“Miss Chandler, what do you mean?” Adrian Hayes was slightly stunned.
“I won’t be using a sword today!” Ivy smiled again.
“Ivy, your zither!” Just then, Stout’s voice rang out.
Following that, he raised his hand and tossed a pipa to Ivy.
“I didn’t expect Miss Chandler to have such a refined taste. Before the competition, you can still play a tune. Not bad!” Adrian Hayes smirked.
Of course, his words carried a hint of mockery. He certainly wouldn’t naively think that Ivy, at this moment, took a pipa just to liven up the competition.
“Take action!” Ivy held the zither with both hands. “If I finish playing this piece, and you can still stand on the stage, I’ll admit defeat!”
“Okay!” Adrian Hayes narrowed his eyes. He sneered inwardly. Once on this stage, it wouldn’t be so easy for Ivy to admit defeat.
His momentum instantly soared, revealing his cultivation of a Half-Step Sovereign. In an instant, the entire space above the stage was shrouded.
Many spectators sitting near the stage immediately felt a suffocating sensation, shivering involuntarily.
“Tsk tsk, truly worthy of being a genius from a super sect. Became a Half-Step Sovereign at such an age!”
“Yes! In due time, this will undoubtedly be a prominent figure in the world of martial arts!”
“Can Miss Chandler from Secret Essences Sect resist the attacks of a Half-Step Sovereign with a pipa?”
“…”
Discussions arose among the audience.
“Boss, why isn’t Ivy using her sword?” Judge turned to Billy. “Hasn’t her Ether Mountain sword technique already reached its peak?”
“The Ether Mountain sword technique is indeed powerful, but Ivy hasn’t fully mastered its essence.” Billy responded thoughtfully. “And, Adrian Hayes’s strong point is swordsmanship. If Ivy wants to challenge him in swordsmanship across ranks, it won’t be easy!”
“Boss, then will Ivy have a higher chance of winning by giving up the sword and using the pipa?” Azure Dragon asked at the same time.
“A fifty percent chance!” Billy nodded slightly and added, “It depends on her mastery of the musical composition!”
“Alright.” Azure Dragon shrugged.
During their conversation, the battle on the stage officially began.
Adrian Hayes, wielding his sword, unleashed several chilling sword auras towards Ivy. The momentum was like a bamboo breaking through, raising a sharp and piercing wind.
Ivy supported the zither with her left hand and plucked the strings with her right hand, producing a crisp sound. The sound reached the ears of two to three hundred thousand people, pleasant and enjoyable.
However, as Ivy continued to pluck the strings, many low-cultivation spectators began to feel a growing discomfort, becoming stronger and stronger.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same time, invisible forces shot out from the strings, colliding with Adrian Hayes’s sword auras, causing a burst of explosive sounds in the void. The attacks from both sides dissipated in the middle of the confrontation.
“Interesting!” After ten or so rounds of attacks, Adrian Hayes stood in place and looked at Ivy.
“As expected of someone from Ether Mountain. With a pipa, you can withstand my countless sword auras. Impressive!”
“I know you’ve been testing my limits all along. So, have you found the result?” Ivy took a deep breath, suppressing the surging blood and Chi in her body.
Adrian Hayes squinted his eyes. After a brief pause, he changed the topic, “Miss Chandler, let’s not waste everyone’s time. Let’s use our trump cards to determine the outcome in one move, shall we?”
“That’s what I intended!” Ivy smiled gently.
“Then, let’s do it!” Adrian Hayes said in a deep voice.
Following that, his momentum rose again, and the pressure in the airspace above the stage became even more intense. The sword in his hand flew out, hovering above his head for a moment before splitting into nine identical ancient swords, suspended in the void. Nine swords, indistinguishable between real and fake, created an illusion that made it impossible for anyone to discern the reality of these swords.
“Sword Control!”
After his solemn declaration, the nine ancient swords shot out simultaneously, each sword having its own trajectory. Soon, numerous afterimages of ancient swords filled the thousand-meter range of the void, creating a terrifying momentum with overwhelming killing intent. Fortunately, these several swords, as if they had their own spirituality, targeted only Ivy, not harming the surrounding spectators.
“Tsk tsk, this is the Sword Control Technique of the Saint Sky Sword Pavilion? Truly powerful!”
“I’ve long heard about the fame of the Sword Control Technique. Today, I’m fortunate to witness it. It’s indeed well-deserved!”
“The terror of the Sword Control Technique lies in the seemingly simultaneous attacks from multiple directions, making it impossible to defend against!”
“…”
Many spectators once again began to discuss.
Faced with Adrian Hayes’s full-force attack, Ivy took a deep breath. Subsequently, she activated all of her Chi energy, lifted her hand to pluck the zither strings, and the pipa once again produced a crisp sound. Ivy’s whole demeanor also changed.
The melody began relatively gentle, and the audience enjoyed the pleasant tune. However, in less than ten seconds, the tune suddenly changed. The rhythm became at times high-pitched, at times suppressed, sometimes like a galloping army, and sometimes like the silence of all things, suffocating. Many spectators began to feel a serious discomfort, and some with lower cultivation even started to have hallucinations. Some couldn’t help but cover their ears.
“Donald, don’t you think this tune sounds a bit familiar?” In the first-class VIP seat, Milo Guzman looked at Donald and said.
“Well!” Donald nodded slightly. “It does sound familiar, but I can’t remember where I heard it before.”
“If I’m not mistaken, this piece should come from the hands of the Thousand-Handed Zither Demon!” Sitting beside him, Urban Woolery said thoughtfully, with a slightly surprised expression.
“Hmm?” Surprised by his words, Donald exclaimed, “I remember now. This is the Celestial Death Tune of Thousand-Handed Zither Demon!”
“No wonder it sounds so familiar!” Milo Guzman also nodded.
“Thousand-Handed Zither Demon has been silent for decades, and there were rumors that he had already fallen. How did Ivy learn Celestial Death Tune?”
“This girl obtained Celestial Death Tune at the place where Thousand-Handed Zither Demon died!” Adam Greenleaf explained, revealing the story that Billy had told him about Thousand-Handed Zither Demon.
“So that’s how it is!” After hearing Adam’s words, the three of them finally understood.
“I didn’t expect her to have such an opportunity!” Urban picked up his tea cup and took a sip before smiling faintly.
“I didn’t expect her to be so confident at the beginning, challenging Adrian Hayes. It turns out she has something to rely on!”
“Minister Woolery, Celestial Death Tune is something that many skilled zither players dream of!” a cabinet member said to Urban Woolery. “Madam Chandler publicly displayed it in front of so many people. Could it bring her trouble?”
Decades ago, Thousand-Handed Zither Demon dominated the martial arts world with this tune. Later, when news of his death spread, countless people went madly searching for the place of his demise, all in hopes of obtaining his Celestial Death Tune.
Now, with the reappearance of this tune, it was bound to attract the envy and attention of many.