Chapter 270: Profound Mystery
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Most of the people who fainted were the guards as well as the spectators trying to catch a glimpse of the action.
All of them fainted whilst standing.
The remaining soldiers felt unsettled, "Protect the Emperor!"
"Protect the Emperor!"
...
"That... that is the Hypnotic Eye!"
One of the officials finally recognized the identity of the blue stone. However, it was too late. After a moment of dizziness, he face planted into the ground.
"The Hypnotic Eye?!"
"Close your eyes, don’t look at it!"
"Hypnotic eye!"
Chaotic screams rang out. However, those who had opened their eyes and looked at it were not spared.
The guilty party, Fang Zhengzhi, was just leisurely lifting the Hypnotic Eye high up in the air. He shone it in various directions...
"Fang Zhengzhi, you shameless person!"
Just as Fang Zhengzhi was having the time of his life, a crisp voice rang out.
Ping Yang was furious! She had fainted and nearly fell to the ground because of him!
If not for the fact that the emperor had held her back in time and woken her up, her reputation would have been flushed down the drain.
The Crown Prince and King Duan were both supported by the people around them after they fainted. Their faces were caked in mud and dust.
Fang Zhengzhi’s mouth twitched when he heard Ping Yang rage, but he did not care.
He continued to shine the Hypnotic Eye.
He remembered that even Xing Hou had fell for it back at the Divine Constabulary.
In Dong Lin City, he had also used a flash bang and the hypnotic eye to defeat Yu Wengu.
Now that he was up against Nangong Mu, how could he possibly hold back his ‘secret weapon’?
If there was one person who was calm throughout all of this...
That was Yan Xiu. When the white light exploded, he knew exactly what was going on. He immediately turned away.
"It’s Fang Zhengzhi!"
"Fang Zhengzhi, the court examinations are a fair competition, how dare you use such a thing!"
"That is utterly..."
When the officials finally regained their eyesight, they began to curse and rage at Fang Zhengzhi.
"I can’t use this?" Fang Zhengzhi waved the Hypnotic Eye innocently.
"You..." All of the officials had no choice but to suppress their anger and swallow their words. The Hypnotic Eye was a low grade treasure, and was not a forbidden item.
Fang Zhengzhi was clearly nitpicking.
However, they could not fault him at all.
King Duan clenched his fist tightly. As a king, he had never been humiliated this way! Furthermore, he had been humiliated in front of so many officials!
"Fang ZhengzhI!"
Crown Prince Lin Tianrong’s expression was also ugly. As the second highest power in the land, how could he fall for Fang Zhengzhi’s trick?
This was humiliating!
Fang Zhengzhi did not care about this. He scanned his surroundings, then kept the Hypnotic Eye after there were no more faintings.
He ignored the suspicions of the officials. After all, his opponent was Nangong Mu, and he was still standing.
"You didn’t faint?" Fang Zhengzhi asked doubtfully.
After all, Nangong Mu was the closest to him. He would have been most affected by the flashbang. Fang Zhengzhi did not believe that Nangong Mu did not lose his sight temporarily.
"One only sees what one believes! The Nangong Family trains the heart. Our heart is as calm as water, our mind stable as a rock." Nangong Mu’s eyes opened at this point, his gaze still calm and steely.
His eyes looked like an undisturbed lake in autumn.
"The add on to that phrase is - we rely on our hearts, but our hearts are unreliable!" Fang Zhengzhi nodded and smiled.
"Everyone’s heart is different. Some people have reliable hearts." Nangong Mu said calmly.
Fang Zhengzhi wanted to say something, but Nangong Mu was not going to give him the chance.
Nangong Mu did not plan on holding back anymore.
He charged at Fang Zhengzhi with the Green and Blue Dual Blade. The two rays of light shone together and intertwined like two humongous dragons.
The blue sword was in his right hand, the green one was in his left.
Blue was ice, green was wood.
These were two elements that did not mash well together.
Wood will die when coming into contact with ice. Ice would freeze when in contact with wood.
The last time, Fang Zhengzhi had witnessed some form of intertwining and combination of the two rays in the World of the Sage. This time however, they looked like they had combined completely.
It was clear that Nangong Mu was much more powerful than he was a few months ago.
"Blue is ice, green is wood. However, wood is not wood, it is life! Everything in this world has life. As such, ice does too." Fang Zhengzhi remembered what Nangong Mu said before.
He immediately used the Wind Shadow Technique to dodge.
He morphed into a shadow and disappeared from the area enveloped by the rays of light.
"Cha cha cha!"
Within moments, portions of the stage froze. The red carpet also froze instantly. In that moment, almost half of the stage was white.
"The Green and Blue Secret Art of the Nangong Family!"
"It is no wonder it is right up there with the Dragon Combat Plan. One single attack has that much power!"
"I guess Fang Zhengzhi does not stand a chance despite his tricks."
"Nangong Mu is already at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Reflection State. With the Green and Blue Secret Art, I don’t think that there are more than five people who can match up to him!"
All of the officials exclaimed in awe as they stared at the ice on stage. Then, they shook their heads at Fang Zhengzhi.
All tricks...
Were useless in the face of true ability.
However, they were all surprised to see that Fang Zhengzhi did not draw his sword.
Did he not have a sword?
That was impossible! Everyone knew that Fang Zhengzhi had a sword, a sword that once belonged to the Sagely Battle God Meng Tian.
That sword was named Traceless!
"Aren’t you going to draw your sword?" Nangong Mu looked at Fang Zhengzhi.
"I was just about to negotiate with you. How about we fight this out without any blades?" Fang Zhengzhi swept away the ice on his shoulder and asked in anticipation.
