Cui Chongxiao maintained a stern posture, barking his reprimands from outside the colosseum.
Applying pressure right before the duel was a form of psychological interference meant to disrupt Qin Ming's tranquil state of mind.
Yet his opponent's eyes were profound and exceptionally overbearing. Qin Ming had provoked him in return, daring him to enter the ring as well and explicitly calling to fight two against one, facing both brothers alone.
Naturally, Cui Chongxiao could not step into the ring. If the Twin Dragons of the Cui family had to join forces to deal with a mere stripling, their reputation would be utterly ruined, only serving to elevate their foe.
Cui Chonghe signaled to his elder brother that no more words were needed; he had everything in hand.
The colosseum spanned a vast area, originally the remnants of an ancient divine dao arena, and this happened to be the location of the dueling platform. Dayu would not make this place available unless it was a major confrontation.
All around, pure white stone pillars exuded an ancient, weathered aura, densely etched with divine patterns and radiating a faint luminescence that rose into the night sky.
Qin Ming paid no further attention to the outside and walked toward the center of the arena.
Within his flesh and blood, heavenly light flowed. He looked as though bathed in morning glow, a mighty and vigorous power gushing forth.
Ahead, Cui Chonghe was dressed in flawless white, his black hair cascading behind him. His eyes, bright as stars, fixed on his approaching rival. "Youthful impetuousness—is it really worth it?"
Simultaneously, immortal light surged around his body. Behind him in particular, immortal swords seemed to stand side by side, their brilliant blades piercing into the night sky with clear, metallic chimes.
"We've reached this point, and you still say those words to me?" Qin Ming sneered.
Over the past two days, someone had long since put the word out: Cui Chonghe stood to gain nothing from winning, given his slightly higher realm, yet because the abandoned son insisted on fighting, Cui Chonghe was forced to accept and take the stage.
This was the Cui family and their close associates actively speaking out, deliberately emphasizing that Cui Chonghe had been forced into this.
In their mouths, Cui Chonghe was aloof, peaceful, and averse to conflict; this duel had come to pass solely due to the abandoned son's "youthful impetuousness."
"It was only after receiving your letter that I decided to fight, but saying all this now is meaningless!" Qin Ming was now less than thirty zhang from his opponent.
The ground of the dueling arena was riddled with cracks and littered with meteorites, as if an ancient god had once summoned meteors from beyond the heavens, laying waste to the entire divine dao arena.
In the night wind, Cui Chonghe's white robes fluttered. Handsome, polished as jade, his temperament was refined and imbued with a transcendent spiritual nature. He paced forward. The immortal swords arrayed behind him shone with dazzling brilliance, cloaking him like a radiant halo.
Deep down, he was extremely proud; otherwise, this battle would never have occurred.
Recently, nothing had gone right for the Cui family. Cui Changqing was supposed to become a grandmaster, yet he had been murdered, casting a dark cloud over the millennial clan.
Though Cui Chonghe appeared gentle and refined, restlessness churned within him, brewing an anger ill-suited to his disposition. Highly confident in his own abilities, he regarded Qin Ming. Given the disparity in their cultivation realms, he did not care in the slightest; it was the perfect chance to grind the boy down.
Maintaining his aloof, ethereal air, he gestured, "Make your move!"
Instantly, like a bolt of thunder splitting the night sky, Qin Ming—bathed in heavenly light, looking as if clad in divine armor—took a single step. Thirty zhang vanished like a single inch. In a flash, he was right in front of him. His fist light was terrifying, as if punching through the void, causing heavy mist to surge wildly and then erupt.
Looks of astonishment crossed everyone's faces. Was this really someone in the Spirit Field realm? His speed was so immense it seemed like teleportation.
In particular, that fist radiance swept out like golden waves, engulfing the white-robed figure ahead, accompanied by deafening thunder.
Like a ghost, Cui Chonghe slipped to the side. At the critical moment, he reached out with a pale, pristine palm, gently sweeping it toward Qin Ming's neck.
Immortal light surged violently, resembling the slash of a heavenly blade. Though he seemed as graceful as a banished immortal, his methods were extraordinarily fierce, eager to sever his opponent's head in a single stroke.
Qin Ming bent his left arm slightly, his elbow glowing as it met the descending chop of the right hand.
As the figurehead of the Newborn path, every part of Qin Ming's body was a weapon, every part capable of releasing heavenly light.
