The Sovereign's Ascension

There was no time to think about Jiang Ziye and Yue Weiwei’s battle because the next battle was already starting.

Bai Lixuan was one of the five dark horses of the tournament and everyone thought he was most comparable to Zhu Qingshan. He was a little weaker than Lin Yun who was publicly acknowledged as the tournament's strongest dark horse.

Unlike Yan Long’zi, who was known for his violent temper, and Yu Haotian, who was known to be aloof, not much was known about Zhao Wuji. He kept a low profile and tried not to show too much of his strength.

“Lin Yun, who do you think will win?” Pavilion Master Plum asked with a grave expression.

“Oh?” Lin Yun was surprised because this was the first time Pavilion Master Plum asked him this question. But it was understandable since he was Bai Lixuan’s master at the Sword Firmament Pavilion. As the saying goes, a master for a day, a father for life. Even after Bai Lixuan left the Sword Firmament Pavilion, Pavilion Master Plum never disowned his disciple that he once took pride in.

Lin Yun hesitated when he heard the question. According to his understanding, the odds of Bai Lixuan winning weren't high. The reason why Bai Lixuan came so far was because of his saint physique, but the saint physique couldn’t be used as an advantage against the three kings.

Furthermore, Bai Lixuan’s lightning intent wouldn’t do too much to Zhao Wuji who belonged to the Violet Thunder Sect. After all, everyone from the Violet Thunder Sect had unfathomable attainments in lightning. Since the difference between their lightning intent was huge, Zhao Wuji would have an overwhelming advantage.

The only possible advantage Bai Lixuan might have was his Azure Dragon Sword Sutra, but Zhao Wuji naturally has his own secrets as one of the three kings. In fact, his cultivation technique might not be inferior to the Azure Dragon Sword Sutra.

“Bai Lixuan has a chance of winning,” said Lin Yun. Bai Lixuan’s only possible chance of winning would be to make a breakthrough in the battle, but the odds of that happening were simply too small.

Hearing Lin Yun’s words, Pavilion Master Plum wore a grave expression and shook his head, “It won’t be easy for him after coming this far.”

Bai Lixuan and Zhao Wuji confronted each other on the stage. Zhao Wuji looked at Bai Lixuan calmly and said, “It’s difficult for you to win against me.”

Facing one of the three kings, Bai Lixuan felt immense pressure. However, he calmed his heart as fighting spirit filled his eyes, “But we still have to fight. Plus, anything could happen.”

Seeing the fighting spirit in Bai Lixuan’s eyes, Zhao Wuji hesitated briefly before he said, “Alright. I’ll let you have three moves. Otherwise, you won’t have any chance against me.”

Upon hearing Zhao Wuji’s words, the audience threw a fit because Zhao Wuji was looking down on Bai Lixuan a little too much.

“That fellow is really ruthless with his words,” said Feng Ye. After all, Zhao Wuji only spoke two times, once to tell Bai Lixuan he couldn’t win and once to tell Bai Lixuan he only had three moves. Zhao Wuji’s confidence was evident in the way he spoke.

“It’s a trick, don’t fall for it.” Lin Yun frowned. By saying those words, not only did Zhao Wuji apply pressure on Bai Lixuan, but he also made Bai Lixuan lower his guard. If Bai Lixuan fell for the trap and couldn’t obtain an advantage after three moves, he would surely be disappointed. At that time, Zhao Wuji could easily defeat Bai Lixuan without any trouble.

Bai Lixuan took a deep breath as his face turned cold, “You’re looking down on me. Cut the crap and take this!”

Bai Lixuan drew his sword as lightning rumbled in the clouds where a dragon could vaguely be seen. This was the depths of the Azure Dragon Sword Sutra. Upon reaching a high level, one could turn his sword into a dragon.

With a flash, Bai Lixuan disappeared from the stage. His attack focused on extreme speed to catch his opponent by surprise.

“You’re a little too slow.” Zhao Wuji flicked his finger and a sword hum echoed out. Shortly after, everyone could see Bai Lixuan since he was forced to appear. His sword was bent by Zhao Wuji’s finger. When Bai Lixuan pulled his sword straight, everyone’s ears were filled with a loud hum.

The sword hum echoed everywhere, causing the lake to explode with geyers that shot into the sky. Many people were shocked by this and they no longer dared to blink in fear that they might miss a small detail of the fight.

