Below the arena, many cultivators only saw Zhang Fan surrounded by Pu Ji Zhen Xian's river of swords. No matter how he slashed, he could not break through the move, completely suppressed. The gap in their strength was not small.
"Pu Ji Zhen Xian is indeed the most top-tier existence among the Five-Star Generals. With just one move, the river of swords, he has firmly suppressed Shi Jue Zhen Xian. No matter how he uses his skills, he cannot break through the cage. This exchange has already lost him more than half."
Seeing this, Iron Monkey felt much better. Although he had lost ten immortal treasures, if Zhang Fan lost this battle, it would be forty immortal treasures.
Qiong Yu Zhen Xian and Mu Shan Zhen Xian were also watching in the crowd at this moment.
"Two years ago, Pu Ji Zhen Xian's team encountered a disaster in the Star River. All his teammates perished except for him. This matter dealt him a great blow."
"In the past two years, he has been cultivating in the war base, and his strength is now stronger than before. That Shi Jue Zhen Xian is likely to be defeated."
Qiong Yu Zhen Xian said softly, looking at the elegant figure wielding a three-foot green sword and controlling the river of swords.
"Pu Ji Zhen Xian's strength is indeed very strong." Mu Shan couldn't help but nod, but deep down, he still held a sliver of hope for this newcomer who remained unfazed by honor or disgrace.
...
The people outside the arena could not understand Pu Ji Zhen Xian's feelings. At this moment, he was extremely shocked. Zhang Fan's unadorned sword moves, seemingly ordinary, yet directly pointed to the essence of the Great Dao. Only when facing them directly could he feel this special artistic conception.
That ethereal Great Dao was extremely far from him, but at this moment, he felt infinitely close.
"If I can comprehend the true meaning of this sword art, perhaps I can use it to break through to the Soul Transformation realm!" Pu Ji Zhen Xian was excited internally; he saw the direction of his breakthrough.
Pu Zhen Xian had completely forgotten about winning or losing. His eyes were only on Zhang Fan, or more accurately, on the sword in Zhang Fan's hand.
He moved as he pleased, with no discernible pattern, but the shock and inspiration it gave him were something he had not experienced in many years.
For a cultivator in the Nascent Soul realm to break through to the Spirit Refinement realm, they need to cultivate the rules of a Great Dao to perfection. For a cultivator in the Spirit Refinement realm to break through to the Soul Transformation realm, besides fusing the primordial spirit and the physical body, they also need to grasp the true meaning of the Great Dao.
The Domain of the Great Dao is merely the most basic application after the rules of the Dao are perfected. Every cultivator whose rules are perfected can master and unleash the Domain of the Great Dao. However, the true meaning of the Great Dao needs to be experienced and comprehended personally.
The rules of the Dao are the foundation of the Great Dao, just like a language. Only by mastering enough vocabulary can one write beautiful prose.
The true meaning of the Great Dao is the 'beautiful prose' composed of the rules of the Dao.
"Sword Seven!"
Zhang Fan swung his long sword again. As this sword was brought down, the surrounding river of swords all shattered, and countless sword lights turned into nothingness. One sword broke Pu Ji Zhen Xian's river of swords.
"What pure swordplay, what sharp sword intent!"
Pu Ji Zhen Xian exclaimed involuntarily. As Zhang Fan's nameless sword art unfolded, Pu Ji Zhen Xian's initial calm response turned into immense pressure.
"Sword Eight!"
Zhang Fan's blood sword danced ceaselessly. A sky-piercing sword light traversed the entire决战 arena, continuously compressing space, and slashed towards Pu Ji Zhen Xian.
In Pu Ji Zhen Xian's eyes, what was slashing towards him was not just a sword light, but like a world crushing down upon him, leaving him with no escape.
"Four Seasons Sword Array, deploy!"
Pu Ji Zhen Xian formed a hand seal. Four immortal swords flew out from his brow, containing vast sword Dao rules, and condensed a perfected sword array in front of him.
