"Odds! Odds have been updated, 1:6!"
"What?!"
"That's ridiculous!"
The crowd roared!
Lu Kong smiled but did not pull any punches, striking forward viciously.
Shou Xin fell backward and his sword flashed, blood splattering everywhere!
The crowd was shocked!
"He cut off Lu Kong's arm!"
"By the gods…!"
"He's a monster!"
In that split second that Lu Kong had attacked, Shou Xin leaned back and fell to earth even faster than before, compensating for Lu Kong's nore more vicious full powered attack.
Lu Kong who could not take back his strike in time, could only see a flash as Shou Xin's Sanguine Sword Qi cut his arm off cleanly.
Lu Kong roared like a wild beast, his eyes bloodshot looking for Shou Xin beneath him so as to crush him.
However he had vanished.
In the split second that his field had fluctuated after his arm was cut off, Shou Xin shot away from the field.
Standing far away, Shou Xin's legs trembled beneath him now that the force pushing him down was gone.
He gripped the stab wound on his side tightly and stared at Lu Kong with a calm smile which only served to enrage to giant further.
Lu Kong's field was in a mess, far more turbulent and disordered from before whilst Lu Kong himself was in a frenzy.
"Die!" Lu Kong's thunderous shout froze the arena as he jumped forward, his field retreating back and his Law Qi coalescing into his one remaining arm.
Barriers arose at the edges of the arena instantly.
"Careful!"
Many cultivators stood up and prepared their own defences, especially those seated behind Shou Xin.
As his titanic punch come down with Lu Kong's entire weight and strength, Shou Xin who had been trembling and looking down turned his face upwards, a cold smile on his face, his lips moving slightly.
"Got you."
A freezing pinch grabbed at Lu Kong and he wished to escape, but it was too late.
Shou Xin took his hand off the 'wound', only to reveal it had fully healed.
His Sea Spring Sword rang with a fearsome scream of souls which was only made muffled by the sheath.
Shou Xin passed Lu Kong in a split second!
The ground however did not have such agility, and burst open!
Entire arena floor shook slightly causing dust to be thrown up!
Within a split second before Lu Kong's fist landed, a terrifying sword light had erupted!
Vienna slowly stood up an walked forward frowning.
"What the hell is all this dust daring to get in the way of my entertainment?" He slowly raised a long blade of regular metal, flicking his wrist the blade was turned into dust and the dust in the arena completely dispersed.
As the dust was forcefully settled, the result was clear.
Shou Xin had a single finger out of the fist mark on his shoulder, blood continuously fell from his lips and many of his bones had been crushed with just that.
On the other hand, Lu Kong stood there, an armless man.
"This look suits you better." Shou Xin squeezed out alongside a smile.
Lu Kong looked at his two arms which were now stubs, and felt his mind jump, something breaking within as he fell to his knees and passed out from blood loss.
"Oh god, I just lost the rent money."
"UOOOO!!!!!"
The crowd roared! Except for the many who cried.
Shou Xin sensed a change in his body and his pupils shrank, without a second thought he left however he didn't make it more than a few steps before his body began rumbling with thunderous strikes.
He looked at Vienna as though pleading.
But Vienna was busy getting his eighteen hundred gold serpents!
"Brother…" Shou Xin stood in place and looked to the sky where storm clouds had begun to gather and fearsome Qi swirled like dragons.
"Oh? Is he breaking through after a close battle?" The woman in her box looked down coldly, "How dare he break through in such a place?"
"No," Elder Tai Yu's gaze shimmered, "It's not a Qi breakthrough…"
Elder Tai Yu swiftly arrived at the arena grounds and took Shou Xin speaking quietly, "Don't resist, you don't want them to know, right?"
Shou Xin looked at Elder Tai Yu and then away.
He couldn't resist if he wanted to, this old man was too powerful.
In a moment, Elder Tai Yu had left the city with Shou Xin in tow, soon arriving at a large villa.
