Sole Contender
Sole Contender
"GO!" Que Cheng's agreement was the catalyst for Shen Ting's resounding bellow as he launched himself toward the battlefield's exit. In his hasty retreat, he didn't neglect to unleash a barrage of attacks from his battle drum.
Shen Ting harbored no illusions about Que Cheng's promise, understanding that it held no true weight. If Que Cheng spared him, Qin Wentian could just as easily end his life. Thus, in this critical moment, the wisest course of action was an expedited escape. This way, Qin Wentian and Que Cheng would engage in a race to shatter his battle drum, rather than a contest over who could claim his life.
The remaining experts from the Great Earth Sect followed suit, making a hurried escape. Que Cheng, as anticipated, turned his attention to Shen Ting, preparing to fulfill his earlier expectations.
While Shen Ting's decision displayed intelligence, he had unfortunately underestimated Qin Wentian's reaction.
Sword beams sliced through the air, rendering the Great Earth Sect's disciples defenseless. In the absence of their connection to Shen Ting's battle drum, they proved utterly vulnerable, unable to withstand even a single strike. Shen Ting's visage contorted in abject terror as he locked eyes with Qin Wentian. A colossal palm imprint materialized, seizing him with a deafening clap, causing his bones to shatter. Qin Wentian then cast his icy gaze upon Shen Ting.
"BOOM!" Que Cheng shattered Shen Ting's battle drum, empowering himself further with the plundered battle spirit.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Shen Ting's fear-stricken gaze remained fixed on Qin Wentian. This man was a lunatic, opting to kill him rather than contend with Que Cheng to break the drum. What manner of madness drove him?
"I'm teaching you a lesson in conduct. Unfortunately, death is the price you must pay," Qin Wentian retorted coldly.
Shen Ting's expression soured, his hatred-filled gaze locked onto Qin Wentian as he spat, "Why? Even if you kill me, you'll meet the same fate at Que Cheng's hands."
"Ever since he awakened the ox demon, his fate was sealed," Qin Wentian replied calmly. "I killed Ye Kongfan, who had a cultivation base at the fifth level. Even if Que Cheng is stronger than Ye Kongfan, my seventh-level cultivation base makes me unafraid of his attempts to shatter your drum. You all said I lacked the qualifications to be arrogant despite possessing an Immortal Martial Medallion. Allow me to clarify something: while the medallion may not represent everything, none of you possess the capacity to attain one. Why should I, Qin Wentian, concern myself with any of you?"
"You're mad, utterly mad!" Shen Ting writhed and screamed. After hearing Qin Wentian's words, he realized that Qin Wentian had never regarded him and Que Cheng with any respect from the outset. Even though Que Cheng now held greater power, Qin Wentian remained unfazed. What if Que Cheng plundered an extra battle spirit? In Qin Wentian's eyes, he was still insignificant. This level of audacity was staggering, this level of arrogance, unprecedented.
"You don't comprehend," Qin Wentian declared. He forcefully struck his battle drum, and in an instant, Shen Ting was reduced to a gory pulp, a life extinguished in the blink of an eye.
The hearts of Ye Lingshuang and the others behind Qin Wentian quivered as they gazed upon his retreating form. This individual was truly audacious.
Que Cheng's body crackled with lightning, and amethyst serpents and dragons danced around him. The ceaseless rumble of thunder filled the air as he exuded an aura of utter devastation.
Qin Wentian's words to Shen Ting applied to Que Cheng as well. This arrogance held nothing and no one in its regard.
Whether it was Shen Ting or Que Cheng, they both harbored dissatisfaction over Qin Wentian's acquisition of a medallion. Yet, as Qin Wentian had pointed out, possessing a medallion did not guarantee superiority. However, the tone behind his words exuded an overwhelming sense of dominance.
"I possess the medallion, yet you all dared to claim I lack the audacity?" Qin Wentian's words reverberated with unyielding pride as he stared down Que Cheng and Shen Ting, the tension in the air thickening by the second. The intensity of his self-assured gaze was palpable, radiating the aura of an undisputed overlord.
BOOM!
With a powerful stomp, Que Cheng catapulted himself onto his battle drum. An array of ghostly drum silhouettes materialized around him, each strike producing an echoing resonance.
"The truth will reveal all. COME!" Que Cheng's voice thundered, and the battle drums vibrated as violent lightning surged, painting the space between them a vivid violet. The thunderous roar of unbridled lightning and thunder surged toward Qin Wentian.
BOOM!
Qin Wentian, too, vaulted onto his battle drum, eliciting a symphony of drumbeats. His sword qi soared into the heavens, clashing head-on with the oncoming torrents of lightning and thunder, extinguishing them with grace and precision.
Both lightning and sword emphasized their attacks, both radiating unrelenting power.
In the sky, streaks of wrathful lightning bolts and frenzied sword qi clashed repeatedly. Shockwaves of devastation ripped through the surroundings, causing the very earth to tremble.
"Feel the baptism of lightning!" Que Cheng's blood surged with power as drumbeats resounded relentlessly through the air. The lightning around him coalesced into a myriad of ferocious whips, slicing through the air as they swayed menacingly. Each whip pulsed with a destructive energy and gleamed with perilous light.
Simultaneously, Qin Wentian's own bloodline surged. Demonic energy surged skyward as he unleashed the Fiend Art Transformation. His eyes deepened, and the arrogance of demonkind shone forth, intensifying with every passing moment.
Swish!
