Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

Chapter 202: 202 Shen Xiao’s True Strength

Shen Xiao’s Shen Family possesses an exceptionally strong wood attribute, which in fact fears intense flames the most, especially some special flames.

For Shen Xiao’s own Ancestor Vein Fire, that kind of wood attribute can still have a certain boosting effect, but once he encounters external flames, the flames will borrow the momentum of the wood, inevitably leading to a widespread conflagration.

Previously, Yun Xiao was close to Shen Xiao and didn’t realize this, thus missing a golden opportunity until he saw his own Ancestor Vein Fire emerge and saw that Shen Xiao dared not confront it directly. Only then did he feel secretly frustrated.

But there is no medicine for regret in this world, so Yun Xiao did not dwell on it, and besides, such a mistake was not fatal. All he needed to do was to take advantage of this point in the upcoming fight.

Including everyone under the arena, none had expected Yun Xiao’s sudden display of Ancestor Vein Fire to have such an astonishing effect, that it seemed he had turned around a significant disadvantage.

Only a few Great Elders in the Northern seats knew that Yun Xiao’s approach was still only a trick, and his lack of sufficient Meridian Qi Cultivation was still an irreversible critical weakness, it all depended if Shen Xiao could withstand until Yun Xiao’s Meridian Qi was exhausted.

As the Third Great Elder could see this, as the concerned party, Yun Xiao naturally understood it too, and even his opponent Shen Xiao realized the key to victory and defeat in a moment.

Hence, the two of them each took action, one deftly evading to avoid the blood-red Ancestor Vein Fire from touching him, and the other doing everything possible to press his own Ancestor Vein Fire onto his opponent.

Thus, a different scene unfolded on the platform from just before, where Yun Xiao, previously cornered by Shen Xiao and on the brink of defeat, now seemed possessed by a Heavenly God, chasing Shen Xiao of the Meridian Rushing Realm all over the arena.

However, some spectators with profound thoughts and insightful eyes, through this chase, also realized some key points; it seemed Yun Xiao had the upper hand in this chase, but it was not very favorable for this newly initiated youth.

The situation at that moment was clearly intentional by Shen Xiao. He naturally did not want to be touched by Yun Xiao’s Ancestor Vein Fire, but it was not like he was running around the platform without the power to fight back.

Shen Xiao’s purpose in doing this was to exhaust Yun Xiao’s Meridian Qi as quickly as possible, at which point the Ancestor Vein Fire would naturally disappear along with the Meridian Qi, revealing his true intentions.

Once Yun Xiao’s Meridian Qi was exhausted, Shen Xiao could easily manipulate the situation without exerting much effort; why would he risk stopping and engaging in a prolonged fight with Yun Xiao, possibly spanning three hundred rounds?

The reality was indeed so. After chasing for two rounds, Yun Xiao understood Shen Xiao’s intentions and thus, he stood still on the platform, concealing his aura, staring blankly at the second-ranked genius on the Mortal List.

”Brother Shen Xiao, with the state you are in, how can this arena battle continue?”

A fiercely competitive arena duel, the final battle of the Outer Sect’s Grand Competition, and yet was interrupted by such a slightly sarcastic remark during the battle, leaving the crowd somewhat unable to react.

But as the concerned party, Shen Xiao was not influenced by Yun Xiao’s words and immediately responded, ”If you do not wish to fight, you can just admit defeat. Why say so much nonsense?”

Although Shen Xiao said this, he subtly stole a glance at a green-clothed elder in the North seats. In fact, even if Yun Xiao really agreed to admit defeat, he would not easily let him leave the platform.

Would Yun Xiao admit defeat? Of course not!

Today, Yun Xiao stepped onto this central main platform not primarily to defeat Shen Xiao, but to avenge the severe poisoning suffered by Ling Wan yesterday. He wanted to let this detestable man taste the pain of being poisoned.

At this moment, Yun Xiao deliberately delayed time while actually starting to recover his Meridian Qi with the Ancient Dragon Taming Technique, a mystical and powerful Cultivation Technique that recovers Meridian Qi several times stronger than ordinary techniques.

Shen Xiao could never imagine that there would be such a Cultivation Technique in this world that could restore a portion of Meridian Qi in a split second. When he sensed something odd about Yun Xiao’s aura, even though he didn’t know the details, he would not speak any nonsense anymore.

After a few breaths of recovery time, despite the limited Meridian Qi that Yun Xiao refined, it relieved the great pressure he felt before, making the upcoming moment even more crucial.

It seemed Yun Xiao had already realized that activating a Fire Attribute Ancestor Vein alone was not enough to defeat Shen Xiao. Many techniques he could use at this level had already been revealed in yesterday’s fight with Feng Hang, and surely Shen Xiao would not give him those unexpected opportunities.

Thump... thump...

Therefore, taking this opportunity, with a thought, Yun Xiao infused numerous streams of Meridian Qi into a certain meridian in his left arm. At the same time, some of the prodigies who were closer to the platform sensed a faint hint of coldness.

Activate the Cold Ice Ancestor Vein Power!

In that moment, Yun Xiao suddenly activated the power of his second Ancestor Vein. Feeling this familiar sensation of icy coldness from far away, the eyes of the Second Elder of the Jade Pot Sect, Fu Du, glinted even more intensely.

