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Chapter 95 – Battling Jie Zizhuo
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Xu Disheng glanced at the crowd and casually chose a peak Sea of Qi stage disciple in the front row.
“What?! 32nd place in the first match, Jie Zizhuo!”
“Did he just randomly choose someone, or?”
“In the 2nd arena, not to mention the number 2 genius, Jian Liangbi, aside from the 12th place Liao Yuhe and the 22nd place, Cen Tianrui, the next strongest would be Jie Zizhuo!”
“Jie Zizhuo was born in Profound Heart Peak and is the junior disciple of Yu Yangyao, the number 1 genius in Mingxin Mountain at the Sea of Qi stage. Jie Zizhuo has been stationary at the peak Sea of Qi stage for many years now, but I heard that he could have broken through to the half-step Dao Foundation stage a long time ago if he wanted to!”
“He’s clearly overestimating himself! I bet 30 spirit stones on Jie Zizhuo!”
“I bet 50 spirit stones on Jie Zizhuo!”
The complexions of the several disciples hosting the betting market turned pale as they hurriedly called out, “Stop, stop! We’re not taking any more bets!”
“I bet 500 spirit stones on the early Sea of Qi stage disciple,” a light, breezy voice called out, prompting everyone to look over.
A proud, white-robed disciple with a folding fan in hand waved his hand, and a large pile of spirit stones appeared on the desk of one of the disciples who was hosting the betting market.
For a moment, that disciple stared blankly in shock, but that white-robed disciple raised his eyebrows and said, “What is it? You won’t accept my bet?”
“Huh? We’ll take it, we’ll take it!” that disciple said hurriedly, not even bothering to look carefully at that white-robed disciple’s face. He just saw the big pile of spirit stones in front of him, and only thought to himself that he had met a complete idiot.
“He Junyu? What are you doing over here, not waiting over at the 5th arena for your challenge?” another disciple who was also wearing white asked, standing at the front of the nearby disciples.
“I figured there was no way anyone would challenge me this early in the tournament, so I decided to go and have a look around. It’s just a few hundred spirit stones,” He Junyu said, walking forward and taking a spot next to Jian Liangbi. He smiled and continued, “Anyway, did you place down a bet for good sport?”
Jian Liangbi shook his head lightly. He didn’t say anything and watched the two people in the arena.
Jie Zizhuo flipped onto the arena. He looked at Xu Disheng without much regard and said, “Do you really not know who I am? Who cares if you managed to get lucky and defeat Zhong Kang. By daring to pick me as your opponent, your run in this tournament is finished.”
As someone who placed 32nd in the first match of the tournament, Jie Zizhuo was second only to the small group of geniuses at the apex of Mingxin Mountain Range’s Sea of Qi stage disciples. Jie Zizhuo certainly had the right to be arrogant.
Xu Disheng glanced at him and remained silent, waiting for the Deacon off to the side to open his mouth.
“You can start,” the Deacon said, giving Xu Disheng a long look as if he was pitying him.
Jie Zizhuo just stood there as nonchalant as before. “You’re only at the early Sea of Qi stage, so I’ll let you make the first move,” he said.
Xu Disheng took out the Severing Spirit Tool and immediately sent it hurtling down at him!
Jie Zizhuo just gave a slight smile and extended his palm. Profound qi spun in his palm and expanded outwards, transforming into a white disc of light above his head which easily blocked the Severing Spirit Seal. “You dare to challenge me with only this high-grade Spirit Tool to rely on?” he scoffed.
Even though he didn’t say it, Ji Zizhuo was clearly angry about being challenged by Xu Disheng, a disciple who had only placed 5,000th or so in the first match.
Xu Disheng remained as taciturn as before. He put away the Severing Spirit Seal and gazed pensively at the white disc of light above Jie Zizhuo’s head.
The defensive power of this high-grade Spirit Tool was extremely strong. It was even several times better than Zhong Kang’s round drum Spirit Tool!
“If you won’t make a move, then I will,” Jie Zizhuo said. He seemed to be in the mood to play around as he made a hand seal and sent a Shangqing Fierce Incantation at Xu Disheng.
Xu Disheng activated the Soul Suppressing Vestment and a black barrier of light appeared around his body, effortlessly blocking the Fierce Incantation. After making a series of hand seals, more than 10 cyan droplets of water condensed above Jie Zizhuo’s head!
