Chapter 392: A Match of Equals 26 |
Within the shattered world, the attention of the Thirteen Great Clans' ancestral masters was drawn to Chen Shi and Yang Bi, their gazes fixed unblinkingly on the two men across the void.
Not only them, but also the nearly two thousand deities in the Upper Realm now turned to look as well, their calm, emotionless faces showing slight ripples of disturbance.
Xia Tianjie was still healing. He had been severely wounded by "Li Tianqing" earlier, and before he could fully recover, he encountered the invasion of the immortal head and the intrusion of evil corruption, nearly turning into an evil spirit.
Just as he recovered from his evil-possessed state, he noticed the abnormalities among the thousand-zhang deities.
Xia Tianjie's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "Yang Bi and Chen Shi are about to fight."
His heart pounding with excitement, he struggled out of the palace, but every step he took tugged at his wounds, causing him to wince in pain.
He was seriously injured, and this place was too far from where the two were clashing. He was powerless and could only fret helplessly.
Just then, a thousand-zhang deity slowly flew past him. Xia Tianjie looked up and saw Ma Zhe, Gao Shaokun, and others standing on the deity's shoulder, waving at him.
Xia Tianjie gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and flew up, staggering as he landed on the shoulder of that thousand-zhang deity.
Zhai Yuanyuan, Cui Xingcai, and others were also on the deity's shoulder. The deity flew into the distance, quickly reaching an advantageous position and stopping.
Everyone could barely contain their excitement. Although they had seen Chen Shi make a move before, he was merely imitating Li Tianqing, not showing his true strength.
Now that Chen Shi's injuries were fully healed, this time he would surely go all out!
They had also never seen Yang Bi fight before.
Yang Bi had received personal instruction from all thirteen ancestral masters, mastering and integrating the unique skills of the Thirteen Great Clans. The thirteen ancestral masters were full of praise for him, considering him the foremost figure among the Thirteen Great Clans in six thousand years.
For the younger generation of the Thirteen Great Clans, fully cultivating and thoroughly understanding their own clan's techniques was already an impressive feat. To cultivate and master all thirteen clans' techniques at once was astonishing. To not only master them but also integrate them seamlessly—to Xia Tianjie and the others, that was the level of a Celestial Being!
In their eyes, Yang Bi usually didn't train diligently; he busied himself with various tasks every day and only occasionally went into secluded cultivation for a few days, only to then stun everyone.
Now, they could finally witness Yang Bi's true strength.
Meanwhile, in Huangpo Village, Chen Tang happened to look back and froze.
The sky was filled with countless deities, all reflected in his sight, but they weren't looking at him. Instead, they had all turned their heads in the same direction.
His heart trembled slightly, and he immediately understood why these deities had shifted their gazes.
"Little Ten, has your showdown with Yang Bi begun?"
Upper Realm.
Xia Tianjie and the others were relatively close. Faint sounds of a zither reached their ears, light and ethereal, not very distinct.
The zither music seemed to come from the distant sky, with a lofty artistic conception, hazy and indistinct, carrying a hint of celestial detachment and otherworldliness.
They looked up, searching for the source of the zither music, and vaguely seemed to see a patch of immortal light in the sky, with someone seemingly playing the zither amidst the clouds and light.
But the zither music was so faint that if they didn't listen carefully, they couldn't make it out at all.
Yang Bi stood in the air. A gentle breeze blew, stirring his long robes and billowing them backward.
He stood in the wind, young, in the prime of his youth, at the age of seventeen or eighteen.
Suddenly, his index finger twitched slightly.
The space around Chen Shi violently shook, blurring everyone's vision, and Chen Shi himself became indistinct.
"Zheng!"
A note of the zither rang out, long and lingering.
Chen Shi looked up in surprise, staring in the direction of the zither's source.
On top of the immortal light, the one playing the zither was not a person, but a talisman. That talisman shone brilliantly, taking the form of an immortal playing the zither.
"The Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register?"