”Finally showing your strongest hand?”

Sensing Yun Xiao’s Meridian Qi Cultivation rose once more, a shade of envy flashed across Shen Xiao’s eyes, but he also heaved a sigh of relief since Yun Xiao had not truly broken through to the Meridian Rushing Realm Early Stage.

As long as Yun Xiao hadn’t made a breakthrough to the Meridian Rushing Realm, Shen Xiao was confident that this youngster posed only a limited threat to him. He wanted Yun Xiao to use all his techniques, then defeat him forcefully to shatter Yun Xiao’s confidence.

”Just a bit short!”

After activating the Cold Ice Ancestor Vein Power, a tinge of disappointment couldn’t help but flicker through Yun Xiao’s heart. Just like yesterday, he still had one foot within the boundaries of the Meridian Rushing Realm. This wouldn’t allow him to decisively defeat Shen Xiao and win this battle.

However, having reached this level, Yun Xiao’s confidence had increased manifold. He was the reincarnation of the Long Xiao Battle God, harboring the mysterious Blood Moon Jade, had activated two Ancestor Veins, and held the profoundly mystic Cultivation Technique, Ancient Dragon Taming Technique.

Indeed, these things, considered sacred in the Hidden Dragon Continent and even in the entire Nine Dragons Continent, greatly bolstered Yun Xiao’s confidence. Being just half a realm short in his Meridian Qi Cultivation, once all techniques were used, it wasn’t impossible to bridge the gap.

Sigh...

Little did he know, just as confidence surged in Yun Xiao’s heart, he suddenly discovered that Shen Xiao, his opponent, also burst forth with a formidable aura right then.

”Ancestor Vein Power!”

Such keen sensing Yun Xiao had; he recognized in an instant that Shen Xiao was invoking the Ancestor Vein Power. He wasn’t the slightest bit surprised by this, as just like Feng Hang, this fellow also possessed a Mortal Rank Advanced Ancestor Vein.

Indeed, Yun Xiao’s guess was spot on. After Shen Xiao activated his Ancestor Vein Power, just like Feng Hang the day before, his Meridian Qi Cultivation saw a significant uplift. Although he hadn’t broken through to the true Meridian Rushing Realm Middle Stage, he was infinitely close.

This showed that Yun Xiao’s activation of two Ancestor Veins had not only failed to narrow the gap with Shen Xiao but, after the latter also activated his Ancestor Vein Power, had further widened it.

Of course, this was only the surface disparity in strength. For Yun Xiao, as long as Shen Xiao hadn’t broken through to the true Meridian Rushing Realm Middle Stage, he still had the power to fight. Relatively speaking, his ability to punch above his weight class was many times stronger than Shen Xiao’s.

”Yun Xiao, we’ve played enough, now let me show you the real power of your senior brother!”

Seemingly quite satisfied with his increased Meridian Qi, Shen Xiao said this, his gaze involuntarily flicking to a certain spot below the arena.

”All these were prepared for Feng Hang, but it looks like they will have to be used on you now!”

Shen Xiao, full of smug satisfaction, withdrew his gaze from Feng Hang, his quiet words signaling that he had long been planning to pull down Feng Hang, who topped the Mortal List, in the Outer Sect competition.

To Shen Xiao’s words, Yun Xiao didn’t pay much heed. After the previous fight, he already knew this guy’s strength was not beneath Feng Hang’s. Now it seemed, saying ”not beneath Feng Hang” was possibly too conservative.

”Shadow of a Thousand Hammers!”

A deep shout came from Shen Xiao, and immediately afterward, Yun Xiao saw the hand holding the Green Light Hammer emitting a faint red light, then the hammer fluttered into the air, flipping upwards.

Swish, swish, swish!

In almost an instant, the Green Light Hammer thrown into the sky by Shen Xiao split from one to two, two to four, four to eight, and in a blink, became sixteen identical Green Light Hammers.

But Yun Xiao, with his strong Power of Soul, very clearly sensed that among those sixteen Green Light Hammers, only one was the real body, while the other fifteen were Meridian Qi Hammers forged by Shen Xiao using some special method.

From Shen Xiao’s earlier shout, Yun Xiao also realized this was a powerful Meridian Technique, perhaps containing some special effects unique to the Green Light Hammer itself—it was, after all, a low-level Spiritual Rank weapon.

The so-called Shadow of a Thousand Hammers didn’t truly mean forming the illusion of a thousand hammers; that might’ve been an exaggeration by Shen Xiao, or perhaps due to his insufficiently strength, the Shadow of a Thousand Hammers he executed in the Meridian Rushing Realm Early Stage could only form sixteen Hammer Shadows.

But Shen Xiao was absolutely confident that having honed the Shadow of a Thousand Hammers from eight to sixteen Hammer Shadows during over a month of seclusion, Feng Hang would definitely not be able to withstand it, let alone this Meridian Gathering Realm peak ant-like kid Yun Xiao.

Looking at those sixteen Hammer Shadows which seemed to faintly form an Array in mid-air, Yun Xiao’s expression also grew solemn; he knew this might be Shen Xiao’s final and strongest technique, but whether he could withstand it was an unknown.