder Baishen was ready to intervene as she wasn't sure how resistant Cao Yun's body was. However, she didn't have to find out it. Before the layer of icy water could try to cut Cao Yun's head, an armor of dragon scales appeared just on the side of his neck. All the scales were blown away but Cao Yun's neck was safe.

The blown scales flew in the air and went around Cao Yun's spear.

Just as Zhi Yin had stopped the spear, Cao Yun retracted it and surprised everyone with a technique he had never shown until now. He took his spear as a javelin and threw it away with all of his strength. The scales from 'The Son of Heaven's Spear and Shield' which had absorbed a part of Zhi Yin's 'Mount Tai Parts the Lake of Heaven' were also used in his legs and arms.

'Fish in the Galaxy'!

The space between Cao Yun and Zhi Yin turned into a starry galaxy. It was an illusion created by Cao Yun's Qi Manifestation. The spear looked as though it was a creature made of stars that was swimming in the void of space. In an instant, it could cross an entire galaxy. And then, it reached Zhi Yin. 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky' had been so powerful that she had not been able to dodge yet. Even with 'Peng Turns to Kun', she had been stunned for a breath or two.

On the other hand, Cao Yun had finally used his Bai Hui completely. This was the only way for his ultimate move to work. If it wasn't fast enough, Zhi Yin would dodge and he would not recover his spear fast enough. Thankfully, he realized that his perceived frailty had really been psychological. Yes, his Bai Hui was weaker than his other Prodigious Gates, but it was still powerful enough to resist him using it to its fullest.

Unable to adapt in time, Zhi Yin received the full force of the spear thrown by Cao Yun. She was completely blown away from the platform. All her stamina had already been used in her last attack that had failed. Cao Yun had kept all his remaining Qi in reserve for the defense and then the throw. During his 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky', he had used no Qi at all, which Zhi Yin could not do because she had no special blood cultivation.

She thought she could have used this! But then, this wasn't a life or death fight... She wasn't going to expose that trump card just for this kind of duel. Losing to someone like Cao Yun was perfectly acceptable. Her fighting determination disappeared from her eyes as she was falling to the ground below. For a Mortal Warrior, such a fall was not a problem at all.

After sending Zhi Yin away, 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' kept its course. It literally tore through the array formations protecting the platform. Most of its force had been dissipated but it could still hurt someone in the audience. However, Cao Yun had no more energy to call it back. As such, Chief Elder Baishen appeared in mid-air and grabbed the weapon.

Zhi Yin graciously landed on the ground while Cao Yun was still standing on the platform.