BXBX NOVEL Chapter 271: Flow of Time
Chapter 271: Flow of Time
From the moment Scholar Sun saw Ling Ao place his hand on Jiang Yuebai’s sword and use dragon blood to pull the sword away, his eyes had filled with astonishment.
Scholar Sun muttered, "The Divine Dragons’ Great Blood-Burning Technique...?"
The Divine Dragons’ Great Blood-Burning Technique was a secret technique that a dragon clan had created. The user of the technique burns the spiritual energy in their blood in exchange for a temporary but massive boost in power. However, the user will become extremely weak after each use.
By using this technique, Ling Ao made it clear that he wanted to end the duel quickly!
"Yeesh." Elder Huang's expression turned from sunny to gloomy. "This young man has a really strong fighting spirit. In contrast, Jiangjiang's mental state is too peaceful. That puts her at a significant disadvantage when she’s in a fight. She won’t lose, will she?"
In the time it took him to say that, another sudden change occurred on the stage!
As the sight of the sword piercing Jiang Yuebai pierced the hearts of the spectators, Jiang Yuebai cracked, turning into a shower of shattered ice.
It was an ice clone!
There shouldn't have been ice in the arena. Nonetheless, with Jiang Yuebai's continuous spellcasting, the platform had turned into a world of ice in just a short time.
Her efforts were definitely not futile. In such an environment, her opponent's movements would be greatly impeded. This was why Ling Ao was trying to use the blood-burning technique to bring a swift end to the duel!
Unfortunately for Ling Ao, Jiang Yuebai had learned many spells and was very proficient in all of them. Her ice clone had looked so flawless that it almost seemed like a perfect copy of her.
The stage wasn’t that large, but Jiang Yuebai wasn’t there. Where did she go?
Ling Ao raised his gaze slightly. Then he suddenly stomped on the ground!
Boom! Crack!
The thick layer of ice on the ground cracked and shattered to pieces!
Was Jiang Yuebai in the sky? No, she was underground!
Jiang Yuebai emerged from the other side of the stage, with her white robes still spotless.
She’d used the spell Underground Escape Route!
The stage had been constructed with extremely solid materials and had been reinforced with various enchanted formations. This was to ensure its durability and prevent any problems from occurring that may disrupt the matches.
Nevertheless, it also inadvertently limited the use of some divine techniques and spells. For example, if they were fighting on the ground, Jiang Yuebai would have been able to escape through the ground easily by using Underground Escape Route. However, having to go through this extremely solid stage first made escaping into the ground a very difficult feat.
That was why Jiang Yuebai had continuously covered the stage with ice spiritual qi. It hadn’t been simply to reduce Ling Ao’s speed. She had been waiting for a very thick layer of ice to form on the ground—thick enough for her to move freely within it so that she could use Underground Escape Route!
It turned out that she’d been strategizing this whole time!
Ling Ao had a fast reaction speed, so he quickly realized what Jiang Yuebai had been doing. Jiang Yuebai's actions had caused Ling Ao to waste a lot of time, and now the distance between them had reverted to almost the full length of the platform.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuebai was already forming a sword seal with her hands.
She wasn't holding a sword though. That left the spectators puzzled.
Nonetheless, a moment later, everyone knew where the sword was.
Crack, crack, crack...
In the blink of an eye, the frigid air condensed before her and formed a huge sword of spiritual qi. Despite having been made on the spot, the sword managed to contain immense spiritual qi without shattering!
Normally, swords that were made on the spot from condensed qi were very fragile and could not be used for sword seals like real flying swords.
Yet, Jiang Yuebai could do it with hers because she had perfect control over her foundational qi and spiritual qi, allowing her to flawlessly execute the Heavenly Sword Seal!
Shrouded in a tremendous amount of swordlight, the ice sword soared up into the sky!
Jiang Yuebai was no longer suppressing her aura; she was now unleashing all of her cultivation prowess!
Everyone present could sense that Jiang Yuebai was at the Realm of the Five Elements!
It turned out that Xu Ziyang wasn’t the only one at this year’s Mount Shu Summit who had reached the Realm of the Five Elements. Jiang Yuebai had reached this level too!
Everyone was taken by surprise.
The enormous beam of swordlight pressed forward with the full power of the fifth realm. Ling Ao seemed so small in comparison.
He didn’t seem to have any way to fight back!
...
"The fifth and third realms are worlds apart," Scholar Sun said.
"Nevertheless, we cannot underestimate Ling Ao. Instead of viewing him as a third-realm cultivator, we should see him as a fifth-realm martial artist. He doesn’t have a strong foundation in martial arts, but after burning his blood, his physique is now on par with a martial artist’s," Elder Huang replied.
