Chapter 59 – Duan Yunfeng's swordsmanship

"Even though I know I'm not your match, I still want to give it my all."

Dressed in a plain robe, a woman with rather ordinary looks and a somewhat bloated figure, making her appear chubby, held a long spear and gritted her teeth as she looked at Su Xin in front of her.

Mo Bing was considered a dark horse in this hunt.

Like Su Xin, she was unknown before the hunt began.

Even after the first phase of the hunt, when she showed some strength, she was only thought to have the potential to break into the top hundred.

It wasn't until the second phase of the hunt that she gradually revealed her strength, and by the third phase, she had fought her way to the qualification to enter the Heavenflame Palace.

But in terms of strength, the gap between her and Su Xin was still very obvious.

In this battle, Su Xin was rather considerate, not letting Mo Bing lose too miserably, but instead engaged in a fierce fight with her for a while. When Mo Bing realized she had no hope of winning, she conceded directly.

Su Xin smoothly advanced to the top five.

Su Xin also carefully watched the other battles between the geniuses. In terms of strength, they were about the same as Mo Bing, even if slightly stronger, not enough to truly concern him.

The only one he needed to worry about was the final showdown.

Xia Mang versus... Duan Yunfeng!

Xia Mang was undoubtedly Su Xin's biggest rival in the fight for first place in this hunt.

In fact, most people present believed that Xia Mang's strength was slightly stronger than Su Xin's.

As for Duan Yunfeng, although the strength he had shown so far was about the same as Tu San's before, Su Xin knew that Duan Yunfeng had never truly revealed his strongest combat power.

Su Xin was very much looking forward to seeing how strong Duan Yunfeng's hidden trump card was.

...

On the battlefield, Xia Mang and Duan Yunfeng faced each other from a distance.

"Bring out your strongest power directly, otherwise, you won't have a chance." Xia Mang remained as cold and confident as ever.

"Calling me fat, and now you're out of breath, do you really think I'm afraid of you?" Duan Yunfeng was clearly angered by Xia Mang's attitude.

The two quickly engaged in combat.

Duan Yunfeng exploded with power right from the start.

A layer of red light rose from his body, like a blood-colored mist, covering him entirely, resembling a blood-colored phantom, bursting forth with terrifying speed.

This speed was far faster than the speed Tu San had previously exerted with all his might using his body technique.

At the same time, Duan Yunfeng's blade technique was also unleashed.

The blade light was dazzling and brilliant!

Its speed and power were extremely formidable.

Xia Mang, with a cold expression, thrust his spear forward, still as fierce and domineering as ever, directly dispersing the dazzling blade light, and the power contained in his spear technique even forced Duan Yunfeng to retreat.

"No wonder he's the first in nearly a hundred years of the Heavenflame Imperial Family to cultivate the Imperial Yuan Technique to the third level. This power explosion is indeed strong, only slightly weaker than that monk Wu Chao, but his spear technique is even more domineering." Duan Yunfeng's expression was serious.

Knowing that ordinary blade techniques couldn't possibly match Xia Mang, Duan Yunfeng immediately used his trump card.

Swish!

A dazzling blood light suddenly lit up!

The blade light was brilliant and poignant.

So beautiful it was suffocating.

"So beautiful!"

"Is this a blade technique?"

In the audience, many couldn't help but praise.

And after one slash, a second and third slash immediately followed.

Swish, swish, swish~~~

The same poignant blade light slashed forth, forming a blood-colored river of blades in the void.

"Hmm?"

Xia Mang's expression changed.

He could feel the terrifying power contained within each of these poignant blade lights.

Such power, even he didn't dare to underestimate in the slightest.

Xia Mang's body trembled, and powerful spiritual energy erupted instantly. The spear in his hand roared like a giant dragon.

Stab! Smash! Sweep!~~

Each move seemed simple, but was extremely exquisite, and the power was formidable, dispersing each of the poignant blade lights that came slashing.

In the blink of an eye, Duan Yunfeng had already swung nine poignant blade lights.

Each blade was more brilliant and poignant than the last, each blade stronger than the last.

Xia Mang also went all out, and after the nine blade lights slashed through, under the impact of the powerful force, Xia Mang staggered back several steps.

"Forced back?"

"Duan Yunfeng's blade technique actually forced Xia Mang back?"

"Xia Mang has always been unstoppable and domineering, and in the genius battles encountered in this third phase of the hunt, no one has ever been able to force him back even half a step, but Duan Yunfeng actually did it?"

There was a commotion in the audience.

Although it was just a slight retreat of a few steps, not a victory, many people already thought it was remarkable that Duan Yunfeng could achieve this.

"Your strength is quite good." Xia Mang looked at Duan Yunfeng again.

"Hmph, just 'quite good'? Then take another move from me." Duan Yunfeng's eyes were cold, and the blood-colored mist covering him suddenly surged.

The dense blood light gathered, and Duan Yunfeng stood at the center of it, holding the long blade with both hands.

His face was ferocious, with a hint of madness in his eyes.

"Blood Phantom!"

With a fierce shout, Duan Yunfeng merged completely with the long blade in his hand.

The long blade swept through the void, like a huge blood moon, with a hint of poignancy, slashing straight towards Xia Mang.

