People from all the other eight states looked at the one-armed Ye Wuchen. After rounds of battles, the one state that caught the attention of everyone with their mighty ones fielded was surprising, the Barren State.
That was something that no one had expected before. Before the Nine State Forum was held, everyone thought the over 30 who came from the Barren State were little more than accessories to complete the event. Under such rules, all from the Barren State, which everyone thought was only for show, would be eliminated soon. Yet, the Barren State managed to take more than a dozen places after over 30 battles fought, the winners of the remaining 20 or so battles were divided between the other eight states instead.
The Barren State alone bagged more than half the victories to be had thus far. That, coupled with how Yu Sheng went about overwhelming Zhou Xian in the previous battle, Ye Wuchen became the center of attention as soon as he walked out. That was his second battle.
"No one would know how powerful he is without fighting him head on. But he's good with a sword, and coupling that with illusions, he's one incredible threat to be taken seriously indeed," many on the grandstands said.
"Luohou Palace should be able to take this one." A mighty one from the Vajra Region of War State, who sat the southern corner, said and turned to look at the ones from Luohou Palace. They were all from War State, so they knew each other better than they did most others. The one from Luohou Palace that time was truly someone formidable.
"What use would it be taking just one battle," a mighty one of Luohou Palace quipped nonchalantly. They too were confident, as if they would have easily bagged the victory for that round.
Saint Xihua heard the conversation, then smiled and said, "It seems that the one from Luohou Palace who is going to fight this time is an exceptional one indeed. In that case, I look forward to it."
The one from the Eastern State to fight in that round was still a student of Xihua Sacred Mountain. Just as Sage Wanxiang predicted, the ones from sacred grounds would have finished the rounds of battles first. The highest number of participants to remain would have been the ones from Xihua Sacred Mountain, after fighting about 400 battles. As such, Xihua Sacred Mountain of the Eastern State fielded more participants than everyone else.
That person turned their eyes at Ye Wuchen and said, "The Barren State still has over a dozen people left after that one round. I'm curious to see how long those from the Barren State will last."
Shoop… A streak of sword will descended from above. That one-armed silhouette moved as soon as they finished talking. Ye Wuchen rushed at them at breakneck speed. He actually went in action just like that. Very determined indeed.
Boom. That person took one step containing tremendously overbearing power, which burst in their surroundings. Extremely thick power of rules of defense appeared around them. That was the rules of the earth, preventing anyone from getting near. It was apparent that that person was also a mighty one who had a high comprehension of rules. They would not have provoked Ye Wuchen otherwise.
Ye Wuchen pointed at the air before him and thousands of sword wills gushed in the air in an instant. "Break." Ye Wuchen extended his arm forward and pointed at the mighty one from Xihua Sacred Mountain below, the pressing with his finger. Thousands of sword will manifested as a spiral whirlpool in an instant, and a black hole of swords seemed to have appeared in the space before him. Explosions were heard continuously. The expression of the mighty one from Xihua Sacred Mountain flinched. They stepped out once again, and a tremendously overbearing shadow appeared right behind them.
Walls of the earth emerged one after another with that figure at the center. Powerful powers of rules of defense flowed on the walls, making them indestructible. However, that spiral sword aura storm continued on its path, descending from above like a storm of the galaxy, which then penetrated through everything right away. It made dark holes at the center of the defensive spell and went all the way forward.
"Shredding rules." Many looked startled. Ye Wuchen's power of the sword contained the power of Shredding rules, known for its offensive capacity, which was merged with that storm of sword aura. Apparently, it was of a higher level than the rules of the earth. It was no surprise that the attack tore right through his opponent's defense and went straight for target—the mighty one from Xihua Sacred Mountain.
That mighty one from Xihua Sacred Mountain changed all of a sudden, and slivers of rules coursed throughout his body, as if their body had become part of the earth itself, melding with his surroundings. All powers of the heavens and the earth became part of his defense. Yet, when that terrifying spiral storm arrived, it tore right through the crust and threw their body along with everything around it. The defense of the earth's crust was completely shattered. Streaks of sword aura pierced through their body yet they were not killed. It was apparent that Ye Wuchen pulled punches.
