Sovereign of the Three Realms - Chapter 1771

Chapter 1771: 1771

Having been the foremost genius for a long time in this nation, Xiahou Zong’s pride and confidence was at an indescribable peak . But, the general public had to admit that he had a good reason for his stance .

The ant and tree analogy, well…

Before now, no one had thought much of Jiang Chen – the sacred land’s first prime included . The only exception was Jiang Chen himself .

“A great tree can be felled by only an axe, Xiahou Zong . Perhaps you’re a great tree among the geniuses of this nation, but I will be the edge that cuts you down! Your absurd ego and vanity must be destroyed . Only then can the rest of the geniuses enjoy a clear sky, free from your cloying canopy . ”

As he concluded, Jiang Chen shot a potent ray out of his Evil Golden Eye . The radiant strike burst forth thickly with commanding sharpness . He had chosen to use his eye arts from the outset .

“I hear that you use an ocular skill as well . The ‘Scorching Sun Eye’, was it? Shall we have a little contest of the eyes, then?”

Jiang Chen’s impassive voice was scattered all about Xiahou Zong with no sense of directionality . The fabric of the world shook as he projected his speech in a manner no less impressive than Xiahou Zong’s .

This strange sight astounded the crowd once more . The most they had hoped out of Jiang Chen was to be able to fend off several of Xiahou Zong’s assaults . Even the most imaginative hadn’t expected Shao Yuan to match his opponent in terms of presence .

The momentum, poise, and accompanying tone of ease showed very well that the fight wasn’t necessarily going to be a one-sided slaughter . Shao Yuan had been grossly underestimated!

How many years had it been since there was a youth capable of remotely holding his own against Xiahou Zong? In fact, who had ever witnessed anyone brave enough to challenge Xiahou Zong before?

Today, that record had been broken .

This young man before them had not only confronted Xiahou Zong head on, but hadn’t lost even in the pre-battle details . Even the pressure-based tactics the latter was most adept at didn’t bring about an advantage . Xiahou Zong hadn’t managed to gain an upper hand at all in the beginning .

Xiahou Zong was surprised himself . He had said so much to work up a momentum of his own . His consciousness and aura had begun to expand quite a while ago .

But to his chagrin, his enemy was both resourceful and daring enough to match his pace . Moreover, Shao Yuan was aggressive indeed – he seemed to want to fight toe-to-toe .

Arts of the eye?

Xiahou Zong snickered . “Kid,” he snorted, “it’s rare for me to see another cultivator who can deploy any eye art . You’re far too inferior to duel me, though!”

His consciousness flared up with scorching heat, burning like the midday sun . Solar energy gathered in his eyes, blinding like two miniature orbs of the noblest fire .

Whoosh, whoosh!

Terrifyingly fiery beams blasted forth from his eyes like gouts of potent flame .

“An inconsequential trick . ” Sneering in turn, Jiang Chen parried with two impossibly sharp rays that cut into the scorching ones from his opponent .

Boom!

Two equally domineering ocular skills collided in midair, much like two mortal enemies at berserk odds with each other . Each pair worked hard to cut through or melt the other . For a time, there was a terrifying standstill .

In that same instant, both cultivators moved to launch additional missiles in unspoken consensus . Deadly light sprayed indiscriminately into the air . There was an impromptu battle with the arts of the eye occurring in the airspace above the arena .

A single scratch would be enough to reduce a man to dust and ashes, and the ring was filled with the fatal attacks .

Barely anywhere safe was left to stand . Every inch of room was hellishly dangerous . However, the dueling opponents seemed to have come to an agreement about the mode of their contest . They both pushed their ocular skills to their utmost lethality .

Up until now, Jiang Chen had never met his match in ocular skills before . The two young man were at an unprecedented standoff .

Those watching below from the sacred land grew more hopeful . Yan Qingsang especially clenched his fists even more tightly, his eyes becoming ever more intense .

“I knew he could do it,” his lips trembled .

“What’re you muttering about, Brother Qingsang?” Wu You asked curiously .

“Ah, nothing much,” the young man waved a hand . “I didn’t say anything . ”

Wu You smiled, then looked around . “Oh, yes, did your cousin Yan Qinghuang not come to the tournament?”

