Chapter 96: We Were Too Short-Sighted
The whole island erupted. The moment they saw Summer Nine-Profound’s spear intent and sword intent, the desolate isle seemed to surge with heat. Merely witnessing that formidable bearing was enough to set one’s blood aflame.
High above, the eighteen elders of the secluded sects were equally astonished.
This Summer Nine-Profound was truly beyond all expectation.
“I misjudged him. I never imagined this boy could be so capable!”
“By the looks of it, our own vision was too narrow.”
“Yes. This youngster has utterly broken the mold. He is impossible to fathom.”
Only then did the elders finally understand that Summer Nine-Profound had not been breaking the rules earlier at all. His ability had simply surpassed the rules of the competition by a wide margin.
“An absolute freakish genius!” one elder said, casting Summer Nine-Profound an admiring glance.
“I understand now!”
At that moment, another elder cried out in sudden realization.
Elder Everpeak, what have you understood? Why are you so agitated?
The others all turned to look at the somewhat excited elder.
Standing on the back of a ferocious beast, the elder said slowly, “Look at Summer Nine-Profound. His physique is ordinary, and his cultivation is low. So why can he instantly refine spirit crystals? How can he comprehend high-grade techniques? And beyond that, why can Xu Rainbow’s spirit artifact cauldron not even simulate his soul projection? Think carefully. What does this all mean?”
The other elders fell into deep thought.
In the next instant, several pairs of eyes lit up, and almost in unison they said, “Could it be... he is an aberrant soul bearer?”
In this world, there were anomalous physiques, and there were also anomalous souls.
Yet in the minds of these elders, they had never once encountered an aberrant soul bearer before.
From the clues they had seen earlier, they were now almost certain that Summer Nine-Profound was the legendary aberrant soul bearer.
An exceptionally rare and immensely powerful aberrant soul.
“We were muddleheaded. Truly muddleheaded! How did we not think of this sooner? We nearly extinguished a genius with an aberrant soul!”
“This cannot be blamed entirely on us. Aberrant soul bearers have never even appeared within our secluded sects. Who could have imagined encountering one on the mortal martial plain?”
“Now this is troublesome. We misunderstood him earlier and put him under considerable pressure. I fear he may resent our sects. It will likely be difficult to draw him in now.”
“Hmph. Blame that brute Wu Vast Sky. Otherwise, with our status, we would not have made things difficult for a mere youngster. When the time comes, we must give Summer Nine-Profound an explanation.”
“It seems that is the only way. Enough for now. Let us first see how he performs with spear and sword together, and whether he has even a thirty percent chance against Body-Weapon Transformation.”
...
The eighteen elders looked down, all focused on Summer Nine-Profound’s performance.
On the battle platform, Mo Eternal Sword sneered again and again as he felt the spear intent and sword intent. “You little bastard, you don’t even know that my Body-Weapon Transformation naturally suppresses you!”
Indeed, the might of Body-Weapon Transformation lay in its ability to suppress all cultivation paths that relied on weapons.
But its weakness was just as obvious: it feared legal cultivators far more than ordinary practitioners.
For instance, a cultivator of fire elemental power would inflict extra damage upon him.
A cultivator of ice elemental power would slow his movements even more.
A formation cultivator could easily trap him.
And so on. All such methods could exert additional suppression upon him.
“Get down on your knees!”
Thud, thud, thud!
Mo Eternal Sword did not charge forward with extreme speed. Instead, he advanced step by step, moving like a towering mountain of metal.
With every step, the entire island trembled.
“Clownish fool!”
Summer Nine-Profound moved. The spear shadows and sword intent coiling around him shot out at bizarre angles.
Clang, clang, clang...
Sparks flashed. The spear shadows and sword intent kept crashing against Mo Eternal Sword’s body.
Yet his physical defense was astonishingly high. Summer Nine-Profound’s spear and sword intent could not inflict even the slightest wound, and were repeatedly rebounded.
“You ignorant insect. Did you think I would not know that my defensive form is invincible?”
Thud, thud, thud!
Enduring Summer Nine-Profound’s assault, Mo Eternal Sword quickened his pace, and in an instant he had reached him.
