Chapter 227: Chapter 252: Xia Yushan’s Determination

"Yushan, the time has arrived." Ji Shuye said to the meditating eldest senior brother.

Xia Yushan opened his eyes, and a fierce glint emerged. He looked at Ji Shuye and asked. "Who do you think will win?"

Ji Shuye turned around and started walking out. "The results are unclear. Junior Brother Xi has been in the Unity Realm for around twenty years, and we don't know what he experienced in the Broken Primordial World, returning later than others. And hardly anyone has seen him take action since he entered the Unity Realm. The reports of him fighting Immortal Starsoul of the Nihility Sect is unclear."

Xia Yushan stood up and followed Ji Shuye out of his mansion. 

"You just entered the Unity Realm in less than five years, but thanks to listening to Grand Elder Xi's sermon, you already stepped into the mid Unity Realm. However, Junior Brother Xi has probably gained more benefits, and his advancement is unknown." Ji Shuye continued.

"So you think I'll lose too, huh?" Xia Yushan asked, the glint in his eyes becoming even fiercer. 

"I'm just saying Junior Brother Xi has the higher possibility of winning, but the conclusion still remains unknown. However, Yushan, you must remember that you aren't cultivating to defeat Junior Brother Xi but to surpass yourself. Who cares about others?" Ji Shuye asked.

"How can it be so easy? If we can see things objectively, how many cultivators would have overcome their inner devils? When Junior Brother Xi had just been born, I was already in the Core Formation Realm. But now, he has already surpassed me in mere decades," Xia Yushan said self-deprecatingly as he and Ji Shuye stepped on their flying swords.

"You have an inner devil forming?" Ji Shuye said with concern.

"I don't know. But I know I'm feeling envy towards Junior Brother Xi. For his perfect life and his talent. Sometimes, the Heavenly Dao is so unfair. I once heard Master speaking of the heavenblessed. Among the heavenblessed, Junior Brother Xi must be the luckiest, right?"

Ji Shuye said nothing. After they almost reached the agreed location of the duel, she said, "We can't control the fate of our birth, but we can control our destiny. Sometimes, being born with everything is not lucky. Compared to disciples like us, how many scions of immortal elders fail in the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation?"

"Yes, destiny is in our own hands," Xia Yushan said as he landed.

The location of a duel was one of the specialized dueling arenas in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Unlike the regular sparring arenas clustered together, this one was on an elevated peak alone, and numerous spectators had already arrived.

Xia Yushan saw his master, Sect Master Xia, and numerous other immortal elders who came to watch the excitement. Even the solitary Grand Elder Xi had arrived, causing numerous disciples to look towards her instead of the arena.

Wei Daying, Heng Huesheng, and even the rising star Zi Zun, who had entered the Nascent Soul Realm within a hundred years, were present. Though, Xia Yushan could do without that damn Lovespot's presence. He even had an infuriating smirk. It was much more pleasing than the hypocritical smile plastered on his face but still infuriating nonetheless.

Xia Yushan had to raise an eye as he saw Su Wanyu, the previous eldest senior disciple. Though, her attention wasn't so much on the battle but rather focused on burning a hole in Lovespot's head through her gaze alone.

Already in the arena, Xia Yushan saw a young man of around twenty, wearing purple robes with dragon designs and a gold coronet atop his head, waiting for him. His hands were clasped behind his back with a leisurely expression.

"Junior Brother Xi," Xia Yushan said as he stepped onto the arena.

Tianyi smiled and cupped his hand together. "Senior Brother Xia."

The two stood in awkward silence for an uncomfortably long period of time. Finally, Tianyi couldn't stand it anymore and asked, "Should we start?"

Xia Yushan nodded and saluted. "Disciple Xia Yushan, please advise." 

Tianyi returned the gesture. "Disciple Xi Tianyi, likewise."

Xia Yushan immediately drew his sword and noticed that Tianyi didn't have his usual sword at his waist. "Do you expect to defeat me without using your weapon?"

Tianyi coughed into his hand. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that it got destroyed...accidentally, so I'm currently without a sword. But you don't have to worry. With or without a sword, there's no difference."

'Are you saying that you don't need your sword to defeat me? I'll show you the error of your arrogance!' Xia Yushan rushed towards Tianyi, his sword flowing like water in a continuous combo aimed at lacerating its target.

Had it been anyone else, they might have been pushed back by the flowing strikes, but Tianyi's figure simply blurred. His body seemed to stretch from the sheer speed of his movement. Even with Xia Yushan's experience and expertise, he couldn't keep up.

