"Zhu Heaven Divine Sword."
Baili Guan's killing intent surged.
He'd been humiliated by Yang Cheng outside the tower, and had been waiting for a chance to get revenge.
Now, he believed the opportunity had come.
He didn't believe Yang Cheng could really be that calm after beating Nangong Yi. That had to be for show—he was probably already at his limit.
This had to be the perfect moment to strike back.
In a flash, Baili Guan merged with his sword, turning into a blazing flame sword light that shot straight at Yang Cheng's back.
At the same time, Nangong Yi ignored his injuries and charged again, blade raised high.
"Divine Blade of the Other Shore—Blood Hell Burial!"
The blood-red blade light surged with deadly intent, cutting toward Yang Cheng from the front.
The two top prodigies attacked Yang Cheng together.
The crowd around them was stunned.
Baili Guan's sword looked like fire burning the heavens. Nangong Yi's blade light felt like the descent of a blood-drenched hell.
The two attacks closed in from both sides, completely blocking any escape route for Yang Cheng.
"Despicable!" Lin Shu shouted, a cold, annihilating aura rising from her body.
"Don't rush," Shen Muxue said quietly, her gaze deep. "His Highness might not need our help."
Lin Shu paused and looked toward Yang Cheng.
Sure enough, in this life-or-death situation, Yang Cheng's pitch-black eyes remained calm.
That steadied her heart a bit.
Yang Cheng kept his left hand behind his back. His right hand slowly rose, and he tapped the air with his fingertip.
"Buzz!"
An invisible ripple spread from his finger, and the surrounding spiritual energy froze instantly.
"What the—?" Baili Guan's eyes shrank. His sword strike felt like it had hit a swamp and suddenly slowed down.
Nangong Yi's expression also shifted. His blade light shattered midair, crumbling inch by inch as if crushed by some unseen force.
"This... what is this..."
Everyone watching was horrified.
Yang Cheng had used just one finger to suppress the deadly attacks of two top prodigies?
"Absolute Godblade Technique—Heaven's Judgment, Earth's Destruction."
Yang Cheng spoke softly and clenched his right hand into a fist.
He no longer held back his blade technique.
The ninth stage of the Absolute Godblade Technique was unleashed.
This blade intent didn't come from the system, but from his past life.
It wasn't as innately powerful as the system's techniques, but in his last life, he had reached the level of Martial Saint.
That blade intent, combined with the might of the Absolute Godblade Technique, was more than enough to deal with Nangong Yi and Baili Guan.
"Boom!"
The void trembled. A pitch-black blade light burst from his palm, like divine punishment from the heavens.
It tore through Baili Guan's sword light in an instant, then continued on, cleaving toward Nangong Yi.
"Block it!" Nangong Yi's eyes were wide. He used everything he had to block with his blade.
"Clang!"
His long blade flew from his hand.
"Pu!"
The blade light pierced through him, blowing open a bloody hole in his chest. He flew backward like a broken rag doll, crashing hard into the ground, his aura fading fast.
"Brother Nangong!" Baili Guan shouted, both furious and terrified, quickly pulling back.
But Yang Cheng didn't follow up.
Instead, his gaze swept past the two and landed on a stone cave. "Sixth Brother, you've been here a while now and didn't even say hello. Isn't that rude?"
"What?"
All the other prodigies were stunned.
They looked where Yang Cheng was staring, and sure enough, in the stone cave with the strongest sword intent pressure, a figure had appeared without anyone noticing.
"How dare you."
"It's the Sixth Prince of Great Zhou."
"While the rest of us were fighting, he tried to sneak away with the Taiyi Sword Talisman!"
Everyone burst out in rage.
Inside the cave, Yang Xiu's body went stiff. He hadn't expected Yang Cheng to notice him even during the fight.
While others were still yelling, the top prodigies had already started moving.
Their reactions were lightning fast.
Leng Qianyu was first. She didn't waste time fighting Yang Xiu. She went straight for the location of the Taishi Sword Talisman.
Next was Kongxing, heading toward the Taisu Sword Talisman.
Surprisingly, Nangong Yi—enraged and injured—abandoned the fight and rushed toward the stone cave holding the Taiyi Sword Talisman.
Baili Guan looked frustrated, but he knew he was too hurt to compete with the others now.
So, he made his move toward the cave containing the Taiyi Sword Talisman.
Inside the Taiyi Sword Talisman cave, before Nangong Yi and Yang Xiu could even fight, a cold voice echoed: "Get lost, both of you."
Their faces darkened immediately.
Because the one who spoke—was Yang Cheng.
Nangong Yi didn't need reminding. He'd already been beaten to a pulp by Yang Cheng.
And though Yang Xiu was unwilling to admit it, he knew deep down he couldn't beat Yang Cheng either.
Before entering the Ancient Desolation Tower, he'd felt confident he had surpassed Yang Cheng.
But after watching Yang Cheng battle Nangong Yi and the others in secret, he realized—he couldn't win.
So he chose to hide and sneak away with the Taiyi Sword Talisman.
He never thought Yang Cheng would see through him instantly.
Swish! Swish!
Both of them moved fast.
They gave up on the Taiyi Sword Talisman and bolted toward the cave with the Taichu Sword Talisman.
A few average geniuses had been eyeing the Taichu Sword Talisman.
But when they saw Nangong Yi and Yang Xiu charging at them, they panicked and ran away immediately.
"You're going to fight me for this too?"
Nangong Yi's eyes burned with cold fury.
He couldn't beat Yang Cheng, fine. But now Yang Xiu—a brat just like him—wanted to challenge him?
If he couldn't kill Yang Cheng, then today, he'd settle for killing Yang Xiu.
"Die."
He attacked Yang Xiu without hesitation.
