Chapter 72 Confrontation
"This sword momentum!?"
Ji Pingtian's figure, originally standing, suddenly shook, and the vigor that had accumulated in his body explosively burst forth, a terrifying force far surpassing that of an ordinary Martial Saint erupted from him.
This wasn't to say his physique was stronger than a Martial Saint's.
Instead, it was the powerful Divine Intent that allowed him to unleash a higher limit of strength than an ordinary Martial Saint at the same time!
In an instant, above his body seemed to evolve an imposing giant elephant that could shatter the Void, its trunk flaming the skies, roaring furiously.
The terrifying momentum and the life-threatening pressure exceeding human limits continuously climbed from Ji Pingtian, even causing nearby individuals like Zong Yan, Fang Lu, and Grandmasters not far off like Zhang Tianji and Yue Xingzhou to be taken aback.
As for those further away, such as Lei Yun, Ai Li, and Bai Ya from Alkaid's logistics team of ordinary Martial Artists, their faces turned pale from the shock, feeling as if in the next moment the terrifying giant elephant, bellowing up to the heavens, would traverse the Void and trample them all to dust with the force of a mountain crushing down.
"Divine Intent!?"
"Unity of Divine Force! The chairman... is actually using full strength!?"
What happened to having a sure win in hand?
What happened to not even using combined fists or Battle Garment?
Why has Divine Intent been used already, just as the fight has begun?
"Rumble!"
Although they hadn't clashed yet, the confrontation of Divine Intent that had formed first already created ripples like Shocking Thunder in the Void.
This was the thunderous rumble in the minds of other cultivators caused by Divine Intent.
The sword in Alkaid's hand was like a meteor glistening across the sky, fiercely slashing into Ji Pingtian's terrifying giant elephant formed by Divine Intent and momentum.
The sharp sword light, in the moment of collision, instantaneously tore apart the nearly substantive giant elephant of Ji Pingtian.
Fierce and unstoppable!
"Such powerful explosive force..."
Ji Pingtian could clearly judge that Alkaid had definitely not reached the Divine Intent Realm.
Although it seemed he had grasped the subtleties of Divine Intent, that type of Divine Intent was closer to innate talent...
More pure, yet weaker.
It had not been patiently nurtured.
Moreover, his Blood Replacement and Marrow Cleansing had seemingly just begun, and his physique was clearly inferior to his.
But...
While his Divine Intent and physique were not as good as his, his ultimate display of physical strength was not at all inferior to him, a Divine Intent Martial Saint!
It was as if he was a naturally gifted prodigy of the Martial Path, who had long since cultivated the circulation of vigor and the explosive release of qi and blood into an instinct.
With a single thought, qi and blood flared like flames.
With a single thought extinguished, they vanished like smoke and dust.
This amazing combat talent...
"Step Through Rivers and Mountains!"
As thoughts flowed, Ji Pingtian's movements were not slow, his eyes even shooting out a terrifying gleam.
As Alkaid's sword broke through his momentum, partially obstructing the sword momentum, he seized the opportunity and struck fiercely, his punch breaking the air, transforming into a towering giant elephant that tore through rivers and mountains, crashing down thunderously.
"Boom!"
When the punch met the sword light, the Void seemed to explode with a thunderous bang, the air within several tens of meters violently collapsing, forming a visible whirlwind of air currents.
And this whirlwind of air currents only lasted a moment before dispersing explosively the next second.
Like the shockwave from an explosion.
The visible white waves of air swept out from their point of confrontation in all directions, the closest plants being torn into shreds by this dispersing force.
And in the very center of their confrontation, the Treasured Sword in Alkaid's hand, obtained from a martial master yet not of the finest quality, was actually shattered by Ji Pingtian's furious punch.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The shattered blade fragments exploded outward, slicing through the ground and tearing several meter-long sword marks, even strong floors were cracked and sliced apart.
However, although Ji Pingtian had forcibly shattered the sword in Alkaid's hand with his flesh and blood, he did not fare well himself.
The confrontation between punch vigor and metal, the collision between the blade and Fist Gang, caused his right hand to burst forth with fresh blood right then and there.
As a Martial Saint breaking human limits, his body's strength was indeed extraordinary, resistant to blades and swords, but it also depended on who wielded the sword.
Both being Martial Saints...
Even if Ji Pingtian's cultivation was slightly stronger, his confidence led him to recklessly clash with Alkaid's sharp sword using his flesh and blood body, which caused him to suffer greatly at the moment of contact.
Moreover, this was not the end.
As the Treasured Sword in his hand was shattered by Ji Pingtian's violent force, Alkaid's figure had already surged forward, his left hand forming a sword with his fingers, like a beam of light, stabbing straight on.
The surging vigor continuously erupted from within him, forming high-frequency vibrations, and although this was only a palm-formed sword, should this strike hit the body, the penetrating force could completely shatter the internal organs of any cultivator not in the Martial Saint Realm.
Even a Martial Saint with a non-human physique would inevitably suffer a severe shock to their organs, sustaining heavy injuries, losing combat capability.
"Not good!"
Facing such a sword strike, such penetrating force, Ji Pingtian dared not block it head-on and had to withdraw explosively at once.
"This!?"
The scene before their eyes...
