At first, the snowflakes were barely noticeable.
But soon:
As dark clouds continued to gather and the air grew colder, the snowflakes rapidly multiplied, growing as large as goose feathers.
Snowflakes as vast as mats clothed heaven and earth in white.
At a glance, white snowflakes filled the sky, obscuring everything in sight.
Whoosh.
By now, a biting wind had begun to blow unnoticed, and bone-piercing cold assailed them like an inseparable shadow.
"This..."
The hundred thousand and more spectators exchanged bewildered looks.
Before they could react, a blizzard had completely engulfed the eighth floor, turning it into something like the glaciers and snowfields of the north.
They were all rather baffled, and a host of guesses arose as they discussed it in hushed voices.
"What is he doing?"
"No idea. Is Chen Shaojun causing this too?"
"What a spectacle! An attack covering such a huge area, almost changing the weather itself. That's a little terrifying..."
"Exactly, how much True Qi must this consume? It's frightening!"
"But isn't this wasted effort? It's just a blizzard. Why would mighty Blood Sea Realm martial artists care about that?"
Even ordinary Meridian Opening Realm martial artists, protected by True Qi, could be considered impervious to heat and cold.
Blood Sea Realm martial powerhouses had blood and vitality like blazing furnaces, along with even stronger True Qi. Their resistance to extreme weather was formidable; neither deserts nor glaciers held any fear for them.
Trying to defeat two thousand elite martial artists with a blizzard-wasn't that a fool's dream?
Inside the eighth floor:
Boom!
True Qi surged around one martial artist, shattering the snowflakes falling on him. He appeared extremely cautious.
"Watch out for a trick!"
He shouted a warning to his nearby companions.
As the [War God Tower] grew more difficult, its opponents also became increasingly intelligent. The simulated opponents on the eighth floor were already almost indistinguishable from real people in intelligence.
Boom! Boom!
One martial artist after another circulated True Qi to protect their entire bodies, shattering the incoming snowflakes and giving them no chance to touch their bodies.
There was clearly something suspicious about this blizzard. It had to be their opponent's doing.
If they carelessly fell victim to it, they would be in danger.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The martial artists cautiously formed groups, guarding against sneak attacks from Chen Qingyu while continuing their search for him.
Dozens of flying swords continued darting through the blizzard like swimming fish, attempting to find Chen Qingyu's whereabouts.
Yet soon:
The two thousand elite martial artists noticed something was wrong.
It was too cold!
After the blizzard arrived, the temperature had plunged straight to the depths of a bitter winter. Water froze the moment it was thrown, and ordinary people could freeze to death.
But it still posed no threat to Blood Sea Realm powerhouses.
So at first, they paid it little mind.
Yet the temperature kept falling, soon reaching an unbearable level.
Left with no choice, the martial artists could only circulate True Qi to protect themselves while stirring their blood and vitality to maintain their body temperature, lest they freeze to death.
But this was far from over:
Bang! Bang!
Hail soon began falling from the sky.
These hailstones were only fist-sized at first, but they quickly swelled to the size of human heads, hard as iron and tremendously powerful.
Hailstones smashed into the martial artists like iron balls, forcing them to circulate even more True Qi to protect themselves.
"Get away!"
One martial artist swung his longsword, its silver light dazzling as he cleaved the hailstones apart to avoid rapidly depleting his True Qi.
But at that moment, knives actually formed within the biting wind.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
A closer look revealed thin blades of ice, incomparably sharp, mingled with the fierce, freezing wind. They shot toward them in unison, more terrifying than a forest of spears and a rain of swords.
"Aaah!"
One martial artist screamed.
He had been hacking at the hailstones when a moment's carelessness relaxed his True Qi defenses, and an ice blade sliced open half his face.
The blood had barely spattered out before it froze solid, like translucent rubies.
"Hah!"
A powerful martial artist gave a low shout. True Qi surged around him as the two short swords in his hands whirled like a silver top, smashing all the incoming hailstones and ice blades to pieces.
But soon:
White mist, dense beyond measure, began rising, shrouding everything in sight.
The martial artists completely lost their vision and could only barely rely on sound to judge the direction and position of the hailstones and ice blades.
But that was far too difficult.
And the distance at which they could locate them was far too short.
Bang! Bang! Whoosh!
The sounds of pounding, slicing, exploding, and shattering merged together, occasionally interspersed with a scream or two.
Thick fog, blinding snow, raging winds, hailstones, ice blades...
Attacks filled heaven and earth, pouring in from every direction and overwhelming them, leaving them struggling to cope as their True Qi drained rapidly.
Had their foundations not all been forged with eight martial meridians, giving them abundant True Qi, they would likely have been blasted to bits long ago.
"This, this..."
The hundred thousand and more spectators were all stunned.
The terrifying scene before them had almost overturned their imaginations.
No one could have imagined:
A mere Blood Sea Realm martial artist could unleash attacks like a natural disaster, routing two thousand elite martial powerhouses...
Chen Shaojun was facing two thousand formidable martial artists alone, yet he actually held an overwhelming advantage?!
Anyone could see:
Unless something changed, it was only a matter of time before these two thousand martial artists were wiped out by the terrifying, disaster-like attacks.
Half a quarter of an hour later:
"Aaah!"
A piercing scream rang out.
Among the two thousand martial artists, everyone who heard that scream felt their hearts sink.
People had begun dying.
Perhaps he had consumed too much True Qi, perhaps his reaction had been a little slow, or perhaps he had been unlucky and suffered too many attacks-but such a formidable Blood Sea Realm martial artist had died just like that!
If they did not fight back, they would surely die one after another, in batch after batch!
"No!"
Someone let out a furious, defiant roar, but it was utterly futile.
What could they do against terrifying attacks that covered the entire space like a natural disaster?
How could human strength contend with a natural disaster?
Suddenly:
All the hailstones, ice blades, and snow stopped, and even the thick fog slowly began dissipating.
"This?"
Quite a few martial artists were instantly overjoyed and shouted:
"He's run out of True Qi!"
"It's our turn to fight back! Find him and kill him!"
The martial artists, whose frustration had reached its limit, immediately began shouting and roaring in excitement.
Yet no one acted rashly:
They remained clustered together, patiently waiting for the thick fog to disperse before charging out in one stroke and hacking Chen Qingyu into ten thousand pieces.
"Oh no!"
In the spectator space, someone cried out:
"Chen Shaojun has run out of True Qi!"
But a deep, booming voice suddenly burst into laughter:
"You haven't watched Chen Shaojun's previous challenges in the [War God Tower], have you?"
"His True Qi recovery speed is terrifying. Keep watching, and you'll understand!"
At these words:
Quite a few people in the spectator space immediately began talking among themselves. After a few hushed exchanges, they turned back to the scene at the center of the space.
Sure enough...
After just ten breaths, before even the thick fog had completely dispersed, snow, hailstones, blades, and raging winds swept in from every direction once more.
"No..."
One martial artist uttered a sound of utter unwillingness, a trace of despair lurking in his eyes.
"They're finished!"
In the spectator space, a heavily bearded martial artist laughed.
"Chen Shaojun is going to win!"