105: Chapter 103 Battle in the Spirit Summoning Realm 105: Chapter 103 Battle in the Spirit Summoning Realm “Junior Brother Cao, half of my wealth now rests on you.” From Spirit Sword Peak, Fan Chuyu laughed heartily, then disappeared from view.

On the Martial Combat Platform, Cao Luo’s expression suddenly tensed up.

The pressure was immense.

The gold and silver that Fan Chuyu bet, although incredibly valuable, were secondary; the most precious was the Three Elements Sword, a Low Grade Treasure in his possession.

As Fan Chuyu’s junior brother, Cao Luo was well aware of the great price Fan Chuyu had paid to acquire that Three Elements Sword.

Silver can be earned, but having silver does not necessarily mean one can buy an artifact.

However, pressure is also a motivator.

Turning around, Cao Luo’s aura instantly surged, lifting the Three Elements Sword in his hand, and posed a starting gesture towards Ye Zhen, shouting, “Come, Ye Zhen!”

Cao Luo’s plan was simple: to have Ye Zhen make the first move.

For him, a Soul Summoning Realm martial artist challenging Ye Zhen of the True Essence Realm was embarrassing enough; attacking first would be something Cao Luo could not bring himself to do.

Ye Zhen nodded, the Sky Crystal Sword in his hand pointing obliquely downward as he slowly thrusted it forward.

The pure azure True Yuan began to swirl with brilliance on the Sky Crystal Sword, boldly assuming the starting gesture of the Winter Plum Snowbreaker.

Seeing that Ye Zhen also adopted a starting gesture and did not attack, Cao Luo was not in a hurry.

He slightly raised his sword in the starting posture, waiting for Ye Zhen to attack, as taking the initiative was not in his nature.

The two faced each other in their starting postures, and the intense battle that the disciples eagerly anticipated did not start immediately, making the situation suddenly seem eerie.

But this eerie state lasted only for a few moments before Cao Luo’s complexion changed dramatically, becoming impatient he urged again, “Junior Brother Ye, please!”

Ye Zhen, as if he didn’t hear Cao Luo’s urging, continued to stand there calmly, eyes half-closed, maintaining the starting gesture of the Winter Plum Snowbreaker without a slight change.

The gesture remained unchanged, but inside, Ye Zhen’s True Yuan was in fierce motion.

Driven by Divine Sense, waves of True Yuan from Ye Zhen’s Dantian surged towards the Sky Crystal Sword.

The Sky Crystal Sword, pointing diagonally to the ground, seemed to be bearing an unbearable weight, emitting a shrill sizzling sound, with its tip and body starting to bend towards the ground as though a great mountain was pressing down on it.

In Ye Zhen’s half-closed eyes, a completely different scene unfolded.

In the depths of winter, with heavy snow swirling, a lone winter plum stood proudly against the wind.

However, the snow accumulating on the winter plum grew more and more, heavier and heavier, almost bending and breaking the branch.

The unbearable weight made the branch creak and groan, the red plum trembling unwillingly.

At this moment, the sword in Ye Zhen’s hand was just like this snow-laden winter plum, bent and twisted, waiting for the moment to burst forth with the fury of breaking through the snow.

Gathering strength!

Ye Zhen was gathering his strength!

In an instant, Cao Luo’s face changed again.

Cao Luo could sense that Ye Zhen’s momentum was rapidly climbing; with each breath, it became more terrifying, more formidable.

Cao Luo had a strange feeling that if he let Ye Zhen continue to gather his strength endlessly, the moment Ye Zhen erupted would be the moment he was defeated.

This feeling was mystic, yet it felt so real!

“Junior Brother Ye, please make your move…”

As soon as these words were spoken, Cao Luo’s expression dramatically changed, he could wait no longer; allowing Ye Zhen to continue gathering his strength was truly risky.

“Junior Brother Ye, no offense!”

With a light shout, his sword move transformed and Sword Light suddenly burst forth, Cao Luo’s Three Elements Sword shot out a Sword Gang four zhang in length, creating a net of swords slashing directly at Ye Zhen’s head.

The moment the Sword Gang burst forth, the everywhere-present Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi in the sky suddenly stirred, instantly amplifying Cao Luo’s Sword Gang by more than ten percent.

This was Soul Summoning!

