The sword energy spanned three hundred meters and teemed with merciless killing intent. Zhao Tiefeng also wielded a ninth-rank weapon—a sword he’d refined completely and become one with. Even with his cultivation suppressed to the nascent spirit realm, he could still tap the sword’s full power.

Lu Yun’s Yu Talismans would surely never hold; the crowd could already see the two halves of his body on the arena floor. Expression dark, Qing Han balled his hands into fists, his palms damp with cold sweat.

“You will not harm the master!” a voice yelled. One of the armored warriors moved swiftly to defend Lu Yun with a giant shield. At that moment, it seemed like the other thirty-five warriors were superimposed upon the shield warrior. The shield in his hand gained the presence of a great mountain.

Bam!

Zhao Tiefeng’s sword slammed keenly into the shield, sending shockwaves in all directions and shaking the entire arena.

Crack!

The heavy shield groaned, then scattered as dots of light.

Hum!

Being a manifestation of a talisman, the shield’s decimation seemed to cause a chain effect. All thirty-six of the golden warriors turned to ashes at the same time.

Zhao Tiefeng’s stroke was too powerful. Even the combined might of all thirty-six armored warriors hadn’t been enough to survive it. However, defending their master to the end had allowed Lu Yun to weather the blow unscathed.

Three of the four Yu Talismans were broken, leaving only one struggling to maintain its structure in front of the governor.

“What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?” Zhao Tiefeng came up to Lu Yun and pointed gently.

Pop!

The last barrier shattered into pieces. Lu Yun opened his eyes and shook his head, his gaze calm. “No more.”

“Giving up already?” Zhao Tiefeng beamed widely. “Kneel and beg for mercy. I can spare your life.”

Countless immortals watched the fight play out with bated breath. Wu Tulong, Dongfang Hao, Zi Chen, and Mo Qitian narrowed their eyes, a great sense of humiliation descending upon them. A celestial emperor had just anointed Lu Yun and the four of them as the Five Youth Sovereigns. They were still getting used to their new title and someone had cornered Lu Yun and demanded him to beg on his knees!

This wasn’t just a degradation of Lu Yun, but a stain on all of their reputations!

It would be far easier to accept defeat if Lu Yun were facing a cultivator of his own rank, but Zhao Tiefeng was a peerless immortal. He’d taken complete advantage of the situation and moved against Lu Yun before the youth’s cultivation had had time to settle.

“Hehehe, if Lu Yun kneels, the so-called Five Youth Sovereigns will become utter fools,” chuckled one of the Feng immortals from Nephrite Capital.

Those who didn’t think much of the five youths also waited for Lu Yun to make an ass of himself. What would the young man choose: life or dignity?

Lu Yun got to his feet.

Swoosh!

A flying sword appeared in his hand with a brilliant flash of sword light.

“You really are completely unreasonable. You want me to beg for mercy before we’ve even fought?” He cast a surprised glance at Zhao Tiefeng and snorted. “You think much too highly of yourself. If you want to fight, then cut the crap and fight!”

Zhao Tiefeng looked at the young man with disbelief. “You’ve just ascended to the nascent spirit realm and you want to fight me before your cultivation settles?”

“That’s enough for someone like you.” Lu Yun hadn’t even bothered Violetgrave and pointed the tip of his normal longsword at Zhao Tiefeng.

The elder scowled. “Hmph, you sure like to talk tough!”

“Am I wrong?” Lu Yun affected a surprised look. “When you were my age, you were a mediocre cultivator at best. Senior brother Mo Chenfeng would be able to defeat you with one arm behind his back, let alone geniuses like senior brothers Wu and Dongfang.”

Zhao Tiefeng’s expression darkened. The governor’s words were true; Zhao Tiefeng hadn’t been a particularly talented cultivator and had only been able to reach the peerless immortal realm because of all the resources the Exalted Immortal Sect poured into him. He was a direct disciple of the sect, a core disciple of the Zhao bloodline.

“Now back in the nascent spirit realm, you’re nothing but trash,” Lu Yun said with a faint smile, raising his flying sword. “I can beat you without lifting a finger.”

“Die!” Zhao Tiefeng couldn’t be bothered with talking to Lu Yun any longer. Or rather, the longer the conversation dragged on, the more likely it was that the elder would die of anger. A minor shake of the ninth-rank sword spread rays of energy shooting at Lu Yun.

“A peerless immortal built out of countless resources is nothing but a useless piece of trash. It’s said that you’re more powerful than Beigong Yu, but if he were in your place, he would’ve long since become a dao immortal!”

Lu Yun adroitly dodged the attack with an odd series of steps. He then whirled around and committed to eighteen slashes, every single one of which turned into a small dragon and lunged at Zhao Tiefeng with fangs and claws.

The first eighteen swords of the Nineteen Cerulean Sword Dragons!

The governor’s words enraged Zhao Tiefeng beyond reason. He’d already suffered repeated humiliation at the hands of this particular junior; there was only one goal in him taking the stage: kill Lu Yun!

“Go!” snarled Zhao Tiefeng as he made a strange hand seal. Golden light burst out of his body and flooded the entire arena.

Shriek!

A piercing cry rang out of the blanket of light and the shadow of a bird with golden wings rose from Zhao Tiefeng’s body. Its presence drove the eighteen sword dragons away before they could even draw near.

It was the Great Peng Spirit, the spirit manifestation that was unique to disciples of the Exalted Immortal Sect.

Legends had it that a hundred thousand years ago, in the ancient world of immortals, the golden-winged great pengs were dragons’ natural predators. [1] Therefore, the method of the Great Peng Spirit could counter all draconic arts.

Zhao Teifeng used eighteen mighty combat arts in conjunction with his sect’s signature move to instantly counter all eighteen sword dragons.

“The Nineteen Cerulean Sword Dragons is a sword technique of the dragon race! It so happens that my sect’s Great Peng Spirit can counter anything draconic!” Zhao Tiefeng crowed with laughter as the spirit took to the air, sword-like golden feathers twirling through the skies and raining down terrible killing intent on the stage.

“The Great Peng Spirit?” Lu Yun tamped down the six agitated strands of spirit in his mind. “Then I’ll counter your big bird with my vast dragon!”

Wham!

Biting sword energy coursed through him like the ocean, breaking into tall, violet waves. A sixty-meter-long silver dragon wove and tangled within their furious swells.

Vast Dragon Seaturner!

1. This is a reference to actual Chinese mythology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)

1. This is a reference to actual Chinese mythology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)