Chapter 174: Battle of Secrets

Translator: xiiannie Editor: adeadaxe

Wei Chunqiu realized that something wasn't right.

When he attacked, he felt like his hands were sluggish. The attacks weren't smooth and complete.

This was something that he had never experience before.

During the previous match with Lu Mingshu, she had used some skills or something so that every time their sword-energy collided, his mystic force would be disconnected from his control. However, the force was pretty small, so it didn't really hinder his attack, and he could still perform as per normal.

However, this sluggishness - as if he had lost control of his hand - was increasing. That's weird, there's nothing odd about Kou Wei's skills....

Five water dragons surged in his direction, cutting off his train of thought. He gripped his sword tighter, and the sword-energy gushed up into the air.

The tip of his sword struck a few colourful sword-lights in the air as if it was a lotus flower.

The water dragon and the lotus flower met. The water dragon made a turn in the air before dashing toward the flower. The lotus flower then unfolded itself and bloomed in midair.

Bang—-!

A short but loud bang could be heard. The strong force from both sources created a huge shockwave.

Everyone present held their breath.

Kou Wei used Five Dragons Playing with a Pearl, and Wei Chunqiu manifested his Sword Intent into a lotus flower. This was a direct fight between the two skills.

Gushing of water could be heard, as well as the hissing of sword-energy,

Following closely, the match had reached a point where they were competing on speed. A sword-energy could be seen shooting up into the air, filling the entire sky. In no time, a water dragon was hovering about the sword energy. The match was now unclear to the spectators since it was all too fast.

"Are they competing on their skills?" a spectator asked.

"I don't know!" Most spectators were at a loss as well.

Shao Zhengyang immediately turned to Lu Mingshu. "Junior Sister Lu, how's the match now?"

Lu Mingshu furrowed her brows, and she paused for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. "They are now in a vicious cycle."

"Ah?!" Shao Zhengyang's jaws dropped.

Lu Mingshu continued. "Wei Chunqiu seemed to be stuck or something, so he decided to increase his speed. Kou Wei had no choice but to increase his speed too. Now it's too late to stop, and both sides suffer."

"So... what will be the result?"

"I still don't know. Let's see what secret skills they have left."

Lu Mingshu heaved a sigh of relief. It was indeed lucky that Kou Wei lost to her. Kou Wei surrendered when his dragons were locked up in order to save energy for the current fight. How many secret skills did he still have? Lu Mingshu didn't know because he had never used them.

Secret skills were called secret for a reason, but this match with Wei Chunqiu would probably force Kou Wei to show almost all of his skills.

At this point, it was impossible to determine who the winner would be.

Suddenly, Kou Wei let out a loud growl. He waved his fan, and a faint golden ray of light flashed.

The water dragon suddenly let out a loud hiss and turned into an icy spike, shooting over to Wei Chunqiu.

Kou Wei was now surrounded by snow, and he had a frozen sword made of ice. In no time, the rooftop had become a land of ice and snow.

The spectators were all gobsmacked. "What's this?! A spell?!"

In this world of martial arts, practising martial skills was fundamental, but what was this? Even though the Heavenly Sea Pavilion skills were all about controlling water, it was still with the help of a weapon.

The disciples present were obviously far away from Kou Wei's standard; using mystic force to create a water dragon was understandable, but what the heck was freezing the water dragon into ice? It was like some kind of spell out of folklore, and it obviously wasn't considered martial arts anymore!

A lightbulb appeared in Lu Mingshu's head.

Magic! It's magic!

In the Heavenly Wheel, she had read many books about various worlds, so she had more knowledge than the other disciples. There was magic in this world too, but it was only some small stuff used for day-to-day stuff, not fighting. This world was a martial arts world - martial arts techniques were the core, and magic was just a supporting tool on the side. Martial skills had evolved to a very high level, but magic was stuck in the most basic stage.

However, Kou Wei used a rather powerful piece of magic. Freezing the water dragon into ice was obviously a skill known as The Secret of Freezing in some worlds!

So what was going on? Could it be that... there were still secrets left in this world?

Wei Chunqiu looked gobsmacked too.

The snow floated toward him, and he could feel the chilliness in his bones.

It didn't take him long to find out that the freezing of his mystic force was even more serious now.

Seeing the snowfall turning violent and pressing down on him, Wei Chunqiu gritted his teeth and took something out of his pocket, pressing it onto his sword firmly.

A red light flashed on the sword as a stream of blood covered it, followed by an abrupt explosion.

Wei Chunqiu transformed left behind an afterimage as he swept over toward Kou Wei.

Snow was everywhere, there was an erect ice spike in the ground, and the sword-energy had gone wild.

Lu Mingshu was flabbergasted, and she nearly dropped her cup on the floor.

Kou Wei used magic and Wei Chunqiu... used some kind of Daoist talisman. What's going on? Isn't rune carving in this world almost gone? Where did he get that?

Lu Mingshu was drowning in confusion.

Was it that she had underestimated the development of this world, or was there someone else with a Heavenly Wheel as well?

Cheers arose from the tents. Kou Wei's and Wei Chunqiu's tricks had stunned all the disciples.

They weren't as knowledgeable as Lu Mingshu, so they didn't understand enough to be as astonished as her. They all thought that they were just some fancy tricks.

On the contrary, the Spirit Realm experts all looked surprised.

"Are the ancient ways going to be reborn?" the King of Zhongzhou muttered. "So... the Heavenly Sea Pavilion has reached this stage."

The thing that Wei Chunqiu had was a skill that the King was somewhat familiar with, but Kou Wei's technique left the king rooted to the ground.

"Your Majesty..." The queen looked at him worriedly.

The king waved his hand. "I'll go into seclusion after this I guess...."

The hissing of the sword increased in volume and the snowfall was getting worse. The final showdown was about to occur.

A loud bang could be heard as the sword-energy exploded, and the snow turned into a whirlpool, becoming vast and mighty.

A whirring noise could then be heard across the venue. It was so sharp that it felt like it was going to pierce through one's eardrums soon.

The disciples hurriedly covered their ears and grimaced in pain. What's that terrifying noise!?

Seeing this match made most Harmonization Realm disciples' blood run cold. What the heck, are we even in the same realm? There's a world of difference in our ability! I would be dead meat if I went against them!

Boom!

The ice shattered and the sword-energy disappeared. The venue was now peaceful.

...

Only

After a moment, a disciple tried to warm up his frozen and numb hands.

It was mid-spring right now, and there was a pleasant climate around the Flying Imperial Palace. Most spectators present were wearing spring clothing to celebrate and enjoy the joyous season. However, the venue suddenly turned into a world of ice and snow after this match, and the spectators huddle together to withstand the cold. The branches on the trees were now filled with ice crystals, and the ground was now covered with a thick blanket of white.

The crowd slowly looked up toward the stage.

Is it over?

Lin Zixin slowly went on stage, but instead of releasing the result, he went over to them both.

The tents were quite far from the rooftop, and the people on stage spoke lightly, so the spectators were unable to hear what the conversation was about.

After the conversation ended, Lin Zixin stepped up and announced the winner, "The winner is... Heavenly Sea Pavilion, Kou Wei!"