Jie Zizhuo seemed to be a bit surprised. “Now this is a bit more interesting,” he said.
The dozen or so cyan droplets of water fell down at a blinding speed, making a high-pitched whistling sound as they hurtled towards him. In practically the blink of an eye, they were already right above Jie Zizhuo’s head.
Jie Zizhuo raised his head to glance at the cyan droplets of water, then stuck out his right hand.
With a single finger outstretched, the cyan droplets of water were suddenly suspended there, frozen in midair. The closest of the droplets of water was already trembling on the tip of Jie Zizhuo’s finger.
Jie Zizhuo suddenly pointed his right finger directly at Xu Disheng! The 10 or so droplets of water, clad in the aura of corrosion, flew straight towards Xu Disheng!
Xu Disheng’s expression turned grave. As he jumped backwards, the Frozen Spirit Sword appeared in his hand. He immediately unleashed a merciless slash at the water droplets that were whistling towards him!
After a jarring series of ‘zizi‘ noises, several droplets of water could be seen adhering to the Frozen Spirit Sword. The rest of the droplets of water had been sliced in half. But
 the aura of the sword had dropped by half, and it could no longer be used in this fight.
Jie Zizhuo didn’t give him time to breathe. A long saber instantly appeared in his hands, which he used to slash ruthlessly at Xu Disheng!
It was the Magic Treasure, the Heavenly Emperor’s Saber!
A black saber light nearly 10 meters long, clad in an aura of destruction, swept towards Xu Disheng!
“It’s over for this disciple. If he doesn’t have a high-grade Spirit Tool to protect himself, he’s going to die here for sure.”
“Did this early Sea of Qi stage disciple really not know who Jie Zizhuo is?”
“Jie Zizhuo must have really gotten angry, pulling out a Magic Treasure against an early Sea of Qi stage disciple.”
All the disciples began to discuss spiritedly amongst themselves, and there were even people who looked over at the betting tables and started to calculate how many spirit stones they would be able to win. Even though the betting odds heavily favored Jie Zizhuo, some small earnings were better than nothing.
At He Junyu’s side, Jian Liangbi’s voice drifted over, carrying a hint of playfulness. “Junior Martial Brother He, looks like your 500 spirit stones are about to go to waste.”
He Junyu’s complexion didn’t change, as if he had something up his sleeve.
Faced with the rapidly approaching black saber light, Xu Disheng felt his scalp tingle. But even in the face of death, he didn’t panic. He extended both hands, causing golden motes of light to appear and coalesce into a glorious golden longbow.
The edge of the saber light was already inches away from Xu Disheng’s body. He activated the Soul Suppressing Vestment, which let out an audible ghostly roar!
A hazy shadow of a ghost rushed out from the Soul Suppressing Vestment and transformed into a pure black shield, colliding ferociously with the saber light!
Boom!
The saber light died out, but the pure black shield also shattered and transformed back into loosely scattered ghostly qi before returning to the Soul Suppressing Vestment.
Jie Zizhuo had a look of surprise on his face, and felt a faint, sharp pain between his eyebrows. When he looked up, he saw the youth already letting go of the bowstring of a glorious golden longbow.
An arrow, clad in the aura of destruction, streaked across the sky with a golden beam of light, striking the area right between Jie Zizhuo’s brows!
Xu Disheng only had three Destruction Arrows in total!
Bang!
A deafening metallic clang rang out. A stream of green light flashed between Jie Zizhuo’s eyebrows, and in the next moment, a round-shaped jade slowly shattered into pieces and landed at his feet.
Jie ZIzhuo had a furious scowl on his face. Clearly, that jade treasure had been extremely precious, but it shattered after blocking the full force of an attack from a Magic Treasure. When Jie ZIzhuo looked up again, he saw the youth nocking another arrow. A look of alarm surfaced in his eyes as he urged his white disc of light to envelop his entire body.
Jie Zizhuo took out another defensive-type Spirit Tool as if he was aware that his current Spirit Tool wouldn’t be able to fully block the power of the Glorious Sun Bow with the added might of the Destruction Arrows. It was a lotus platform that floated over his head, spilling forth light.
