Chapter 96 : Chapter 96

Chapter 96. The Phoenix Never Dies, Fight to the Very End!

Sleep God looked at the dejection on his captain’s face, and his heart felt heavy.

Having been Huang Lu’s teammate for four years, he knew exactly how desperately she wanted to win the league championship, and how much effort she had poured into it.

Something she often said was, “I’m the captain. Leading all of you to the championship is my responsibility.”

“Phoenix Team, are you choosing to surrender?” the host asked after hearing Huang Lu’s words.

Huang Lu slowly raised her head, and a trace of resolve appeared in her eyes.

She shook her head and looked at Sleep God. “Sleep God, I told you before… the Phoenix never dies. We fight to the very end.”

“Surrender does not belong to the Phoenix!”

Huang Lu spread her wings, and fiery feathers rained down across the sky like droplets of water, as dazzling as an epiphyllum at the moment of its most brilliant bloom.

The Phoenix Team’s other two members had no intention of retreating or admitting defeat either, and they activated their martial talents one after another.

Su Linyu glanced at Chu Xingchen, and he gave a slight nod.

Swish!

The sword at his waist left its sheath, and terrifying sword qi swept through the surroundings.

Chu Xingchen’s robes fluttered gently. Sword qi surged out from around him like a rising tide, transforming in the air into transparent three-foot-long swords.

There were so many of them that they packed the air as densely as rolling waves.

Purple-black light flickered in his eyes as he instantly saw through Huang Lu’s weakness.

“Myriad Swords…”

The countless swords condensed from sword qi let out ringing cries one after another.

“Return to Origin!”

At Chu Xingchen’s command, the countless swords merged at incredible speed into one, forming a gigantic sword that blotted out the sky.

Everyone in the audience was engulfed by the shadow of that enormous sword, and every face showed shock.

Cold sweat broke out across Chu Xingchen’s forehead. Even using the ninth-rank Dust-Crossing Sword to execute Myriad Swords Return to Origin, he had nearly drained all his spiritual power just by forming it.

I’m going all in!

Gritting his teeth, he swung the Dust-Crossing Sword and let out a furious roar.

“Go!”

The giant sword released wave after wave of pulsing force as it shot toward Huang Lu.

Her pupils contracted slightly. She wanted to dodge, only to discover that her whole body had gone rigid.

She had been locked on!

No, that was not right. How could a fifth-realm Grandmaster possibly unleash such a terrifying sword technique?

Huang Lu frowned and drew her twin wings around herself in defense.

BOOM—!

The giant sword slammed into the crimson wings, triggering an explosion of overwhelming power. In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to lose all color.

Huang Lu’s crimson wings were torn apart by the giant sword by sheer force. A miserable cry rang out as the shattered wings dissolved into a sky full of falling fire-feathers.

Huang Lu plummeted from the sky and lost consciousness.

The entire venue fell into dead silence. Even those fools who had kept barking that Spark Team only relied on equipment had gone quiet.

That single move, Myriad Swords Return to Origin, had stunned them so badly that they could not speak at all.

“Phoenix… was that your final shred of dignity?”

Sleep God sighed. Looking at the fiery feathers drifting through the sky, some of the drowsiness left his eyes.

Jiang Yichen, who was seated in the audience, had just been about to open the high-grade gift pack he had obtained earlier, but Huang Lu’s performance took him by surprise.

If she had not chosen to leave, perhaps the ending would have been different.

But since she had made her choice, she could only pay the price for it.

Jiang Yichen sighed. In his previous life, perhaps he really had wronged Phoenix a little by making them lose to Yanhuang Team and miss the championship.

But he was the boss, after all.

He rose to his feet and began walking out of the arena.

“Let us congratulate Spark Team on winning the first match of the league!”

Seeing that Huang Lu was no longer able to continue fighting, the host announced the result into the microphone.

“Damn! I thought Spark Team only knew how to bully people with equipment, but that sword strike truly left me stunned.”

“Myriad Swords Return to Origin… what an incredible name. It was unbelievably cool.”

“All right, I admit the host was right. Spark Team really is a dark horse.”

