166: The "holdouts" and undercurrents in the top 16

Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar both advancing to the top sixteen was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up monstrous waves in the Qingxuan Sect Outer Sect.

Ding Zi Courtyard, an edge-dwelling entity that usually "did a single round" or even had no participants in the Outer Sect competition, not only had five people pass the preliminary selection this time, with two charging into the top thirty-two, but they also struck down two favorites to win the championship in such a dominant and baffling manner!

Especially Wen Youyi; his bizarre methods of dismantling opponents' Cultivation Technique in a casual manner were rumored to be god-like.

Exaggerated claims like "Law follows his words" and "abolishing cultivation with a point" emerged, causing Disciples who drew him as an opponent later to have trembling legs when they stepped onto the stage, fearing that their hard-earned Cultivation Technique would also be "spoken" away by the opponent in a few words.

In contrast, Zhao Iron Pillar's barbaric and domineering fighting style seemed "normal" and "cuter" by comparison.

Regarding the top sixteen draw, whether Elder Black Sha had temporarily ceased fire or it was just luck, neither Wen Youyi nor Zhao Iron Pillar drew those obviously rigged "death brackets."

Wen Youyi's opponent was a Disciple from the Spirit Beast Courtyard who excelled at controlling beasts, while Zhao Iron Pillar faced a Disciple from the Wind Walk Courtyard known for speed and strange sword techniques.

The result was without suspense.

Facing the baring-fanged Gale Wolves and Iron-Feather Eagles summoned by the Spirit Beast Courtyard Disciple, Wen Youyi didn't even move much; he just slightly released a trace of pressure containing the aura of a star core (finely disguised as some kind of ancient Bloodline suppression via the "Thousand Mechanisms Hand").

Those two fierce Yao Beasts instantly turned cowardly, tucking their tails and whining as they retreated behind their master, refusing to move forward no matter how the Spirit Beast Courtyard Disciple urged them.

In the end, that Disciple could only sullenly charge up himself, only to be pushed off the ring by a casual wisp of Spiritual Qi from Wen Youyi.

Zhao Iron Pillar's side was even simpler and cruder.

The Wind Walk Courtyard Disciple's movement technique was like a ghost, and his sword technique was like a gale, attempting to rely on speed to skirmish and find openings.

However, Zhao Iron Pillar didn't buy that at all, directly activating "Shake Mountain Wrist" and swinging his heavy sword like a windmill.

Regardless of any exquisite movement technique, he broke skill with brute force, covering most of the ring with sweeping, violent attacks.

No matter how fast the Wind Walk Courtyard Disciple was, he was forced into dangerous situations, and finally, due to a misjudgment, he was swept by the Protective Aura brought up by the heavy sword and fell off the ring.

Both of them easily advanced again, breaking into the top eight!

At this point, the list of the top eight in the Outer Sect competition was released.

Apart from the two biggest dark horses, Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar, the other six were all top Geniuses who had been famous in the Outer Sect for a long time, with cultivation at least at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, coming from powerful courtyards like the Five Elements Courtyard, the Sword Pavilion, and Danxia Peak.

Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar were like two "Nail Houses" that had forcibly squeezed into an elite club, appearing particularly eye-catching.

On the high platform, the atmosphere was subtle.

The few neutral Elders looked at Wen Youyi with increasingly rich appreciation and curiosity.

This child not only had extraordinary strength but, more importantly, possessed that ability to gain insight into the essence and handle weight as if it were light; his future was limitless.

Elder Xuan Shi remained expressionless, but his tightly pursed lips showed that his heart was not without ripples.

The abilities Wen Youyi displayed had already exceeded the category of "having some talent," and there might be even bigger secrets hidden behind him, which deepened the vigilance in his heart.

As for Elder Black Sha, his face was so gloomy it could drip water.

Fire Cloud Child was seriously injured, and Li Xue was half-crippled; this loss was not insignificant.

What made him even more annoyed was that Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar were not only not strangled but had instead reached the pinnacle of their reputation by stepping on the corpses of his people!

This was simply slapping him in the face repeatedly!

"I cannot let them continue!" Elder Black Sha thought viciously.

"In the top eight battle, they must be stopped! Falling Star Lake... they must never be allowed to set foot there!"

A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes, and he quietly transmitted his voice to a subordinate who stood silent like a shadow behind him: "Go, give 'that thing' to Lei Hao."

The subordinate's figure moved slightly and disappeared silently from the spot.

Lei Hao, the chief Disciple of the Five Elements Courtyard, was also recognized as the strongest among the current top eight, at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!

His "Five Thunders Orthodox Method" was fierce and unparalleled, hailed as the number one attack technique of the Outer Sect.

He was also the most powerful contender for the top spot in this competition.

Clearly, Elder Black Sha pinned his last hope of stopping Wen Youyi on this number one person of the Outer Sect, and he did not hesitate to use some unconventional "auxiliary means."

Wen Youyi was not unaware of the undercurrents off the ring.

Through the information gathered by Wang Wu and others via the "Star Network," he clearly perceived the almost undisguised malice coming from the high platform.

