Chapter 362: Reversal of the Situation

It was hardly surprising that Ji Man, the fifth-ranked expert on the Hidden Dragon Rankings and the heir of the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City, could display such might.

But Chen Yuan hadn’t even been in the top ten of the Hidden Dragon Rankings before entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower, yet now he was fighting on par with Ji Man. This was truly astonishing.

To be precise, the two weren’t even evenly matched at this moment. Rather, Chen Yuan was suppressing Ji Man!

Under the Nine Deaths Nether Slash, the Fire Phoenix let out a mournful cry and was utterly torn apart by the overwhelming Death Qi.

However, this delay caused Chen Yuan’s blade strike to lose its momentum, giving Ji Man a chance to retreat and evade.

But before Ji Man could counterattack, Chen Yuan once again drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He was still reversing his Vitality, condensing the boundless Death Qi into a pitch-black arrow that pulsed with astonishing power.

The Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow, fired in his Nine Prisons State, shot out, streaking straight for Ji Man, who had already put some distance between them.

A flash of anger appeared in Ji Man’s eyes, but it was overshadowed by sheer bewilderment.

‘Is there no end to this!’

He had only tried to block him from entering the Longevity Hall, yet this Chen Jiutian had immediately started burning his own Vitality to fight with his life on the line.

It was like two people getting into an argument at a banquet and preparing for a fistfight, only for the other guy to pull out a bomb, ready to take them both down.

These two moves not only baffled Ji Man but also left him feeling incredibly frustrated. From the very first exchange, he had been caught in Chen Yuan’s rhythm, forced into a passive defense.

A dazzling divine light instantly rippled across the long sword in Ji Man’s hand. The cry of a phoenix intensified, materializing as a divine, crimson-flamed silhouette that danced behind him. In an instant, the phoenix soared through the nine heavens as divine flames filled the air!

Ji Man pushed the Phoenix Dance in Nine Heavens Atlas to its absolute limit. His Sword Qi pierced the heavens and the phoenix soared into the air; the depth of his power was truly terrifying.

Streams of sword light, like dancing phoenixes, bombarded the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow, continuously wearing away the Death Qi upon it. With a violent tremor, the arrow’s light was extinguished, and the Death Qi dissipated.

The next moment, with another phoenix cry, Ji Man’s figure became a streak of light. His sword took the form of a phoenix, and in the blink of an eye, he was before Chen Yuan!

Shadows of phoenixes flowed over this sword strike as Yin Yang Power converged. The Sword Qi surged with incomparable sharpness, its ultimate edge almost comparable to the sword of a top-tier Swordsman like Gu Lichuan.

The Ji Family of Celestial Bright City had a profound heritage. Back when they were the world’s number one Dynasty, they possessed countless Cultivation Technique Manuals.

Over the following millennia, these Cultivation Technique Manuals were constantly updated. Therefore, almost every Martial Artist from the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City had no weaknesses, cultivating a comprehensive and complex array of techniques.

Furthermore, Ji Man had a photographic memory and had read through tens of thousands of cultivation techniques. Whether it was Swordsmanship, Lightweight Skills, or various Secret Arts for close-quarters combat, he was proficient in almost all of them, leaving him with no weaknesses.

The Murong Family was actually similar, with a complex collection of cultivation techniques. Their disciples dabbled in a great many of them during their training.

However, the Murong Family’s approach was “a jack of all trades, master of none.” In contrast, every single one of the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City’s cultivation techniques was Celestial Level, possessing incomparable might.

As Ji Man’s sword was about to strike, Chen Yuan formed a Seal Technique. Dazzling golden Buddha Light suddenly erupted. He performed the Dorje Guanyin Hand Seal of Wishing, and in that instant, ten thousand lotus blossoms bloomed as a deafening Brahma Sound echoed between heaven and earth.

The Doroduma Barrier-Breaking Curse!

The Brahma Sound pierced his ears. The Power of Breaking Obstacles and Reducing Karma instantly slammed into Ji Man, causing the light of his sword to falter for a moment.

