The wave of clouds was pierced through by the swords.
The black and white fishes on top of Chen Jingzhai had moved toward his back.
The monochrome colors were gone. Instead, the two fishes had regained their forms as swords briefly before turning into a pair of wings made out of swords.
The young man flapped his wings and continued to charge forward, ignoring the man who had just tried to stop him.
It was as if the clouds were welcoming him as they were split apart by him, revealing a straight path toward the stage.
In just an instant, Chen Jingzhai had disappeared from Feng Liuyun’s sight.
“F*ck!” Feng Liuyun cursed as he had a twisted expression on his face.
His eyes were filled with anger as well.
He had come prepared.
The spell that he had just used against his Master-Uncle was the orthodox spell of the Divine Cloud lineage.
It was a spell that would summon waves after waves of clouds to attack and wear its target out.
And yet, the outcome was not what he had expected.
What surprised Feng Liuyun the most was that Chen Jingzhai was able to split his spell in half when the latter didn’t even walk in the Path of Sword.
Not only was he confused, but he felt as if his pride had taken a huge hit.
In front of the Heaven and Earth Palace on Daoxuan Peak, Peak Master Yang exclaimed, “It’s the Yin Yang Formation! To be more precise, it’s the Yin Yang Sword Formation!”
“That’s right. He has established his foundation with the Yin Yang Formation, so, naturally, he’s best suited with the Yin and Yang.” Mrs. Yang smiled. “Although it’s called a sword formation, it’s more like he’s reflecting the Yin and Yang through the swords.”
Both of the swords that Chen Jingzhai possessed represented the Yin and the Yang, which were the light and the darkness. Instead of fighting with the swords, he used them to set up the Yin Yang Formation.
Once set, the formation would resonate with the formation pattern inside his body and form the shapeless sword vapor.
The correct way to explain the phenomenon was that Chen Jingzhai had combined the power of formations with swords.
It was more like a shortcut, but it was the normal method that a formation master would use.
“You’re right! I have got to give props to Feng Liuyun, though. He gathered the clouds to attack junior brother. But unfortunately for him, his opponent is his Master-Uncle.
“There’s no way our junior brother would lose to that.” Mrs. Yang grinned.
The methods of the Divine Cloud lineage were similar to those of the Dream Celestial lineage. They both deployed a lot of illusions in their spells.
In the end, the spell that Feng Liuyun had used was actually a powerful illusion technique.
Other than the actual damage from the clouds and wind, an illusion attack was hidden in it as well.
If their target were hit by an attack, their divine mind would get damaged, and they would be pulled into an illusion.
They would experience the horror of facing the attacks of infinite typhoons from all sides.
If one were not able to withstand the illusion, their divine mind would get seriously damaged, and their actual body might suffer as well.
If there were other disciples, even those from the Three Great Sword Branches, they would never have walked out of the attack unharmed.
Yet, Chen Jingzhai was a person who had passed all the tests of the twenty-eight. It proved that he had a mature mind and a refined divine mind.
Unless a Golden Core Sage were to attack him using the same technique, he would be able to split it all apart with his swords.
Back in the Sea of Clouds, Chen Jingzhai had already moved far ahead of Feng Liuyun, but the latter didn’t waste his time and tried his best to catch up.
The moment Feng Liuyun flew out of the wave of clouds, he saw the shadow of a huge black sky whale blocking the path.
He beamed excitedly as he did not expect other people to try to stop Chen Jingzhai.
A person in black robes stood on top of the black whale.
Although the whale was nothing more than a shadow, its head and tail had actual forms.
The black whale’s head was huge, but it was ugly with scales and a pair of whiskers.
Even though it was black, it had a smooth exterior that shone in the sunlight.
Its tail was huge and long. Every single movement its tail made would kick up a storm.
With the powerful tail, the whale was able to move swiftly despite its huge body.
It was now blocking Chen Jingzhai’s path.
The whale’s body was hidden inside the cloud, and only its head and tail were visible.
One would mistake it for an ancient divine beast that had lived in the clouds for a long time.
“Aren’t you Chen Fuxiao from Sky Whale Peak?”
“Apologies in advance, Master-Uncle,” the man on the whale said and threw a punch at Chen Jingzhai despite the considerable distance between them.
Before Chen Jingzhai could even reply, the black whale roared.
It raised its tail high and brought it down toward him.
“Yes!” Feng Liuyun exclaimed in his head as he did not stop advancing.