After mulling over the situation momentarily, Jie Zizhuo unleashed another slash with the Heavenly Emperor’s Saber. An even brighter black saber light, nearly 30 meters long and taking up almost half the length of the entire arena, swept towards Xu Disheng!
Another arrow shot out from the youth’s hands, leaving a stream of golden radiance behind as it pierced right through the white disc of light and collided with the lotus platform’s barrier. The attack smashed the lotus platform into pieces along with its barrier, but the arrow was left with no further power at that point, dropping to the floor of the arena.
Jie Zizhuo put away his broken lotus platform and lightly breathed out a sigh of relief. Seemingly confident in his own victory, Jie Zizhuo smiled and said, “I didn’t expect you to have a Magic Treasure
”
Before he could even finish speaking, the black saber light that was approaching Xu Disheng suddenly vanished without a trace. Xu Disheng was completely unharmed as he uttered his first words since coming up to the stage. “Did anyone ever tell you—”
After one black and one white halo of light appeared in the hollow of his palms, he clenched his fists tightly.
The phantom image of a painting emerged above his head.
The picture was entirely black and white, filled with the scenery of mountains and flowing rivers.
“—that you talk way too much?” Xu Disheng finished, uttering his second line.
With a gentle swipe of his finger, the Yin Yang Diagram above his head let out a swipe of black.
A black saber light flew out from the Yin Yang Diagram and zoomed towards Jie Zizhuo! It was none other than the saber light from earlier, which Xu Disheng had absorbed into the Yin Yang Diagram!
It was a similar reversal of attacks like before, but instead of being cyan droplets of water, it was a saber light from the Heavenly Emperor’s Saber being sent right back at him.
Jie Zizhuo’s expression changed greatly. He only had one offensive-type Magic Treasure, and the defensive-type Spirit Tools that were in his possession had already been exhausted. There was no way he could take this saber light head-on!
Jie Zizhuo hurriedly backed up and swept out the Heavenly Emperor’s Saber, sending out another saber light. But this time, it was smaller by a lot. That 30 meter saber light from earlier had been a sword technique, and was clearly something that couldn’t be used readily.
Boom!
The saber light exploded and disappeared. Jie Zizhuo was left in a somewhat sorry state. His Daoist robe was in tatters, and he had an extremely guarded expression as he held onto his Heavenly Emperor’s Saber.
Xu Disheng laughed as the Yin Yang Diagram above his head let out another brushstroke!
A massive black and white hand condensed into existence and grabbed at Jie Zizhuo.
A bitter smile surfaced on Jie Zizhuo’s face. He had no more strength to resist. He had no choice but to allow the gigantic black and white snatch him up and toss him out of the arena.
“Jie Zizhuo lost!!!”
“How could this be?!”
“Two Magic Treasures! That’s gotta be worth at least 3,000 spirit stones!”
“What is this person’s name?? Why have I never heard of him before?!”
“An early Sea of Qi stage disciple fought against 32nd place Jie Zizhuo and won! How is that even possible?”
“That Yin Yang Diagram
 It seems to be almost as good as a top-grade Magic Treasure! Jie Zizhuo’s defeat wasn’t unwarranted!”
“This youth is going to make it big! A new genius of the Sea of Qi division!”
The Deacon standing by the arena was dumbstruck. The battle between the two hadn’t taken longer than the time it takes one incense stick to burn, but it left him shocked beyond comparison. Even though he was at the Dao Foundation stage, he never would have guessed that Xu Disheng had two Magic Treasures on him!
The Deacon looked down at the jade slip to confirm it once again before slowly opening his mouth. “Rank 5,675 vs. Rank 32, match set. Rank 5,675 victory!” he finally announced.
The several thousand disciples spectating from the sidelines went into an uproar once again.
There had also been a huge number of people from the surrounding arenas who flocked over to watch after seeing Xu Disheng take out the Glorious Sun Bow.
Countless gazes with varying expressions behind them fell upon the youth in the arena.
“These spirit stones—” He Junyu said, walking up to the betting table and scooping up the 4,000 spirit stones on it. “—belong to me.”
The disciple hosting the betting table had an ugly expression on his face, and for a moment, he wanted to go back on his word. But then, he suddenly recognized who He Junyu was. His face turned deathly pale and he retreated back into the crowd without a word.