Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

Chapter 321: Chapter 309: Contention (Part 2)

SWOOSH!

Fang Qinglu controlled his flying sword, slashing down fiercely. The rock wall around Zhao Lin’s body immediately shuddered.

Zhou Hongfang and the other elders’ expressions changed when they saw this.

Zhao Lin’s current situation was remarkably similar to that of Fang Qinglu’s previous opponent, Wang Jing. Once the flying sword broke through his defensive Magic, his defeat would be certain.

Moreover, Zhao Lin’s cultivation level was far lower than Wang Jing’s; his Rock Armor Skill probably wouldn’t last much longer.

And that was indeed the case. After only two slashes from the flying sword, a crack appeared in the rock wall.

Fang Qinglu used the same old trick, directing the flying sword straight for the crack. A red light flashed at the sword’s tip, its Sword Qi about to erupt!

But Zhao Lin’s reaction was completely unexpected. He didn’t continue channeling Spiritual Power to repair the rock wall. Instead, he withdrew his hand and dispelled the Rock Armor Skill entirely!

"Ah, what’s he doing? How can he fight without a defensive skill? The flying sword is so close, can he possibly dodge it?"

"Is he going to surrender?"

Just as the crowd was confused, Zhao Lin’s figure flickered, and he took a sideways step from his central stance.

’Trying to run?’

Fang Qinglu sneered inwardly. At such a close distance, trying to dodge the flying sword was a fool’s dream. It was impossible, no matter how good his martial Lightweight Skill was.

The flying sword vibrated slightly, letting out a sharp HUM as it hounded Zhao Lin relentlessly.

But Zhao Lin suddenly stopped, raised his arm, clenched his fist, and threw an uppercut.

His fist accurately struck the body of the sword, creating the sound of metal striking stone.

The force was so strong that it sent the flying sword flying into the air, where it hit the stone chamber’s ceiling with a CLANG.

Punching a flying sword...

’Is that even possible?’

All the cultivators present were stunned, including the several Foundation Establishment elders, who stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

’Success!’

Zhao Lin was overjoyed. He pushed off from his toes and, without looking back, launched himself straight toward Fang Qinglu.

He had done this because the flying sword was simply too fast. It was as agile as a swimming fish, making it nearly impossible to strike down mid-flight.

Only by forcing it to stop could he possibly land a hit before it accelerated again. This was why Zhao Lin had used the Rock Armor Skill.

When his flying sword was struck so heavily, Fang Qinglu suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, his Qi and Blood churning violently.

Only then did he understand. Zhao Lin’s Rock Armor Skill wasn’t for defense—it was a trap, aimed at his flying sword.

The realization made him furious, but he didn’t let anger cloud his judgment. He retreated rapidly while trying to reconnect with his flying sword using his Divine Sense.

Zhao Lin knew time was short. Seizing the brief moment Fang Qinglu’s connection to his sword was severed, he closed the distance in the blink of an eye, raised his arm, and rapidly gathered Spiritual Qi.

"Rise!"

At that moment, Fang Qinglu’s Divine Sense reconnected with his flying sword. He immediately commanded it to save him, and the sword shot forward like a meteor.

Not only that, but with a wave of his hand, Fang Qinglu also deployed a Spiritual Energy Shield around himself.

As a Sword Cultivator, Fang Qinglu had never practiced a single defensive Magic. However, any cultivator who reached the Middle Stage of Qi Refining could release their Spiritual Qi as a shield without any special training.

With the Spiritual Energy Shield in place, a smile touched Fang Qinglu’s lips.

He had timed it perfectly. As long as Zhao Lin dared to punch the Spiritual Energy Shield, the flying sword would arrive in an instant.

He didn’t believe Zhao Lin could shatter the Spiritual Energy Shield and harm him with a single punch.

’Do you dare to throw this punch?’

But Zhao Lin didn’t hesitate at all. Completely ignoring the flying sword shooting toward his back, he threw a punch with thunderous momentum.

The punch was like lightning. A dazzling white light suddenly flared on the surface of the Spiritual Energy Shield, exploding outward from the center into a white sphere of light.

