A Clash of Prodigies, Ice Immortal vs. Azure Luan

The woman in azure was resplendent in a sky-blue gown, its surface adorned with faint golden patterns that bestowed upon her an air of aristocratic grace.

The attire perfectly accentuated her tall and slender figure.
Her beautiful face, framed by the dress, resembled a proud, standing green lotus.

Yet, her current demeanor exuded an undeniable arrogance, as if proclaiming, ‘Under heaven, I reign supreme.’

“Who are you?” a disciple from Yunhua Pavilion promptly stepped forward, his voice laced with challenge.

Upon hearing the query, the azure-clad woman subtly raised a hand to brush aside her bangs, her captivating features hardening with a sudden resolve.

“Since you’ve asked so earnestly,” the woman in azure began, “this young lady shall mercifully enlighten you.
Stand firm, hehe.
I am a direct disciple of the Qinglan Sect from Yunzhou, Ji Country, known by the moniker Azure Luan Fairy, my common name being Yang Lu, and my Daoist title, Azure Luan.
I have specifically come to seek out this fellow Daoist for a friendly spar.” She swiftly introduced herself, then gestured towards Jiang Yao, who stood beside them, clearly stating her intention.

This woman’s self-introduction left Jiang Yao, observing from below, utterly dumbfounded, as the tone and manner of the introduction struck her with an uncanny sense of familiarity.

Upon hearing this, the disciples of Yunhua Pavilion instantly grew wary, materializing before Jiang Yao in a flash.

“Is our Junior Sister Jiang someone you can challenge simply on a whim?” the Yunhua Pavilion disciples inquired, their eyes narrowed.
“And is your intention in seeking her truly nothing more than a simple spar?”

While the cultivators of Ji Country certainly did not outnumber those of Jiang Country, their individual combat prowess was, by and large, exceptionally strong.

Yang Lu cast a fleeting glance at Jiang Yao.
“Young lady,” she challenged, a smirk playing on her lips, “dare you not engage me in battle?” With that, she abruptly unleashed her formidable aura.

A torrent of azure energy surged skyward from her form, swiftly coalescing into nine vibrant azure vortexes behind her.
This woman was, astonishingly, a Great Perfection Cavern Heaven Realm cultivator possessing nine Cavern Heavens, her cultivation nearly mirroring Jiang Yao’s.

“Nine Cavern Heavens?” The Yunhua Pavilion disciples exclaimed in surprise, for cultivators of such a high caliber were truly a rare sight.

Having observed that her opponent’s cultivation was comparable to her own, Jiang Yao, who had initially harbored little interest in accepting the challenge, now felt her fighting spirit fully ignited, recognizing a truly worthy adversary.

“How intriguing,” Jiang Yao mused aloud.
“It seems your sect elders sent you to challenge me, didn’t they?
Very well, I accept your challenge!” She soared into the air, gracefully descending before Yang Lu, and then unleashed her own formidable aura.

A frigid, icy light likewise shot skyward, coalescing into ten resplendent Cavern Heavens behind her.

The moment these ten Cavern Heavens manifested, while they didn’t instantly crush Yang Lu’s aura, they certainly cast her nine Cavern Heavens into shadow by comparison.

“Ten Cavern Heavens?
Haha, this young lady has truly found a formidable opponent!” Yang Lu exclaimed, her excitement palpable.

Outside, Chen Yingtian of Ji Country was visibly astonished upon witnessing this scene.

“Ten Cavern Heavens?
I never imagined that this generation of Jiang Country would produce such an exceptional talent.”

The impending battle between Jiang Yao and Yang Lu immediately captivated the attention of everyone present.

Fairy Yunshuang instantly cast a glance towards the Ji Country cultivators.

It was because the Ji Country powerhouses had sensed something from Jiang Yao earlier, and had then instructed their disciples to probe her strength.

However, the fact that they had sent out a nine-Cavern Heaven cultivator was certainly unexpected for her.

Jiang Yao and Yang Lu’s auras began to clash, and their energies were also being rapidly unleashed.

This was a clash between prodigies, a rare sight, and cultivators couldn’t help but stop what they were doing to come and watch.

“A nine-Cavern Heaven wind-attribute cultivator against a ten-Cavern Heaven ice-attribute cultivator!
Haha, this battle will be spectacular.”

