Someone else attacked this time, someone else descended from the sky.
Someone pounced from above, while dust and smoke surged upward from below.
Chan Shaoting feared nothing. As his spiritual power gradually recovered, he was confident that with the power of his “Nine Division Sword”, he still had the strength to fight. He might as well go all out.
His hand movements were also crisp and decisive. He held his sword upright, clapped both hands on the hilt, and the sword split into nine in his palms, spreading out like umbrella ribs.
With a wave of both arms, the nine swords spread like a great roc spreading its wings, flying behind him to form a large disc shape, hovering and spinning rapidly behind his back.
As his opponent pounced closer, Chan Shaoting stood at the edge of the deep pit and pointed diagonally upward with one hand, pointing at the pouncing opponent, and shouted heavily, “Go!”
With just this shout, the flush on his cheeks instantly vanished, and his face turned completely pale. It was clear that in this strike, he had left no retreat, once again exhausting all the spiritual power in his body.
For him, there was no need to hold anything back. If he lost again, he would not even have the face to live. He had to go all out once more.
The spinning nine swords suddenly scattered like birds leaving their nest, flying in all directions, yet whooshing toward the same direction.
Even though the dust had not yet settled, the audience could still see flashes of flowing light, like nine dragons fighting for a pearl, and Yu Qing was that pearl being fought over.
Nan Zhu and the others in the viewing stands all had their hearts in their throats.
Wen Ruowei also widened her eyes and murmured, “Not good!”
If the previous thousand swords like rain were astonishing, they were vertical attacks. Looking at the pillar under Yu Qing’s feet, one knew that blocking one side was enough. But now the nine swords were like living things, fiercely attacking from nine different directions.
They say two fists are hard to match four hands, let alone more than four. Blocking one side is easy, but blocking nine sides at the same time is unimaginably difficult.
What was worse, the sword qi condensed at the Initial Mystery realm could be easily shattered, but what was before them could not. These were real objects, real flying swords, and they were like living things.
From the audience’s perspective, Yu Qing had no aerial technique and was unavoidably crashing into the encirclement of the nine swords, making many spectators tense up.
But for Yu Qing himself, since he was actively attacking, he had no intention of dodging. Seeing the nine cold lights closing in for the kill, he swung his sword without hesitation.
The surging dust that roared up from the deep pit also swallowed the person in the air and the nine cold lights at this moment.
And Chan Shaoting stood at the edge of the deep pit, already swallowed a step ahead.
Everyone could see nothing then, only hearing a dense burst of “ding ding” sounds.
Yu Qing’s figure in the rolling dust rolled like a dragon pearl. When else would he use his thirty-six swords in one breath if not now? In an instant, one man and one sword alone blocked attacks from all directions.
Visually, everyone saw the confused dust at the position where the nine swords were attacking writhing in a strange form, like the beginning of chaos, with something breathing in the chaos.
Everyone could estimate that the churning dust was visibly pressing toward Chan Shaoting’s position.
The fierce clashing sounds in the dust did not stop either. Flying swords occasionally popped out from the expanding dust, then turned around and drilled back in, like wandering dragons shuttling and playing in a sea of clouds.
This scene made the audience realise that the power of the nine swords had not immediately subdued Yu Qing. Ordinary people could hardly imagine how Yu Qing was withstanding it.
Li Chenghu in the VIP seats, who had been half-leaning on the armrest, was now leaning slightly forward, showing how focused he was.
Wen Xin and Xiao Hong could not understand what was happening, only feeling that the fight between experts was very shocking.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie truly had their hearts stuck in their throats.
Zhong Ruochen’s hands once again gripped her clothes tightly.
Wen Ruowei stared with wide eyes, seemingly not daring to miss any subtle change, as if trying to see through the confusing dust.
Long Xingyun’s folding fan was stiffly gripped on his knee, also staring motionlessly at the battle.
The fierce clashing in the dust did not continue for long before suddenly becoming less intense.
Chan Shaoting, who was forcibly casting spells in the confusing dust, suddenly sprayed a stream of blood from his nostrils. His body also staggered back a step, staring intently at the upper front.
A dark shadow broke through the air. It was Yu Qing. He had shattered the nine-sword encirclement and broken through the net, stabbing at Chan Shaoting with a sword from mid-air.
Who would have thought that Chan Shaoting would neither dodge nor avoid? A twisted, resolute expression appeared on his pale face. He continued to cast spells and control his swords in a life-risking manner, intending to use his body as bait to counter-kill Yu Qing.
Yu Qing, who was pouncing close, saw his expression and instantly realised that this person did not want to live.
He was greatly shocked. He did not want to kill him. One Long Xingyun was troublesome enough. If he also provoked Returning Sword Mountain Villa, that would be a headache.
In great shock, he withdrew his sword. Twisting his body in mid-air, he kicked Chan Shaoting hard in the chest. This kick was indeed quite heavy, and he was indeed furious.
Chan Shaoting was immediately sent flying.
Yu Qing, who had twisted in mid-air, fought behind him, using quick swords to strike down the flying swords shooting from behind. They came fast, and bounced away fast.
The spectators on the scene immediately saw beams of sword light popping out from the rolling dust. But this time they did not turn around and shoot back. They all looked like arrows after their strength was exhausted, falling to the ground with no movement, then swallowed by the spreading dust.
Coupled with the fighting sounds stopping, everyone immediately realised something, especially the people from Returning Sword Mountain Villa, who were clearly extremely nervous.
Almost at the same time, a figure also flew out from the dust. It was Chan Shaoting. He slid several zhang while sitting on the ground before stopping. His hands braced against the ground. He had just tried to force himself up when he could not help but tilt his head back and “puh” out a mouthful of blood.