Using Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy to enhance oneself, known as Soul Summoning.

This was still due to Cao Luo’s recent entry into the early stages of the Spirit Summoning Realm.

If it were a peak expert of the Spirit Summoning Realm, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi they could mobilize would be enough to enhance their attack by seventy to eighty percent, or even double.

Just as Cao Luo moved, Ye Zhen’s Sky Crystal Sword, seemingly unable to withstand the endless pressure, emitted a cracking sound as if it were about to shatter.

In an instant, Ye Zhen moved!

With a thought, the long-gathered Winter Plum Snowbreaker burst forth.

Whoosh!

In the piercing sound that seemed to tear through the eardrums, the Sky Crystal Sword, like a winter plum breaking through the snow, suddenly rebounded upwards!

In the same instant, Ye Zhen frantically drove the divine sense that was nearly twice as strong as his peers, crazily forcing out the True Yuan from within his Dantian.

The Sword Gang on the Sky Crystal Sword surged to nearly eight zhang in length, carrying a momentum to break through everything, slashing upwards.

Hiss!

Eight zhang of Sword Gang!

The disciples below the platform were so shocked that their mouths could fit a fist.

In front of that terrifying sword momentum, it seemed as though space itself was being sliced.

Boom!

Like breaking down dead branches, in the instant Cao Luo’s sword momentum was still more than ten meters away from Ye Zhen, Ye Zhen’s Snow-Breaking Sword Momentum flashed like lightning, slashing upwards from below.

That terrifying momentum caused Cao Luo to suddenly show a look of extreme fright.

Instinctively, Cao Luo frantically drove the True Yuan within his body, even the tiny bit of Spiritual Power he had fused into his body after entering the Spirit Summoning Realm was crazily pushed into his Protective Gang Qi, causing Cao Luo’s Protective Gang Qi to suddenly flash with a hint of Spirit Light, nearly doubling its defensive power.

The fast-as-lightning Snow-Breaking Sword Momentum collided fiercely with Cao Luo’s Protective Gang Qi.

Boom!

The collision of the two extremely strong forces caused a large ring of True Yuan waves to burst outwards, scattering in all directions, startling the disciples near the Martial Combat Platform to shout in alarm and hastily dodge.

Light dispersed!

Sword retracted!

Cao Luo’s body shot high into the air, and as he flew, blood gushed from his thigh like a fountain.

Thump!

With a muffled grunt, Cao Luo heavily landed on one leg, his figure teetering on the edge of falling, only barely managing not to topple over by using the Three Elements Sword to support himself on the ground.

Only then did the many disciples clearly see the actual situation.

A sword injury started from the base of Cao Luo’s left thigh and diagonally slashed upwards to his left rib.

At the thigh, the stark white bone was clearly visible, and his entire left leg was wobbling as if it was about to be severed.

Even more horrifying was the massive gash on Cao Luo’s left rib—from a closer look, it seemed like one could even see his internal organs.

Cao Luo was defeated!

Hiss!

The sound of sucking in cold air echoed in unison.

The expression of nearly every disciple froze at that moment, frozen from shock!

Cao Luo of the Spirit Summoning Realm had actually lost to Ye Zhen of the True Essence Realm.

Given Ye Zhen’s previously otherworldly record in battle, this result seemed somewhat acceptable.

However, what people found hardest to accept was that it was done with a single sword stroke!

Ye Zhen had used only one sword stroke to severely injure Cao Luo.

This was simply unbelievable!

“One sword stroke!”

“He used only one sword stroke!” Ren Xihua stared blankly at Cao Luo’s injury, his face filled with shock, “Senior Brother Changsun, can you do this?”

Changsun Ran’s gaze grew stagnant as he shook his head.

He was very confident in his judgment, and in his eyes, Ye Zhen had no chance of winning this battle.

Yet, Ye Zhen had won.

And he won so cleanly and decisively, defeating his enemy with a single stroke!

The entire Qiyun Sect was eerily silent, all eyes were on the severely injured Cao Luo on the platform, and some were looking at Ye Zhen, still fantasizing whether Ye Zhen was also severely injured but it hadn’t shown.

At that moment, Cao Luo, who had caught his breath, suddenly spoke up.