“Indeed, though it’s hard to tell who will prove stronger.”

Jiang Yao and Yang Lu’s gazes grew increasingly sharp, and the moment their battle intent reached its zenith, both moved simultaneously.

An azure light and a white light, like two streaks of silk, vanished from their original positions in an instant.
Immediately after, both drew their swords, their weapons clashing together, and two distinct forces erupted into dazzling brilliance.

Yet, neither side seemed to gain an advantage from this exchange.

Yang Lu was also quite surprised by Jiang Yao’s combat prowess.

“Oh, you’ve got some skill, it seems.
So, cultivators from your Jiang Country aren’t all incompetent, are they?” Yang Lu chuckled.

Jiang Yao’s gaze turned cold.

“Hmph, just wait.
Once you fall before me, you’ll know who the incompetent one is!” With a slight exertion of force, Jiang Yao’s sword unleashed a burst that instantly sent Yang Lu reeling backward.

After pushing her back, Jiang Yao immediately formed a sword seal.
From that single strike, she had already understood that to deal with the person before her, she would have to use her full strength.

“Ice Profound Dragon Slayer.”

As this sword seal manifested, the frigid energy surrounding Jiang Yao swiftly coiled around her weapon, forming a slender ice dragon.

Gripping the hilt with both hands, the energy on her sword erupted, and the ice dragon flew from the blade, rapidly expanding as it encircled Jiang Yao.

“Huh?
Unleashing a big move so soon?
Isn’t that a bit much?
But who’s afraid of whom?
In terms of cultivation techniques, our Qinglan Sect’s methods are absolutely second to none.”

After stabilizing herself, Yang Lu likewise formed a sword seal, releasing her power and sweeping it across her treasured sword.

“Azure Luan Dawn Breaker.”

Azure energy swiftly gathered behind her, forming a beautiful azure divine bird.

“Slay.” Jiang Yao’s sword descended, a frigid sword light howling forth with the ice dragon, smashing towards Yang Lu.

Yang Lu also thrust her sword forward, and the divine bird let out a soaring cry, accompanied by a streak of azure light that charged towards the ice dragon.

“Break.”

The power unleashed by these two was already sufficient to effortlessly obliterate ordinary Great Perfection Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.

As the ice dragon and the Azure Luan collided, the divine bird and the ice dragon continuously clashed and intertwined, their powers, astonishingly, once again proving to be evenly matched.

A battle of techniques only results in one side shattering the other’s power when there’s an overwhelming advantage; if the difference is negligible, it easily devolves into a war of attrition.

‘Evenly matched again?
Hmph!
I refuse to believe it.’

Forming a hand seal with one hand, she caused the ten Cavern Heavens behind her to begin rotating, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth.

As vast energy flowed into her, the power of the sword seal in her hand visibly intensified, momentarily suppressing Yang Lu’s strength.

‘Hmph!
You think you’re the only one who can mobilize the power of Cavern Heavens?
I can too!’

Yang Lu hastily formed a seal as well, her nine Cavern Heavens rapidly spinning, once again blocking Jiang Yao’s offensive.

This was the first time Jiang Yao had encountered such tenacious resistance within the same realm, reigniting her competitive spirit, which had lain dormant for years.

‘Heh, impressive.
Let’s see whose power mobilization is greater, then.
Today, I truly intend to determine who is superior.’

Jiang Yao’s tone was sharp and icy.
After uttering these words, her eyes astonishingly transformed into a sky-blue hue, and her raven-black hair rapidly shifted to snowy white.

A beautiful sky-blue pattern emerged on her brow, and the density of the frigid energy radiating from her body underwent a qualitative change at that very moment.
The cold air swiftly condensed into solidified ice crystals, and the energy she unleashed was likewise crystallizing into ice.

The grand figures observing from outside the arena were utterly astonished by Jiang Yao’s transformation, many even rising to their feet.

This clearly indicated that the changes in Jiang Yao were far from ordinary.

“Ice Immortal Physique?” a female cultivator beside Chen Yingtian blurted out.

Everyone else was stunned upon hearing the words “Ice Immortal Physique,” for it was undoubtedly the ultimate physique for an ice-attribute spiritual root, without equal.