The rolling dust that surged over happened to reach him at this moment, as if knocking the person over. Chan Shaoting, who had spat out a mouthful of blood, fell backward, and was also swallowed by the dust.
“Brother!” Chan Shaoyun cried out sorrowfully, subconsciously wanting to go to his aid.
Yong Zexue seemed to have anticipated what she would do. Her hand was already pressing on her shoulder, pinning her firmly in place, and warned coldly, “The match is not yet over. No one may go on stage to interfere.”
For her, this was both the rule of the Rising Sun Convention that could not be broken, and her last shred of hope. Perhaps her son could still fight? Perhaps the opponent was also severely injured and unable to get up?
Chan Shaoting, lying in the boundless dust, strained to raise his head, still wanting to struggle to his feet, but he was already exhausted.
He wanted to gather even a trace of spiritual power to regulate his breathing and recover, but his internal organs felt as if they were being torn apart. His meridians were blocked, and he could not even exert or bear force in his chest. He knew that his sternum had been broken by the opponent’s heavy kick.
At the moment when his spiritual power was drained, at the moment when he had no spiritual power defence whatsoever, taking such a kick, he knew he was already severely injured.
He also knew that the opponent had shown mercy. Otherwise, that kick would have been enough to kill him, defenceless as he was.
But he still wanted to get up and fight desperately, because he could not fall again.
Suddenly he saw a figure walking through the dust. There was no one else but that masked Zhang Zhichen.
Yu Qing walked up to him and looked down at him, saying, “You lost.”
Chan Shaoting struggled desperately. Even though blood was dripping from his mouth and nose, even though his chest seemed to be torn apart by pain, he still struggled to stand up, swaying in front of Yu Qing, and mumbled through the blood in his mouth, “Unless you kill me, I will not admit defeat. Come on, I have not lost yet. Come kill me!”
Yu Qing reached out and pushed. Chan Shaoting immediately crashed to the ground, falling flat on his back.
Yu Qing casually grabbed one of his ankles, turned around, and dragged him away, dragging a living person like a sack.
Chan Shaoting was still struggling, still wanting to struggle to stand up, but how could he possibly stand up in this situation?
He seemed to know what Yu Qing was going to do to him. He seemed unwilling to accept that outcome. His hands scratched and clawed at the ground, looking for something to grip, but to no avail.
His hand touched a stone, and he threw it at Yu Qing, but the force and accuracy were truly pitiful. Either he missed, or when it hit, Yu Qing showed no reaction.
“Let go of me, I have not lost, I can still fight…”
Chan Shaoting shouted for a while, then his voice took on a sobbing tone, as if he were weeping blood and begging. Where was any of the elegance when Yu Qing first came to Kun Spirit Mountain and saw him?
The spreading dust gradually blurred. Audience members in a certain direction seemed to see figures walking through the haze.
Yu Qing stopped near the edge of the field. With a swing of his arm, he threw the dragged Chan Shaoting out, directly throwing him out of bounds, out of the arena.
“Thrown out of bounds.”
“He was thrown out.”
Seeing Chan Shaoting crash to the ground and roll, the audience on this side of the stands burst into commotion.
Other viewing positions blocked by the dust did not know what had happened and stood up craning their necks.
Yu Qing, who had turned around, flashed back into the arena. He swung his sword and slashed out streams of force at empty air. After one sword, two swords, three or four swords, his long sword swished back into its sheath.
The surging force from his successive sword strikes cleared the field, pushing the confusing dust in all directions. The arena quickly became much clearer, at least enough for people to see normally.
So everyone saw Chan Shaoting, who had been thrown outside the circle, struggling and occasionally coughing up blood yet unable to get up.
Yu Qing, with his face covered, held the hilt of his sword at his waist and walked unhurriedly toward the main platform.
Seeing this, Wen Ruowei grabbed her sister’s hand and shook it hard, her eyebrows dancing, very excited.
Xiao Hong also clasped her hands together, also very excited, eager to express something, but seeing her young lady’s calm appearance, she did not know what to say.
Nan Zhu scratched his ear and said to Mu Aotie beside him, “Old Fifteen’s strength seems stronger than we imagined.”
Mu Aotie silently nodded.
Bai Lixin also had a face full of surprise.
Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui looked at Chan Shaoting, who had fallen at the foot of the stands, and both sighed.
Long Xingyun opened his folding fan again, waving it, and said disdainfully, “Dust filling the sky, can’t even control it freely. Nothing special…” He chewed, and some sand had fallen on the fan. He fanned it into his own mouth and quickly spat out saliva several times.
Looking at this grey environment again, waving a fan did seem a bit silly and crude. He quickly put the folding fan away.
Over at the main platform, several Kun Spirit Mountain disciples had already flown out to provide emergency treatment for Chan Shaoting.
Chan Shaoyun, who wanted to run to see her brother, was held back by Yong Zexue. The latter stared at Chan Shaoting’s direction, gritted her teeth, and threw down a sentence, “Useless waste, aren’t you ashamed enough? Let’s all go!”
She grabbed her daughter, ignoring her daughter’s pleas and struggles, and directly dragged her away.
For her, there was no need to watch the rest of the match. She could not afford to lose that much face.
The group from Returning Sword Mountain Villa looked at each other. Under Yong Zexue’s cold gaze as she turned back to stare at them, they quickly lowered their heads and followed.
Only Zhao Qing did not go with them. She quickly went down from the stands and hurried toward where Chan Shaoting was being carried away.
Because the dust had blocked the view, the main platform had not clearly seen how Chan Shaoting was defeated. Qin Fujun was communicating with the Kun Spirit Mountain disciple monitoring that side to confirm the situation.
Yu Qing was already standing at the edge line of the arena, not daring to step out easily, waiting for the match result to be announced.