Sovereign of the Three Realms

The halberd techniques of the Iron family were renowned within the four great sects.

Iron Dazhi had indeed poured in his life’s blood in practicing them. He’d attained great achievements in this area.

He turned and rolled the halberd. Ripples spread throughout the air as if dragons and fish were dancing. There seemed to be boundless carps bounding through the river waters beneath the setting sun. His aura and momentum were quite impressive.

The most frightening was that this Bronze Dragon Ironthreaded Halberd was an eight times refined weapon. It seemed to be able to draw upon heaven and earth as it moved, turning into a frightening killing machine.

The power of an eight times refined weapon was indeed alarming.

Although Liu Wencai had received some intelligence about Iron Dazhi from Tang Hong, he’d still missed out on one point, which was the Bronze Dragon Ironthreaded Halberd.

Although Tang Hong understood Iron Dazhi, he only knew that he used a Black Dragon Halberd and didn’t know that the Iron family had something even stronger in reserve.

Therefore, when Iron Dazhi deployed his furious halberd techniques, he actually held the upper hand for a moment, making signs of danger appear all around Liu Wencai.

It was a good thing that Liu Wencai had recently sparred with Jiang Chen and Tang Hong every day. The experience from that had ensured that he would be able to keep a calm heart even in dire straits.

Iron Dazhi’s halberd techniques were as if tempestuous winds and rains one second, surging and charring lightning the next. They seemed to glimmer with endless rippling movements, yet also seemed as immutable as a millennium of long nights.

The mentality projected from the halberd was ever-changing.

Those watching beneath the ring were enraptured. This was the most exciting match since they’d started. Iron Dazhi’s domineering halberd techniques were as if bouquets of flowers and piles of brocades—pleasing to the eye and awe-inspiring. His momentum was even more astonishing, and those who normally looked down on Iron Dazhi couldn’t help but have a change of heart.

Even Jiang Chen had to admit that Iron Dazhi had improved greatly from that match in the Skylaurel capital.

He’d had tangible leaps in both battle strength and cultivation level.

However, he wasn’t unduly worried for Liu Wencai. This was the time to test him, and the first obstacle in his rise.

There would be no limit to the universe if he made it over.

If he didn’t, then he’d always only be a stepping stone for others.

However, Jiang Chen believed that, with Liu Wencai’s strength and potential, he wasn’t one to just sit there and await disaster. Not to mention that there were trump cards he’d yet to use.

With his understanding of Liu Wencai, he’d been so passive before possibly to purposefully create an image to numb Iron Dazhi and defeat him with one blow at a critical moment!

Tang Hong stood beneath the stage, his large hands clenched into fists. His expression was occasionally grim-faced, occasionally glaring with rage. It was quite varied.

Those who weren’t in the know would think he was worried about Iron Dazhi, but his heart was actually fretting over Liu Wencai.

The two of them had struck up a brotherhood of life and death after their rocky start, and their relationship had long since transcended lines drawn by affiliations.

The four forefathers also seemed rather interested in this match.

Forefather Ninelion in particular; his eyes sent out an ardent look as he fixed them on the two in the ring.

“Old monster Ninelion, you look a bit nervous, hmm?” Sunchaser mocked slightly.

“Meddlesome old thing.” Ninelion had always had inharmonious relations with Sunchaser. He naturally gave tit for tat when the other mocked him.

Sunchaser laughed loudly. The two of them often fought, so no one would truly erupt in open hostility.

“Thousandleaf, your sect’s disciple has a rather frightening aura. But I think he’ll actually lose.” Sunchaser then turned his head to Thousandleaf of the Precious Tree Sect.

His words were more-so trying to sow discord than state the obvious.

Thousandleaf smiled faintly, “Sunchaser, you seem to be the most agitated one today.”

These softly spoken words completely failed to go along with his words and in fact dispelled the antagonism in his words.

Ninelione laughed oddly, “He has many geniuses in the Purple Sun Sect and is deathly afraid of us catching up. This is why he’s on edge.”

“Catching up?” Sunchaser couldn’t help but give a snorting laugh. “My sect has taken the top one and two spots of the top four rankings. Catch up? What can the other geniuses bring out to catch up to Lei Gangyang, not to mention Long Juxue with her innate constitution?”

His tone brimmed with confidence.

Thousandleaf smiled slightly but had nothing to say. None of the geniuses of his sect had made it into the top four. He did indeed lack the right to speak.

Ninelion, however, riposted, “Lei Gangyang? If I recall correctly, he couldn’t even handle a secular cultivator a few months ago, hmm?”

Although these old fellows were of the origin realm, none of them were willing to come off the worse in an exchange when it came to verbal sparring.

At this moment, Iron Dazhi’s attacks were as if the mad tides. His aura was even more ferocious, making it seem like he was overturning the seas and shifting the mountains each time he attacked, piercing even the heavens!

Although Liu Wencai continued to remain at a disadvantage, he was never swallowed by the raging tide of attacks.

Iron Dazhi also became frustrated as the fight went on.

He suddenly gave a long whistle as shocking light shone out of his eyes. “Liu Wencai, you don’t dare fight me and seek to win through only dodging and evading? Alright, since you know how to escape, I’ll make it so that you have no place to go!”

Iron Dazhi’s motions changed in between his words.

The halberd technique suddenly changed from complex and intersecting to ramrod straight, as if a silver hook carving out a picture in metal, swiping sideways and downwards, creating various ravines in the air with deathly beams of yellow light.

