Crackle! Whoosh!
Gao Han's ice mountain, for all its power, could not withstand the combined assault of so many warriors and finally shattered into shards.
The savage residual energies still hurtled toward him, yet they were torn apart mid-flight by countless icy shards from the broken mountain.
The keen ice blades sliced through the lingering force and continued streaking downward, forcing the disciples below to fend off the projectiles with their weapons.
Gao Han landed steadily on the ground and struck a peculiar stance—the opening form of the Cold Mountain Palm, one he had not assumed in a long while.
He now intended to fight with all his strength, for the nine opponents before him were all Fourth Layer True Essence cultivators, each a prodigy capable of battling across realms.
Several of them could even match Fifth Layer experts, meaning Gao Han faced the equivalent of nearly ten Fifth Layer warriors.
Back when he was at the Second Layer of True Essence, his combat power had already rivaled that of a Fifth Layer cultivator.
Now, at the Third Layer, he had elevated his Ice Momentum to minor attainment, mastered the fourth sword art Illusory Sword Strike, and perfected his movement technique Floating Light and Gliding Shadow.
His strength had long surpassed the Fifth Layer. Unleashing all his hidden trump cards, he could even stand against a Sixth Layer expert.
To challenge a genuine Seventh Layer cultivator, however, was still beyond him—he could not so much as break through their defensive barrier, let alone fight them.
With his trump cards concealed, he could still handle these opponents, but he refused to expose his ultimate techniques, for doing so would be to gamble with his life.
Since he could not reveal his secret arts, he would rely fully on the Cold Mountain Palm. Frost Condensing Into Mountain was already exposed, so the entire set of palm techniques was no longer a secret. He had resolved to use them before even landing.
The ten stood locked in a stalemate. Moments later, the two Misty Sect disciples exchanged glances, nodded, and stepped back.
The message was clear: though Gao Han had caught them in his attack earlier, they understood it had been unavoidable. As fellow disciples of the Misty Sect, they would stand united against outsiders.
Gao Han nodded at them in silent gratitude.
Words of thanks were unnecessary. Within the sect, they might compete, but beyond its walls, they were brothers.
The Serene Lotus Sect disciples also exchanged looks, nodded faintly, and withdrew.
They did not retreat simply because Gao Han was handsome, but because their junior sisters who had attended the tournament had told them of his deeds.
In summary: first, his power was monstrous—he had defeated Fourth Layer experts at the First Layer, holding back his full strength. Now at the Third Layer, he was at least a match for Fifth Layer cultivators.
Second, he was ruthless not only to his enemies but also to himself. Such a man was truly dangerous; if driven to madness, he would likely kill one or two of them. It was not worth the risk.
With five disciples withdrawing, the situation turned awkward.
Hound Fang and the Cinder Fire were determined to kill Gao Han, yet they feared that with only four of them left, they stood no chance.
Gao Han's Frost Condensing Into Mountain alone had overwhelmed them even when fighting together. They began to hesitate.
They considered retreating to compete for the mission slots instead. Though they could not defeat Gao Han, the two remaining Misty Sect disciples were no match for them, and two Serene Lotus Sect disciples remained as well—at least three spots were still up for grabs.
Their hopes were in vain. If they wished to retreat, they would first have to get past Gao Han.
The four took a single step back, and Gao Han vanished from sight in an instant, reappearing beside a Qianling Sect disciple. He raised his left palm and struck toward the man's chest.
The disciple reacted just in time, lifting his sword to stab at Gao Han's hand. A grin spread across his face as the blade drew near.
But layers of ice suddenly formed on Gao Han's palm, gripping the sword's edge tightly. He channeled essence into his right palm and slammed it into the man's chest.
Boom!
Gao Han held back his full strength, yet the strike carried his Ice Momentum. The disciple's body was instantly flooded with frost, his meridians frozen and shattered.
Hound Fang finally snapped to his senses, his eyes turning bloodshot as he lunged at Gao Han in a rabid frenzy, biting and clawing like a mad dog.
Facing the savage assault, Gao Han unleashed his full minor-attainment Ice Momentum and struck out with Mountain-Shattering Strike.
A wave of palm force shattered the surrounding air, creating a vacuum.
Hound Fang grew even more ferocious, his hands morphing into jagged, tooth-like shapes as he clamped down on the palm strike and tore it apart.
The force shattered into icy fragments, and Hound Fang's hands burned with frostbite, yet he charged onward without hesitation.
Gao Han knew Mountain-Shattering Strike would not defeat him. The moment he launched the palm strike, his longsword slid free from its sheath. He executed Draw Sword Strike in an instant, a brilliant flash of light piercing straight through Hound Fang's body.
Slice!
Hound Fang's right arm fell to the ground, and frost spread rapidly through his body. Unaware of his injury, he continued lashing out with his left arm.
The sword's speed had been too great, and his cultivation art numbed his sense of pain once activated. He did not realize he had lost an arm.
Gao Han narrowed his eyes. "I intended only to cripple one arm. Since you refuse to yield, do not blame me."
Continuous Draw Sword Strikes.
Shhh! Shhh!
Two more flashes of light sliced off Hound Fang's remaining arm and his right leg.
"Senior Brother!" A disqualified Qianling Sect disciple rushed over, knelt to stem the bleeding, and purged the frost from Hound Fang's body.
He turned to Gao Han, hatred burning in his eyes. "You are cruel beyond measure! Wait until my Qianling Sect—"
Before he could finish, Gao Han's frosty, piercing gaze locked onto him. A bone-deep chill ran down his spine, and he fell silent.
Casting a fearful glance at Gao Han, he slung Hound Fang over his back, helped the other injured disciple, and fled without so much as a word of farewell to Yi Zhiyong.
Yi Zhiyong paid them no mind; his full attention was fixed on Gao Han.
Gao Han turned away and vanished again, reappearing in front of another Firecloud Manor disciple.
This man had stood ready with Zhuang Ling. Seeing Gao Han disappear, he struck backward at once.
Instead, he met Gao Han's Draw Sword Strike.
An arm went flying. Gao Han pressed the tip of his sword to his chest.
"Leave the arena on your own, and I will spare your other arm," Gao Han said coldly, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Gao Han! You have gone too far! Ninefold Sun Blaze!" Seeing Gao Han with his back turned, Zhuang Ling seized the chance to attack, ignoring his junior brother's fate and slamming his palm toward Gao Han.
The strike carried immense momentum, as if the very sky were collapsing in a wave of scorching heat.
"Twenty percent Sword Momentum! Sword Breaking Strike!"
Gao Han countered with Sword Breaking Strike, infused with twenty percent of his Sword Momentum.
His longsword weaved through the palm's force, finding its weak point in an instant. A single stab shattered the technique entirely.
Realizing he was outmatched, Zhuang Ling unleashed five more consecutive strikes, each bearing the weight of a collapsing sky, bearing down on Gao Han.
"Frost Condensing Into Mountain!"
Gao Han chose to overwhelm force with sheer power, skipping the search for weaknesses and unleashing two consecutive Frost Condensing Into Mountain strikes.
Boom!
The first ice mountain collided with the palm strikes, shattering three of them before dissolving. The second mountain broke the remaining two and continued surging toward Zhuang Ling.
Zhuang Ling hastily unleashed another Ninefold Sun Blaze to cancel out the attack.
Before he could recover, Gao Han used Thousand Xun and Floating Light and Gliding Shadow to close the distance in an instant.
Continuous Draw Sword Strikes.
Shhh! Shhh!
In the blink of an eye, Zhuang Ling's arms were hacked clean off.