Chapter 611: How Did It Become Like This?

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

When this thought arose, Huo Liaoyuan’s heart was suddenly filled with a sense of terror.

The rules of the Deathmatch Arena were bestowed by Providence, making them infallible. The moment Lu Yiye died, he should have been sent out of this space and returned to his original location.

Yet he remained here...

Instinctively, he looked up and forward.

The towering flames were still surging, but their momentum was already fading. They would likely extinguish completely within two or three breaths. Then, he witnessed an unbelievable truth!

From the power of a spell potent enough to turn even a Cloud River Ninth-Realm cultivator into a charred corpse, a figure charged out defiantly!

“How is that possible?” Huo Liaoyuan cried out in disbelief.

Lu Yiye wasn't dead!

How could he not be dead!

That was the Scorched Earth Burial, one of his trump cards!

This was simply a nightmare...

What made Huo Liaoyuan even more incredulous was that Lu Ye was not only not dead, but wasn't even seriously injured. Though he looked utterly disheveled, his clothes tattered and torn, exposing skin in many places, the exposed flesh showed no trace of being burned by flames!

His injuries were still the ones he had sustained earlier. It was as if his Scorched Earth Burial had merely tickled him...

Naturally, a spell of such immense power didn't merely tickle Lu Ye.

Although he had activated the power of his Talent Tree at a critical moment, isolating himself from the flames' damage, the impacts from the repeated explosions were not something the Talent Tree's power could block.

Outwardly, he appeared unaffected, but internally, his organs were already displaced. Blood surged backward in his throat, which he forcefully suppressed. Every inch of his skin screamed in pain as he burst forth from the flames, carrying boundless killing intent, and lunged directly at Huo Liaoyuan.

After a brief moment of shock and horror, Huo Liaoyuan finally reacted. He hastily scrambled to his feet, raising his hand to unleash several spells towards Lu Ye.

However, their distance had now closed to just fifty zhang! This was the closest Lu Ye had been to Huo Liaoyuan since entering the Deathmatch Arena, and the gap was still shrinking.

The weapon box at his waist hummed, and nine streaks of light shot out in quick succession, meeting Huo Liaoyuan’s spells like shooting stars.

Huo Liaoyuan was greatly drained and mentally exhausted. Though the spells he unleashed in haste were still formidable, they were far from their peak power.

Several explosions echoed, and the incoming spells burst simultaneously, scattering sparks everywhere.

“Argh! Argh! Argh! Argh!” Huo Liaoyuan cried out, whether from fright or to empower himself; with each cry, a spell flared.

However, at this short distance, Lu Ye controlled his artifacts as if they were extensions of his limbs. Huo Liaoyuan's spells often burst immediately upon release, and Lu Ye even had enough energy to control half of his artifacts to attack Huo Liaoyuan.

The artifacts struck, but they were blocked by Huo Liaoyuan's protective spiritual light, unable to harm him in the slightest, yet they still caused his stance to falter.

Thirty zhang, twenty zhang, ten zhang...

Lu Ye leaped high, using his artifacts to clear any obstacles ahead. His Mountain-Shattering Saber burst into flames, and his right arm, gripping the saber, swelled slightly at that instant.

Like a ravenous wolf pouncing on its prey, Huo Liaoyuan, despite being a higher-cultivation realm, visibly panicked at this moment. He naturally knew the consequences of a spell cultivator like himself being cornered by a blade cultivator, especially one like Lu Ye. Though only in the Fifth Realm, in Huo Liaoyuan's judgment, Lu Ye was no less formidable than an Eighth-Realm cultivator.

The difference of one realm in cultivation wasn't as exaggerated as imagined. He had once been cornered by a junior brother named Mingzhe in a spirit land and had to expend significant effort to shake him off, and that was when he was at his peak...

In his panic, he stumbled backward, all the while not forgetting to cast spells.

It must be said, his mastery of spells was indeed impressive. Even in such a situation, casting spells had become an instinct.

Three fiery arrows shot forth in a triangular formation, but they were all shattered by Lu Ye's artifacts. Then, a saber strike, prepared for a long time, crashed down with tremendous force.

A flash!

The instant the long saber descended, Huo Liaoyuan's protective spiritual light also burst forth with an even more dazzling brilliance, clearly indicating he had channeled more spiritual power to defend himself.

Boom...

A loud crash echoed, and spiritual energy surged.

As Lu Ye's arm went numb, Huo Liaoyuan himself was sent flying. His protective spiritual light had not dissipated, meaning Lu Ye's strike hadn't taken his life, but the terrifying force contained within that strike had all been absorbed by Huo Liaoyuan.

Just as Lu Ye's activated Talent Tree couldn't block the damage from the impacts, Huo Liaoyuan's protective spiritual light likewise couldn't withstand such a forceful blow.

However, Lu Ye could feel that the instant his long saber struck, the opponent's protective spiritual light seemed to indent elastically.

This should be able to dissipate some of the force.

Lu Ye had heard that protective spiritual energy comes in two types: rigid and elastic.

