Chapter 451: Chapter 436: Team Up to Slay the Flood Dragon!
Wang Wei once possessed the cultivation of the Sixth-Layer of the Purple Mansion, slaying the Tier Four High-Grade Demon Beast known as the "Black Water Dragon Crocodile."
Now his cultivation has reached the Eighth-Layer of the Purple Mansion, and among the many cultivators in the Great Yun Country, there are probably fewer than ten who can surpass him.
Therefore, when they heard him announce his name and step forward to challenge the Golden Core Cultivator Zhao Hao, the many cultivators below the stage immediately became interested, all widening their eyes to look towards the stage.
And on the stage, upon hearing Wang Wei report his name, Zhao Hao also gave him a peculiar look, clearly having heard of his name.
"You can prepare a bit first; no matter what tactics you use, if you can withstand three moves from me, you pass."
Zhao Hao scrutinized Wang Wei, speaking the rules in a deep voice.
Zhao Hao’s true strength is certainly above that of a recently advanced Tier Five Flood Dragon.
But if he wants to slay that Tier Five Flood Dragon, he must guard against it fleeing.
So he needs to recruit a few teammates who can stop the Flood Dragon from escaping at critical moments, helping him block the fleeing Flood Dragon.
This teammate certainly can’t be a Golden Core Stage cultivator; otherwise, he’d have to share a lot of the spoils from slaying the Flood Dragon.
Moreover, if two Golden Core Stage cultivators are together, that Tier Five Flood Dragon would definitely not dare to come out of the water and fight him.
So when recruiting teammates, he values their ability to survive.
His attacks are certainly sharper than that of the Tier Five Flood Dragon, and a cultivator who can take three moves from him should have no trouble blocking the Flood Dragon from escaping at critical moments.
Wang Wei did not find anything wrong with Zhao Hao’s words. After Zhao Hao finished speaking, he quickly made hand seals with both hands, stacking multiple layers of Defensive Magic on himself, then waved his hand to draw several Defensive Spiritual Artifacts from his Storage Ring, sending them flying around himself.
After completing all the protective measures, he looked seriously at Zhao Hao and said, "Junior is ready, please instruct me, Elder Zhao."
"First move!"
Zhao Hao waved his hand, and a cyan Sword Light instantly flew from his hand, transforming into thousands of Sword Light beams that swept towards Wang Wei.
In an instant, the Defensive Spiritual Artifacts Wang Wei had deployed were mostly swept away by the Sword Light, leaving only a Protective Shield formed by a Treasure Pearl barely holding together without shattering.
"Second move!"
The "buzzing" sound of swords intensified, as the body of the cyan Flying Sword zoomed like a cyan meteor, fiercely striking the Protective Shields around Wang Wei, shattering three layers in succession before finally exhausting its power and stopping.
At this moment, Wang Wei was already pale as gold paper due to his artifacts and Magic being successively broken.
"Third move!"
Not waiting for the pale-faced Wang Wei to catch his breath, Zhao Hao’s third move immediately followed.
The weary cyan Flying Sword suddenly flared with cyan light, the originally several-foot-long sword abruptly transformed into a cyan giant sword several zhang long, slashing down towards Wang Wei’s head.
"Spare me, Elder!"
As the sword edge approached, Wang Wei’s expression changed dramatically, and he finally dared not put on a brave face, hurriedly begging for mercy.
Even though he actually knew that Zhao Hao was unlikely to kill him in public, he dared not truly gamble his life on that possibility.
Life is singular; if you gamble and lose, you truly die.
As soon as he spoke, the cyan giant sword that was slashing down instantly withdrew its light, returning to its original size and flew back into Zhao Hao’s hand, being absorbed into his body.
"Your skills are not bad. If I haven’t filled my team by the end, I could consider giving you a spot!"
Zhao Hao retracted the Flying Sword, nodded slightly to Wang Wei with an indifferent expression, and spoke words that left Wang Wei both surprised and delighted.
"Thank you, Elder."
