Chapter 36: A Willing Participant

Zhao Qingteng remained at a distance, merely holding his Glacier Sword upright. He nodded slightly and murmured, "Starlight!"

"Whoosh—"

The snowflakes on the ground swirled instantly, abruptly lifted, and then shattered into sword energy.

Zhao Qingteng's sword strike seemed to tear open the River of Stars, cutting out from the abundant snowflakes.

The sword on Xiao Qixiu's back trembled, and the referee's eyes widened in surprise.

Post-natal Sword Intent!

It was actually Post-natal Sword Intent!

First, there was Zhou Tianshen's Post-natal Blade Intent, and now Zhao Qingteng had Post-natal Sword Intent. Was Xu Xiaoshou a treasure chest key, capable of revealing anyone's trump card just by facing them?

In the audience, Zhou Tianshen clutched his blade, his gaze filled with worry. It was Sword Intent! Under such Sword Intent, how could Xu Xiaoshou, encased in ice, possibly resist? Could Xu Xiaoshou, who had decisively defeated him, be taken down by Zhao Qingteng in just three moves? Then wouldn't he be... He vigorously rubbed his head, unable to sit still.

On the other side, Mu Zixi, gripping her twin ponytails, stood on a chair in the waiting area, craning her neck to see what abilities Xu Xiaoshou, who disdained to greet her, truly possessed. Only to find that the match began with an ice sculpture.

Elder Qiao sat quietly in the audience. This was the second match he had come to watch Xu Xiaoshou, and it was also the second time he felt he might need to go console Xu Xiaoshou after the match.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, everyone seemed to witness the Starlight Sword Energy cleaving its target in two. As the sword energy flashed, the ice sculpture instantly exploded. However, to everyone's astonishment, it wasn't cut apart but shattered from the inside out, revealing a hand emerging from within.

Zhao Qingteng's eyes narrowed. A hand?

This hand glowed with a transparent luster, appearing like sentient flesh and blood, a perfected precious body. It clenched fiercely at the incoming sword energy. The audience was shocked. A clenched fist?!

"Clang—"

Amidst an extremely piercing screech, Xu Xiaoshou leaped out from the ice sculpture like a spiritual monkey emerging from its shell. With a backflip, he threw the Starlight Sword Energy back!

"Holy crap!"

Zhou Tianshen's eyes, watching from outside the arena, nearly popped out. This scene seemed familiar! Previously, his "Immortal Mountain-Pulling Style" had been deflected by Xu Xiaoshou with a single sword move, leading to his defeat. He hadn't expected that after just one day, this guy wouldn't even need a sword anymore. Deflecting sword energy bare-handed? "Are you kidding me?"

Xu Xiaoshou knelt on one knee, his body trembling, slowly exhaling cold air.

*Drifting White Clouds Two: Deflecting Sword Style!*

Indeed, this was the sword intent attack method he had comprehended yesterday during his battle with Zhou Tianshen, only now Xu Xiaoshou was using it with his "Light of Sharpness." The transparent glow coalescing on his hands to form hand blades had a sharpness almost comparable to "Hidden Suffering."

As heavy snow fell, everyone remained dumbfounded. If he had used a sword, it would have been acceptable, but Xu Xiaoshou deflecting sword energy bare-handed truly dropped everyone's jaws. Even Zhao Qingteng couldn't react for a moment.

With a whoosh, a sword strike passed, and Zhao Qingteng barely dodged. The Starlight Sword Energy slammed into the barrier, creating ripples that almost tore it apart.

"Terrifying!"

Everyone was stunned, unable to believe that Xu Xiaoshou could grasp such a fierce sword strike. At the same time, their evaluation of innate physical bodies collectively rose a notch.

Xu Xiaoshou's face was frosted, his lips purple, clearly severely frozen, but the gash in his palm from the sword energy instantly sobered him up. The scorching power from his qi sea permeated, rapidly dispelling the cold. This was an unexpected bonus.

