CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73: THE BATTLE SITUATION_1

"To battle!"

Soon, disciples who had chosen their opponents leaped onto the Yuxu Altar to face off.

As the draw progressed, more and more disciples locked onto their opponents and ascended the stage.

The Riverside Sect’s Yuxu Altar was the largest area within the sect.

There were more than a hundred Martial Arts Stages here, enough for everyone to compete simultaneously.

Hence, there was no need to wait for a stage; as soon as they were ready, the contest could begin.

After seeing all the disciples leaping onto their respective Martial Arts Stages, Shen Mo also stepped up.

The material of this Martial Arts Stage seems to be different from common rocks.

Standing on the stage, Shen Mo surveyed the area.

Even though he did not know the material used to construct the Martial Arts Stage, he felt that its hardness far exceeded that of common steel. It should withstand the strikes of those below the Spirit Sea Realm without any damage.

"Shen, forgive me."

At that moment, Li Chang’an, Shen Mo’s first-round opponent, also ascended the Martial Arts Stage.

He bowed from a distance, then took out the Nine Rings Broadsword from his waist.

There were no superfluous greetings or dialogue.

After just a greeting, Li Chang’an began to raise his Nine Rings Broadsword and slash fiercely at Shen Mo.

"CLANG!"

Shen Mo watched him slash swiftly towards him, yet he didn’t unsheathe his Dragon Sparrow Sword.

He simply moved forward, using his bare hands to catch the broadsword, which was enveloped in an endless Qi wave.

His palms came together, clamping the sword in between.

The wave of blade energy quickly dissipated in front of him.

At this moment, Li Chang’an suddenly felt a sense of unease.

This guy...

He tightened his grip, trying to withdraw his broadsword from Shen Mo’s palms to slash again.

But before he could act, Shen Mo moved!

He slightly shifted his palms by an inch, his fingers transforming into claws, pinching the broadsword’s blade, then lifted it slightly.

Li Chang’an felt an irresistible force assault him. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger tore, and he could no longer hold his sword.

Shen Mo, holding the blade between his fingers, pushed forward—the hilt slammed heavily into Li Chang’an’s chest.

"THUMP!"

He felt as if struck by lightning, his body flying off the stage like a kite with a severed string.

"I have lost..."

Li Chang’an lay on the ground, his eyes unfocused, and after a while, muttered in a daze.

He couldn’t even remember how Shen Mo had knocked him off the stage.

"Thank you for letting me win."

Shen Mo stood on the Martial Arts Stage and cupped his fists towards him from afar.

Snatching the blade barehanded just now had verified the success of his external cultivation.

After the transformation through the Bloody Dragon-shaped Body technique, Shen Mo’s surface defensive power had soared significantly.

Otherwise, when Li Chang’an had swung his sword earlier, if it had been an ordinary early-stage Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, even if they weren’t struck by the broadsword itself, they would have been injured by the sharp blade energy enveloping it.

However, Shen Mo could completely ignore these sharp blade energy attacks.

In the end, when Shen Mo used the hilt to push Li Chang’an, he intentionally held back a great deal of his strength.

Otherwise, the attack wouldn’t just have knocked him off the stage. It could have killed him on the spot.

"Brother Shen is formidable. I... I admit defeat."

Li Chang’an was also sensible; knowing the vast difference between them, he left the field in low spirits to seek healing in his cave mansion.

After finishing the first round, Shen Mo returned to the audience area.

"Incredible," Chen An, who had watched the entire spectacle, said with a thumbs up.

The clean and efficient defeat of a cultivator of the same rank was not something an ordinary person could accomplish.

"This is just the beginning," Shen Mo said, unable to help but chuckle at Uncle Chen’s excited expression.

Perhaps Uncle Chen couldn’t imagine that Shen Mo’s current combat power could even contend with a Layer III Qi Gathering Realm powerhouse for a few exchanges.

With such strength, it would have been strange if he hadn’t managed to defeat a novice Qi Gathering Realm disciple, who hadn’t even solidified his Qi yet, in a single move.

