Eternal Heavenly Emperor-Chapter 279 - 269 The Difference of Ancient Treasure Artifacts
After another half hour of fighting, Wu Shitong finally could not hold on.
It was not that he was inferior to Gao Feng in "skill", but that his energy consumption was too great, and he could no longer maintain such high-intensity confrontation. As for Gao Feng, although he had limited his strength to the Five Meridians, his accumulated power was at Seven Meridians.
He only suppressed the power of a single attack, but the total amount of Star Force had not decreased at all. In terms of lasting combat power, Wu Shitong clearly could not compare with him.
"Enough!" Gao Feng actively stopped the fight and said, "How about we call this battle a draw? You are after all two meridians weaker than me; if we continue, your defeat is certain, and my victory would not be honorable."
Wu Shitong nodded, knowing that the other party was telling the truth.
And he had achieved his objective, to wholeheartedly battle with a Sword Dao expert—who witnessed the fight gained greatly, but he, who took part personally, gained even more.
He was confident that he could advance his Swordsmanship further in a short time.
Although it was called a draw, everyone knew that actually, Wu Shitong had lost, since the other party had even suppressed two meridians of power.
However, Gao Feng seemed quite satisfied with this battle; he did not continue to challenge others but sat cross-legged to one side, recalling the details of the previous fight, which could also enhance his Sword Dao.
"Zhizhi, you go and challenge," Lin Zhining turned his gaze towards a charming woman.
The beautiful woman nodded, stepped forward and said, "Feng Zhizhi of Yuxing Sect seeks advice from everyone here."
Her appearance was stunning, and her figure buxom, making many hearts flutter.
Faced with such a delicate and sexy beauty, which man could bear to strike her hard? For a moment, no one stepped forward to fight.
"The humble monk will accept the challenge!" Zhu Wuji stood up.
Well, he seemed a good choice.
From the aura Feng Zhizhi emitted, she was already a War Venerate of the Eight Meridians, and among the top ten of the Fledgling Dragon List, there was only one female, the Barbaric Girl. If she did not fight, what other woman could match her?
And among the men in the top ten, they might inevitably hesitate to strike a woman hard, which could result in another defeat if they held back even slightly.
Except for Zhu Wuji.
He was known as Murder Without Restraint and being a monk; men and women made no difference in his eyes.
A War Venerate of the Eight Meridians fighting another of the Eight Meridians seemed quite fair.
But that was just on the surface; who knew among them who had reached the Nine Meridians War Venerate status or how many meridians they had broken through in the Martial Master Realm.
Thus, what looked like Eight Meridians against Eight Meridians could, under extreme circumstances, turn out to be Sixteen Meridians against Twenty Meridians; then the gap in strength would be terrifyingly wide, with all skill and talent washed away under a force some 80 times greater.
Of course, Zhu Wuji had definitely broken through from the Nine Meridians martial master, at least reaching Seventeen Meridians, and there weren’t that many martial masters of Ten Meridians around. Therefore, Feng Zhizhi was most likely also at Seventeen Meridians, with a small chance of being Eighteen Meridians, which is a Nine Meridians War Venerate.
This match... they could not afford another loss; otherwise, it would be three consecutive defeats.
Zhu Wuji took out a Temple Block and gently struck it; "Thud," a sound wave immediately spread out, transforming into a Golden Armored Strongman who charged towards Feng Zhizhi.
The Golden Armored Strongman held a heavy sword and as he neared Feng Zhizhi, suddenly swung it down with a momentous force, as if he could easily split a mountain in two if it stood before him.
Chu Hao was astonished; Zhu Wuji’s strike had become much more powerful.
What kind of Treasure Artifact was this?
He himself was a Tool-Forging Master, albeit only capable of forging eighth rank artifacts, but the difference between a First Grade Treasure Artifact and an eighth rank was only in the rarity of materials, complexity of the engraved patterns, and the embedding of the inner core of ferocious beasts.
These were simple numeric accumulations, the difference being like that between 1 and 99; quite clear.
But that Temple Block... Chu Hao clearly saw no embedded holes, so why did it have such formidable power? Moreover, the fact that the sound wave turned into a human form was beyond his expectations.
He couldn’t help but turn to the Barbaric Girl next to him and, trying his luck, asked, "Do you know what Treasure Artifact he is using?"
"An artifact from Ancient Times," the girl immediately responded.
"How strange," Chu Hao casually remarked.
"Treasure Artifacts from Ancient Times were not forged by Tool-Forging Masters, but were refined by the powers of the strong themselves, so of course, they’re different," the girl said with a proud smile, "I have one too."
She unhooked a small bag hanging at her waist, but upon reaching inside, she pulled out a pair of arm guards made of metal, designed like a net of hollowed-out metal, emitting a beautiful glow.
The girl even demonstrated it to Chu Hao, embedding the arm guards onto her arms. Although they did not seem to fit at first, once attached, the arm guards automatically tightened, clinging tightly to the girl’s arms. Upon closer inspection, the guards seemed to turn into patterns that completely merged with her body.
Chu Hao suddenly felt a powerful force emanating from the girl, overwhelmingly strong; he couldn’t help saying, "Why do I feel like your strength has suddenly increased by more than ten times?"
"Certainly, this Treasure Artifact was casually forged by a War Venerate from my ancestors. It can directly enhance one’s strength to that of a Warrior. However, using such a Treasure Artifact requires strong support from one’s physique, otherwise, it is easy to be drained of one’s vitality, become crippled, or even die," the girl explained.