With a bang, the brief, sharp clash sounded like muffled thunder. Blinding light erupted between them, blurring their silhouettes.
In an instant, they exchanged dozens of blows before swiftly pulling apart.
Many in the audience realized that Cui Chonghe was deliberately projecting strength. Knowing full well that the Newborn path involved body refinement, he still dared to engage in close-quarters combat; he truly possessed extraordinary arts.
No sooner had they separated than the white-robed figure seemed to burst into flames. The ringing of swords shook the heavens, and the sword rays arrayed behind him all shot forth.
Streaks of light interlaced across the night sky, sword qi arching like rainbows—crimson, orange, purple, in a kaleidoscope of hues—densely pouring down toward Qin Ming.
Cui Chonghe held nothing back. Channeling his Pure Yang consciousness, the sky full of sword rays lengthened like countless illuminated raindrops, forming a saturated barrage.
Qin Ming moved like a demon in the night mist, seemingly blinking through space as he evaded the deluge of sword rays. Behind him, the ground fractured and meteorites were pierced through.
Even though these were the remnants of an ancient god's dao arena, their divine essence had faded with the ages; furthermore, Cui Chonghe's offensive was formidable enough to bore through the bedrock.
The fragments of astral debris bearing the marks of ancient gods and devils sustained further damage.
Suddenly, ethereal and shifting from left to right, Qin Ming evaded the meteor shower of sword rays and closed in on Cui Chonghe, arriving at his side.
"Die!" Cui Chonghe uttered a low shout. Sword qi erupted from his entire body as a terrifying sword wheel materialized, steaming from his flesh and blood like floating light or silent thunder, instantly blasting outward to envelop Qin Ming in an absolute killing strike.
Undoubtedly, this was a trump card derived from some sword scripture.
Yet the anticipated shower of blood did not appear. Qin Ming's Hunyuan force circulated, erecting a barrier of light around his body that withstood the assault directly.
Moreover, the curtain of light blossomed with the surging power of the Five Elements, rumbling continuously as it expanded outward, interweaving the forces of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Qin Ming mobilized the Five Elements wondrous skills to construct a divine bell around himself.
It was remarkably vivid and solid, its luminous body etched with Five Elements patterns. The five attributes circulated on their own, exceptionally stable and endlessly generating one another.
"That's the Departing Fire Classic, the Golden Silkworm Classic, the Heluo Classic... Using the five purest wondrous skills to counter Cui Chonghe's world-renowned immortal dao authentic scripture!" someone exclaimed, noticing the technique.
While wondrous skills were extraordinary, they were not on the same tier as an immortal path authentic scripture. Yet this figurehead of the Newborn path seemed to have returned to simplicity, harmoniously constructing a Five Elements bell of astonishing might.
Qin Ming held off the sword wheel.
Cui Chonghe's flesh and blood shone brilliantly, showering light rain as even more sword rays shot from his body, countless in number, seeking to blast straight through the Five Elements bell.
*Clang!* The bell's toll resonated solemn and vast, shaking the entire arena.
Lifting his hands, Qin Ming sent the great bell flying from his body. It drew in all the sword rays and ground them away with the Five Elements runes on its surface.
Then, erupting with boundless radiance, the great bell dispersed the night mist and crashed downward with a rumble, trapping Cui Chonghe inside.
At the same time, Qin Ming circulated the *Vajra Scripture*. His body turned into an indestructible golden form; from head to toe, even his hair seemed cast of pure gold, and a demon-subduing pestle appeared in his grasp.
Holding the pestle, he struck the bell, shaking and refining the person trapped within.
Inside, Cui Chonghe rapidly formed hand seals. Centered on him, palm seals, fist light, and sword qi erupted like an avalanche or tidal wave, slamming against the Five Elements bell.
For a time, the chime of the bell in the colosseum never ceased, eventually merging into a continuous roar like ancient bronze bells reverberating through the vast night sky.
The faces of the Cui clan members changed. This was no one-sided beatdown by a higher-realm cultivator; that abandoned son had actually parried Cui Chonghe's onslaught and mounted a fierce counterattack.
Inside the Five Elements bell, Cui Chonghe tapped his right hand. Firelight rippled and immortal dao characters manifested, coalescing into a lantern that initially emitted a soft glow.
