Looking at Nanmen Tianhong’s confident expression, Xu Zimo smiled.
He casually waved his hand, and blade intent surrounded his body. The blade intent was dense and sharp.
With a flick of his wrist, the blade intent formed a massive blade shadow floating in the air. It was over ten meters long, surrounded by deadly energy.
As Xu Zimo waved his right hand again, the blade shadow tore through layers of space, moving like a stream of light, and slashed directly toward Nanmen Tianhong.
Seeing this powerful strike, Nanmen Tianhong spread his arms. The spiritforce around him glowed with rainbow colors, and all that energy gathered in front of his chest, forming a barrier.
When the blade shadow hit the barrier, a sharp hissing sound rang out. Before Nanmen Tianhong could react, the blade shattered the barrier and sliced it in two.
With a loud boom, the blade exploded inside the pavilion, sending dust flying everywhere.
The surrounding space cracked and collapsed.
Everyone stared at the dust-filled area. Nanmen Tianhong’s figure slowly appeared.
He looked at Xu Zimo with a serious expression. He raised his right hand, revealing a bleeding wound on his wrist.
He paused and said, “You’re very good.”
“That was the first move,” Xu Zimo replied calmly with a smile.
Then he slowly drew the blade on his back, Shadow Tyrant. The moment it left its sheath, its powerful aura shot straight into the sky.
It was as if the heavens above the Boundless Tower had been split open. Shadow Tyrant seemed to hum lightly, and an overwhelming blade intent filled the second floor.
“Nineteen Forms of Dao-Seeking, Fifteenth Form: All-Creation Deathly Silence.”
Between life and death lies great terror.
Xu Zimo always remembered this. The blade intent began to change. A silent, emotionless deathly aura spread through the air.
It felt like it wanted to erase everything in existence.
The once invisible blade intent turned black. The black blade intent filled the air, gathering above like a flood, threatening to swallow everything.
The aura of death mixed with the blade’s power. It was like the sky had been punctured, and a black flood poured down.
Everything under that flood would be erased.
Before the flood even landed, the lotus flowers in the nearby lake began to wither. The fish weakened and floated lifelessly to the surface.
Everyone below felt like their life force was being drained as the flood approached. They panicked and used their own energy to resist it.
“What kind of move is this? Why is it so terrifying?”
“No idea. Good thing we’re just watching from the side. If that move was aimed at us, we’d be dead before we could even fight back.”
At this moment, Nanmen Tianhong couldn’t care about the chatter.
He looked up at the falling flood and shouted, “Eight Aspects World.”
With that shout, eight different domain energies burst from his body, surrounding him.
Each domain had a different aura and color, displaying the various states of all beings, some crying, some laughing, some living freely, others doing evil.
“This is Nanmen Tianhong’s Eight Aspects World,” someone whispered.
“Yeah, it’s said he created this technique after studying the secret techniques of eight different emperors.”
“Well, he has the resources. Supreme Tower doesn’t have an emperor, but they’re close with the other eight major cities. The strength of the Ninelands comes from their unity.”
“That might be true, but this other young man is something else. He forced Nanmen Tianhong to use his Eight Aspects move on just the second attack. And in Supreme Tower, Nanmen Tianhong is too proud to use it unless he has no choice.”
As the deadly flood came crashing down from the sky, Nanmen Tianhong’s Eight Aspects World burst into brilliant light.
The eight domains circled like wheels, and eventually, they swallowed the flood.
A deafening explosion followed.
It felt like the whole world shook, as if it might fall apart.
The blast was so loud it hurt the ears. When it spread out, a wave of energy burst from Nanmen Tianhong’s position and swept through the area.
Some couldn’t dodge in time and were sent flying.
The pavilions on both sides were destroyed and collapsed into the lake below.
Ripples spread across the green lake, and the dead fish washed ashore.
The space around Nanmen Tianhong had been completely torn apart.
As the dust settled and people looked again, they saw Nanmen Tianhong kneeling on one knee, breathing heavily.
His white robe was torn in several places, his hair messy and scattered.
His face was covered in dust, and his eyes were unfocused and lifeless.
“Holy Son Nanmen!” someone called out.
“He actually lost,” another said in disbelief.
“Two moves,” Xu Zimo said plainly.
“Who are you?” Nanmen Tianhong asked, standing and staring at him.
“You don’t need to know that,” Xu Zimo replied.
“Do you still want to take the third move? Your Eight Aspects World won’t be able to block it.”
“No need. Even if I could block it, what would it prove? I’m not as strong as you. Continuing would just be embarrassing,” Nanmen Tianhong said after a pause, shaking his head.
“Then let’s follow the agreement,” Xu Zimo said.
Nanmen Tianhong turned and looked at the red-robed woman.
But before anything else could happen, Qingmu Xuan quickly stepped forward and said, “Nanmen Tianhong, this is a matter for Ninelands Immortal Palace. It’s not your place to interfere.”
Before she finished speaking, a scream rang out.
The red-robed woman had collapsed in a pool of blood.
Someone behind her had struck without warning.
“You’re dead!” Blazing Mountain Heaven Sword shouted and rushed at the attacker like a madman.
The attacker didn’t fight back and let Blazing Mountain Heaven Sword cut him to pieces beside the lake.
Everyone looked at Nanmen Tianhong with fear.
Nobody recognized the man who attacked. But it was obvious, Nanmen Tianhong had prepared a backup plan in case he lost the bet.