Chapter 179: Battle of the Prodigies

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Battle of the Prodigies

The massive underground canyon had gradually quieted. The once-frequent, astonishing commotions had died down, a result of all the Demon Beasts being slain and the number of participants rapidly dwindling.

But then, in an instant, two suffocating, majestic torrents of Sword Momentum erupted, surging toward the heavens like twin azure dragons bursting from the sea!

One was a Sword Momentum of absolute destruction, one that devoured all things!

The other was a Sword Momentum that looked down upon the world, standing proud and unrivaled!

The auras radiating from these two torrents of Sword Momentum were enough to make the weak tremble, unable to even lift their heads.

As the two torrents of Sword Momentum rose and spread, they clashed violently, blanketing the entire underground canyon and claiming their own territories.

Though Sword Momentum was an formless pressure, the confrontation between the two triggered an incredibly fierce gale.

The gale howled like a great dragon trapped in an abyss, surging through the entire underground canyon and letting out roars that shook one’s very soul.

The very heavens seemed to shift color as the earth itself trembled!

Throughout the underground canyon, every surviving participant was startled by the phenomenon.

"These two torrents of Sword Momentum..."

"Such terrifying Sword Momentum! Just feeling it radiate out fills me with a primal fear!"

"Besides Shangguan Tianjian, who else could possibly unleash Sword Momentum of this magnitude?"

"It’s Yi Xiaoyao!"

Two figures emerged in everyone’s mind.

One was lofty and aloof, filled with contempt for all—that was Shangguan Tianjian.

The other was shrouded in mystery and unpredictability—Yi Xiaoyao.

It was as if this entire contest had been prepared just for these two. Everything that had happened so far was merely a prelude to the battle to come.

A climactic battle between geniuses, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in the Great Shang Dynasty for centuries, was about to begin.

The world fell silent. The crowds on the ground and the numerous experts in the sky all focused their gazes, their attention fixed on the impending battle.

The participants still within the great canyon were especially terrified, feeling the two torrents of Sword Momentum pressing in on them from all sides.

But the true focus of everyone’s attention was the two figures facing off from a distance in the center of the underground canyon.

Shangguan Tianjian stood atop a large boulder, arms crossed, looking down with a cold, condescending gaze at the black-clad youth in the distance.

"I didn’t expect this. I hadn’t even come looking for you, yet you’ve delivered yourself right to my doorstep."

Shangguan Tianjian’s white robes fluttered in the windless air, stirred by his Sword Momentum. His gaze sharpened as if becoming tangible, shooting out like two golden swords.

"Yi Xiaoyao!"

Finally, Shangguan Tianjian spat out his name, his voice bone-chillingly cold.

Dressed in stark black, Yi Xiaoyao was a sharp contrast to the white-robed Shangguan Tianjian. It was as if the two were born to be irreconcilable enemies.

And indeed they were. The two had never crossed paths before, yet their very first meeting had been a clash of pure Killing Intent.

This was their second meeting. It would also be their last.

Yi Xiaoyao and Shangguan Tianjian were like black and white. Either the black would be washed out by the white, or the white would be stained by the black.

Only one of them would leave this place alive.

"Deliver myself? I’m just here to take a life."

Yi Xiaoyao remained as composed as ever, a roguish smile playing on his lips.

The moment his words fell, the massive boulder beneath Shangguan Tianjian’s feet split in two without any warning. Shangguan Tianjian swiftly brought his sword up to defend himself, but he was still blasted backward, crashing to the ground.

"Yi Xiaoyao! You dare launch a sneak attack!"

Shangguan Tianjian scrambled to his feet, his eyes burning with fury as he pointed his sword at Yi Xiaoyao.

Yi Xiaoyao chuckled. "A sneak attack? You think too highly of yourself. Did you even see me move?"

He then casually rested his longsword on his shoulder. It had never left its scabbard.

Shangguan Tianjian’s eyes narrowed. He was right; he hadn’t seen Yi Xiaoyao’s sword leave its sheath. He had only managed to raise his own sword to block due to his powerful intuition and superhuman reflexes.

Faced with this, Shangguan Tianjian was left speechless.

To be unable to see an opponent’s attack didn’t mean it was a sneak attack. It only proved his own incompetence.

The smile on Yi Xiaoyao’s lips widened. "I just couldn’t stand that high-and-mighty look of yours," he said mockingly. "You’re much easier on the eyes now."

Indeed. Standing on the ground with his white robes stained with dust and a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, Shangguan Tianjian cut a pathetic figure compared to his previous lofty perch on the boulder.

Flames of fury threatened to erupt from Shangguan Tianjian’s eyes. He loved being on top. He reveled in looking down on others. It had been that way for years.

’And yet, in both of their meetings, Yi Xiaoyao had knocked him from his high perch and left him looking utterly wretched. Is this really a coincidence?’

Coincidence or not, Shangguan Tianjian was now thoroughly enraged.

"Yi Xiaoyao! You! Will! Die!"

His voice was laced with a bone-chilling Killing Intent. The next instant, Shangguan Tianjian’s figure vanished.

Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes flickered, and he vanished as well.

"Where did they go?"

"They disappeared!"

The crowd on the surface above was plunged into confusion. The focus of their attention had simply vanished.

But then, abruptly, at the very midpoint of the thousands of feet that had separated them...

...two terrifying beams of sword light tore through the air, crossing the vast distance in an instant and colliding head-on.

In that moment, the world shook!

BOOM!!!

A deafening, terrifying roar ripped through the heavens and earth, jolting everyone from their confusion. Horror-stricken, the crowd whipped their heads toward the source of the sound.

There, two longswords, radiating astonishingly powerful auras, were locked in a clash. The scintillating crimson and golden light they emitted outshone the very sun.

Beneath the crossed blades, a massive wave of energy transformed into tangible ripples, sweeping out in all directions.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ...

Everywhere the shockwave passed, the ground cracked and split, dust billowed into the air, and trees were snapped in two!

The participants still within the underground canyon felt a terrifying gale slam into them.

Sand and stone flew through the air as the gale raged!

"It’s begun!"

Sword Wind Breaker stood atop a mountain peak, his gaze searing, as if it could pierce through space itself to see the two combatants causing this terrifying disturbance.

’This is a battle of monsters!’ Sword Wind Breaker then shook his head and sighed. "It’s just a shame I’m not one of them."

The moment he felt their Sword Momentum and the resulting shockwaves, he finally understood why Yi Xiaoyao had been so calm after learning of Shangguan Tianjian’s true strength.

Yi Xiaoyao’s power had long since surpassed his own!

At the same time, Sword Wind Breaker also realized what Yi Xiaoyao had meant before. When he said his second-place rank wouldn’t change, it was because he had planned all along to kill Shangguan Tianjian and claim the top spot on the Hidden Dragon List for himself.

"I hope you can pull it off," Sword Wind Breaker said with a smile, his words directed at the empty air.

...