Chapter 46: Fierce Battle—The Supreme Celestial Taiyi Divine Thunder Net of Qianqing (Please Subscribe, Please Vote)

Stepping out of the arena, Su Yu instantly sensed a gaze upon him. Turning his head, he saw it was none other than Ding Lingyu.

He smiled faintly.

Ding Lingyu returned a faint smile as well.

"He truly regards me as a rival now."

Su Yu could clearly perceive the change in Ding Lingyu's gaze, and this realization filled him with a surge of fighting spirit.

Six minutes later, the host called his name once more. His opponent was Wei Xia.

However, the moment he was teleported onto the arena, Wei Xia simply surrendered:

"My strength hasn't undergone a qualitative leap over these past three months, so I'm not going to subject myself to a beating."

By coincidence, right after him, Ding Lingyu's opponent Lan Yiying also surrendered directly.

Everyone's eyes fell upon the two of them. Even the most obtuse observers could vaguely sense that something significant was about to transpire between them.

On the VIP platform, eight high-ranking guild executives were watching the matches. Seated in the center was Vice President Ding Hao, who had not missed any of the three minor examinations.

Yet, compared to his relaxed smiles during the previous two exams, today, although he still wore a smile, the ease had vanished, replaced by a trace of solemnity.

"Lingyu, would you like to discuss this with him? Perhaps we could offer some compensation..."

Ding Lingyu heard his father's telepathic transmission and chuckled quietly:

"Father, surely you don't think I'm going to lose?"

"I won't lose, nor is it possible for me to lose. He has merely managed to approach my level, possessing only the qualification to challenge me; he can never be my opponent."

Ding Hao said in a deep voice:

"I have confidence in you, but we must ensure nothing goes wrong. Even the slightest accident could impact your future."

Ding Lingyu replied with an expression of absolute determination:

"I will be victorious!"

Ding Hao was silent for a moment. In the end, he chose to trust his son and did not interfere:

"Do not let me down!"

Ding Lingyu did not reply further. By this time, he had already been teleported onto the arena. He cupped his fists in a distant salute, and without the slightest hesitation, activated his transformation technique. Violent thunderbolts erupted, transforming him into a divine general wreathed in lightning.

"400,000 health points. He's grown stronger once again!"

Su Yu took a deep breath and cupped his fists in return.

A thought flickered in his mind, and the Nine-Aperture Treasure Pearl rose to hover above his head, while twin swords hovered and spun above him.

Everyone in the audience focused intently on the arena, countless people whispering among themselves, discussing who would win and who would lose this battle.

Yet the vast majority—nearly ninety-nine percent of the spectators—believed that Ding Lingyu held the upper hand. Very few people thought that Su Yu, who had directly surrendered in the last minor exam, could surpass Ding Lingyu in just three months. This included Wei Xia and He Shoucheng, who were on good terms with him.

The moment the countdown ended, Ding Lingyu transformed into a bolt of lightning and soared into the sky. In the blink of an eye, he crossed a thousand meters to appear directly above Su Yu, the crackling lightning crashing down like a shooting star.

Su Yu pointed with a sword-finger, and the spinning twin swords merged into one, shooting straight up into the air.

"Boom!"

The lightning burst apart to reveal the divine general, whose lightning-wrapped hands grabbed hold of the violently vibrating flying swords. Waves of lightning surged into the swords like pulses, causing continuous explosions. Su Yu could feel the spiritual imprint he had left within the flying swords being shaken.

With a thought, he urged the twin swords. The Sun-Obscuring Green Sparrow shook violently, yet still failed to break free.

"Radiant Metamorphosis!"

He decisively activated his ultimate move. The True Fire of the Sun surged upward, causing Ding Lingyu's hand to jerk as the flying swords broke free from his grip. The sword rainbow shifted, the True Fire of the Sun exploded, and the Green Sparrow broke away, lunging downward alongside the Sun-Obscuring sword.

A series of crisp, clashing sounds rang out as the True Fire of the Sun and the lightning shattered each other.

Two years—no, two seconds later, a dense barrage of attacks smashed through the divine general's defenses, sword lights flashing consecutively to leave a dozen wounds of varying depths on the divine general's chest.

"His technique is roughly on par with Lan Yiying's."

