The Unrivaled Tang Sect

Ji Juechen slashed the Judgement Sword upwards, and a formidable sword aura steamrolled towards the image of the jade-green phoenix.

The sword aura seemed to embody justice as it collided head-on with the green phoenix. However, the unexpected happened. Instead of shattering, the green phoenix magically melted and flowed along the sides of the sword aura as it continued to travel towards Ji Juechen.

That’s right. It flowed like a fluid before the green phoenix splashed onto Ji Juechen’s body.

At this juncture, everyone had started to gain a better appreciation of the situation.

Even though Xiao Xiao could not match Ji Juechen, she was probably not too far away from him. There was also an additional reason why she dared to challenge him today. It was because he was not familiar with her.

In fact, not many people within Tang Sect knew what soul skills Xiao Xiao possessed.

After witnessing this Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute’s soul skills, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi and the rest were all surprised. What is this soul skill? It seems like it’s going to be very difficult to get away from the green light.

Ji Juechen definitely experienced the difficulty firsthand.

When he first saw the jade-green phoenix fly towards him, he thought that this would be an attack-type soul skill. However, he knew his guess was wrong the moment the sword aura pierced through the jade-green phoenix.

He expected his sharp sword aura to shatter the phoenix upon contact. However, the soul skill did not end with its shattering. In fact, it had been agitated.

The stream of jade-green light, which was very much like a viscous fluid, landed on Ji Juechen’s body instantly. It seemed to have been drawn to his sword aura. However, Ji Juechen knew that it was only drawn to him because Xiao Xiao had locked it onto him. Otherwise, it would not have come straight to him.

As the jade-green light melted into his body, he felt his entire body become heavier. It was as though he had just put on a thousand-pound suit of armor, and had lost all of his agility.

In fact, he even realized that his blood flow and soul power had become sluggish. It was as though his entire person had become very sluggish and slow.

What a powerful soul skill! What exactly is it?

This was a question which only Xiao Xiao could answer. Its name was Phoenix Seal—a sealing technique from the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute.

This soul skill was very powerful because of how indestructible it was. Unless it was obliterated on all fronts, it was practically unstoppable. Once it came into contact with an opponent, he or she would be in serious trouble. The jade-green Phoenix Seal would stick itself to the person like cotton candy. It would require an unreal amount of soul power to dissolve. Xiao Xiao had been trying to expend Ji Juechen’s soul power right from the beginning. Now that her seal had landed on him, it would only accelerate the rate at which he was forced to burn his soul power.

After landing the seal on Ji Juechen’s body successfully, Xiao Xiao was over the moon, and the tune which she was blowing with her flute became even more melodic.

Warm halos were now being released from the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. These halos transformed into jade-green phoenixes as they flew towards Ji Juechen.

What a remarkable control-type soul skill! Everyone thought to themselves as they marvelled at Xiao Xiao’s technique. Xiao Xiao’s Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute could have been equipped with attacking-type soul skills. But from the looks of the soul skills which she had executed, all of them seemed to be control-type. This also meant that she had dedicated her entire second martial soul to control-type soul skills. It was apparent that she chose to do this for the team.

As an owner of twin martial souls, her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron was already a defense-type control-type martial soul. If she were to only care about herself, she could have dedicated her second martial soul to attacking-type soul skills. This would have made her a more balanced soul master.

But Xiao Xiao did not choose to do that. Instead, she chose to focus purely on control-type soul skills on her second martial soul. This was a team-oriented decision. Because her boyfriend—He Caitou—was already skilled in attacking-type soul skills, it would make perfect sense for her to focus on control-type skills to complement him, and improve their overall fighting power.

At this instant, Ji Juechen’s eyes suddenly brightened. He knew very well what kind of predicament he was in. Since Xiao Xiao did not stop releasing the phoenix seals, this meant that the effects of her seals could be compounded.

While he remained there, Ji Juechen’s aura suddenly changed. An indescribably sharp aura suddenly surged out from his body.

At that very instant, even the light from his Judgement Sword was covered by the aura surging out from him. Ji Juechen had transformed into a long sword with an unparalleled aura exploding from his body.

Xiao Xiao’s eyes were blurred by the sudden outburst of Ji Juechen’s aura. Following which, Ji Juechen made his move. Countless sword auras surged from his body as though they were gushing out from every pore. A faint green energy was also ejected from his body along with the sword auras. The first phoenix seal had been broken.

Ji Juechen lifted the Judgement Sword as though he was conducting the millions of sword auras which had been released from his body. Immediately, they formed a powerful wave which swept towards Xiao Xiao.