Yet within an instant, it shone brilliantly across heaven and earth, rendering the Five Elements bell translucent. The entire dueling platform was bathed in immortal light, as if ready to incinerate mountains and boil oceans.
The people of the immortal path looked on in shock, recognizing the art.
It was the *Beginning of the Primal Unity* scripture. Though it appeared merely as a lantern flowing with dao charm, it could "sweep away the old to establish the new."
Legend had it that when trained to a certain level, the lantern's flame of civilization could dispel the dark and reshape the established order.
"Hm?" Cui Chonghe was startled. That the divine lantern of the Beginning of the Primal Unity failed to shatter the Five Elements bell was utterly absurd. Then it dawned on him: the Hunyuan force had to be at work.
Decisive as ever, he fused the immortal light within the lantern with dao charm until it neared a boiling point. The Primal Unity lantern then violently shattered, finally burning through the bell's wall and allowing him to break free.
Shock rippled through everyone's hearts. Qin Ming, the figurehead of the Newborn path, was truly enigmatic, using the most unadorned techniques to clash head-on with an immortal path supreme art.
The members of the Cui family fell silent. Earlier, they had believed that Cui Chonghe, in the Fourth Realm, would easily crush the abandoned son in the Spirit Field realm. Who could have expected them to trade blow for blow?
The Cui family's old grandmaster, Cui Qi, and Cui Chongxiao all felt a shadow fall over their hearts, growing uneasy.
Inside the colosseum, the battle did not stop. Like two streaks of flowing light, they crisscrossed the entire arena, their silhouettes flashing everywhere in fierce combat.
Cui Chonghe had already brought out a trump card, circulating the *Indestructible Immortal Scripture*, one of his three foundational scriptures, which he had long since mastered.
One could say his indestructible immortal fetus had initially formed; he was confident he could match an opponent of the same realm who had fully mastered the silk book method, let alone against someone of a lower cultivation realm.
He repeatedly flicked his fingers, shooting forth beams of indestructible immortal light.
These were even more terrifying than ordinary sword qi. One after another, they wove through the void to pierce his opponent, attempting to tear him apart with indestructible force, while his own figure shifted like a ghost.
Outside the arena, silence reigned. Many youths were truly awed by his prowess.
Nearby in the night mist, silver willows glowed brightly, their myriad hanging branches swaying in the wind and sparkling with radiance, lending a touch of vitality to the ruined ancient dao arena.
Suddenly, the distinct sound of a cicada's chirp reached everyone's ears. Yet they quickly realized it came not from the silver willows, but from within the colosseum.
"The Golden Cicada Classic, a mere wondrous skill—has he truly practiced it to such a transcendent state?" Many were stunned, their hearts churning with waves of shock.
Qin Ming executed it with effortless grace, meeting his opponent using only an unadorned wondrous skill rather than any supreme scripture.
A spiritual cicada manifested. Its wings bore thunder light, wrapped in yin and yang qi and imbued with the forces of life and death. As its wings beat, the night mist exploded violently, and it flew forward.
Darting through the beams of indestructible finger light, it swooped toward the white-robed figure ahead.
With a cold look, Cui Chonghe sent out beam after beam of finger light, while the corresponding spiritual cicada split from one into two, two into four... multiplying to intercept the beams.
Some of the golden cicadas shattered and dissolved, while others unleashed thunder light that collapsed along with the finger rays.
"It has evolved—that is already a divine cicada!"
Many realized that Qin Ming had once pushed the Golden Cicada Classic to its apex, deducing the *Divine Cicada Scripture*, which had long since surpassed the scope of ordinary wondrous skills.
In truth, wondrous skills were already extraordinary, sufficient to carry a practitioner to the middle stages of the Fourth Realm.
However, the conception of the Divine Cicada Scripture was far loftier. Now, the cicada phantoms filling the sky roared with thunderous sounds, completely transformed—this was the embryonic form of the "Great Thunder Sound Cicada"!
One divine cicada after another, carrying the power of thunder and erupting with lightning, clashed against those indestructible finger rays without yielding an inch.
An uproar swept the outside of the arena; none could remain calm.
Qin Ming was using a secret record derived from a wondrous skill to confront a renowned authentic scripture of the immortal path, truly turning the mundane into the miraculous! His combat prowess was simply too immense!
The Cui family members looked grave, a trace of anxiety gnawing at them.
