Chapter 1223: Strike First to Gain the Upper Hand

While the people on the high platform were speaking, the competitors on the various arenas below had already taken their positions.

At the command of the presiding elder, multicolored spiritual lights erupted on each arena, accompanied by earth-shaking sounds of collision.

On the Wei-character arena, Han Li and Sikong Jian stood facing each other, not making a move immediately.

“Fellow Daoist Chang, it’s been many years. Your cultivation has progressed considerably—truly worthy of congratulations. However, Fellow Daoist Chang didn’t reveal your true strength in the first two matches, did you?” Sikong Jian’s eyes flickered slightly as he spoke with a smile.

“Sect Leader Sikong flatters me. Speaking of strength, you didn’t show your full power in the previous two matches either. Could it be that you intended to burst forth suddenly and catch me off guard? If so, you might be disappointed.” Han Li said indifferently.

Sikong Jian narrowed his eyes at these words, a strange glint flashing in his gaze.

“Fellow Daoist Chang, your tone is quite arrogant. I wonder if your strength can match it!” He gave a cold shout and flicked his sleeve.

Fifty or sixty beams of green light shot out from his sleeve, each one a flying sword brimming with spiritual energy, surging toward Han Li like a dark cloud covering the sky, their momentum extremely formidable.

Han Li’s figure flickered slightly, and with a loud “boom,” a large hole burst open in the arena beneath his feet, but he himself had already vanished in an instant.

Seeing this, Sikong Jian’s expression changed. He immediately flipped his hand and took out a dark green small bell, tossing it up.

The small bell spun swiftly, its surface flashing with green light, and expanded in the wind into a huge dark green bell. A vast swath of green light poured down, forming a cylindrical green light screen that enveloped his body.

As the giant bell slowly turned, ancient patterns could be seen engraved on its surface, with countless tiny green runes swirling around it like mosquitoes, making it appear to be an extraordinary defensive treasure.

Just as the dark green giant bell appeared, spatial fluctuations stirred behind Sikong Jian, and a golden fist radiating dazzling golden light flashed out from the nearby void, seemingly forged from gold. It struck the green light screen formed by the dark green giant bell with a deceptive slowness that was actually swift.

Behind the golden fist, Han Li’s figure emerged.

With a booming hum!

The green runes on the surface of the dark green giant bell churned violently, then collapsed together with the green light screen. The bell’s main body shattered like paper, exploding into countless fragments that shot in all directions.

Sikong Jian’s figure was revealed, his face full of shock as he rapidly retreated backward.

Han Li gave a low shout, and all nine hundred-plus acupoints on his body burst forth with flame-like starlight. His other golden hand struck out in the void like lightning.

With a loud “boom” above Sikong Jian’s head, a giant starlight palm the size of a house appeared out of thin air and slammed down fiercely.

A terrifying force emanated from the golden giant palm, causing the nearby void to collapse.

With a loud “bang”!

Sikong Jian was smashed down from midair like a meteor, crashing into the arena and creating a large pit.

Han Li’s expression was stern. He fully activated the power of his nine hundred-plus acupoints, the starlight in them flashing rapidly, and crossed his hands in a sweeping motion.

With another “boom,” the void above Sikong Jian rumbled, and two more giant starlight palms materialized, crossing to slash at Sikong Jian’s body.

The first giant starlight palm then transformed from a palm into a fist, striking down at Sikong Jian’s body like a meteor.

Han Li’s successive attacks were as fast as lightning, relentless like surging waves. He was determined to strike first and gain the upper hand, hoping to take advantage of Sikong Jian’s underestimation of him to finish the match instantly.

Otherwise, given the opponent’s cultivation at the initial peak of the Great Luo stage, if the battle dragged into a protracted fight, his current limited strength might not secure victory, and there was even a risk of exposure.

This series of dramatic changes happened in the blink of an eye, almost instantly. Few among the crowd could react in time to keep up with Han Li’s speed.

On the high platform, Pure Sword let out a soft exclamation, a look of surprise on his face.

Chi Meng looked at Han Li, her delicate brows twitching slightly.

The expressions of the others also changed slightly, though each showed different emotions.

Heavenly Star Venerable was overjoyed, but Huo Yuan frowned.

In the large pit of the arena, Sikong Jian’s eyes were wide with rage. Just now, he had been struck by the giant starlight palm, which contained surging hidden force. Now his meridians trembled, and he was momentarily unable to muster his immortal spiritual power.

He gritted his teeth fiercely and let out a low roar. A layer of green runes emerged on his skin, radiating dazzling green light.

The next moment, they shot out from his body, instantly forming a green light screen that shielded the area above.

The two palms and one fist struck the green light screen, producing a deafening boom.

Green and golden lights clashed violently, erupting outward. The immense spiritual pressure caused the light screen near the arena to tremble violently, and the arena itself shook fiercely.

The cultivators maintaining the restrictions near the arena changed expression and quickly cast spells to stabilize the nearby barriers.

