Calamity of Tomorrow

Listening to what Jue Ji had said, Zhou Bai looked on with curious expression, turning his gaze to his surroundings. He then noticed twisted lines of light everywhere. He made a dash forward, only to find himself back where he started.

No matter which direction he walked towards, he would always end up back at the original spot.

"Distorted space? This makes it seem like I'm walking straight, when in fact, through stretching, contracting, and twisting of space... I'm being made to turn the corner."

"No matter where I charge, as long as Jue Ji distorts the space in front of me, I'll eventually be walking back."

Zhou Bai frowned. If that was truly the case, it was indeed a bit troublesome. The first solution he could think of was to just wear it out. After all, with high defense, thick blood, and strong recovery, it wouldn't be out of the question to drain the opponent's energy until they couldn't maintain the Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword.

'But if I really win by wearing him out, that's not very cool, is it? People might think that I'm almost on par with Jue Ji and just outlasted him with stamina.'

The next moment, streaks of Sword Qi rained down like a shower, flashing swiftly upon Zhou Bai's body and fiercely rubbing against his clothes.

However, with the enhancements from Tang Ruhai, Zhou Bai's clothes were fortified as if they were magical treasures. What should have been instantly shredded was now only slightly damaged.

Feeling a bit of a prickling and tickling sensation from the friction of the Sword Qi, Zhou Bai simply sat down, allowing the Sword Qi to wash over his body from top to bottom. He touched his chin, beginning to ponder how to break through the current Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword.

Christina touched her head, thought for a while, and then said, "I remember the space distorted by the Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword can't be completely sealed off. A totally sealed alternate space would be like the spacetime of Daluo Heaven, like creating a small world all over again. That's a power only an Immortal could have."

"And look, the Sword Qi can come in from outside, so theoretically, we should be able to get out, right?"

"Considering this, the distorted space can't be fixed, otherwise, we would have found a way out after a few tries.

"It's likely similar to an Array; the structure of the distorted space here is constantly changing under Jue Ji's control."

"But as long as we find the trajectory of the Sword Qi, we should be able to find the pattern of change, and then we can find a breakthrough."

Zhou Bai thought for a moment, first nodding slightly: "It's a method." But then he shook his head slightly.

Christina said, "Ah? Doesn't it work?"

Zhou Bai replied, "Jue Ji just trapped me with the Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword and has already gained the upper hand in terms of momentum. If I use such a mundane method to get out, wouldn't it seem like I'm weaker?"

"People might think he's actually clashing with me back and forth, making it look like I also need to decipher his swordsmanship?"

"Then wouldn't the peerless image I've built for myself walking the path of discussion in Daluo Heaven be wasted?"

Christina: "Ah?"

"Tina, the strong think about how to win, but the peerless strong consider how to win beautifully," Zhou Bai said. "What I want is not to break through, but to crush."

"It's just that Tina's method of breaking the Array isn't showy enough," someone said.

Elsa, who had been observing and recording Zhou Bai's battles since the discussions in Daluo Heaven, also rarely interjected, "Tina, your desire to win is too strong. Always thinking about how to win isn't good."

"What!" Christina looked at Elsa with a shocked face, thinking resentfully, 'Could it be that I'm going to be surpassed by Elsa?'

Christina flopped down with a thud, 'Damn it!' Her cat paw slammed fiercely on the ground, 'My future, could it be that I can't even show off better than a dog?!'

'No, Elsa's talent is too strong, I need to suppress her and can't let her keep watching Zhou Bai's battles anymore.'

...

Within the projection, Zhou Bai's figure was already covered by a twisted space, appearing as if trapped in a vortex, his entire form distorted.

Jue Ji kept circling around the position where Zhou Bai was, while slashing out thousands of beams of Sword Qi, endlessly shooting into the vortex.

Red and white brilliant Sword Qi wrapped around the vortex as if it were being continuously sucked into a black hole.

The Sword Qi, slashed out by the combination of the Ninth Realm Flying Sword, Eighth Realm Flying Sword along with Jue Ji's peak swordsmanship, tore through the air with a screeching sound, each beam capable of producing terrifying Sword Qi that could split cliffs.

Under such dense bombardment of Sword Qi, even a large mountain could be ground into dust.

But Jue Ji still didn't stop, appearing tireless, his hands constantly changing Sword Techniques, insanely slashing beams of Sword Qi towards Zhou Bai's position, relentless and endless, turning the entire Nine Heavens Bronze Arena into a sea of swords.

Ming Yue the Immortal, watching the situation within the projection, communicated with several other Immortals through voice transmission, "Zhou Bai is trapped, this Jue Ji... it seems he's made up his mind to imprison Zhou Bai within the warped space of the Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword and slowly grind him down with Sword Qi."

Tianyangzi frowned slightly; he wasn't worried about Zhou Bai dying from this move. After all, these were just Sword Qi slammed out casually by Jue Ji, and with Zhou Bai's physique, it wasn't something that could kill him in a short time.

However, Tianyangzi was somewhat worried about Jue Ji's attitude. This was clearly not just a casual sparring but rather he wanted to win, and even seemed intent on killing.

Tianyangzi said, "Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword allows a cultivator to warp space and create spatial distortions and misalignments even at the mortal stage. If Zhou Bai doesn't have the relevant Dao techniques, then it could be difficult."

"To break through the imprisonment of Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword... unless he can find the flaw in this sword technique, find the pattern of Jue Ji's constantly changing spatial structure."

Ming Yue the Immortal: "Break the Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword? How could that be possible? Zhou Bai is so young, with such little experience, how can he possibly solve the supreme swordsmanship of Jijian Pavilion."

"In the past, Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword was created only after the then top seven Sword Cultivators exchanged swordsmanship, poured in all their learning, and spent a full nine years. Even I would find it extremely difficult to technically solve this Dao technique and would probably try to forcefully break through."

Tianyangzi: "Chaos Heavenly Punishment Sword has very few flaws, but that doesn't mean Jue Ji has none. No matter how powerful a Sword Technique is, it also depends on who is using it. Jue Ji is only a mortal cultivator, Zhou Bai still has a chance to break his swordsmanship."

Sensing both Ming Yue the Immortal and Tianyangzi looking towards him, Tugui Shen shook his head, "Let's wait and see. If this duel isn't won by Zhou Bai himself, it would always be somewhat imperfect."

After speaking, he glanced at the four main gods beside him, thinking to himself, 'Jue Ji's changes... surely these fellows have had a hand in it, right?'