In the Sky Bridge Plane, Guardian Bafen stood side by side with Barbarian Hammer King. Bafen chuckled and said, "Barbarian Hammer King, your disciple is challenging the bridge, and you came all this way to watch in person. You must have a lot of confidence in him!"
Barbarian Hammer King smiled. "Just watch, Bafen. You'll see."
Bafen laughed. "I've been here for so many years and have seen all kinds of geniuses. Is there something special about your disciple?"
Barbarian Hammer King only smiled. A moment later, he said, "Look! They're starting!"
On the fourth level of the Great Axe Sky Bridge, the black-robed Gatekeeper conjured dozens of phantom doubles, each wielding a giant axe, and launched a frenzied assault on Gulanxiu.
Gulanxiu stood where he was, casually swinging the giant axe in his hand as if strolling through a garden. His movements seemed slow, but the Black-robed Man appeared to be under some kind of restraint. Every time he drew close to Gulanxiu, his speed slowed, and Gulanxiu sent him flying with a single blow.
Bafen's eyes lit up at the sight. "Not bad! Not bad! He's actually following the same path as you. With his cultivation talent, reaching this point is no easy feat. Looks like the fourth level won't stop him!"
Barbarian Hammer King grinned proudly. "Of course! Do you know whose disciple he is? My disciple naturally wouldn't take some ordinary path!"
Bafen shot Barbarian Hammer King an exasperated look. "Don't get carried away just because I complimented you. It's no easy feat for him to follow this path, but his talent is only average to begin with. Even if he's on this path, who knows how far he'll get? Don't forget, your performance back then was far more impressive. After just thirty years in Chaos City, you'd already passed the sixth level of the Sky Bridge. And even then, it took you billions of years to reach Peak King. If your disciple can become a King following this path, he'll be doing well!"
Barbarian Hammer King nodded. "You're right. But a master can show the way; the rest is up to the disciple. He chose this path himself, and no matter how difficult it is, he has to keep walking it. I've already helped him through the hardest part. What comes next will mostly depend on him. His talent may not be enough right now, but talent isn't set in stone. Maybe one day it'll change!"
Bafen shook his head. "Changing one's talent is incredibly difficult. Opportunities like that are rare even in the universe. You really are an optimist! Enough about him. What about you? After reaching Peak King, you've risen to the top ranks among the Venerable candidates of your race. But you haven't trained much these past few years. Don't let teaching your disciple distract you from your own cultivation!"
Barbarian Hammer King shook his head. "What I need now is a sudden realization. I've hit a bottleneck at the final step of both Space Slaughter and Teleportation. There's no point in simply training harder. Besides, twenty years pass in the blink of an eye for us, but for my disciple, they're the crucial years for building his foundation. Naturally, I'll focus more on him during this time. Once he leaves Chaos City, I'll devote myself to my own cultivation."
Bafen shook his head. "As long as you know what you're doing. Look! That kid's done playing around. The fight's about to end!"
Barbarian Hammer King hurriedly looked up at the projection. Gulanxiu struck the Gatekeeper flying once more, then muttered, "Same move over and over. This is boring. I'm done playing with you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he sprang forward. More than a dozen phantom images trailed behind him as he held the giant axe horizontally and swung it at the Gatekeeper.
At the same time, he shouted, "First Axe!"
The Gatekeeper had already been driven back by Gulanxiu and hadn't regained his footing. Caught off guard by Gulanxiu's sudden burst of speed, he could only raise his giant axe in a hurried attempt to block the attack.
But Gulanxiu's strike combined three different aspects. The force of Space Imprisonment descended on the Gatekeeper in an instant, slowing his movements by half a beat. That half-beat was all it took to leave him unable to block the blow. He could only watch helplessly as he was cleaved in two.
After killing the Gatekeeper, Gulanxiu quickly ran toward the Fifth Layer. A short while later, he reached the end of the level.
"Please choose your opponent!" The familiar, icy voice rang in Gulanxiu's ears.
Without hesitation, Gulanxiu said, "I choose the Illusionist!"
Only a few months remained before Gulanxiu would leave Chaos City. Having only recently comprehended Three Axes into One, he knew full well that his current strength wasn't enough to pass the Fifth Layer.
He could only try an unconventional approach and see if he could beat the Illusionist. After all, the Great Axe Chaos Tablet was best suited to Warriors. With the same level of Law Comprehension, Warriors who cultivated through the Great Axe Chaos Tablet were generally stronger in battle.
If Gulanxiu were challenging the Sky Bridge just to test his strength, he wouldn't have minded failing. He could always try again next time.
But this time was different. Unless something unexpected happened, this would probably be his last Sky Bridge challenge in Chaos City.
Once he left Chaos City, he would no longer receive the tenfold points reward. So even if it meant using a trick, Gulanxiu wanted to pass the Fifth Layer if he could.
As soon as he finished speaking, the familiar Black-robed Man appeared before him again.
The Black-robed Man said coldly, "Young man, you're mistaken if you think you can pass the fifth level by taking a shortcut. With the comprehension required for the Fifth Layer, even an Illusionist is more than you can handle right now!"
Gulanxiu sneered. "Anyone can talk big. Bring it on!"
A flash of silver passed through the Black-robed Man's eyes. In the next instant, he split into nearly a hundred phantom images and charged at Gulanxiu.
A thunderous BOOM! exploded inside Gulanxiu's mind. He felt as though his soul had been cleaved by an axe, and his head throbbed with unbearable pain.
The Black-robed Man had already reached him. Gulanxiu could only grit his teeth, endure the agony in his soul, and struggle to fend him off with his giant axe.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!! Gulanxiu withstood the repeated blows against both his soul and body. He felt like a lone boat tossed on the waves, on the verge of sinking at any moment.
A flicker of surprise crossed the Black-robed Man's eyes. In his view, every attack had pushed Gulanxiu to the very limit of what he could withstand, and each time, it seemed the next blow would break through his defenses.
Yet Gulanxiu had weathered every attack. He looked to be in terrible shape, but at least he was still alive, wasn't he?
Though surprised, the Black-robed Man showed no mercy. As the Gatekeeper of the Sky Bridge, he was only a program in the Virtual Universe. Although he had developed a hint of emotion over countless years, his core programming was to kill challengers or be killed by them.
His Soul Attacks continued to strike Gulanxiu without pause, while his giant axe relentlessly hacked at him.
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