Chapter 674 Heavenly Shadow and Sword Orb

At the top of a certain peak on Snow Lotus Peak.

 

Li Qingchan focused on the youthful figure in front of her. His eyes lowered slightly as he said in a low voice, “My Snow Lotus Peak’s art is called Heavenly Shadow Art. It is a first-class concealment technique that specializes in assassination. If the attack fails, one can flee thousands of miles in the blink of an eye, making it impossible for anyone to pursue."

 

There was some surprise in Zhou Yuan's eyes, he evidently did not expect Li Qingchan to be the most skilled in assassination. I had never seen her use a Genesis technique before.

 

“Junior Brother Zhou Yuan, if you manage to find me, it will be your victory.”

 

Li Qingchan's red lips opened slightly. In the next instant, his figure undulated slightly as he disappeared into thin air like a ghost.

 

Zhou Yuan's eyes widened. To his surprise, he hadn't been able to feel how he had vanished in that split second.

 

The peak was dotted with several cliffs, giant pine trees that seemingly stretched into the sky, and rocks protruding from the ground. Shadow after shadow was painted over the land in complete silence.

 

But this silence seemed to hide a murderous intent.

 

Zhou Yuan frowned slightly. He could only feel his own Genesis Qi undulations at the peak. If he hadn't known that this was a special situation, he probably would have believed that Li Qingchan had already quietly left the area, leaving him here alone.

 

Vigorous Genesis Qi hummed and spread from Zhou Yuan's body, sensing even the slightest of movements.

 

However, Zhou Yuan still couldn't find any trace of Li Qingchan.

 

He fell into a thoughtful silence before Spirit power began to pour out from between his eyebrows to comb the area inch by inch.

 

Much later, Zhou Yuan realized that even his spiritual sense was unable to detect Li Qingchan's presence, a realization that shook his heart. Was the Heavenly Shadow Art really that formidable?

 

"The seven arts of Cangxuan are truly extraordinary."

 

Zhou Yuan sighed inwardly before slowly closing his eyes. They opened again a split second later, an ancient Saint Rune now silently spinning in their depths.

 

The Holy Rune Decipherer!

 

When the Deciphering Saint Rune appeared, the world around Zhou Yuan immediately began to change. Even the slightest movement of Genesis Qi was now clearly visible to the naked eye.

 

His eyes pierced all obstructions.

 

"Since it is called the Art of Heavenly Shadows, I should naturally use shadows as a medium."

 

Zhou Yuan's sharp gaze looked towards the shadowed spots on the peak. Nothing, not even shadows, could hide from his sight.

 

However, there was still no result after searching through every shadow on the peak. This time, Zhou Yuan's expression finally changed a little.

 

“How can this be?! Even the Deciphering Saint Rune can’t find it?”

 

He soon shook his head inwardly. He did not believe that the Deciphering Saint Rune would be incapable of finding it. Otherwise, the Heavenly Shadow Art would not be a mere high-grade Heavenly Genesis technique…

 

"But I have already carefully searched every shadow on the top..."

 

At this thought, Zhou Yuan's pupils suddenly shrank before he slowly lowered his head to look at the shadow beneath his feet. The ancient Saint Rune rotated in his pupils as he discovered something strange in his shadow.

 

"She hides in my shadow!"

 

Waves rose in Zhou Yuan's heart. However, he did not delay any longer. With a sudden stomp of his foot, the powerful Genesis Qi viciously surged towards his shadow, and he reached out and grabbed a certain point in his shadow.

 

His hand seemed to reach into space itself. When it was taken out again, a snow-white doll appeared out of nowhere. A pretty figure quickly emerged in front of Zhou Yuan.

 

The figure naturally belonged to Li Qingchan.

 

His face was currently filled with astonishment. She was so shocked that she was completely unaware of the fact that Zhou Yuan was gripping her wrist tightly. A pair of bright eyes looked at Zhou Yuan in bewilderment, clearly not expecting him to unravel his Heavenly Shadow Art so quickly.

 

Li Qingchan couldn't help but ask, "How did you do it?"

 

Zhou Yuan smiled apologetically. "I hope you will forgive me for my offense, Senior Sister Qingchan."

 

He let go of her hand.

 

Only then did Li Qingchan see the slight bruise that Zhou Yuan had left on her wrist. She bit her lips gently and looked deeply at Zhou Yuan before taking out a jade scroll.

 

"You've won," he said.

 

Zhou Yuan received the scroll and fiddled with it for a while. He had become very interested in the Heavenly Shadow Art. His concealment ability was many times greater than the Ethereal Form technique, and it would become an extremely effective means of protecting himself if he managed to learn it.

 

When he encountered a formidable opponent that he could not defeat, he could use the Heavenly Shadow Art to hide or escape.

 

Furthermore, an enemy would need considerable effort to find it. After all, even he had been forced to use the Deciphering Saint Rune to discover Li Qingchan's whereabouts.

 

"Thank you for giving me the victory." Smiling, Zhou Yuan clasped his fists. He didn't delay another second, and flew towards Sword Peak under Li Qingchan's complicated gaze.

 

Countless Cangxuan Sect disciples couldn't help licking their lips when they saw Zhou Yuan descend towards Sword Peak. In less than two hours, Zhou Yuan had defeated four peaks in a row and collected four of their arts.

