In the night, Li Yan took a deep breath, his expression grave as he stared at the crystal screen. At this stage of the great battle, all who remained were strong contenders. And "four hundred and five," he remembered very clearly, was a perfected tenth-layer Qi Condensation disciple from Four Symbols Peak. Since the start of the battle, he had met three perfected tenth-layer cultivators. He had fought hard against one, also wanting to test how long he could last under the hands of a perfected tenth-layer cultivator, until he was exhausted and defeated. As for the other two, Li Yan had directly admitted defeat after fighting for less than a quarter of an hour. Now, facing this person named Du Sanjiang, although he was also at the perfected tenth-layer of Qi Condensation, his fame was much greater than the other three. This person had been stuck at the perfected tenth-layer of Qi Condensation for five years. He was originally going to break through to Foundation Establishment soon, but hearing that the Wheel of Life and Death was opening, he had suppressed his breakthrough time, wanting to enter the Wheel of Life and Death to obtain a treasure before breaking through. But for this match, after consideration, Li Yan believed he had to go all out. Because those who remained now were basically all strong contenders. The next match might also be against a perfected tenth-layer cultivator. In that case, he would have no retreat.
While paying attention to the matches of others, Li Yan had seen most of Du Sanjiang's matches. This person's formation arts had already begun to take shape. It was said that after the brothers Chu Weixiong and Chu Weili, he was the most promising rising star of Four Symbols Peak. Although he had not yet reached the stage of entering the Dao through formations, he could still make his techniques manifest with his formations. And it was said that he had studied nearly a hundred large and small formations. This person had only lost one match before, to a cultivator from Lord Lao Peak.
"Little Junior Brother, this battle will be difficult. You must be on your guard. By now, it's the final round for everyone, just a matter of how many matches. You've already won one and lost one. This match is crucial. If you win, you'll have a much better chance," Wei Chituo said, his face also grave.
"Little Junior Brother, be careful, but keep a relaxed mindset. This person is powerful. If you can win, and you don't draw another perfected tenth-layer in the next round, then you should be fine," Lin Daqiao said with a smile.
Yun Chunqu actually gave a silent nod.
"Be careful of his defenses. This person probably won't use his protective spiritual light to conserve spiritual power; he should be using a formation to protect himself. After all, he has mastered making his techniques manifest with his formations," Gong Chenying said, standing gracefully and looking at Li Yan.
"Thank you, Senior Brothers and Sister," Li Yan said gratefully. With a great flash of spiritual light, he soared into the air, streaking across the night under the huge full moon.
On the seventeenth battle stage, Li Yan flew over. With a flash of blue light, he had already entered the battle stage's protective formation. But the moment he entered, his figure couldn't help but pause. A gentle voice echoed in his ear, "Little Junior Brother, this person has already reached the stage of making his techniques manifest with his formations. You must go all out." It was his Eldest Senior Brother's voice. It turned out that this battle stage was supervised by him. This surprised Li Yan. Since the start of the battle, he had thought he might run into Li Wuyi's supervision, but it hadn't happened even as it was nearing the end. The voice came again, "I will not interfere in any way." Then there was silence.
A trace of warmth rose in Li Yan's heart, and then he continued to fly toward the center.
When he arrived at the center, a person was already standing on the ground opposite him. This person was of medium build, in his early twenties, with a square, honest face, dark and beardless, with a smile. A pair of eyes were constantly sizing up Li Yan.
"To see you is better than to hear of you. Junior Brother Li is truly young."
The voice was pure, thick, and righteous, giving people the impression that this person must be an upright and honest person. Li Yan saw clearly that this person was Du Sanjiang. He also knew that Du Sanjiang had also been taken in by a Golden Core elder of Four Symbols Peak and was also a disciple-in-name of a Golden Core cultivator, so it was not strange for him to call him junior brother.
Li Yan had seen his matches and knew that this person was indeed as he appeared, very honest and kind-hearted. Those who fought him basically all admitted defeat on their own, and there were no injuries or disabilities. But from this, one could also see how powerful this person was. To be able to force these proud individuals to admit defeat on their own, one could not achieve such a convincing victory without overwhelming power.
Since others were polite, Li Yan would naturally not put on airs. He also bowed. "Greetings, Senior Brother Du. Please be merciful later."
"Hehe, Junior Brother Li is too serious. I have seen your battles. They are truly unpredictable," Du Sanjiang said with a smile, still standing steadily there, without releasing his protective spiritual light.
Hearing this, Li Yan couldn't help but scratch his head, not knowing how to reply.
"Hehe, Junior Brother Li, let's begin," Du Sanjiang's magnetic voice came.
Li Yan knew that this was the opponent letting him make the first move. He didn't stand on ceremony. With a wave of his hand, a cloud of yellow sand had already risen into the sky, covering Du Sanjiang. Then he himself flew backward, quickly pulling away. He knew that the opponent was a formation master. He could only attack first and then pull away to kite, to see if there was a chance to find an opportunity. He didn't expect this attack to have any effect at all; he just wanted to create distance. As for fighting the opponent head-on, Li Yan hadn't even thought about it. That was a perfected tenth-layer cultivator. The other person probably hoped that he would fight him head-on.
