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Just the day before, Shen Xingyan had still been at the Nascent Soul Early Stage. But judging by the pressure of his Sword Qi now, he was displaying the strength of the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. Every strike surged like a rainbow across the sky, carrying the force of ten thousand thunderbolts.
Terrifying!
How had Shen Xingyan advanced from the Golden Core Late Stage to the Nascent Soul Early Stage in just two or three days, then leaped again to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage? Had he swallowed so many Spirit Herbs and medicines that he had forced his cultivation upward, or had he been hiding his true strength all along?
Ye Qinghui had no time to dwell on it. He flicked his sword, swift as lightning, sending several streaks of blue light at Shen Xingyan.
Of all the martial arts under heaven, only speed could not be broken. Even if his opponent's cultivation was higher, Ye Qinghui could break through the limits of his own cultivation and defeat someone of a higher realm, so long as his Swordsmanship was fast enough.
Ye Qinghui's Sword Qi seemed gentle, but his Sword Moves shifted in the blink of an eye. With the power of the Bodhi Spirit Pill, they carried a sustained force capable of toppling mountains and splitting stone.
Shen Xingyan spun his ornate golden Spirit Sword. Golden light blazed around him, conjuring a sky full of starlight that collided with Ye Qinghui's cluster of blue sword light. A deafening boom rang out as their Sword Qi tangled together. Sparks flew and light flared at the point of impact, startling every butterfly and Spirit Bird overhead into flight. Even the arena trembled as though it might shatter.
A clash between the strong was spectacular indeed—and devastatingly powerful.
The sect leaders looked on in amazement, marveling that the waves behind on the great river drove those before them onward. The young disciples were beside themselves, and Jade Pool Island erupted in a thunderous uproar unlike anything heard at this tournament so far.
"Ye Qinghui's Swordsmanship is so fast it makes my eyes swim! Can Shen Xingyan really beat him?"
"Shen Xingyan's Sword Qi is ferocious. The pressure is overwhelming! His cultivation has actually reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage."
"Heavens! The Nascent Soul Middle Stage! Young Sect Leader Shen is only seventeen, yet he's reached such a level. His future is boundless! I'm afraid Ye Qinghui won't last much longer."...
Hearing the discussion around him, Immortal Venerable Shen looked as pleased as a man basking in a spring breeze. He stroked his beard and thought, The best is yet to come. No matter how formidable Ye Qinghui's Swordsmanship is, his defeat today is certain.
Faster! Faster still!
Shen Xingyan and Ye Qinghui each played to their strengths, battling back and forth. Their figures flickered in and out of sight, leaving afterimages in their wake. Fierce bursts of light clashed above the arena as they fought to a standstill, too quickly for the eye to follow.
As the fight dragged on, Shen Xingyan suddenly changed tactics. Instead of both attacking and defending, he retreated on all sides, evading Ye Qinghui's fierce attacks and luring him across the four corners of the arena in turn.
[Strange.]
[First Senior Brother, watch out!]
Before Ye Zhenzhen could finish sending her thoughts, Ye Qinghui had already landed inside a formation blazing with golden light. A mysterious, weighty force rose abruptly across the arena. Space stretched and twisted, and everything seemed to slow within the dazzling glow.
"The Space-Binding Formation!" someone in the crowd recognized it.
The Space-Binding Formation had not appeared in the Cultivation World for many years. No one had expected Shen Xingyan to use it in the Immortal Sects Grand Tournament. It was ill-suited to a sudden confrontation: it required advance preparation, with Runes concealed on all sides. During the match, the opponent had to be drawn into the four corners of the arena. Once he touched the formation's triggers, his movements would be bound and his speed slowed.
No wonder Shen Xingyan had not come looking for Ye Qingyao the night before. He had been laying the formation in advance for the final. Ye Zhenzhen suddenly understood it all.
Unfortunately, she and Ye Qinghui had both realized it too late.
Ye Qinghui felt the air around him grow stagnant. Every swing of his sword took several times the usual effort. Even Flowing Light Illusion became slow motion inside the formation, impossible to execute properly. The blue sword trails left by his blade as it cut through the air were slow and clearly visible.
He forcibly drew on the Bodhi Spirit Pill within him, but his Swordsmanship was still a third slower than before.
A formation's strength was limited by its creator's cultivation. Even the Ten-Thousand-Year Bodhi Spirit Pill could not free Ye Qinghui from the Space-Binding Formation's interference. Shen Xingyan's current cultivation truly was formidable.
Ye Zhenzhen suddenly realized that Shen Xingyan's rapid rise in cultivation had not come from stuffing himself with Spirit Pills and miracle medicines. He had used one of the Five Divine Artifacts—the Primordial Chaos Pearl.
After the ancestors of the Cultivation World sealed the Ancient Evil Drought Demon with the Five Divine Artifacts, they entrusted one artifact to each of the Five Great Sects for safekeeping. They also decreed that no sect was permitted to use them for cultivation, or it would suffer a backlash.
In the original book, Shen Xingyan and his father, Immortal Venerable Shen, had not begun exploring the Primordial Chaos Pearl's uses until after the Immortal Sects Grand Tournament. But to win this tournament, Shen Xingyan had tasted the forbidden fruit early, using the pearl's ability to refine the essence of all things to accelerate his cultivation.
Using the Primordial Chaos Pearl came with a backlash, however. A large part of the reason Shen Xingyan kept pursuing Ye Qingyao was that her Furnace constitution could help him repair the damage the pearl had done to his meridians.
In other words, Shen Xingyan looked imposing now, but the meridians throughout his body were already in disarray. If they found where that disorder was worst, they could deal him a devastating blow.
"You think you can beat me and win the Flying Boat? Dream on!" Enduring the pain inside him, Shen Xingyan shot Ye Qingyao a look below the stage, then unleashed swift, ruthless Sword Moves that whipped up gusts of wind.
He wanted the woman he loved to see him sweep aside and defeat the First Senior Brother she respected most.
[First Senior Brother, don't fight him head-on. His meridians are already in disarray!]
[Focus! Find where his meridians are least stable and strike there. You'll throw him off balance!] In Ye Qingyao's arms, Ye Zhenzhen summoned all her strength again and sent her thoughts out loud and clear.
In fact, during their struggle, Ye Qinghui had noticed something wrong too. After expending a great deal of spiritual power to activate the formation, Shen Xingyan's expression had gradually grown tense. His lips were pressed tight, as though he were enduring some pain within. His Swordsmanship grew faster and faster, but his eagerness to win had clearly thrown his moves into disorder.
Every Sword Move Ye Qinghui made inside the formation was slowed by invisible restraints, yet his senses grew ever sharper.
His gaze swept over his opponent like lightning. Shen Xingyan's meridians were indeed in disarray, just as Ye Zhenzhen had said. The disorder was worst around the Fengchi Acupoint.