His heart shook violently. The Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register was an immortal technique recorded in the Library Pavilion of the True King's Tomb!
Back then, when he entered the Library Pavilion of the True King's Tomb, he had opened the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register, but it hadn't been long before he passed out from severe mental exhaustion!
Many of the books in the True King's Tomb's Library Pavilion were similar to the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register, extremely taxing to read, causing Chen Shi to faint again and again.
In the end, he chose the Xiao Lang Imperial Chapter Technique.
Although the Xiao Lang Imperial Chapter Technique was also an immortal-level technique, it was far inferior to the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register. Because of this, he was able to read the entire book and even memorized it by force.
Although he hadn't read the complete Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register, he still managed to remember fragments of it thanks to his powerful memory.
This zither music was precisely the attack method of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register!
Space vibrated, and invisible blades flew in with the zither's notes. Chen Shi's pupils contracted. Suddenly, mountains and marshes surged around him, manifesting as enormous hexagram symbols—Qian, Kun, Xun, Zhen, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui—arranged in the Eight Trigrams. Then, the trigrams combined in pairs, evolving into sixty-four different hexagrams like Marsh-Heaven, Fire-Heaven, Thunder-Heaven, Wind-Heaven, Water-Heaven, and more!
"Humm!"
The Marsh-Heaven hexagram evolved. Within a ten-li radius centered on him, it transformed into a vast ocean suspended in the sky!
With a sharp tearing sound, the inverted ocean in the sky was cleanly split apart by an invisible blade. That invisible blade was over ten li wide. Despite being hindered by layer upon layer of waves, it still retained immense power, penetrating deep into his Dao Field and slashing forward!
The Mountain-Marsh hexagram activated before Chen Shi. The Dao Field transformed into a Mountain-Marsh Variation. Peaks rose from the ground, only to be sliced in half at their waists.
Chen Shi's Dao Field roared with black winds and thundered with deafening noise. Xun Wind and thunderbolts struck that invisible blade, finally blocking the power of this strike!
Chen Shi's body shook violently, pushed back by the immense force. He slid back several li before barely coming to a stop!
At that moment, the zither's notes rang out again. The talisman above the clouds suddenly changed, transforming into another talisman shaped like an old man, bending over as if to play.
Chen Shi's expression shifted drastically. Around him, the Dao Field's Fire-Heaven Variation, Thunder-Heaven Variation, Wind-Heaven Variation, and other Ghost and God Domains constantly evolved within the Dao Field, blocking the second move of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register!
"How many techniques from the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register has he learned?"
His eyes flickered. Back when he had read the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register, he had only made it through two moves before passing out.
The first move, Clarification.
The corresponding talisman was the High Upper Chamber Spirit Natural Nine Heaven True Mother Dao Lord.
The second move, Orchid.
The corresponding talisman was the Jade Void Four Dippers Middle True Seven Dawn Scattered Flower Dao Lord.
Talismans were originally used to depict gods and demons. When a talisman was activated, the corresponding god or demon would manifest!
Therefore, when Yang Bi used these two moves, two Dao Lords playing zithers would appear above the clouds.
Chen Shi could predict the attacks of these two moves, but if Yang Bi had learned the third move, he would be unable to anticipate the technique, and would inevitably fall into danger!
Around him, variations of Earth-Mountain and Heaven-Earth evolved layer by layer, blocking the second move of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register!
Chen Shi's qi and blood surged, and even his Primordial Spirit trembled from the shock. Suddenly seeing the Scattered Flower Dao Lord talisman above the clouds dissipate, replaced by a new one forming, he instinctively activated the Third New Talisman, took a step forward, and shot through the air like lightning, his body wrapped in thunder and crackling with electric arcs as he shot straight toward Yang Bi!
He couldn't wait for Yang Bi to unleash the third move of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register.
He had seen the first two moves, and defending against them was already so difficult. The third move's power would likely be even greater. If he just stood there and took the hit, even if he had comprehended the Sixty-Four Variations of the Eight Trigrams, he would still be injured!