Moving his gaze away from Uncle Chen, Shen Mo glanced at Cao Shanyue, who was also watching the battles.

In contrast to Chen An’s joy and excitement, Cao Shanyue’s old face was practically twisted in knots.

Cao Ren doesn’t seem to be doing too well. Shen Mo could tell just from Cao Shanyue’s expression.

His eyes scanned the area, and Shen Mo quickly found the Martial Arts Stage where Cao Ren was.

Indeed, Cao Ren’s situation seemed extremely tense.

His opponent was a cultivator who specialized in fast sword techniques.

The sword intent was continuous, each stroke faster than the last.

In front of him, Cao Ren could only defend and had no power to retaliate.

If it weren’t for the worry of his father watching from afar, he would have already lost his will to fight and surrendered.

"So strong... How can I win!" Cao Ren despaired.

His robe was full of slashes from sword Qi.

Luckily, he had put on a profound level magic artifact inner armor beforehand; otherwise, he would have been severely wounded by the sword Qi during that intense exchange.

Even so, Cao Ren couldn’t hold on much longer.

That’s right... I still have talismans!

Just as he was on the verge of defeat, he suddenly remembered Shen Mo had given him many Grade I talismans. He hurriedly took them out from his bosom: a Divine Power Talisman, a Lightness Talisman, a Vajra Talisman, and several others.

With a surge of Spiritual Qi, he activated all the talismans at once and applied them to his body.

With the support of the talismans, Cao Ren’s aura suddenly surged by a large measure.

He then activated a Hold Talisman!

"SWISH!"

Accompanied by a streak of dazzling mysterious yellow light, the Hold Talisman turned into a glowing rope, completely binding his opponent, who couldn’t break free for a moment.

"Good opportunity!"

At this moment, Cao Ren realized his chance for a comeback had arrived. Gripping his broadsword tightly, he ruthlessly brought it down.

"BOOM!"

With a loud crash, his opponent was sent flying off the stage by Cao Ren’s blade energy, dripping with blood.

"I won..." Seeing his opponent’s bedraggled condition and dwindling Qi, Cao Ren finally snapped back to reality, exclaiming his good fortune. "That was too close..."

Cao Ren jumped down from the Martial Arts Stage, walked straight over to Shen Mo, and said, "This guy is incredibly strong. We fought fiercely for dozens of rounds without a clear winner, and only thanks to your talismans was I able to secure a narrow victory."

You call that evenly matched... Shen Mo secretly complained in his heart, then said seriously, "It’s a piece of luck that you won this fight, but if you want to qualify for the Mountain River Realm, you need to win at least one more battle."

The first round of matches, determined by drawing lots, would eliminate half of the disciples, leaving only one hundred winners to proceed to the next round.

Only the winners of that next round would be able to rank in the top fifty.

"That’s why I came to find you, didn’t I?" Cao Ren said. "Do you have any more talismans? Give me some more..."

After experiencing their effectiveness, Cao Ren discovered that Grade I talismans had an astonishing effect on the battlefield, truly capable of turning the tide of battle.

"When you were on the stage just now, you only needed to use the Hold and Divine Power Talismans; there was no need to bring out the Vajra and Lightness Talismans," Shen Mo shook his head. He thought Cao Ren’s earlier panic and indiscriminate use of talismans had been a real waste. "I’ll give you one Frost Talisman and one Amplifying Talisman," he continued.

"Amplifying Talismans like the Divine Power Talisman and Vajra Talisman, although capable of temporarily increasing your power limit, will also cause a certain backlash on your body after the effect disappears, leading to a period of weakness. So, you cannot use them repeatedly in a short time. The other Amplifying Talisman I’m giving you can extend the duration of the effects of buff-type Amplifying Talismans. In your next match, seize the opportunity while the buff effects haven’t faded and swiftly complete it. Otherwise, once the power of the talismans disperses and you enter a state of weakness, it will be impossible for you to win."

Shen Mo handed him the talismans, admonishing him.

Strong moves inevitably harm oneself; this was why few disciples of the Riverside Sect used such buff-type Amplifying Talismans.