"So, you think he has a chance of winning?" Scholar Sun asked.
"Of course not." Elder Huang chuckled. "It might be different if Jiangjiang hadn't reached the fifth realm, but she was just hiding her true strength. Now that she’s not suppressing her cultivation prowess anymore, how could Ling Ao possibly win? The power of her Transcendent Spirit will become more prominent as she advances to the higher cultivation levels."
When Elder Huang was done speaking, another dramatic change occurred on the stage.
For powerful cultivators of their level, it would have been an easy feat for them to figure out that Jiang Yuebai had been concealing her aura this whole time. In fact, they would have found out if they had just activated their divine sense and observed her earnestly.
However, it was a rather discourteous thing to do, so it was not something the powerful cultivators on Mount Shu would have ever done. Even if they had noticed, they wouldn't have mentioned it. That was probably how Jiang Yuebai had been able to conceal her true strength all this time.
Ling Ao hadn’t expected Jiang Yuebai to be at such a high cultivation realm, but it didn’t intimidate him in the slightest.
After all, Xu Ziyang was in the fifth realm too, and Ling Ao had thought about defeating him before. So, what difference was there?
As Jiang Yuebai's enormous Heavenly Sword Seal flew toward Ling Ao from the other side of the stage, its momentum sent a gust of wind over to him. It lifted Ling Ao's hair, revealing a pair of eyes filled with fighting spirit.
Ling Ao wasn’t just unafraid; he was excited!
He ditched Jiang Yuebai’s flying sword and pulled out an enchanted tool instead. Astonishingly, it was a white saber tooth half the length of his arm. It was scuffed, covered in nicks and cracks.
This was Ling Ao’s first time using his enchanted tool in the fighting tournament. He used the tooth to cut his wrist!
Blood gushed out of the wound. Nevertheless, not a drop was wasted; the tooth absorbed all of it. Then the tooth radiated a brilliant blue and gold light.
A dragon's deep roar suddenly reverberated throughout the venue. "Raaaaaar!!!"
A blurry apparition rose from the dragon tooth, looming over Ling Ao. It gazed out fiercely with chaos-filled eyes.
This apparition was actually a dragon Battle Soul!
The soul itself appeared to be a remnant soul. Nevertheless, with the sustenance of dragon blood, which contained powerful spiritual energy, it might temporarily regain some of its former might!
The pressure that this remnant soul emitted was incredibly terrifying, so much so that just the pressure alone was enough to make everyone at the venue feel like they were suffocating.
With a wide swing of his arm, Ling Ao flew forward and gave an order to the dragon soul above his head!
"Go!"
The gigantic dragon soul moved even faster than Ling Ao. It collided explosively with Jiang Yuebai's Heavenly Sword Seal, producing what looked like sparks of lightning and fire!
Boom, boom, boom.
Thunderous sounds rang out when the enormous sword struck the gigantic dragon, but the dragon soul was simply too powerful. It was crushing the Heavenly Sword Seal inch by inch. The sword couldn’t withstand the dragon’s overwhelming strength!
While Jiang Yuebai was preoccupied with forming hand seals to maintain her sword seal, Ling Ao had already closed the distance between them. Without Jiang Yuebai’s interference, flying the length of the stage was something he could do within the mere blink of an eye.
Ling Ao's qi flames were burning so hot that waves of heat radiated from him. All the blood in his body had become so boiling hot that it felt as though it could melt through metal and stone.
Bathed in the blood-red glow of his aura, Ling Ao looked like a madman!
In the blink of an eye, the distance between them had reduced to less than a meter!
...
In the spectator's stand, the Weapons Master muttered, "An ancient dragon tooth? So, he was the one who bought it."
"What kind of enchanted tool is that?" Elder Huang asked anxiously. "It looks like just a broken tooth. How can it contain such a large dragon soul?"
The Weapons Master explained, "That is something our disciples found years ago in an ancient dragon lair. The tooth is indeed quite extraordinary. A powerful remnant soul is attached to that broken tooth, but it can only be activated with the blood of dragons or draconic descendants. The stronger the spiritual energy of the blood that’s used, the stronger the dragon’s soul will be.
"Ordinary people can't use that tooth, so it had been kept in the Hall of Weapons ever since its discovery. But it was bought recently. Ling Ao’s destiny must involve a True Dragon, and that’s why he bought the tooth to enhance his strength."
Pure Summoned Battle Souls, like Chu Liang’s Old Fei, were not permitted into the fighting tournament. However, Battle Souls like Ling Ao’s were different, as they needed to be sustained with the summoner’s cultivation prowess or blood. That meant the Battle Soul’s power was essentially the summoner's power, so that's why they were permitted in the fighting tournament.
