Chapter 1438: Learn by Watching |
The bone sword struck in a flash of lightning and divine flame. It quivered as the flames fell like a waterfall from the skies.
At the same time, Yang Ze kicked Chang Sheng's face, shattering his cheek bone and loosening six or seven teeth from his gums.
Of course, that wasn't it. Yang Ze's kick was infused with tremendous strength. Even Chang Sheng's skull was cracked, a frightening wound that dripped with blood.
"[The Boundless Blade: Sea Serpent]!"
The sword slash transformed into a sea dragon whose scales were like ice crystals. It clashed against the waterfall of divine flame in a burst of steam that turned the arena into fog.
Chang Sheng formed divine flames around himself as protection as he retreated.
This was insulting and humiliating—Yang Ze had managed to kick his mouth in, sending his teeth flying! His face was burning in pain and shame.
All this happened in a flash. The two combatants separated from one another.
Chang Sheng lifted his hand as his eyes shone with ardor. A lightning talisman sparkled in his palm.
The sword energy blocked the lightning.
Chang Sheng's bone sword combined his divine flame and lightning. The nine-headed hydra shot over in a burst of wind and storm. Water-attuned genetic energy flooded the air and shrouded the entire arena in steam.
"[The Boundless Blade: Hundred-Headed Hydra]!"
Yang Ze's genetic energy manifested in the form of an astounding hundred-headed hydra. As he drew on spatial force, the hydra sprayed out a hundred simultaneous beams of sword energy, and compressed spatial force from a high-dimensional layer of space.
Chong Sheng invoked the power of regeneration and imbued it in his sword, causing the steam to evaporate. Divine flame and lightning struck the hundred beams of sword energy that were launched toward him in a barrage. Chang Sheng was momentarily distracted as he attempted to block the dense waves of projectiles. Fang Yi's eyes widened as he watched the scene from high above.
"Isn't this Xing Yu's..."
Yang Ze appeared behind Chang Sheng in the blink of an eye. Chang Sheng whirled to attack him, but the blade passed straight through his body, as though what lay before Chang Sheng was only a reflection of reality that didn't exist. By the time Chang Sheng reacted, it was too late.
Two hundred eyes had appeared behind him in the form of a hundred-headed dragon, all the heads of which attacked simultaneously. Before Chang Sheng could react, the dragons had already killed him.
"As I said, if you were to meet me in a match, you would surely lose terribly."
Victory was decided within moments.
The audience applauded Yang Ze's strength.
"To be able to use spatial force to this extent, especially in the qualifiers, is certainly impressive."
"This lad is promising."
"I wonder how he'll fare compared to those cultivators groomed by the strongest forces...?"
Yang Ze's performance was stellar, but his opponent wasn't someone of particular strength or background. As a result, his victory didn't result in much attention or surprise overall.
Compared to the undefeated Solarvine, the child of Divinity Qinglian, the successor of Heaven, or the new Starlit Legend, Yang Ze's opponent was just an ordinary cultivator, if one bearing more potential than most.
This was part of the nature of the tournament. Those promising candidates had already qualified for the actual tournament by this point in time, like Zhang Lie and the others. Yang Ze had chosen to participate in matchmaking rather late. His opponents would still be skilled, but none of them would be anything like what the other members of Team Zenith had faced.
Of course, Yang Ze had planned this all out.
He did intend on making it through the qualifiers like the other members of Team Zenith, but had no interest in making it a difficult or drawn-out fight.
He hadn't aroused much attention, precisely as desired.
He felt that his plan had gone perfectly.
As he stepped out of the virtual realm, Yang Ze made a V sign with his fingers, indicating victory.
Zhang Lie nodded in satisfaction.
Fang Yi asked, "Yang Ze, how did you learn Xing Yu's technique?!"
Yang Ze shrugged. "By observing it, of course."
The members of Team Zenith were shocked. They knew that Yang Ze had a shockingly strong attunement to space, far stronger than the attunements that the other members of Team Zenith had to their own element, even Zhang Lie. Despite that knowledge, they hadn't realized that Yang Ze was so strong as to be able to learn a spatial-based technique just by watching it.
Yang Ze didn't seem particularly excited about the accomplishment. "There's no need to be surprised. The techniques weren't anything impressive, and you could learn them just by watching them closely."
"Did you learn all of them?" Fang Yi pressed.
"Not the Starlit Wings or Starlit Horns."
Bu Wentian huffed. "Isn't that obvious?"
Sun Xiaowu replied, "Those techniques were granted by the stone of starlit fate, and aren't intrinsic to his person. If you really could learn the Starlit Wings and Starlit Horns, the Stargods would probably go crazy."
"How about the other techniques?" Fang Yi asked.
Zhang Lie nodded. "How much of the suite of void-based techniques that Xing Yu demonstrated did you manage to grasp?"
"All the way up to [Judgment of Stars—Seize the Flesh]. I'm still researching that technique, though I already have a good idea of what it entails. I'll be able to reproduce it with some time. As for the next technique, [Judgment of Stars—Seize the Soul], that's not something I can emulate. Much of it is just a smokescreen, but I don't have a technique that can extract or split the soul."
Even so, Yang Ze's actions had shocked everyone else. Who else could learn a technique just by watching it?
Fang Yi laughed. "Let's train together sometime."
Yang Ze nodded.
Bu Wentian said, "Congratulations to all of you for passing through the qualifiers."
Zhang Lie shrugged. "Do we get a reward?"
"Let's talk after your official tournament results."
"When do they start?" Fang Yi asked.
"Three days after the qualifiers. You've already done very well by making it this far. I didn't get as far as you did when I was competing. Don't worry about what follows too much. Take some time to rest and prepare for the tournament proper."
The hunters nodded.
Bu Wentian had had food prepared for them all. Once they finished, Zhang Lie asked, "What are your views on this tournament?"
Sun Xiaowu sighed. "There are a lot of strong cultivators."
"Is there something you wanted to bring up, Captain?" Yang Ze asked insightfully.