As the sword light descended, the sword array trembled incessantly, emitting a piercing sword cry.
After a few moments of stalemate, with a muffled sound, the sword light dissipated completely, and the four immortal swords were also sent flying backward, suffering some damage.
"Sword Nine!"
As Zhang Fan's voice rang out, Pu Ji Zhen Xian felt as if the entire world had stopped. His eyes were fixed on that figure, wanting to engrave every movement into his mind.
In this battle, Zhang Fan unleashed nine swords in succession, each with increasing power. He could barely resist the eighth sword with the power of the sword array, but this ninth sword had already exceeded his limits.
As the dazzling sword light flashed, Pu Ji Zhen Xian was cleaved in half. However, a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face, showing no trace of dejection from defeat.
"Fellow Daoist Shi Jue, your sword Dao is unparalleled. I concede defeat wholeheartedly." After his physical body reformed, Pu Ji Zhen Xian cupped his hands to Zhang Fan.
Cultivators in the Spirit Refinement realm began to fuse their physical bodies and primordial spirits. Even if their physical bodies were split in half, they could easily recover by expending some primordial spirit power. Their vitality was extremely strong.
This was also why it was difficult to kill each other between cultivators in the Soul Transformation stage, as long as the gap in strength was not too large.
Without means to destroy the primordial spirit, one would need to continuously deplete the opponent's physical body, causing their primordial spirit to weaken until they could no longer repair their physical body, only then could they achieve a kill.
From this, it could also be seen how powerful the Ten Thousand Beast Cauldron was as a treasure of the Great Dao. Even when facing cultivators stronger than themselves, it could still suppress them and then refine and annihilate them with its power.
"Lost?"
The arena below had fallen into complete silence. The situation had suddenly reversed. Pu Ji Zhen Xian, who had been steadily suppressing Zhang Fan, was instantly defeated within three swords.
One sword destroyed the river of swords, one sword broke the sword array, and one sword decided the outcome.
Such a result was unexpected by many cultivators.
A very small number of them thought Zhang Fan might win, but they never expected that Zhang Fan, by simply using nine sword moves, would make Pu Ji Zhen Xian unable to resist, forcing him to surrender.
"With this one sword, this Shi Jue Zhen Xian's strength is comparable to a Six-Star General. I never expected this." Qiong Yu Zhen Xian was shocked by the strength Zhang Fan displayed, finding it hard to believe that this was a powerful cultivator who emerged from the Savage Star Domain. "With a strength of the mid-stage Spirit Refinement realm, he can achieve the evaluation of a Six-Star General. What do you think, if he cultivates to the peak of the Soul Transformation realm, can he become a King?"
Hearing Qiong Yu Zhen Xian's words, Mu Shan couldn't help but be slightly taken aback. Although he had always believed Zhang Fan was strong deep down, he had never thought in this direction, simply because it was too difficult to become a King.
"Difficult, but there is a sliver of hope," said Mu Shan Zhen Xian.
There were nearly a thousand cultivators in the Soul Transformation stage at the war base, but only one of them could become a King, illustrating the difficulty of achieving Kingship.
"Why compete in anything other than this, to choose to compete in sword Dao with Master? Is that something ordinary people can do?" Nan Zun chuckled lightly. Zhang Fan was someone who cultivated the rules of sword Dao to perfection in the Nascent Soul stage, how could he be comparable to an ordinary Spirit Refinement realm cultivator?
"Eighty immortal treasures, what an easy gain." Blood Demon Flood Dragon's eyes were filled with immortal treasures. Of these many immortal treasures, none were for him.
Bone Fin Zhen Xian watched this scene from below the arena and could only shake his head helplessly. Although he had lost twenty immortal treasures, he did not blame Pu Ji Zhen Xian in his heart at all, because he understood that if it were him, the final outcome would be the same.
...