Rigid, so-called, is like an unyielding barrier; as long as the barrier isn't broken, the cultivator remains unharmed.

Elastic, however, is different. This type of protective spiritual energy will indent under force, dissipating some of the impact. Both types have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on the cultivator's choice. However, transforming protective spiritual energy into an elastic form requires extremely strong control over one's own spiritual power and extensive practice; not all cultivators can achieve it.

Generally, no more than two percent of cultivators at the Cloud River Realm can achieve this.

Lu Ye hadn't researched protective spiritual energy much. When facing enemies and needing defense, he would activate his Imperial Guard Spirit Mark, which offered far greater protection than simple protective spiritual energy.

Huo Liaoyuan's control over his spiritual energy was undoubtedly impressive, which is why he could deploy such elastic protective spiritual energy. Otherwise, the impact he sustained just now would have been at least thirty percent greater.

Even so, suspended in mid-air, Huo Liaoyuan still coughed up a mouthful of blood mist.

Even as a Ninth-Realm spell cultivator, it couldn't change the fact of his fragile physique, relatively speaking, of course... Enduring such a sudden, immense impact, he felt as if his bones were about to shatter, his insides churned, and his vision blurred.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lu Ye, like a shadow, relentlessly charging towards him. Before he could even land, another saber strike descended.

With this strike, Huo Liaoyuan's body sank, plummeting downwards. At the same time, Lu Ye delivered a kick, sending Huo Liaoyuan spinning and flying twenty to thirty zhang, directly slamming into the forbidden barrier of the Deathmatch Arena.

He landed in a disheveled heap, Huo Liaoyuan howling in pain, his eyes filled with terror and panic.

Before today, if anyone had told him he would be beaten like a dog by a Fifth-Realm blade cultivator, he would surely have scoffed.

But at this very moment, he was truly experiencing such an absurd reality.

Everything had been under control. He could have killed Lu Yiye, washed away yesterday's disgrace, atoned for his mistakes, and gained inexhaustible wealth for a lifetime. How did it come to this?

“Ugh...”

The sound of spitting blood came from nearby. Huo Liaoyuan endured the searing pain throughout his body, forcing himself to stand again. His blurred vision focused, and he saw Lu Ye, propped on his long saber, kneeling on the ground, with a pool of crimson blood before him.

This sight made Huo Liaoyuan’s eyes light up.

So he was injured too!

So he wasn't as imposing as he seemed!

From a powerful figure completely in control of the situation to one now ridden with anxiety and uncertainty, even feeling joy at his opponent spitting blood and being injured, Huo Liaoyuan didn't even realize his mindset had changed.

Lu Ye felt terrible. He had originally intended to kill Huo Liaoyuan in one go, but his overly forceful movements aggravated his internal injuries, forcing him to halt his pursuit.

Spitting out the congested blood, he finally felt a little better.

He looked up, and Huo Liaoyuan was also looking his way, his gaze fierce, spiritual energy surging around his body.

Without any exchange, both moved almost simultaneously. Lu Ye, as always, used his artifacts to clear a path, lunging forward, while Huo Liaoyuan effortlessly conjured a variety of spells.

But momentum is like certain things: once it weakens, it's weak. It cannot be regained, no matter what.

Even with a four-minor-realm difference in their cultivation, Huo Liaoyuan's numerous spells were blocked by Lu Ye's artifacts, and the distance between them rapidly closed once more.

Huo Liaoyuan's forced composure gave way to panic. Just as Lu Ye closed in to within three zhang, an overwhelming, uncontrollable wave of spiritual energy erupted, sweeping outwards with a roar.

Lu Ye felt as if a wall had crashed directly into him, and his body was uncontrollably pushed away.

It was a spell cultivator's life-saving technique. Lu Ye didn't know its name, but almost every spell cultivator he had encountered had practiced this spell. Once cast, it could push away everything nearby.

Spell cultivators feared being cornered by enemies the most, and this spell undoubtedly saved their lives on many occasions.

If they were in the wilderness, Huo Liaoyuan could have used this opportunity to escape. But this was the Deathmatch Arena he had created, a space only three hundred zhang in length and width. Where could he possibly run?

Pushing Lu Ye away was merely delaying the inevitable.

After only three brief breaths, Lu Ye once again closed in, skillfully evading several spell attacks while his Mountain-Shattering Saber flashed with dazzling light.

Like a tattered sack, Huo Liaoyuan was sent flying again under the immense impact. The protective spiritual light covering his body had noticeably dimmed.

Suspended in mid-air, he smelled the scent of death. He had encountered this scent once before, back in the Spirit Stream Realm, when a senior brother's protection and rescue had averted disaster.

He remembered that feeling vividly.

But now he was alone, and the senior brother who had once saved him had been dead for several years...

He knew that the moment Lu Yiye broke through his blockade and charged close, he had already lost.

Time seemed to slow considerably at this instant. Various chaotic thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind. Suspended in mid-air, Huo Liaoyuan twisted his head to look towards the source of the danger, seeing Lu Ye rapidly closing in. The immense pressure made him almost unable to breathe. (To be continued)

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