Zuo Mingqiu struck first with a sword, its light cleaving the sky and instantly colliding with Zhao Qingdong's small red sword, producing a clear metallic clang.
"Clang!"
Zhao Qingdong met the blow with one hand, her paper-thin red blade sliding along Zuo Mingqiu's sword, sparks flying and burning small holes in their Taoist robes.
Zuo Mingqiu's expression remained unchanged. His sword trembled, ripples of unseen water spreading across its surface. The sliding red blade wavered, then veered off course.
Simultaneously, Zuo Mingqiu struck Zhao Qingdong's right shoulder with a palm, a blast of golden light piercing her robe and causing her bone to cave in.
Zhao Qingdong stumbled, nearly dropping her sword. But her reaction was swift. She adjusted her stance, endured the pain, and unleashed a crimson sea of blood with a backhanded slash. The surging blood elements invaded Zuo Mingqiu's body, transforming into frost that froze his meridians and every orifice.
In a thousandth of a second, Zuo Mingqiu's eyebrows twitched as he observed the sword energy erupting before him. A formation disc bloomed beneath his feet, and a fearsome bolt of lightning shot from his mouth.
"CRACKLE!"
The lightning roared, destroying the sword energy and shattering his own frozen state. Zuo Mingqiu clasped his hands, summoning a massive pangolin that erupted from the ground, its jaws snapping shut around Zhao Qingdong.
"CRUNCH!"
But the next instant, a thin red line appeared on the pangolin's scales. Zhao Qingdong's sword had cleaved it in two.
Her movements were blindingly fast. She unleashed four sword energies from as many directions, her sword intent like a cascading waterfall.
Zuo Mingqiu raised his sword, drawing a full circle around himself. He met Zhao Qingdong's four strikes head-on, while his formation disc spun beneath him, casting a dark, muddy swamp cage to his rear right.
Zhao Qingdong flashed behind Zuo Mingqiu, her sword poised. Seeing the cage approaching, she abruptly halted her momentum and unleashed a terrifying sword energy at Zuo Mingqiu. The elemental energy in the air ignited and surged, threatening to annihilate anything it touched.
"Got you."
Zuo Mingqiu's expression remained calm. A smile touched his lips. Though he hadn't fully grasped the Innate Eight Trigrams, his computational power had reached astonishing levels through his recent deductions. He had foreseen Zhao Qingdong dodging the swamp cage and striking him from the side.
Thus, before Zhao Qingdong's sword could strike, he had positioned himself in the "Dui" trigram and unleashed a water spell.
Zhao Qingdong's blade shattered a bubble.
Then, countless tiny bubbles materialized out of thin air, filling the hundred-meter space before expanding a hundredfold.
The space within a hundred-meter radius transformed into a water prison, with chains forged from water and swamp binding Zhao Qingdong's feet.
Her devastating sword strike was infinitely weakened by the water elements. Zuo Mingqiu easily dodged it and sprinted towards the edge of the water prison.
Zhao Qingdong let out a low growl, and the chains binding her feet snapped. The water within three feet of her body was violently repelled.
Her long hair whipped about, and formidable sword intent radiated from the small red sword. Like clouds burned crimson by the setting sun, thousands of shimmering sword energies shot forth, creating immense waves within the water prison. Eventually, the prison could no longer withstand the assault and collapsed.
Zhao Qingdong broke free, but the next moment, Zuo Mingqiu, who had been waiting outside, was ready with his next ability.
It was lightning again.
This time, Zuo Mingqiu stood in the "Zhen" trigram, harnessing the celestial lightning of the void. He had accumulated power for a long time, drawing a terrifying bolt from between the stars above.
"Descend."
Zuo Mingqiu uttered softly, and the lightning struck directly above Zhao Qingdong's head.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Qingdong, no matter how fast, could not escape the lightning's range. She could only hastily draw her sword to defend.
"CRACKLE!"
"It's over!"
Below the stage, Elder Lan Qi and other elders of Tianshi Mountain watched, their hearts sinking.
