The Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 37, Chapter 537.2: Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute

Xiao Xiao waved her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute, and her seven soul rings were drawn by the motion of the flute, and contracted before falling onto it.
Ji Juechen, who was standing opposite her, unsheathed his Judgement Sword. Just as he had said, he would not go easy on his opponents because of their gender.
Ji Juechen revealed a determined look on his face as he wielded his sword with both hands. As he pointed the tip of the sword to the ground, he was able to conceal his aura. At that very instant, everyone could sense that his life energy had disappeared. Even though he was standing right in front of them, it was as if he was not there at all. Even Huo Yuhao, who possessed incredibly powerful spiritual energy, could not detect him.
Even though they were not able to sense his presence, they could sense the energy from his sword. The Judgement Sword might not be reflecting any light, but it gave off the impression of a volcano that was about to erupt at any moment.
Xiao Xiao had never once sparred with Ji Juechen. This time, she finally experienced the immense pressure that one would have to face by standing before this sword fanatic. No wonder no one wanted to spar with him. His sword intent was simply out of this world.
Before making her move, Xiao Xiao already felt as though her entire person was imprisoned within a huge sword. And within the huge sword, there seemed to be hundreds and thousands of smaller swords which threatened to shred her to pieces.
What a powerful sword intent! Is this how it feels to go up against the sword of the sword fanatic?
At that instant, Xiao Xiao emanated a mysterious glow. Her small figure suddenly gave off an impressive aura which resembled that of a humongous mountain.
At that moment, it seemed as though her body could decide the fate of her country. Even Ji Juechen’s incredibly powerful sword intent was shattered when it reached a distance of ten meters from her. Xiao Xiao’s body was enveloped by a black glow which contained countless runes.
Ji Juechen almost lost his balance after his sword intent was shattered.
His face twitched a little after realizing what had just happened. He was seldom caught off-guard—even when he faced Huo Yuhao. He had toned down his sword intent, and no longer released it overtly.
Yes, Xiao Xiao had actually won their opening battle, in which Ji Juechen had pitted his sword intent against her aura!
Xiao Xiao’s aura could only be described as overwhelming!
It could overwhelm people, and even overwhelm the destiny and aura of a country. That was the power of the cauldron. The true cauldron could suppress and overwhelm any aura!
Hence, regardless of how powerful the opponent’s aura was, there was only one possible outcome. Their aura would be overwhelmed and suppressed by the cauldron. Hence, Xiao Xiao was near invincible when it came to comparing the strength of one’s aura. That was the mystical power of the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron.
Despite releasing her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute, Xiao Xiao used the power of her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. This showed that she had developed incredible control over two martial souls.
At this very instant, her eyes brightened like shiny stars as she released a frightening amount of spiritual power.
Just when Ji Juechen was trying to find his balance, she started blowing her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute.
A sad but melodic tune started to emerge from the end of her flute. The air around them started to become very viscous. The first soul ring on Xiao Xiao’s flute started to sparkle as its glow pulsed. The viscous air appeared to have been saturated by boundless fluid. Even the people who were spectating from the outside felt weighed down by the “heavy” air around them.
Delay! It was the first technique of the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute.
Even though it was exactly the same technique, its power was already completely different from what it was the last time she had showed it to the group.
Back then, when Xiao Xiao executed this skill against her opponent, it could only slightly delay her opponent’s movements. But now, her soul skill was actually capable of making people struggle to move.
Ji Juechen stood there without moving. His aura might have been suppressed by Xiao Xiao previously, but he chose not to move even when he was up against her Delay. Since he was not moving, the soul skill did not affect him much.
Xiao Xiao’s eyes remained focused on Ji Juechen as she changed the flute’s melody.
The melancholic tune suddenly became gentle and bright. As the new tune emerged from the flute, one could see ripples of jade-green light emanating from Xiao Xiao’s body. These ripples were like circles of thread which expanded towards Ji Juechen as they attempted to entangle him.
Initially, they appeared to just be circles of light, but when they got closer to Ji Juechen, they suddenly solidified to become material. They seemed to be like rings which were trying to bind and trap him.
Nonetheless, Ji Juechen chose to stay where he was. But just when the rings were about to ensnare him, they shattered to bits and pieces and fell to the ground. They were unable to restrict him at all.
The Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute’s second soul skill—Binding Ring!
This soul skill could be executed in a simple or complex fashion. It possessed a powerful binding ability, but its powers seemed to have lost their effect when they came into contact with Ji Juechen’s sword intent.