The Nether Blood Fiend emerged on Chen Yuan’s Blood Sea Listening Tide. With a single slash, he shattered the sword light and swung directly for Ji Man’s neck.

But just then, a phoenix silhouette suddenly rose around Ji Man, instantly dispelling the effects of the Doroduma Barrier-Breaking Curse.

Celestial Phoenix Body Protection!

Other factions might lack countermeasures for Spiritual Secret Techniques, but the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City possessed a great number of them, along with even more methods to counter such spiritual attacks.

The next moment, Ji Man flipped his long sword, his Sword Momentum shifting from unyielding to pliable. He skillfully trapped Chen Yuan’s blade, locking it against his own long sword.

Not only was his foundation of power incredibly profound, but even his most basic sword techniques and Sword Momentum were extremely solid.

Ji Man’s left hand struck down in a Fist Seal. Divine flames and firelight condensed, transforming into Nine Phoenixes Flowing.

Nine Phoenix Soaring Heaven Seal!

Chen Yuan also formed a Seal Technique. In an instant, the Buddha Light was dazzling. The phantom of a two-faced, four-armed Bright King appeared, and it too struck down with a seal.

When the Three Generations of Bright King’s Demon-Suppressing Spell was unleashed, it suppressed demons, vanquished evil, and subdued the Three Realms.

Fist Seals collided, scattering Buddha Light and firelight in all directions.

Ji Man’s expression changed abruptly as he felt an extreme Giant Power surging toward him.

Just moments ago, they had clashed with blades and swords, and their Spiritual Secret Techniques had collided head-on. In that back-and-forth exchange, Ji Man didn’t believe he was at a disadvantage.

Although he had been caught in Chen Yuan’s rhythm at the start, that was only because Chen Yuan had immediately used a Secret Technique that burned his Vitality.

‘He’s only suppressing me by relying on a desperate, life-risking Secret Technique. I refuse to believe he’s actually stronger than me.’

But now, in this physical clash, feeling the extreme power of his opponent’s body, Ji Man finally felt that he was being overpowered.

The Ji Family of Celestial Bright City naturally had Body Refining Secret Techniques as well, and Ji Man had never lacked resources since he was a child.

He cultivated the Nine Phoenix Divine Body, a secret technique passed down in the Ji Family. From a young age, he had soaked in medicinal baths and consumed all sorts of Elixirs to strengthen his constitution.

However, to cultivate the Nine Phoenix Divine Body to its peak, one needed to temper their body with the Nine Phoenix Divine Fire. This step was rather time-consuming and required an immense amount of energy.

Ji Man believed that Body Refining Techniques were too draining, so he hadn’t focused much effort on it. He figured it was enough to have tempered his physical body to be stronger than other Martial Artists of the same realm.

But he never expected to run into a monster like Chen Yuan. His foundation of power was immense, his Secret Techniques were formidable, and on top of cultivating Spiritual Secret Techniques, even his physical strength was this terrifyingly powerful.

Chen Yuan’s path of cultivation was surprisingly similar to his own, yet he was even more powerful than Ji Man and had absolutely no weaknesses!

After that clash of Fist Seals, Chen Yuan also noticed that Ji Man’s physical strength was a notch weaker than his own.

The next moment, Chen Yuan let out a cold laugh. He successively unleashed the Blood Killing Heaven-Seizing Hand and the Gouli Blood Flame Divine Seal. Fighting up close with these Secret Techniques, immense power exploded in the space of less than three feet, momentarily obscuring both of their figures from view.

Previously, Chen Yuan had slain four Palace Guardian Divine Generals and absorbed four drops of Divine-Demonic Blood.

Although it was only four drops, it had given Chen Yuan an extremely powerful boost in Blood Fiend Power.

At this moment, although Ji Man was surrounded by the Nine Phoenixes and protected by the Celestial Phoenix, he was completely enveloped in the blood flames of the killing calamity, thrown into a state of total suppression.

In that instant, Ji Man’s expression became incredibly grim, his fury climbing to its absolute peak.