With a face full of joy, Wang Wei hurriedly thanked Zhao Hao with a bow, then quickly collected his artifacts and stepped down from the platform.
In his view, if even he, giving his all, could not withstand three moves from Zhao Hao, then there should not be many Purple Mansion cultivators in the Great Yun Country who could meet Zhao Hao’s conditions.
In this manner, he almost certainly secured a spot.
Sure enough, after witnessing the power of Zhao Hao’s three moves, the few Purple Mansion cultivators who had initially been eager to give it a try on the field shook their heads repeatedly and abandoned the idea of stepping up.
Wang Wei’s prowess was already at the pinnacle among the many Purple Mansion cultivators in the Great Yun Country, and if even he could not withstand three moves from Zhao Hao, how could those even weaker than him dare to step up and make fools of themselves?
And as no one appeared to challenge for a long while, Zhao Hao on the stage could not help but furrow his brows.
He was originally traveling in the Great Yun Country and only hurried to Yunlong Square upon hearing the news of the "Dragon Slayer Conference," thus not having the time to summon fellow sect members from Jinyang Country to assist him.
Moreover, this is, after all, the Great Yun Country, and as a cultivator from Jinyang Country, it was still plausible for him to happen to participate in the "Dragon Slayer Conference" while traveling here.
If he were to specifically summon people from Jinyang Country to the Great Yun Country to slay the dragon, the sects of the Great Yun Country, like the Celestial Cauldron Sect, would not sit idly by.
After all, the Flood Dragon appeared in the river within the territory of the Great Yun Country, which is an opportunity for the cultivators of the Great Yun Country. The sects of the Great Yun Country, like the Celestial Cauldron Sect, would never wish to see an opportunity within their own country seized by cultivators from another country.
"Is there truly no one who can withstand three moves from me?"
"I hereby promise, anyone who can withstand three moves from me will be rewarded with a Top-grade Spirit Stone from me!"
Left with no choice, Zhao Hao could only dip into his own resources to offer rewards to attract participants.
The Demon Pill of the Tier Five Flood Dragon is extremely useful to him. If he can obtain this item, he can use it to trade with a friend for a Spirit Pill to help him break through to the Late Stage of the Golden Core.
Moreover, the Jiao Soul, Jiao Scales, Jiao Horn, and Flood Dragon Blood are all rare materials for artifact refining and alchemy, with immense value.
In order to obtain these items, putting aside a bit of face is worth it.
Zhouyang, having witnessed the power of Zhao Hao’s three moves, already had a grasp in his heart, but he had not yet decided whether or not to take the stage.
At this moment, hearing Zhao Hao’s somewhat anxious words, he narrowed his eyes, and a decision was made in his heart.
"Junior Zhouyang requests Elder Zhao’s guidance."
Zhouyang flew onto the stage, cupped his hands, and solemnly reported his name.
At this time, he was still using the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique" to hide his cultivation. In the eyes of Wang Wei and other Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, he was just at the Fifth-Layer of Purple Mansion cultivation.
However, in the eyes of Zhao Hao, a Golden Core Stage cultivator, his Seventh-Layer of Purple Mansion cultivation was transparent and could not be hidden from the Dharma Eye of a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
"Your concealing breath technique is rather interesting."
Zhao Hao’s slightly surprised voice suddenly echoed in Zhouyang’s mind, revealing his cultivation truth through the use of telepathy.
This action by the other party increased Zhouyang’s favorability towards him.
The reason why he did not choose to appear with his Seventh-Layer of Purple Mansion cultivation was actually a kind of test.
If Zhao Hao did not give him even this bit of face and exposed his hidden cultivation on the spot, it would mean that this person did not regard any of these Purple Mansion Stage cultivators seriously, and naturally, he would not team up with such a person.
"A trivial skill, unworthy of grand occasions, let this junior bring some laughter to the elder."
Zhouyang replied through sound transmission and then proactively released his magical artifacts to prepare.
He did not, like Wang Wei, wrap himself in layer upon layer of defensive magic because he did not want to expose his Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivation in broad daylight.