The formation of the light sphere was accompanied by a deafening RUMBLE that seemed powerful enough to pierce clouds and shatter stone.

Thunder Sound Fist!

Several thumb-thick columns of light pierced through the Spiritual Energy Shield and blasted toward Fang Qinglu.

The smile on Fang Qinglu’s face froze. He suddenly felt an immense force yank him directly out of the arena.

At almost the same instant, Zhao Lin felt a cold, murderous intent at the back of his head. His body was lifted into the air, and the scenery before him blurred.

When he could see clearly again, he found himself outside the arena.

"What was that white light just now? It looked like Thunder Element Magic!"

"What happened? Why is no one in the arena?"

"Look, they’re both outside the arena now."

The spectators only saw a blur, and then both fighters on the stage were gone. They looked around for a moment before spotting Zhao Lin and Fang Qinglu standing at the edge of the arena at the same time.

"So who won?"

"Is that even a question? Fang Qinglu won, of course. That flying sword was about to take a life."

"Exactly! Fang Qinglu used his Spiritual Energy Shield to block Zhao Lin’s punch and was about to kill him with the flying sword."

"No, that’s not right. Then how did Fang Qinglu get thrown out?"

"Well... could there have been a problem with the Array?"

Although most of the cultivators couldn’t figure out what had happened, nothing that occurred in the arena escaped the discerning eyes of the Foundation Establishment elders.

The arbitrating elder raised his hand to quiet the crowd, then announced, "In this match, Zhao Lin is the victor!"

"Zhao Lin won?"

"How did he win?"

"I couldn’t see clearly, but if the elder says so, it must be true."

The arbitrating elder was a Transmission Elder from Juyan Province. If he were to show favoritism, it would be toward his own people. There was no reason for him to declare Zhao Lin the winner otherwise.

Fang Qinglu had been holding on to a sliver of hope. Hearing the announcement, he shook his head, turned to Zhao Lin, and said, "Congratulations."

Though he said the words, his expression was full of unwillingness to accept defeat.

"I was just lucky."

Zhao Lin wasn’t surprised by the outcome, but he felt it had been an incredibly close call. ’If I didn’t have the Thunder Sound Fist as my trump card, winning this battle would have been extremely difficult.’

"Elder, both of them ended up outside the arena. Could you explain why Zhao Lin won?"

An older disciple asked, confused.

"It’s like this."

The arbitrating elder cleared his throat and explained, "A moment ago, Zhao Lin attacked first. His punch was powerful enough to be fatal, so the Array teleported Fang Qinglu out."

"Subsequently, the flying sword arrived. Zhao Lin didn’t have time to defend himself, so he was also teleported out. There was a difference in timing between the two events, which is why Zhao Lin won."

The disciple said, "Oh," and then asked, "Elder, if the Array hadn’t been there, would they have both been killed?"

"Not at all!"

The arbitrating elder shook his head. "Without the Array, Zhao Lin would have been unharmed."

"Because as soon as he killed or severely injured Fang Qinglu, Fang Qinglu would have lost control of his flying sword. The sword naturally wouldn’t have been able to harm Zhao Lin. Therefore, Zhao Lin would still be the victor—and it would have been a complete victory."

Hearing the elder’s explanation, everything became clear to the crowd. At the same time, they were incredibly curious about what kind of martial art Zhao Lin had used to punch through a Spiritual Energy Shield.

One had to understand that a Spiritual Energy Shield was formed from condensed Spiritual Qi. Even a magic treasure would find it difficult to break one in a single blow, yet it couldn’t block a single martial arts move.

It was only now that Wei Shi was truly convinced. ’If Zhao Lin had used that move against me,’ he thought, ’I probably would have been defeated even sooner.’

Offstage, an elder from Juyan Province sighed, "What a pity. He was so close."

Dean Pang replied nonchalantly, "This is for the best. Qinglu is highly talented, but he’s too arrogant and has always refused to practice any defensive Magic. Now, he should understand..."

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