Refining the Mountains and Rivers

After entering the arena, for some reason Qin Yu suddenly felt that he had an inexplicable connection to this place.

Faintly, he could sense the presence of an incomparably formidable strength lying deep beneath the arena. But when he tried to sense it, he couldn't discover it at all, as if everything had only been an illusion.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Qin Yu landed on the platform. There was no time for him to investigate this. The finals were about to begin!

Hum -

As the four sects approached, a sphere of light appeared on the central arena platform. It rapidly spun, shooting out rays of blue and red light.

Hu -

The sphere of light stopped. The red light aimed at Radiance Temple and Moonkeep Tower. The blue light aimed at the Limitless Sword Sect and Hidden Fog Sect.

The drawing of the lots had been decided!

Rumble rumble -

A rumbling came from deep below the arena. Then, the entire area split in half, turning into two completely identical martial fields.

The competition between the four sects would carry out at the same time.

Whoosh -

Sword light flashed and the spirit lizard landed on the martial field. Sword intent constantly swirled on its blade, splitting and blasting the air.

It lifted the sword and pointed it at where the Hidden Fog Sect was. Even though the arena isolated out the strength, one could sense the dense chill in the air.

Qin Yu was calm. His hands rose and slapped the air, causing ripples to spread outwards.

The next moment, the temperature between the heavens and earth started to rapidly fall. The dark star ice serpent's massive figure slowly appeared within the ripples.

It looked at Qin Yu first and respectfully lowered its head, gratefully hissing in a low voice. Then, it turned and glanced at the sword-wielding spirit lizard, its eyes faint.

The spirit lizard suddenly retreated, flourishing its sword at the same time. Where it once stood, the stone ground shattered as sharp ice spears thrust upwards.

At the same time, a pale white gas appeared in the air. This gas was terrifyingly cold. Just a tiny amount was enough to freeze an entire river.

When the sword clashed with the pale white gas, there was the sound of screeching metal. The extremely cold temperature spread across the surface of the sword and a frosty rime began to appear on the spirit lizard's scales.

With each step the spirit lizard took backwards, the cold energy lingering on its boy would spread out from its footprints, turning the entire martial field into a world of ice and snow. The temperature in the air continued to fall. The terrifying cold was like invisible blades, constantly piercing through flesh and submerging within. But, the lizard spirit's eyes were still calm and steady, without any sign of panic.

Suddenly, from deep within the spirit lizard's eyes, there was a flash of radiant sword light. It cut through the skies like a bolt of white light. It stopped stepping backwards; this was the first time that its constantly defending sword had proactively attacked.

The blade lifted and slashed out.

There were no fancy moves. This was a simple sword strike, and yet the wildly advancing pale white gas suddenly came to a halt.

Then, the rime that covered its scales was smashed to pieces. After that the cold ice around the martial field cracked and faded away. The cold air was swept away, and one could even feel a bit of heat in the atmosphere.

With just a sword, the Limitless Sword Sect's spirit lizard had proven its great strength.

"Good!"

"That sword strike looked common, but it was the pinnacle of perfection! If its speed was off by even half a beat, it wouldn't have had such an incredible effect!"

"Not just that, but only by having an unwavering Sword Dao can the cold ice be crushed so easily like the arrival of a sun!"

The Limitless Sword Sect was energized. When the dark star ice serpent first attacked, they were left a bit flustered. While they hadn't fully regained their earlier bravado, they were much more confident.

But in the eyes of the arena crowd, for the dark star ice serpent to recover so soon after being injured by the blue ape's suicidal attack, and to even participate in today's finals, that in itself was inconceivable.

The injuries it suffered that day were heart-wrenchingly dire. For it to recover in several days was simply impossible.

But soon, everyone thought back to Hu Fu. In just several days he had suddenly become so old and decrepit.

Could it be that he used some sort of secret art to treat the dark star ice serpent and suffered a backlash as a result? The more they thought about it, the more likely this seemed.

If this was true, then this Hidden Fog Sect Master was a true madman. In order to help his sect capture the position of leader, he was even willing to risk his life.

But was being the leader of the arena so important? Was it worth the master of an entire sect giving up their life?

Even now, the Hidden Fog Sect cultivators didn't have an answer for this question themselves. So it was naturally impossible for anyone else to find one.

The dark star ice serpent's massive figure slowly coalesced and appeared from nothingness as the ice scattered around the field. And then, its phantom that stayed beside Qin Yu this entire time suddenly burst apart and disappeared like a bubble.

Pitch black scales, a silver-white horn, and coldly indifferent eyes. It was a giant beast that stood at the top of the food chain, looking down at its prey.

Even if the spirit lizard's sword strike was exceptional and almost struck the dark star ice serpent's body, it still wasn't able to suppress it at all.

In today's finals field, there was no spirit beast that was the dark star ice serpent's match. The result was doomed from the very beginning.

