X-Dragon Era

Over the course of three years, the three of them gained a lot, and the improvement of their strength was just a side note. Money wasn't the main gain either. In fact... the greatest gain for the trio was the adjustment and correction of their own combat skills to make the strong stronger, while patching up any holes and flaws, thus perfecting their battle techniques.

For Xin Yun, the greatest gain from this venture wasn't money or the boost in strength—those were givens. His ultimate prize was successfully obtaining the first Divine Artifact and crafting the prototype of the Sky-opening Axe.

Now, as Xin Yun and his companions finally returned to Mountain Sea City, the Chaos Cauldron had just finished refining all five metals and completed the process of reflecting on the Innate. The essences of the metals were absorbed by the eight fragments, with their basic abilities simultaneously activated.

Although they were eager to try out the functions of each fragment, now was clearly not the time. Leading the two girls back to the villa, they met Mother Lan and Ming Xuan, devoured the meal Mother Lan had meticulously prepared, and then fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. After all this time, everyone was truly exhausted.

It was better to rest well first and then worry about other matters.

The next morning, after breakfast, the three of them hurried to the academy. There were only three days left before the battle with Po Kong, so they had to move quickly.

But upon arriving at the academy and asking around, the result left Xin Yun dumbstruck—Po Kong had already left Mountain Sea City with the second and third placers of the academy and had rushed to the competition grounds of the four major academies. The battle between Xin Yun and Po Kong had been canceled.

It wasn't that Po Kong didn't want to fight or that the academy was obstructing it. The selection competition had already started a month ago and had ended the day before yesterday. Since Xin Yun hadn't participated in the selection, he naturally no longer had the right to challenge Po Kong!

Moreover, there were only a few days left until the challenge competition of the four major academies, and everyone had already rushed to the competition grounds for the final preparations. If Xin Yun had been selected, he might still have had the chance to fight with Po Kong at this time.

But now, having not participated in the selection competition, he lost the qualification, and wasn't even allowed to approach the competition grounds.

Upon learning this, Xin Yun was filled with regret. In truth, he should have known about these events, as they were the academy's longstanding rules. However... when he left that year, he was preoccupied with planning the economic storm and obtaining the Divine Artifact. He hadn't looked into other matters carefully or given them much thought, hence the strategic mistake.

In the underground space, Xin Yun hovered above Yinglong, with a Tai Chi Diagram engraved with Taiji patterns under his feet, a Mysterious Yellow Chaos Bell above his head, and four slowly spinning sword blades surrounding his body. In his right hand, he grasped a black banner.

Seeing Xin Yun's peculiar outfit, Yi Luo Xiang and Yan Qingying couldn't help but snicker. What was this supposed to be? Standing on a rectangular drawing, a bell overhead, and holding a torn banner—what was he planning to do?

In the face of the girls' mockery, Xin Yun chuckled and said to Yi Luo, "Come... Yi Luo, let your Purple and Green Twin Emperors launch a few Sword Qi attacks at me to test."

Upon hearing Xin Yun's invitation, Yi Luo Xiang unhesitatingly waved her hand. Instantly... hovering in mid-air, the Purple Emperor swiftly shot out three faint purple sword energies that whistled towards Xin Yun. Everyone knew that such an attack absolutely wouldn't hurt Xin Yun. They had practiced this countless times, and they had that much confidence.

Watching the faint purple Sword Qi approaching, Xin Yun's eyes suddenly brightened. With a light tap of his right foot, a light intermingling shades of pale black and white surged from the Tai Chi Diagram beneath him, swiftly spreading outwards.

Quickly, an energy shield about two meters in diameter, half black and half white, appeared around Xin Yun. It spun slowly, then vanished in a flash, leaving no trace to be seen.

Just as the half-black-half-white shield disappeared, the three streams of faint purple Sword Qi roared in, arriving right in front of Xin Yun. At that moment, the light shield suddenly materialized out of thin air, blocking in front of the three sword energies.

By this time, the Purple and Green Emperors had both reached the silver five-star level, only two stars below Xin Yun, making their attacks exceptionally sharp. Typically, Xin Yun wouldn't dare to block them with his body alone.

But with the Taiji Diagram, Xin Yun's courage swelled. Eager to test the power of the Taiji Diagram, he didn't dodge or flinch, just watching as the three beams of faint purple light came straight at him.

As the three Sword Qi touched the Taiji Shield, in an instant... the black-and-white shield spun violently, absorbing some of the energy from the three Sword Qi. The spherical shield rotated, deflecting the three streams of faint purple Sword Qi from their course, shooting them off at an angle, more than ten meters away from Xin Yun's body—there was no way they could harm him!

"Ah ha!" Xin Yun exclaimed excitedly upon witnessing this. The Taiji Diagram was indeed formidable. Not only could it absorb energy from the opponent's attack, but it could also deflect the attacks. Such defense was truly formidable. Could it possibly be the Qiankun Da Nuoyi?

Lost in thought, Xin Yun excitedly waved to Yi Luo Xiang, calling out loudly, "Come on, come on... don't hold back. Have the Purple and Green Twin Emperors attack me with all their might!"

Facing Xin Yun's miraculous shield, Yi Luo Xiang was both surprised and unconvinced. Were the attacks of the Purple and Green Emperors really that weak? To be so easily deflected was truly a blow to their prestige.