The cultivation world boasted numerous special physiques, each with distinct effects.

For instance, Jiang Yao’s Ice Immortal Physique first greatly enhanced the power of ice-attribute cultivation techniques, allowing for twice the results with half the effort, and preventing interference from inner demons and bottlenecks.

Most importantly, the Ice Immortal Physique exempted one from the requirement of three realms reaching Great Perfection.
This meant Jiang Yao could, on three separate occasions, forego cultivating her current realm to its absolute peak and still receive the same benefits as if she had.

For example, Jiang Yao would only need to cultivate her current three realms to Great Perfection, and upon reaching the Divine Venerable Realm, she could directly condense a Heaven-tier Divine Venerable Aspect.

Such a physique was truly heaven-defying.

This was Jiang Yao’s first time unleashing the power of her Ice Immortal Physique before so many people.

At this moment, she seemed to have transformed into an immortal, peerless and transcendent.

Ice crystal snowflakes rapidly coalesced throughout the heavens and earth, drifting down, and the air temperature plummeted to zero at that very instant.

“This… this is a special physique?
Hahaha, it seems the opponent I’ve found is truly remarkable!” Far from being intimidated by Jiang Yao’s use of another trump card, Yang Lu grew even more excited.

For she, too, possessed no ordinary physique.

Yang Lu’s energy suddenly erupted, enveloping her entire being in an azure glow.

The power of heaven and earth from all directions rapidly converged towards her, coalescing into an azure divine sword behind her.

This divine sword hovered behind her, and simultaneously, the power of the sword seal Yang Lu unleashed instantly increased by several tenths.

“Azure Origin Sword Physique?
Another special physique?
Although not as potent as the Ice Immortal Physique, it is still a rare physique in the world!” Yang Lu’s special physique was also identified.

‘These two are really getting carried away.’

The power of both grew increasingly formidable, yet Jiang Yao still held the advantage; her almost materialized ice crystal energy visibly pushed back Yang Lu’s attacks.

“How can this be?
Is the power amplification of my Azure Origin Sword Physique inferior to hers?” Yang Lu’s eyes widened in disbelief as she felt her strength being suppressed.

Judging by her reaction, she likely hadn’t encountered such a situation within her own sect.

Thus, her face was etched with an unwillingness to admit defeat.

“I, Yang Lu, will not lose!” Declaring this, Yang Lu raised her other hand, bit her finger, and squeezed out a drop of fresh blood from the tip.

“Blood Sacrifice to the Sword.”

Guided by Yang Lu’s power, this drop of fresh blood merged into the spectral divine sword behind her.

Astonishingly, after absorbing this drop of blood, the spectral divine sword became even more substantial, simultaneously bestowing Yang Lu with even greater power.

“What?
Has this girl gone mad?” The Old Ancestor of Qinglan Sect grew anxious upon seeing Yang Lu unleash this move, feeling that his precious grand-disciple was getting too carried away.

This “Blood Sacrifice to the Sword” used one’s essence blood as a guide to ignite the power of the Azure Origin Sword Physique.
Yet, just one drop of blood would likely take three years to recover.

Empowered by this technique, the suppressed strength finally halted its retreat once more, and instead, began to counterattack.

‘She can still improve?
No matter, today I absolutely must win.’ Jiang Yao’s heart hardened, and she once again employed a technique.

“Secret Art: Mortal to Immortal Transformation.”

Jiang Yao was also getting increasingly carried away; a crystalline drop of blood flew from the pattern on her brow, floated above her head, and then erupted.

After a burst of radiant light, the spectral image of a silver-haired immortal maiden, clad in a white gown and veiled, slowly manifested behind Jiang Yao.

The frigid energy emanating from Jiang Yao was likewise fortified once more.

At this point, the air in the area had become intensely cold, so much so that even the molten lava on the ground lost its heat, and the breaths exhaled by the observing cultivators instantly turned into ice crystals.

“Danger!
Retreat quickly!”

Upon realizing that ice was beginning to form on their bodies, the watching cultivators hastily retreated in fright.

As for Jiang Yao, the power she unleashed at this moment had likely surpassed the Spirit Transformation Realm, reaching the Divine Mark Realm.

This was power derived entirely from her own abilities, not external forces, making such combat prowess truly terrifying.