Strike while the iron is hot! Xu Xiaoshou didn't miss the chance to chain attacks. After throwing the sword energy back with a backhand, he immediately gripped "Hidden Suffering." Without a word, he leisurely drew out a sword strike, and sword intent instantly crushed forward.

*Drifting White Clouds One: Net Sword Style!*

Yes, the names of these two sword moves were conceived while he was frozen. As for the fighting style, even more so! Xu Xiaoshou was not just good at close combat.

Zhao Qingteng had just evaded his own Starlight Sword Energy when he saw the sword net approaching. He immediately unleashed his Glacier Sword, and the arena rang with clashing sounds.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

Several bloody marks appeared on Zhao Qingteng's white robe. It proved that Xu Xiaoshou's sword intent had become even stronger after several battles. Although Zhao Qingteng also possessed Post-natal Sword Intent, he simply couldn't withstand Xu Xiaoshou's dense attacks.

The next second, he gave up resisting. The sword net sliced through his body, and a Zhao Qingteng-brand ice sculpture reappeared, instantly shattering into pieces.

It appeared! This unknown substitution technique!

Xu Xiaoshou was already prepared. His "Perception" was constantly monitoring the movement of the snowflakes, and sure enough, he noticed a slight anomaly in the suspension of snowflakes in one spot. This was it!

The audience watched in surprise as Xu Xiaoshou slapped the air to his side, so anxious they were about to curse. The next moment, Zhao Qingteng emerged right where Xu Xiaoshou's palm struck!

"Holy crap!"

In that instant, everyone's minds were blown. What was going on? Xu Xiaoshou hitting Zhao Qingteng—one willing to strike, one willing to take it?

Zhao Qingteng's expression changed. He instantly realized that this guy, with just a single probing move, had deciphered his "Snow Walk" technique. This combat insight was truly terrifying! Caught off guard, he couldn't even raise his Glacier Sword and could only respond with a palm strike of his own.

Xu Xiaoshou immediately chuckled. His right hand curved, "Light of Sharpness" swirling around it. The palm strike instantly transformed into an eagle claw, fiercely thrusting into Zhao Qingteng's relatively tender palm.

"Splurt!"

Blood splattered. Zhao Qingteng had timely condensed an ice mirror at the point of contact to block, but how could innate "sharpness" be ordinary? The eagle claw directly shattered the ice mirror, leaving five bloody holes in his palm!

Xu Xiaoshou finally understood the difference between a palm strike and a claw strike. If he had torn diagonally after this "Nine Yin Bone Claw" move, Zhao Qingteng would probably have been left with only the shortest one of his five fingers at most.

He had shown mercy, only thinking about it, not implementing it. Even so, Zhao Qingteng's face twisted in pain, and his body instantly vanished. This time, he didn't dare to be arrogant and directly widened the distance as much as possible. Xu Xiaoshou naturally couldn't keep up.

"These snowflakes really are problematic..." Xu Xiaoshou chuckled, turning to Xiao Qixiu, "I told you he was cheating, and you still didn't believe me? If it were me, I'd immediately declare him the loser."

Xiao Qixiu pursed his lips but remained noncommittal.

The audience was astonished. The first drop of blood Zhao Qingteng had shed since the "Wind and Cloud Battle" began was actually drawn by Xu Xiaoshou—this was something no one had anticipated.

"So Zhao Qingteng's instantaneous movement technique really relies on moving through snowflakes, just as Xu Xiaoshou said?"

Everyone's expressions became strange. If that were true, Zhao Qingteng truly was cheating. If the pre-match snowfall was merely to enhance his demeanor, no one would naturally find it inappropriate; some might even envy the skill. But if it were linked to certain moves that require charging up or subtle activation, such a practice would indeed be rather disreputable.

At this point, some people were already switching sides. Clearly, Zhao Qingteng's actions had made them uncomfortable.

"Go, Xu Xiaoshou! I knew you were the best!""Xu Xiaoshou, defeat Zhao Qingteng, and I'll have your babies!""Xu Xiaoshou, ahhh, you're so handsome!"

Zhou Tianshen looked over in shock. Only by watching from outside the arena did he realize how fervent the audience could be.