As the heir of the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City, Ji Man had even harbored thoughts of contending with the Heir of the Divine King, Jiang Mu, and the Saint Heir, Si Bai, during this trip to the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

But look at him now! He was being suppressed by Chen Jiutian—someone who wasn’t even in the top ten of the Hidden Dragon Rankings and came from a backwater faction. To Ji Man, this was nothing short of humiliation!

And it wasn’t just his own situation that looked bleak; the entire battlefield was developing in a way that defied Ji Man’s expectations.

Zhong Li’s rank on the Hidden Dragon Rankings was higher than Ji Man’s, but Ji Man didn’t believe he was any weaker.

The only reason the other man ranked higher was that Zhong Li frequently traveled to the Western Border and Southern Barbarian Lands to hone his combat skills. He had an extensive battle record, which was why he was ranked so high on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.

Although Ji Man was not entirely convinced of his superiority, he had to admit that Zhong Li’s combat power was astonishing. His Daoist Profound Skill was even capable of suppressing the Vajra Zen of the Vajra Prajna Temple, and its might was immense.

Yet right now, in his fierce battle with Qingchen, Zhong Li was the one being completely suppressed!

Dao Essence suffused the air around Qingchen, his figure ethereal and elusive. Zhong Li’s fist momentum, powerful enough to shake mountains, descended, but it was like striking cotton—effortlessly neutralized without any intense fluctuations of power.

Only a Martial Artist of Ji Man’s level could sense what had truly happened. As Zhong Li’s fist fell, the Dao Essence around Qingchen instantly manifested as earth, water, fire, and wind. The Dao Essence Origin circulated, dissolving the force of the blow in a heartbeat.

Qingchen had actually grasped a portion of the Dao Essence Origin while still in the Condensing Truth Realm! And unlike Han Chang, who had relied on the power of an Original Demon Pill, Qingchen’s own application of the Dao Essence Origin far exceeded the limits of what someone at his Realm should be able to control.

One could say that Qingchen had also been suppressing his Realm all along. If he wanted to step into the Primordial Pill Realm, he could probably Solidify his Pill with a single thought.

And when Qingchen’s palm landed on Zhong Li, it looked light and airy, almost as if he were just tickling him. Yet the blow made Zhong Li’s face flush red and his internal Qi Blood roil.

The power of that palm strike was condensed and did not disperse. The formidable Daoist Internal Strength that Qingchen had cultivated from the Huangting Scripture was potent to an unimaginable degree.

There was no technique to speak of—it was purely extreme, powerful Penetrating Inner Power, yet it struck Zhong Li so hard that his Daoist Profound Skill was on the verge of collapsing!

However, while Zhong Li was at least still holding on, Ji Man’s subordinate, Xiao Jing, and the others were already failing.

Xiao Jing was ranked sixteenth on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, so his cultivation was by no means weak.

The Langya Xiao Family had actually been in decline for many years. In fact, it had been several decades since one of their young disciples had made it onto the Hidden Dragon Rankings.

Xiao Jing was the most outstanding disciple of the Langya Xiao Family in recent years. The Xiao Family had placed great hopes on him, and he possessed numerous Cultivation Techniques and Secret Arts.

But against Gu Lichuan, Xiao Jing was being completely crushed.

Gu Lichuan attacked with six swords at once, instantly suppressing Xiao Jing. A moment ago, he had even come close to shattering the long sword in Xiao Jing’s hand. Now, he had almost forced Xiao Jing to the point of activating his Divine Artifact Incarnation.

As for the other Martial Artists Ji Man had brought, they were suffering a crushing defeat.

They all came from factions subservient to the Ji Family of Celestial Bright City. Although they were called subservient factions, their strength was not to be underestimated; each family even had a Grandmaster at the Eighth Realm Divine Platform overseeing them.

But there was still a huge gap between these people and the true prodigies of the younger generation, like Luo Lie.

They weren’t just being suppressed—they were being routed. A complete and utter rout!

Within just a few exchanges, several of them had been slain, and the rest had almost no strength left to fight back.

The entire situation was almost completely one-sided. The Celestial Bright City side, which had been so aggressive and domineering just moments ago, could no longer hold on.