Firmament Sword

At this very moment, nearly everyone in all of Celestial Brilliance was watching the final battle for the championship.

Too much had happened in this year’s Annual Competition. It had taken on great significance, and too many astonishingly brilliant geniuses had emerged.

True Dragon Armor, the Ten Extremes Pill Array, the Celestial Curtain, the Undying Body...

These ultimate techniques, which no one had mastered for many years, appeared one after another, sparking immense interest in this year’s competition!

Most important of all was the young man who, right after joining Celestial Brilliance, had single-handedly shouldered the entire Medicine Garden’s progress.

He was a dark horse, and also a peerless expert!

In his first time participating in the Annual Competition, he had fought his way to the championship match!

His name resounded throughout all of Celestial Brilliance!

Countless reclusive figures from the older generation were moved by his performance.

He... was Luo Tian!

Tang Xiao looked at the slender, handsome young man standing opposite him and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

”Senior Brother Luo, I am Tang Xiao. Please... I look forward to learning from you!”

Tang Xiao cupped his fist in a salute toward Xu Luo, a relaxed smile on his face.

Xu Luo returned the salute and said, ”We’re just fellow disciples sparring. We can learn from each other!”

”Alright!” After this single word, Tang Xiao’s entire presence changed in an instant!

In the stands, millions of people fell silent at this moment, all of them fixing their gazes on the arena below.

An aura began to form around Tang Xiao’s body.

Many in the stands couldn’t help but gasp, ”A domain!”

This domain forming around Tang Xiao gradually expanded, carrying an immense, suppressive force. It erupted outward, instantly engulfing the entire massive arena!

A glint flashed in Xu Luo’s eyes. He hadn’t expected this young man, who had been largely overlooked before the competition, to be able to form such a powerful domain.

’As expected, no one who makes it to the final step is weak!’

As Xu Luo thought this, the Star Power in his Dantian surged. A brilliant stellar radiance erupted from his body, also forming a terrifying domain. Though it appeared second, it arrived first, directly pushing back Tang Xiao’s domain and crashing outwards with unstoppable momentum.

Only after it had seized half of the arena did Xu Luo’s domain gradually settle, creating a clear and distinct boundary with Tang Xiao’s domain, each occupying one half of the stage.

In the end, the two domains formed a peculiar sight on the arena stage.

ROAR!

Tang Xiao let out a great roar, his body soaring into the air. Riding the power of his formidable domain, he threw a punch at Xu Luo!

Empowered by the domain, the punch was earth-shattering!

Soaring through the air, Tang Xiao was like a War God, his momentum unstoppable.

”Who But I!”

The name of Tang Xiao’s punch was ”Who But I”!

The restrictive barriers around the arena even began to tremble lightly from his punch...!

Xu Luo converted the Star Power in his body into Extreme Yang Power and executed the Tyrant Technique, throwing an incomparably tyrannical and wild punch.

BOOM!

The two fists met.

The two domains collided.

A world-shaking boom erupted on the stage, as if two massive stars had viciously slammed into each other!

The resulting blast of energy battered the restrictive barriers around the arena, making them seem on the verge of collapse!

Several elders maintaining the arena’s barriers focused their minds, increasing their energy output, not daring to be careless for even a second!

The battle between these two young experts had already reached a level of combat power that only a Venerable should possess!

”How satisfying!”

Tang Xiao shouted, then unleashed a flurry of attacks, rushing Xu Luo like a sudden storm.

’Close combat? Very well!’

Xu Luo used the Shaking Light Step and directly executed the Breaking Army Seven Kills.

THUD! THUD!

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Like muffled thunder, the energy from their battle broke through the barriers above the arena and stirred the clouds in the sky.

In the once clear and azure sky, a white cyclone actually appeared as a result of their fight!

One moment the cyclone would condense into a massive vortex; the next, it would explode and shatter, making the sky itself seem to twist and distort.

Everyone in the stands watched, utterly entranced. Many became so engrossed that they began to have insights into their own martial path right then and there!

A battle between two young, peerless experts was indeed worthy of inspiring others to enlightenment!

In the blink of an eye, Tang Xiao and Xu Luo had already exchanged more than thirty blows, yet the fight remained a stalemate!

In a private box, Jiang Botao was grinning from ear to ear. His precious disciple had a flaw... but it was also his greatest strength: he was completely carefree!

No matter how grand or serious the occasion, Tang Xiao could always make it feel less so.

It was a flaw because this personality often led to misunderstandings, even earning him the label of an idiot. But it was a strength precisely because this carefreeness meant that Tang Xiao felt absolutely no psychological pressure when facing a formidable opponent like Xu Luo!

Anyone else would have been crushed by the one-sided predictions before the match, not to mention the circumstances of how he had reached the finals.

Even if they weren’t crushed, they would certainly feel an immense psychological burden.

However, for Tang Xiao, none of that mattered!

His nonchalant and carefree nature meant he felt no nervousness or pressure at all when facing Xu Luo.

Where he might normally perform at one hundred percent, his personality was allowing him to perform at one hundred and twenty percent!