"Boss, that old guy Black Sha must be up to no good again! Your opponent in the top eight battle is Liu Qingqing from Danxia Peak, which is still normal. But Iron Pillar's opponent is Lei Hao! That's a monster at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!" Wang Wu said with a worried tone.

Zhao Iron Pillar, however, didn't care at all and was instead eager to try: "So what if he's Qi Refining Ninth Layer? It's just right for me to test the limits of this heavy sword!"

Wen Youyi ignored Zhao Iron Pillar's battle-crazed speech; he was more concerned about Elder Black Sha's possible actions.

He pondered for a moment and said to Senior Brother Zhang: "Old Zhang, is 'that thing' I asked you to prepare done?"

Senior Brother Zhang pushed his glasses, nodded, and took out two jade chips from his Storage Pouch that were the size of a fingernail, as thin as cicada wings, and almost transparent.

"Based on the principle of 'energy mirror reflection' in ancient knowledge and the spiritual conductivity of 'star iron', combined with our concealment Formation, I made this little gadget. I call it the 'Substitute Jade Talisman'."

He explained: "After activation, it can form an invisible energy mirror layer in front of the wearer in a very short time. It cannot fully block attacks, but it can deflect, disperse, and even 'record' and simulate the energy characteristics of some attacks, creating the illusion that the attack was hard-carried by some body-protecting Divine Ability. The key is that its own energy fluctuation is extremely weak, and it is of the same source as the wearer's Spiritual Qi, making it extremely difficult to be detected."

Wen Youyi took the jade talisman, sensed it carefully, and revealed a look of satisfaction: "Good stuff! It can save lives at critical moments and also confuse opponents."

He handed one to Zhao Iron Pillar, "Iron Pillar, when facing Lei Hao, keep this close to you, and activate it when I give the order."

"Hehe, understood!" Zhao Iron Pillar took the jade talisman and looked at it curiously.

Wen Youyi kept the other one for himself.

He had a premonition that even though his opponent was the relatively harmless-looking Liu Qingqing of Danxia Peak, Elder Black Sha would never let him pass easily.

The top eight battle arrived as scheduled in an increasingly tense atmosphere.

The first match was Zhao Iron Pillar against Lei Hao!

Lei Hao was tall and had a resolute face, with lightning faintly circulating around his body.

Standing there, he was like a volcano about to erupt, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

His gaze fell on Zhao Iron Pillar, carrying a hint of scrutiny, but there was no excessive contempt.

Obviously, Zhao Iron Pillar's previous performance had already won him some attention.

"You are strong." Lei Hao spoke, his voice like muffled thunder.

"But, it ends here."

Zhao Iron Pillar carried his heavy sword and grinned: "We'll see after we fight!"

As the referee Elder gave the order, the battle exploded instantly!

Lei Hao didn't test him at all and went straight for the kill!

He pointed his fingers like a sword, drawing on the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

In an instant, the wind and clouds on the ring changed, and a purple thunderbolt as thick as a child's arm, like a sword of divine punishment, descended upon Zhao Iron Pillar with the aura of destroying everything!

"Five Thunders Orthodox Method" — Purple Heaven Divine Thunder!

The power of this blow far exceeded all previous ones!

The audience off the stage changed color, as if they had already seen the scene of Zhao Iron Pillar being struck into coke.

Zhao Iron Pillar's pupils contracted, and he felt an unprecedented threat of death!

He roared, pushing his earth-yellow Spiritual Qi to the limit.

The dark red light of the "Shake Mountain Wrist" exploded, and the heavy sword rose against the sky with the momentum of splitting the heavens and the earth!

"Break for me!"

The heavy sword collided fiercely with the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder!

"Boom—!!!"

The deafening explosion resounded through the sky!

The dazzling thunder light and the earth-yellow Protective Aura intertwined and annihilated crazily!

The violent energy shockwave hit the ring's protective light screen fiercely, stirring up intense ripples!

As the light dissipated, everyone hurriedly looked.

They saw Zhao Iron Pillar kneeling on one knee, his heavy sword inserted in front of him, his whole body charred, smoking, and blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, obviously having suffered a not-so-light injury.

But he had actually managed to hard-carry this full-force blow from the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!

And Lei Hao frowned slightly, a flash of confusion in his eyes.

At that moment just now, he felt that his Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, when it touched the opponent's heavy sword, seemed to have an extremely tiny part of its energy deflected and dispersed in a strange way?

Otherwise, it would be impossible for the opponent to just be injured.

"Indeed, there's some trick to it." Lei Hao suppressed his confusion, and the lightning around his body rose again, "Let's see how many moves you can take!"

Zhao Iron Pillar wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up leaning on his heavy sword, his Battle Intent even crazier in his eyes: "Come again!"

On the ring, thunder roared, sword energy split the ground, and the battle instantly entered a white-hot stage!

Down below the ring, Wen Youyi's gaze crossed the two people in fierce battle and fell on the expressionless Elder Black Sha on the high platform, sneering in his heart:

"'That thing'... it's time to use it, right?"

(End of chapter)