Free Web NovelChapter 158: Chapter 157: Neon Martial Dao
Upon hearing Zhao Xuanqi’s words, an incredibly fierce and sharp glint erupted from Hua Jingcheng’s eyes.
In an instant, a terrifying aura of killing intent erupted from his body. Dark, ominous clouds enveloped the entire arena and began to spread outward. Countless black feathers drifted down slowly, each one’s edge so sharp it seemed capable of slicing through space itself.
The audience around the arena felt a palpable threat, a suffocating pressure.
The many Martial Arts Experts present felt it even more deeply. This aura was vastly different from the auras produced by the Martial Dao of the Divine Land.
The Martial Dao of the Divine Land was like a hundred flowers blooming; to a certain extent, killing power was not its primary pursuit.
It was about mastering the body, transcending the self, strengthening flesh and blood, and rising above the mundane. It integrated principles into Fist Techniques; what one threw was not a punch, but a story, a personality, a Dao.
The Neon Sword Dao, however, was different. Most forms of the Neon Sword Dao pursued pure lethality. Every Technique existed to kill the opponent. It was survival of the fittest, incredibly cruel, which also fit their country’s geography, natural environment, and national character.
Only by being ruthless enough, absolute enough, could one ensure their survival.
This was the Killing Dao.
This characteristic of the Sword Way was on full display in Hua Jingcheng. An ordinary person facing a Neon Sword Dao master like him would have their sanity shattered in an instant by the overwhelming killing intent, go mad, and could even die on the spot from a ruptured blood vessel in their brain.
To the side, Guo Tianyou, whose external injuries had just been stabilized, looked grim. This aura reminded him of his earlier clash with Hua Jingcheng.
His own strength was not weak, but his true power lay in the Flying Sword he had nurtured in his Mud Ball Palace. With his Flying Sword broken, fifty percent of his abilities were gone. On top of that, he had been assailed by his opponent’s Sword Intent, which was why he was defeated in an instant.
His opponent’s Sword Intent was formless, gathering and dispersing at will. Within its terrifyingly sharp killing intent lay extreme cunning. In its flux, there was a subtle hint of both the Firm and the Soft. Even within the Killing Dao, it was considered a Sword Intent of an exceptionally profound state.
’Whether Zhao Xuanqi can withstand the pressure of this Sword Intent is the key to the coming duel.’
Hua Jingcheng’s aura, like falling black feathers, enveloped Zhao Xuanqi. These feathers were, in reality, the intense sense of threat generated by the full activation of his eyes, perception, intuition, killing intent, and other senses, all observing Zhao Xuanqi’s every move.
Each falling feather was, in truth, an illusion created by Hua Jingcheng rapidly moving and manipulating his own killing intent.
All living beings have an innate sense of danger. It’s like when getting a shot—before the needle even touches down, the skin grows cold and contracts. A Martial Arts Expert can push this effect to its absolute limit with their gaze and aura.
These black feathers served to probe for reactions. If the opponent showed the slightest response under the stimulus of his killing intent, it would be an opening he could seize. The scattered killing intent would instantly converge into a Divine Blade, just as it did against Guo Tianyou. With body and Intent unified, the attack would arrive in an instant.
An aura is never something that manifests independently; it is inextricably linked to one’s physical form.
However, in Hua Jingcheng’s Spiritual Sense, Zhao Xuanqi seemed to be standing loosely, yet his entire body was shrouded in a layer of Fog. The sharp black feathers formed from the omnipresent killing intent fell, only to be swallowed by this Fog, having no effect on Zhao Xuanqi whatsoever.
Unmoving as a mountain.
’No openings?’
Hua Jingcheng’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’It seems someone who can make such arrogant boasts must have some skill after all.’
’Then I’ll force you to show one!’
The next moment, Hua Jingcheng took a shallow breath, his chest expanding, and his feet tapped lightly on the ground.
His body was as light as a drifting feather, seemingly weightless. In an instant, as if using Shrinking Inches, he arrived at Zhao Xuanqi’s side.
