The two groups consisting of 10 people each faced each other in silence, the team from Ocean God's Pavilion favouring a triangular formation where their strongest member took the lead. The opposing team was a bit wary of Yin Long, especially when it came to that unknown backing he had that forced even the elders here to treat him rather favourably.
But no matter what, this was still an officially recognized tournament, not even a Province Emperor could be too rampant, otherwise, he would be condemned by the other Province Emperors. So no matter how great his hidden backing was, as long as they didn't kill him then there shouldn't be anything that the opposing party could do to them without receiving a strong backlash.
The 10 of them hardened their hearts while making mental notes that they couldn't aim for Yin Long's vitals unless it was a matter of life or death. And with their minds made up, they sprung into action and unleashed their energy in a resplendent show of colours. Their achievements here would influence their future teammates and some of the treatment they would receive during the actual Three-Fold Territory clash, no one was willing to hold back unless it became truly vital.
The first one to act was the female cultivator at the 8th Immortal Door, she worked together with the cultivators at the 2nd and 5th Immortal Door to erect a transparent shield of ice around their entire group. The defensive shield rose almost instantly, the tip of their triangular formation springing into action at the same time.
The man at the 9th Immortal Door pushed his palm forward in a simple motion, the stone stage in front of him rising up into a stony wave that rushed towards Yin Long's group. The remaining six members within the defensive shield also launched their attacks, but they focused more on the sides of Yin Long's team, spreading out their attacks enough to make it hard for the front to block them all.
But while the scattering of the attacks made them harder to block, it also left gaps between them that made it easier to dodge them all. Kuan Xiao waved his hand to the other members of the group and gave them a quick order, a two-metre-long sword appearing in his grasp as he stepped forward and faced the stone wave.
"Dodge and spread out, focusing on taking down the ice shield while I handle their spearhead!"
No one at the peak of the Immortal Door realm was simple, some of them were so strong that they could defeat cultivators at the 8th Immortal Door with a single hand. As such, there was no way he could let the others in his team deal with the opposing 9th Immortal Door cultivator, he had to take care of him on his own so that his entire team wasn't wiped.
Kuan Xiao grasped the long and thick sword with both hands and smashed it down onto the wave, a ripple running through the stone as it was forcibly hardened and brought to a halt. Yin Long and the eight others charged out at this moment, dashing through the openings between the other attacks.
Their group's 8th Immortal Door cultivator was among their three defensive-based cultivators, and while this gave them much better survivability in most fights, it also limited their damaging capabilities. And in this fight where the enemy was surrounded by a shield made by three cultivators, they would need every ounce of offence that they could dig out.
Bai Mu was easily the fastest person present thanks to his law of light, he managed to reach the frozen shield before anyone else. But two attacks were aimed at him the moment he got close to the shield, even the stone stage beneath his feet was moved slightly to disrupt his balance. Kuan Xiao was already launching a counterattack against the other 9th Immortal Door cultivator, but the frozen shield only revealed several large cracks, allowing the other cultivator to casually target the stone beneath Bai Mu so that he couldn't dodge as easily.
This was how they had fought and won all of their matches so far, it would be too hard for the enemy team to focus enough power on one spot since they were continuously forced to scatter around under all the attacks. Of course, the fact that Kuan Xiao was a 9th Immortal Door cultivator more geared towards defence than offence with his law of hardening made things much smoother for them.
But their victory wasn't assured yet, and looking at the 8th Immortal Door realm cultivator saving Bai Mu just as the two attacks were to hit him, their enemy clearly had yet to give up just because of this frozen shield. And sure enough, Yin Long reached the other side of the frozen pyramid while Bai Mu was being saved, the stone sword in his grasp flashing out as sharp energy gathered at the tip.
Yin Long had the second-lowest cultivation out of everyone present, but the team from Ocean God's Pavilion knew that they couldn't belittle him just because of that. As a result, the 9th Immortal Door cultivator flicked his finger and sent out some of his energy, the law of stone concentrated in that bit of energy quickly hijacking the stone Yin Long had used to form his sword.