Without question, Cui Chonghe was under immense pressure inside the arena, primarily on a psychological level. His opponent was lower in realm and using an "unadorned" art, yet managed to fight him to a standstill.
In his mind, he should have swept over the abandoned son from the very start with crushing force. This was supposed to be an overwhelming victory, yet he was taking forever to subdue him.
Irritation rose within him. None of this was how it was supposed to go.
Suddenly, the cicada chirps shook the heavens. One divine cicada after another soared into the sky from Qin Ming, numbering over a thousand. All were golden throughout, with translucent wings carrying the power of thunder.
At this moment, a thousand cicadas cried in unison, shaking heaven and earth, filling the air with thunderous sound.
For a brief instant, the spectators were dazed, falling into a strange state: a thousand cicadas tearing through the void, the world turning still, and time itself appearing to freeze.
The Cui family grandmaster who had dragged his sickly body to watch spoke up: "This is the embryonic form of the Great Thunder Sound Cicada undergoing metamorphosis, sublimating. A thousand cicadas cry, the world falls silent, and even time seems to stand still."
His voice was not loud, yet it resonated across the arena.
"Shut your mouth!" Old Grandmaster Yu Gensheng barked, forcefully suppressing the sound wave and blocking the mental ripples.
The cicada calls persisted, unaffected.
Many snapped awake as if from a dream, freed from their daze.
In the arena, a thousand cicadas flew together, their wings wrapped in thunder, diving right before Cui Chonghe. Blinding beams of light erupted as the cicada calls shook the world.
Cui Chonghe felt stifled. He had deployed a top authentic scripture of the immortal path, yet his opponent was demonstrating a technique that transcended the confines of secret manuals; no matter how one looked at it, the abandoned son's performance was far more dazzling.
More critically, he found himself somewhat flustered. Although indestructible immortal light steamed around his body, piercing through one golden divine cicada after another, several still managed to dive right up to him.
With a crash, right beside his ear, an embryonic Great Thunder Sound Cicada materialized and violently detonated.
A strand of his black hair snapped, and the pure white collar of his robe was scorched and shredded, leaving him looking somewhat disheveled.
A thousand cicadas swooped down, whistling through the air.
Vaguely, what appeared to be the Great Thunder Sound Temple manifested, descending from the void.
The sight made everyone's scalp tingle. Bai Meng was completely dumbfounded; he, too, had brought the Golden Cicada Classic to perfection and deduced the Divine Cicada Scripture, yet he had never reached this profound state of the Great Thunder Sound Cicada.
Today, Tang Yushang was dressed in black, looking aloof and imposing. She stood tall and slender, yet felt terribly uneasy; recalling certain past events, her shapely bottom seemed to throb with phantom pain.
One embryonic Great Thunder Sound Cicada after another exploded around Cui Chonghe. His white robes were marked with scorch marks, his sleeves torn, his collar blasted open, his hair disheveled.
Had he not initially formed the indestructible immortal fetus to project a protective immortal radiance around himself, he would have been severely wounded by those divine cicadas; that thunder light was potent enough to tear mortal flesh apart.
Even so, he was no longer the picture of poise. The jade-like young master retreated rapidly, his white robes tattered and stained as if splashed with ink.
At the same time, Qin Ming closed in. Driving the Divine Cicada Scripture with his Hunyuan force, his fist light soared like a Golden Crow spreading its wings, or the sun rising to illuminate all creation.
In an instant, his golden fist filled the void, seemingly causing it to collapse and blasting the night mist completely away.
Cui Chonghe circulated the *Indestructible Immortal Scripture* to resist him.
The thousand cicadas resonated together, forming Qin Ming's likeness as they struck toward Cui Chonghe, with the phantom of the Great Thunder Sound Temple crashing down behind them.
With a boom, Cui Chonghe let out a muffled grunt and retreated at extreme speed, blinking continuously. Even his indestructible immortal fetus could barely endure it; enveloped by a thousand claps of thunder, it felt as though he were undergoing a heavenly tribulation.
Qin Ming pressed forward, his left fist and right palm attacking incessantly. The two clashed like entwined streaks of light, moving at blinding, ferocious speed.
With a bang, Cui Chonghe flew backward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. A terrifying fist imprint appeared upon his chest, shredding the white fabric like falling petals and scorching his flesh. The heavenly light force had partially penetrated inside, making his bones crackle.
