Chapter 535: Elder Wu’s Complete Breakdown (2)
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
"What’s going on?"
"What is Elder Wu doing?"
The battle left all of the other master teachers flabbergasted.
What was going on?
Wasn’t Elder Wu still perfectly fine a moment ago?
Why was smoke suddenly gushing out from his head at one moment, the table breaking the next, and now, he’d even started dancing about as though trying to use some formation...
Wasn’t this a test on one’s Soul Depth... Why did he end up leaping about as though this was some kind of dancing competition...
"Has Elder Wu... gone mad?" someone amidst the crowd shouted, causing the hall to fall completely silent.
From the looks of it... it did seem like he had lost his sanity...
"He’s not mad, he’s just executing the Ancient Zither Eight Trigram Steps! Just that... Why did Elder Wu suddenly execute this move?"
A 4-star master teacher amidst the crowd suddenly remarked with a frown.
The elder sitting next to him doubtfully asked, "You know this movement technique?"
"Of course I do! That’s Elder Wu’s strongest offensive technique. It creates a formation that perfectly complements the demonic tune..."
At which, the first elder suddenly paused and said, "Do you all still remember the Calamity of the Seven Swords?"
The second elder nodded his head and replied, "Of course we do! It is the greatest calamity known to Myriad Kingdom City for the past century! Alliance Head Zhao sent innumerable experts out but to no avail. In the end, he could only request the assistance of the Master Teacher Pavilion. Back then, Elder Wu and you were dispatched for the mission!"
The Calamity of the Seven Swords was a serial killing incident that happened in the Myriad Kingdom City back then. Every time the killer struck, he would leave seven holes on the body of the deceased. No matter how powerful the other party was, even if he was a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan expert, without an exception, he would still be killed within seven blows.
After more than a dozen of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan experts were killed consecutively, a huge panic broke out within the alliance. Thus, Alliance Head Zhao led a group of experts to subdue the culprit personally, only to have the other party escape.
Left without a choice, he could only look to the Master Teacher Pavilion for assistance. Back then, Pavilion Master Kang hadn’t taken up the mantle of power yet. The previous pavilion master dispatched Elder Wu and this elder to deal with the culprit. Thus, they gathered several dozens of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan experts to encircle him, and only then did they manage to kill the other party.
That matter caused a huge ruckus back then, and many of the older generation were unwilling to speak of it. Why would this elder suddenly raise the matter?
"The Seven Sword serial killer was extremely strong, he was at least on par with the current Pavilion Master Kang. It was Elder Wu who used the Ancient Zither Eight Trigram Steps to assault the other party’s consciousness, allowing us to gain the upper hand and eventually achieve victory! Otherwise... given our strength, it would have been impossible for us to prevent him from escaping," the first elder said with a grim expression.
He could still remember the events that transpired that day. If not for Elder Wu utilizing the ability of a demonic tunist to disturb the other party’s consciousness at a crucial moment, not only would they have failed in their mission, they might have even all died under the other party’s onslaught!
After all, the other party wasn’t named as the greatest calamity of the Myriad Kingdom City for the past century for nothing. Just by thinking about the elusive seven swords caused cold sweat to drench his back.
"He used this movement technique against the Seven Swords serial killer? Then..."
The second elder’s face paled. The Seven Swords serial killer was a being comparable to the pavilion master. Even such a person ended up succumbing to the Ancient Zither Eight Trigram Steps complemented with the Demonic Tune of Psychosis... How could that young man possibly withstand this?
If he couldn’t withstand it, wouldn’t he die on the spot?
"What’s wrong with Elder Wu? Why is he using such a move on a junior?"
Upon understanding the graveness of the matter, the second elder’s face turned crimson in fury.
No matter how unconventional and disrespectful that Zhang Xuan was, he was still a junior of theirs. As an elder of the Master Teacher Pavilion, a 4-star pinnacle master teacher, to attempt to kill your junior like that, aren’t you going too far?
"I’ve no idea, but... Why does it seem like he is in a disadvantageous position despite having used this technique?" the first elder said with a bizarre look on his face.
"Disadvantageous position?"
The second elder was taken aback. He hurriedly turned his attention back to the stage, and with a look, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
At this moment, steam wasn’t just puffing from Elder Wu’s head anymore, it was puffing from his entire body, as though he had been thrown into a pot to be cooked.
Even though his footsteps didn’t pause in the slightest, he was spurting blood with every step he made, as if someone was striking his chest with a giant hammer relentlessly.
The heck!
What was happening?
Despite launching a sonic attack that even the Seven Swords serial killer was unable to withstand, he was the one who was spewing blood non-stop... This sight was simply too bizarre!
"It’s that Zhang shi..."
The first elder finally came to a realization, and he spoke with a slightly quivering voice.
"Ah?"
"That Zhang shi is using his spear to strike the formation plate. Even though it sounds erratic, every strike is aimed at the moment of weakness of the Demonic Tune of Psychosis, thus jolting Wu shi’s zhenqi, resulting in his injury," the first elder said.
"There’s such a thing as well?" The second elder widened his eyes in shock.
As a 4-star master teacher, he had broad knowledge spanning across innumerable subjects. Even so, he had never heard of such a thing before.
"I also find it bizarre but other than this, I can’t think of any other reason!" the first elder said with a deep voice as he analyzed the situation. Even though he was the one saying so, he also found the matter completely inconceivable.
For a Transcendent Mortal 1-dan pinnacle fellow, with just a spear and a formation plate, to jolt a 4-star demonic tunist to the point that he was spewing blood...
This... can’t be real, right?
...
"Subduing music with music!"
Seeing the sight, Pavilion Master Kang suddenly thought of something and his face paled.