Xia Yushan stopped his attack and backstepped a few times. 'It seems that I can't defeat him with mere swordplay.'

He had to take a few breaths to calm down as he saw Tianyi not even breaking a sweat, as if telling him that his swordplay was nothing. Xia Yushan took a few breaths to calm down. 'Xi Tianyi isn't like that. I'm letting my emotions affect my judgment.'

Xia Yushan raised his sword to eye level and brandished the tip towards Tianyi. A slaughterous intent coated his sword. 

Tianyi raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect Xia Yushan to have mastered sword intent.

In a split second, Xia Yushan's sword turned red, and he reappeared in front of Tianyi, hacking down. The air around the two had turned fiery hot, and all the moisture seemed to have disappeared.

Still, Tianyi remained unfazed as he shifted his body and dodged Xia Yishan's sword by the slimmest of margins. Xia Yushan immediately retreated with shock in his eyes.

His blade turning red was only the surface change. He had used a technique known as Incineration Sword Art. The technique covered the user's sword in invisible flames, expanding its height and width. Anything that came into contact would be burned to dust. Despite that, Tianyi, who only dodged the visible blade by the slimmest margin, was completely unharmed.

'Did he use a defensive technique? No, I can't detect any qi fluctuation at all. In fact, I can only see him with my physical senses, and I can't detect him at all with my spiritual senses. I originally thought his presence became undetectable because he was in the Unity Realm while I was in the Nascent Soul Realm. But even as a unity venerable, I can't detect him at all. Just what method is he using?' Xia Yushan's mind was sent into overdrive as he stared at Tianyi warily.

An earthen yellow and metallic white aura shrouded Xia Yushan's sword as he resumed his attack. Wherever his sword pointed, sword-shaped steel spikes would shoot out towards Tianyi. 

Tianyi finally didn't have the leisure of dodging anymore as his hands blurred and shattered the steel spikes with his fist. 

'Gotcha!' Xia Yushan thought as he brought his sword down on Tianyi's exposed back.

However, faster than Xia Yushan could process, Tianyi had turned around and punched his lifebound artifact.

Xia Yushan flew back and barely managed to stop himself by stabbing his sword into the arena to diffuse the force. Blood leaked from his hand due to the force transmitted through the sword. His face had paled as he felt his lifebound artifact almost crack under Tianyi's punch.

Ignoring the number in his hand, Xia Yushan stood up and glared at Tianyi. "Are you making fun of me?!"

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Tianyi blinked. "I'm not—"

"Lies!" Xia Yushan shouted. "Your fleshly strength is obviously superior to mine, yet you're only on the defense. Are you trying to tell me that nothing I do would hurt you! Are you looking down on me!?"

Tianyi sighed and entered a martial stance. "Alright. Don't blame me then."

His body blurred, and before Xia Yushan knew it, Tianyi had appeared in front of him, fist nearing his chest. Xia Yushan held his sword in front of him and was knocked back, but before he could sigh in relief, he felt something knock him forward.

After tumbling on the arena, Xia Yushan managed to roll into a standing position to see Tianyi with his foot still raised. 'He's still not taking me seriously. The first time he punched my lifebound artifact, he nearly shattered. The second time didn't do nearly as much damage.'

Xia Yushan took a deep breath and held his sword with both hands, and a hint of killing intent emerged. The slaughterous intent covering his sword soon shrouded him, making him and the sword appear as one. 

He waved his sword, and five lights erupted: fiery red, watery black, earthen yellow, verdant green, and metallic white. The five lights condensed into a five-colored, five-petaled lotus with Tianyi at the center.

"Five Element Sword Lotus Mill, condense!" 

On order, the five-colored lotus started to revolve. The Five Element Sword Lotus Mill was a technique in the Five Element Sword Art. Anything inside would not be able to withstand the erosion effect of the technique since it counteracted the five foundational elements that made up everything.

But Tianyi seemed to be an exception to that rule as he just stood inside as if unaffected.

No, he was doing something, Xia Yushan had realized. The five-colored was continuously shrinking, and as the wielder, Xia Yushan could tell that his technique's energy was being absorbed.

Xia Yushan quickly transformed the five-colored, five-petal lotus into his five-element incarnations. The lotus leaf split apart and transformed into Xia Yushan's appearance bearing the same color of the petal they had been transformed from. At the same time, the lotus stem and core had sunk into the ground and formed a yin yang diagram. 

Tianyi looked down in surprise, never expecting Xia Yushan to have learned a yin yang technique. It was slight, but he could feel space compress around him, not that it affected him much.