Zhao Xuanqi’s pupils contracted sharply.
’That speed...’
’It’s simply extraordinary!’
In an instant, Hua Jingcheng’s hands blurred, leaving countless afterimages under the lights.
Relying on his own terrifying dynamic vision, Zhao Xuanqi saw it with perfect clarity. The pores on his opponent’s arms suddenly opened, and then a thin Qi Blade, generated by the vibration of his palm muscles, coalesced around his fingertips. It was as thin as a cicada’s wing and exceptionally sharp.
Furthermore, in the instant his pores opened and closed, his palms executed a Force Release, seeming to gain some kind of propulsion that pushed their speed to the absolute limit.
’Gas?’
SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH!!
Hua Jingcheng’s palms descended abruptly, like countless feathers drifting down, exuding a fatal beauty.
A piercing sound of slicing wind rang out. Under the control of his Gang Qi, sharp Qi Blades several meters long extended from his palms, crisscrossing in a pattern that left no room to dodge!
Feather Thought Style—Three Thousand Feather Falls!!
This was the very Technique that had defeated Guo Tianyou. It could instantly slice through the protective skin of a Three Qi Realm expert in a state of Qi Surge. The strength of such Qi Blades was hard to imagine!
Just as the attack was about to land, a terrifying change suddenly overcame the loosely postured Zhao Xuanqi.
THUMP!!
His heart pounded violently, his organs boomed, his vocal cords vibrated faintly, and his muscles tensed like bowstrings...
These various forms of Force Release compounded, the sounds resonating with one another, finally culminating in a heaven-shattering roar.
ROAR!!
Within his spiritual aura, the giant maw of an unknown Fierce Beast manifested, as if its cry could shatter the firmament and overturn the heavens. However, the Fierce Beast’s Form was extremely vague and could not be seen clearly.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Zhao Xuanqi deliberately concealed the Form of his Fierce Beast’s spiritual aura to hide the true Profound Technique of his Hundred Beasts Fist.
However, when it came to his body’s Force Release, he held nothing back. freewёbnoνel.com
A spiritual aura was easy to perceive, but an abnormality in one’s Force Release would be difficult to notice for anyone outside of a top-tier Beast Form Fist school like the Black Tortoise or White Tiger Sect.
With Heart Tongxuan, the instantaneous burst of power was incomparably Firm and fierce, like a cannon blast.
Without using any Secret Techniques, even the White Tiger Sect’s successor, Fan Shiyan, had been repelled by this one Technique!
The terrifying Gang Qi Transformation lunged at Hua Jingcheng like the maw of a Fierce Beast, throwing the airflow across the entire arena into chaos.
However, against Hua Jingcheng, this Technique was ineffective.
The strength of the Qi Blades formed from his opponent’s Gang Qi was beyond imagination. Even the terrifying airflow and Vibration of the Hou’s Form could not completely disperse the man’s Qi Blades!
SHING SHING SHING!!
Instead, the Gang Qi Transformation unleashed by the Hou’s Form was instantly torn apart by the crisscrossing net of blades. The Qi rippled and exploded, producing a terrifying shockwave, just like a detonating grenade.
Hua Jingcheng’s figure was like a feather, drifting backward lightly under the shockwave, completely unharmed. Zhao Xuanqi, in contrast, now had crisscrossing blade wounds on his hand—which had become enormous after being enhanced by Qi Surge Blood Essence—and fresh blood began to flow.
"Such a Firm and fierce burst... Your Heart’s Profound Ability is truly rare. You do have reason to be arrogant. But unfortunately for you, you ran into me."
Hua Jingcheng said indifferently.
"For your Qi Blades to have such strength, given your power level, it can’t be achieved through Technique alone. I’m beginning to understand your Martial Dao and abilities. The Neon Martial Dao... does it combine the advantages of both Secret Medicine and the Martial Dao? It certainly is something special."
Zhao Xuanqi glanced at the dozen or so bleeding wounds on his palm, his expression remaining perfectly calm.
