The Pinnacle of the Decisive Battle

On the other side, within the ranks of Dragon Head Peak, Qi Hao watched Li Xiaoyu's "frail" appearance, the corners of his mouth curling into a confident, disdainful smirk.

He wore a magnificent silver Daoist robe, looking high-spirited and imposing.

"Senior Brother, it seems you are destined to win today!"

A Dragon Head Peak disciple beside him said in a fawning tone.

Qi Hao smiled arrogantly, "That goes without saying. How could a fellow who only reached the finals through luck and unorthodox tricks ever be mentioned in the same breath as me?"

His voice was filled with a sense of superiority.

In his eyes, although Li Xiaoyu had performed surprisingly well in the semifinals, it was merely a flash in the pan, a final flicker before the end.

With Li Xiaoyu severely injured, he was nothing more than a fish on a chopping block before a master like himself, who had reached the eighth level of the Jade Purity Realm, waiting to be slaughtered.

Today, Qi Hao would not only win, but he would win beautifully and decisively!

He wanted to trample this fellow who had stolen all his thunder underfoot in front of the entire world, letting him know who the true number one of the Green Cloud Sect was!

He wanted to let Tian Ling'er and everyone else see clearly just how vast the gap between them truly was!

Qi Hao's gaze swept inadvertently toward the direction of Big Bamboo Peak.

Tian Ling'er was looking at him with a worried expression, her eyes filled with admiration and adoration.

This provided immense satisfaction to Qi Hao's vanity.

He flashed a confident smile at Tian Ling'er, as if to say: Watch closely, and see how I utterly crush that guy for you!

Soon, the auspicious time arrived.

Amidst the announcements of the deacon disciples, Li Xiaoyu and Qi Hao stepped one after the other onto the largest central arena, which had been repaired and reinforced specifically for the finals.

The two stood facing each other from a distance, and at this moment, the eyes of the entire audience were focused on them.

The atmosphere froze instantly.

"Junior Brother Li, we have finally ended up standing here after all."

Qi Hao spoke first, a cat-and-mouse smile on his face, his tone dripping with hypocritical concern.

"To be honest, I truly admire your courage. To dare to stand here while suffering such heavy injuries."

"However, I won't go easy on you just because you're hurt. After all, this concerns the honor of my Green Cloud Sect."

Below the stage, the disciples of Morning Sun Peak were all livid, their fists clenched tight.

In Shang Zhengliang's eyes, a raging fire of fury burned.

Yet, the expression on Li Xiaoyu's face did not change in the slightest.

He simply watched Qi Hao quietly, his gaze like that of someone watching a monkey jumping up and down.

He shook his head slowly, the corners of his mouth lifting into an amused smile.

"Are you done with your nonsense?"

He asked.

"If you're done, then let's begin."

"You!"

Qi Hao's face instantly flushed a liver-colored red; he felt all his superiority and momentum shattered by the other party's indifferent attitude.

"Fine! Very well! Since you are in such a hurry to lose, I will reluctantly oblige and make it quick."

Qi Hao laughed out of extreme anger.

"Watch how I knock you off this stage in a single strike!"

Qi Hao let out a roar, wasting no more words.

The spiritual energy within his body erupted with a boom!

The powerful aura of the eighth level of the Jade Purity Realm pressed down toward Li Xiaoyu like a massive mountain.

At the same time, he summoned his magic treasure.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sword chime, a celestial sword, entirely silver-white and radiating a biting chill, appeared in his hand.

It was his life-bound magic treasure, the Ice Sword!

With the Ice Sword in hand, Qi Hao's momentum surged once more.

He held nothing back, preparing to unleash his strongest ultimate technique right from the start.

He raised the sword high with both hands, chanting incantations.

The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted, and countless ice crystals condensed around the blade.

A terrifying aura capable of freezing the heavens and earth began to permeate the arena.

However, at the very moment Qi Hao was gathering his strength, preparing to unleash this earth-shattering strike, Li Xiaoyu, standing opposite him, moved.

His movements were as fast as lightning!

Before anyone could react, he had already snatched the dusty Wine Gourd from his waist.

A strange, pitying smile appeared on Li Xiaoyu's face.

His target was not Qi Hao himself.

It was the arena floor beneath Qi Hao's feet!

He whispered a soft incantation.

Immediately, Li Xiaoyu pointed the mouth of the gourd at the ground and focused his mind.

"BOOM!"

A terrifying power, beyond words, erupted from the mouth of the Immortal-Slaying Gourd!

It was a beam of destructive energy formed from pure, concentrated thunderous power mixed with indestructible Geng Metal Sword Qi!

The beam possessed neither blinding light nor earth-shattering noise.

It simply slammed abruptly and viciously into the arena floor beneath Qi Hao's feet!

The smug, ferocious expression on Qi Hao's face froze instantly.

His pupils contracted violently.

He didn't even have time for a single thought to form.

Time, in that moment, seemed to stand still.

Everyone's movements and expressions were locked in place.

Following that, a muffled, intense explosion roared to life!

BOOM!

The central arena, which the Green Cloud Sect had spent countless resources and manpower to pave with the hardest Blue Steel Rock and reinforce with numerous magical restrictions, shattered like a cookie crushed by a giant's hand under Li Xiaoyu's earth-shattering strike!

The moment the hard rock touched that destructive energy, it was instantly annihilated!

A massive, bottomless pit expanded wildly in the center of the Martial Arts Arena at a speed visible to the naked eye!

A violent shockwave of energy, mixed with countless shards of rock and dust, rose into the sky as a visible black mushroom cloud!

The entire Heaven-Reaching Peak trembled violently under this power!

It was as if a cataclysmic earthquake had struck!

"AH!"

Qi Hao let out a shrill, distorted scream of agony.

He had never expected Li Xiaoyu's attack to come from beneath his feet!

The moment that destructive force erupted from the ground, his protective spiritual barrier didn't even last a single breath before shattering into pieces.

He felt as if he had been launched into the sky by an erupting volcano.

His entire body was tossed high into the air by the violent blast like a kite with a broken string.

The Ice Sword slipped from his hand.

The powerful techniques he had prepared were instantly interrupted.

Everything he took pride in seemed so laughable and fragile in the face of this single strike.

"NO!"

He let out a desperate roar in mid-air.

He then slammed heavily onto the plaza floor a hundred yards away, rolling a dozen times before coming to a pathetic halt, spitting blood as his breath grew shallow and ragged.

He was not dead.

Because Li Xiaoyu's attack had never been aimed at him from the start.

Qi Hao had merely been blown away by the shockwave of the attack.

Li Xiaoyu had targeted the ground because he feared the power of the gourd's sword qi was too great.

Although Qi Hao was detestable, there was truly no need to kill a fellow sect member.