Yin Long immediately felt his control over the sword slipping, the stone within it revolting as it tried to shatter the control that his soul had over it. His brows furrowed as a result, the stone sword quickly vanishing as it was stored into his soulsea. Dissipating his swords was fine, but he couldn't allow them to shatter, his soul would be wounded somewhat every time a sword of his shattered.
But he didn't pull back his arm despite the lack of a weapon, his pupils merely moved to the side for a second. It was a signal no one else would understand, only the person who had been watching him for several years would be able to even notice such a small movement. And sure enough, a thick gust of Qi tinged with the scent of crushing rushed over to him from the approaching Lan Yun.
He allowed his own soul to surge out and surround the gust of Qi, forming a large translucent greatsword that was so thick it was basically blunt. He stomped the ground to halt his forward momentum, leaning his torso back and giving his body a slight twist while transferring the momentum into his swinging sword. An attack was launched from beyond the wall, but the earth beneath the stage rose up and blocked it thanks to Lan Yun.
Thanks to Lan Yun protecting him, Yin Long was able to complete his spin, the centre of his forehead cracking open and pulsating faintly as he drew upon the yellow energy in his soul. The energy gathered in the tip of the large greatsword just as it slammed into the frozen shield, Yin Long's hands going numb as a thunderous crashing sound echoed out.
The frozen shield revealed a large crack that penetrated through over half of the shield, mainly thanks to the fact that the power was far more concentrated and offensive than Kuan Xiao's attack. But it wasn't able to pierce through entirely, the crack quickly repairing itself as the three cultivators in charge of the shield poured their energy into it.
Yin Long moved back as three more attacks were launched from within the pyramid, Lan Yun blocking one while two of Yin Long's other team members blocked a second one. The third one was the weakest and was thus left to him, it was launched by the 1st Immortal Door cultivator so he only had to stretch out his hand and let his soul surge out.
The attack contained the law of wind, so the wind-based sword he stored in his soulsea rushed out just as he was using the incoming attack to form a new sword. The slightly curved cyan sword greedily absorbed the sword that was about to form, strengthening itself while Yin Long raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected a turn of events like this, but it was rather favourable since it increased the speed at which this sword got stronger so he wouldn't complain.
His first attack had failed, but Yin Long wasn't discouraged, he had already thought of a possible way to break through the shield. He glanced sideways and made sure that Kuan Xiao was still holding down most of the attacks from the other 9th Immortal Door cultivator, stopping any of his larger attacks by using his law of hardening.
He might not be able to attack the other cultivator, but stopping his attacks while also launching a few attacks against the frozen wall to drain the other side's energy was something he was fully capable of. And with the main threat being handled by their own team leader, Yin Long felt rather confident in his conjecture. He whispered to the two team members who had just blocked an attack for him, signalling Lan Yun at the same time.
"Help me inform the others, if they can shield me and give me a clear path to the pyramid, I have at least an 80% chance of weakening the shield."
The two team members looked at him with rather incredulous expressions, but they knew that he was a tad special. His attacks were also highly offensive and concentrated, so they felt that he probably wasn't just toying with them. They quickly transmitted the message to the rest of the team, who converged on the same side of the pyramid as Yin Long.
The opposing team could easily see that they were planning something and proceeded to launch attack after attack. But Yin Long had an 8th Immortal Door cultivator who focused on a defensive law present, he alone could easily deal with three attacks as long as they weren't too far away from each other. Lan Yun and the five others were more than capable of handling the remaining three attacks, Bai Mu forced to remain in the back since he was the weakest out of everyone.
As a result, there was no one that could stop Yin Long from charging at the shield again, Kuan Xiao giving up on attacking and putting all his focus on blocking even the smallest attacks launched by the other 9th Immortal door cultivator. Yin Long stretched out his arm again as he approached the frozen pyramid, the translucent sword made from the law of crushing appearing in his grasp.
He shrunk the sword down to a more normal size that could be wielded with one hand, his forehead cracking open once more as he drew upon the yellow energy. Waves of energy surged through him in tune with the pulsating of the crack, his veins starting to bloat and crack since they weren't able to handle the influx of energy.