Their face blanched as they crashed to the ground. They glanced at Ye Wuchen before bowing slightly, turning around and leaving afterward. It was apparent that they were thanking Ye Wuchen for sparing them instead of killing them.
"Other than the Illusive Sword rules, there is still matured Shredding rules in it then. He is truly a rare type of genius indeed. It seems like all those from the Barren State are not to be taken lightly," a mighty one said. Many in the grandstands were aware of that. When Ye Futian's people went knocking on the Law Bell at the bottom of Xihua Sacred Mountain, they all did so without paying it much mind, lightning up images on the bell one after another. It was apparent that they had treated that to be an act of getting the ticket into the Nine State Forum early, and had no intentions of showing off back then. They had only come to show their true colors on the stage of the forum at the moment.
All the other mighty ones fixed their gaze at the one-armed silhouette in the air, emanating stable aura from his body. There were quite a number of others who had not yet developed matured rules. They knew they stood no chance against Ye Wuchen. As such, they tried banding up instead.
Ye Wuchen took a look at the space below, activating his thoughts and extending his hand. Terrifying sword aura storm whipped up in the air in an instant. Countless sword aura filled their surroundings before manifesting a seven sword aura storms; there were seven mighty ones below him still.
"Go," Ye Wuchen uttered the word and all seven sword auras headed straight for the seven mighty ones below. The air was filled with sword aura, with Shredding rules imbued within every single one of the storms.
Boom, boom, boom! Rumbles were heard one after another. Everyone saw one after another of those mighty ones being thrown off.
There is yet another from the Barren State who overwhelms everyone present? Many looked at the one-armed silhouette standing tall and proud. His white shirt flowing as sword will circled around him as if he was a one-armed god of the sword.
"Wait."
"There is one more."
Many peoples' pupils contracted somewhat at that very moment as they looked at a particular spot. There was still a mighty one who had not been defeated by the sword aura. That person remained standing below while terrifying dark aura appeared around his body. Many were shocked to find that that mighty one had actually opened his mouth and allowed the terrifying sword aura to come at them in a frenzy. He swallowed the storm whole. The sword auras were devoured and nowhere to be found.
"Devouring rules." Many eyes were fixed on that silhouette. Devouring rules were also a type of incredibly rare rules. There were very few capable of developing comprehension of such rules. It was said that when trained to the extreme, they allowed one to devour everything in existence.
"Who is that?" many in the grandstands asked. They had thought Ye Wuchen would have been capable of overwhelming the mighty ones from all other eight states. They never thought they were able to see such changes right there.
That guy is very powerful.
"Someone from War State. From the Luohou Palace, to be specific."
"It is said that Luohou Palace of War State is incredibly terrifying and they are adept at eerie unpredictable powers. That guy is probably a genius nurtured within Luohou Palace then." Other than students who studied in sacred grounds, there were still quite a number of others from all nine states who did not study in sacred grounds. If they wanted to participate in the Nine State Forum, they would have had to pass the elimination rounds organized by sacred grounds back home, just like how Ye Futian gathered Li Futu and cultivators from all other top clans to participate in the Forum.
But the one who stood right there was probably a student of Luohou Palace itself. Furthermore, he was probably one of the most fearsome geniuses among their ranks.
"Sword." Ye Wuchen's expression hardly changed. He extended his hand and called thousands of sword will to gather above him, howling in a frenzy as they coalesced into a dazzling giant sword. Every single streak of sword will contained the power of Shredding rules. The giant sword exuded an imposing might as if it was a sword to break all swords.
"Go."
The giant sword streaked through the air with the command and fell straight down. The space seemed as if it was about to be torn apart. At that same time, an extremely huge demonic shadow appeared behind that mighty one from Luohou Palace, looking terrifying and ferocious. It extended four arms and charged at the Shredding Sword in the air. Its mouth remained open to swallow the sword up. An incredibly dazzling light burst within that body of the demonic shadow. The demonic shadow then burst and shattered, taking the might of that giant sword along with it.