"Subduing music with music?" Su shi and Ling shi hurriedly turned to look at Pavilion Master Kang.
"Un. This is an ability that higher ranked demonic tunist uses against lower ranked demonic tunist. By finding the flaw in the other party’s melody and striking at that exact spot, one can send the other party’s zhenqi into disarray, thus inducing severe injuries!" Pavilion Master Kang said slowly.
"Then... Pavilion master, I beseech you to save Zhang shi! He might very possibly be the one to represent our Master Teacher Pavilion for the Master Teacher Tournament so he mustn’t get injured now..." Su shi pleaded anxiously.
"Save Zhang shi?" Pavilion Master Kang’s face twitched. "The one who needs to be saved is Elder Wu! Furthermore, from the looks of it, it seems like he’ll be reaching his limit soon!"
"Reaching his limit?"
Only then did Su shi and Ling shi realize that Elder Wu was spurting blood with each step he took.
"That... Pavilion master, it’s just a test. There’s no need for them to go to such an extent... I beseech you to stop the duel!" Ling shi said.
"Stop the duel? Subduing music with music is actually equivalent to pitting one’s zhenqi against one’s opponent’s. It is impossible to stop it unless one side falls in defeat! If it could be stopped halfway through, Wu shi would have already done so... Do you think that he would go to the extent of executing the Ancient Zither Eight Trigram Steps, pushing on even when he is jolted to the point that he is on the brink of death?"
Pavilion Master Kang shook his head.
A demonic tune could be considered as an attack on one’s soul, and that was an extremely profound and complicated subject. The worst case of scenario of forcefully interfering in a clash of zhenqi was physical injury. On the other hand, forcefully interfering in a clash of souls could cause permanent damage to one’s head, thus turning one into an idiot!
This was precisely the reason why such a clash couldn’t be stopped unless one falls in defeat!
"Isn’t this a test of Soul Depth? Why did it suddenly turn into... a clash of tunes?"
Su shi and Ling shi’s faces paled.
Wasn’t this a test on one’s Soul Depth? Why did it suddenly turn into such a fight?
Not to mention, it seemed as though neither side was willing to give in until one of them falls in defeat?
They knew that this fellow was a troublemaker, but never in their dreams did they expect that he could cause such a huge ruckus in a test of Soul Depth...
Su shi and Ling shi stared at one another in frenzy.
"I... don’t know either!"
Pavilion Master Kang felt even more dismal.
For the number one expert of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance to be helpless before such a situation, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
More importantly... He still had no idea how such a situation occurred!
He couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
...
"What happened?"
"Can that be considered as inscribing on the formation plate?"
While the other master teachers were so astounded that they could faint from shock itself, Ruohuan gongzi, Fu Xiaochen, and the others widened their eyes at the sight before them. They felt as though their heart was threatening to leap out from their throats.
They had tasted the prowess of the Demonic Tune of Psychosis for themselves earlier, and they knew how powerful it was.
Even when Elder Wu was just sitting there calmly, they found themselves unable to withstand it already. Now that he was going to the extent of even executing the Ancient Zither Eight Trigrams Step, how could they possibly withstand this?
But why... was the young man before them completely fine?
A long moment later, Fu Xiaochen thought of a possibility and said, "That fellow must have learned some bizarre music technique that allowed him to curb Elder Wu’s Demonic Tune of Psychosis via knocking on the formation plate!"
Other than this, he couldn’t think of any other plausible explanation.
In his view, that Zhang Xuan fellow must have, by some incredible stroke of luck, learned a music technique that happened to curb Elder Wu’s music, thus putting Elder Wu in a disadvantageous situation.
Ruohuan gongzi harrumphed.
"So what if he can curb Elder Wu’s Demonic Tune of Psychosis? This test is on one’s Soul Depth. What is important is the number and exquisiteness of the strokes! It’s futile no matter how well he strikes the formation plate with his spear!"
The others also realized this and nodded their heads.
Indeed, this test was on their Soul Depth, not their battle prowess. Even if one were to leave Elder Wu spurting blood with any step, if one couldn’t leave behind sufficient strokes on the formation plate, it would be meaningless!
"Don’t worry, I’ve been paying attention and all he has been doing is to stab his spear onto the formation plate randomly... In the end, for the sake of showing off, he forgot his primary goal. That makes him nothing more than a clown!"
Waving his hands grandly, Ruohuan gongzi continued saying.
So what if you are capable of curbing the Demonic Tune of Psychosis?
If a question asks you what one plus one is, and you answer with a complex mathematical theory, no matter how advanced your theory is, you still aren’t answering the question. It’s an erroneous response!
"The Demonic Tune of Psychosis is about to end!"
Suddenly, a voice amidst the crowd sounded. Everyone turned their gazes over.
At this moment, Elder Wu was puking blood as he advanced forward. He was already no less than three meters away from Zhang Xuan, and the sound of the collision between the two grew louder and louder. By this point, both sounds were already intricately mixed together, making it impossible to differentiate the Demonic Tune of Psychosis from the knocking sounds.
But judging from the flow of time, the three minutes duration for the test was about to be up.
"Let’s hope that... Elder Wu will be fine!"
Looking at the massive pool of blood on the floor and the ghastly pale face of Elder Wu, everyone prayed solemnly.
...
Just as everyone had guessed, the test was indeed coming to an end soon.
The Demonic Tune of Psychosis had already reached its conclusion.
"Alright!"
Noticing that, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He had been busy clashing with the demonic tune via striking at the moments of its flaws, and as such, he hadn’t noticed the peculiarity in his surroundings yet.
Flicking his wrist, he was just about to finish the last note when he turned his head to the side and saw a completely pale face beside him.
"AHH!"
Shocked, Zhang Xuan’s instinctively whipped his spear at the other party.