Chapter 357: Lightning Essence Art

Translator: podao001

“Yes. The two of them are at the same level. However, his opponent’s fleshly body is too strong. Additionally, the amount of primary energy within his opponent’s body is abnormally high. More importantly, he is cultivating a very overbearing cultivation technique. Even the staff in his hand is a very good Prized artefact. It seems Brother Li will not be able to hold on for much longer,” Chen Feng said.

As expected, after ten more clashes, another swing from the opponent’s staff caused the weapon in Li Lang’s hand to fall while his body flinched. Li Lang could not stop his body from flying backwards.

“So? Do you still want to continue?” the disciple said with a serious tone.

“No need. I’ve lost.” Li Lang was quick to throw in the towel. He knew that he was no match for this disciple.

After Li Lang was Luo Kong. Luo Kong had lost to Jian Kongming last time. However, since his cultivation base was lower than Jian Kongming, he had another chance to participate.

This time, Luo Kong was very lucky. His opponent was a disciple at level 2 of the Sky Human stage. Not long after their match began, Luo Kong’s Great Splitter Sword Technique sent the disciple flying. Luo Kong easily won his match.

Next, however, Shui Yan encountered a problem.

Shui Yan’s cultivation base at level 3 of the Sky Human stage could already be considered decent in the Grand Competition. However, his opponent for this round was a disciple who utilized the five elements.

After a fierce battle, the two of them were mutually wounded. In the end, the two of them lay on the ground, incapable of getting up anymore. The supervising elders determined that their fight had ended with a draw. Then, after a round of deliberation by several of the elders there, they decided that the two of them made it through to the next round. Even so, judging by their wounds, it would be hard for them to fully recover before their next matches.

After the result was announced, Chen Feng and Zhou You quickly brought Shui Yan back. After treating him for a while, Shui Yan woke up.

“Phew! My soul is already wounded from this fight. I don’t think I can participate in the next match,” Shui Yan said with a bitter smile.

“Brother Shui, don’t worry. I have enough demonic soul stones on me,” said Chen Feng, who brought out a small pile of demonic soul stones.

Meanwhile, Zhou You brought out some medicinal pills.

“These medicinal pills can also restore soul power. Hopefully, you can recover as much as possible before your next match,” Zhou You said.

Next up was Zhou You. His opponent was Zhao Yizhan.

“It’s Zhao Yizhan!” Luo Kong said.

“Zhao Yizhan is the strongest disciple that Extreme Celestial Hall sent forth for this competition. His strength is very high. There is probably no chance for Brother Zhou this match.” Luo Kong sighed.

Chen Feng had been paying attention to these experts during the first three rounds. Zhao Yizhan gave Chen Feng the impression of someone who hid his abilities very well. In every one of his matches, Zhao Yizhan would fight his opponent for some time before winning, seemingly by a hair’s breadth without revealing his true strength. However, Chen Feng was not the only one to have noticed that. The other disciples had also realized that.

“I have heard that Zhao Yizhan cultivates the Lightning Essence Art. Even by sect standards, it is a high-level magic technique that the likes of us don’t even have the qualifications to cultivate. In the first three rounds, Zhao Yizhan did not reveal his true strength. This time, however, we should be able to see some clues,” Luo Kong said.

Seeing Zhao Yizhan step forward, almost all the spectating cultivators turned their attention towards him. The eyes of Gui Lanhai, Fu Yue and the others lit up. Clearly, these elites amongst the elites considered Zhao Yizhan as their greatest opponent.

After entering the arena, Zhou You’s silvery-white hair immediately billowed upwards and the Asura Blade in his hand began radiating with a dazzling electrical luminescence.

“A grade 6 Prized artefact, Asura Blade. Not bad. It is worthy of facing my true strength. Make your move, then,” Zhao Yizhan said with a smile.

Zhao Yizhan’s stature was not too big and no atmosphere emerged from his body. And yet, he was able to bring about a faint feeling of oppression upon Zhou You. Zhou You understood that he was facing a truly formidable opponent.

Shua!

The Asura Blade seemingly hacked straight down and arrived before Zhao Yizhan.

Zhou You had attacked.

Zhou You’s family had quite the foundation. Although it was not as big as Extreme Celestial Sect, it was still much stronger compared to those smaller, second-rate sects.

The Asura Blade in Zhou You’s hand was his family’s legacy Prized artefact. After Zhou You entered Extreme Celestial Sect, the blade was officially given to Zhou You.

A grade 6 Prized artefact. If Zhou You could fully unleash its power, he could dominate a considerable territory within the world of cultivation.

Bang!

A clump of lightning abruptly exploded and Zhou You felt his hand stiffening. Surprisingly, his opponent had caught the Asura Blade with his bare hands.

At that very moment, Zhao Yizhan had both palms pressed together to hold the Asura Blade tightly in place. Lightning bolts roared out from his palms and he was able to block Zhou You’s attack with his hands alone.

“A good blade,” Zhao Yizhan said with a smile.

“Is that so?” Zhou You replied. Next, the Asura Blade in his hand abruptly unleashed a high number of lightning bolts. Surprisingly, there was a high number of lightning bolts hidden within the Asura Blade. The sudden emergence of the eye-piercing lightning bolts forced those spectators with lesser cultivation bases to close their eyes.

Sou!

Zhao Yizhan hastily backed away, but the Asura Blade in Zhou You’s hand fired out a thick bolt of lightning at Zhao Yizhan.

Bang!

The attack struck Zhao Yizhan. At the same time, lightning bolts wrapped up Zhao Yizhan’s body.

“Great!” Luo Mingdao and some others uttered, feeling pleasantly surprised.

“Something is not right.” Chen Feng’s brows furrowed slightly.

“Yes, something is not right,” Luo Kong said.

