Chapter 1659: Magic Blade

Exclamations erupted on the Golden Summit. Although it wasn't the first time they had seen it, its reappearance was still visually stunning.

Humanity's reverence for colossal objects can be traced back to ancient cave paintings.

Only Wan Guiyi's face was grim. He had been defeated by this very staff before, and though he was injured at the time, a loss was still a loss.

He was now very curious to see how Peng Wuyan planned to counter Wu Xiaofan's terrifying staff.

At that moment, Wu Xiaofan moved, swinging the massive staff directly downwards. A terrifying surge of elemental energy radiated, even causing space to distort around its tip.

Qiu Honglei naturally dared not meet it head-on, so she swiftly moved, leaving an afterimage as she dodged to the side.

The force of that single strike caused spiderweb-like cracks to spread across the entire arena floor.

Feng Wuchang of Guanshin Peak wiped cold sweat from his brow. Fortunately, he had specifically asked the Sect Master to reinforce the sealing barrier this time, otherwise, that blow would have shattered the arena.

Seeing Peng Wuyan dodge to the side, Wu Xiaofan immediately swept the large staff horizontally. The entire arena was almost completely covered, with staff shadows everywhere, giving her no escape.

Many spectators' hearts were in their throats; if struck by that monstrous staff, the person would surely be reduced to a bloody pulp.

Although Peng Wuyan was unattractive and fought fiercely, which made her disliked, her actions weren't unforgivable enough to warrant death.

Just then, gasps of admiration arose. Peng Wuyan had twisted her body and directly stepped onto the massive staff.

With a light touch of her toes, she moved straight along the staff's length, charging directly towards Wu Xiaofan.

"Brilliant!" Wan Guiyi exclaimed, clapping his hands in praise. She was indeed the powerful woman he admired; her adaptability was truly unparalleled.

Wu Xiaofan's staff was indeed formidable; as the saying goes, "an inch longer, an inch stronger." However, it also had a disadvantage: its power increased with distance, but the closer the opponent, the harder it was to wield effectively.

If Peng Wuyan could close the distance, the staff's power would be halved.

Many others also realized this, and now it was the Zhengyang Sect disciples who felt their hearts tighten with anxiety.

Though surprised, Wu Xiaofan remained calm. The large staff in his hand suddenly shrank, transforming back into its miniature toothpick form.

Peng Wuyan's feet found no purchase, and she nearly lost her balance.

At that moment, the opponent's toothpick had already transformed into a streak of light, rushing towards her.

She blocked with her twin blades, while Wu Xiaofan seized the opportunity to create distance between them once more.

"This Wu Xiaofan truly has some skill," commented Zhao Xiaodie of Lihantian. Earlier, when she saw Peng Wuyan closing in, she wondered how Wu Xiaofan would resolve such a grave crisis, but he had diffused it so simply.

"He is indeed formidable, but Peng Wuyan seems even stronger than expected," Zhi Yin said, frowning as she watched Peng Wuyan. "How did all the women from the Daoist sects become so powerful in this competition?"

She wondered who was stronger between the formidable woman named Peng and herself.

On the arena, Wu Xiaofan cautiously watched Qiu Honglei. Although he had just averted a perilous situation, he had also broken out in a cold sweat. He dared not attack again, instead controlling the staff to guard himself.

Seeing his defensive stance, Qiu Honglei showed some dissatisfaction: "You're a grown man not attacking, letting a weak woman like me make the move. What kind of hero are you?"

"Weak woman?" A chorus of jeers immediately erupted from the audience, who were clearly impressed by her fierce attacks.

On the arena, Zuan felt a sense of déjà vu. This woman truly gave him a familiar feeling, and her tone was even more so.

Wu Xiaofan on the platform remained unmoved: "I am injured, so I ask for your understanding, Junior Sister."

Seeing his unyielding stance, Qiu Honglei was helpless. However, she couldn't let time simply run out. She snorted and directly attacked, wielding her twin blades.

Although she had a graceful appearance, her background in the Demonic Sect made her fighting style fiery and direct.

Her twin blades touched lightly, emitting a clear clang. Her aura suddenly soared, engulfing the entire arena in her power, and the light around her seemed to distort.

Disciples from various sects were astonished, and even the chief disciples involuntarily straightened their postures. It seemed this woman had been holding back her strength earlier.

The Sect Masters from various factions fixated on her twin blades. These two short knives had appeared ordinary before, but now they seemed quite unusual.

Wu Xiaofan's expression changed, and he naturally dared not be slow to react.

The large staff was too cumbersome to handle. He immediately shrank it to the size of a Ruyi Jingu Bang, then plunged it into the ground, directly prying up an entire section of the floor and sending it hurtling towards his opponent.

He himself wielded the long staff with immense force, moving to meet his opponent.

Feng Wuchang no longer had time to lament the arena's damage; he was more concerned with the outcome of this match.

After all, Wu Xiaofan belonged to the Zhengyang Sect.

"This Wu Xiaofan can still unleash such potent elemental energy despite his severe injuries!" Lou Wucheng's eyes glinted, and a sense of crisis welled up within him.

He could claim his previous loss to Shi Dingtian was due to carelessness, but it was clear that against either Peng Wuyan or Wu Xiaofan, his chances of losing far outweighed his chances of winning.

Qiu Honglei's expression turned serious. Crossing her twin blades, she unleashed an 'X'-shaped energy blade.

The arena floor, reinforced by special formations, was supposedly incredibly hard, yet before this energy blade, it seemed like paper, instantly cut into several sections.

The energy blade then continued its trajectory unabated, directly meeting the fierce gale from Wu Xiaofan's staff.

