165: The goddess smiled at me; the five million wasn't wasted!

Eighteen golden Dragons materialized from the great blade, circling above the martial arts arena, confronting his own nine Azure Dragon water dragons.

"Hiss..." Song Zhengming gasped.

His head felt a bit dizzy, and he wondered if he hadn't woken up yet.

This battle felt like a dream.

Although these eighteen golden Dragons looked slightly different, their aura was identical to the holy dragons conjured from his Nine Nether Exquisite Umbrella!

No, that's impossible!

Why does she also know this Cultivation Technique?

This is a secret Cultivation Technique of their Nine Nether Holy Land!

"Go! Little Gold, bite him!"

Xu Xiaobai pointed with her slender hand, and the eighteen Middle Stage Martial King golden Dragons above her head immediately swooped down, pouncing and biting at the nine Azure Dragon water dragons.

Boom—

The dragons clashed, sending out violent ripples of battle.

Although these golden Dragons were not as powerful as their opponents, they could not be underestimated when they actually started fighting.

In no time at all, they were locked in a fierce battle with those Azure Dragon water dragons.

Meanwhile, the battlefield below was not idle, as Song Zhengming chose to take the initiative.

Because he knew that once the golden Dragons won, all that awaited him was defeat.

He had to seize this sole opportunity right now.

Swoosh!

The longsword pierced the air.

"Void Sword Shadow!" Song Zhengming unleashed his Cultivation Technique, waving his longsword and thrusting out countless sword lights.

These sword light Moves thrust out rapidly and then suddenly retracted, carrying an ultimate sword shadow, arriving in front of Xu Xiaobai in the blink of an eye.

This Move, Void Sword Shadow, was his unique specialty.

He comprehended it himself, developed it himself, and its power was unmatched!

However, the next scene left him stunned.

With a bang, a sharp Sword Intent burst forth from Xu Xiaobai.

She extended her slender hand, channeling the heavenly dao origin, and manifested a Low Grade Heaven Rank longsword from the Void Realm.

Her purple eyes closed, then suddenly snapped open.

Channeling the Geng Metal Sword Emperor Physique, Xu Xiaobai's sword Move was unstoppable.

She softly chanted: "Void Sword Shadow!"

Then she swung out, unleashing the opponent's Move.

Crack—

Two Low Grade Heaven Rank longswords, carrying two powerful forces, collided fiercely, and with a bang, the fluctuation of true essence shattered the vast martial arts arena.

Crack, crack—the hard stone of the arena floor all cracked open.

"What is happening?"

Song Zhengming was greatly shocked, his face full of surprise.

The Cultivation Technique he had comprehended himself was actually being used by the opponent, and executed so perfectly at that.

However, the next second he was dumbfounded.

Because Xu Xiaobai's attack had not stopped.

A flash of cold sword light flickered, and she turned to thrust her sword, striking directly at his abdomen.

Swish...

The longsword sank about five inches into his abdomen, and blood gushed out.

Under this strike, he had actually been injured by the opponent...

Song Zhengming groaned and retreated rapidly to create distance.

Then, he flicked his sleeve and threw out a piece of jade.

Someone on the stage was immediately alarmed, "This is a life-substitution treasure!"

Everyone could not have imagined that Song Zhengming was so well prepared.

To think he would use such a priceless item for this Martial Arts Contest for Marriage.

One must know that this single life-substitution treasure represented a life.

This Nine Nether Saint was so extravagant; it seemed he was determined to win over Xu Xiaobai.

With a bang.

The jade piece shattered, and time flowed backward.

Song Zhengming's state instantly recovered to its absolute Peak state...

At this, Xu Xiaobai also felt a headache coming on.

What kind of damn Prodigy is this; he's really hard to fight.

...

The next moment, having recovered to his Peak state, Song Zhengming formed hand seals.

He pointed at the sky above the arena: "Formation, rise—"

Rumble—

Dark clouds churned in the sky, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring.

It was as if a giant vortex was churning wildly, and the entire arena was instantly shrouded by this Formation.

Countless golden runes flew in from all directions, wrapping around the arena layer by layer, forming an impregnable wall.

"Go!"

Song Zhengming leaped into mid-air and pointed a finger.

The Formation instantly manifested countless seven-colored sharp swords, dense as rain, falling toward Xu Xiaobai's location like a blanket covering the sky.

Each seven-colored sharp sword was equivalent to a full-force strike from a Late Stage Martial King; with such a dense attack.

Even a Martial Emperor expert would have to retreat three times.

Boom!

The Formation frantically manifested sharp swords until it exhausted all its energy.

With a crack, the Formation shattered with a boom.

However, when he looked over, he saw that Xu Xiaobai was unharmed, her body covered in layers of brilliant starlight.

"This is the Ethereal Sacred Body! (Geng Origin Sacred Body)"

Everyone on the spectator stand, including Song Zhengming, gasped.

