Chapter 217 - 105: Returning to Star Sword Peak and Meeting an Old Acquaintance

Chapter 217: Chapter 105: Returning to Star Sword Peak and Meeting an Old Acquaintance

Wielding thunder as the Lord of Constant Domination, this Heavenly Punishment Sword, which had gathered most of the thunderstorm, could crush Su Xingying in a direct confrontation.

Now, with Su Xingying immobilized by the Power of Heaven and Earth, the Heavenly Punishment Sword locked onto her, and a deadly crisis that threatened to obliterate her very Divine Soul enveloped her body and mind.

The extreme danger made her struggle all the more violently.

Unfortunately, under the cover of the Eternal Golden Bell’s phantom, it was more than just the triple shackles of Gravity, Gravity, and Repulsive Force that had locked down her Flesh Body; there was also a net woven from the Power of Heaven and Earth and threads of spatial authority.

Such overlapping layers of confinement were simply not something a Spirit Core Late Stage cultivator like Su Xingying could break free from with brute force.

She could only watch helplessly as the sword of Thunder, like a divine punishment, descended upon the spot between her eyebrows.

Fortunately, Jiang Xuan had no intention of killing Su Xingying, who had helped him so much in the early days.

In the end, the Heavenly Punishment Sword halted just before her brow.

"You’ve lost."

As he spoke, Jiang Xuan also released her from the confinement of the Eternal Golden Bell.

This was partly because he trusted her character, certain she wouldn’t take the opportunity to counterattack, and partly because Jiang Xuan himself was about to succumb to the backlash from this Divine Technique.

The Eternal Golden Bell was indeed powerful, but it consumed a massive amount of Divine Soul and Magical Power, and the pressure it placed on his Flesh Body was tyrannical. Even though he had gone through the Refinement of some Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid, he couldn’t maintain it for long.

...

Though her life wasn’t in danger, Su Xingying was far from happy.

"I’ve lost again," she murmured, her voice full of bitterness.

What made her heart feel even heavier was that this defeat was completely different from all the others.

In the past, when she had lost to Jiang Xuan’s hand multiple times, it was largely because her own pride made her disdain using clever tactics like stalling or evasion.

Moreover, after every narrow victory in the past, Jiang Xuan would immediately collapse from exhaustion. Their battles never had a truly clear winner and loser.

But this time was completely different.

Even though she had used every technique at her disposal, Jiang Xuan still utterly crushed her in a direct, head-on confrontation.

After defeating her, Jiang Xuan remained standing steadily in place, showing no sign of exhaustion.

Just as Jiang Xuan had said, this time, she had truly and utterly tasted the bitterness of defeat.

Jiang Xuan could clearly sense the bitterness and frustration in Su Xingying’s heart. He didn’t say anything more, simply standing with her in silence for a moment.

However, with the Hundred-Day Exam not far off, the sense of urgency finally made him speak first. "Are we still fighting?"

"Yes."

Gritting her teeth, the dejection in her eyes was replaced by a sharp battle intent. In what seemed like an instant, Su Xingying had rallied.

And this time, her fighting style changed abruptly.

She no longer charged straight at him. Instead, she retreated rapidly, putting dozens of yards between them.

From a distance, she continuously unleashed Sword Qi or commanded her Flying Sword Star Fall, sending out streams of sword phantoms.

Her excellent combat instincts had allowed her to discover one of the Eternal Golden Bell’s weaknesses.

The power that confined and isolated everything was only activated when one was covered by the Golden Bell, and the range of Jiang Xuan’s Golden Bell wasn’t very large.

’Trying to counter me with long-range attacks? A good idea, but unfortunately, it’s useless.’

Shaking his head, Jiang Xuan didn’t use Gravity to fly and close the distance with Su Xingying.

He simply raised a hand to summon the Eternal Golden Bell and flicked its wall with a finger.

DONG!

Following Jiang Xuan’s action, the sound of the Bell Ringing, which echoed through the heavens, exploded throughout the small world of the Mirage Mirror, causing the very space to tremble.

[Eternal Golden Bell: World Awakening Bell]

This new application of his Divine Technique, which Jiang Xuan had deduced, wasn’t just for raising his own Divine Soul Realm; it could also be used against his enemies.

Furthermore, it had fused with one of the Traits of the Sword of the Spirit—’a sword born from the sea of the Heart, which can slay others as well as oneself’—making the Divine Soul-damaging power of this Bell Ringing tyrannical to the extreme.

At this moment, Su Xingying discovered to her horror that the Bell Ringing had completely ignored her Flesh Body’s defenses and Magical Power barrier, boring directly into the depths of her sea of consciousness and Soul Spirit!

VWOOM—!

The grand and mighty chime of the Bell Ringing echoed repeatedly in her sea of consciousness. Even with the Jade Balance Celestial Star protecting her Divine Soul, her mind still went blank for a full two or three seconds.

And in a duel between masters, those two or three seconds were more than enough to decide life and death, victory and defeat.

[Star Orbit Attraction]

After immobilizing her, Jiang Xuan made a grasping motion with his hand. An invisible Gravity erupted, and Su Xingying’s body was uncontrollably pulled right in front of him. The moment her Divine Soul returned to her body and her mind regained clarity, the phantom of the Eternal Golden Bell had already enveloped her once more.

This time, without Jiang Xuan needing to say a word, Su Xingying knew... she had lost. Again.

And this time, her confidence was completely shattered.

She could see absolutely no hope of defeating Jiang Xuan.

...

Seeing her eyes turn red, her spirit clearly broken as she looked about to cry, Jiang Xuan felt a little awkward.

After all, back when his Cultivation was low and he was at his most desperate, it was Su Xingying who had given him over a thousand Spirit Stones to help him out. Because of that kindness, an act of providing a lifeline when he needed it most, his feelings for her were different from how he felt about others.

And just as Jiang Xuan was wondering how to comfort her, Su Xingying... pulled herself together.

Taking a deep breath, she said to herself in her heart: ’Didn’t I already expect this outcome!’

Zhong Ming of the Daozi Courtyard was a peerless prodigy of this generation, guaranteed a spot in the top three and even a contender for first place. Because of his immense strength, his words carried great weight.

He had said that Jiang Xuan had a shot at the top ten of the Daoist School. Because of that, Su Xingying had come here with a premonition that she might be defeated.