Yang Xiu's face turned ice cold.
Over the past year, he had talent, but he'd always been overshadowed by Yang Cheng. Even more than Nangong Yi, he felt suffocated.
Now Nangong Yi tried to kill him like he was nothing?
Rage exploded from within.
Buzz!
A wave of powerful sword intent surged from his body.
"Seven Kill Sword Technique, First Form—Greedy Wolf."
He unleashed his sword without hesitation.
Nangong Yi might be strong, but he was perfect for venting Yang Xiu's fury.
And besides—Yang Cheng had already defeated Nangong Yi.
If he couldn't beat Nangong Yi, wouldn't that mean he was far weaker than Yang Cheng?
So no matter what, he couldn't back down. He had to crush Nangong Yi with force.
In the blink of an eye, Nangong Yi's blade clashed with Yang Xiu's sword.
That scene instantly drew countless gazes.
Nangong Yi was fighting another three-year-old?
Everyone looked stunned.
But in the next moment, they looked like they'd seen a ghost.
Because the aura bursting from Yang Xiu's body had actually reached the peak of the Xiantian realm.
That level might've been a notch lower than Yang Cheng's, but it was still unreal.
And it wasn't just that.
Yang Xiu was clearly another freak.
At such a young age, he'd already mastered sword intent.
To many onlookers, Yang Xiu was just as monstrous as Yang Cheng.
Boom!
Under everyone's gaze, a figure stumbled and was knocked back.
It was Nangong Yi.
He had been defeated by Yang Cheng, and now he was being suppressed by Yang Xiu?
Countless hearts trembled.
What kind of absurd luck did the Great Zhou have to produce two freakish princes at once?
But truth be told, Nangong Yi's strength wasn't actually below Yang Xiu's.
He was already injured by Yang Cheng, which had severely weakened him. That's why he lost to Yang Xiu.
"Don't push me to kill you. Get lost."
Yang Xiu sent Nangong Yi flying out of the cave with another strike.
Nangong Yi landed outside the cave, looking utterly miserable.
He was the proud prince of the Great Zhao Empire, Divine Son of the Bian'an Divine Sect.
He used to be terrifyingly arrogant.
But now, he'd been bullied by two three-year-old toddlers in a row.
Meanwhile, the top prodigies had no time to care about that.
They were heading deeper into the cave.
So was Yang Cheng.
[Host has survived within 200 zhang of the Blood Sea Sword Talisman for half an hour—excellent achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: Soul Refining Ancient Method, Tier Three. Will the host claim the reward or continue the mission?]
"Continue the mission."
Yang Cheng didn't stop walking.
Soon, he reached the front of the cave and saw a floating sword talisman.
The sword talisman looked like a mini, transparent sword, about the size of a human palm. It pulsed with terrifying sword power.
Anyone else—even those who had grasped Houtian-level sword intent—might be crushed by this kind of pressure.
But for Yang Cheng, who possessed innate sword intent, it was nothing.
Still, the Taiyi Sword Talisman wasn't his true goal.
His real target was the hidden Blood Sea Sword Talisman.
The five innate sword talismans hadn't been taken yet, which meant the Blood Sea Sword Talisman was still sealed.
This was the best time to get it. Once the five talismans were removed, there'd be no chance.
Yang Cheng closed his eyes.
Buzz!
His spiritual power exploded and spread through the surrounding space.
Not long after, he sensed a resisting force in the stone wall, about 100 zhang behind the Taiyi Sword Talisman.
It was like something was cutting off his spiritual perception.
That's how he knew—he'd found it.
But for others, even if they discovered it, they couldn't retrieve it.
The stone wall was 100 zhang thick. Even if his strength matched a Martial Grandmaster, he couldn't break through it.
Yang Cheng didn't panic. He flipped his hand over, and a transparent fish-shaped talisman appeared in his palm.
It was a Space Teleportation Talisman rewarded by the system.
He locked his spiritual sense on the space 100 zhang behind the wall.
Buzz!
The Space Teleportation Talisman activated.
In an instant, Yang Cheng vanished from where he stood and passed through the 100-zhang-thick stone wall, arriving behind it.
The aura from the talisman dimmed by one-tenth.
Judging from that, it could probably be used 10 times.
This thing was definitely on the level of a divine artifact.
Yang Cheng's breath hitched as he arrived. A freezing chill ran through his entire body.
Looking up, he saw thick, roiling blood mist so dense it almost turned into liquid.
The air was wet and heavy.
The stench of blood was overwhelming.
Floating deep within the blood mist was a crimson sword talisman.
It was terrifying.
Yang Cheng had the feeling that if it attacked him, he'd die instantly.
In fact, probably no one in the entire Wasteland Realm could stop it.
Thankfully...
Five invisible chains held it in place.
Each of those chains was formed from sword qi.
Clearly, those five chains were connected to the five innate sword talismans.
That put Yang Cheng at ease.
[Host is within 3 zhang of the Blood Sea Sword Talisman and still alive. This is unbelievable.]
[The Blood Sea Sword Talisman has immense power. At this range, it could instantly kill many Martial True Gods. Yet the host survived.]
[Congratulations, host has achieved a glorious feat. Reward: Soul Refining Ancient Method, Tier Six. Will the host claim the reward or continue the mission?]
Yang Cheng silently chose the latter.
Then he locked his burning gaze on the Blood Sea Sword Talisman.
Without a second of hesitation, he extended his spiritual force toward it.
"Refine!"
He started refining it immediately.
The Blood Sea Sword Talisman was clearly enraged. It erupted with pressure strong enough to destroy stars and crush sun and moon.
But that pressure was all it had—it couldn't actually hurt Yang Cheng.
It did cause him pain, but as long as he gritted his teeth, he could endure it.