Chapter 346: Crafty
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Ao Xing Lai merely gave a cold humph and waved the Black Star Sword. A dark light appeared in which spots of starlight flickered, yet it was this light that easily destroyed the seven dragon images.
This was a Fifth Tier Spirit Tool. Even if it was not fully activated, it still had the power on the level of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier.
Ling Han was indeed a monster as he possessed sixteen Battle Stars at the first layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier, but how could sixteen Battle Stars compare with the Spiritual Pedestal Tier? That was the same logic as how when Ling Han drew out the Demon Birth Sword when he was merely in the ninth layer of the Gushing Spring Tier and caused even a king of demonic beasts in the Spiritual Ocean Tier to feel dread.
"Haha, now that the Black Star Sword is out, this guy would only be able to bow down before its might."
"That's natural. In the hands of Ao Xing Lai, even if the Black Star Sword cannot display the might of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, its grade as a Spirit Tool is authentic! With Ao Xing Lai's prowess, he should be able to release one percent of its power."
"Such might would qualify him to stand against any opponent below the Spiritual Pedestal Tier. No matter how monstrous you are, it's useless."
The spectators commented respectively. From the looks of things, this battle that had at first been filled with uncertainty had lost all suspense, and Ling Han would very quickly be defeated.
Ling Han frowned. The Black Star Sword was indeed powerful, and if he were to stand bare-handed against it, the results would really be uncertain… unless he could upgrade his physique to the Iron Sheet Tier—that would really be enough to stand firm against a mid-level Spirit Tool.
Would he have to use the Demon Birth Sword?
A Level Ten Spirit Tool was naturally capable of easily dominating the Black Star Sword, and if these two crashed against one another, he was certain that the Black Star Sword would definitely be shattered—there was no other possible conclusion. But the problem now was that once the Demon Birth Sword was used, how many covetous eyes of those old monsters would this kind of supreme treasure attract?
How could it be that he could not deal with a son of Ao Feng without relying on the Demon Birth Sword!
Ling Han's pride was instantly challenged. His real trump card was not the Demon Birth Sword, nor was it the Indestructible Heaven Scroll. It was the Black Tower within him!
Fine, then let us contend with each other for now!
"Young man, you should also receive a strike from me!" Ao Xing Lai charged over, sword in hand. He waved the Black Star Sword, and instantly, six flashes of Sword Qi rushed forwards. Every flash of Sword Qi was as black as ink. These flashes of Sword Qi have been compounded by the Black Star Sword and possessed the destructive nature of the Black Star Sword.
Ling Han's fist shot forwards; six flashes of Fist Qi formed into six dragon images and met the incoming Sword Qi.
Pu, pu, pu, pu . Every flash of Sword Qi sliced each dragon image in two, and it seemed as if the six flashes of Sword Qi were practically unscathed, continuing to slash towards Ling Han.
Exclamations of surprise arose from the audience. In the battle that Ling Han had against Yang Chong, Yang Chong's Spear Qi was similarly compounded by his Spirit Tool, yet was completely unable to stand firm against the Fist Qi Ling Han delivered through his bare fists, but now, it was completely the other way round.
They could only say that the Black Star Sword was really too strong!
Don't think that there was merely a small margin that separated a Level Four and a Level Five Spirit Tool—how many martial artists were separated by the breach from one martial arts Tier to the next? In the eyes of one in the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, all in the Spiritual Ocean Tier could completely be considered mere ants.
Ling Han's figure swayed, he used the Shadow Wind Motion. He dodged all six flashes of Sword Qi as if he himself was a ghost.
"Hahahaha, you can't even receive one flash of Sword Qi from me yet you still dream of exchanging blows with me?" Ao Xing Lai sneered. He himself already possessed sixteen Battle Stars, but together with the Black Star Sword, he had battle prowess that was close to one Battle Star of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier.
How could this not even sweep away all opponents in the Spiritual Ocean Tier?
"This guy has the Black Star Sword in hand, and could completely dominate Han Ling single-handedly. He does not need to worry over wasting any energy at all. Yet previously, he had not challenged Han Lin at all and allowed us to be humiliated," Ao Feng Xing said in a low voice to the other four brothers, a cold light flickering in his eyes.
"Despicable!" Ao Jian's hands curled tightly into fists. "He was just planning to use Han Lin to trample over all of us, and then he would come up with a dominating victory. That way, everyone in the world would only remember that there is an Ao Xing Lai in the Ao Clan."