Suddenly filled the eyes of Zong Yan, Fang Lu, and the many members of the Help-the-World Society who had followed them with disbelief.
"The president is retreating first!?"
You must know, in a life-and-death battle at the Martial Saint Level, once one side retreats first, not only do they fall into a disadvantage in terms of momentum, but it also means losing the initiative and switching from offense to defense.
What's happening right now in the confrontation between Alkaid and Ji Pingtian, the first to retreat explosively was not Alkaid—who was just a few days ago still a junior Grandmaster and hadn't even applied for the status of Heaven's Chosen—but Ji Pingtian, who has been famous for decades and is absolutely among the top-tier Divine Intent Martial Saints in the East Continent!
Not to mention them, even Ji Pingtian himself had a cold expression at the moment he explosively retreated.
As the president of the Help-the-World Society and a Divine Intent Martial Saint, to be forced back by a nineteen-year-old Martial Saint!?
Thinking of his previous remarks about how Alkaid was arrogant and despotic and how he wanted to teach him a lesson, those words now seemed like a series of huge slaps landing directly on his face; if he couldn't turn the situation around, the noise at the end...
Would definitely be extremely loud!
With this thought, Ji Pingtian took a deep breath.
"Carrying a powerful secret technique that stimulates your own potential, and mastering such exquisite and peerless sword techniques, no wonder you are so disdainful of others, but... it's useless!"
The next moment, some kind of secret technique that stimulated the body's potential also seemed to be operating within the body of this Divine Intent Martial Saint.
Under the enhancement of the secret technique, his blood and qi seemed to be fully ignited, turning into a blazing flame, climbing to extreme heights.
Around his body, the air appeared to twist like there was a furnace engine boiling inside him, providing endless power to his body.
"Dragon Elephant Dominating!"
In the midst of retreating, his figure suddenly stopped, carrying the violent vigor brought forth by the secret technique and fueled by the burning fighting spirit, and ultimately evolved into an absolute punch that seemed capable of pushing through the current age, as he punched forward!
This punch was not swift.
But it seemed to contain the power to move mountains and seas.
As the punch was thrown, the surrounding space and light seemed to twist and contract around his fist, as if sealing off the space and making it unavoidable.
It seemed as though what he was punching out was not just a fist, but a mountain, an entire realm.
Anything that stood in the way of this punch would be crushed into dust by the Power of Destruction within.
All these characteristics...
"A Heavenly Human Realm technique?"
Alkaid saw through the essence of this punching technique.
That so-called sealing of space, making it unavoidable, was actually just another form of the "Heaven and Earth Furnace."
Merging illusion with reality, it interferes and confuses the perceptions of others from the level of heaven and earth.
This was even more intricate than mere Divine Intent interference.
In these thoughts, he quickly changed his palm to a fist, his vigor vibrated, Divine Intent surged forth, a divine peculiarity like substituting one's own heart for heaven's heart, calmly rippling out from his being.
"Dragon Elephant Dominating! This is one of our Help-the-World Society's three supreme martial arts, the Dragon Elephant Dominating Fist! This is a punching technique used only in life-and-death battles — a Fatal Kill technique within such battles! This was supposed to be just a martial sparring, why would the president use such a lethal move!?"
Zong Yan looked horrified as he suddenly moved forward, shouting loudly, "President, please show mercy..."
As he took action, Fang Lu, who had been waiting for an opportunity to kick him when he is down, suddenly moved forward, "Zong Yan, be careful, do not affect their performance..."
"Boom!"
Just as Zong Yan and Fang Lu both made their moves, Alkaid and Ji Pingtian's mightiest strikes finally collided.
It was like two gigantic celestial bodies capable of twisting the surroundings meeting and colliding at last.
In the scale of the universe, every action of celestial bodies seems extremely slow, but when they really meet and collide, the noise they bring, especially to the beings living on those celestial bodies, is like the end of the world.
The floor where the two were standing instantly cracked open under a violent shudder, and within a three-meter radius, the ground visibly cracked and sunk.
The burst of air mixed with the dust from the broken tiles continued to beat in all directions, affecting an area of dozens of meters.
Nearby small trees were directly broken by the flying stone shards, with wood chips scattering everywhere.
A head-on collision!
This strike between them was an unadorned and genuine head-on collision!
Although Alkaid's "Substituting One's Heart for Heaven's Heart" was far from the Heavenly Human level, Ji Pingtian's punching technique could also only manifest a mere glimpse of the "Heaven and Earth Furnace."
Therefore, Alkaid's punch almost immediately broke Ji Pingtian's Dragon Elephant Dominating.
The violent force of the rebound traveled through the arms from which they had punched, layer by layer sweeping towards their bodies, violently shaking their flesh, bones, and internal organs.
Even though both were Martial Saints at that moment, surpassing the limits of human physique, they still felt the violent force of the rebound crazily crushing their bodies, causing every part of them to emit agonized moans under the strain, as if in the next moment...
Their physical bodies would completely collapse under this extreme condition.
And at that moment...
A furious roar suddenly came from Alkaid's side.
"Fang Lu! How dare you!"
Alkaid caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, seeing Fang Lu's figure bursting forth with unbelievable speed, taking advantage of the stalemate between him and Ji Pingtian to strike like lightning.
A hint of cold light emerged from her dagger, thrusting directly toward Alkaid's throat.