Chapter 2626 - Defeated, Yet Standing Tall

Divine flames swept outward. The skies were as bright as midday.

The formation had barely trapped Su Yi before he broke through it.

No one could have imagined that the Ten Thousand Refinements Golden Crow Formation, a weapon capable of killing everyone beneath the Eternal Level, would break so easily.

More than that, they would never have guessed that even working together, they couldn’t so much as suppress Su Yi. On the contrary, Su Yi just turned around and broke the formation in a single slash!

All of this deeply astonished everyone present.

“I said it earlier, didn’t I? No matter how highly you appraise Su Yi’s abilities, it won’t be too much. Do you... understand now?” said the little girl, her eyes like twin abysses.

The crowd fell silent, their expressions solemn.

“He’s injured, but it isn’t serious. Still, that proves that he isn’t undefeatable,” said the little girl. She raised and stretched out her arm.

Boom!

A spear condensed out of the power of the natural order. It was over ten feet long.

When the girl took hold of it, her aura silently transformed, becoming colder and more terrifying.

Su Yi watched from a distance, his expression showing neither joy nor sorrow. He just walked through the sky and attacked directly.

He didn’t say so much as a single word. He hadn’t spoken since the battle first began.

Clang!

Radiant sword qi exploded into being and descended upon the little girl.

This attack was simple and clean, without the slightest flourish, as natural as could be.

Yet it was so powerful that the gathered experts held their breath, and their hair stood on end.

Bang!!

The little girl thrust her spear, shattering the incoming sword qi inch by inch.

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. The spear was far stronger than he’d predicted!

As a rain of light scattered, the little girl said coldly, “Starting now, act in accordance with our earlier plan!”

Whoosh!

Before her voice had even finished echoing through the air, she took a step forward. Markings of the natural order surged around her slender frame, soaring into the firmament. Her presence transformed once more.

Meanwhile, a group of experts of the New World Alliance took action. There were eighteen of them in total, all of them Eternal avatars of will!

They shifted through space, all of them taking different positions and drawing mysterious golden talismans.

The markings emanated dazzling golden Eternal light. As the Eternals poured their power into the talismans, their power connected, forming a combat formation.

The formation blanketed the entire stretch of heaven and earth, sealing off all of Su Yi’s possible escape routes.

Most wondrous of all, the eighteen Eternals’ avatars’ combined power formed a combat domain entirely under the little girl’s control.

The girl might have looked like just one person, but in truth, she was controlling the full extent of the eighteen Eternal avatars’ power!

That was naturally incomparably terrifying.

Su Yi saw through the formation’s secrets at a glance, but he wasn’t surprised.

Combat formations were a way of placing troops in a way that combined their power, fusing it into one. That way, they could erupt with unimaginable power.

The formation itself didn’t surprise Su Yi, but the fact that eighteen Eternals were letting that little girl control their power did. It was immediately obvious how lofty and extraordinary her position among Lu Shi’s allies was.

Boom!

As Su Yi's thoughts raced, the little girl shot through the air and thrust her spear at him.

Its edge was dull, plain, and without luster, but wherever it went, it seemed to break through the fetters of time and space, inverting light and shadow. It looked slow, but it reached Su Yi’s forehead practically instantaneously, so fast it was downright shocking.

Su Yi had long since been prepared for this, but even so, there was no time to respond. All he could do was rely on instincts honed over years of combat.

Clang!!!

The Sword of Proximity shook. Its blade curved on impact with the spear.

That tyrannical force pushed Su Yi back.

Before he could steady himself, the little girl attacked in natural, sweeping movements. When her spear landed, it seemed intent on exploding both heaven and earth.

This attack was even more tyrannical than the last. She wasn’t giving Su Yi any time to steady himself or catch his breath.

The gathered experts felt chills course down their spines, Their hearts palpitated with fright. They couldn’t possibly have blocked such an attack!

But it was then that Su Yi’s still unsteady figure straightened. His wrist turned, and his sword drew a circle in midair.

Weng!

A perfectly round sword curtain condensed, like a never-ending cycle of reincarnation, or like an entrance to an abyss hovering in midair.

It seemed unassailable and unbreakable. It was no exaggeration to say that a False Eternal could have attacked with all his might and still failed to even shake the sword curtain.

Yet the sword curtain broke like paper window paneling beneath the little girl’s spear.

Bang!

Su Yi was forced back once more.

The little girl didn’t relent. She shifted through the sky, her spear like a beam of flowing light.

Her first attack was a thrust, her second, a chop. Both were simple as could be, yet full of overwhelming force.

When she launched her third strike, it seemed she’d split heaven and earth in two.

Su Yi felt intense pressure and a lethal threat bearing down on him. Countless knives seemed to slice at his skin, producing stinging pain.