"Purely physical combat?" Nangong Mu looked at his Green and Blue Dual Blades. He hesitated. Without his swords, he would not be able to bring the full power of the Green and Blue Sacred Art to bear.
He would be throwing away his greatest advantage.
However, he knew that a purely physical contest may be advantageous to him. After all, his Green and Blue Dual Blades were slightly weaker than Fang Zhengzhi’s Traceless Sword.
"I don’t agree!" Nangong Mu shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Because I do not want to take advantage of you." Nangong Mu said with determination.
"Then come at me!" Fang Zhengzhi said in exasperation.
"You’re really not going to draw your sword?"
"Nope!"
"Then let me show you the profound mystery of the Green and Blue Secret Art!" Nangong Mu’s gaze was steely as the glow from his swords grew in intensity.
"Oh? I thought you wouldn’t use your sword since I am not using mine..." Fang Zhengzhi thought that by adamantly not using his blade, Nangong Mu would not use his.
However, he didn’t manage to guess Nangong Mu’s reaction.
Not only was Nangong Mu going to use the sword, he was prepared to use his most powerful technique. There was no love lost there.
Why must we use weapons?
Why don’t we have a good old fashioned physical battle?
Fang Zhengzhi felt that a physical battle would have been more amusing. However, Nangong Mu was clearly not one who enjoyed amusement. He had already leapt into action.
He stabbed the Green and Blue Dual Blades into the ground.
Two rays of light burst out once again.
Fang Zhengzhi had seen Nangong Mu use this technique before. He had used this to defend against Ying Shan’s attack.
Last time, Nangong Mu used it defensively.
This time however, he was using it offensively.
With a loud "boom", two rays of light shot skyward, giving life to the crystals of ice on the stage.
"Cha cha cha!"
The sound of water freezing rang out. One could see that the ice was quickly forming around the green and blue lights.
"Blossoming of a million flowers!" Nangong Mu muttered.
Then, the light rays exploded into millions of tiny rays, dancing in the air.
Fang Zhengzhi prepared to use the Wind Shadow Technique once again.
However, he felt a strand already stuck to his leg. Then, he felt an icy cold.
He could not help but shiver.
This was the first time Fang Zhengzhi had experienced the Green and Blue Secret Art.
Nangong Mu was able to face off against the Supernatural State Ying Shan despite being in the pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State. Furthermore, he was able to hurt Ying Shan with the Green and Blue Sacred Art.
This was different from what Fang Zhengzhi did.
Fang Zhengzhi had used trickery, Nangong Mu had used pure ability.
"Great move!"
"The Green and Blue Secret Art uses ice and wood. The Blossoming of a Million Flowers is the most powerful area of the Green and Blue Sacred Art. It uses the power of growth to set up an icy woody territory that is virtually inescapable!"
"Inescapable? Can I break it?"
"Haha, this trees are not your normal trees. You can’t see these trees with your eyes!"
"Could they be... the Dao of trees in the pocket dimension?"
"Exactly!"
All of the officials were stunned by what they heard. The stared at the rays of light, awed by what they were witnessing.
Dao of trees in the pocket dimension!
The Green and Blue Secret Art was able to attack one’s pocket dimension. It is no wonder no one managed to learn it for centuries. It is also no wonder it is one of the two greatest techniques of the Nangong Family.
Just as the officials were busy discussing the battle, Fang Zhengzhi felt like he was being frozen. From the moment that ray of light clung to his feet, he felt something was amiss.
That cold was not enveloping him from the outside.
It felt as if it had invaded his blood. It was a cold that attacked his blood vessels and rushed towards his heart.
"Blossoming of a million flowers!"
Fang Zhengzhi suddenly realized what the flowers were. They were referring to his blood vessels and meridians.
Fang Zhengzhi did not dare to slow down anymore. If he was really held in place by these lights, he would turn into a popsicle.
Furthermore, he would be a popsicle from the inside out.
The energy within his pocket dimension began to shift as he forced himself to resist the cold.
However...
The iciness in his legs caused Fang Zhengzhi’s movements to be increasingly lethargic. Before he could resolve the one on his legs, he was hit on his arm.
The icy feeling attacked him once again.
And then a third, a fourth, a fifth all hit home...
All of the lights and lines danced in the air, swirling around Fang Zhengzhi. Below the stage, more lines were emitted from the two blades.
"I guess the results are confirmed!"
"As long as you are hit by one, you will be hit by a second, then a third, until you are completely immobilized. There is no way to escape!"
"In order to break this technique, one needs to be in the Supernatural State!"
All of the officials looked at Fang Zhengzhi, who was being slowed significantly. They shook their heads. Only a Supernatural State cultivator could release their body of all the cold in an instant.
"I think this shameless boy... is going to lose!" Ping Yang stared at the stage, her expression conflicted.
Yan Xiu frowned. He was not far from the stage, and he could feel the iciness from the technique Nangong Mu just used.
The Nangong Family, the secretive Nangong Family.
They lived in extremely cold environments. Training there everyday meant that they had a peerless understanding of the cold. No one knew it better than them.
"Cha cha cha!"
The ice on the stage became thicker and thicker as more lines danced on the stage. It looked like a white mist was about to block out the sun.
However, this white mist continued to move and grow.
Fang Zhengzhi was enveloped by the white mist. His body, legs, neck, waist, and other parts of his body were completely wrapped up by countless strands of white.
The invigilator raised his hand at this point.
According to the rules, once Fang Zhengzhi lost the ability to resist, he would lose.
"Achoo! It is so cold! It feels just like eating an icecream in winter!" Just as the invigilator was about to announce the results, Fang Zhengzhi’s voice rang out.