Whoosh!
The sword formed from his arm slashed down at high speed, colliding with the Dragon Scale Spear in Summer Nine-Profound’s hand.
Boom, boom, boom...
The explosive crashes came one after another.
Waves of energy radiated outward, sending most of those below the platform staggering back.
“He’s lost. Summer Nine-Profound is definitely going to lose.”
“Yes. Mo Eternal Sword’s technique is too monstrous. He has already become invincible; defeating Summer Nine-Profound is only a matter of time.”
On another side below the platform, Endwood Grace and Shepherd Wind were also staring unblinkingly at the duel.
“Miss Endwood, Senior Brother Summer... he... he is doomed to lose,” Shepherd Wind said with a bitter shake of his head. To him, Mo Eternal Sword at that moment seemed nothing less than invincible.
“What?” Endwood Grace gave him an eye-roll. “You’re underestimating him too much. He must still have other tricks.”
“What tricks? He can’t even break through the defense. No trick will matter,” Shepherd Wind said.
“Shut up. What do you know?” Endwood Grace snapped coolly, and Shepherd Wind did not dare speak further.
On the battle platform, Summer Nine-Profound and Mo Eternal Sword had already exchanged more than a hundred blows.
From the current situation, Summer Nine-Profound had been forced back several times. No matter how he attacked, Mo Eternal Sword simply ignored it, while every strike from Mo Eternal Sword had to be met head-on.
Thus, in the eyes of the crowd, the superiority was obvious.
“You tell me, what do you have that can fight me?”
Mo Eternal Sword was now extremely pleased with himself. He pressed step by step, chasing Summer Nine-Profound relentlessly.
Burst, burst, burst!
At that moment, blood flames ignited over Summer Nine-Profound’s body as twenty successive bursts of beast blood erupted within him.
For a low-grade technique like this, Summer Nine-Profound could have advanced it to a hundred layers if he wished, so long as his body and cultivation could bear it.
With twenty layers of blood essence detonating in succession, his battle power soared dramatically.
“Kill!”
Summer Nine-Profound lifted the Dragon Scale Spear and shot forward like a black streak.
The long spear landed precisely against Mo Eternal Sword’s forehead.
Then Summer Nine-Profound channeled all his true power and slammed the tail of the spear with a fierce palm strike.
A torrent of sparks burst from Mo Eternal Sword’s forehead.
“Agh!”
Mo Eternal Sword cried out in pain, his body hurled backward.
Thud, thud, thud...
After landing, he crushed the ground beneath his feet into rubble, retreating several dozen yards before finally regaining his balance.
“Summer Nine-Profound is this ferocious?”
“My heavens, is he a beast-blood physique too? How did we not see it before?”
“His blood essence is far denser than that fellow with the giant ape bloodline!”
“Did Mo Eternal Sword lose? Quick, look! Has he lost or not?”
Everyone was shaken to the core.
This single strike from Summer Nine-Profound felt as though it could directly kill a fifth-level Beyond-Mortality expert.
Even a sixth-level expert who dared to receive it head-on might be injured.
It was simply power beyond comprehension.
One must know that, by everyone’s perception, Summer Nine-Profound was only at the second level of Spirit-Sealing.
It was as though an infant had punched a thousand-pound strongman to pieces. How could one not be stunned?
“Excellent!”
Even the elders of the secluded sects high above instinctively cried out in praise.
“Unthinkable, utterly unthinkable. Summer Nine-Profound is this formidable!”
“If they were at the same cultivation level and did not use spiritual power, then among our eighteen sects, I doubt anyone could defeat Summer Nine-Profound.”
“Perhaps Ye Rain-Soft of the Spirit Sword Pavilion could fight him at equal cultivation.”
“Yes, yes. How could we forget the heavenly daughter of the Spirit Sword Pavilion? Even without using spiritual power, I fear Summer Nine-Profound could not withstand a single move from her.”
“All right, everyone, let us see what other methods Mo Eternal Sword still has.”
The elders discussed excitedly, all of them eagerly anticipating Summer Nine-Profound’s next display.