Chapter Thirty-Seven: Who Do You Think You're Looking Down On?

More than ten thousand cultivators wordlessly stepped aside, forming a path.

Su Yizhao gently tapped Li Xiuye’s delicate shoulder, then soared toward the passage.

“Brother Yizhao!” Li Xiuye couldn’t help but call out, “Do your best! I’ll be waiting for you to come back!”

Su Yizhao didn’t look back; he only nodded.

As he passed through the crowd, the expressions in their eyes shifted constantly.

Some looked at him as if he were already dead.

Some gazed at him with respect.

Tragic heroism.

A tragic heroism, like “once the warrior sets out, he shall not return.”

A mid-Five Divine Realm facing two early-Six Divine Realm opponents! Barring a miracle, death was certain.

To kill across realms was only possible at lower cultivation levels.

At the Five Divine Realm, let alone crossing a major realm, even facing a higher minor realm was extremely difficult.

After all, apart from the power of mystical energy, there was also the strength of the heart. The mental fortitude of a Six Divine Realm cultivator was far more resolute than that of the Five Divine Realm. Many times, suppression by realm was truly suppression of the heart.

The passage Su Yizhao flew through slowly closed behind him.

Li Xiuye could only follow him with her spiritual sense as he pressed forward.

When the crowd had fully merged again, Su Yizhao found himself standing at the front of the ranks, facing his two opponents for the day.

The soul cultivator was well-proportioned, the body cultivator tall and robust.

But they shared the same features: faces like steel and unwavering eyes.

“Kid, end yourself now. Spare us the trouble,” the body cultivator said.

“That’s right. Today you’re doomed. And we’ll make sure you die first,” added the soul cultivator.

What?

Su Yizhao thought he’d misheard.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a three-way free-for-all? Why were they teaming up against him?

He turned his head to look at Xuan Wuji.

Xuan Wuji shrugged helplessly.

“Isn’t this against the rules?” Su Yizhao asked.

“It’s just that your presence won’t affect the outcome of the battle. So we’ll kill you first,” the body cultivator rumbled.

In that instant, Su Yizhao understood.

If all three were evenly matched, a melee would be interesting.

But with his strength so much weaker, the real fight would only be between the other two. He posed no threat—better to eliminate him first!

Su Yizhao was speechless.

You can look down on me, but you shouldn’t say it out loud!

And to ask him to end his own life—unthinkable!

He said no more, his mind stirring as he summoned six flying swords.

Six streaks of silver light hovered before him, dazzling to behold.

In this situation, even with Xuan Wuji watching closely, he dared not hold anything back. The incantation of the “Earth Sword Formula” echoed silently in his mind.

“Still want to struggle? Will you make the move, or should I?” the body cultivator asked the soul cultivator.

“It makes no difference. You do it,” the soul cultivator replied, not even bothering to look at him.

The body cultivator chuckled, “Yesterday, you killed a Four Profound Realm peak expert with your mid-Five Divine Realm strength—so triumphant, so effortless. Never imagined retribution would come so quickly, did you?”

Su Yizhao exhaled slowly.

The body cultivator’s attacks would be somewhat easier to defend against than the soul cultivator’s.

But only just.

They were right; under normal circumstances, the result would be the same.

But facing him, things might not be so simple.

With the “Earth Sword Formula” in motion, the flying swords instantly became agile and lively.

The fifth-rank “Earth Sword Formula” not only doubled the power and speed compared to the fourth-rank “Flying Sword Formula”—its greatest feature was defense.

A defense as solid as the earth itself.

It was said that Six Divine Realm cultivators could train in the sixth-rank “Heaven Sword Formula,” whose hallmark was offense—attacks as relentless as the will of heaven itself. But who could say if that were true?

The body cultivator gripped his massive sword, but Su Yizhao’s thoughts had already drifted afar.

“I wonder if I’ll ever have a chance to train in the ‘Heaven Sword Formula’?” he mused, and the six flying swords before him suddenly spun rapidly.