Xia Mang's pupils contracted sharply.

This slashing blood moon made even him feel a twinge of fear.

In an inconspicuous corner of the audience of hundreds of thousands, a man in gray sat, occasionally glancing at the battlefield, seemingly absent-minded.

In truth, he usually couldn't be bothered with hunts that only involved Sea Transformation Realm geniuses.

The only reason he came this time was that the little guy he had recommended was also participating in this hunt and had achieved good results.

Even the battle between Xia Mang and Duan Yunfeng, the man in gray hadn't been interested in watching closely.

But when Duan Yunfeng unleashed that blade light like a blood moon, the man in gray's eyes suddenly focused.

"This blade technique..."

"Blood Phantom! It's Blood Phantom! One of that monster's signature moves!"

"This kid can actually use that monster's signature move, he's most likely his disciple."

The man in gray's expression became serious.

He had once seen someone use the same blade technique, and the person who used it was a terrifying existence that even he feared, a monster.

"His disciple came to the Heavenflame Dynasty to participate in this hunt?" The man in gray's expression was quite peculiar.

And in the center of the battlefield.

The huge blood moon, carrying terrifying momentum, had already slashed down.

Xia Mang's eyes also emitted a terrifying gleam, and with a step forward, he thrust his spear violently, like a dragon overturning rivers and seas.

Boom!

A loud explosion.

The entire vast arena seemed to tremble.

Endless momentum swept wildly.

In the center of the battlefield, the blood-colored mist around Duan Yunfeng had dissipated, his face was somewhat pale, and the long blade in his hand had fallen to the ground.

Xia Mang, however, still stood there with a cold and proud expression, and behind him, a towering dragon phantom faintly appeared. Under the cover of this dragon phantom, Xia Mang's aura reached its peak state.

"Dragon Phantom, the power of one dragon!"

"Xia Mang's Dragon Spear Technique can already drive the power of one dragon? He didn't even use this in the second phase of the hunt!"

"Monster!"

On the field, those with some knowledge, including the two palace masters of Heavenflame Palace, showed expressions of shock.

The Dragon Spear Technique was also recognized as the number one spear technique in the Heavenflame Dynasty.

Just like the Northern Azure Sword Art that Su Xin practiced was the number one sword art.

And the Dragon Spear Technique, when cultivated to a high level, could condense a dragon phantom and drive the power of a dragon.

Of course, the Dragon Spear Technique at its peak could condense nine dragon phantoms and drive the power of nine dragons, but Xia Mang had only condensed one dragon phantom and driven the power of one dragon, which seemed far off.

But for a Sea Transformation Realm, reaching this step was already incredible.

It was by leveraging this power of one dragon that Xia Mang could directly block and even shatter Duan Yunfeng's recent slash.

As for why he didn't use it in the second phase of the hunt... it was because driving the power of one dragon consumed too much spiritual energy, and in the second phase of the hunt, when he passed the fourteenth wave of attacks in the Heart of Heaven Realm, his spiritual energy was almost exhausted, making it impossible to use this move.

"Being able to force me to use my trump card, you are indeed strong! But this is the end." Xia Mang coldly watched Duan Yunfeng.

Duan Yunfeng smiled wryly.

That last slash was his strongest move, yet it was still shattered by Xia Mang head-on. This battle was already without suspense.

"I concede." Duan Yunfeng chose to concede directly.

His concession immediately stirred up the crowd.

Standing outside the battlefield, Su Xin had been watching the battle intently.

"So that's Duan Yunfeng's strongest move? It really is strong." Su Xin secretly admired.

He had a great relationship with Duan Yunfeng, and the two had previously ventured together in the hunting grounds. Duan Yunfeng had mentioned his strongest move more than once, boasting about its power, and Su Xin had always been curious.

And now he had witnessed it.

It was indeed extremely strong.

Even for himself, he would have to go all out to possibly block that move.

Compared to Duan Yunfeng, Xia Mang, who could directly shatter Duan Yunfeng's move, was even more terrifying.

"This Xia Mang's strength is much stronger than I previously expected."

Su Xin's gaze was somewhat serious as he stared at Xia Mang on the field.

The latter's gaze also happened to meet his.

Their eyes collided in the void, and battle intent surged instantly.

"What a formidable opponent." Su Xin smiled faintly, feeling a hint of excitement.

"Duan Yunfeng's strength is decent, but he could only force me to drive the power of one dragon. Only Su Xin is my true opponent!"

Xia Mang's gaze was equally intense.

...

After five battles, the losers were ranked sixth to tenth, and upon entering Heavenflame Palace, they would only receive a thousand fire points.

The five victors continued with the subsequent battles.

The next five-person battles were no longer one-on-one advancement matches but a round-robin among the five.

Each person would fight the other four once, and the final rankings from first to fifth would be determined based on the results.

On the battlefield, one match after another began.

Su Xin would successively battle four geniuses. The first three, although extremely strong, with one even hiding some techniques and having combat power very close to Duan Yunfeng, ultimately fell to Su Xin.

Quickly, four matches were completed, with Su Xin winning all three, leaving only the final match against Xia Mang, who had also won three matches!

Their battle would also be the ultimate showdown of this hunt between the two strongest geniuses...