197: Chapter 197 A Battle of Life and Death (Part Two)

Ning Yuan stomped his foot heavily on the ground, his body suddenly rushing toward Yun Tai. Surging Sword Intent swirled around his longsword as the spiritual power throughout his body surged frantically.

Glancing at Ning Yuan who was charging toward him, Yun Tai's face showed a look of contempt. However, the long saber in his hand did not hesitate at all; instead, it accelerated slightly, instantly forming nine saber shadows that slashed down fiercely toward Ning Yuan.

Feeling the sound of the air breaking from the saber shadows, Ning Yuan raised his palm slightly. After taking a deep breath, he resolutely thrust out the longsword in his hand. In an instant, he delivered nine consecutive strikes, each one colliding perfectly with a saber shadow without the slightest error.

Boom!

As the two collided, the sound of a fierce spiritual power explosion echoed in the Void Realm. The light flared brilliantly, causing some people to involuntarily close their eyes, not daring to look directly into it.

Yun Tai stood quietly in place, looking up toward the site of the explosion. The light from the blast did not obstruct him in the least. He knew the power of the Cloud Spirit Nine Blades better than anyone; that previous strike would have been quite difficult for even a fellow Peak Nascent Soul stage cultivator to withstand.

Even if Ning Yuan came from the Ming Dao Sword Sect, it was impossible for him to emerge unscathed. At the very least, he should have paid the price of a minor injury.

As the light gradually faded, a white shadow suddenly shot toward Yun Tai. The sound of intense, oppressive wind clearly entered Yun Tai's ears; he had obviously overestimated his own strength and underestimated Ning Yuan's.

Ning Yuan had not only withstood the Cloud Spirit Nine Blades unscathed but had even launched an attack against Yun Tai, causing Yun Tai's expression to change slightly—but only slightly.

The long saber in his hand swung continuously as sharp blade lights rushed forward one after another, appearing on the path Ning Yuan had to take.

Just as the blade lights appeared, they were shattered one by one by Ning Yuan's successive sword strikes, failing to cause him any harm. He then burst forth with a speed far exceeding that of a Nascent Soul, appearing behind Yun Tai like a ghost.

The white shadow looked up, revealing Ning Yuan's cold face. At this moment, his left hand was clenched into a fist, with both his Physical Body power and spiritual power pushed to their absolute limits. His fist, carrying a terrifying gale, smashed fiercely toward Yun Tai's back. Wherever the fist passed, it actually produced a violent sonic boom, containing power that was truly terrifying.

"Mountain Crushing Strike!"

A low roar echoed in his heart as the power contained in his fist surged once more. Finally, under the horrified gazes of everyone, it smashed into Yun Tai's spine without any flourishes.

The terrifying force directly caused Yun Tai's body to be thrown out like a broken kite, after which he crashed heavily onto the ground.

Slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air, Ning Yuan gradually withdrew his fist and stood straight again, his eyes fixed on the figure that had been sent flying.

This punch contained ten years of Body Refining effort. Even if Yun Tai were to withstand it, it was impossible for him not to pay some price; at the very least, it would be a minor injury.

If he were not at the Soul Transformation stage but only at the Nascent Soul stage, this punch would have been enough to blow him apart, turning him into a mist of blood.

The Seventh Grade Body Refining Cultivation Technique—Vajra Body!

It could Cultivate the Physical Body to the point of being an Indestructible Vajra, making the entire body as hard as iron while simultaneously multiplying one's strength. When facing enemies of the same Realm, one could crush them using the Physical Body alone, while the opponent would be unable to even break through one's physical defense.

The Vajra Body was divided into seven layers. At this time, it had already been cultivated to the fourth layer Peak, only a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the fifth layer. Once it reached the fifth layer, he could hold his own even in a battle against the Soul Transformation stage.

Even so, combined with the Sixth Grade fist technique Mountain Crushing Strike, a Soul Transformation cultivator would likely not feel well after being hit directly; Yun Tai was a living example.

"Yun Tai was actually sent flying?"

Countless people watched with mouths agape as the figure was tossed out like a rag doll. Could the Young Lord of the Cloud Tiger Tribe be sent flying so easily?

"As expected of a Prodigy from the Ming Dao Sword Sect, to have such strength with only a Nascent Soul cultivation!" On the spectator stands, Lang Xiaotian glanced at Ning Yuan and shook his head, saying, "But unfortunately, relying on this to defeat or even finish off Yun Tai is still far from enough!"

"Mm!" Bear Opens Mountain, not far away, nodded slightly in agreement with this statement, his eyes fixed on Yun Tai as he slowly stood up. "However, he is only taking advantage of being one Realm higher in cultivation. If the two were in the same Realm, it's hard to say who would win or lose."

"Unfortunately, there are no 'ifs' in this world, so Yun Tai will definitely win this battle!" Suddenly, Yun Yi chimed in. Although Yun Tai had been sent flying due to a momentary lapse of caution, this did not mean that his strength was only at this level.

What came next would be his true strength!

On the arena, Yun Tai stood up again, raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and casually spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. His eyes remained calm as he chuckled softly:

"Your strength is indeed decent, truly worthy of being a Prodigy of the Ming Dao Sword Sect. If my cultivation were equal to yours, I'm afraid even for me, winning would not be easy. But unfortunately, it isn't, so... you can die!"

As Yun Tai's voice fell, a powerful Aura gradually rose from within his body. The intensity of that Aura caused the faces of some fellow Early Stage Soul Transformation Yao Race members to turn solemn.

Ning Yuan did not answer Yun Tai's words. He only looked up and gave a faint glance, feeling the Aura rising from within the other's body, and whispered in his heart:

"Is he going to get serious? Then it's also time for me to show my true strength!"

Twisting his neck, Ning Yuan communicated with the Five Elements Universe Realm with his mind. After a long moment, his entire Aura suddenly exploded, actually reaching a level where he could stand up to Yun Tai.

Not only that, but his long black hair gradually turned white, and the white clothes on his body transformed into white Bone Armor, appearing before the eyes of the entire audience.

"This guy is also... Soul Transformation?"

Watching the suddenly skyrocketing cultivation, the entire audience burst into constant exclamations, their faces filled with astonishment. He was just at the Nascent Soul cultivation level a moment ago; how did he turn into Soul Transformation in the blink of an eye?

"There's actually such a Secret Technique?" Lang Xiaotian and Bear Opens Mountain looked at each other, both seeing a flash of shock in the other's eyes. With their eyesight, they naturally knew this was the result of using a Secret Technique, but to be able to directly raise one's level by an entire major Realm was simply too terrifying.

"I really underestimated you! However, Secret Techniques also have time limits. Once the time is up, whatever cultivation you originally had is what you'll return to! The result won't change one bit!"

On the other side, Yun Yi, who had been calm and composed, couldn't help but have his expression change slightly, but he quickly relaxed. Given Ning Yuan's status, possessing a Secret Technique wasn't a major issue, but the drawbacks of Secret Techniques were also very obvious. In the end, victory would still belong to Yun Tai.

Nearby, watching the strength Ning Yuan had displayed from the beginning until now, Zhou Lengdie's heart was greatly shaken. Injuring a Soul Transformation stage cultivator with a Nascent Soul cultivation was already ridiculous enough, and now he had actually used a Secret Technique to skyrocket his cultivation to the Soul Transformation stage. This could only be described with one word: terrifying!

Furthermore, she felt that Ning Yuan's current appearance looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't recall it for a moment. Scenes from the past quickly surfaced in her mind, and suddenly she thought of a person... no, one should say a Yao. That was—Bone Firefly!

Why was his appearance so similar to that of Bone Firefly?