A woman with a dignified and beautiful face, dressed in blue, flew up from the crowd of Qingfeng Villa disciples and landed within the battlefield.
As she landed, an ice-blue lotus bloomed beneath her feet. The cold ice spread out like a blooming lotus. In just over ten breaths, the once pitted ground was instantly covered in frost.
The referee from the Buddhist sect exchanged a glance with Monk Tongyuan, and after a silent telepathic exchange, he announced:
"Second match of the Nascent Soul stage, Shi Sen from the [Boundless Buddhist Alliance]."
Immediately after, a bald, burly man in red monk robes, riding a crimson escape light, landed before Wu Luan.
"Little beauty, surrender. I'll spare your life. It would be a shame to burn such a beautiful maiden to a crisp."
Shi Sen, upon entering the arena, arrogantly tried to intimidate Wu Luan into forfeiting. However, Wu Luan merely glanced at him, showing no interest even in looking again, let alone replying.
She rose from the ground and looked at Ke Jimei, saying, "Two referees, announce the start."
"Then, let it begin."
As Ke Jimei announced the start, an ice lotus artifact lifted Wu Luan to a height of eighty zhang. Simultaneously, a large amount of blue ice-elemental spiritual energy surged towards Shi Sen.
"Little thing, how audacious! Vajra Fury!"
Shi Sen was enveloped in golden flames, appearing like a wrathful deity.
He didn't use any spells; instead, he himself became a giant fire-elemental spell. The extreme heat melted the ground that Wu Luan had just frozen. In just a few breaths, the ground was scorched.
"Lotus Blooms on Snow Mountain!"
Before Wu Luan could finish speaking, she waved her jade hand. Instantly, a blue ice lotus the size of a bowl shot out from her hand, directly piercing towards Shi Sen.
Where the blue ice lotus passed, the air hissed and white smoke rose, followed by continuous cracking sounds.
The very air was frozen!
"Fairy, what a cruel heart! Watch this humble monk deliver you to salvation."
Shi Sen's expression changed slightly. He hastily waved his hand, summoning a censer-shaped artifact. He directly awakened its artifact spirit, causing it to transform into a Vermilion Bird wreathed in fire, which flew to meet the blue ice lotus.
The Vermilion Bird danced in the sky, flames soaring.
Yang Hong, watching from the sidelines, frowned again.
"The Buddhist sect is truly shameless. This censer artifact is indeed a fifth-tier artifact, but a fifth-tier artifact with an artifact spirit is more powerful than an ordinary sixth-tier superior-grade artifact, comparable to a seventh-tier artifact!"
"Bald donkey, the Buddhist sect is truly wealthy!"
"Heh heh... This is Shi Sen's own accumulation, unrelated to the Buddhist sect. However, if the benefactor is willing to join the Buddhist sect, this old monk can help the benefactor secure more resources and guarantee your ascension to the Buddhist realm."
Tongyuan grew increasingly fond of Yang Hong.
Just moments ago, Qingfeng Villa had also won their Qi Refining stage battle against the Immortal sect with a crushing three-zero victory.
Qingfeng Villa was exceptionally skilled at teaching their disciples. He wanted to truly win Shi Sen over, perhaps by offering him a position as a Dharma Transmission Elder.
Yang Hong directly retorted, "I prefer ascending to the Immortal realm."
"Fellow Daoist, then join the [Immortal Alliance]!"
Ancestor Zhaoyang suddenly chimed in with an invitation. Yang Hong gave him a white-eyed look, letting him figure it out himself!
He turned his attention back to the battlefield, a bad premonition stirring within him.
As soon as the fiery Vermilion Bird touched Wu Luan's blue ice lotus, a surge of blue cold air erupted from within the ice lotus. It instantly extinguished the flames on the Vermilion Bird and then continued its momentum, sweeping towards Shi Sen.
However, at this moment, Shi Sen's body flashed with golden light, and he had already transformed into a crimson streak of light, retreating towards the formation's protective barrier at the edge of the battlefield.
Even so, the terrifying blue glacier instantly covered more than half of the battlefield's ground, naturally including Shi Sen, who was within the combat zone.
To freeze a hundred miles in a single move was not the power of an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator. That blue ice lotus was a treasure Wu Luan had nurtured for a long time, and Ke Jimei had also infused it with Yin-attributing spiritual energy.
Wu Luan had seized the opportunity of Shi Sen's initial underestimation to unleash such a treasure, which had only been fully activated now.
"Arrogant and foolish stinking man, die!"
In the sky, Wu Luan looked at Shi Sen, frozen at the edge of the battlefield. A cold smile flickered across her pretty face. She raised her hand, and a blue spirit talisman was immediately activated, transforming into numerous blue ice spears, each several zhang long, piercing towards Shi Sen.
"You are the one who will die!"
Shi Sen roared, activating his [Vajra Dharmakaya]. His body became resplendent with golden light, and the blue ice that encased him was directly cracked apart by his brute force.
Then, he spat out a small black shield densely covered with red patterns. It flew out of his mouth and transformed into a large shield, blocking the blue ice spears.
Crackling... Crackling...
This black shield was another fifth-tier superior-grade artifact. Although it lacked an artifact spirit, its hardness was no less than a sixth-tier artifact.
The power of the ice cones formed by fifth-tier talismans seemed so weak before the black shield, like tofu hitting a wall.
Concurrently, Shi Sen waved his hand, and a fifth-tier mid-grade offensive spirit talisman, "Heavenly Halberd Splits Mountains Talisman," was immediately activated. It transformed into a golden halberd, ten zhang long, cleaving through the air towards Wu Luan.
Facing this strike that could split even mountains, Wu Luan's pretty face also changed. She hastily retrieved another fifth-tier mid-grade spirit talisman and activated it, transforming it into a frost dragon, thirty zhang long, which flew to meet the golden halberd.
Rumbling!
Fifth-tier spells clashed in the air. The terrifying spell energies spread out, shattering most of the ice on the ground and forcing both Shi Sen and Wu Luan to retreat repeatedly.
However, Shi Sen, protected by the black shield, only retreated a few hundred zhang before steadying himself. Wu Luan, on the other hand, retreated several thousand zhang before stopping.
Before the residual spell energies had completely dissipated, Shi Sen stomped his feet and transformed into a crimson arrow, shooting forward!
Facing this attack of terrifying speed, Wu Luan's expression changed again. She instantly activated her remaining three fifth-tier spirit talismans. The ice lotus beneath her feet was also shot out to block in front of her.
Bang-bang-rumbling...
Shi Sen's body, amplified by spells, was as hard as vajra, and his flames burned everything. Wu Luan's defenses were all torn through like thin paper.
It was only when she finally self-detonated her ice lotus artifact that she managed to block slightly.
*Splat*...
Wu Luan used the impact of the explosion to retreat rapidly, but she was still injured. She coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face turning as pale as white paper in an instant.
However, she still managed to retreat beyond the formation's light barrier before Shi Sen could collide with her.
Ke Jimei, who was prepared, timely blocked Shi Sen's violent strike.
"Second match of the Nascent Soul stage, Shi Sen of the [Boundless Buddhist Alliance] wins!"
Without giving Shi Sen or the Buddhist sect's referee a chance to react, Ke Jimei immediately declared the end of the match.
"..."
The referee from the Buddhist sect opened and closed his mouth several times before finally giving up. He wanted Shi Sen to pursue his victory, but he dared not break the rules of the combat.
He could only concur with Shi Sen's victory.
Although Shi Sen had won, he still looked remorseful, his gaze towards Wu Luan filled with murderous intent!