Yan Qingsang shook his head . “She didn’t want to put too much pressure on Brother Shao Yuan . ”

Wu You sighed softly, then glanced at the first prime . “First Prime, do you think Brother Shao Yuan has a shot at winning?” he asked in a low voice .

The first prime was still recovering from the throes of amazement . She had never thought Shao Yuan would really rise to meet the challenge . The two youths were just as evenly matched as they had been earlier . She couldn’t predict where the fight would go from now on, but this was a good start .

“Shao Yuan’s ocular skill is rather astonishing . I think his is actually more piercing than Xiahou Zong’s, objectively speaking,” Ziju Min remarked in commentary .

“Indeed, Shao Yuan’s technique is superior,” the first prime nodded . “Xiahou Zong’s art is fueled more by his own cultivation . He seems considerably stronger than before his closed door cultivation . ”

Ziju Min drew a sharp breath . “Did you notice that it’s the same way with Shao Yuan?”

“It looks like their cultivation levels aren’t far apart . What’s with Shao Yuan? Does he have some secret art to temporarily increase his cultivation?” The first prime found the short-term change frankly impossible . After all, everyone knew that Shao Yuan hadn’t broken through to empyrean realm yet when he joined the sacred land .

It had been less than two years since his ascension . There was no way he could’ve broken through multiple times in a single year to reach mid empyrean realm, was there?

That completely defied common sense .

However, the ease with which Shao Yuan was fighting implied that he was probably mid empyrean .

The first prime was utterly confused . The fact that the two young cultivators were still trading ocular blows meant that it was difficult to judge their cultivation levels, which further compounded the problem .

It made sense for Xiahou Zong to have reached mid empyrean realm . He had the talent and the resources to do so . Though Shao Yuan did have the talent, he lacked the reasonable timeframe required to advance so quickly in so short a period of time .

“Come here, Qingsang . ” The first prime glanced at the named youth .

Yan Qingsang complied with the command . “What are your orders, First Prime?”

“You’re close to Shao Yuan . Has he said anything to you recently?”

“Sure . He’s said a lot to me about this tournament . ”

“Anything about Xiahou Zong?” The first prime furrowed her brow .

“Yes, I believe so . I don’t think he was particular anxious about this fight – in fact, he seemed quite matter-of-fact about it . I sometimes had the impression that he really was capable of taking down Xiahou Zong . ” Yan Qingsang was totally truthful .

“Did he really say that?”

“Yes indeed . He treated Xiahou Zong with an inherent cool disdain, rather than the fear and wariness common to others in our generation,” Yan Qingsang vowed .

The first prime was comforted a great deal upon hearing this .

“Good, good, good! A true genius, hmm? I finally believe it myself . Shao Yuan is destined to be an even brighter star than Xiahou Zong . That’s why he doesn’t care about him, I suppose . ”

“Ah, that’s right! He also said that Xiahou Zong was just a minor obstacle, someone he could easily kick aside,” recalled Yan Qingsang .

A wide smile crept across the first prime’s face . “Alright, then . Let’s pay attention to the fight . Shao Yuan might not be able to win today, but he definitely won’t lose badly . ”

She had the reassurance she wanted .

As long as Shao Yuan could remain graceful in defeat, that was a win . After all, how long had Shao Yuan come to the sacred land for?

It was very encouraging for a genius who had barely been in the sacred land for two years to nearly tie with Xiahou Zong . With some time and growth, Shao Yuan would have another opportunity to challenge Xiahou Zong in the international tournament of geniuses .  

The contest of ocular skill wasn’t over yet . Energy and light ricocheted everywhere .

It seems that Xiahou Zong is adept with the eye arts as well . Unless I can crush him utterly through cultivation alone, I will have a hard time winning with my Evil Golden Eye .

Jiang Chen hadn’t expected to win with just this alone, anyways .

The two young men came to an unspoken consensus once more, taking several steps back in near-unison to draw back their ocular skills .

Resentment burned in Xiahou Zong’s heart, but his head became ever calmer . His opponent was much more difficult and fearsome than he had anticipated . How many years had it been since he had used the fullness of his strength in a match?

No opponent had been strong enough to allow him to do so here in Eternal Divine Nation before!