"Let us join forces; otherwise, we would completely appear inferior to him!" Ao Ming Jie suggested.
"All right!"
"Agreed!"
The other five sons of the Ao Clan nodded respectively. Later, they would go seek out Ao Jian Cheng; they did not believe that with the combined forces of six of the Seven Sons of Ao Family, they would still be unable to defeat Ao Xing Lai who was all by himself.
Hu! Hu!
The Black Star Sword waved forwards in a slash. The six flashes of Sword Qi that shot forwards were like black dragons, indestructible and shockingly terrifying. From the looks of things at the moment, Ao Xing Lai was indeed dominating the battle single-handedly, and showed an invincible image. No matter how anyone looked at it, there was no way Ling Han would be able to win.
Meanwhile, Ling Han was very troubled. He had at least four ways in which he could turn the flow of the battle around.
The first was for the Black Tower to express its might; according to Small Tower, it was capable of even destroying this whole world! However, this would attract the attention of those supreme bosses in the upper realm. In that case, the Black Tower would definitely be snatched away, and he would be killed like an ant.
There was no need to consider this option.
The second way was for the Black Tower to instill power into him and allow his cultivation level to soar all the way up to the first layer of Spiritual Pedestal Tier. Then, he would be able to smack Ao Xing Lai to death with a casual wave of his hand. However, the later the instillation of power from the Black Tower takes place, the better it would be for him. This implicated a chance for him to wash away his flaws and cleanse his essence, and Ling Han did not want to waste it simply like this.
At the moment, he was not considering this option.
The third was to draw out the Demon Birth Sword, but he had already considered the consequences of such a move previously, so he similarly put this option aside.
Then there was only the fourth option left, and that was to once again activate the Eye of Truth to distinguish the weak points of his opponent.
If Ao Xing Lai was really in the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, the Eye of Truth would be useless. A Mystical Power was not a Divine Being, and could only upgrade his battle prowess to a certain limit. However, Ao Xing Lai was only capable of having a sliver of the battle prowess of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier by depending on the Black Star Sword, and this gave Ling Han a slight chance.
He could only choose to suffer the backlash. Compared with the other three options, using the Eye of Truth was still the safest option.
Weng , immediately, a gold-colored pattern lit up in his right eye. The world appeared in front of his eyes in a different form. Time slowed down incredibly, or even stagnated! Yet at the same time, a stream of bloody tears dripped from his eye.
Since he had overused the Eye of Truth, he ultimately still suffered much.
Kill!
Ling Han suddenly advanced and charged towards Ao Xing Lai.
He dodged the Black Star Sword and the six flashes of Sword Qi, and faced Ao Xing Lai directly.
Hiss!
Everyone was astonished. Ling Han actually managed to break through successfully? Could it be that the flow of the battle was going to be turned around now?
Yet Ao Xing Lai did not show the slightest bit of anxiety, and said coldly, "I already knew that your movements are weird, so how could I not have made prior preparations?" His sword trembled, and there actually shot forward another flash of Sword Qi.
Seven flashes of Sword Qi!
No one could have guessed that Ao Xing Lai had still kept some of his ability in reserve. His limit was not six flashes of Sword Qi, but rather seven.
Ruler, a ruler of martial arts!
What a crafty guy.
The seventh flash of Sword Qi was as black as ink, and struck towards Ling Han's chest.
Even Ling Han had not foreseen this would happen. However, he had lived two hundred years in his last life, and in the last period of his lifetime, he had travelled to various unimaginably dangerous ancient sites, so his ability to cope with sudden changes was definitely first grade. Otherwise, he would have long died an uncountable number of times.
His figure inconceivably turned over and managed to avoid the fatal injury to his chest. At the same time, his right fist continued in an attack towards Ao Xing Lai's face.
Peng!
A strike instantly hit right below Ling Han's ribs. How powerful was the Sword Qi that it managed to tear an opening in his defenses of the Body of Rock Cliff… Blood gushed forth as if it was from a fountain, and Ao Xing Lai was also flung away from this punch.
Ao Xing Lai landed on the ground with a somersault. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood which contained two shattered pieces of his teeth.
He could not help but be both angered and shocked. Though Ling Han's injury was far heavier than his own, he had actually used the Black Star Sword!