Xu Luo, too, found this fight to be incredibly exhilarating!

It was utterly refreshing!

He hadn’t had such a satisfying fight in a long time!

In his previous fights against Lv Di and the others, he had to hold back. After all, their cultivation realms were a bit lower than Tang Xiao’s. If Xu Luo had gone all out, even Lv Di with his True Dragon Armor would not have been able to withstand his assault.

But Tang Xiao was different. His strength had already reached the level of a Half-Step Venerable, just a tiny bit higher than Xu Luo’s.

Therefore, both of them could fight completely unrestrained, enjoying a thoroughly satisfying battle without fear of injuring the other!

”This is a true Annual Competition!”

”Indeed. This is the true meaning of the Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition!”

”The Annual Competition... should be just like this.”

In a private box, several high-ranking and influential Celestial Brilliance Elders commented on the battle with a hint of wistfulness.

The others all nodded in agreement.

Many people hadn’t expected Tang Xiao’s combat power to be so immense. He had fought Luo Tian for dozens of rounds without a clear winner emerging.

Facing Tang Xiao’s tide-like assault, Xu Luo remained unhurried, standing as firm as a great boulder, embodying the spirit of ”let the winds blow from all directions.”

The true experts could all see that Tang Xiao was not Luo Tian’s match. However, the vast majority of the audience in the stands couldn’t see this. They watched with great tension, completely unsure of who would become the final champion.

”I never thought Tang Xiao would be this strong! He must have been the most underestimated person before the competition!”

”Yeah, he advanced directly to the finals because Jin Ming was expelled. I thought he was just incredibly lucky, but now it seems his strength is far greater than I imagined!”

”Anyone who can make it into the top four of the Celestial Brilliance Annual Competition is no weakling.”

”Thinking back to Tang Xiao’s quarter-final match, defeating Yu Tianying from that Heritage Clan makes sense now...”

”Senior Brother Luo seems to be on the defensive. This match... isn’t going to be an upset, is it?”

”It seems like Senior Brother Tang Xiao has been on the attack the whole time, while Senior Brother Luo is defending. Could it be that Senior Brother Luo has finally met his match?”

The people in the stands discussed animatedly. Perhaps even they hadn’t realized that from the beginning of the Annual Competition until now, their view of Luo Tian’s strength had shifted from initial doubt to absolute trust!

In their minds, Luo Tian was a top-tier young expert!

His victory... was to be expected!

His defeat... would be an anomaly!

This was a situation that would have been completely unimaginable when Xu Luo had first joined Celestial Brilliance!

The disciples of Celestial Brilliance... their standards were so high!

It was incredibly difficult to make them truly believe in and acknowledge someone!

And Xu Luo... had done it in less than a year!

BANG!

The two separated again, their domains growing ever more powerful. They had already stirred the clouds for hundreds of miles, filling the sky with roiling vapor!

Two opposing masses of clouds had formed!

With every exchange, the two cloud masses in the sky would slam into each other, and then a light rain would begin to drift down!

Such a strange phenomenon was a once-in-a-century sight. Even many of the older generation figures in the private boxes couldn’t help but stand up and stare at the sky in astonishment.

”Thank you for sparring with me, Senior Brother Luo!” After another exchange, Tang Xiao cupped his fist and saluted Xu Luo earnestly. ”Through this battle, my combat power has finally been fully honed!”

”You can be even fiercer!” Xu Luo said.

”Alright!” A light flashed in Tang Xiao’s eyes, and his aura grew even stronger in that instant!

The large masses of clouds in the sky began to turn from white to black—a sign of increased energy density!

The light over the massive arena below suddenly dimmed!

Everyone in the stands was shocked. Having heard the two’s exchange, they had been a little disappointed, thinking the championship battle was coming to an end.

They never expected an even bigger surprise... was yet to come!

”Senior Brother Luo... be careful!”

Tang Xiao roared, and a tattered ancient book instantly appeared above his head. It radiated a primordial, ancient aura that passed through the arena’s barriers and permeated the heavens and earth!

Everyone in the stands surrounding the arena could feel this primordial, ancient aura. Contained within it was a mysterious pressure that struck fear into their hearts.

”What kind of treasure is that? How can its aura pass through the restrictive barriers?”

”Heavens... I... I feel a mortal threat!”

”Terrifying... Is that a scripture from ancient times? How can it emit such a frightening aura?”

”My... my qi and blood are surging! I feel an urge to fight!”

”Me too... I don’t think I can control my own qi and blood!”

A wave of exclamations rose from the stands. Many Celestial Brilliance Disciples with slightly lower cultivation levels found themselves unable to control their own qi and blood!

VMMMM!

An ancient diagram flew out from one of the private boxes in the stands. It emitted boundless light and a gentle aura that enveloped all the surrounding spectators.

Only then did the Celestial Brilliance Disciples whose qi and blood had been surging uncontrollably finally calm down.

Afterward, before they could even wonder who had released the ancient diagram that was pacifying the stands, they turned their gazes back to the arena.

There... two peerless prodigies were about to make their final move!