He lashed out with his right arm, the tip of the sword releasing a bright yellow light as it slashed towards the frozen wall. But his left hand opened at the same time, Bai Mu understanding the signal since he had already heard the plan. Bai Mu sent his own Qi forward, a resplendent beam of light appearing by Yin Long's hand so quickly that only a handful of the people present were even able to see how it moved.
And Yin Long grasped the light and engulfed it with his soul, a golden sword appearing in his hand just as the translucent sword collided with the frozen wall. It once again tore open a large crack, the momentum in it was smaller, but the amount of yellow energy was greater so the crack was about the same size as previously.
The three cultivators responsible for maintaining the wall didn't have the chance to repair the crack before Yin Long's golden sword cut forward, the tip touching the end of the crack. The crack on Yin Long's own forehead pulsated once, the golden sword unleashing a brilliant flash of light.
The frozen wall was translucent and thus made it easy for light to pass through, it was just that the thick amount of Qi in the wall prevented Bai Mu's law of light from moving all the way through. But Yin Long was at a higher cultivation realm than Bai Mu, and coupled with the yellow energy and the fact that he had already opened a crack in the wall, the light unleashed by his sword could pass through the frozen wall. One sword shattered their defence while the other pierced through the gap, a very standard and somewhat crude dual-wielding technique.
The light reached the 5th Immortal Door cultivator who was working with the two others to maintain the wall, moving across his right hand and part of his stomach before it dissipated. His fingers immediately fell to the ground, the end of the stumps charred black and sizzling so that not even a drop of blood fell. A gash also appeared on his stomach, the cultivator immediately spewing out a torrent of blood as he fell to the ground with a drowned out screech.
One of the three pillars of the walls, the second-largest pillar nonetheless, was immediately taken out of the contest. Not only had he put all his concentration on maintaining the wall, but the attack that hit him was also one that contained an exalted law enhanced by another unknown law.
With one of only three pillars missing, the frozen wall immediately became a whole level weaker, the corners of Kuan Xiao's lips turning up. He grasped his greatsword with both hands and brought it down on the wall with all his might, massive cracks immediately covering the entire pyramid.
The other 9th Immortal Door cultivator launched an attack, but the attack had too large of a range so it was easy for Kuan Xiao to block it before he lashed out with another attack. The frozen pyramid was unable to handle another attack after losing one of its pillars, it fell apart into small fragments that danced in the light of the sun.
The other 9th Immortal Door cultivator might be strong, but he couldn't help the others with the wall since he didn't focus on the law of ice, his best bet had been obstructing Kuan Xiao. But that had failed, and now his entire team was exposed, one of them already lying face down on the ground with blood flowing from his hand and the gash in his stomach.
They had lost one of their greatest cards while the enemy team still had their full strength, the enemy team also had more offensive-based cultivators than his own so a prolonged battle was not in their favour. The man knew the best course of action and glanced back at his bleeding teammate one more time, gritting his teeth before he lowered his hands.
"We admit defeat!"
A small disadvantage would quickly stack up in a battle like this, and if he tallied for too long then there was a chance that his bleeding teammate might just die there on the ground. It would be better to forfeit this match and do all they could to mend their teammate's wounds for the next fight. The rest of his team was a bit unwilling, but they knew that the leader was going with the best plan of action so they went along with his decision.
And as they left the stage, more than a few gazes landed on Yin Long, some shocked and some bitter. They hadn't expected that his strength would jump to another level entirely once he stopped hiding his cards, he hadn't even used his law of space. And with that strange ability to form swords, they had to be careful with every attack they launched in his direction, otherwise he would just take them over and add them to his arsenal.
Yin Long didn't bother with the surrounding gazes and stored away his two new swords, they would definitely be a great help to him in the future, especially the sword formed from the law of light. Having actually used it, Yin Long discovered that the light contained within Bai Mu's law of light was far purer than any normal light, it seemed to be a completely different type of existence.
One example was the scorching it had left behind after it cut off the fingers of the other cultivator, the law of light shouldn't exhibit such fierce heat. He turned his head to glance at Bai Mu as they descended the stage, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. The more he learned of this person, the more interested he became in him.
Taverius· Aug 21, 2020
