Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

Swoosh!

Yun Xiao’s reaction was incredibly swift. After shattering the lion’s head with his four Meridian Qi Swords, his figure barely shifted, and within an instant, he was right before Shen Xiao.

Yun Xiao, who had his physical body tempered by Stone Heart Marrow, understood his most adept combat method. Shen Xiao appeared tall and thin; surely he couldn’t match himself in this respect.

Yet, what Yun Xiao failed to notice was the hint of a mocking glimmer in Shen Xiao’s eyes as he approached—the latter seemed to have anticipated this scene.

The display of physical strength by Yun Xiao in yesterday’s arena, even Feng Hang couldn’t suppress it, had informed many of the geniuses present, including Shen Xiao.

In fact, in Shen Xiao’s heart, his only rival worth noting had always been Feng Hang, until Yun Xiao emerged unexpectedly. Thus, Shen Xiao had thoroughly recalled Yun Xiao’s special techniques last night and had devised a counter strategy.

In Shen Xiao’s opinion, Yun Xiao’s victory over Feng Hang was just due to unexpected tricks. As long as one vigilantly guarded against these, the chances of winning would surely exceed ninety percent.

No matter how tall and thin Shen Xiao appeared, their family possessed a trace of a special Wood attribute from birth. It rendered their flesh tougher than ordinary people.

Moreover, this Wood attribute aura also gave a boost to Shen Xiao’s Meridian Refining Technique. Wood feeds fire, fire borrows the might of wood; the Meridian Fire he could wield was somewhat more formidable than that of an average Meridian Refining Master of the same level.

Shen Xiao already had an understanding of Yun Xiao’s physical strength, but he was confident in his Wood attribute’s defensive power. That brat wouldn’t be able to break through it. Once overwhelmed by Meridian Qi, victory was only a matter of time.

Yun Xiao was not aware of Shen Xiao’s many schemes. Although Shen Xiao had made several moves in the past few days during the Outer Sect competition, his opponents were undeniably too weak to force him to reveal his full strength.

The sole Ling Wan who revealed a display of Mixed Element Qi was secretly harmed by Shen Xiao with the Extreme Cold Yinsu Poison, leading Yun Xiao’s impression of him to seemingly remain in that Yurong Volcano.

Only at that time, when Shen Xiao fought the Fourth Rank Low Level Fire Spirit Snake, did he exhibit extraordinarily strong combat capabilities. Yun Xiao believed that, in such a life-and-death juncture, Shen Xiao wouldn’t hold back much.

Pfft!

It must be said that Yun Xiao’s speed was really fast, so much so that Shen Xiao seemed to not react on time. That one finger of Fuxue Technique did indeed land on Shen Xiao’s left shoulder, but it emitted a somewhat odd sound.

”What’s going on?”

The moment Yun Xiao’s finger landed on the acupoint on Shen Xiao’s left shoulder, he sensed something was amiss, as if what he touched was not a human body but a withered branch, unlikely to harm Shen Xiao in the slightest.

Yun Xiao’s ghost-like speed had indeed startled Shen Xiao. While not as fierce as Feng Hang’s Wind Shadow Step, the fact that such speed was exhibited by a youngster at the peak of the Meridian Gathering Realm made it all the more eerie.

Caught off guard, Shen Xiao could only muster the trace of Wood attribute Qi within his body, making his left shoulder along with the entire left arm turn into withered wood, thus Yun Xiao’s tactic turned fruitless.

Confident in his Wood attribute’s defensive power, Shen Xiao knew that Yun Xiao’s Fuxue Technique wouldn’t be able to harm him. Hence, he seized this opportunity to counterattack.

In the moment Yun Xiao was startled, Shen Xiao’s withered arm swiftly lifted and swiped across. A strong gust of wind was headed straight for Yun Xiao’s right cheek.

Only at this moment did Yun Xiao clearly see Shen Xiao’s exposed left palm, dry and devoid of moisture, resembling a dead piece of wood, which was extremely odd.

Yun Xiao finally understood how his Fuxue Technique had failed, but at that moment he had no time to think further. If this wooden arm had such astonishing defensive power, its offensive strength must also be formidable. He could not afford to be hit by this wood-like limb.

Yun Xiao decisively crouched low, then immediately felt the whooshing of wind above his head. The withered wooden arm had clearly missed him, sweeping over his head.

This was evidently a disadvantage of Shen Xiao’s Wood attribute state—his limbs couldn’t bend. While this innate secret technique had formidable defensive power, its offensive strength was debatable.

Pfft pfft pfft pfft!

The crouched Yun Xiao didn’t idle; his fingers flickered, hitting several major acupoints on Shen Xiao’s left and right legs, but like the earlier shoulder point, these too produced the sounds of tapping on withered wood.

Turned out Shen Xiao’s reactions were not slow either, having predicted Yun Xiao’s move following the crouch. He instantly turned both legs into withered wood, making Yun Xiao’s attacks futile once more.

Although Yun Xiao’s attacks had turned out to be fruitless, Shen Xiao’s face did not look good at all, because this was not the result he wanted. He wanted to defeat Yun Xiao with overwhelming force, not to be suppressed by Yun Xiao as he was now.

