“No forbidden elixirs, no actions that affect the fairness of the duel, no…” The Martial Arts Hall referee, Chong Xuansheng, gestured to the two combatants, “Are you both prepared?”

“Of course,” Jiang Wang replied.

Lei Zhangan, on the other hand, was much more arrogant. “Do I even need to prepare?”

Chong Xuansheng smiled, unperturbed. “Let me state this beforehand. This public challenge is primarily to determine a victor. Once a winner is decided, the duel is over. It should not involve matters of life and death. However, blades and fists are merciless and lack eyes. If there are accidental or unintended strikes, neither side’s friends or family are permitted to seek revenge or start trouble!”

He recited the words smoothly, showing a dedication to his role.

“As for whether an action is accidental or deliberate, the heroes gathered here are insightful and discerning. They will make their own judgments!”

Chong Xuansheng glanced at the two men once more before stepping down from the arena platform.

His departure signaled the start of the battle!

The rumble of thunder and the hum of a longsword seemed to occur simultaneously.

Despite his dismissive words, Lei Zhangan immediately summoned his Thunder Seal upon making his move.

Its base was the four corners of the earth, its upper part was the shape of lightning.

It was majestic, domineering, and emanated a pressure that seemed to weigh down the heavens and earth.

The entire arena was instantly filled with lightning, dazzling flashes, and the dance of electric serpents.

But there was a light that shone even brighter than the lightning, more dazzling than any spark.

It was the sword light of Chang Xiang Si.

This sword advanced relentlessly through the boundless lightning, cleaving through the thunder, splitting the electricity, determined to kill!

The Sword of Humanity, Form Four, youthful arrogance.

It was an extremely flamboyant sword strike, more brilliant than the dazzling lightning, more violent than the raging storm.

Refusing to yield even an inch, contesting every point.

The thunder was torn asunder all along its path, the sword light arriving in an instant.

Lei Zhangan unleashed a fist towards the sky, transforming the lightning into a field of stars.

Above the “celestial dome,” stars of thunder hung suspended.

Chang Xiang Si streaked across, causing the stars to fall in succession.

When Heaven unleashes its killing intent, the stars shift and the constellations turn!

The stars of lightning, thus, “offset” the damage.

Jiang Wang was not surprised. In an instant, he unleashed two more strikes, one like the setting sun, the other cleaving heaven and earth. The Sword of Humanity: ‘Old General’s Twilight’, and ‘Disgraced Scholar’s Plight’.

Even as the sword was unleashed, he completed a hand seal.

As the sword light erupted, Jiang Wang retreated, and countless scorching firebirds, carrying flowers of flame in their beaks, descended upon Lei Zhangan like a storm of fiery rain.

Flaming Birds Bearing Flowers!

A Dao technique executed simultaneously by the First Inner Palace and the Tongtian Palace, its power was now incomparable to what it had been before.

The stars of thunder in the sky above immediately plummeted like rain.

Lei Zhangan, after executing the ‘Star Shift’ technique, could now withstand damage with a full one thousand two hundred stars of thunder.

But after Jiang Wang’s two sword strikes and the subsequent Dao technique, nearly half of the stars of thunder had already fallen!

The scene was overwhelmingly grand, shaking the minds of the spectators.

At that moment, Lei Zhangan slammed a fist into the ground.

When Earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons rise from the land and serpents stir!

Thunder transformed into flood dragons, lightning into nimble snakes. The forms of thunder and lightning spread across the ground, then curled upwards.

They surged towards Jiang Wang, biting, tearing, and swallowing.

The thunder was like the stars suspended in the sky, the thunder was like a sea of lightning covering the earth.

In an instant, Jiang Wang was trapped within a cage of lightning, and Lei Zhangan, controlling the Thunder Seal, clenched his fist and unleashed the third form: Heaven and Earth Reverse!

When Man unleashes his killing intent, heaven and earth are overturned, stars fall, the sea of thunder erupts, the world is destroyed, the apocalypse arrives.

Jiang Wuxie, having already witnessed the power of this technique, felt a sense of powerlessness despite seeing it again. Unless he advanced to the Inner Palace realm and plucked a Divine Power… But the time was not yet ripe. What scenery did Jiang Wuxie have his eyes on beyond mere Divine Powers? Now was not the time to advance.

Jiang Wuqi quietly observed the battle, silent and expressionless.

Jiang Wuyou, however, radiated battle intent. These three forms that simulated the killing intent of Heaven and Earth were truly profound, igniting her competitive spirit.

In the arena, amidst the gaze of the crowd, Jiang Wang leaped into the air, charging upwards towards the hundreds of falling stars of thunder.

The erupting sea of lightning chased after him.

