Xiao Qing raised her head and looked up at the few who already stood at the top of their own flight of stairs. None of them was someone who should be trifled with, were they?
Lu Yin shot an intense stare at Xiao Qing from the top of the stairs. He could not comprehend just how she had been able to control that many martial prints. Furthermore, Lu Yin knew that Bu Kong’s slowed movements at the end of their battle had to have had something to do with Xiao Qing. Had that been her innate gift? Or had that been a battle technique?
Regardless, the majority of the audience had not yet registered the fact that Bu Kong had been defeated.
The effects of the last battle rippled down and affected the various large bookmakers, and many of them just simply disappeared with their money.
The crowd of cultivators from the Sixth Mainland were too shocked to even speak. One of the Daosource Three Skies had been defeated, and it was like someone had taken away their shelter from a storm.
Wu Taibai smiled at Xiao Qing and said, “Congratulations.”
Xiao Qing thanked him and looked up at Lu Yin. “Do me a favor, will you? Let me stay on the stairs a bit longer.”
Lu Yin let out a small laugh and shifted his focus over to Zhi Yi.
That one of Daosource Three Skies glared at Xiao Qing with true hostility. As the Daosource Three Skies, she, Bu Kong, and Wu Taibai were not only fighting for the opportunity that would be received by winning ZENITH, but were also paving the way for the Sixth Mainland to overpower the Fifth Mainland in the future. Bu Kong’s strength was without question, but the fact that he had been defeated by Xiao Qing through her ambush tactics had destroyed their initial plans.
This woman had managed to defeat Bu Kong by sneak attacks, but her strength would prove inadequate if she tried to match up to the others.
Trouble was brewing.
Far away, under another flight of stairs, Jin He and Unseen Light were fighting.
Both of them were part of the Ten Arbiters, so seeing them together was something that was both familiar and new. Their battle had garnered a great deal of attention from people.
However, many were even more curious about the match between Bai Mai and Liquor Hero, where things were truly rather creepy.
Liquor Hero had used a drop of wine to successfully trap Bai Mai.
As a bug that had fed off of the corpses of Progenitor level powerhouses, Bai Mai was able to eat anything, and nothing could stop it. Even Yao Xuan was wary of Bai Mai due to the carrion bug’s ability to eat even spiritual force.
Yao Xuan was fully confident that anyone matched up against Bai Mai would have a hard time.
Not only did Bai Mai possess a mouth with teeth that could eat through everything, it also had unparalleled defense. From how Yao Xuan saw things, Bai Mai’s physical defenses were certainly comparable to Wen Sansi’s barrier.
The crown prince had once traded blows with Bai Mai before heading to ZENITH, and Bai Mai had been difficult to beat; extremely difficult. Yao Xuan’s greatest struggle had been injuring Bai Mai, and that beetle the size of a fingernail had been a troublesome opponent even for him.
However, Bai Mai had just been trapped by a single drop of wine.
Liquor Hero was blurry-eyed as she snickered while Bai Mai frantically scurried about within the drop of wine like it had gone crazy. Drops of wine would appear in whichever direction it tried to flee, and slowly, the drop of wine that encased it formed something like a maze suspended in the air. No matter how Bai Mai tried to find its way out, its efforts were futile. All its scurrying did not help it find an exit.
Others stared in awe, but the ones who were able to truly comprehend what they were seeing felt chills instead.
That was Creation-level manipulation of star energy. Though Bai Mai appeared to be trapped inside a droplet of wine, it was experiencing something that was more like being in another world altogether. It was an utterly terrifying scene that seemed to disturb even Shang Qing.
It was not that Liquor Hero’s abilities surpassed Shang Qing’s, but that her control of star energy was absolutely freakish. She was doing something that should not be possible for any youth, and Liquor Hero was guaranteed to far outstrip any other contestant’s control of star energy, and that included Shang Qing.
If Bai Mai were given more time, its ability to consume everything would surely allow it to break out of the drop of wine, but naturally, Liquor Hero did not give the carrion bug the time it needed. Through Liquor Hero’s deliberate guidance, Bai Mai gradually descended Zenith Mountain, and eventually arrived at the foot of the mountain. By the time the drop of wine was fully consumed, the insect had already been defeated.