The spirit lizard could feel the formidable confidence coming from the dark star ice serpent, as well as that pride that stood at the apex, looking down at the world as if it had no rival. The spirit lizard felt no anger or shame. It only gripped the sword in its hand tighter.

This sword had followed at its side from the moment it had gained spiritual wisdom and started to follow the previous Sword Sect Master to cultivate. For 5000 long years, this sword had never left its side and had long since become an extension of its body.

When the spirit lizard held onto the sword hilt, it could feel endless strength swelling up inside its body. This strength calmed its heart and mind and it feared no enemy. To it, the dark star ice serpent was only a sufficiently formidable opponent!

The spirit lizard attacked again. Its sword pierced out. This was the same attack as before, common and humble, without any fluctuations. All of its sword intent and strength were gathered into a single point. The moment it stabbed at its opponent, that was when all of this power would completely detonate.

The dark star ice serpent's massive body was its superiority and also its weakness. Facing the spirit lizard's profound expertise sword intent, after the dark star ice serpent's location was revealed, it would be almost impossible for it to dodge the spirit lizard's attacks.

So, the dark star ice serpent's decision was to use its own defensive to counter the sword blade. With a loud roar, a corona of light spread out from its silver-white horn and a layer of ice rapidly condensed on the surface of its body.

This was only a thin layer of ice and it seemed that one could poke a hole into it with a light touch. But, this layer of ice gathered the dark star ice serpent's complete path of ice, and it could almost be called its strongest defense.

Ding -

There was a light sound, like a little bell being swung about my wind. The layer of ice on the dark star ice serpent's body began to crack. With a point as the center, it began to radiate outwards.

The sword point was blocked but the spirit lizard's expression didn't change. It drew back its hand and stabbed out a second time. The target of this sword strike was the exact point where the first sword strike fell, at the center of the breaking ice.

The dark star ice serpent's massive body moved. Although it couldn't avoid this sword strike, avoiding being struck in the same place was simple enough. The spirit lizard's sword intent was stronger than it thought, and it was likely hiding an even greater strength.

So even though the dark star ice serpent believed that its defenses wouldn't be broken through if the sword landed in the same spot, it still dodged it.

It was confident, but it was not arrogant.

The intelligence of a high level spirit beast was no worse when compared to that of a cultivator.

"This is bad. This dark star ice serpent's defenses are amazing and that cold ice can repair itself. If the spirit lizard cannot break through it in one attempt, I fear it will be in an impregnable position!"

"The frost ice attribute normally focuses on offensive attacks. For the dark star ice serpent to use it to produce such a formidable defense, it really is fierce."

"If things continue like this, the Limitless Sword's spirit lizard has almost no chance of winning."

If one couldn't win, that only meant defeat.

The Limitless Sword Sect supporters all revealed gloomy expressions.

Many Limitless Sword Sect cultivators frowned and looked towards their Sect Master.

What they saw was the Sword Sect Master's calm face. He didn't reveal any worry over what was happening on the field.

His tranquility and steadiness was like a rock, calming the anxious hearts of the Limitless Sword Sect cultivators.

But in truth, the Sword Sect Master's mood was extremely poor. He had a clear understanding of the spirit lizard's strength. Although the spirit lizard had yet to erupt with its full strength, it wasn't holding back that much.

Moreover, from the relaxed appearance of the dark star ice serpent, it likely hadn't shown its true strength either.

How hateful! The Hidden Fog Sect's spirit beast had actually grown stronger!

The Sword Sect Master's heart sank. He clenched his fists beneath his robe, revealing a hesitant look.

He didn't hope that the spirit lizard would be forced to use forbidden methods. Because while it could obtain a great strength for a brief period of time, it would have to pay an equally heavy price.

Its life might even be put in peril.

He maintained his composure as he let out a breath, suppressing all the fluctuations in his mind. He had already decided that if today's battle seemed impossible to win, he would take action to prevent the spirit lizard from destroying itself.

While they might lose the position of leader, the Limitless Sword Sect was strong enough that it wouldn't be bullied by others.

Over the long span of 5000 years, the spirit lizard had become a true member of the Limitless Sword Sect. Moreover, it had been acquainted with the current Sect Master since he was a child, and the two of them shared a deep bond of friendship.

And at this time, the spirit lizard had stabbed out 13 times. A light erupted within the Sword Sect Master's eyes, like an oil lamp suddenly combusting into flames.

He knew that there would be a change after this sword strike. It would be the first time the spirit lizard attacked with all its strength. Whether or not it would defeat the dark star ice serpent, everything depended on this.

Shua -

14th sword strike!

The spirit lizard's sword suddenly vanished from sight. In the next moment, there was a loud rumbling in the martial field as a terrifying aura swept through the world.

Countless sword energies gushed out from nothingness. They gathered together, forming an incomparably large sword light. Then, it cut down with a bewildering speed. Just when it started to come down, it had already arrived at the dark star ice serpent's side and maliciously crashed into it!