With a deafening boom, the entire arena shook violently, and the surrounding barrier flickered wildly.

The fragments of the floor that had been cut earlier were pulverized into dust by the aftermath of their combined attacks.

The audience below was stunned. Could such power truly be generated by a battle between two disciples?

If not for the barrier's protection, the residual shockwaves alone could have injured and incapacitated a large number of people.

At this point, Qiu Honglei transformed into a phantom, moving around and attacking from all directions.

Wu Xiaofan, however, stood his ground, his staff whirling like wind, always managing to parry his opponent's tricky assaults.

Wan Guiyi watched with immense admiration. He had previously thought Wu Xiaofan had relied unfairly on the staff's absolute defense during their match, but now he realized Wu Xiaofan's staff techniques were also remarkably intricate.

What was even more impressive was that each of his strikes was incredibly powerful, yet he wielded them with remarkable ease.

However, this was not without cost. He remained largely stationary, indicating that he couldn't combine the heavy staff with nimble footwork.

Qiu Honglei naturally noticed this quickly. After one clash, she spread her arms wide, retreating backward in an 'X' formation.

Many disciples below the arena looked on with confusion. She had just managed to close the distance, so why was she now moving away?

Wu Xiaofan also watched her, puzzled. Qiu Honglei smiled, then her two short blades floated before her.

Immediately, two became four, four became eight…

Soon, the sky was filled with the silhouettes of short blades. Qiu Honglei casually pointed, and the blades whistled as they shot towards her opponent.

"Isn't this futile? He's protected by that large staff; what good are these long-range attacks?" Cai Yu, a disciple of Lihantian, couldn't help but murmur.

Zhi Yin snorted, "What do you know? She's trying to force Wu Xiaofan into a head-on clash, a contest of elemental energy."

On the other side, Wan Guiyi couldn't help but nod subtly. She was indeed the woman he favored, so quick to realize that Wu Xiaofan's activation of the staff also consumed elemental energy, and with his injuries, he certainly couldn't sustain it for long.

As expected, Wu Xiaofan's brows furrowed. He had no choice but to instantly enlarge the staff, blocking the countless flying blades.

His body trembled slightly, and elemental energy surged within him. However, he disregarded this, looking cautiously into the air: "Where is she?"

The next second, an alarm blared in his mind as a powerful killing intent struck him from behind and to the side.

"So that last move was a feint, but when did she get to my side?" Wu Xiaofan had no time to think, pushing his elemental energy to its limit, even abandoning his composure to awkwardly dodge sideways.

Despite this, although he avoided a vital spot on his neck, he was still stabbed in the ribs by her short blade.

"Ah!"

The Zhengyang Sect members were horrified. Such a blow would surely inflict severe injury, if not death.

Disciples from other factions also wore complex expressions. They hadn't expected Wu Xiaofan, widely considered the top contender before the match, to be defeated, and by an opponent who was previously unknown.

However, Qiu Honglei's face showed no trace of joy. She felt her blade hadn't penetrated flesh, but rather struck an extremely tough object.

At that moment, Wu Xiaofan roared and swung his long staff.

Even though Qiu Honglei tried her best to dodge, her arm was grazed, and half of her body nearly went numb.

She flashed several yards away, her eyes fixed on his chest.

Due to the previous impact of the short blade, his outer garment had been shredded by the blade energy, revealing a soft, yellow-green armor beneath.

"The Zhengyang Sect's Green Scale Armor!" The Sect Masters on the high platform all looked at Wang Wuxie in shock. They hadn't expected him to bestow such a treasure upon his disciple.

The Green Scale Armor was a Heaven-tier defensive artifact, capable of withstanding the power of Heaven-tier weapons and even reducing damage from Immortal-tier weapons to some extent.

It was rumored that Wang Wuxie himself had always worn it.

Wu Xiaofan was already powerful, and with this treasured armor, he was virtually invincible. What was the point of fighting then?

Sensing the dissatisfaction of the others, Wang Wuxie felt a bit awkward: "Previously, I didn't give him this item to prevent him from becoming reliant on it. However, he was severely injured yesterday and couldn't recover quickly, so I gave it to him for self-defense."

Only then did the others feel slightly relieved. No wonder Wan Guiyi had been able to injure him yesterday; it seemed Wang still had some integrity.

Given his severe injuries, providing him with this item was somewhat justifiable.

It was a pity for the girl from Kongming Island; her tactics just now were truly brilliant. Without this treasured armor, she probably would have won.

They all looked towards Elder Peng of Kongming Island, expecting her to unleash her fury on Wang Wuxie.

To their surprise, her expression remained calm, only a cold smile playing on her lips.

"Does she have another trump card?" Everyone was startled.

On the arena, Wu Xiaofan spoke with some apology: "Wearing this treasured armor today feels a bit unfair; I hope Junior Sister doesn't take offense."

Qiu Honglei sneered, "Who said you've won?"

Wu Xiaofan sighed, "Your attacks can't break through my defense."

After their recent exchange, he had roughly gauged the upper limit of her attacks.

His own strength, combined with the protection of the treasured armor, truly made him invincible.

Qiu Honglei didn't reply to him, her expression grim. In this match, especially in front of those other women, she couldn't afford to lose.

She then brought the hilts of her twin blades together with a backhand motion. The two short blades seemed to be drawn to each other, instantly combining to form an S-shaped scimitar. From it emanated a terrifying wave of pressure, along with an overwhelming surge of killing intent that spread in all directions.

"This is…" The faces of the Sect Masters on the platform instantly changed.