 

Zhou Yuan now had five arts in his hands, putting him on equal footing with Chu Qing. If he achieved one more victory, he would become the first person in a hundred years to gather six arts.

 

"We'll have to see what Sword Peak's big brother Kong Sheng has in store for us next."

 

...

 

At the top of a peak on Sword Peak.

 

Kong Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm as he extended a hand where a round blue sword orb floated silently.

 

The brilliance of the sword orb felt full and complete, as if it were made of jade.

 

“I think Junior Brother Zhou Yuan has already seen Baili Che display the Devil Sweeping Sword Orb Art during the Genesis Pool ceremony. However, his sword orb had barely formed back then, making it difficult for him to bring out much of his power.”

 

“If Junior Brother Zhou Yuan manages to receive a sword strike from me today, I will happily offer you the Devil Sweeping Sword Orb Art.” Sword orb in hand, Kong Sheng's gaze was as sharp as a sword, and he was emitting an alarming aura.

 

Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Please"

 

Bzz!

 

Kong Sheng waved his sleeve and the sword orb slowly rose into the air. Boundless sword qi began to flow and condense around the orb into a meter-long bright blue sword.

 

As the blue sword took shape, the space around it rippled faintly as the sword qi opened cracks.

 

Countless gashes had already been opened in the surrounding ground.

 

Kong Sheng focused on the bright blue sword and moved his finger.

 

Bzz!

 

The cry of a sword echoed through the land. A flash of blue flashed by in an instant, seemingly piercing space itself as it headed straight towards Zhou Yuan.

 

Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly as he waved his sleeve. A golden stream of Genesis Qi roared like a golden snake, accompanied by a ferocious aura, and collided with the blue sword.

 

Bang bang!

 

The two forces collided. However, the blue sword vibrated and cut off the stream of Genesis Qi with a soft cutting sound.

 

Cheers erupted from the Sword Peak disciples. This was the first time since the start of the Chosen Challenge that Zhou Yuan's attack was stopped.

 

Zhou Yuan's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the blue sword that had pierced his Genesis Qi. However, he did not choose to avoid it, but instead slowly extended five fingers.

 

The Heavenly Yuan Brush in his Qi Housing trembled as snow-white hairs emerged from Zhou Yuan's hand. They quickly woven together, creating a snow-white gauntlet that completely covered his fist.

 

Whistle!

 

The sword light approached quickly, shattering the ground nearby.

 

Break Genesis!

 

A scream sounded in Zhou Yuan's heart.

 

The snow-white gauntlet instantly turned pitch black.

 

All the Genesis Qi in his body flooded out at this moment, bursting out around his body. With a piercing look in his eyes, Zhou Yuan reached out and grabbed the blue sword amidst countless shocked and horrified gazes.

 

Burst!

 

Berserk sword qi exploded, instantly shattering the surrounding rocks into dust.

 

Countless gazes stared at the dust-filled air. When the dust finally cleared, Zhou Yuan's figure appeared. He seemed to have taken several steps back, while the blue sword was nowhere to be seen.

 

A Sword Peak disciple shouted in alarm, “Where is the sword orb?”

 

On the top of the mountain, Zhou Yuan spat out a breath of air and looked towards Kong Sheng. The pitch-black gauntlet slowly unraveled, revealing the blue sword orb lying silently in Zhou Yuan's palm.

 

As the black hairs quickly disappeared, several cuts were revealed on Zhou Yuan's hand. However, these cuts soon began to heal due to the strong vitality of his body.

 

Scandal!

 

Countless disciples were dumbfounded, especially the Sword Peak disciples, whose faces were filled with shock.

 

Zhou Yuan had managed to grab Kong Sheng's sword orb.

 

At the front of the many Sword Peak disciples, Zhao Zhu and the head disciple Baili Che looked at each other, seeing the agony in each other's eyes. Zhou Yuan's feat of passing through the sword light and grabbing the sword orb was already more than enough evidence of how terrifyingly powerful he was.

 

The same new head disciple who had once felt unworthy of his position had now surpassed them all.

 

But this time they were completely convinced.

 

At the top of the mountain, Zhou Yuan released the sword orb, allowing it to fly back to Kong Sheng before Kong Sheng swallowed it back into his abdomen. His expression was somewhat complicated as he silently looked at Zhou Yuan. In the end, he said nothing and threw a jade scroll.

 

“Junior Brother Zhou Yuan, you have won.”

 

"Then go. As long as you defeat your final opponent, Chu Qing, you will create a legend. Since the Cangxuan Sect was established, there has yet to be a disciple who has managed to gather the seven arts through the Chosen challenge..."

 

Zhou Yuan received the jade scroll and nodded. He raised his head under the countless observation gazes and looked towards the final peak in the distance.

 

A figure was sitting on the top of the peak, looking directly at him.

 

Their gazes collided as seriousness filled their eyes.

 

All the Cangxuan Sect disciples watched with bated breath…

 

One was the strongest ancient disciple of the Cangxuan Sect…

 

The other was the current strongest disciple of the Cangxuan Sect…

 

The climax of the long-awaited Chosen Challenge was finally about to begin.