139: whetstone

Just as Long Lie thought the other party would be pierced by the Sword Qi, Ye Hao's figure suddenly blurred at the moment the Sword Qi approached, like mist scattered by the wind!

His entire person seemed to pass through this sharp Sword Qi.

In an instant, Ye Hao appeared before Long Lie!

The two were so close they could even see the expressions in each other's eyes, only a few feet away from the Token floating in the air.

Long Lie's pupils shrank suddenly; he hadn't seen at all how Ye Hao broke through the Sword Qi's blockade, only feeling that the youth before him had appeared out of thin air like a teleportation.

But years of fighting experience made him quickly realize that this should be some profound Divine Ability, or perhaps a Talisman was used.

After taking this kid down in a moment, he could certainly interrogate him.

Ye Hao gave Long Lie no room to think; with a flip of his wrist, his longsword slashed toward the floating Scarlet Flame Snake Pattern Token like a falling meteor.

The sword light was biting, as if even the surrounding air was split by this strike, leaving fine ripples of spiritual power.

"You dare!"

Realizing Ye Hao's goal, Long Lie roared.

A green halo surged from his palm like a tide, trying to block the Token. But that moment of distraction earlier had already cost him the initiative.

"Crack—!"

The crisp sound of shattering was particularly piercing in the deathly silent battlefield; a pitch-black crack split the Token from top to bottom, and the previously flowing scarlet halo instantly dimmed, flickering like a dying candle flame.

Two shrill roars suddenly rang out!

The bodies of the two fire snakes in the air, which had been toyed with, actually began to turn transparent and ethereal simultaneously, their scarlet scales turning into ash and gradually vanishing.

A cold light flashed in Long Lie's eyes; how could he care about the Token now?

Without reservation, he squeezed every bit of potential from this body; the green halo in his palm expanded several times over, like a small green mountain, striking directly at Ye Hao with crushing power.

He thought to himself: The Token is destroyed, the fire snakes cannot be summoned again; even if I can't take this kid's life today, I must make him lose an arm or a leg and pay a price in blood!

Seeing the green halo approaching, Ye Hao showed no fear; the Chaos Qi condensed in his left hand suddenly contracted and then violently expanded, the dark airflow carrying the power to devour all things as it collided with the green halo with a bang!

"Boom—!"

The two distinct powers clashed in mid-air, erupting with a loud noise that made eardrums ache.

Ye Hao felt a majestic force surge into his body through his arm, his blood and Qi churning uncontrollably. His figure retreated violently like a kite with a broken string, only stabilizing after backing away a full fifty feet.

On the other side, Long Lie wasn't faring well either; this Chaos Qi far exceeded his expectations. He raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze locked onto Ye Hao. The previous gloom had long since faded, replaced by deep admiration and curiosity.

"Good lad!" Long Lie's voice was resonant, filled with a hint of wonder.

"To think a Golden Core First Layer could fight me to this extent, and you even have several earth-rank magic treasures for protection. Just which Sect's Disciple are you?"

Ye Hao's expression was calm. "Heavenly Secret Pavilion."

Long Lie sneered, "Those three wastes from Heavenly Secret Pavilion are far inferior to you." Then he changed his tone, the admiration in his eyes growing even stronger: "With your Aptitude, you shouldn't stay in this small fish pond. Why don't we cooperate? When we go to the Profound Realm in the future, we can look out for each other."

As Long Lie spoke, he circulated the spiritual power within his body.

Ye Hao glanced over and exposed him mercilessly: "There's no need to talk just to stall for time. Do you really think I didn't notice you setting up a Formation?"

"I truly underestimated you!"

The smile on Long Lie's face suddenly froze, replaced by the gloom of having his intentions exposed.

The spiritual power around him surged violently, and the previously restrained Killing Intent poured out like a tide.

His earlier talk of "cooperation" was merely a ruse to stall for time to set up a Entrapment Formation. In this world of cultivation where the strong prey on the weak, he had lived for centuries and seen too many dramas of "brothers killing each other" and "Disciples turning on masters." This so-called "looking out for each other" was nothing more than hypocritical talk when interests hadn't yet clashed.

Moreover, this person's Aptitude was simply too outstanding; since he had already offended him, he had to be eliminated quickly.

If he were allowed to leave alive today, he would surely become a major threat once he grew up!

"Since you know I'm setting up a Formation, yet you still dare to wait arrogantly, do you want to die that badly?"

Ye Hao's mouth curved into a faint smile: "A suitable whetstone is quite hard to find, after all."

...Outside the Arena Stage!

Half of the Cultivators were intently watching the scene within the blue smoke.

They thought the man in luxurious clothes was invincible after wiping out the Medicine Pavilion Disciples single-handedly, but they didn't expect there to be another master.

Just which Sect's Disciple is this? How can he have such ability?

"These two... what Realm are they in? I remember that Medicine Pavilion Saint was already in the Golden Core Realm, yet... even when the Medicine Pavilion Saint and Saintess joined forces, they were slaughtered at will by that man in luxurious clothes."

"This year's Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony is truly too dangerous. When did so many Prodigies hide themselves?"

"Fortunately, I didn't participate in this second round. Even several Holy Lands are being eliminated one after another; this year's Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony is just too difficult."

"Heh, that Netherworld Holy Land Saintess really cracks me up. She tried to ambush someone, but ended up getting her entire Sect's Disciples killed. Truly a rising star from the Netherworld Holy Land."

Many Cultivators had even started taking bets on which of the two would win this fight.

The various Holy Lands were also watching the fight; the higher one's Realm, the more nuances they could see.

Although the man in the brocade robe had an unbelievable Realm, reaching the Golden Core Fifth Layer cultivation base at such an age, the man he was fighting was even more terrifying.

His aura was clearly only around the first or second layer of the Golden Core, yet he was unreasonably strong.

Especially that Divine Ability from before; even these Holy Land Sect Masters and Elders were quite puzzled and couldn't understand its mystery.

The Taixu Holy Land Sect Master's mood gradually improved. Even the grand Medicine Pavilion had stumbled in this second round of the Myriad Spirit Affinity Realm, so what did he have to worry about?

Let's watch the show and see when those three Prodigies of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion will suffer a setback.

Upon the high platform!

Qin Tianxing couldn't help but praise: "As expected of Brother Chen's Disciple. That Divine Ability from before should have already surpassed the Earth Rank level, right?"

He somewhat understood why this youth had such Luck; at the Golden Core First Layer, he could fight a powerhouse at the Golden Core Fifth Layer to a standstill across four layers.

Wang Er, beside him, was stunned upon hearing this, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes: "Could... could it be a Heaven-rank Divine Ability? This..."

He was about to say 'how is that possible,' but then swallowed his words. Recalling the immortal peach he had tasted earlier, this Senior Chen exuded profundity and mystery everywhere; it seemed nothing was truly impossible.

Qi Yue, to the side, nodded slightly, a hint of pride and satisfaction curling at the corner of her mouth.

Chen Xuan just gazed calmly at the blue smoke on the Arena Stage, feeling somewhat surprised.

No wonder he can go back and forth with that kid Ye Hao; turns out it's another 'Old Man in a Ring.'

Nascent Soul Eighth Layer? He's quite a bit stronger than Qi Yue was back then.