Chapter 1017: The Strongest Shield Against The Sharpest Blade

Tang San's move was very simple: He crouched. That was it. A move that absolutely caught all the spectators off guard.

As he crouched, his forehead glowed for an instant, and then a black barrier appeared before him. Because of his crouching position, the black barrier completely covered his body. The next moment, the World-Sundering Sword was upon him.

CLANGGGGGGGG!!!

A terrifying collision sound instantly turned into an unparalleled shockwave that erupted throughout the arena.

The shockwave caused the very space inside the arena to twist. The terrifying vibrations shook the protective barrier violently, creating countless ripples that left the spectators unable to see what was happening within the arena.

The darkened sky gradually cleared, but under the impact of that fierce soundwave, the protective shield continued to ripple and tremble. Only after quite a while did the ripples gradually fade away.

What a powerful strike!

The spectators were in utter shock. The phenomenon caused by this sword was even stronger and fiercer than what Qiu Zixuan had produced in the previous two matches.

Is that guy dead? Was he chopped in half, just like that?

When that sword strike fell just now, there had clearly been no sign of the Sunborne Nymph Emperor intervening. And without the referee's protection, wouldn't that mean certain death?

But when the ripples of the protective barrier finally faded and revealed the scene on the battle platform, all the spectators showed expressions of pure astonishment.

Qiu Zixuan seemed as if he had never moved at all. He was still standing where he had been at the beginning, but his black sword was trembling slightly—because the hand holding it was trembling. His face also looked somewhat pale.

More importantly, he'd always shown a perfectly plain expression of imperturbable calm, yet at this moment, he actually looked a bit dazed.

And opposite him, the one who the spectators believed should have been destroyed by that sword's sky-rending brilliance... was still standing as well.

Yes, Jin Miaolin was still there.

The platform around him was covered with cracks and pits, but he was still alive, still standing—well, still crouching—and very much not cleaved in twain. Propped against him, there was now a massive shield. The shield was pitch black, and rather than shining with divine light, it seemed to actually absorb the light around it, but just by being there, it gave a sense of immense solidity.

What the.... HE BLOCKED IT?!?!

Ning Chen'en hadn't even returned to his VIP pavilion; he was still standing outside to watch the match. Since matches involving the World-Sundering Sword usually ended quickly, he wanted to see how Tang San would fail, or even die.

But what did he see? His jaw nearly dropped.

Blocked... it? He... he fucking... blocked it....

He could hardly believe his eyes. That unbelievably powerful World-Sundering Sword of Qiu Zixuan had actually been blocked by this guy from the Blue Gold Tree clan?

What is tha... OH.

Suddenly, Ning Chen'en remembered. He knew what

that

was.

At the auction, a Dark Turtle Shield had been sold at a price that wasn't particularly high. A divine shield that apparently wouldn't accept a master no matter what and could not be activated to see what its other abilities were. The description at the time simply said it was so tough that even Emperors couldn't break it, but no one could properly wield it due to its immense weight.

At that time, he himself had even participated in the bidding, but in the end, he'd given up. Jin Miaolin ended up buying it, and everyone thought it was just the Blue Gold Tree wastrel fooling around.

But at this moment, Tang San had both hands on that massive shield, propping it on the ground, and... as it turned out, he had actually relied on that shield to block the World-Sundering Sword.

Other than finding it inconceivable, Ning Chen'en truly couldn't think of anything else.

Are you for fuckin real??

And the spectators were even more dumbfounded. From the shield in Tang San's hands, they all naturally understood what had happened. In that moment, even the weakest of spectators instinctively thought,

I could've done that too!

Due to his later and far more extravagant bids, everyone had already forgotten what Tang San had initially bought at the mega-auction. And in this match, the power of well-invested wealth had once again come into play. The Amethystine Warrior had once again proven the wisdom of his auction purchases.

After using the Sword Saint Demon Emperor statue to attack others, this man had now used the Dark Turtle Shield to block the terrifying attack of the World-Sundering Sword.

The expression of the Sunborne Nymph Emperor was also very... interesting. Without using the Scourge Dragon, just using this shield—one he himself had tried but couldn't activate—Tang San had blocked the World-Sundering Sword.

Why did he crouch? Was it because he couldn't bear the weight of the shield? That made sense; this Dark Turtle Shield was so heavy that even Emperors with lesser physiques found it difficult to wield. Who would have thought that Tang San would actually pull it out at this moment?

In fact, when Tang San realized his opponent was Qiu Zixuan, he knew this round would be simple.

Qiu Zixuan's strength was indeed great. In terms of pure attack power, his World-Sundering Sword might be one of the strongest, if not

the

strongest among all contestants in the Battle for the Throne. But all his focus was on enhancing his sword's offensive power, making his abilities somewhat one-dimensional. And though his all-in attack was terrifying, the problem was obvious: It was only good for one strike, after which he needed a long time to recover. So if someone blocked it, they could naturally defeat him.

What others saw as the Dark Turtle Shield was in fact the Black Tortoise Shield, the strongest defensive divine item imaginable. The World-Sundering Sword might be fierce, but in front of the Black Tortoise Shield, it might well be made of foam. Forget about Qiu Zixuan; even the Sword Saint Demon Emperor himself could not cut it.

Tang San's somewhat awkward stance, using his body to brace the Black Tortoise Shield and neutralize the sword strike, was easy to explain. After all, he was nothing but a Great Nymph King, and not from a clan known for their massive physical strength. The Black Tortoise Shield blocked the sword's energy and the radiating sword intent, and the impact force was nothing; most of it was deflected away by the Black Tortoise Shield.

Light flashed in Tang San's hand, and the Black Tortoise Shield vanished. It didn't go into a storage ring; such a powerful item couldn't be stored that way. Instead, it was absorbed in his sea of consciousness, but he could not allow everyone here to see that.

The next moment, he sprang toward Qiu Zixuan.

Looking at Tang San with his body glowing blue-gold, Qiu Zixuan's lips revealed a trace of bitterness as he said in a low voice, "I concede.”

After unleashing the World-Sundering Sword with full power, all he had left was barely enough strength to walk out. No matter how poor the Blue Gold Tree clan was at combat, Tang San was a Great Nymph King. Even a casual punch of his could knock the living daylight out of Qiu Zixuan.That was his fighting style—immensely powerful, but with a fatal flaw. But it was his choice, and this style had made him the strongest of the Red-Crowned Crane lineage.

"The Blue Gold Tree clan wins!” The Sunborne Nymph Emperor descended from the sky, standing between the two. His gaze fell on Tang San. "You really are full of surprises!”

Tang San chuckled. "Your Majesty, you are overly flattering me. I just happened to be lucky, that's all.”

Indeed, in the eyes of the spectators, it seemed that his victory this time was his personal merit in the same way the previous ones were—that was to say, not at all. Anyone holding a shield of such absolute defensive power could have blocked the World-Sundering Sword! But against any other opponent, what could he have done? The Dark Turtle Shield was so unwieldy it was impossible to even move it to defend against something coming from the side. If that wasn't luck, what was?

At the mega-auction, no one knew they would face a one-strike-from-the-front fighting style. Otherwise, whoever had bought the Dark Turtle Shield would have had a sure counter to Qiu Zixuan. And now, that bargain had been snatched up by this guy from the Blue Gold Tree clan.