Chapter 92: So He Was Strong!

Xia Jiuxuan sat down cross-legged and had no intention of leaving.

Since he could not pass through the hidden sects and reach the secret realm, he decided to go alone.

As long as he learned where the Heaven-Beyond Secret Realm was, he would have a chance to enter it.

Within the bronze cauldron, the soul projections of the participants were still locked in fierce combat.

After about fifteen minutes, several dozen people woke up.

They gathered together, chattering excitedly.

"Too terrifying. Damn it, what kind of monster was that woman? Her soul projection was actually wrapped in some mysterious sword energy."

"You were killed by her too? I never even got close before a terrifying sword intent shattered me. Bad luck!"

"Her soul projection has already surpassed the strength of her true body, hasn’t it? How could something like this happen? That must mean the artifact of that spiritual cultivator had a problem."

"It has to be that. Otherwise, how could her soul projection possess such terrifying power?"

"Sigh. We can only blame our bad luck."

These people had all been instantly slain in the cauldron by Duanmuwan’s projection.

They were deeply unconvinced and insisted that there was something wrong with the bronze cauldron of that violet-robed spiritual cultivator.

At that moment, a few geniuses who were especially displeased flew over to Xia Jiuxuan.

"Xia Jiuxuan, you’re so arrogant. Why were you kicked out so early?"

A young man grinned at him, all sly amusement.

"Get lost."

Xia Jiuxuan swept his gaze over them and saw the teasing look on their faces. He knew at once they had come looking for trouble.

"What a foul temper!"

Their expressions darkened at once.

"You’re just a worthless mortal body. Who are you trying to show off for?"

"Exactly..."

Whoosh.

Smack, smack, smack.

Xia Jiuxuan moved in a flash, his palm striking repeatedly across the young man’s mouth until blood streamed down his lips.

Since they had clearly come to make trouble, Xia Jiuxuan saw no reason to be polite.

"You filthy bastard, you’re asking for death!"

The few youths flew into a rage.

In any case, those of them who had been eliminated early were certainly not going to make the top ten, so they had no concern about disrupting order.

"Let this Grandpa Zhao teach you what strength is!"

The young man called Zhao Zifei roared and his battle intent erupted.

The body of a Vajra Demon Ape!

Many people flew over when they felt that overbearing surge of blood energy, and all were secretly startled.

They had not expected Zhao Zifei to be born with an exotic beast physique.

Once such a physique erupted in battle intent, his strength would at least double, and his physical defense would become terrifyingly strong.

Roar!

Zhao Zifei clenched his fist, and a phantom covered his knuckles, the claw of a giant ape.

Xia Jiuxuan struck back with a palm, colliding head-on with the fist.

Boom!

The entire barren island trembled.

Zhao Zifei’s fist shadow exploded, and his entire body was hurled backward at great speed.

"This!"

"He broke through Zhao Zifei’s tyrant body!"

"Not simple at all. What palm technique did he use?"

Everyone was astonished.

Roar, roar, roar!

The blasted-away Zhao Zifei erupted completely. Behind him appeared a blood-red phantom of a demon ape, ten zhang tall.

Savage light surged in his eyes as he leaped high into the air, crashing toward Xia Jiuxuan like a mountain.

Xia Jiuxuan’s gaze sharpened, and he drew out his black broken sword.

Clang!

The Blaze of Fire Sword Art split into sixteen phantom sword intents, all flying out with blood-red flames to kill.

For a moment, everyone stared at those wondrous sword shadows, completely stunned.

Boom, boom, boom...

The sword intents slammed into the giant ape phantom and drove it back step by step.

Only then did Zhao Zifei panic. He frantically hammered at the flaming swords with his fists, trying to smash the sword intents apart.

But he had not expected the force of those sword intents to exceed the defenses of his body.

With one punch, his own fist was shattered.

Blood-red flames ignited his arms.

"Ahhh!"

Zhao Zifei screamed in agony. His battle intent defense had also been broken, and the sword shadows were about to tear him into pieces.

"Young master!"

At that moment, a phantom palm struck out and shattered the Blaze of Fire sword shadows.

A gaunt old man flew out and caught Zhao Zifei.

That thin elder was Zhao Zifei’s guardian.

The people who had come to compete today were all individuals with some backing, and most of them had guardians protecting them.

They merely refrained from showing themselves out of deference to the face of the mighty hidden sects.

Zhao Zifei was heavily injured, his body covered in sword wounds and on the verge of death.

"You’ve gone too far!"

The gaunt old man flew over, his pair of cloudy old eyes fixed fiercely on Xia Jiuxuan.

Xia Jiuxuan laughed.

The other side had clearly come looking for trouble, yet he was the one being accused of going too far?

"Old thing, I advise you to take him and leave at once. If you dare to move against me, I will kill him first."

This gaunt old man was at the sixth level of the Mortal-Separation Realm.

With Xia Jiuxuan’s current strength, he could not kill the elder, but neither was the elder likely to kill him.

If they came to blows, Xia Jiuxuan would not hesitate to cut down Zhao Zifei first.

That was his confidence.

"You dare!"

The old man shouted, his aura already fully unleashed.

"Not convinced? Fine."

Sensing the old man’s killing intent laid bare, Xia Jiuxuan knew that a fight was unavoidable. He would strike first to seize the initiative.

Clang!

More than ten spear shadows burst forth and shot toward the old man’s vital points.

"You!"

The old man was shocked and immediately raised his defenses while retreating.

"Spear intent!"

"Xia Jiuxuan is actually a spear cultivator too!"

"How is that possible? He’s just a mortal body, yet he cultivates both spear and sword, and both are so formidable!"

"That old man is at least above the fifth level of the Mortal-Separation Realm, and he was still forced back. Xia Jiuxuan is far stronger than we imagined!"

Everyone felt Xia Jiuxuan’s spear intent and was thrown into alarm.

They had never dreamed Xia Jiuxuan’s battle strength would be so overwhelming.

Most of these so-called prodigies were only at the beginning of the Mortal-Separation Realm, and with the advantage of their physiques, they could hold their own against someone at the third level of the Mortal-Separation Realm.

But none of them would ever dare contend with experts at the fifth level or above.

Much less an elder like this, who as a guardian was certainly no ordinary man.

With such a comparison, everyone suddenly understood: Xia Jiuxuan was no trash with an ordinary physique at all; he was a heaven-defying monster.

"Huh? Did you sense it? Xia Jiuxuan’s realm..."

"He... he seems to be only at the second level of the Spirit-Sealing Realm!"

"What is going on? Could he have some method of concealing his cultivation?"

"Too bizarre! Spirit-Sealing Realm fighting Mortal-Separation Realm? Who could possibly do that?"

At first, everyone had ignored Xia Jiuxuan’s cultivation level.

Only when Xia Jiuxuan truly made his move did they sense it: he was not in the Mortal-Separation Realm at all, but only at the second level of the Spirit-Sealing Realm!

To fight high-level Mortal-Separation experts while only in the Spirit-Sealing Realm.

To them, that was utter fantasy.

Yet the facts lay before their eyes. Such a thing had truly happened.

"Utterly monstrous."

"Judging by this, perhaps Xia Jiuxuan was not intentionally causing trouble in the three rounds of competition."

"Indeed. He has real ability. We were the ones with too narrow a view."

"Sigh. We can’t really blame ourselves. Even the elders of the hidden sects misjudged him, let alone us."

The geniuses could only smile bitterly as they finally understood: the clown had been themselves all along.