Seeing Li Yan being so cautious, Du Sanjiang smiled slightly. A faint yellow light flashed on his body. He actually faced the sky-covering yellow sand without fear and strode forward. The next moment, a large patch of yellow sand fell. The yellow light on Du Sanjiang's body emitted a faint luster, actually forming a halo of light protecting his body. The yellow sand hit it, making a "hissing" sound, like dense raindrops falling on sand. But he still looked as if he were taking a leisurely stroll, unhurriedly chasing after Li Yan.
In just one exchange, Li Yan was greatly alarmed. Although he hadn't expected the sky-covering yellow sand to be effective, he wouldn't let go of any opportunity. He had added a deadly poison with a burning and strong corrosive property to the yellow sand, but the result was that it had no effect at all. Li Yan could also see that the yellow halo around Du Sanjiang's body was not a protective spiritual light, because a protective spiritual light would only have a faint color, or even be formless, when one reached the Nascent Soul realm.
What's more, he had also seen Du Sanjiang use it in battle before. This was a small-scale formation that only required a very small amount of spiritual power to control. Its power mainly came from the formation patterns in the formation. The formation patterns could communicate with heaven and earth, borrowing the spiritual power of heaven and earth to operate, attack, and defend.
Seeing Du Sanjiang approaching step by step, Li Yan could only retreat and circle continuously, attacking while kiting. He knew that Du Sanjiang was also looking for an opportunity to set up a formation. It was also possible that he had already set up a formation while he was moving, but he just couldn't see it. But he had no choice, and he didn't dare to let Du Sanjiang get close. That would be even more dangerous for him.
Du Sanjiang just kept pressing toward Li Yan unhurriedly. He followed Li Yan wherever he went without hesitation, not at all worried that Li Yan would set a poison trap with his Divine Sense. He also launched attacks from time to view. His Sky-Covering Sand Rain, Giant Rock Art, Dust Sealing Art, and other earth-element immortal arts were much stronger and more varied than Li Yan's. After all, he was a true earth-element expert. Occasionally, he would also use the Earth Wall Art to surround Li Yan on all four sides, making Li Yan's movable space smaller and smaller. And most of Li Yan's attacks were taken head-on by Du Sanjiang.
At this time, the discussions among the people watching below the stage grew even more intense. "That Martial Uncle Li is done for. He's about to be surrounded."
"He was unlucky to run into Senior Uncle Du. His previous wins were also based on luck. If he had drawn two more experts like Senior Uncle Du, he would have lost long ago. After all, just relying on some traps is still not enough to face a powerful opponent."
"What you said is a bit wrong. Although there are still quite a few experts like Senior Uncle Du, how many of them can take on the opponent's immortal art attacks head-on without using a protective spiritual light, without fear of being poisoned?"
"What you said is indeed true. This Martial Uncle Li has also met disciples from Four Symbols Peak before. It's a pity that they couldn't make their techniques manifest with their formations and couldn't conjure a small-scale formation to protect themselves. Using spiritual power to resist head-on couldn't last long. But this time, with Senior Uncle Du in this situation, his chances of winning are extremely high..."
...
Gong Chenying stood with her arms crossed, a magnificent sight. Although she had also sparred with Li Yan before, thinking back now, Li Yan had clearly not used his full strength. He should have just been honing his adaptability at that time and had not used some of his hidden trump cards. So Gong Chenying had not been optimistic about him before. But after these few days and nights, Li Yan made her feel more and more mysterious. His spiritual power was clearly at the mid-stage of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation, yet he could fight head-on against the ninth layer without falling behind. Even against the tenth layer, if he used a kiting method, he could hold on for a considerable amount of time. And then there was that body of poison, something she had never seen before. But at that time, with so many people sparring with him, they still hadn't forced him to fully display it. He had only used one or two types over and over again.
Li Yan's performance in recent days was truly something to look forward to. Although Gong Chenying was not optimistic about today's battle, she was also looking forward to it. But not long after the start, she hadn't expected Li Yan to be beaten so miserably. One could say he had no ability to fight back at all. Du Sanjiang was too powerful.
She could, of course, see the purpose of Du Sanjiang's attack, which was to corner Li Yan in a narrow space to immediately set up a formation. It wasn't that Du Sanjiang couldn't set up a formation now, but that he needed time to set it up now. That way, Li Yan would have time to escape and would also know the location of the formation. Du Sanjiang had not yet cultivated to the realm of the Chu brothers where the formation manifested with the technique. At that time, a formation could be formed with a wave of the hand. In the future, further cultivation would be about seeing how powerful a formation could be set up with a wave of the hand, and what kind of formation.