Furthermore, his face was swollen and rapidly congesting with blood. Those with sharp spiritual senses immediately noticed faint finger marks on his left cheek.
Evidently, Qin Ming's right palm had grazed him.
Cui Chonghe was thoroughly enraged; this was no different from being slapped in the face in front of the entire crowd.
Having put enough distance between them, he shook his sleeves. Instantly, the sky filled with small black swords, none exceeding three inches in length, radiating dense Pure Yang power.
He had deployed specialized flying swords, and an enormous swarm of them at once.
Normally, at his level, Pure Yang consciousness alone was sufficient to manifest swords no weaker than real weapons. That he had brought out an extraordinary treasure showed just how remarkable these blades were.
"Five-tribulation lightning-strike wood!" someone gasped.
They had discerned the swords' nature: each three-inch black blade condensed five types of dao charm across its surface, signifying it had weathered five lightning tribulations.
When such material was alloyed with jade iron or infused with rare metals to forge flying swords, its Pure Yang attributes were explosive.
Cui Chonghe let out a low shout. The swarm of over a hundred small swords in the void erupted with dark light, faintly tinged with a strange metallic luster as their Pure Yang power surged.
Seemingly indestructible, they tore through the void.
Around Qin Ming's body, golden threads shot forth one after another. Each strand could shake a flying sword, weaving together like a dense tapestry designed specifically to shatter flying swords.
"That's the *Golden Silkworm Classic*! Back then, I traveled ten thousand li to personally deliver the equally famous *Departing Fire Classic* to my brother!" Ning Siqi muttered excitedly outside the arena.
Beside him, several of his acquaintances and friends looked at him with newfound respect upon hearing this; having such a friend was truly worth it.
No one had anticipated that Qin Ming would dare use a mere wondrous skill to counter such specialized Pure Yang flying swords.
"It has mutated—sublimated! This is the legendary *Silkworm Sovereign Metal-Governing Scripture*!" The Cui family grandmaster's weathered face twisted, turning exceedingly grim.
He naturally saw that the abandoned son had exceeded all expectations, practicing one wondrous skill after another to legendary heights and excavating hidden troves unrecorded in texts. Such comprehension was simply terrifying.
In that instant, the Cui clan members fell utterly silent.
Zheng Maoze, Zeng Yuan, and the others were also in a daze. Qin Ming, who had once belonged to their circle—lacking a renowned master, merely a rogue cultivator—had already ascended to heights they could hardly look up to.
By now, many people from Yezhou, the Outer Domains, and the heavens above stood outside the colosseum, all watching this duel intently.
Amid metallic clangs, the golden threads vibrated, clashing directly against the flying swords.
Cui Chonghe's heart could no longer stay calm. He noticed Wang Caiwei watching, his fellow immortal path disciples showing strange expressions, and the saints of the heavens observing quietly. His face looked exceedingly ugly; with his higher cultivation realm, the fact that he still could not take down this abandoned son was an utter disgrace.
He chanted a true incantation, using the power of the *Jade Chapters of the Golden Palace* to bolster the Pure Yang flying swords.
Qin Ming, meanwhile, drove the dense golden threads with Chaos force. Sensing that the five-tribulation lightning-strike wood was mixed with jade iron and other rare metals, he boldly unleashed his Geomagnetic force.
With a boom, the flight paths of the hundred-plus small black swords instantly fell into chaos. The Geomagnetic Classic and the Golden Silkworm Classic resonated together, filling the void with dense, tangible threads.
Amid whistling screeches, every single flying sword flew backward, spiraling completely out of control.
With wet thuds, over a hundred small black swords plunged into Cui Chonghe's own body, piercing his flesh.
Like a bolt of lightning, Qin Ming followed through, delivering a flying kick.
Cui Chonghe shifted laterally and retreated, evading at top speed, yet he could not shake his opponent. Covered in blood and punctured by countless sword holes, he was forced to cross his arms, erupting with immortal light to block the blow.
*Bang!* Qin Ming's foot struck his arms.
Cui Chonghe stumbled backward, his feet gouging deep, terrifying furrows into the ground, shattering the meteorite floor.
Qin Ming landed gracefully, his robes fluttering, untouched by dust or blood—transcendent and ethereal, like a Heavenly God descending to the mortal world.
Chapter 494