Atop a certain peak in Snow Lotus Peak.

Li Qingchan focused on the youthful figure in front of her. Her eyes lowered slightly as she softly said, “The art of my Snow Lotus Peak is named the Celestial Shadow Art. It is a first-class concealment technique that specializes in assasination. If the strike fails, one may flee a thousand miles in the blink of an eye, making it impossible for anyone to give chase.”

There was some surprise in Zhou Yuan’s eyes, evidently not expecting Li Qingchan to be most skillful in assasination. He had never seen her use such a Genesis technique before.

“Junior brother Zhou Yuan, if you manage to find me, it shall be your victory.”

Li Qingchan’s red lips opened slightly. In the next instant, her figure rippled faintly as it disappeared into thin air like a ghost.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes widened. To his surprise, he had been unable to sense how she had vanished in that split second.

The peak was dotted by various cliffs, giant pines that seemingly stretched towards the sky and rocks that protruded from the ground. Shadow after shadow was painted onto the earth in complete silence.

But this silence seemed to hide a killing intent.

Zhou Yuan frowned a little. He could only sense his own Genesis Qi undulations on the peak. If he had not known this was a special situation, he would have likely believed that Li Qingchan had already quietly left the area, leaving him here alone.

Vigorous Genesis Qi whizzed and spread out from Zhou Yuan’s body, feeling for even the minutest of movements.

However, Zhou Yuan was still unable to find any traces of Li Qingchan.

He fell into a thoughtful silence before Spirit power began to reach out from between his brows to comb the area inch by inch.

A long time later, Zhou Yuan realized that even his Spirit sense was unable to detect Li Qingchan’s presence, a realization that shook his heart. Was the Celestial Shadow Art really so formidable?

“The seven Cangxuan arts are indeed extraordinary.”

Zhou Yuan inwardly sighed before he slowly shut his eyes. They opened again a split second later, an ancient Saint Rune now quietly revolving in their depths.

The Decoder Saint Rune!

When the Decoder Saint Rune appeared, the world around Zhou Yuan immediately began to change. Even the tiniest stir of Genesis Qi was now clearly visible to the naked eye.

His eyes pierced all obstructions.

“Since it is called the Celestial Shadow Art, it should naturally use shadows as its medium.”

Zhou Yuan’s sharp gaze looked towards the shaded spots on the peak. Nothing, not even shadows, could hide from his sight.

However, there was still no result after searching through every shadow on the peak. This time, Zhou Yuan’s expression finally changed a little.

“How can this be?! Even the Decoder Saint Rune can’t find her?”

He soon shook his head inside. He did not believe the Decoder Saint Rune was unable to find her. Otherwise, the Celestial Shadow Art would not be a mere high-grade Heaven Genesis technique...

“But I’ve already carefully searched every shadow on the peak...”

At this thought, Zhou Yuan’s pupils suddenly shrank before he slowly lowered his head to look at the shadow below his feet. The ancient Saint Rune revolved in his pupils as he discovered something strange in his shadow.

“She’s hiding in my shadow!”

Waves rose in Zhou Yuan’s heart. However, he did not delay any further. With a sudden stomp of his foot, powerful Genesis Qi viciously rippled towards his shadow, and he reached out and grabbed at a certain spot in his shadow.

His hand seemed to reach into space itself. When pulled back out again, a fair, snow-white wrist appeared from thin air. A pretty figure quickly emerged in front of Zhou Yuan.

The figure naturally belonged to Li Qingchan.

Her face was currently filled with astonishment. She was so shocked that she was completely ignoring the fact that Zhou Yuan was tightly grabbing her wrist. A pair of bright eyes stared at Zhou Yuan in bewilderment, clearly not expecting him to so swiftly unravel her Celestial Shadow Art.

Li Qingchan could not help but ask, “How did you do it?”

Zhou Yuan smiled apologetically. “I hope you forgive me for my offense, senior sister Qingchan.”

He released her hand.

Only then did Li Qingchan see the slight bruise Zhou Yuan had left on her wrist. She gently bit her lips and deeply looked at Zhou Yuan before fishing out a jade scroll.

“You’ve won,” she said.

Zhou Yuan received the scroll and fiddled with it for a while. He had become very interested in the Celestial Shadow Art. Its concealment ability was many times greater than the Ethereal Form technique, and it would become an extremely effective means of protecting himself if he managed to learn it.

When encountering a formidable opponent he could not defeat, he would be able to use the Celestial Shadow Art to hide or escape.

Moreover, it would take a considerable amount of effort for a foe to find him. After all, even he had been forced to use the Decoder Saint Rune to discover Li Qingchan’s whereabouts.

“Thanks for giving me the win.” Grinning, Zhou Yuan cupped his fists together. He did not linger a second longer, and he flew towards Sword Cometh Peak under Li Qingchan’s complicated gaze.

Countless Cangxuan Sect disciples could not help but wet their lips when they saw Zhou Yuan descend towards Sword Cometh Peak. In less than two hours, Zhou Yuan had defeated four peaks in succession and collected four of their arts.