He even only summoned one defensive spiritual artifact, which was the "Spirit Turtle Shield" he had refined when he advanced as a Tier Four High-grade Refiner.
However, after the "Spirit Turtle Shield," he also summoned twelve "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords," setting up the "Twelve Celestial Swords Array" in front of himself for defense.
Seeing these preparations, Zhao Hao’s eyes brightened, and then he lightly smiled: "Interesting, your sword array is quite mysterious, it seems you are also a person who understands swords!"
Upon hearing this, Zhouyang responded with neither submissiveness nor arrogance: "In front of an elder, I dare not say I understand swords, merely a little knowledge!"
Zhao Hao naturally did not believe this, as there are very few cultivators in the Cultivation Realm who study sword array techniques, and even fewer who achieve something in it.
With his discerning eyes, Zhao Hao could easily see that the sword array Zhouyang arranged was not simple.
After staring at the sword array in front of Zhouyang for a while, he suddenly said: "I see that this sword array of yours should have offensive power that surpasses its defense. How about this, go ahead and use your sword array to attack me. If I don’t take you down within three moves, you will pass the test."
Zhouyang couldn’t have been happier with this, and immediately replied: "Since the elder is willing to teach, then this junior will make a fool of himself!"
After speaking, he formed a hand seal, and the twelve flying swords instantly transformed into twelve streaks of sword light, encircling Zhao Hao in the center, spinning and dancing.
Then the sword light fell like stars, twelve sword lights akin to twelve meteors successively slashed towards Zhao Hao with a peculiar rhythm.
"First move!"
Zhao Hao used the same technique he had employed against Wang Wei, transforming the sword into thousands to meet the meteor-like flying swords.
In an instant, seven "meteors" were deflected by the sword light, revealing the true form of the flying swords which flew back in retreat.
"Second move!"
Zhao Hao’s low voice continued, the cyan flying sword slashing upward, "ding ding dang dang," instantly breaking the rear five "meteors," and with undiminished momentum, counterattacking towards Zhouyang, ultimately being blocked by the "Spirit Turtle Shield" that protected Zhouyang.
"Third move!"
Zhao Hao exerted himself once more, the cyan giant sword reappearing in the sky, like a sword from beyond the heavens slashing towards Zhouyang.
However, Zhouyang had long been waiting for this sword.
As the cyan giant sword descended, Zhouyang, who was already prepared, immediately pointed a finger, and a golden divine thunder roared down, surpassing the cyan giant sword in hitting it first.
At the same time, Zhouyang opened his mouth wide, and a gold and a red sword qi shot up in tandem, immediately striking the cyan giant sword that had been momentarily slowed by the golden divine thunder.
Thus, hit consecutively by the golden divine thunder and two sharp sword qis, the size of the cyan giant sword was abruptly reduced by nearly half, and by the time it fell, its power was reduced to less than seventy percent of its original strength.
Rumble!
After a loud crash, the cyan giant sword returned to its original size and flew back into Zhao Hao’s hand.
And Zhouyang, who invoked the "Earth Shield" defense divine technique that came with the "Spirit Turtle Shield" to block this strike, staggered back several steps, a flush of abnormal redness flashing across his face, clearly not unscathed.
"How is this possible! He actually succeeded!"
Below the battle stage, Wang Wei stood gaping at Zhouyang, his face filled with disbelief.
Only someone who had personally experienced Zhao Hao’s attack would understand how difficult those three moves were to withstand, and yet Zhouyang, a Fifth-Layer Purple Mansion cultivator, took them all, and without a scratch, caught all three moves. How could this not shock him?
"Could it be that Zhao Hao went easy on him?"
The thought involuntarily popped into his mind, but he quickly shook his head to deny it.
Zhao Hao was recruiting people for slaying the Flood Dragon, not for joining a sect, so he couldn’t possibly go easy.
So, the truth could only be one thing: Zhouyang’s true strength was indeed a notch above his, Wang Wei’s!