Chapter 61 concludes with a final battle against wild beasts. ...

Ning Yu clenched her fists tightly, her whole body involuntarily leaning forward, trying to see clearly who the woman on the stage was.

How could she not be dead? How could she have walked out of the sword formation alive?

Ning Yu stared at her every move in disbelief. He preferred to believe that someone was impersonating Jiang Yuhuo rather than that she could break the sword formation. His gaze seemed to have caught Jiang Yuhuo's attention as well. She raised her head slightly, and her eyes locked onto Ning Yu's position with precision.

That indifferent and ruthless gaze could only belong to Jiang Yuhuo.

Ning Yu's temples began to throb, and a cold sweat broke out on her back. Her eyes told him that she wouldn't let him get away with it.

Qinglin noticed his unusual behavior and quietly pressed Ningyu's hand under her wide sleeve. "What's wrong?"

The slightly cool touch of the hand beside him brought Ning Yu back to his senses, but his mind was in turmoil. He tried to remain calm and reassure Qing Lin by squeezing her hand in return, but the dampness in her palm betrayed her weakness. Qing Lin frowned slightly, her doubts deepening.

All eyes in the room were on that thin and disheveled figure. The cool breeze blowing down from Tianque Mountain gently lifted the stray hairs on her forehead, making her appearance even clearer to everyone.

A pale, indifferent face, clear black and white eyes, lips tightly pressed together, lacking vitality, stubborn and arrogant.

Li Mengbai had a good position; from the stands, he could see everything the people in the audience were doing and expressing. His gaze casually fell on the woman in the audience, sweeping over her again and again, scrutinizing her from head to toe, and finally concluding: this person was really nothing special.

Li Mengbai's gaze wandered several times before stubbornly returning to that person. He was already here, so what harm was there in taking a few more glances? If she hadn't repeatedly summoned him, he wouldn't have bothered coming to watch two people fight in this crowd. No matter where you are, a large crowd always makes things smelly. So what if it's a sect of immortals? They're still just as filthy.

He was simply curious about what kind of person she was. She was neither a spy sent by his clan nor someone who coveted his good looks. So why had she come here?

On the other side of the stands, a corner of the curtain was gently swayed by the breeze, letting the stench of blood mixed with the smell of ashes into the curtain. The white-robed patriarch slightly raised his hand to cover his nose, and the silver snake that had been wrapped around his hand also raised its head, forcefully twitching its nostrils, which were no bigger than pinholes, greedily inhaling the scent in the air.

Jia Yue flicked the silver snake's head; he knew it recognized him too. This belated contestant was none other than the person from the pool that day. He hadn't even settled the score for her deliberately using blood as a fire mark to burn his hair outside the barrier, and now she'd delivered herself right to his doorstep.

The silver snake, though flicked, refused to give up. It was so attached to the scent that it inhaled deeply, even trying to sneak away to the source of the aroma. Only when two fingers firmly pinched its head, completely covering its nostrils, did the silver snake listlessly and obediently coil back around its owner's wrist.

Jia Yue applied considerable pressure, already a minor form of punishment. Since it became so agitated the moment it recognized her, she needed to make it understand who its true master was.

On the competition stage.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Jiang Yuhuo nodded slightly to Mo Sheng in apology.

“I know you won’t run away in the face of battle; there is no fear in your eyes.” Mo Sheng stood opposite her, a head taller than Jiang Yuhuo, his dark eyes looking down at her. “But you lack respect for the contest, and the gods will punish you.”

Jiang Yuhuo was unfamiliar with the rules of Tianque Mountain, unaware that even gods concern themselves with such trivial matters. She couldn't help but chuckle lightly, feigning indifference. She didn't care about gods or anything like that; all she cared about was winning.

After bowing to his opponent before the match, Jiang Yuhuo's most human side was revealed. What followed was a battle of beasts.

There was no period of testing each other; it was a full-on hand-to-hand combat right from the start.

The powerful sword energy raged wildly in the morning light, encircling and surrounding the other side with an overwhelming force, the dazzling sword light blinding the eyes. This was a technique Jiang Yuhuo had learned from last night's sword formation—encirclement and annihilation, leaving the prey nowhere to escape. Only last night's prey was her; now the prey was Mo Sheng.

Ning Yu, watching from the stands, was even more horrified when she saw the familiar sword techniques used by Jiang Yuhuo. Qing Lin, who had been watching intently, had already noticed Jiang Yuhuo's strange behavior. She turned to look at Ning Yu, her eyes icy, "What did you do with the Crimson Gold Seal last night?"

Ning Yu lowered her eyes, concealing her ambiguous emotions.

Qinglin ripped off his veil, revealing a deep, horrific wound on the young man's handsome face, flesh torn away. Ning Yu was horrified and snatched the veil back up hastily. She absolutely couldn't let her master see him like this, absolutely not.

Qinglin closed his eyes heavily and let out a deep sigh. "Last night, you used the golden seal to deal with Jiang Yuhuo, didn't you?"

The disciples around her hurriedly covered their faces, as if they hadn't heard her question. Qing Lin shook her head in disappointment, then suddenly stood up. "Ning Yu, let's go outside and have a proper talk."

This little incident in the stands didn't attract much attention. People only noticed that two decent seats had become empty, but those seats were quickly filled by people behind them. No one noticed that the master and disciple from Chongyuan Peak had already left the stadium.

