Chapter 104: Chapter 104
"Ethan, watch carefully. This arrow will be your downfall!" Seraphina’s voice rang cold and clear, cutting through the tension with icy precision. Her eyes, sharpened by years of cultivation and battle, settled unyieldingly on Ethan’s brow.
"You dare to defeat me with such crude and rough archery skills? I fear your own arrow will be what pierces you in the end!" Ethan sneered, the Moonflood Scythe in his hands as he slid into a poised offensive stance.
"Rough?" Seraphina’s lips curled contemptuously. "You are so bold. Just look at the arrow."
Her palm flared with spiritual energy, the longbow suddenly taut with power as the bowstring sang a clear, creaking note of tension.
She locked her heart and soul onto Ethan in that fleeting instant, then released with a resonant whoosh.
Three ice arrows streaked forward, the speed so immense that they traced ghostly blue lines in the air.
Each arrow shimmered with chilling spiritual power, hinting at a force capable of shattering the very fabric of space with cold, gleaming light. Seraphina lowered her quiver, her snort icy and sure.
"It’s over."
She cast Ethan a glance dripping with disdain, then turned gracefully to take her seat again.
The crowd exhaled sharply at the display of power, but Ethan merely smiled, eyes gleaming with amusement. This was one hell of a show.
Without a hint of hesitation, he refused to dodge or defend. Instead, he sprung upward and charged straight toward the fast-approaching arrows, just like before.
The distance closed rapidly, the biting cold and sharp edges of the ice arrows opening wide before him.
Yet, as those lethal shards collided with the red aura blazing around Ethan, they dissipated into nothing but smoke and mist.
Da~!
His scythe swung through the air like a streak of death, cleanly slicing the first ice arrow into glittering shards. The blade flicked out in tandem and cut down the remaining ice arrows with ease.
Gasps erupted in the arena.
Seraphina, halted mid-step on her way to her chair, blinked in shock. "How... how is it possible you can defeat my attack so effortlessly?"
Ethan landed on the ground with effortless grace, driving his scythe deep into the earth as he drew forth his own weapon: a radiant blue longbow pulsing with the power of water.
The Desolate Sea Bow — a top-grade spiritual weapon, its lines shimmering as if alive. It blazed with watery radiance, whispering of immense potential when wielded by a cultivator who had mastered the element’s deep power.
No ordinary bow.
Arrows need not be sea arrows — arrows forged from the essence of blood and spiritual energy alone would shatter Seraphina’s defences with ease.
Seraphina narrowed her eyes, frowning deeply.
"He wields a bow too? And from its aura alone, this weapon far surpasses mine. Heavenly spiritual weapon?" Her voice was sharp, laden with disbelief.
She bristled with challenge. "Hmph. Arrogant fool. Let me see just how much strength you have, even with the blessing of a heavenly spiritual weapon."
Her entire body flared with spiritual power, icy energy grasping at the very air as she readied herself for Ethan’s next strike.
Every master and elder watching the contest recognized the rarity of the Desolate Sea Bow. To hold such a treasure was itself a mark of tremendous fortune and strength.
Some eyes burned with covetous desire before they quelled their greed and returned their focus.
"That bow channels such potent water energy... where did he gain the heavenly martial arts to control it?" murmured one elder.
"An errant disciple abandoned to Serene Mirror Lake could only have acquired such power through a momentous opportunity," said another.
"The Serene Mirror Lake... the Ancestral Tomb... Demon Sealing Cave — yes, Demon Sealing Cave!"
Edwin’s eyes sharpened with realization.
No one, no matter their talent, could grasp a heavenly spiritual weapon without the right background or resource.
Except in the forbidden depths of the Demon Sealing Cave, where untold opportunities belonged to only the strongest and most trusted elders. If Ethan had mastered such a weapon, it was no accident.
Ethan condensed three glowing red arrows from his essence and blood — pulsating with potent crimson light and wrapped in an almost imperceptible mysterious aura.
Edwin, Lilith, and Althea, standing tightly on the viewing platform, all shared stunned expressions.
That aura — it carried an unmistakeable echo of the Heavenly Vein energy.
The energy of heavenly veins was far more refined than mortal or earth veins, inherently difficult even for those near the Tribulation Transcendence realm to detect.
Edwin, half a step into the Mahayana realm himself, was among the few who could sense it.
Lilith, at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence realm, felt it too, the power stirring an inner recognition.
Althea, fresh within the Tribulation realm but blessed with keen talent, sensed it immediately.
"This... it’s the energy of heaven and earth itself!" Edwin whispered, confusion knitting his brows.
"But not like mortal or earth veins — it’s deeper, more mysterious. The true energy of the heavenly veins?"
Althea’s eyes widened at recognition.
She’d absorbed this rare energy before, the captivating sense of divine mystery spiraling within it.
To feel it emanate from Ethan — a mere physical cultivator without any support from the sect — was beyond belief.
"How can he possess this power with just physical cultivation?"
Althea’s mind raced.
....
Only the Heavenly Vein energy could blend so perfectly with the essence and blood, bringing a nearly dimensionality-breaking blow against cultivators beneath the Tribulation Transcendence realm.
Ethan’s control over his essence and blood merged with heavenly energy was raw, immature even.
He himself lamented, "I have just condensed the Blood Pill, and this is my first time using it
with the energy of Heaven and Earth. My comprehension is still crude and unrefined."
His vision for the future was clear.
Once the Blood Pill condensed three lines and he advanced into soul refining, the energy of Heaven and Earth would blend flawlessly with his essence and blood.
Despite this, what he wielded now was terrifyingly potent — more than enough to overwhelm Seraphina.
The crowd held their breath, sensing the shift.
The power of his essence and blood, fused with the energy of heaven and earth, was a force that could rend opponents asunder.
And within this arena, the contest had only just burst into its true, savage crescendo.
"My control and understanding are still relatively immature."
"But once the Blood Pill condenses the three lines and I step into the realm of soul refining, the energy of Heaven and Earth will match my essence and blood perfectly."
"However, even so, it is more than enough to deal with Seraphina."
A/N:
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