He was so excited that he almost cheered loudly. But, instead, he clenched his fists tightly and grinned.
Chu Jingsong was not the only talented genius in Sky Whale Peak.
Even though Chen Fuxiao was younger than Chu Jingsong, they were almost on the same level.
The most important part was that the former had been in Seclusion Training during the secret zone expedition.
Feng Liuyun had also heard rumors that Chen Fuxiao had been getting into fights with Chu Jingsong ever since he had joined the branch.
That was why Chen Fuxiao would never be friendly toward Chen Jingzhai, who had shown favor toward Chu Jingsong.
“What the actual…”
However, a few seconds later, the grin on Feng Liuyun’s face was immediately replaced with a shocked one.
Chen Jingzhai was not swept away by the black whale’s humongous tail.
Instead, he used the swing to propel himself even further.
He then increased his flight speed even further, leaving a trail of gold and silver light in his wake.
Chen Jingzhai was now moving way faster than before.
Not only did Chen Fuxiao not intend to stop Chen Jingzhai from advancing, he even helped his Master-Uncle move faster.
The scene had only made Feng Liuyun go insane.
There was no way for him to catch up to his Master-Uncle anymore.
Instead, the storm that was kicked up by the black whale’s attack had affected Feng Liuyun. He had no choice but to circulate his spiritual power to stabilize himself.
He looked up and sighed, knowing he had failed to stop Chen Jingzhai.
Only a few minutes had passed since the stage appeared, but the difference between the disciples was already as clear as day.
Among them, the disciples of the Three Great Sword Branches were in the lead.
Along with the sword branches were the disciples of Heavenly Artisan Peak, Yunchao Peak, Lijian Peak, and Sky Whale Peak.
The disciples of Sky Whale Peak even manifested their sky whales to try and take the first place.
The whales were agile and menacing at the same time.
Most of the disciples had to slow down as the whales flew past them.
The disciples of Heavenly Artisan Peak were in the lead, too, because they flew using their spiritual items and puppets.
Most item alchemists had their flight spiritual items, and puppet masters had flying puppets too.
As for Yunchao Peak and Lijian Peak, they had their unique flying spells.
Compared to them, the disciples of Daoxuan Peak were slow.
All of them, including Li Yifei, were far behind those in the lead.
Although they had set up flying formations among the clouds, they still weren’t able to catch up.
However, because of Chen Fuxiao’s attack, they were able to surpass the disciples of Divine Cloud Peak and Wine Celestial Peak and catch up with the disciples of Dream Celestial Peak.
They were now ranked in the middle, along with Dream Celestial Peak and Divine Tower Peak.
Other than those in the lead, Divine Flame Peak was the only one in front of them.
“Unfortunately, if Jingzhai were to learn the Daoxuan Formation as his first formation, he might be able to rank first since the formation is able to reverse the outcome.”
Daoxuan Peak was known for its Daoxuan Formation.
It was an extremely complicated formation that only a few Foundation Establishment Plane disciples could master.
It would be hard for Chen Jingzhai to be among the few to reach the stage first, but it would’ve been different if he knew how to deploy the Daoxuan Formation. Then, he would be able to reverse his outcome with the ones in the lead and get the first place.
Zeng Wangbei was able to shock the others in the previous Zhengdu Battle because of the same formation.
“How long do you think it’ll take him to master the Daoxuan Formation?” Mrs. Yang asked.
“I’m not sure, but it’s best if he can master it as his second formation,” Peak Master Yang instantly replied. “Since he has decided to use the Yin Yang Formation as his foundation, he should follow it up with the Daoxuan Formation next and the Heaven and Earth Formation after that. These will help him establish a stable foundation.”
Mrs. Yang raised her head with a hint of hesitation in her eyes.
In the end, she was Chen Jingzhai’s direct senior sister, and she was the one who wanted to see him grow the most.
“However, he has decided on walking the Path of Technique Creation. I’m afraid that the Daoxuan Formation might not suit him well,” she said. “Isn’t it better to support the Yin Yang Formation with the Heaven and Earth Formation and the Life and Death Formation?”
“That’s up to him.” Peak Master Yang shook his head. “He will know what’s best to assist him in his journey through the Path of Technique Creation. We can’t decide for him, and you don’t have to… Huh?”
Before he could even finish his sentence, he and his wife turned to look at the Sea of Clouds.
Among the thick clouds, a golden light shone brightly.