Chapter 132 - 68: Mangzhong: Fire Tree and Silver Flowers, Minor Success

Chapter 132: Chapter 68: Mangzhong: Fire Tree and Silver Flowers, Minor Success

CLANG!

Within the Mirage Mirror・Three Thousand Realms, at dusk beneath the Frost Silver Ancient Tree, Jiang Xuan and Su Xingying were locked in a battle to the death.

Locked tightly in the sights of the Frost Heaven Divine Sword floating in the sky, Su Xingying’s heart sank. The feeling of suddenly plunging into a pitch-black Ice Lake, which she had experienced three days prior, seemed to wash over her once more.

BZZZZ—

Her Heart Soul was suppressed. A bone-chilling cold, carrying with it a sense of suffocation, suddenly swept through her body and mind.

’This is bad...’

The moment she was slightly suppressed by this frosty intent, Jiang Xuan’s eyes suddenly lit up. The sword fingers he formed with his left hand slashed down forcefully!

"Go!"

Following Jiang Xuan’s sharp cry, the branches and leaves of the Frost Silver Ancient Tree floating in the sky suddenly detached. The tree itself, like a Divine Sword, plummeted down, wrapped in a Frosty Winter Cold Qi.

"Po Jun, open!"

On the brink of life and death, Su Xingying cast aside all restraint. She poured every last bit of power from her acupoints into her sword and drove it forward, brazenly clashing head-on with the Frost Heaven Divine Sword.

CLANG—!

It had to be said that at Qi Sea Perfection, her strength was truly extraordinary. The Po Jun Star Power she condensed gave off a sense of being completely indestructible.

The Frost Heaven Divine Sword that Jiang Xuan had condensed from Frosty Winter Cold Qi was actually blocked and shattered by her Po Jun Star Power.

PFFT!

But at the very moment she focused all her strength on blocking, Jiang Xuan’s figure, like a Ghost, suddenly closed in on her. His Cyan Glaze Sword, covered in the Power of the Cold Winter, transformed into a streak of icy light and cleanly pierced through her chest.

And so, caught in a pincer attack between the Frost Silver Ancient Tree and Jiang Xuan, the first battle ended in Su Xingying’s defeat.

"I... lost again."

There was no true death in the Mirage Mirror: Three Thousand Realms. However, after reviving, Su Xingying looked somewhat dazed.

Clearly, she hadn’t expected to still lose to Jiang Xuan even after her strength had greatly improved.

Moreover, the consecutive defeats made her begin to doubt her mother’s words.

’Mother always said that as long as I focus on my cultivation, I’ll be able to leave Jiang Xuan far behind. But is that really possible?’

’Jiang Xuan’s growth rate is no slower than mine...’

While Su Xingying’s thoughts were in turmoil, Jiang Xuan also revived in the Mirage Mirror.

Although he had the Frost Heaven Divine Sword and had even incorporated Mangzhong: Fire Tree and Silver Flowers into it, he still had to undo the shackles on his Flesh Body and burn everything he had just to withstand Su Xingying’s fierce attacks and put immense pressure on her.

And that had cost him one death as well.

However, the newly revived Jiang Xuan paid no mind to his own state, his gaze fixed on Su Xingying with a heart full of worry.

He was terrified that her spirit would be broken.

’If she quits, my source of Spirit Stones is gone!’

Just as Jiang Xuan was pondering how to console the young woman before him, Su Xingying took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her fighting spirit had been reignited.

’Isn’t having a rival better!’

’I’ve never been invincible. Even among this generation of disciples in the Shenxiao Sect, I’m not the strongest!’

’But Talent and one’s starting point don’t decide everything.’

’Star Sword Peak, where I was born, wasn’t one of the strongest peaks of the Middle Vein from the very beginning. It was my father and the ancestors of generations past who fought step-by-step to forge its current renown.’

’If my father could do it, so can I!’

At this thought, Su Xingying’s sharp gaze locked onto Jiang Xuan. ’Jiang Xuan, you will be the start of my ascent to the summit.’

SWOOSH! With a flick of her longsword, Su Xingying once again challenged Jiang Xuan to a fight.

"Again!"

"..." Since she was the one challenging him, Jiang Xuan naturally had no reason to refuse.

However, only moments into their second clash, he noticed that Su Xingying’s aura was already different.

Now aware of Jiang Xuan’s capabilities, she surprisingly didn’t launch a preemptive attack. Instead, she allowed him to use Winter Solstice, letting the world turn cold, and then condense the Frost Silver Ancient Tree to lay siege to her.

And during the ensuing slaughter, she never once retreated from the falling range of the Frost Silver Ancient Tree. Instead, she stood beneath it, enduring the immense, overturning pressure from the sky as she fought a bloody battle to the death with Jiang Xuan.

This method of forcing herself into a desperate situation also caused her Sword Intent, as if tempered repeatedly in a ten-thousand-year-old glacial spring, to grow increasingly sharp and menacing.

However, even so, her win rate remained low.

—She wasn’t the only one growing through battle.

In every fight, Jiang Xuan also had to forsake everything, burning it all, just to be able to engage in a bloody battle with Su Xingying.

This act of putting himself in a life-or-death situation also caused Jiang Xuan’s Swordsmanship to improve by leaps and bounds. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

In this process, the one thing Jiang Xuan hadn’t anticipated was that his reckless, life-risking fighting style, while somewhat in tune with the Guicang Annihilation Sword Intent, was an even better fit for the Valley of Summer’s Mangzhong: Fire Tree and Silver Flowers.

The Valley of Summer pursues the Scorching Sun’s Intent and the ultimate Bloom.

And Jiang Xuan’s method of releasing the shackles on his Flesh Body, burning everything he had in exchange for a momentary burst of power, happened to merge perfectly with the Summer Dao Rhyme.

Therefore, at the end of a battle, Jiang Xuan’s original Mangzhong: Fire Tree and Silver Flowers technique actually reached the Minor Achievement Realm.

[You have comprehended the true meaning of burning out and blooming. Your Mangzhong: Fire Tree and Silver Flowers has gained +792 experience. Your Cultivation Technique has advanced. Current level: Third Realm: Mastery.]

"So that’s how it is!"

After his Cultivation Technique advanced, Jiang Xuan had an epiphany. Then, combining this new understanding with his current state, he dealt Su Xingying a finishing blow.