When Yang Bi saw the lightning charging toward him from over twenty li away, arriving in an instant, he didn't panic at all. Instead, he gracefully retreated. Though his posture was elegant, his speed was extremely fast, no slower than the Third New Talisman!
He had once raced Chen Shi to chase after the white-robed fairy, and the two were almost evenly matched. He knew that Chen Shi's close combat was his greatest strength. If he got close, he could very well kill Yang Bi in one or two moves.
But Yang Bi was confident that he could maintain a distance of twenty li from Chen Shi and would never let Chen Shi enter within that range!
His understanding of Chen Shi ran deeper than Chen Shi imagined.
Chen Shi's cultivation progress was always within Yang Bi's grasp. When Chen Shi had cultivated the Thirty-Six Variations of the Eight Trigrams in Huangpo Village, Yang Bi's informants had recorded it and reported back to him. He had even deduced from his own intelligence that Chen Shi might have comprehended the full Sixty-Four Variations, with the other twenty-eight variations not being demonstrated.
He deeply admired Chen Shi.
Granny Sha's Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art was an excellent technique, sufficient for cultivating all the way to the Great Ascension Realm. It was impressive, but that was all. In the eyes of a scion of the great clans like him, techniques comparable to the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art were countless.
Yet this very technique had been turned from the mundane into the miraculous by Chen Shi. From the Three Ghost and God Variations to the Sixty-Four Variations of the Eight Trigrams, he had evolved sixty-four different Ghost and God Domains, elevating this technique to the level of an immortal grade!
If Chen Shi's cultivation weren't limited, he might have truly been able to evolve this technique into an immortal-level method!
Unfortunately, Chen Shi was only at the Unity realm and couldn't verify whether the path of Dao Unification through the Sixty-Four Variations was feasible.
Yang Bi knew all the Dao techniques Chen Shi had, and he was well-prepared.
Every single one of Chen Shi's techniques was within his expectations!
He raised his hand and waved his sleeve forward.
The third move of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register, Chaos.
The corresponding talisman was the High Upper Empty Void Natural Nine Heaven True Mother Dao Lord.
That Dao Lord talisman seemed to form a projection of the Dao Lord, raising a hand and brushing over the immortal zither.
Above the nine heavens, the zither rang loudly, like a bowl of glazed pearls being poured into a jade plate, with crisp collision sounds everywhere!
"Heaven-Earth Variation!"
Chen Shi took a step forward. Yang Bi showed a surprised expression. With that step, time and space suddenly shrank. No matter how fast his own speed was, he could only see himself hurtling rapidly toward Chen Shi!
Or rather, colliding with him.
As he retreated, he was charging headlong into Chen Shi!
Although he had anticipated that Chen Shi would use this move, when the actual Heaven-Earth Variation occurred, the impact it brought was still extremely shocking to him!
Despite being prepared to counter this move, he still couldn't keep up in time.
"His speed is too fast; I can only execute half a move!"
Behind Yang Bi, a golden court appeared, like an immortal palace, enveloping him in a patch of immortal light.
"Boom!"
Chen Shi's fist smashed into the golden court, nearly shattering it as it was still forming. Yang Bi was sent flying backward by the impact. At the same time, the third move of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register had already invaded Chen Shi's Dao Field, right in front of him!
Chen Shi let out a long roar. His Dao Field suddenly retracted into his body. His Primordial Spirit, Dao Field, and physical body, the three, merged as one. The Sixth New Talisman operated within his body. His flesh was filled with surging divine power, and within the small space, his form darted around like a bouncing pellet.
He sidestepped to avoid an invisible blade, then raised his hand to strike another, blasting through it. He spun and kicked the side of a third invisible blade, sending it flying!
Then he swept, jumped up for a knee strike, spun and chopped, and twisted to deliver an elbow strike!
His movements were dizzying, as if he had split into ten. In a single instant, he unleashed an untold number of close-combat techniques!