Zhao Yizhan flipped a few times and landed on the ground. The lightning bolts around him grew more violent.

“Don’t you know that I am cultivating the Lightning Essence Art?” Zhao Yizhan said, stretching his palm out. The power of lightning swiftly condensed upon his palm. Soon enough, a ball of lightning spun upon his palm.

“Such pure Sky Lightning!” the elders in the stands praised. Although the move appeared simplistic, the experts there could observe the extraordinary aspects behind the move.

Zhou You had originally wanted to execute a flurry of ferocious attacks. The Mad Asura Blade that he practiced was an aggressive technique, after all. However, when Zhao Yizhan revealed the ball of lightning, Zhou You was immediately visited by a strong sense of crisis.

The origin of that sensation of crisis was none other than the swiftly spinning ball of lightning on Zhao Yizhan’s hand.

“Zhao Yizhan is going to use the Lightning Essence Art!” said a bright-eyed, young woman within the stands. She exuded a highly feminine aura.

This female cultivator attracted the attention of countless gazes. She was none other than Five Elemental Hall’s Fu Yue. She was also the older sister of the core disciple, Fu Ming. She was a cultivation genius with a Heaven-defying cultivation talent.

“Zhao Yizhan is using the Lightning Essence Art so quickly? Looks like he wants to swiftly end the fight. He probably made this decision so that his opponents cannot figure out his true cultivation state,” said the handsome cultivator beside her, a smile on his face.

The handsome cultivator was the Club Leader of Five Elemental Hall, Mu Lingfeng. As the leader of Five Elemental Hall, he had numerous subordinates and an immeasurably high cultivation base. He was a very powerful character.

“This Zhou You is quite strong. Additionally, his companions have roughly the same level of strength as him. I hear that the other groups already have their eyes on them. Should our Five Elemental Hall extend a show of goodwill towards him?” Fu Yue said smilingly.

“Very well. When the time is right, extend some goodwill. Those few people could already be considered as geniuses. It would be a pity if Extreme Celestial Hall manages to recruit them. Still, it doesn’t seem like they have any intentions of joining any group,” Mu Lingfeng said.

“By the way, what do you think about Chen Feng?” Fu Yue suddenly said.

“He has talent and a strong backer. It would be good if we can recruit him over. However, he managed to offend the Zhao Family so soon after joining the sect. If it were not for the protection of Sage Enigma Flame, hey, hey, he would be faced with a troubling end,” Mu Lingfeng said with a chuckle.

“Let’s finish this fight with this one move,” Zhao Yizhan said with a smile.

“Ha ha ha! Are you looking down on me?” Zhou You appeared offended.

The Asura Blade hacked forward fiercely and a tempest immediately broke out as a huge blade beam shot towards Zhao Yizhan.

In the face of the incoming attack, Zhao Yizhan stretched out his other hand. The five fingers on his hand grasped and the space before him twisted, causing the blade beam to shatter immediately.

Next, Zhao Yizhan swung his other hand and the spinning ball of lightning rapidly arrived before Zhou You. Immediately, Zhou You could feel the formidable Sky Lightning within the ball. The atmosphere it radiated caused all the hair on his body to stand on end.

“Such powerful Sky Lightning! It is actually a match for the grade of my Asura Blade! How is this possible?” Zhou You blurted out in shock.

Pa!

A booming sound erupted as the ball of lightning exploded and expanded to form two lightning domes, which engulfed Zhou You.

Zhi! Zhi! Zhi! Zhi! Zhi! Zhi!

The interior of the lightning domes was instantly filled with bolts of lightning and Zhou You, who was trapped within it, had to endure an agonizing time. It did not take long for the bolts of Sky Lightning to knock him down. Strands of his silvery hair stood erect as his face was contorted. A scorched scent rose up from his body.

Zhao Yizhan stretched out his hand again and the bolts of Sky Lightning enveloping Zhou You’s body rapidly converged into a clumped ball before flowing back into Zhao Yizhan’s palm.

After just one breath’s worth of time, Zhou You got up again, labouring hard as he did. However, his whole body was paralyzed and he no longer had the strength to do battle.

“Thank you for showing mercy.” Zhou You laboured to cup his fists. Then, with a sigh, he walked out of the arena.

Earlier, if it were not for his Asura Blade, which had taken part of the damage for him, Zhou You would have been knocked unconscious.

“Brother Zhou, are you all right?” Chen Feng rushed forward to support Zhou You. He could sense stiffness within every part of Zhou You’s body. His body had yet to recover from the Sky Lightning attacks.

“It’s fine. I will be able to recover quickly. This Zhao Yizhan is really strong,” Zhou You said, shaking his head.

“What do you think?” Mu Lingfeng said with a smile.

“Very powerful. He has likely cultivated the Lightning Essence Art up to the minor success phase. However, relying on the Lightning Essence Art alone will not allow him to get first place,” said Fu Yue, after a moment’s consideration.

The next one was Chen Feng. His opponent was Yuan Shan.

Seeing Yuan Shan’s name appear on the huge jade stone, Chen Feng was taken aback.

“It’s Yuan Shan? What a coincidence! Is there something wrong with this selection?” Chen Feng could not stop himself from uttering.

“Of course not. The names of all the participating disciples have been placed inside the jade stone. All the matches are randomly decided,” said Luo Kong, who was beside him.

“If that is the case, this will be interesting.” After saying that, Chen Feng stepped into the arena. By then, Yuan Shan was already standing inside the arena, waiting for him.

“He he! It has been a while. Senior Brother Yuan, you look as graceful as ever,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“Ha ha! I didn’t think I would get to fight you. This is truly unexpected. However, this is good. It just so happens I was feeling worried that I might not get the chance to deal with you.” Yuan Shan gritted his teeth and an icy light glinted off his eyes.