The two flying swords orbited the divine general, cutting back and forth with sword momentum as fast as lightning. The clanging sounded like rain beating against banana leaves, endless and unceasing.

-486
-3650
-479
-3620

The Green Sparrow had just broken through the defense, dealing actual damage of less than five hundred. Only the Sun-Obscuring sword, enhanced by Radiant Metamorphosis, had sufficient output, dealing as much as 3,600 damage per strike. Combined, the twin swords dealt up to 4,000 damage, with each sword producing four to five segments of damage per strike, bringing their total output per round to nearly 15,000.

Relying on superior swordsmanship to pierce Ding Lingyu's defenses, the twin swords encircled him and launched a relentless beating.

The power of the Sun-Obscuring sword, enhanced by Radiant Metamorphosis, had surged drastically, now capable of blocking the divine general head-on. Working in tandem with the Green Sparrow, it suppressed Ding Lingyu beyond a hundred meters, preventing him from advancing even an inch.

However, Ding Lingyu reacted swiftly as well. Realizing that continuing this way would only result in passive defense, he decisively activated his ultimate move, his hands grasping the empty air as boundless thunder gathered:

"Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net!"

This was a sect-suppressing thunder technique. When he upgraded the Divine General Transformation Technique to the twentieth level, it had spawned the Taiyi Divine Thunder, and later, when he raised the transformation technique to the fortieth level, it had spawned the Thunder Net.

With the ultimate move activated, in an instant, over twenty thousand mana points were consumed to condense individual pellets of Taiyi Divine Thunder, which gathered across the entire arena space like a arranged lightning field.

The divine general pressed his hands downward into the void:

"Explode!"

In a split second, the entire arena space transformed into a chaos of thunder, the unimaginable and terrifying power of the divine thunder surging back and forth, reducing all things to fine dust.

At that moment, countless people in the audience involuntarily rose to their feet, staring in astonishment at the arena, which had now turned into a thunderous purgatory.

"This move..."

Both Wei Xia and He Shoucheng exchanged shocked glances:

"We've never seen him use this before!"

From the first minor exam until now, Ding Lingyu had always relied on the sheer raw power of his divine general form to crush all competitors. No one had ever been able to push him to this extent, let alone force him to unleash this move so early.

"It seems we were shallow."

"It looks like Brother Su wasn't boasting after all. He genuinely intends to challenge Ding Lingyu!"

On the arena, under the violent bombardment of the Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net, the defense of Su Yu's Nine-Aperture Treasure Pearl plummeted like a breached floodgate, dropping at a rate of seven to eight thousand points per second. Even with the artifact itself weakening the damage by 20%, this meant the true damage was as high as over nine thousand, nearly ten thousand.

Such a terrifying burst of power was difficult for even a tier-six defensive artifact to withstand. The Nine-Aperture Treasure Pearl above his head shook violently, its defense plunging madly, unstoppable no matter how much mana he poured into it.

In the flash of a spark, Su Yu also clenched his teeth and decisively abandoned defense, urging the twin swords to continue their fierce assault.

The two flying swords were unaffected by the divine thunder net; the caster's surrounding thunder power was drastically reduced, and the two flying swords clung to the divine general like bone-gnawing maggots, launching a frenzied attack.

"Bang!"

The defensive glow cast down by the Nine-Aperture Treasure Pearl was finally torn apart after holding out for six seconds. The power of the divine thunder broke through the defense and surged forward. The Black Water Mysterious Pearl lit up, and the phantom of a dark serpent flew out, coiling around Su Yu to block the divine thunder.

Yet the dark serpent's protection shattered after lasting a mere second, and the magic robe's defense activated.

Three seconds later, the magic robe's defense shattered, and the protective qi barrier rose.

One second later, the violent thunder power rapidly subsided; the might of this wave of the Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net had been completely exhausted.

48,000 defense for the Nine-Aperture Treasure Pearl shattered, 5,000 protection for the Black Water Mysterious Pearl shattered, 20,000 defense for the magic robe shattered, and 8,500 of the protective qi barrier was also consumed. In a mere eleven seconds, the total damage reached a staggering 81,500 points. Without a tier-seven or higher artifact, no one could withstand this.

The crucial point was that this was a ranged area-of-effect skill, covering the entire arena with a bombing radius of over 1,500 acres.

Dodging was utterly impossible on the arena; one could only endure it head-on.