Xia Yushan and his five incarnations attacked. Tianyi dodged Xia Yushan's attack and aimed at the five-element incarnations. The sound of balloons popping could be heard as Tianyi instantly destroyed all of Xia Yushan's incarnations, causing him to collapse onto his knee, face pale.

Incarnations weren’t just constructed out of qi but also the user's spiritual sense. If the damage to the spiritual sense was large enough, it could even harm the user's soul, and Xia Yushan had obviously suffered such harm.

He gazed up and glared at Tianyi. Although they were incarnations, each one represented nearly eighty to ninety percent of his strength. If Tianyi could so easily destroy his incarnations, wouldn't this mean Tianyi could easily defeat him too?

Seeing the hate in Xia Yushan's eyes, Tianyi sighed. "Senior Brother, give up. You can't defeat me."

Xia Yushan struggled to his feet and pointed his sword at Tianyi. "That remains to be seen."

At this moment, a shout could be heard from the crowd. "GO, YUSHAN, SHOW HIM WHO'S THE STRONGEST DISCIPLE OF THE GENERATION!!!"

Tianyi could only smile wryly at Ji Shuye's cheering.

Soon, another voice he recognized as Jian Wuyan could be heard. "NO WAY, PRINCE XI IS DEFINITELY THE STRONGEST!!!"

Xia Yushan took another deep breath and ignored the commotion. All he could see now was Tianyi. The five-element incarnations had been destroyed, but their qi still lingered. Under his control, it merged into his sword. Not only that, but the yin yang formation also dispersed into a black and white qi that was absorbed by Xia Yushan.

Tianyi's eyes narrowed as he eyed Xia Yushan's sword. He could faintly feel a hint of danger from Xia Yushan.

Off of the arena, Mengfei's hand twitched.

"Grand Elder Xi, please stay your hand," Sect Master Xia quickly said upon noticing. He could already feel sweat coating his temples. 'Yushan, why are you using such a dangerous move? This is a spar, not a life and death battle.'

Seeing Mengfei having no intention of stopping, he quickly spoke. "Grand Elder Xi, if you take action now, it will adversely affect your position. This is a duel between two disciples. If you interfere, the other elders might use this as a point of contention. You'll ruin Grand Elder Zhang's efforts in absolving you of your previous mistake."

Due to arbitrarily leaving the Huang Realm, it caused a considerable hiccup in the Buzhou Immortal Sect's plans. Although her action ended with a positive result of saving Grand Elder Zhang's life, merit and punishment were two different matters.

Sect Master Xia sighed when he saw the indifference in Mengfei's eyes. That's right. She was a lofty immortal sovereign, the only one in the Huang Realm. Would the Buzhou Immortal Sect really risk alienating her? The answer was no.

"Think of Little Xi's reputation. If you step in, won't you make it clear that he can't take care of himself? Trust him, Little Xi won't be defeated." Although it sounded like he was rooting against Xia Yushan, Sect Master Xia was helpless and trying to prevent a bigger problem. 'Thankfully, Redseal has been sealed. With how important Little Xi is to Grand Elder Xi, Redseal might not have walked away alive after she ascended.'

When Mengfei finally lowered her arm, Sect Master Xia released a sigh of relief. Now, he could only hope that Xia Yushan won’t do anything too overboard.

Xia Yushan's sword pierced towards Tianyi. Tianyi wanted to dodge, but the sword naturally veered towards him, no matter what he did. If he couldn't dodge it, then Tianyi planned on confronting it head-on.

But the moment his hand touched the sword, he could feel his skin about to rupture from contact. Recalling what happened the previous time, Tianyi instantly opened his third eye and shot an eye beam. 

Xia Yushan didn't have time to dodge as he had put everything into this attack. Upon the eyebeam contacting his lifebound artifact, he was knocked a hundred meters back onto his back.

With great difficulty, Xia Yushan stood back up to his feet, but he was obviously in no condition to fight. His face was deathly pale, and fractures coated his sword. Even so, he pointed the tip at Tianyi with eyes full of fighting spirit.

Unfortunately for him, that was all he could do as he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

---

When Xia Yushan awoke again, he saw his master sitting next to his bed.

"Yushan, you don't have to be so disappointed. Xi Tianyi cultivates a special technique. Even true immortals would find it difficult to win against him, so there's nothing shameful about losing," Sect Master Xia said.

Xia Yushan stared at the ceiling for five full minutes before he finally opened his mouth. "Master, I want to cultivate the Emotion Severance Sutra."