"A clash of the power of rules. A clash of titans indeed." The eyes of many sparkled, and another demonic shadow appeared on that mighty one from Luohou Palace, continuing to devour the powers of the heavens and the earth. That huge shadow extended even more arms, and its body continued to grow in size as if it was out to devour everything around it to make itself strong.
The demon's arms went for Ye Wuchen. The sword aura around him burst and went cutting at the arms while growing at the same time.
A terrifying devouring power was all over the place and Ye Wuchen felt his body being pulled at by some intense power as if he found himself in a whirlpool. He looked at the sky and his expression turned extremely serious. It was the first time he fought someone of such caliber after he trained in the Sage Hall. It was also the very reason Ye Futian took them outside the Barren State, allowing them to meet stronger opponents and therefore progress further with their training.
"This…" Many trembled at the sight of that demonic shadow continuing to grow in size. Ye Wuchen was at a disadvantage. Will there be yet another genius getting eliminated then?
Ye Wuchen lowered his head and looked beneath him at that moment. That mighty one of Luohou Palace looked on with a cold expression. He felt some kind of changes about to happen in that very moment, yet he was unable to make anything out of it.
He was unable to spend much time pondering on it. Ye Wuchen called the thousands of sword aura to rush at him instead. He remained cold while bringing the devouring powers to the fullest. All the arms of that demon went on to snuff out the storm of swords. Yet, Ye Wuchen was seen rushing at him instead. The demonic shadow's head went after Ye Wuchen and terrifying devouring whirlpool emerged. It eventually went to chomp down on Ye Wuchen.
Yet, at that very moment, the mighty one from Luohou Palace felt an intense sense of crisis. Ye Wuchen's silhouette, which the demonic shadow devoured, dissipated right there and then while high above the ground, a gust of sword aura out to shred everything descended.
"Illusory Sword." His expression changed drastically knowing that he fell into the trap of that technique.
Ye Wuchen brought earth-shattering sword wills to bear at the very next moment. The huge demon howled and went to clash with Ye Wuchen head on. The giant sword and the demon clashed and a gust of overbearing shredding power went on to tear the demon's body apart. At the same time, overbearing devouring power was about to swallow Ye Wuchen whole.
"Damn it." The mighty one from Luohou Palace changed once again, and an even stronger sense of crisis was felt. A beam of incredibly brilliant silver light emerged from Ye Wuchen and burst straight through the demon's body. The Devouring rules were unable to resist, and the beam of light burst into his mind, tearing at his spiritual will power.
Boom. The brain of that mighty one shuddered violently, and his vision turned blurry. The demon's body disintegrated and turned to dust at the very next moment. While he was still rather conscious, he saw Ye Wuchen's sword bearing on his throat; it felt bone-chilling cold.
He stared at Ye Wuchen and said, "Melding the rules of the sword into spiritual will attacks. What is this move called?"
"The move has no name," Ye Wuchen said. It was something he had comprehended and developed himself.
"It has the ability to cut off spiritual will. I'll call it 'Spirit Cutter'." He then added, "You won." He then turned around and left the stage.
He was someone rather renowned in Luohou Palace of War State. He came to the Nine State Forum with intentions of growing his fame. He did not expect to be eliminated right in the first round. However, his defeat was not a humiliating one. That swordsman from the Barren State sure is powerful.
Everyone on the grandstand turned to fix their eyes at Ye Wuchen after seeing a student of Luohou Palace leave.
Ye Wuchen actually beat such a powerful student of Luohou Palace.
The ones from the War State were the most shocked. The Barren State had once again overwhelmed the other eight states and emerged victoriously. This time, a very powerful genius level figure from Luohou Palace was eliminated.
At this point, it seemed difficult to eliminate the ones from the Barren State!