In fact, Yun Xiao was only able to achieve the current results because his speed was incredibly fast and his reactions were not bad. However, such a scene did not surprise the onlookers at all.

Because in the hearts of these Outer Sect geniuses, Feng Hang’s strength was a bit stronger than Shen Xiao’s. If Yun Xiao could defeat Feng Hang, then facing Shen Xiao, he should be able to suppress him as well.

Even at a certain spot below the stage, Feng Hang, who was defeated by Yun Xiao yesterday, subconsciously hoped that Yun Xiao would win. This feeling was really complicated.

This is not to say that Feng Hang’s hatred for Yun Xiao had dissipated, he just didn’t want the opponent who had defeated him to be defeated by another. If that happened, wouldn’t his ranking drop by one?

Setting aside Feng Hang’s unrealistic thoughts, on the stage, Shen Xiao, who had been pointed at several times in succession by Yun Xiao, now had an iron-blue complexion. Even though those few fingers had not caused him any harm, from the perspective of the outsiders, he seemed to be at a small disadvantage.

Shen Xiao must have realized that his body with Wood attribute attacks could not keep up with Yun Xiao’s speed, so he made a decisive decision, abandoning his less agile Wood attribute body for defense only, and changed his attack method at that moment.

Swish!

Seeing Shen Xiao reach for his waist and swipe, the familiar Green Light Hammer immediately appeared in his hand with a flash of green light.

With a weapon in hand, Shen Xiao’s confidence greatly increased. To tell the truth, aside from yesterday’s Ling Wan, no one in this round of the Outer Sect competition had forced him to use a weapon.

Using a weapon meant that Shen Xiao now considered Yun Xiao an opponent on the same level as Feng Hang and was probably ready to pull out all the stops to eliminate this youngster on the stage.

After the dozen or so probing moves just now, Yun Xiao clearly had some understanding of Shen Xiao as well. This guy, ranked second on the Mortal List, was not the least bit weaker than Feng Hang, so he also needed to make some preparations.

Huu...

In just an instant, Yun Xiao activated his first Fire Attribute Ancestor Vein, and his Meridian Qi Cultivation soared instantly to the peak of the Meridian Gathering Realm.

Shen Xiao naturally sensed this, but with the Fourth Rank Low Level Green Light Hammer in his hand, as long as Yun Xiao had not broken through to the Meridian Rushing Realm, he wouldn’t be too concerned.

Bang bang bang!

On the stage, two figures, one green and one grey, exchanged moves, and in a blink of an eye, dozens of strikes had passed. In this intense battle, Yun Xiao ultimately suffered from his low Meridian Qi Cultivation and gradually fell into a disadvantage.

However, the crowd did not seem too worried because yesterday’s Yun Xiao was also suppressed by Feng Hang, even nearly dying under the slash of the Cold Light Axe. That situation was far more dangerous than today’s.

Moreover, in that desperate situation, Yun Xiao turned defeat into victory. Who knew whether today’s Yun Xiao would pull a trick out of his sleeve and defeat Shen Xiao in an instant?

Everyone present was clear that Yun Xiao was not in his strongest state right now. His Ice Cold Attribute Ancestor Vein had not yet been activated. If the power of both Ancestor Veins were mobilized, would Shen Xiao face an instant defeat like Feng Hang did yesterday?

The thoughts of some of the more experienced and cautious geniuses were a little different. The main reason for Feng Hang’s defeat yesterday was the surprise of Yun Xiao’s Ice Cold Ancestor Vein Power. But now, Shen Xiao was clearly on guard against this move.

Hadn’t Shen Xiao, despite having the absolute upper hand, refrained from being rash, but instead slowly forced Yun Xiao towards the edge of the stage step by step?

Under such circumstances, it would be incredibly difficult for Yun Xiao to unexpectedly harness Ice Cold Power and hurt Shen Xiao. His techniques and tricks had an immense power when they were unknown, but once they were figured out, it became nearly impossible to catch the opponent off guard.

Especially when facing geniuses with a higher Meridian Qi Cultivation than himself, Yun Xiao realized that his own Meridian Qi Storage was far from sufficient. If the fight dragged on, Shen Xiao might not even need to make a move – his Meridian Qi would be depleted.

Activating Ancestor Vein Power consumes an immense amount of Meridian Qi, as it is the very Qi cultivated that gathers within the Ancestor Veins, allowing a cultivator to exert a significantly stronger combat power in a short time.

No matter how many techniques Yun Xiao had, no matter how powerful his memories from his previous life were, the insufficiency of his Meridian Qi Cultivation was always his greatest weakness. He knew he could not continue like this.

Huu...

As he was increasingly cornered towards a certain edge of the stage with no way out, Yun Xiao stretched out his right arm from a tricky angle, and suddenly, a streak of blood-red flames burst forth from the palm of his right hand.

Shen Xiao had seen this Ancestral Vein Fire of Yun Xiao many times before and knew that it was a special flame with an extremely strong Attribute. If it touched him, even he might suffer greatly. In such a favorable situation, he would not choose to clash head-on but would dodge and retreat instead.