The third move of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register struck at the enemy invisibly, making it impossible to defend against, yet he had managed to block it with his incredibly powerful physique and combat skills!
Chen Shi flipped over and shot through the air like a wisp of smoke, whistling straight toward Yang Bi, who was still being sent flying backward. He was as fierce and ferocious as a tiger pouncing on its prey!
This series of attacks had pushed him nearly to his limit. If he had been even slightly slower, he would have been cut in half by those invisible blades!
But at the same time, this series of attacks had also left Xia Tianjie, Ma Zhe, and the others dazzled and slack-jawed.
And in the shattered world, the thirteen ancestral masters of the Thirteen Great Clans were also dumbfounded.
Gao Xuan stammered, "Did you see that? He used close-combat techniques to break an immortal art! An immortal art!"
He let out an exclamation of astonishment, even more surprised than when Chen Shi had elevated the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art to immortal grade.
After all, the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art wasn't a technique Chen Shi had created from scratch. It had Granny Sha's foundation. Chen Shi had merely evolved and deduced it further, not created it from nothing.
But using purely physical means to break the attack of an immortal art—that was truly astonishing!
The other ancestral masters were also watching with pounding hearts. Zhai Zhongming murmured, "No wonder the True God bestowed upon him the Innate Dao Embryo. Besides him, who else deserves it?"
Chen Shi stepped on lightning, his speed growing faster and faster. Within the lightning, his eyes flickered, as if thunder was brewing within them. Earlier, when Yang Bi had blocked his attack, he had used the Supreme Golden Court Wondrous Scripture, also an immortal-level technique, which also appeared in the Library Pavilion of the True King's Tomb!
Chen Shi hadn't read much of this immortal method either, only remembering a few passages and one or two moves.
"He's running out of tricks. He's only cultivated the first three moves of the Jade Emperor Nine Heavens Register, without a fourth. As for the Supreme Golden Court Wondrous Scripture, he's probably only cultivated a little of it as well. If he uses the Supreme Golden Court Wondrous Scripture again, I'll have a chance to break his defensive techniques!"
Chen Shi took a step and once again executed the Heaven-Earth Variation. Yang Bi changed from retreating to flying toward him.
At that moment, purple qi swirled around Yang Bi, his aura rising and rising, surging rapidly.
"The Supreme Emperor Purple Palace Technique! Another immortal method! Just how many immortal methods does he know?"
Chen Shi didn't dodge or evade. Suddenly, 256 talismans materialized around him. Using his own strength alone, he formed the Spirit Banner Ten Extremities Array. 256 deities formed a formation and collided with the Supreme Emperor Purple Palace Technique in a thunderous impact!
Yang Bi's eyes flickered: "As expected, it's the Spirit Banner Ten Extremities Array! Just as I predicted!"
The moment the Ten Extremities Array was formed, he stamped his foot. A talisman of one of the deities appeared beneath him. His body transformed into that deity. He suddenly stepped forward, usurping that deity's position, and the power of the Ten Extremities Array was greatly diminished.
The two clashed with a tremendous boom. Chen Shi's body shook and swayed, then suddenly swelled up. In an instant, he transformed into the Thunder Ancestor's true form. He reached out his hands, and countless thunderbolts crackled and struck forward.
Yang Bi dodged and retreated repeatedly within the lightning.
Chen Shi's brow split open, and a massive bolt of electricity shot out. Yang Bi switched from the Supreme Emperor Purple Palace Technique to the Supreme Great Brightness Divine Incantation. Layers upon layers of divine incantations protected his body. He was blasted back dozens of li by the gaze shot, but he steadied himself, unharmed.
"He calculated all my attacks." Chen Shi raised an eyebrow. Surprisingly, he didn't pursue but stood still.
Yang Bi shook his hands, looking at Chen Shi with surprise. He thought to himself, "He seems to have a rough understanding of all the immortal techniques I know."
"Time to settle this," both of them thought simultaneously.