He didn’t even need to think to know that if he tried to block passively, he’d lose without a doubt!

“Go!” Su Yi’s thoughts raced, and his cultivation base erupted like a volcano. He swung the Sword of Proximity through the air, his attacks every bit as simple as his opponent’s.

Boom!

Heaven and earth swayed, and the sky was thrown into chaos.

When Su Yi’s slash clashed with the little girl’s spear, the sky collapsed between them, the earth sank, and a terrifying current of destructive power swept outward, crushing the seemingly endless Borderless Mountain.

The destructive power didn’t reach the eighteen Eternal avatars powering the formation. Even so, they were visibly startled.

Bang!!

Su Yi was sent flying once more. Blood sprayed from the fingers holding the Sword of Proximity, staining the hilt red.

He’d been badly injured!

But... This only stimulated his will to fight. It had been a long, long time since he’d last encountered such a dangerous, terrifying opponent!

His aura transformed once more. Glittering, crystalline sword intent rose from every pore.

His heart, soul, body, cultivation base, and powers of the Grand Dao all seemed to boil as they fused fully into his attainments in the Dao of the Sword.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Boom!!!

The little girl didn’t hold back, instead attacking once more, quick as lightning, swinging her spear like a whip.

Her eyes were utterly cold, her little face utterly indifferent. As a spirit of the natural order, she lacked human emotions.

When she attacked, nothing could sway or distract her. That naturally made her attacks utterly fierce and terrifying.

Clang!

The Sword of Proximity let out an impassioned hum.

Su Yi swung his sword and clashed with her head-on, but he was sent flying once more. His skin tore, staining his robes red.

But his eyes only shone all the brighter, like divine flames igniting over burning lava.

The little girl was entirely unmoved. She swung her spear, fast as the wind, and attacked once more.

For a while, every time she attacked, she forced Su Yi back. He was completely on the passive, his wounds piling on and his robes increasingly drenched with blood.

Off in the distance, Taishu Gong and the other higher-ups watched solemnly. They didn’t jeer, nor did they lower their guards. On the contrary, Su Yi’s performance astonished them.

They couldn’t even imagine how Su Yi was managing to hold on!

Remember, he wasn’t just up against the little girl. He was effectively fighting eighteen Eternal avatars, too!

They’d come together in a combat formation with the little girl at its head, making them all the more lethal. They could have easily eradicated any False Eternal around.

But Su Yi still hadn’t been defeated. He looked wretched, sure, and his wounds were rapidly piling on, but he was still fighting!

His stubbornness filled many of the onlookers with a complicated mix of emotions. Even those who hated Su Yi to the bone had to admit that he was a powerful enemy, one they couldn’t bring themselves to insult!

Suddenly, the little girl said, “If you think you can break through during our battle, you’re dreaming.”

As she spoke, she swung her spear and attacked with one hand. With the other, she gestured to the sky. “In the present-day God Domain, those who hope to prove their Daos and achieve Eternity must first find an opportunity on the River of Destiny. This is an ironclad rule.

“Before the battle began, Dao Venerate Lu Shi and the others joined forces to obscure time and space between the Borderless Mountain and the River of Destiny.

“That means that no one, no matter who they are, can seize the opportunity they need to break through, no matter their strength and foundations.

“The opportunities... are nowhere to be found!”

Her voice boomed throughout the entire area.

Only now did the gathered experts realize that Dao Venerate Lu Shi was assisting from the River of Destiny, severing Su Yi’s hopes of a breakthrough!

The crowd felt deeply reassured. They all knew that Su Yi had broken through mid-battle on numerous occasions in the past. Each time, he’d pulled off a miraculous comeback.

But now, he couldn’t possibly pull it off!

This made it immediately obvious how meticulously Dao Venerate Lu Shi and his allies had prepared to defeat Su Yi.

Su Yi took this in calmly, his expression never wavering.

The little girl was telling the truth, but... Although she had no way of knowing it, he’d never sought external breakthroughs in his pursuit of the Grand Dao. Instead, he sought breakthroughs within himself!

This was a path of self-transformation. When no path lay before him, he’d swing his sword and create one!

There were no opportunities to be found on the River of Destiny, but that didn’t matter to Su Yi in the slightest.

Naturally, the little girl’s words didn’t affect him in the slightest.

The little girl obviously noticed that her words hadn’t had any impact, and she found it confusing. Still, she didn’t say anything. She just attacked with ever greater intensity.

Kaboom!

The battle raged with increasing intensity. The little girl forced Su Yi back repeatedly. All he could do was hold on.

It was immediately obvious who was stronger, but the little girl didn’t relax in the slightest. On the contrary, she attacked with renewed ferocity.

Because...

Even now, Su Yi had yet to reveal his hidden cards. How could the little girl possibly have gotten complacent?