"Then why didn’t you use it before?" Chu Hao was curious.
If she had used this Treasure Artifact in the battle with Yuan Tiangang, it would have been like crushing him as if he were a child.
The girl shook her head repeatedly and said, "The elders in my clan have said, unless it’s a matter of life and death, one must not resort to using the Treasure Artifact, as it could lead to a dependence on it. The strength of a Martial Artist comes from within, not from external objects."
Chu Hao couldn’t help but respect that elder profoundly.
Nowadays, Martial Artists, in their pursuit of power, are willing to go to any lengths, and a high-rank Treasure Artifact would definitely attract countless admirers, fetching astronomical prices.
A Treasure Artifact, indeed, can greatly enhance a Martial Artist’s combat power.
Having such a Treasure Artifact and choosing not to use it, focusing instead on enhancing one’s own strength, naturally won Chu Hao’s admiration.
"The elder said there are places that limit the performance of Treasure Artifacts. If you rely too heavily on the Artifact and happen to be in such a place, you will bring disaster upon yourself," the girl continued.
Indeed, becoming accustomed to the enhanced abilities provided by a Treasure Artifact, and suddenly finding it unusable, could lead to misjudgements of one’s own strength, resulting in death, which wouldn’t be surprising.
"Moreover, you can’t always keep the Treasure Artifact in an active state; if you get ambushed, it would still lead to your demise," the girl added, as she tucked away the armband.
Chu Hao nodded and said, "You’re absolutely right." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
He had initially just wanted to inquire if she knew anything about the Treasure Artifact used by Zhu Wuji, but the girl’s words profoundly impacted him.
Was his own reliance on Treasure Artifacts severe?
Chu Hao pondered silently, then couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he hadn’t been obsessed with turning the Deep Blue Sword into a Treasure Artifact.
Speaking of survival, he still had the Mysterious Jade Seal and Bird Feathers from the Ancient Training Ground, especially the Mysterious Jade Seal, whose power was incomparable even to an upgraded Deep Blue Sword.
Therefore, he didn’t need to pursue whether his weapon was a Treasure Artifact; it only needed to withstand the power of the Mad Thunder Sword Technique.
However, he shouldn’t abandon the path of Tool-Forging; it was a good source of income, although he wondered if he’d still have time for it in the future.
While his mind was wandering, Zhu Wuji and Feng Zhizhi were already fiercely battling it out.
After the blessing in the Dragon Pool, Zhu Wuji’s cultivation had soared from Six Meridians to Eight Meridians, finally able to unleash the full power of that ancient Treasure Artifact. The Golden Armored Strongman, also of Eight Meridians Martial Sect strength, wielded his heavy sword with a combat power that surged like waves.
The frustrating thing was that it was formed from Star Force and wasn’t afraid of heavy strikes, thus having no weaknesses at all.
Feng Zhizhi didn’t tangle with the Golden Armored Strongman, instead focusing her attacks on Zhu Wuji. The saying goes, ’capture the thief first capture the king.’ Once Zhu Wuji was defeated, that Golden Armored Strongman would surely disappear on its own.
But the current situation was like Feng Zhizhi having to contend against two eight-meridian Martial Sects, one of whom was a formidable fighter like Zhu Wuji. Even Yuan Tiangang, before his blessing in the Dragon Pool, would have likely faced a greater chance of defeat.
However, Feng Zhizhi’s strength completely exceeded everyone’s expectations; phoenix wings composed of Star Force emerged from her back, allowing her to glide at low altitudes for a limited time. Both her agility and speed far surpassed Chu Hao’s Sky Stepping Technique.
What kind of movement technique was this, or was it an innate ability of her physique?
Chu Hao watched in amazement but was naturally unafraid; even if his speed couldn’t keep up, as long as he took the opportunity to unleash Thundercloud Density, completely capable of inflicting heavy damage with its area-of-effect, he could severely wound Feng Zhizhi.
However, Zhu Wuji wasn’t Chu Hao; under her incredibly fast movement, his situation worsened, unable to keep up with her pace.
After a thousand moves, Zhu Wuji finally suffered a great disadvantage, receiving a strike on his back that caused him to vomit blood and retreat in defeat.
Three battles, three defeats.
The people from Cang State were silent and speechless. After all, the ones standing here were the talented youths of Cang State, and Zhu Wuji was even ranked fifth in the Fledgling Dragon List, yet he still suffered a miserable defeat.
What rank was Feng Zhizhi on the Earth Tiger List of Yue State?
As if seeing the doubts in everyone’s hearts and as though she wanted to rub salt in their wounds, Feng Zhizhi said indifferently, "I am ranked 41st on the Earth Tiger List."
Rank 41, just rank 41.
The fifth rank of Cang State was not even a match for the 41st rank of Yue State, a gap so vast it was suffocating.
Who will fight next? They definitely cannot afford to lose a fourth match.
All eyes were on Chu Hao, Yuan Tiangang, the Barbaric Girl, and Ling Dongliu, as only these four now seemed qualified to fight since even Zhu Wuji, the fifth contender, had been defeated.
When everyone’s gaze turned towards them, Ling Dongliu was the first to lower his head; he had completely lost confidence and will to fight.
Yuan Tiangang stepped forward and said, "Lin Zhining, since you’ve specifically come to seek advice from me, let’s have a fight." (To be continued. If you like this series, you are welcome to vote for it at qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