Liquor Hero had not used force to defeat Bai Mai, but instead had simply led it onto the path of defeat. Bai Mai had become a puppet that Liquor Hero had controlled.
Yao Xuan’s expression turned cold. To think that such a method existed that countered Bai Mai. The bug had just been too unlucky, for if its opponent had not been Liquor Hero, but someone else, then it likely would not have suffered such an embarrassing loss. Even if had faced Shang Qing, Bai Mai would have had more opportunities to display its power.
Alas, bugs were bugs, and bugs were brainless.
Liquor Hero was still in a drunken haze as she staggered towards the stairs.
At this moment, the only pair still fighting to determine a victor was Unseen Light and Jin He.
Unseen Light’s attacks from his forcefield were weakened by Jin He’s Truesight, and earlier in their fight, and Unseen Light’s Black Coffin Secret Technique had also not managed to cause even the slightest bit of harm to Jin He.
Jin He had unleashed his strongest attack that he had used to defeat Fan Shun while using Truesight to diminish the power of the Black Coffin until it reached the point it could simply be ignored.
Secret techniques were created by Progenitors, and the Black Coffin had come from the Sixth Mainland’s Ancestor Black. It was an incredibly strong and deadly secret technique, and yet this formidable secret technique had been reduced to nothing by Truesight.
There were ranks among Progenitors as well, and Ancestor Black had barely been considered a Progenitor level powerhouse from the Sixth Mainland, and he might not even have been as powerful as the current three Progenitors. Truesight, however, was something that had come from the Rune Progenitor, who had been a truly terrifying powerhouse whom history had not dared record. His remnant spiritual force had been what had counter-attacked the Sixth Mainland during their invasion, and had forced the Sixth Mainland to recognize the terror that such a peerless legend had risen from the Fifth Mainland.
According to what many knew, the Rune Progenitor and Progenitor Chen had been allies, and Ancestor Black had died at the hands of Progenitor Chen.
Once Truesight reached the Perception stage, it was able to completely disregard the Black Coffin Secret Technique, and also rendered all of Unseen Light’s methods futile. On the other side, Jin He was still able to produce more weapons and power vessels to use to attack.
Still, it was still extremely hard for Jin He to seize victory because Unseen Light’s predictive abilities left Jin He unsure of where to focus his attacks. This was the reason why the two were still at a stalemate despite fighting for so long.
One was up against the nigh-unbeatable Truesight, while the other did not know where to attack since the opponent could predict attacks.
Jin He tried to close the distance between him and Unseen Light, but failed despite he greatest efforts.
When fighting against Fan Shun, Jin He had exposed some of his strength, and even if the audience was not able to understand what he had done, Unseen Light knew better than to allow Jin He to get close no matter what.
“You’re so cautious,” Jin He complained while keeping his eyes on Unseen Light. Jin He’s long hair fell across his shoulders and flowed with the wind.
Unseen Light had opened his eyes and his domain had enveloped all of Zenith Mountain. Above their heads, an enormous forcefield had taken the form of Unseen Light himself and was attacking Jin He with a move of Unseen Light’s hand.
Jin He frowned. “That’s pointless.”
As he spoke, ripples appeared before him, and the attack from the forcefield was immediately weakened the moment it came in contact with the ripples.
Unseen Light’s domain was useless against Jin He, but still Unseen Light did not give up. He continued launching one attack after another with the intention of wearing Jin He out. Jin He had been injured during his earlier match with Fan Shun, and so a battle of endurance would not be to his advantage.
Lu Yin and the rest stopped watching the ongoing battle, as they all already knew just how strong the two Arbiters were.
Zhi Yi was the first person to reach the mountain peak. A large statue stood tall in the distance. She looked up at it and wondered whose face would appear on this statue in the end.
At that moment, Shang Qing appeared from another direction. He stood quietly in place also stared at the statue. Despite his typical calm disposition, he was also eager to see the statue take his image.
Before long, Yao Xuan, Lu Yin, and a few others slowly gathered at the peak. They all silently stood at the top of their stairs. At this moment, nine people had reached the top of Zenith Mountain.
There was only one spot remaining. The moment the fight between Unseen Light and Jin He was decided would be the moment that the top ten of ZENITH would be finalized.