“As expected of a team trained by Young Master Jiang. First there was Yanhuang Team, the number one team in Huaxia, and now there is Spark Team. That record is simply unmatched.”

“Ahhh! Phoenix Team, damn you, give me my money back!”

“…”

The entire crowd was filled with amazement.

The host’s words also brought the people in the VIP section back to their senses.

“Old Chu, was that technique something you taught him? That power is at least on the level of a high-grade Heaven-rank sword art,” Tang Wuji said with sharp insight.

Chu Ningfeng looked completely bewildered. What high-grade Heaven-rank sword art? The entire Chu family did not even possess one.

He was finally getting a taste of how Shen Qingyue had felt before.

“Well… I’m not too sure either. I’ll ask Xingchen about it later,” Chu Ningfeng said, frowning in confusion.

He had never given Xingchen a high-grade Heaven-rank sword art… no, that was not right. He did not have one in the first place.

Then where had this Myriad Swords Return to Origin come from? Could Jiang Yichen have given it to him?

Chu Ningfeng narrowed his eyes. If Jiang Yichen could casually hand a high-grade Heaven-rank sword art to Xingchen, then just how deep was the Jiang family’s foundation?

He was secretly astonished.

Among the four of them, Su Zhan was the calmest, as though everything had unfolded exactly as he had expected.

There was none of the disdain he had once shown toward Jiang Yichen. Instead, he was now firmly convinced that Spark Team would definitely win the championship.

“Jiang Yichen… you truly are becoming more and more full of surprises,” Su Zhan thought to himself as he rubbed his cane.

…

The Zhou family.

“Jiang Dongnian, what exactly is going on here? Didn’t you say Jiang Yichen’s team loafed around in the sun every day?” Zhou Mingyuan demanded angrily as he paced back and forth, his hair streaked with gray.

Jiang Dongnian sighed helplessly. “There was nothing I could do. Who could have guessed that my elder brother would go so far to help Jiang Yichen win that he would even give him a ninth-rank Magical Artifact?”

“I am sure you saw it just now as well. Spark Team was clearly crushing them through superior weapons and equipment.”

Zhou Mingyuan’s face darkened as he snapped, “Then tell me what I am supposed to do now! I helped you make sure Spark got matched against Phoenix Team, but you have failed every single time.”

“Brother Zhou, I do have a way. Do not be anxious yet,” Jiang Dongnian said with an apologetic look. To be honest, Zhou Mingyuan had already helped him a great deal.

But for some reason, something always went wrong whenever it involved Jiang Yichen.

“What way do you have? Say it. I’m listening.” Zhou Mingyuan slapped the stone table and sat down in anger.

Jiang Dongnian said slowly, “Phoenix Team was only last year’s runner-up. Feng’er still has one trump card left in hand: Yanhuang Team!”

“As long as you help modify the competition rules and ban the use of ninth-rank Magical Artifacts, Spark Team will definitely lose, and Feng’er will smoothly become the heir.”

“That sounds nice when you say it.” Zhou Mingyuan was so angry he laughed. “If you had proposed it before the tournament started, the league chairman might have accepted it. But the tournament has already begun. Changing the rules in the middle of it? How could that possibly happen?”

Jiang Dongnian smiled faintly. “It is not impossible. As long as we twist the narrative around this match and get everyone condemning the unfairness of the team league—”

“Under the pressure of public opinion, the league chairman is very likely to revise the rules and eliminate the negative impact on the competition.”

Zhou Mingyuan froze for a moment and stroked his chin in thought.

That method really might work.

At the arena today, most of the audience had already felt that the match was unfair. If they pushed that narrative hard enough, the chances of changing the rules would be very high.

He glanced at Jiang Dongnian, and some of his anger subsided.

Although things always went wrong with Jiang Dongnian, the man truly did have plenty of crafty ideas.

“Fine. I’ll help you one last time. If this still fails, then do not come looking for me again.”

Jiang Dongnian patted Zhou Mingyuan on the shoulder. “Do not worry, Brother Zhou. There definitely will not be any more accidents this time!”

“The position of Jiang family heir can only belong to Feng’er.”