The greyish black sword auras were like a hurricane which swept across the ground that separated Xiao Xiao and Ji Juechen. The jade-green phoenixes which stood in the way of the huge hurricane were instantly shattered as they vanished into thin air.

Ji Juechen was able to turn the tables in a single move. Also, he was able to lock on his aura onto Xiao Xiao.

Xiao Xiao’s face was visibly paler. She could no longer sense her energy from Ji Juechen’s body. Naturally, her methods would no longer be effective on him. Instead, she felt an unparalleled murderous intent from him.

This murderous intent did not have a material form, but Xiao Xiao was certain that it existed. At that very instant, she felt as though every single pore on her body had been shut by the killing intent exhibited by Ji Juechen. The effect of the intent was so strong that her flute playing stopped momentarily.

Following which, Ji Juechen made his move. He flew towards Xiao Xiao at lightning speed like a sharp sword tearing up the sky.

This was Executioner’s Blade—Ji Juechen’s most commonly used ability. It was a soul skill which he had invented by himself. This soul skill was often able to create miracles during battles, and had an attacking power that was unparalleled by other soul masters on his level.

Xiao Xiao was startled by the sight before her, but she did not step back. This was undoubtedly a wise decision. She stopped playing the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute, and instead she waved it in the air as though it were a short baton. After waving her flute, her delicate body once again became illusory. It was apparent that she had used the same soul skill which she had used to avoid Ji Juechen’s previous attack.

Phoenix Substitution!

In addition, the seventh soul ring on the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute also started to shine.

As the Executioner’s Blade collided with its target, once again, it only managed to slash at Xiao Xiao’s illusory figure. The most powerful thing about the Phoenix Substitution was its ability to allow its user to break free from a lock on by his or her opponent. Even Ji Juechen’s sword intent could not strike Xiao Xiao.

However, this time round, Ji Juechen was attacking with his own body. Hence, he stopped right next to Xiao Xiao’s real body after destroying the illusory figure.

The Judgement Sword’s light became more intense as dense black energy instantly surged around it. As Ji Juechen released his fearsome sword aura, the air around it started to crack and shatter.

Ji Juechen knew that no soul skill could be continuously executed without stopping. Hence, he launched his attack precisely at the moment when Xiao Xiao was no longer able to use her Phoenix Substitution to evade his attack.

However, something unexpected happened.

Xiao Xiao’s body transformed into a streak of green light before melting into the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. Following which, the flute released a bright phoenix screech as it opened its own humongous pair of green wings and transformed into a flying green phoenix.

At the same time, a large green ring descended from the sky and bound Ji Juechen’s body. Even though it was shattered almost immediately by Ji Juechen’s dominating sword aura, it gave the green phoenix sufficient time to fly away.

The green phoenix was actually the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute’s martial soul true body!

Once again, Xiao Xiao was able to surprise her peers with her soul skills.

The flying green phoenix extended its wings before flapping them intensely as the sixth soul ring on its body started to glow. Following which, a green light descended from the sky.

These green shadows looked like pillars from afar. However, once they landed, everyone realized that they were replicas of the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. Every single one of them had been magnified by at least ten times. The carvings of the nine phoenixes on it were particularly delicate.

After landing on the ground, those pillars became frozen, as though they were structures which had been there all along.

Ji Juechen’s body was originally poised to chase after Xiao Xiao. However, after the pillars landed, he found that he could not move.

Phoenix Pillars!

This was her sixth soul skill!

The effect of these pillars was incredibly strong. After the skill was executed, there seemed to be an incredible attraction wherever the pillars covered. This force of attraction was not gravity, but sound waves. It was an unbelievably strong sound wave which was similar to the cry of a phoenix. The sound wave exploded from bottom to top within the regions where the pillars lined themselves up. Every single pillar was producing a deafening sound wave which could cause a person to lose his or her concentration. If a weaker cultivator were to find himself within the pillars, he would probably have been shattered by the sound waves.

As the green phoenix in the sky flapped its wings again, the sound waves released by the phoenix pillars grew in intensity. If one were to pay attention to them, one would notice faint ripples in the air.

Attacking with sound waves was the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute’s true trump card. All its previous soul skills used sound waves, but their use was not as apparent as the Phoenix Pillars.

This time around, Ji Juechen was truly bound by the sound waves, as his body trembled under their effect. The sound waves were everywhere, and there was no chance of evading them. It was the first time he was going up against an attack like this, and he could not adapt to it in time. While his body was shaking under the powerful sound waves, he was busy trying to muster the sword auras around him as he tried to free himself from the impact of the sound waves.