Fortunately, he had purchased the Nine-Aperture Treasure Pearl before the minor exam. Without this tier-six defensive artifact, he surely would have died under this wave of divine thunder bombardment.

He had survived, and his Radiant Metamorphosis had just a few seconds remaining. At this moment, the two flying swords swarmed around Ding Lingyu's divine general avatar, attacking frantically. In these dozen or so seconds, they had already knocked away half of his health pool.

Forty thousand health points; now only twenty thousand remained.

If he could activate Radiant Metamorphosis one more time, he could undoubtedly secure the kill.

Yet, unfortunately, the cooldown was far too long; it would take an hour before he could activate it again.

Moreover, leaving aside whether he could drag the match out until then, even if he could, he wouldn't dare. He currently had no way to withstand another round of the Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net.

When the fifteen seconds were up, the True Fire of the Sun wrapping around the Sun-Obscuring sword vanished, and the output of the two flying swords dropped back to seven hundred and five hundred respectively, entering a "scraping-paint" state.

Furthermore, the extra strength buffing the swords faded, and the divine general's strength took the upper hand once more. Su Yu could no longer suppress him as before; the twin swords could only entangle with the divine general, occasionally striking from blind spots. Both sides entered a stalemate.

Fortunately, although the divine general's strength had regained the upper hand at this point, the advantage wasn't particularly large. Coupled with his inferior technique, he was severely slowed down by the combined defense and counter-attacks of the twin swords.

Su Yu, meanwhile, took flight into the air, rapidly maneuvering to widen the distance. The divine general couldn't reach him for the time being, and could only occasionally condense a bolt of lightning to blast out, or sporadically summon a pellet of Taiyi Divine Thunder to smash down.

Yet none of these could be fired in rapid succession, giving Su Yu ample time to inject mana and restore his protective qi barrier's defense.

At this point, the two flying swords combined dealt just over a thousand damage per round, but by occasionally striking from blind spots—each sword dealing four segments of damage—he could still accumulate around four thousand damage.

The two sides traded blows, wearing each other down.

After lingering for more than a minute, the surrounding spectators suddenly realized that Ding Lingyu seemed to have fallen into a disadvantageous position.

"This is simply too astonishing."

"He can actually fight Ding Lingyu to this extent!"

Equally shocked were the middle and upper management of the various guilds seated on the VIP platform. They were considered well-traveled and knew how many resources the Ding family had poured into Ding Lingyu. They truly had never expected that someone in the same grade could challenge Ding Lingyu—and someone from a commoner background at that!

"This is a true genius!"

Xu Bochen, captain of the second detachment of the guild's main third regiment, sighed with emotion, feeling some regret as to why he hadn't added a bit more incentive to sign him earlier.

The expressions of those on the VIP platform varied, but most restrained themselves and didn't show it. Everyone secretly cast sideways glances toward Ding Hao in the center of the platform. The vice president still wore a smile, but it looked utterly fake; no one knew what he was thinking.

Seated at the far right of the VIP platform was Chu Xiaoyu, representing Chu Xinyue. She, too, watched the arena with an expression of pleasant surprise, her small hands clenched tightly, her eyes flashing with brilliance:

"This time we've hit the jackpot! Young Miss's investment this time is going to yield a massive return!"

"No, I must inform Young Miss."

Glancing sideways to ensure no one was paying attention to her, she turned her head and quietly contacted Chu Xinyue.

How shocked and incredulous the external audience felt did not affect Su Yu's actions. The longer the stalemate lasted, the more proficient he became. He had completely figured out Ding Lingyu's technical level, and his twin swords crisscrossed back and forth, parrying and striking simultaneously, completely suppressing him.

Just three minutes of attrition ruthlessly shaved off nearly 100,000 health points from the divine general, leaving him with less than 100,000 remaining.

Yet facing such a disadvantage, Ding Lingyu's face showed neither panic nor urgency. He still maintained a blank expression, parrying blow for blow and trying his utmost to drag out the time.

A thought flashed through Su Yu's mind, a realization dawning upon him:

"Could it be that he can unleash another ultimate move?"

"That's right. Unlike other powerful Daoist techniques, the Thunder Net itself has a very short cooldown."