"But his resilience is still very good. To hold on like this, he should be trying to learn more from his opponent. Even if he loses this match, he still has one more chance." Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Gong Chenying's lips.
At this time, on the stage, Li Yan's face was extremely grave. He had been cornered by Du Sanjiang's Earth Wall Art several times and had almost failed to escape. He took a moment to look up at the sky. At this time, the huge moon had already moved toward the center of the sky, illuminating the battle stage as bright as snow.
Although Du Sanjiang's expression showed no fluctuation, he was also having a headache. The poison in this Junior Brother Li's rain screen technique was truly difficult to deal with. His attacks always seemed to get stuck in mud. He had already lost three spirit artifacts to no avail. The three spirit artifacts had all turned into lumps of gray matter and fallen to the ground, making his heart ache. So now he had switched to using immortal arts to attack. Li Yan's slipperiness made it impossible for him to find an opportunity to use his methods to set up a formation to trap the enemy. Half an hour had already passed. The other battle stages had long since finished, and only their side was in a stalemate. But Du Sanjiang already had a plan in his heart. After half an hour of consumption, Li Yan had consumed several times more than him. With the rain screen technique, the protective spiritual light, and his occasional counterattacks, he estimated that Li Yan now only had a small half of his spiritual power left. After all, Li Yan was a few realms lower. No matter how well he cultivated, his spiritual power was ultimately a weakness.
And so, time passed bit by bit. At this time, most of the cultivators in the areas below the stage were staring at this side. While admiring Du Sanjiang, they were also marveling at Li Yan's ability to take a beating.
Li Yan's face was pale, and he was drenched in sweat. He could no longer even occasionally counterattack. He simply withdrew his protective spiritual light and put all his spiritual power into his rain screen and escape. He was now severely exhausted. He looked up at the sky again, knowing that he could no longer hold on. Now, every time he dodged, Li Yan felt nauseous, and his vision blurred, a clear sign of spiritual power depletion.
A smile appeared on Du Sanjiang's lips. In this half an hour, he had already cornered Li Yan in a corner. This area was only about four or five hundred meters in size. He calculated that there should be no problem for him to set up a formation. After concentrating, he called out an immortal art, and instantly, a tornado pillar ten zhang high and nearly forty meters thick appeared in this area. Sand and stones flew, and with a huge suction force, it directly rolled toward Li Yan. At the same time, Du Sanjiang's other hand slapped his waist, and a few Spirit Stones had already flown into the air, quickly scattering and flying away, landing on the ground in a certain formation, forming an irregular area of about three hundred meters. Then, Du Sanjiang's hands formed a dazzling series of seals. Countless ancient, simple seal characters, shining with golden light, sprinkled down from the air like rain, falling into that irregular area. After a flash, they disappeared into the ground. As the golden seal characters continued to sprinkle down, the space in that area constantly fluctuated. After a dozen or so breaths, that area seemed to have returned to normal.
And at this time, Li Yan was struggling to resist being sucked into the tornado pillar. But half of his figure was already submerged in it. Seeing this, Du Sanjiang couldn't help but smile. He pointed with both hands, and instantly, the whistling sound of the tornado pillar grew louder, and the suction force instantly doubled. Li Yan only resisted for a single breath before being sucked into it. Then, under Du Sanjiang's control, the tornado slowly moved toward that irregular area. It was clear that casting this tornado was also strenuous for him.
"It's done, it's done! The formation over there is done. Martial Uncle Li is about to be trapped," many people below the stage shouted.
After a few breaths, Li Yan found himself in a world of golden light. He couldn't tell how big it was, nor did he know where he was. He cautiously took a few steps and didn't find anything wrong, but he still released the only twenty percent of his spiritual power he had left to protect his body.
Du Sanjiang looked at that area. At this time, he had already withdrawn the tornado pillar. This technique consumed too much spiritual power, and he could only barely cast it at his current realm. Looking at Li Yan, he couldn't help but admire his resilience and caution. Even at this stage, Li Yan still cautiously released his protective spiritual light. This made him pause his thought of immediately activating the formation to attack. It seemed this junior brother would not turn back until he hit a brick wall.
And the people below the stage, at this time, saw Li Yan strangely walking around in that area, circling an irregular area. Someone had already said with dissatisfaction, "There's no hope at all. What's the point of delaying? Just admit defeat. How can his poison penetrate the formation? And even if it could, how could it break through Senior Uncle Du's protective small-scale formation?"
"Then just wait. I estimate his spiritual power is also running low. Look at his protective spiritual light, it's weak and already showing signs of instability."
...
But at this time, on the stage, Du Sanjiang didn't want to wait any longer. After observing for a few breaths, he confirmed that Li Yan's spiritual power was almost at its bottom and that he was unable to block the formation's attack. So he urged the seal in his hand, and the spiritual light in that area flared, and a loud buzzing sound rose.
As Li Yan was cautiously probing, he suddenly felt the sky in this area twist and change. Countless golden halberds whistled toward him from all directions.