The Ethereal Sacred Body is a top-tier Sacred Body ranked in the top fifty of the Sacred Body list.

When the Physique is activated, it can immunize one against most spell attacks.

...

Roar, roar, roar!

Overhead, the outcome was decided as the eighteen golden Dragons defeated the nine Azure Dragons.

With the defeat of the nine Azure Dragons, the Nine Nether Exquisite Umbrella became tattered and dim.

Song Zhengming hurriedly checked; fortunately, it had only sustained a little damage.

This was his proud Medium Grade Heaven Rank Magical Artifact.

If it were destroyed this time, he wouldn't even have a place to cry.

Before he could feel too much heartache for the Magical Artifact, those golden Dragons attacked in unison.

He shouted loudly and then charged toward the eighteen golden Dragons, raising his hand and punching at the leading golden Dragon.

Bang!

The fist aura collided with it, smashing onto the huge dragon head and exploding with a muffled sound.

But it failed to stop the golden Dragon's advance; it was merely knocked back a distance before turning around to attack again, suddenly opening its mouth to bite at Song Zhengming.

Song Zhengming's pupils shrank suddenly, and he hurriedly retreated.

Then the other golden Dragons took the opportunity to pounce, attempting to surround and exterminate him.

It must be said that as the legendary Saint of the Nine Nether Holy Land, Song Zhengming still had some tricks up his sleeve.

With eighteen golden Dragons attacking together, they still couldn't do anything to him.

"Roar!"

A golden Dragon swooped down, and he extended a claw,

"Nine Nether Demon-Trapping Hand!!!"

In an instant, his true essence manifested a giant dark black hand, grabbing that golden Dragon and slamming it into the ground.

Rumble!

A huge shockwave swept out, and the golden Dragon slammed into the martial arts arena, creating a giant crater.

Dragon scales scattered everywhere, and the ground trembled.

Of the eighteen golden Dragons, the opponent had actually managed to beat them down until only six or seven remained.

"Little Gold, come back."

Xu Xiaobai called out softly, and the golden Dragons currently fighting Song Zhengming all turned into streams of light and drilled into her body.

The next second, the gong sounded.

"Time is up! The loser must leave the stage!"

The voice of the Xu Family Elder rang out, ending the first battle.

"I... lost..."

Song Zhengming landed on the ground of the martial arts arena, his face full of disbelief, muttering to himself.

He still had many methods he hadn't used, and countless secret techniques he hadn't activated.

But, he had lost!

Losing meant that he had failed in this Martial Arts Contest for Marriage.

And the price of failure was that their Nine Nether Holy Land had lost a massive amount of Spirit Stones, and they hadn't won the opponent over.

"No, it's impossible, why..."

Song Zhengming denied it repeatedly, his eyes bloodshot.

From the time he started to Cultivate until now, this was the first time he had suffered such a setback.

Especially since it happened with countless peers witnessing it, in front of hundreds of millions of commoners and Cultivators from over a dozen regions.

He couldn't believe it, and his Heart Demon began to fester.

Just as his Dao Heart was about to shatter and he was about to become obsessed, he heard a sweet voice faintly transmit into his spiritual platform.

"What? Are you unconvinced?"

Once these words were spoken, it was like a drought meeting sweet dew.

Song Zhengming's spiritual platform trembled, and he suddenly came to his senses.

His expression and Dao Heart became incredibly simple and clear at that moment.

He looked up and saw Xu Xiaobai smiling gently at him.

At this time, the situation for both was as follows.

Xu Xiaobai's inner thoughts: He is a big financial backer; I have to be nice to him no matter what.

Song Zhengming's inner thoughts: Is the Eldest Miss Xu winking at me?! Signalling me to keep trying harder?

"I understand, I understand everything."

The two looked at each other, and then Song Zhengming calmly accepted his defeat.

"So be it."

"The Goddess just smiled at me; these five million Spirit Stones were worth it!"

"It was worth it! Totally worth it! A huge profit!"

He immediately turned and left, his movements not dragging at all.

"Pfft—"

"Hahahaha!"

"Trash! A piece of trash like you dares to call yourself a Saint!"

"Get lost, let me do it!"

After the unbridled laughter, a burly man covered in blood aura descended from the sky and stood firmly on the arena.

His eyes were full of contempt and disdain, and his gaze slowly turned to Xu Xiaobai.

The corners of his mouth curled into an evil smile: "Eldest Miss Xu, I am the Saint of the Dark Prison Demon Sect, Xiao Tonghai."

"When I win, I will definitely favor you well in the future, haha!"

Song Zhengming had just returned to the spectator stand, and upon hearing these words, his eyes were instantly filled with anger.

Damn it, how dare he insult his Goddess like this.

I, the Nine Nether Saint, will remember you!