The lightning whips surrounding Que Cheng lashed out at Qin Wentian, and their blinding white light hinted at the imminent destruction they bore.
With a furious palm strike, Qin Wentian's drumbeats echoed, and a Heaven-Breaking Finger materialized in the sky. Boundless sword qi whistled, spiraling and cleaving through everything in its path. Qin Wentian turned the tables, shattering the onslaught of whips beneath the might of the Heaven-Breaking Finger. As the remaining whips descended, Qin Wentian's eyes gleamed with a cold light, sensing the numbing energy they contained. Not only did these whips harbor destructive power, but their strikes also caused the victim's body to go numb, rendering them easy prey.
"If this is your full strength, I'm afraid it's insufficient," Que Cheng coldly retorted. Originally at the eighth level of Heavenly Dipper, Que Cheng's cultivation, when combined with his battle drum, had been elevated to the same level, enabling him to unleash his most formidable attacks at will.
The crackling sounds in the air grew increasingly menacing. Lightning surged as the serpents and dragons composed of electricity converged into a colossal sphere before erupting outward with unparalleled force, morphing into hundreds of thousands of long whips.
"Annihilate!" Que Cheng roared, and the long whips lashed out while the drumbeats reverberated in unison. Lightning danced wildly across the sky as Qin Wentian beheld a deluge of destructive long whips descending upon him. The entire firmament was shrouded in a relentless onslaught of electrifying energy, stifling all who bore witness.
"Rise!" Qin Wentian roared in defiance. His stone platform, inexplicably, began to levitate. Ye Lingshuang and the others were lifted skyward, soaring into the heavens.
Qin Wentian's demonic energy surged to new heights as he underwent a profound transformation. His wings unfurled, wrapping protectively around Ye Lingshuang and his comrades. His piercing gaze surveyed the horizon as he took relentless strides forward, conjuring a tempest of sword qi. He unleashed a relentless assault, unleashing a torrent of palm imprints that blanketed the skies. Unfazed by the impending doom, Qin Wentian hurled himself directly into the web of lightning whips descending upon him.
"Shatter!" Qin Wentian's thunderous cry resounded as sword light and palm imprints collided with the descending network of lightning whips.
Que Cheng emitted a disdainful snort, a frigid puff of air escaping his lips as he unleashed a frenzied onslaught upon his battle drum. Astonishingly, the numerous long whips suspended in the air coalesced into a single, formidable entity, growing exponentially in both thickness and power. This colossal whip deftly obliterated Qin Wentian's sword light and palm imprints.
In response, Qin Wentian's eyes shimmered with a sword-like intensity. An astral heavenly hammer materialized in his grip, soaring upward with a resounding crash. Astonishingly, a multitude of awe-inspiring mountain peaks emerged, saturating the atmosphere with an oppressive weight. These mountains surged upward, creating a temporary barrier that bought Qin Wentian precious moments. Simultaneously, he propelled the stone platform he stood upon forward, relentlessly unleashing a barrage of palm imprints. The sheer force emanating from his strikes sent shockwaves through the fabric of reality, and a cascade of destructive imprints bore down upon Que Cheng.
Que Cheng, however, had prepared well in advance. With a roar of anger, a lightning clone manifested before him, promptly self-destructing to neutralize the force of the palm imprints.
"KILL!" Que Cheng's fury reverberated through his voice as the lightning whip, ignoring all else, slashed toward Qin Wentian with blinding speed. "One of us will die today!"
Confidence oozed from Que Cheng; he believed that there was no way Qin Wentian could evade his impending demise.
Unleashing his madness, Qin Wentian continued to assault his battle drum, hurling mountains skyward to intercept the lightning whip's deadly descent. With relentless determination, he unleashed another volley of palm imprints, each brimming with overwhelming might. The intensity of his strikes sent ripples through the void, bearing down upon Que Cheng.
"It's futile; you are already dead!" Que Cheng roared defiantly. Another lightning clone formed before him, intercepting Qin Wentian's attack.
Yet, Qin Wentian appeared unfazed. Gathering his strength, he pounded on his battle drum once more. This time, however, there was an eerie silence; the drum produced no sound.
BOOOOOOM!
A gruesome scene unfolded in Que Cheng's mind—a lightning clone he had formed in a desperate attempt to defend himself, followed by a nightmarish intrusion into his sea of consciousness.
"DIE!"
A sharp, chilling voice echoed as a blood-red halberd materialized from the void, thrusting through Que Cheng's forehead and sending a gush of crimson spraying into the air.
The once-menacing whip, fueled by lightning energy, hung limp in the sky as its vitality waned. Qin Wentian unleashed another palm strike, aimed at the remaining disciples from the Violet Thunder Sect.
Deep, resounding rumbles filled the air as Que Cheng's battle drum and the stone platform he stood upon crumbled to pieces. The other Violet Thunder Sect experts faced complete annihilation.
In an instant, a brilliant light shot forth, hurtling toward Qin Wentian. He felt his aura surge past the peak of the seventh and eighth Heavenly Dipper levels, directly ascending to the ninth level.
Que Cheng had been on the brink of the eighth level, but after Qin Wentian plundered his battle spirit, Qin Wentian soared directly into the ninth level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm.
"RUMBLE!" Stone platforms crumbled one after another as numerous battle drums hurtled toward the stone tablet situated behind Qin Wentian.
Qin Wentian turned, his gaze locking onto a radiant brilliance emanating from the stone tablet. The luminous energy coalesced into a shimmering beam that shot toward him, enveloping him entirely.