It was evident that Zuo Mingqiu's strength had mysteriously advanced. Both his speed and computational power far surpassed his previous level. Throughout the battle, Zhao Qingdong had been completely on the defensive, her every move falling precisely into Zuo Mingqiu's calculations.
And it was clear that this terrifying lightning strike was Zuo Mingqiu's killing move. Zhao Qingdong's attempt to block it would surely leave her either dead or severely injured.
A serious injury at the start of the fight meant Zhao Qingdong's defeat in this Taoist duel was all but assured.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Zuo Mingqiu's lightning did not strike Zhao Qingdong.
It wasn't because her sword was powerful enough to destroy the celestial lightning. It was because, at the moment of impact, Zhao Qingdong vanished.
She instantly reappeared before Zuo Mingqiu, her hasty sword thrust landing unimpeded in his chest.
"CLANG!"
The small red sword's power was immense. It struck the Great Vajra Talisman imprinted on Zuo Mingqiu's chest bone. While the attack and defense canceled each other out, the resulting force sent Zuo Mingqiu reeling backward dozens of steps, spitting blood.
"Spatial Great Dao?"
Zuo Mingqiu exclaimed in surprise. He then controlled a second bolt of celestial lightning to strike Zhao Qingdong, but the outcome was the same. She instantly disappeared and reappeared before him, sword thrusting out.
This time, Zuo Mingqiu was prepared. A dark, abyssal energy vortex appeared on his chest, seemingly containing infinite space. It swallowed Zhao Qingdong's fiery sword intent and returned it from above her head.
Zhao Qingdong raised an eyebrow and retracted her sword just in time, deflecting her own attack.
"CRACKLE!"
But in that instant, Zuo Mingqiu had already landed on the ground. The dissipated celestial lightning suddenly reformed with a roar, striking Zhao Qingdong's back.
"SPLISH!"
Zhao Qingdong's body vanished from her spot, but she was a moment too late. As she reappeared a hundred paces away, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
The terrifying celestial lightning had destroyed half of her Taoist robe, revealing glimpses of her fair skin, crisscrossed with blood.
"It's not the Spatial Great Dao, but the 'Shrinking Ground into Inches' technique of the Carefree Sect." Zuo Mingqiu's face showed a hint of understanding. He hadn't sensed the aura of a Great Dao when Zhao Qingdong moved, leading him to recall the Carefree Sect's technique.
"I've studied that technique as well. I just didn't expect you to wield it with such supernatural precision. It seems you've put in a lot of effort."
Zuo Mingqiu spoke with admiration, and simultaneously used the "Shrinking Ground into Inches" technique to appear five paces in front of Zhao Qingdong. Nine words boomed from his body.
"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Dou, Zhe, Lin, Bing!"
The Nine Character Mantra was sacred and ancient. A terrifying power instantly suppressed Zhao Qingdong's body, forcibly dissolving her "Shrinking Ground into Inches" technique.
Zhao Qingdong could not escape, so she had no choice but to face Zuo Mingqiu head-on.
"I'm truly sorry, I cannot hold back." Zuo Mingqiu said apologetically, looking at the girl before him, whose body was bleeding and injured.
At the same time, the nine characters around him erupted in supreme golden light, illuminating heaven and earth. A dreadful, enchanting melody resonated, shaking Zhao Qingdong's soul.
"Shut up! Do you think you've already won?" Zhao Qingdong gritted her teeth. Her body erupted with her strongest sword intent. The red hue of the world pushed back the golden light of the nine characters. She swung her sword at Zuo Mingqiu's face, her speed so great that even the soul could not perceive it.
This sword strike was terrifying, infused with the Great Dao of Slaughter, its killing power reaching the heavens. Even the elders in the fourth stage watching from the sidelines shivered instinctively, as if they saw their own domains being shattered by this strike.
Facing this sword, Zuo Mingqiu employed no other method. He instantly retracted the nine characters, shielding himself. As the golden light rotated, the nine characters simultaneously unleashed a torrent of terrifying energy, engulfing Zhao Qingdong and her sword.
"RUMBLEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
The indestructible Nine Character Mantra, its energy torrents cascading down, caused the heaven-shattering sword energy to crack inch by inch, followed by a terrifying explosion.