After sending Bai Lixuan flying with a flick, Zhao Wuji calmly stood on the stage.

Then, Bai Lixuan’s sword vibrated so fast that the entire stage began to sway. Under the rumbling lightning, Bai Lixuan’s figure began to overlap with the clouds and the surrounding air was distorted.

“Clapping Thunder!” This was the true strength of Bai Lixuan’s attack. With a roar, he charged towards Zhao Wuji like a dragon.

“Interesting, but you’re not the only one with lightning intent.” Zhao Wuji snapped his finger and dazzling silver lightning tore through the clouds. Zhao Wuji activated his lightning intent, which instantly overwhelmed the rumbling lightning from Bai Lixuan. This made Bai Lixuan spit up a little bit of blood as he was sent flying.

“Bai Lixuan’s fusion of lightning intent and sword intent is too deep.” Lin Yun frowned. Normally, it would be good that Bai Lixuan could fuse the two together so deeply, but his opponent was Zhao Wuji. Zhao Wuji’s lightning intent instantly suppressed Bai Lixuan’s lightning intent, which damaged the latter’s sword intent.

“What power!”

“Is this the true strength of the three kings?” Everyone was dumbfounded by this scene. Just how powerful Zhao Wuji was to send Bai Lixuan flying with a snap?

Bai Lixuan wore a grave expression. The three kings truly deserved their reputation, especially since Zhao Wuji was the bane of his power. He couldn’t even force Zhao Wuji to use his trump card.

“Azure Dragon Rage!” Pushing his Azure Dragon Sword Sutra to the limit, Bai Lixuan’s eyes flickered with dazzling lightning and a faint dragon image appeared around his sword. Empowered by his lightning sword intent, everyone could tell that Bai Lixuan’s attack was a little stronger than Wu Xiaotian’s strongest attack.

Then, Bai Lixuan roared, “Wind!”

Wind blew across the lake, causing huge waves. Bai Lixuan didn’t comprehend wind intent, but he was manipulating the wind with his origin energy. Since he was able to summon such powerful wind in a split second, his cultivation was clearly unfathomable.

Beautifully done! Lin Yun praised Bai Lixuan as soon as he saw this. After all, ancient azure dragons had control over wind and lightning. Wind and lightning had to work together to fully unleash the azure dragon’s power.

Empowered by the violent gale, the azure dragon image became even more condensed.

“Not bad.” Zhao Wuji calmly joined his hands together to make his move. His origin energy surged as lightning flickered on his body. It didn’t take long before the lightning formed a cocoon with nine layers.

When the azure dragon collided with the cocoon, a dazzling brilliance exploded with over a hundred bolts of lightning that bombarded the barrier and created holes in it. A brief moment later, the cocoon shattered as Zhao Wuji was sent flying. A trace of blood dripped down from his lips as his face turned pale.

Shockingly, Bai Lixuan had actually injured Zhao Wuji. Furthermore, his injuries didn’t seem to be light.

“Azure Dragon Touch!” Bai Lixuan had no intention of letting Zhao Wuji catch his breath as he brandished his sword once again. His sword manifested into a dragon claw that was surrounded by a dazzling sword ray. If Zhao Wuji was hit by this attack, it would be akin to the bite of a Heavenly Soul Realm demonic beast.

Bai Lixuan’s sword was so fast that Zhao Wuji had no chance to dodge. When his sword stabbed Zhao Wuji’s chest, Bai Lixuan saw the disbelief in Zhao Wuji’s eyes. But the moment that excitement flickered in Bai Lixuan’s eyes, a faint voice whispered into his ears, “Tumbling Clouds, Aggregation and Dissipation.”

Zhao Wuji, who was stabbed in his chest, suddenly faded away. Wiping the blood on his lips, Zhao Wuji appeared somewhere further away on the stage without any injuries on his body. This left everyone shocked. Wasn’t that Jiang Ziye’s forte, the cloud intent? Why did Zhao Wuji have it as well, not to mention that it wasn’t weaker than Jiang Ziye’s cloud intent.

“My friend, three moves have passed.” Wiping the blood on his lips, Zhao Wuji smiled before his face sank as his eyes radiated with a cold aura. It was as though he had changed into an entirely different person.

It looks like Zhao Wuji really gave Bai Lixuan three moves. A chill ran down everyone’s spine when they thought about this. Is Zhao Wuji finally going to bring out his true strength?