It was as if he was the only youth in the world.

He was surrounded by raging thunder, drifting without anchor.

Thus, the Sword of Humanity, Form Three: the helpless sword strike, was unleashed.

Struggling even in the most powerless of situations.

He lightly thrust his sword towards the sky, a particularly faint but incredibly resilient sword light.

Shattering star after star!

But he turned his head.

He turned his head amidst the fragments of the stars of thunder.

His left hand pressed directly onto the seal between the stars of thunder and the sea of lightning.

The scene seemed to freeze.

At that moment, the stars of thunder were falling from the sky, the youth facing them with his sword. On the ground, the sea of thunder was erupting, and the youth actually turned back, as if he would be swallowed by the sea of lightning at any moment, but his hand pressed down on the Thunder Seal.

All the lightning originated from here, all the thunder moved through this.

Jiang Wang had been running and dodging, seemingly trying to divide the thunder and clear away the darkness, but in reality, he had been approaching the Thunder Seal all along, trying to capture it!

As he thrust his sword towards the sky, Lei Zhangan, in order to quickly ‘reverse’ heaven and earth and end Jiang Wang with the apocalypse of thunder, was also urgently driving the thunder dragons and serpents and the stars of thunder.

The Thunder Seal was thus captured by Jiang Wang.

Therefore, he let the sword light soar towards the sky, but turned back and pressed down.

This action was extremely risky, because if this turn could not succeed, without a focused sword strike, he would be crushed by the stars of thunder in an instant, and Jiang Wang would not even have a chance to retaliate.

But Jiang Wang still chose to do so.

Decisive, resolute, confident!

To be precise, only Jiang Wang’s left index finger pressed down on the Thunder Seal.

One finger, with a spot of flame on it.

That bean-sized flame was “pressed” onto the lightning-encircled Thunder Seal, igniting with a ‘poof’!

Samadhi True Fire!

This fire was the convergence of divine essence, vital essence, and Qi essence, the unity of the three Samadhis, burning all things.

The raging fire rose from the sea of lightning on the ground, and the stars of thunder in the sky were also burning.

The Samadhi True Fire burned directly on the Thunder Seal, thus guiding all the lightning.

The world of thunder became a world of fire.

The apocalypse of thunder had transformed into the conflagration of the world!

The spectators below the platform were stunned!

This extreme destruction was also an extremely beautiful thing!

At this moment, as all destruction was taking place, a figure stepped into the arena, into this apocalypse of fire.

Appearing beside the Thunder Seal.

A slender hand gently separated the Thunder Seal from Jiang Wang’s finger.

A youth wearing a white fox fur coat!

Jiang Wang’s index finger was pressed against his palm.

That wisp of Samadhi True Fire was still burning, but he seemed completely oblivious!

“Cease your hand,” he said. “I concede on his behalf.”

Jiang Wang withdrew his finger, and simultaneously, with a backhanded grasp, all the flames in this world were caught back into his palm, extinguished within his grasp.

The world within the arena returned to clarity, and the scene of the apocalypse seemed to be nothing more than an illusion.

It was as if nothing had happened.

But the Thunder Seal hovering in the air, now smaller, described the result.

Less than twenty breaths!

Some people were already exclaiming in their hearts.

All this seemed to have happened slowly.

But from the moment the two men made their moves until Jiang Wuqi stepped forward to concede on behalf of Lei Zhangan, less than twenty breaths had passed!

“Wuqi, why did you concede on my behalf? I wasn’t without a chance just now!” Lei Zhangan looked grim, seeming very dissatisfied.

“Cousin, of course, I know.”

As Jiang Wuqi spoke, he grabbed the Thunder Seal and lightly patted it back into Lei Zhangan’s body, saying, “But if you continue fighting, it will be too intense. I’m afraid it will affect the entire arena. So many people have come today, and I doubt we can protect them all. They are all pillars of our Great Qi Dynasty. It would be bad if anyone got hurt.”

But Jiang Wuxie, seeing Jiang Wuqi’s actions below the platform, couldn’t help but twitch his eyes!

Jiang Wuqi’s act of blocking Jiang Wang’s Samadhi True Fire was certainly powerful, but those who truly understood knew that his action of grabbing Lei Zhangan’s Divine Power and putting it back was truly terrifying!

Even Jiang Wuyou, who remained unmoved by everything, stood up at once.

On the stage.

“Since His Highness the Eleventh Prince has spoken, Jiang Wang will naturally comply.”

Jiang Wang simply smiled and sheathed his sword.

Did Lei Zhangan really have a chance just now? Without Jiang Wuqi, his externally manifested Thunder Seal would have been destroyed. This man’s skill at being stubborn was probably a Divine Power!