“Liu Wencai, let’s see you dodge this one!”

The Bronze Dragon Ironthreaded Halberd kept carving out vicious light, slicing the air into rhombus-shaped fragments.

This halberd technique was named “Prison of Heaven and Earth”. It made use of strong spirit power to carve the air into countless prisons in a short amount of time, sealing off an opponent’s avenues of retreat and shutting them into the prison, setting them up for a ruthless trampling.

Liu Wencai’s facial expression changed. He knew that this halberd technique was immensely different from those of before.

“Is this Iron Dazhi’s trump card?” There was no sign of anxiety on Liu Wencai’s face. Instead, there was a trace of ease and relief after a long wait.

Iron Dazhi’s manner was imposing and awe-inspiring. He didn’t feel that Liu Wencai would be able to escape out of the divisions of the “Prison of Heaven and Earth” once he brought this technique out.

As soon as his opponent was caught, the boundless spirit power would come churning in the span of a moment, slicing and dicing his opponent into pieces.

“Die, Liu Wencai!”

Cold killing intent exploded out of Iron Dazhi’s eyes. The halberd was chopping furiously away at everything it pushed the prison towards. It was apparent that he wanted to determine the outcome of this battle here and now.

The halberd flashed out with strong light as it danced, covering the ring as if a myriad of waves, forming the image of turbulent seas.

This momentum had cut off all paths of retreat for Liu Wencai.

Liu Wencai seemed as helpless as a lone canoe afloat in the vast oceans, likely to be swallowed at anytime or overturn with all those onboard.

However—

Change always happened in but a moment in a matchup between experts.

A short stick appeared in Liu Wencai’s hand after he made a grasping motion. It looked like white jade, pure and flawless, but seemed to meld in with Liu Wencai’s bearing as soon as it appeared.

Liu Wencai’s aura seemed to explode by ten, no, a hundred times with this melding. His eyes shot out with the light of a wild beast.

It was as if the short stick of white jade had been suddenly activated. It brimmed with vitality, as if a sleeping divine weapon that had been suddenly awoken.

Its aura was like a dragon emerging from the seas, unable to be restrained.

Faced with Iron Dazhi’s overbearing attacks, Liu Wencai gave a long whistle and suddenly roared, “Flowery punches and fancy kicks that can’t stand up to a single blow! All of this, break!”

The white jade stick crashed down ferociously, layers of spirit ripples concentrating to smash unerringly onto the halberd.

Bam!

The halberd gave a ghastly, tragic cry.

That awe-inspiring momentum behind the attack fell to the floor in pieces as if a smashed mirror, destroyed beyond a doubt in an instant.

Iron Dazhi’s chest felt like an enormous mountain had come crashing down on it. It sent him reeling backwards.

The halberd in his hand kept moaning mournfully, emitting a cry that didn’t subside even after a long while. Iron Dazhi was unable to control it no matter how he tried.

He focused his eyes and saw that multiple cracks had appeared on the surface of the halberd. Even though its main body hadn’t been injured, it was obvious that the formation of glyphs outside the halberd had been destroyed by this blow.

“How can this be?” Iron Dazhi was flabbergasted.

This was an eight times refined spirit weapon, almost at the peak of its existence!

But his opponent had used that humble-looking white jade stick to hit it just once and break apart the glyph defenses of an eight times refined weapon?

This… this was a devastating blow! What was Iron Dazhi most proud of? This Bronze Dragon Ironthreaded Halberd was his trump card!

He’d never thought that his vaunted ace would be destroyed in an almost primal manner when he was deploying his most acclaimed technique.

A crack appeared in Iron Daozhi’s heart.

Liu Wencai smiled faintly as he pointed with his white jade stick. “Iron Dazhi, I’ve said that we’ll only know who’s the ant after a battle. Now, go and experience what it means to be the ant of your words!”

Liu Wencai waved his white jade stick and commenced a tide-like flurry of attacks that came crashing down on Iron Dazhi in a vicious assault. He didn’t need to use any profound techniques at the moment, using only simple, crude, and the most wild and violent of methods to beleaguer Iron Dazhi.

It could be said that all schemes were useless in the face of absolute power, as one person with sufficient strength could singlehandedly best ten cultivators.

As many methods as Iron Dazhi had, as many trump cards he had, when his ace couldn’t win over the other, he would only be suppressed at every step.

Iron Dazhi could only fight for dear life with the halberd in the face of such violent, fierce attacks.

Bam, bam, bam!

Every time he blocked a blow, his body would back up involuntarily.

One step back. Many steps back.

After a few hundred steps back, he had nowhere to go. His body crashed viciously into the pillar. A sweet scent welled up in his mouth as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He could no longer hold firmly onto the halberd. It clattered to the ground and emitted a horrifying sound. His knees buckled, and he sank to the ground on his knees.

His defeat was imminent and irrefutable.

When he saw that Iron Dazhi was kneeling on the ground, Liu Wencai didn’t finish him off. They were both disciples of the four great sects, and there was no reason for him to land a fatal blow if they didn’t have deep grudges with each other.

Not to mention that the four forefathers were present. If he still killed Iron Dazhi after he was on his knees, it would demonstrate that Liu Wencai’s mentality was lacking.

“Liu Wencai of the Myriad Spirit Sect wins this match and enters the top sixteen! Iron Dazhi of the Precious Tree Sect is eliminated!”