Jiang Yuhuo's sword formation wasn't as unbreakable as it was reinforced by the golden seal. Mo Sheng was caught off guard by this unprecedented attack, sustaining several cuts. However, he wasn't about to back down. He circulated his spiritual energy to protect himself, crossed two fingers of both hands in front of his chest, and focused his mind to form a hand seal. Immediately, a bolt of lightning descended from the void, shattering the sword energy surrounding him. He had no weapon; he only needed to manipulate incantations, and everything in the world became his weapon.

Seeing how easily he broke through, Jiang Yuhuo was not discouraged and attacked Mo Sheng again with her sword. However, the other party seemed unwilling to face her head-on, using the wide open space to avoid her attacks. If she really couldn't avoid it, she would use her magic to neutralize it, never letting the sword energy get close to her.

The Kunlun Nine Swords are nothing special. Having successfully deflected Jiang Yuhuo's seemingly unstoppable sword intent several times, Mo Sheng couldn't help but scoff inwardly.

"If you only know how to use a sword, you probably are no match for me." Mo Sheng's voice suddenly appeared in her ear. Jiang Yuhuo turned around abruptly, looking shocked, as if she didn't know when he had teleported behind her.

Mo Sheng's sarcasm deepened. She was about to trap Jiang Yuhuo with a spell, "Heavenly Net," when, in shock, Jiang Yuhuo unleashed a sword aura that pierced Mo Sheng's side, instantly staining his white robes with blood. Mo Sheng was filled with regret; she had clearly been prepared, yet his sneak attack had backfired. He possessed profound spiritual power and cultivated magic, so his body was naturally not as robust as the Kunlun disciples who practiced swordsmanship daily. The wound had already turned his face deathly pale, but it had also completely ignited his fighting spirit, making him determined to fight to the death.

Jiang Yuhuo originally intended to take advantage of the opportunity to quickly defeat her enemy with a swift sword strike, but her spiritual power was insufficient to support the consumption of so many high-level sword techniques. However, Mo Sheng was clearly aware of this as well. He put two fingers together, chanted an incantation, and a golden pillar of light descended from the sky, echoing the Tianque Mountain behind the arena. It carried a majestic pressure like a pillar of heaven, determined to smash the people on the ground to pieces.

He wanted to force her to use "Sun and Moon in Harmony." This technique could destroy all power, but it would also deplete her already limited spiritual energy. He had seen her moves and had prepared magical artifacts to defend against her "Sun and Moon in Harmony," waiting for her to follow his plan step by step into his trap.

Jiang Yuhuo looked up at the beam of light that was about to descend upon her. Golden light shone in her eyes, and the light in her black eyes flickered like torches.

She doesn't have much time left.

Jiang Yuhuo, sword in hand, spun around and ascended towards the beam of light.

Isn't she afraid of dying?

Mo Sheng couldn't understand her actions. Why didn't she use "Sun and Moon Shining Together" to break through the force, but instead dared to meet it head-on? Didn't she realize that this force was enough to shatter her to pieces?

The spectators were equally puzzled, especially the Kunlun disciples, who couldn't help but feel worried for her. Then they saw Jiang Yuhuo's light sword surge forth, countless silver rays dancing within the pillar of light. The sword's shadow didn't dissipate; instead, it seemed to solidify, its sharpness fully revealed, like a flying nail driven into the air, rising against the tide.

Did she think she could shred it with just a few sword intents?

Mo Sheng then realized that this man was truly ignorant of his own limitations. He had overestimated her. What good was her superb swordsmanship? She was still just a reckless brute. He had even brought his natal magic weapon specifically for this battle, which was unnecessary.

But as her sword pierced through, the pillar of light that should have descended from the sky failed to arrive. Something had changed in the entire arena, but it was impossible to pinpoint where the change had started.

Some astute people noticed that the wind had stopped, but the clouds in the sky had begun to churn.

Soon, the countless sword lights that were originally traveling through the pillar of light froze, the silver light surged, as if it wanted to burn through everything. The countless sword lights converged into a giant sword, which pierced through the pillar of light. The golden pillar of light was gradually swallowed up by it, and only the silver giant sword remained in the world.

Jiang Yuhuo stopped in mid-air, her sword-wielding hand gathering power behind her. The giant light sword in the air swept across with her movement, and she deftly thrust it forward. The giant sword formed from sword energy went straight towards Mo Sheng's location.

All the energy in the arena was seized by this giant sword. Everyone present felt as if their breath had been taken away. The immense force mercilessly slashed at the tiny white-robed cultivator on the dueling platform.

Such immense power would likely not only kill the disciples of Tianque on the spot, but even their remains would be impossible to piece together intact. Some timid onlookers closed their eyes in advance, and those who had secured good spots even moved back, afraid that fragments of blood and flesh would splatter on them and soil their clothes.

Mo Sheng could no longer care about anything else and immediately activated all his spiritual power. A crystal-clear shard of a celestial pillar emerged from his body and immediately formed a protective barrier in front of him. This was originally his plan to use against her "Sun and Moon Shining Together" move, but the power of this attack had completely exceeded his expectations.

But just as the giant sword was about to reach its target, it suddenly swung upwards, its sword core bypassing the white-robed cultivator's body and heading straight for a small hill in the distance behind him. With a loud crash, the rocks collapsed, and a section of the already low hill was chopped off.

The sword energy swept across Mo Sheng's body. Even though he used a first-grade Heavenly Pillar fragment to block the impact and used all his spiritual power to reinforce the barrier, he was still knocked away. His internal organs churned inside his body, and blood kept gushing from his mouth. He used all his strength to barely grab the stone pillar at the edge of the platform to avoid being knocked off the field. As long as he was still on the field, he could not be considered to have lost.