The spinning blades gradually formed a mysterious umbrella shape.

Xuan Wuji cried out in surprise, “The Earth Sword Formula?”

“Die!” the body cultivator growled, unmoving, raising his giant sword—then, ten yards away, he suddenly slashed at Su Yizhao.

Su Yizhao was stunned!

Sword energy?

He felt a chill on his scalp, as though the massive sword were chopping down right atop his head.

To unleash sword energy—what terrifying power!

There was no time to defend at such speed.

Xuan Wuji’s face was full of regret.

Such talent! In a single night, he’d mastered the “Earth Sword Formula.” With proper cultivation, he’d become a master one day!

But now, he would have to die here.

Thirty thousand cultivators dared not blink. With that sword strike, the young man in blue would be reduced to dust in an instant.

As expected, the giant sword unerringly struck the crown of his head.

He was instantly reduced to ashes.

The body cultivator stood where he was, hefting his massive sword, watching his opponent vanish—but surprise filled his face.

The crowd stirred with shock.

Where was the blood?

Where were the shattered remains?

A faint buzzing drew their gaze.

Ten yards away, a silver umbrella had suddenly appeared, spinning furiously, emitting a low droning sound.

Behind the silver umbrella, the blue-robed cultivator coughed up a mouthful of blood.

At that moment, a series of afterimages appeared, merging with him in the blink of an eye.

What was happening?

A huge question mark filled everyone’s mind.

“Fourth-rank Leaping Art, mastered to perfection?” Xuan Wuji murmured admiringly. His eyes gleamed with praise. “Good lad—if you survive, I’ll take you as my disciple!”

The man had already moved, but his shadow lingered in place.

Only by pushing the fourth-rank Leaping Art to its limits could one create such an illusion of time lag.

Su Yizhao steadied his mind.

A moment’s delay, and he would have been utterly destroyed.

“Die!” The body cultivator’s surprise vanished, and with a wave of his hand, another sword strike came crashing down from a distance.

The giant sword seemed to cleave through space itself, appearing above his head in an instant.

But Su Yizhao was ready. With a thought, the silver umbrella whirred to meet the strike.

Clang!

The massive sword crashed down on the silver umbrella, scattering silvery light as if it were about to shatter.

Su Yizhao felt his body sink, a pressure like a collapsing mountain bearing down on him.

Within his dantian, the pentagonal pool of spiritual energy began to boil.

All five nodes of the pentagon erupted simultaneously, pouring energy into his meridians.

With each side, another node unleashed energy!

That’s why the higher the realm, the greater the power: the utilization rate of mystical energy in the dantian increased.

In the eyes of the crowd, blood streamed from his ears, nose, and mouth, his body plummeting.

Only after falling thirty yards did he barely manage to steady himself.

To withstand two sword strikes from a Body Cultivator at the Meridian Unblocking Realm and live—this man was already worthy of fighting.

The entire field was silent.

Far below, the indigo figure rose with the wind, hovering in midair, meeting his opponent’s gaze at eye level.

“Excellent!” Feng Bubei exclaimed, “If he lives, he must join my Xuan Zhan Hall!”

“Hmph! He’s doomed,” came a cold snort from the Xuan Body Sect’s side.

Su Yizhao’s face was grim, his eyes locked on the body cultivator.

A Meridian Unblocking Realm body cultivator!

To unleash sword energy effortlessly—what a harrowing ordeal.

He hadn’t even found a chance to attack. How could he hope to win?

His only chance lay in the spiritual energy within his dantian.

Spiritual energy, ten times purer than mystical energy—that was his only hope.

The body cultivator now regarded him anew, gripping his greatsword with caution. “Gong Tianqing! Please!”

As soon as the words left his lips, the giant sword whirled.

Immediately, streaks of sword energy, like a surging river, slashed through the void, all aimed at Su Yizhao...