Zhou Yuan now had five arts in his hands, putting him on equal footing as Chu Qing. If he attained one more victory, he would become the first person in a hundred years to gather six arts.

“We’ll have to see what Sword Cometh Peak’s senior brother Kong Sheng has in store for us next.”

...

Atop a peak in Sword Cometh Peak.

Kong Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm as he extended a hand where a round azure sword orb quietly hovered.

The sword orb’s luster felt full and complete, as if it were crafted from jade.

“I believe junior brother Zhou Yuan has already seen Baili Che display the Devil Sweeping Sword Orb Art during the Genesis reservoir ceremony. However, his sword orb had barely formed back then, making it difficult for him to bring out much of its power.

“If junior brother Zhou Yuan manages to receive a sword strike from me today, I will happily offer the Devil Sweeping Sword Orb Art to you.” Sword orb in hand, Kong Sheng’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, and he was giving off an alarming aura.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Please.”

Bzz!

Kong Sheng waved his sleeve, and the sword orb slowly rose into the air. Boundless sword qi began streaming out and condensing around the orb into a three-foot-long glowing azure sword.

As the azure sword took shape, the space around it rippled faintly as sword qi tore open cracks.

Countless gashes had already been sliced open on the surrounding ground.

Kong Sheng concentrated on the glowing azure sword and flicked his finger.

Bzz!

The cry of a sword echoed across the land. A flash of blue swept past in an instant, seemingly piercing through space itself as it headed straight towards Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he waved his sleeve. A stream of golden Genesis Qi roared out like a golden serpent, accompanied by a ferocious aura, and it collided with the azure sword.

Bang bang!

The two forces clashed. However, the azure sword vibrated and cut through the stream of Genesis Qi with a soft slicing sound.

Cheers exploded from the Sword Cometh Peak disciples. This was the first time since the start of the Chosen challenge that Zhou Yuan’s attack had been stopped.

Zhou Yuan eyes faintly flickered as he gazed at the azure sword that had cut through his Genesis Qi. However, he did not choose to avoid it, but instead slowly reached out with five fingers.

The Heavenly Yuan Brush in his Qi Dwelling shuddered as snow-white hairs emerged from Zhou Yuan’s hand. They rapidly weaved together, creating a snow-white gauntlet that fully covered his fist.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Swish!

Sword light swiftly approached, tearing apart the nearby ground.

Genesis Breaker!

A shout rang out in Zhou Yuan’s heart.

The snow-white gauntlet instantly turned pitch black.

All the Genesis Qi in his body flooded out at this moment, flaring out around his body. With a piercing look in his eyes, Zhou Yuan reached out and grabbed the azure sword amidst countless shocked and horrified gazes.

Bang!

Berserk sword qi exploded, instantly shredding the surrounding boulders to dust.

Countless gazes stared at the dust-filled air. When the dust finally dissipated, Zhou Yuan’s figure appeared. He seemed to have taken several steps back, while the azure sword was nowhere to be seen.

A Sword Cometh Peak disciple cried out in alarm, “Where’s the sword orb?”

On the mountaintop, Zhou Yuan spat out a breath of air and looked towards Kong Sheng. The pitch-black gauntlet slowly unravelled, revealing the azure sword orb silently lying in Zhou Yuan’s palm.

As the black hairs swiftly disappeared, several cuts were revealed on Zhou Yuan’s hand. However, these cuts soon began to mend due to his body’s strong vitality.

Uproar!

Countless disciples were dumbstruck, especially the Sword Cometh Peak disciples whose faces were overflowing with shock.

Zhou Yuan had actually managed to grab Kong Sheng’s sword orb.

At the front of the many Sword Cometh Peak disciples, Zhao Zhu and chief disciple Baili Che looked at each other, seeing the agony in each other’s eyes. Zhou Yuan’s feat of breaking through the sword light and grabbing the sword orb was already more than enough evidence of how terrifyingly powerful he was.

The very same new chief disciple they had once felt unworthy of his position had now surpassed all of them.

But this time they were fully convinced.

On the mountain top, Zhou Yuan released the sword orb, allowing it to fly back to Kong Sheng before Kong Sheng swallowed it back into his abdomen. His expression was somewhat complicated as he silently looked at Zhou Yuan. In the end, he did not say anything and threw over a jade scroll.

“Junior brother Zhou Yuan, you’ve won.

“Go then. As long as you defeat your final opponent, Chu Qing, you will create a legend. Ever since the Cangxuan Sect was established, there has yet to be a disciple who has succeeded in gathering all seven arts through the Chosen challenge...”

Zhou Yuan received the jade scroll and nodded. He raised his head under the countless watching gazes and looked towards the final peak in the distance.

A figure was seated atop the peak, looking right back at him.

Their gazes clashed as seriousness filled their eyes.

Every disciple in the Cangxuan Sect watched on with bated breaths...

One was the former strongest disciple in the Cangxuan Sect...

The other was the current strongest disciple in the Cangxuan Sect...

The climax of the highly anticipated Chosen challenge was finally about to begin.