"It’s great that he took it; it’s just right for him. Most people can’t use that enchanted tool, but in his hands, it is quite a powerful tool," Scholar Sun said with a nod. "However, this puts Jiang Yuebai in danger.
"Ling Ao used the Blood-Burning Technique earlier and then summoned the dragon soul. He will certainly collapse after sustaining the dragon soul for just a while. Nevertheless, with the dragon soul attacking alongside him, Ling Ao’s offensive power will be tremendous. Will Jiang Yuebai be able to withstand it?"
"Oh dear, oh dear..." Elder Huang furrowed his brows. "It looks like Jiangjiang is going to lose!"
The situation on the stage has an ominous atmosphere like dark clouds descending upon a city.
The dragon soul was about to smash Jiang Yuebai’s Heavenly Sword Seal to pieces. Meanwhile, Ling Ao was nearing Jiang Yuebai and ruthlessly threw out a punch, bringing with it a burst of whistling wind!
Even from a meter away, Jiang Yuebai could feel the scorching heat of Ling Ao’s qi flames. Her expression finally changed for the first time in this fight. She frowned slightly.
Jiang Yuebai relinquished control over the Heavenly Sword Seal and formed a different hand seal, switching to another divine skill.
In the sky, the dragon soul was descending with great force, and on the ground, Ling Ao was approaching with ferocious momentum. All the spectators were breaking out in a cold sweat, feeling anxious for Jiang Yuebai.
As the enormous shadow of the dragon soul cast over her, Jiang Yuebai finished forming her new hand seal and then made one simple movement. She gently extended a finger, pointing it at Ling Ao.
Boom.
It seemed as if there was something rotating in the air.
One second, Ling Ao’s qi flames were running rampant, and the next, he collapsed to the ground. Supporting himself with his arms, he kneeled before Jiang Yuebai.
The chain of movements was so fluid that it seemed as if this had been his intention from the start—to rush over and greet Jiang Yuebai with great respect.
Meanwhile, the dragon soul didn't even have time to let out a roar before it vanished, turning back into a wisp of blue smoke and returning to the ancient dragon tooth.
"Ah..." Ling Ao gasped for breath, panting heavily.
He tried to stand up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get back up.
What happened?
Ling Ao was bewildered by the sudden onset of his weakened state. It wasn’t the weakened state that puzzled him though, as it always followed after each time he burned his blood.
Using his training sessions as a gauge, it should take at least fifteen minutes before the onset would occur.
So, why did it come so suddenly?
He tried hard to lift his head. With his sweat clinging to his hair and obstructing his vision, Ling Ao only caught a blurry glimpse of Jiang Yuebai's swaying skirt as she turned and walked away.
Ling Ao couldn't see clearly, and he didn't understand what had happened.
She only used one move, but she totally ruined my plan. How exactly did she do it?
...
"This is... Flow of Time!" Scholar Sun exclaimed. "Yes, it's that immortal art!"
The immortal art Flow of Time could alter the effects of time on a person's body, temporarily reversing or accelerating time.
"The Great Dao of Time is mystical and elusive. Flow of Time can be said to be one of the hardest immortal arts to master. Has she really mastered it?" Elder Huang said in amazement.
There were some distinct differences between the various immortal arts. Some featured a Great Dao that was incredibly mysterious and difficult to comprehend, while others were relatively simple. For instance, Dimension Compression, the immortal art that Jiang Yuebai had taught Chu Liang, was usually treated as "a youth’s first immortal art" because it was one of the easiest to learn.
Flow of Time, on the other hand, was on a completely different level.
"Flow of Time is difficult to master, and it rarely succeeds on the first go. So, cultivators usually use it to recover their peak condition during battle," Scholar Sun explained. "But she managed to use it on her opponent instead. Moreover, she accelerated his time. It was the perfect counter against Ling Ao's blood-burning technique. A truly brilliant move!"
"If it wasn’t for the Flow of Time, she would have been in quite a dangerous situation. It’s fortunate that she’d already mastered this immortal art and could actually turn the tables in one move. Truly, it's a lucky coincidence," Elder Huang remarked, sighing in relief.
Young disciples of Jiang Yuebai’s age would usually only have a few immortal arts mastered. It appeared to be a lucky coincidence that one of the few Jiang Yuebai had mastered could subdue Ling Ao. In that case, it truly seemed like Jiang Yuebai had great luck.
Elder Huang had genuinely thought that Jiang Yuebai had been in danger just a moment ago.
"Luck?" Scholar Sun said with a deep gaze. "Rather than that, couldn't it be that perhaps she has mastered many immortal arts and simply chose the most suitable one from among them?"