The storm clouds above rumbled!
Elder Tai Yu took his distance from Shou Xin.
Shou Xin poured any of the Primeval Qi he could scrounge up into his body however the tribulation had begun!
A lightning strike fell directly onto his body but it did not care for his Inner Sea, it instead targeted his flesh, ravaging his body.
His entire body remained covered in the lightning as it continued to rip away at his flesh causing huge gashes and terrible spider webbing burns.
Shou Xin in turn reinforced his body as much as possible, using the Sea Spring Sword's resonance with the killing intent in his body, raising the sword high to eat some of the lightning and assist in resisting it.
The process which felt like an eternity, was in fact very fast.
If one didn't instantly turn into ash when doing physical cultivation, it meant they had passed, the longer they lasted the stronger their bodies would be in the next stage.
Shou Xin lasted the full duration, getting the full breakthrough.
"Congratulations, youngster." Elder Tai Yu who had watched from afar approached, "So this is the secret to all of that speed then, alongside the genius little movement technique, your a madman practicing both styles."
Shou Xin easily stood, his body bursting with strength as his power had increased by leaps and bounds having his body catch up with his Qi.
A sharp air swirled about him, his pupils depths seemingly hiding swords.
The Sanguine Sword Law had resonated with his physique, to be specific, the killing intent imbedded in his flesh causing this sharp sense to naturally exude from his body like an aura.
"Sword Aura," Elder Tai Yu looked surprised, "Ho! Most youngsters don't put any effort, only seeking pills, but I see you've truly put in life or death amounts of effort, to have practiced your law to such an extent that Sword Aura has begun to manifest… Magnificent!"
"Sword Aura?" Shou Xin asked calmly.
"Ah, you wouldn't know, would you?" Elder Tai Yu smiled brightly, "Sword Aura is the resonation between the Sword, Law and Physical Body. Only when one has trained their physical body to the point that the use of the law and understanding is instinctual creating a terribly sharp sword, can Sword Aura manifest within the swordsmen. It is the first step among the three mental states of swordsmanship."
Elder Tai Yu stopped for a moment to let everything sink in before continuing slowly.
"The three states are, Sword Aura which can increased the perception ability of the swordsmen and slowly congeals into the next stage, Sword Intent which is meant to be the time when a swordsmen builds what will one day hold the final step of ones mental state, the Sword Will, said to be capable of shattering souls with only a glance!" Elder Tai Yu seemed excited about it as he explained.
Shou Xin smiled slightly.
"He is one who truly loves the blade," Vienna's voice rang in his mind coolly, "To be a late stage Law Refinement Expert at such a young age is a fine achievement, yet he still does not have the talent of a True Master. He is someone you will need to surpass, trashcan."
"Thank you for the explanation, Elder." Shou Xin slightly bowed.
"Ah? No, don't worry. It was just an old man rambling…"
Shou Xin's expression showed that he wished to ask something, and the Elder Tai Yu was not one to miss such things smilingly going, "What is it, youngster?"
"...I would like to spar with you, Elder." Shou Xin cupped his hands.
"Oh-ho! Is that so? Then, I will help you test your abilities."
At the drop of a hat, Elder Tai Yu's entire disposition changed.
His body revealed an extremely powerful Sword Intent, however it was clearly weakened considerably for Shou Xin, his cultivation however, could not be restrained low enough to match Shou Xin's own.
Shou Xin felt as though his entire body was stripped before Elder Tai Yu.
"A beauty of the Physical Arts, the restorative rate is truly a marvel." The Elder said calmly, "Attack."
Shou Xin did not respond.
In an instant, his entire body drained out of all the Sanguine Sword Qi he had, his law resonating with the physical body, with resonated with the sword and in turn came back to the law forming a strong connection.
Sanguine Sword Steps.
Shou Xin vanished from his spot, kicking the ground hard appeared before Elder Tai Yu almost instantly, his Sea Spring Sword now a naked blade rushing upwards like a sea dragon!