Abandoning the use of his sword to support himself, he stood on one leg and respectfully clasped his fists towards Ye Zhen, “Junior Brother Ye, thank you…

for showing mercy!”

“I’m sorry, I am yet to freely control such powerful strength, that’s all I could manage,” Ye Zhen said.

Recalling his previous thoughts of seizing an opportunity to defeat Ye Zhen with one stroke, Cao Luo immediately felt a deep sense of shame.

Once again, the disciples below were astonished by the conversation between the two.

What?

Ye Zhen not only defeated Cao Luo with a single sword stroke but also showed mercy?

Doesn’t that mean, if Ye Zhen hadn’t shown mercy, he could have killed Cao Luo with one stroke?

Whoosh!

The way everyone looked at Ye Zhen transformed instantly, as if they were seeing a freak.

A being at the Fourth Stage of the True Essence Realm was able to kill an existence at the Early-stage Spirit Summoning Realm with one stroke, wasn’t that freakish?

Ren Xihua was stunned, still showing mercy, what on earth was going on?

At this moment, Ye Zhen also breathed a sigh of relief.

His speculation was correct.

Before accepting Cao Luo’s challenge, Ye Zhen had pondered how he could defeat Cao Luo, who had just entered the Spirit Summoning Realm?

Without using the Heavenly Crystal Sword, when the True Essence Sword Finger couldn’t even injure Zhou Zhi’an, his only dependance was the recently comprehended Winter Plum Snowbreaker Intent.

But relying solely on that, the chances of defeating Cao Luo were not high.

He had to utilize another strength—Divine Sense!

Ye Zhen’s Divine Sense had advanced rapidly in recent days, nearly doubling that of others.

The use of Divine Sense was significant, allowing Ye Zhen to increase the True Yuan he stimulated in an instant by multiples.

Under normal circumstances, the True Yuan a martial artist could unleash in an instant would at most be about ten to twenty percent of their total True Yuan, but just now, Ye Zhen exploded with a terrifying fifty percent of his True Yuan in that single stroke.

Moreover, Cao Luo, concerned about his dignity, had not attacked first, giving Ye Zhen the time to gather his strength.

Otherwise, that one stroke, at most, would have defeated Cao Luo and could not have severely injured him.

Cao Luo’s Protective Gang Qi, which was mixed with a trace of Spiritual Power, successfully blocked most of the power from Ye Zhen’s stroke.

What truly astonished Cao Luo at the moment was—

The position of Ye Zhen’s upward slicing stroke was precisely targeting his groin area.

This was a critical spot.

Even the residual effect of the blade could be life-threatening if struck solidly; Cao Luo could die from a severe injury, or at the very least, be maimed and rendered infertile, turning him into a cripple.

Cao Luo would rather die than suffer that fate!

Just as Cao Luo internally lamented that his life was over, at the critical moment, Ye Zhen forcibly deviated the trajectory of his sword strike.

The fierce blade just grazed past his “little brother” and struck the left base of his thigh.

Though heavily injured, Cao Luo’s “little brother” was preserved.

This was also why Cao Luo, despite being severely injured, still felt the need to thank Ye Zhen.

If Ye Zhen hadn’t deviated his sword trajectory, his life would have truly been over.

“I don’t blame you, this is already a great kindness to me….”

Mid-sentence, Cao Luo could no longer hold himself up, his body stopped trembling, and he fell backwards.

Just as Ye Zhen was about to rescue him, Hong Banjiang of Dingguang Peak’s Sword Boy suddenly leapt onto the Martial Combat Platform and picked up Cao Luo.

“No need for your kindness, we will take care of Senior Brother Cao ourselves!”

After speaking, the Sword Boy carried Cao Luo away, and at the same time, Ye Zhen’s voice resounded, “Saving him is fine, but the Three Elements Sword should be left behind!”

The Sword Boy trembled, released the Three Elements Sword he had just picked up, and threw it.

Atop Spirit Sword Peak, Fan Chuyu’s expression immediately turned extremely fierce, “Ye Zhen, aren’t you afraid of biting off more than you can chew?”

Suddenly, a sword light fiercely shot out from the Training Institute on Donglai Peak, heading straight for Hong Banjiang’s domicile on Dingguang Peak.

Almost simultaneously, Liao Feibai’s angry shout resounded!(To be continued.

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