Xiao Xiao’s face did not reveal any emotional change after witnessing the disintegration of her binding rings. She carried on with her flute playing as more rings started to gravitate towards Ji Juechen. Other than this, she did not seem to be casting any other soul skill. It appeared that she was hoping to drag the battle on in this manner.
After witnessing what Xiao Xiao was doing, Huo Yuhao nodded from the side of the sparring area. Xiao Xiao’s strategy was sound. By suppressing Ji Juechen’s aura with her advantage right from the start, Ji Juechen was unable to increase the power and range of his aura.
Aura was an extremely important component within Ji Juechen’s sword intent. If his aura were to be increased to its maximum, his attack would become incredibly piercing and penetrating. What Xiao Xiao was doing now was dragging out the battle to expend his soul power and determination.
It was important to note that Xiao Xiao’s soul power was not weaker than Ji Juechen’s. Even though Ji Juechen was almost at Rank 90, his martial soul was just a normal martial soul. He had only become strong because of his unique understanding of sword intent and the Judgement Sword—a powerful Class 8 soul tool—which he wielded.
Compared to Ji Juechen, Xiao Xiao possessed twin martial souls. Her second martial soul had seven rings, and that would only strengthen her first martial soul. Even though her total amount of soul power might be less than Ji Juechen’s, it was only slightly less. Besides, the possession of a strong martial soul would allow a soul master to recover more quickly. When it came to this, Xiao Xiao definitely had an advantage. Hence, even though it seemed unwise for her to drag the battle out, it was actually a good move. Ji Juechen had no chance to showcase the explosiveness of his sword intent.
If he were to force his sword intent towards Xiao Xiao, he would expose himself to her attacks. In fact, as of now, Xiao Xiao did not have any flaws or gaps which he could take advantage of. Hence, Ji Juechen seemed to be at a disadvantage currently.
As their battle wore on, everyone held their breath as they waited for the next event to unfold.
Ji Juechen’s soul rings were unspectacular—they were just the ordinary soul rings. Nonetheless, he seemed very calm and collected as he stood still where he was. It was as though there was nothing in this world which he needed to be concerned about.
Even though Xiao Xiao looked like a girl who would be flustered easily, she was similarly calm and collected. She might not appear to have frozen still like Ji Juechen, but she was still very stable and relaxed, as though everything was under her control. She continued to apply pressure on Ji Juechen, keeping him from releasing his aura.
Bei Bei, He Caitou and Xu Sanshi revealed expressions of disbelief. They were certain that they might not be able to face Ji Juechen with this amount of composure!
Xiao Xiao, have you really become this strong?
Jiang Nannan clenched her fists as she rooted for Xiao Xiao in her heart. She was especially happy to see her showcase her true abilities.
Very quickly, five minutes passed. Both of them were still in their original positions. If they were to continue in this fashion, it would probably take close to a day before they would finish expending all of their soul power.
Ji Juechen frowned as he looked at the situation before him. This was not the feeling he wanted. He would have preferred his opponent to pressure him directly. Instead, Xiao Xiao was using her binding rings to harass him. He felt as though he was sinking into a marsh instead of fighting a fearsome battle. However, he was unable to detect any flaws or gaps in his opponent’s defence. If he were to strike haphazardly, he would expose himself to her.
However, he knew it was definitely disadvantageous for him to drag the battle on like this!
If there’s no gap or hole in your defence, I shall find one, or even create one! So what if there’s a hole in my defence? Let’s see who will strike first!
After making up his mind, Ji Juechen suddenly took a step forward with his left foot before stamping violently on the ground.
The silence stopped instantly as an unbelievably sharp sword intent formed from Ji Juechen’s body. The sword intent was greyish black, and its sudden appearance shattered all of the binding rings which had just been released by the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. That powerful sword intent flew away from Ji Juechen and zoomed towards Xiao Xiao. In the blink of an eye, it was already right in front of her, and was ready to tear her apart.
However, the moment Ji Juechen made his move, Xiao Xiao had already reacted to it. The flute in her hands suddenly released a piercing howl.
Following which, her body became illusory as she split in two. Even though the sword intent had locked onto her, it went straight through her illusory figure, and did not harm her at all. After that, it was Xiao Xiao’s time to retaliate.
Right after the greyish black sword intent passed through her, a jade-green image flew out of the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute and reached Ji Juechen almost instantly.