The five-element thunder techniques in the Heavenly Ghost transformation state had a cooldown of only 5 seconds. Ding Lingyu's Taiyi Divine Thunder had a cooldown of around 10 seconds. As an ultimate move, the Thunder Net would have a longer cooldown, but based on thunder techniques, the cooldown probably wouldn't be terribly long.

Judging by Ding Lingyu's current health and attrition rate, as well as his unhurried expression, Su Yu guessed that the cooldown of the Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net was probably around five minutes.

Five minutes was about a minute away. Without some burst offensive means, it certainly wouldn't be enough to secure a kill.

"If that's the case..."

Su Yu raised an eyebrow, a trace of a smile appearing on his face.

Over the next minute or so, under their tacit coordination, they traded blows just as before, shaving off another 40,000 or so health points from the divine general, leaving him with 63,500 health points remaining.

When five minutes had passed since the end of the previous round of the Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net, the expressionless Ding Lingyu finally wore a smile on his face:

"Your strength truly exceeded my expectations. You possess the qualification to challenge me, but not right now!"

"It's over!"

"Qianqing Shangyuan Taiyi Divine Thunder Net!"

He let out a light shout, stretching out his hand to press down into the void. Twenty thousand mana points burned, transforming into thunder power that erupted, instantly turning the entire arena into a sea of thunder that obscured everyone's vision.

In a mere two seconds, Su Yu's protective qi barrier was torn apart by the violent thunder power.

"Heavenly Ghost Transformation!"

His form shifted rapidly, transitioning from a flesh-and-blood body to a grey-blue Heavenly Ghost body. The violent divine thunder power eroded his flesh, and his health plummeted rapidly.

Forty-fifth level Heavenly Ghost Transformation: 90,000 health points, 18,000 mana points, 2,700 physique, 4,500 strength, 1,800 kilometers per hour speed, Heavenly Ghost body, Five Elements Escape Technique, Void-Reality Transformation.

A physique of 2,700 could resist 2,700 of all damage, including physical, magical, and divine thunder damage.

Nearly 7,000 damage per second, lasting a full nine seconds once again. His 90,000 health points instantly plummeted to just over 27,000.

When the divine thunder power dissipated and the arena cleared up, everyone saw the Heavenly Ghost transformation standing loftily in the void, raising a hand to blast a C-fire Divine Thunder toward Ding Lingyu.

"What?"

"This is impossible!"

Panic flashed across Ding Lingyu's face for the very first time.

"Boom!"

The C-fire Divine Thunder blasted out a massive damage figure of -7,200, its tremendous force directly knocking him backward.

"This is impossible!"

The divine general soared into the sky like a shooting star plummeting toward the Heavenly Ghost, and long before he reached it, a pellet of Taiyi Divine Thunder came crashing down.

The Heavenly Ghost tumbled backward in mid-air, raising a hand to slap out a Geng-metal Divine Thunder, which detonated midway between the divine general and the Heavenly Ghost.

The divine general pierced through the exploding thunder and fire like a shooting star, only to be met by a Gui-water Divine Thunder hurtling toward him. Another -7,200 popped up, blasting him to a dead stop.

"Heavenly Ghost Transformation!"

Ding Lingyu gritted his teeth and accelerated to chase after him once again.

The two chased and fled. The divine general's speed was slightly faster than the Heavenly Ghost's, and given that the arena was only so large, he quickly caught up. The two collided fiercely at the edge of the arena.

The divine general gathered thunder into a spear and fiercely thrust it into the Heavenly Ghost, bursting out 4,800 damage. With a backhand punch, he smashed down, bursting out another 1,100 damage.

The Heavenly Ghost swiped both claws across the divine general's chest, popping out two instances of 700 damage. Su Yu couldn't help but click his tongue:

"As expected of a sect-suppressing transformation technique."

One had to know that his Heavenly Ghost Transformation was inherently an exquisite-grade transformation technique, augmented by his golden finger. The forty-fifth level was equivalent to the ninetieth level of the Heavenly Ghost Transformation technique, whereas Ding Lingyu's Divine General Transformation was at most around the fiftieth level.

With such a massive level difference, his attributes were still a notch lower; one could easily imagine how vast the overall gap was.

If he only had the Heavenly Ghost Transformation technique, he undoubtedly would have been thoroughly beaten.

Yet, unfortunately, this was merely one of his many means.