The green light screen sank deeply inward and flickered intensely, but it remained taut and unbroken, holding off the two palms and one fist for a single breath before shattering with a loud crash.

But Sikong Jian had already recovered during this interval. Green light blazed from his body, rapidly spreading outward to envelop the entire arena as he unfolded his spirit domain.

At the same time, countless green lights flickered within the domain, and pitch-black giant trees sprouted from nothing, twisting like living things as they stabbed toward the three starlight giant palms.

The branches at the tops of the trees emitted an eerie green glow, exuding a peculiar wood law.

A soft "pfft" sound rang out!

The three starlight giant palms were easily pierced by those branches, and the starlight on the palms rapidly dimmed, as if the energy within was being devoured, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression darkened, and his body, which was about to pounce, suddenly halted.

This wood domain before him was quite bizarre; he could not act rashly.

"Eh, this type of wood law is rather peculiar." On the high platform, Pure Void said with a nod.

"That Chang Qi's mystic arts are indeed quite sharp and clever, but mystic arts are ultimately just a minor path. Though he just caught Sikong Jian off guard, once Sikong Jian regains his footing, he will be no match at all." Huo Yuan's face showed a hint of smugness.

"The duel is not over yet; the outcome is still unknown." Heavenly Star Venerable gave a light snort and said indifferently.

"Then let us wait and see." Huo Yuan chuckled.

On the other side of the stone platform, Zhou Xianyang clenched his fists tightly, his face full of tension.

"Daoist Chang, you had quite a fun time beating me just now. Now it's my turn." Sikong Jian shot out from the pit, his face icy cold as he waved his hand in a spell gesture.

The world's spiritual energy near the arena violently churned, converging madly into the green domain. The giant trees within the entire domain twisted wildly, like countless green pythons, lunging at Han Li from all directions.

Han Li was just probing the characteristics of the wood law within the surrounding domain to find a way to break it. Seeing this, his expression darkened.

His body spun swiftly, and both arms blurred, suddenly conjuring countless afterimages as he punched wildly in all directions.

In an instant, a great roaring sound arose!

Countless golden fist shadows emerged, sweeping furiously toward the surrounding green giant trees.

Gold and green light clashed violently. Though those giant trees could absorb spiritual power, they were not particularly tough themselves. Caught in the immense force within the fist shadows, they instantly burst apart.

Moreover, having understood the nature of these green trees, Han Li did not infuse starlight power into the fist shadows. The trees, unable to absorb starlight from the shadows, were even easier to shatter and tear apart.

Sikong Jian saw this but did not change color; instead, he sneered and continued to urge the spirit domain to grow trees one after another, sweeping toward Han Li.

At the same time, he made a hand seal and waved.

The dozens of cyan flying swords shot out, circled above his head, and with a flash of cyan light, transformed into strands of cyan silk.

Then, with a tremor, these strands burst forth as countless cyan rays.

Wherever the cyan rays passed, the entire void dimmed, and they rained down toward Han Li.

These cyan rays were exceedingly sharp, while Han Li's fist shadows, lacking the power of starlight, were limited in might.

The countless cyan rays flashed through the fist shadows, appearing before Han Li and raining down upon him.

Han Li remained unperturbed; he took a deep breath, his belly suddenly swelling several times like a woman several months pregnant, and dozens of mysterious apertures in his throat emitted strange radiance with a hissing sound.

"Roar!" He let out a mighty roar.

A ring of white sound waves erupted, condensing into thousands of sound blades and sound spears, shattering the nearby void like a mirror into fragments.

The cyan rays caught in the sound waves were all broken into pieces.

Many of the spirit domain trees near Han Li were also swept up and exploded.

The restrictions near the arena flickered wildly and weakened sharply; no matter how the nearby cultivators tried to maintain them, it was useless, and cracks appeared on the arena floor beneath their feet, as if it too was about to collapse.

The technique he used was the "Prison Suppression Roar" from the "Heavenly Fiend Prison Suppression Art," far more exquisite and powerful than the "Vajra Roar" used by the Mountain Ape transformation. He had only recently mastered the "Heavenly Fiend Prison Suppression Art" and barely learned to use this technique, never expecting to employ it directly in battle.

However, he deliberately altered the technique to avoid being recognized and linked to his identity.

On the high platform, Pure Cauldron Taoist, seeing this, waved his hand without changing expression.

A beam of golden light shot from his hand and merged into the restrictions near the arena.

The restrictions instantly turned golden and stabilized, while the arena below also turned golden in an instant, becoming as hard as diamond, many times more durable, and the cracks healed and disappeared.

On the arena, Sikong Jian's expression changed slightly at the power of Han Li's sound waves.

But he soon regained his composure; with a shake of his shoulders, a large cloud of green mist emerged from behind him, mixed with specks of cold light, and merged into the green trees within the spirit domain.

The green trees immediately took on a steely luster, greatly increasing their hardness. Han Li's fist shadows found it much more difficult to shatter these trees; instead, the trees wildly lashed and swept, shattering and obliterating the fist shadows, pressing rapidly toward Han Li.