"THUD!"
Zhao Qingdong, holding her sword, was blasted hundreds of feet away, tumbling to the edge of the battle stage, severely wounded. Yet, she immediately rose and swung her sword at the empty air before her.
Zuo Mingqiu, appearing a step too late in front of Zhao Qingdong, blocked the strike with his sword. Simultaneously, he formed a hand seal, summoning a fierce hurricane to blow Zhao Qingdong off the stage.
"Damn it, I'm going to lose!"
Below the stage, countless people held their breath. Zhao Qingdong was cornered. If she took one more step back and fell off the stage, she would automatically be declared defeated, and the position of Celestial Master would belong to Zuo Mingqiu!
"You forced me!"
Facing Zuo Mingqiu's assault, Zhao Qingdong roared. Pure black blood streamed from her eyes. The small red sword instantly erupted with blood-black sword intent. A phantom descended upon the world, like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood from an ancient battlefield, instantly invading Zuo Mingqiu's soul.
With this strike, Zhao Qingdong sacrificed her heart's blood, forcibly merging two Great Daos: Death and Slaughter. She had not fully comprehended the Great Dao of Death, so the cost was her life.
She wielded her lifespan as a sword, intending to defeat Zuo Mingqiu.
But Zuo Mingqiu had long anticipated Zhao Qingdong's killing blow. Though he didn't know its specifics, he was prepared.
"Don't forget, I'm also a Formation Master and a Talisman Master."
In an instant, Zuo Mingqiu released countless talismans. Fierce lightning, spraying flames, shattering earth – these terrifying energy combinations halted the sword strike for a moment.
And in that very moment, the points Zuo Mingqiu had intentionally stepped on during the battle, the residual Dao Origin, instantly supported a great formation that enveloped him.
The formation, shaped like a turtle shell, radiated a thick, green-brown earthen light. Zuo Mingqiu sat cross-legged at its center. The nine characters reappeared around him, and the energy torrents clashed, once again neutralizing Zhao Qingdong's sword strike. A world-shattering backlash erupted, creating a vortex that swept the entire arena, and the Great Dao battle stage roared.
"THUD!"
Zuo Mingqiu was repelled eight hundred paces, spitting blood as he landed in the center of the stage.
"Where is Zhao Qingdong!"
Below the stage, countless people anxiously stared at the battleground. The collision of this blow was too intense. Zuo Mingqiu had been pushed so far back, and Zhao Qingdong surely couldn't have remained standing at the edge. However, no one saw her flying out of the stage.
Thus, the crowd silently swallowed.
"Could it be... Miss Qingdong has turned to dust?" Elder Lan Qi murmured in despair. This seemed to be the most likely possibility, yet he could not accept it.
"No, Miss Qingdong is still on the stage!"
Suddenly, a surprised voice rang out. Elder Lan Qi's eyes gleamed as he looked back at the stage.
At the edge of the Great Dao battle stage, a human-shaped cocoon of blood now stood, woven from the convergence of the Great Dao and rooted beneath the stage, enclosing Zhao Qingdong.
Zuo Mingqiu's pupils contracted. He recognized it instantly: the Blood Cocoon technique. It stole the creation of heaven and earth, forming a cocoon with one's own blood. After breaking free, one would become a ghost that devoured vital essence, but their strength would greatly increase.
But the biggest problem was...
The Blood Cocoon technique was forbidden. Compared to the three thousand Taoist methods, it was more akin to demonic art, or perhaps it was created by a former Taoist cultivator who had fallen into demonic ways. Later generations were forbidden from practicing it.
"I truly didn't expect you to go this far."
Zuo Mingqiu shook his head, his gaze turning cold.
Demonic sects had not appeared for a hundred years. He never imagined that Zhao Qingdong, a proud prodigy of the Taoist sect competing for the position of Celestial Master, would cultivate demonic arts.
"Breaking free and increasing one's strength significantly."
Zuo Mingqiu approached the human-shaped blood cocoon and, with a blank expression, swung his sword.
"Then I apologize, Zhao Qingdong."
"Please die."
...