Duanmu Yu’s complexion changed, and he once again stimulated his True Yuan, condensing a transparent barrier in front of him, trying to block Ye Xuan’s sword.
However, this time, the hastily formed Mirror Light Wall could not stop Ye Xuan’s Sword Qi, which pierced through it at once, and then fiercely bombarded Duanmu Yu’s body, sending him flying out of the arena.
In the spectator stands, there were audible gasps.
"Duanmu Yu has lost, despite his top-notch offense and defense, he still lost."
"This Ye Xuan is truly a terrifying fellow, deserving of the title ’talent crusher.’ Every genius who competes with him ends up defeated without exception."
"Yunlan Domain has never had any notable talents, but now that one has emerged, he’s extraordinarily aberrant, enough to make them hold their heads high and sweep away many years of gloom."
Listening to the crowd’s discussions, Duanmu Yu sighed as well. It was his first time losing to someone from the younger generation, even against Qin Wuyan, he never thought he would lose.
He looked down at his chest, where blood was streaming, with a sword wound that nearly split his breastbone.
If the power of that sword had been stronger, it might have been fatal.
"Silent until remarkable, Brother Ye is indeed a dragon among men, with boundless potential," Ximen Ying smiled slightly, fortunate to have some acquaintance with Ye Xuan. At this moment, in the competition among the youth of the Eight Great Spirit Domains, the latter’s status was in no way inferior to people like Qin Wuyan. He had successfully entered the First Stage, and moreover, was at the pinnacle of the First Stage masters.
To many, it was incredible that someone as skilled as Ye Xuan could emerge from the seemingly insignificant Yunlan Domain.
With this advancement, he had likely secured a spot among the top three in the preliminaries.
At this time, another advancement match had also reached its climax, contested by Bu Qianfan and the Thousand Faces Lady.
Facing Bu Qianfan, the Thousand Faces Lady met a truly formidable opponent. Her Illusion Technique was effective against those with lower Cultivation Realms, allowing her to easily dominate the weak. However, against Bu Qianfan, the effect was significantly diminished. His martial arts mastery was profound, and his will and spirit were extremely robust, making him tough to handle.
"Boundless Illusion Realm!"
The Thousand Faces Lady formed seals with her hands, and as her voice spread, four blue-skinned women appeared at the four corners of the arena. Dressed oddly, as if they didn’t belong to the Spirit Martial Continent, they chanted under their breath, their voices enveloping the arena like Sanskrit.
"It’s actually a Buddhist Sect Illusion Technique."
Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. The Thousand Faces Lady’s Illusion Technique had origins with the Buddhist Sect. On the Spirit Martial Continent, there was no presence of the Buddhist Sect, but in the Heavenly Realm, the Buddhist Sect was an overwhelmingly powerful force. The way of Buddha, rumored to be the closest to the Heavenly Dao, thus had many followers and powerful practitioners who cultivated it.
In the spectator stands, many martial artists felt dizzy and sleepy, evidently affected by the Illusion Realm.
They found themselves in an extremely blissful world where there was no killing or conflict, where people lived in peace and harmony, with the sounds of dogs and chickens, and where death did not sever relationships.
Ye Xuan spread out his soul power, eliminating all influences of the Illusion Realm. Then, a gleam of sharp light flashed through his eyes, as if he could see through the Illusion Realm and discern everything inside.
"Seven Steps to Demon Transformation!"
Under the influence of Qianmian Woman’s Illusion Realm, Bu Qianfan seemed to be affected too, but as time passed, he took peculiar steps forward, his eyes gradually shedding the mist of confusion and the influence of the Illusion Technique was clearly dissipating.
When he took the seventh step, Bu Qianfan’s robes suddenly inflated, and his eyes blazed demonically, flashing a crimson luster, as if he underwent Demon Transformation.
However, in this nearly transformed state, Bu Qianfan was completely unaffected by the Illusion Realm, pinpointing the location of Qianmian Woman. Pretending to be bewildered, he took a few steps forward before suddenly lunging with a punch, striking at Qianmian Woman.
Caught off guard, Qianmian Woman was hit directly by the punch, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and was thrown off the platform.
The second match, too, had a result.
Thus, the top three were born, clearly Qin Wuyan, Bu Qianfan, and Ye Xuan.
Apart from Ye Xuan, the other two weren’t beyond their expectations, Qin Wuyan, the top expert of the Fire Domain, and number one on the Martial Saint Candidate List, reaching the finals was a certainty. Bu Qianfan, although less famous than Qin Wuyan, was not inferior in performance. Since all were top three of the Martial Saint Candidate List, their abilities were very close, and the strength of these geniuses grew every moment. Even if Bu Qianfan defeated Qin Wuyan today, no one would be surprised.
However, Ye Xuan’s emergence was indeed an anomaly. A person who remained unnoticeable before the competition, unknown to the world, had now stood at the highest position of this preliminary contest, ranking alongside the renowned Qin Wuyan and Bu Qianfan.
Moreover, after defeating Duanmu Yu, the calls for Ye Xuan to take first place were not low; in the spectator seats, a large number of people had become supporters of Ye Xuan.
The arena had now turned into a tripod stand, with any one of them, if able to defeat the other two, undoubtedly, the championship would be within easy reach.
However, it was evidently very difficult to achieve this as each of the three already represented the highest standards of the young generation across the Eight Great Spirit Domains. If anyone could defeat the other two on the platform, he would undoubtedly be the undisputed number one of the Eight Great Spirit Domains.
Each had a battle among them, the first being Ye Xuan versus Bu Qianfan.
On the platform, the two stood a hundred meters apart, not in a hurry to make a move.
"In many people’s eyes, the strength of Duanmu Yu is comparable to mine. You’ve defeated Duanmu Yu, so this battle doesn’t seem to be easy, but defeating Duanmu Yu doesn’t mean you can defeat me," Bu Qianfan said, his gaze fixed on Ye Xuan, releasing a very dominant and fierce aura that spread beyond the platform.
"Bu Qianfan’s momentum is so strong, it indeed seems to surpass Duanmu Yu," the crowd exclaimed in shock.
"Until the last moment, nobody can predict the outcome, right?"
Ye Xuan’s face remained calm, and he lightly smiled.
"That’s true, but in this battle, I intend to win."
Bu Qianfan pulled his hands from behind his back, his body shook, and a terrifyingly powerful True Yuan soared into the sky, enveloping all directions. With the naked eye, bits of fragmented light emerged from around Sikong Sheng’s body, like gemstones, resembling diamonds, bright and pure, extremely condensed.
"I apologize, but I’m afraid things won’t go as you wish."
As Bu Qianfan’s momentum surged, Ye Xuan also released an extremely fierce aura, dispersing the oppressive aura before him, dominating half the arena.