Chapter 1940 - Crane Spreading Wings

Word of the breach in the Skybreaker Wasp's hull spread like wildfire through the gathering.

The competing divine steeds continued their advance, ignoring the damaged vessel. Those watching from the ground, however, had seen every moment of the exchange.

At Nanmen Qing's furious roar, the Skybreaker Wasp lunged at the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot with its wings fully spread. Another volley of more than a hundred poisoned needles erupted from its body, filling the sky and closing every avenue of escape.

Liu Wuxie's lips curved in mockery. At his command, the chariot's sword wings unfolded, their blades shining with the cold brilliance of the sword runes. The entire construct took on the aspect of a beast ready to swallow its prey.

"White Crane Spreads Its Wings!" Liu Wuxie thundered. Both sword wings lashed outward, carving twin arcs through the air.

Cries of astonishment rose from the crowd. "That divine steed can perform immortal arts! What a terrifying creation!"

Racing was no longer the limit of the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot's capabilities. Liu Wuxie had turned it into an instrument of death.

The sweeping sword wings deflected every poisoned needle, sending them hurtling into the sky. They then accelerated sharply, propelling the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot sideways and beneath the Skybreaker Wasp.

Nothing had prepared the spectators for such speed. The chariot's incredible agility overturned everything they believed a divine steed could do.

"Try this!" Liu Wuxie roared. His sword wings opened fully, and the individual blades locked together into two enormous swords that cleaved upward at the Skybreaker Wasp.

A sharp crack split the air when the swords connected. Deep inside the vessel, thunderous rumbling followed as the impact battered its mechanisms. The Nanmen Clan's disciples barely escaped the blades, their furious roars echoing through the damaged construct.

The blow tore through the hull but failed to destroy the Skybreaker Wasp. Its formidable defenses had spared it from complete destruction, but merely breaching them was enough to satisfy Liu Wuxie.

Air rushed through the breach, upsetting the vessel's delicate balance. Moments later, the Skybreaker Wasp began spinning wildly, unable to maintain stable flight.

One flap of its sword wings carried the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot dozens of meters away. Like a celestial crane in flight, it swept beyond the Skybreaker Wasp's attack range.

Spectators drew sharp breaths. Every maneuver had flowed seamlessly into the next, but a single mistake at any point in the sequence would have cost Liu Wuxie his life at the hands of the Nanmen Clan.

"He has some nerve, taking on the Nanmen Clan's Skybreaker Wasp!" a spectator exclaimed.

The older cultivators raised their thumbs in approval, though many remained pessimistic about his future. Even if he survived the tournament, the Nanmen Clan would never let him go. Without the protection of a powerful Golden Immortal, his chances of survival were slim.

"No one offends the Nanmen Clan and gets away with it. That young man is as good as dead," someone voiced what others were thinking.

Pity prompted many in the crowd to shake their heads. They believed that Liu Wuxie had squandered an opportunity to escape by choosing to confront the Nanmen Clan.

As more cultivators arrived to watch the Divine Steed Tournament, animated discussions spread through the gathering.

"What happened here? Who put that hole in the Nanmen Clan's Skybreaker Wasp?" people asked curiously.

Bewilderment filled the newcomers' faces. Barely into the tournament, the Nanmen Clan had already suffered a crippling blow that left its prospects of victory all but extinguished.

"You can thank that little thing," someone answered from the crowd.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot darted through the air with the nimbleness of a sprite. Those distinctive movements made it immediately recognizable.

"Only the Spirit Immortal Realm?" people asked, confused.

The open-topped chariot left Liu Wuxie completely exposed. When the newcomers caught sight of him and sensed his cultivation, they froze in shock.

Still spinning helplessly, the Skybreaker Wasp struggled to recover its balance. Several elders hurried through a succession of hand seals to mend the breach, but several breaths had already slipped away. While they worked, the Qilin War Chariot sailed steadily past.

"How long before you finish those repairs?" Nanmen Qing demanded, taking a deep breath to restrain his murderous intent. Once the Skybreaker Wasp returned to working order, he would make Liu Wuxie pay.

"We need at least ten breaths," one of the elders repairing the breach answered.

By then, Liu Wuxie would have gained a lead of at least a hundred meters, making it difficult for them to catch up.

Pressure continued building along the Divine Rainbow Road. Under its mounting weight, cracks crawled across the frames of numerous divine steeds, laying bare flaws in their construction and breaking some apart entirely.

Liu Wuxie had anticipated precisely this danger when he had abandoned the idea of a fully enclosed chariot. The materials available to him could not sustain a high-grade divine steed, whereas leaving the structure open would relieve some of the pressure.

That choice carried an obvious risk. With no enclosed hull shielding him, a direct hit could leave him severely injured.

The Cloudbreaker Warship maintained its lead as the race continued, with the Guardian Wings close behind. The divine steeds of the other clans also performed well, remaining within striking distance of the front-runners.

Keeping an even pace, Liu Wuxie remained among the middle ranks. Ghost Pupil revealed the obstacles and traps distributed throughout the Divine Rainbow Road.

In the first fifteen minutes, dozens of divine steeds had already abandoned the tournament.

"Elder Si, that brat punched through the Nanmen Clan's Skybreaker Wasp. He might become a threat to us. Shall we teach him a lesson?" a Divine Immortal disciple inside the Qilin War Chariot asked the Golden Immortal elder.

"We have time," Elder Si replied, shaking his head. The contestants had not yet reached the halfway point, and he saw no reason to intervene this early.

Liu Wuxie sensed several gazes upon him and traced them to the Feng Clan’s Astral Light Ripper, an exceptionally powerful divine steed.

The Feng Clan had evidently witnessed his triumph over the Skybreaker Wasp. Impressed by his courage, one of their elders even gave him a thumbs-up.

Liu Wuxie remained roughly six meters away, showing no intention of passing them. The Feng Clan therefore made no move against him, and both divine steeds continued forward at the same pace.

A fresh crash thundered through the air, drawing Liu Wuxie's attention. The Yu Clan's divine steed had become embroiled in a fierce clash with the Mou Clan's vessel and was plainly losing ground.

Desperate to disengage, the Yu Clan repeatedly tried to steer away. The Mou Clan remained hard on their heels, refusing to give them even the smallest chance to escape.

Yu Di's blood ran through Yu Jingtong's veins. Liu Wuxie could hardly stand by and let the Mou Clan murder his grandson. The Yu Clan would never have suffered its decline if not for Liu Wuxie. Without a moment's hesitation, he decided to intervene and repay the kindness they had shown him years ago.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot sharply altered its course and disappeared from beside the Feng Clan's vessel.

"How can it move that fast?" the Feng Clan members exclaimed. Although speed was not the Astral Light Ripper's chief strength, it lagged only slightly behind the Cloudbreaker Warship. None of them had imagined Liu Wuxie's chariot could achieve such swiftness.

Swooping like a bird, the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot slipped between the opposing divine steeds. Its wings swept outward, raising a powerful gust that forced the Mou Clan's vessel back three meters and granted the Yu Clan a brief reprieve.

"Brother Wu!" Yu Jingtong called, smiling as Liu Wuxie came into view.

"Keep going," Liu Wuxie instructed, taking up a position from which he could hold back the Mou Clan.

"No! We're staying to fight beside you. Watch out, though. Their divine steed has a strange ability. It can hide itself!" Yu Jingtong warned. The Mou Clan's vessel possessed only ordinary combat strength, but its power to disappear made guarding against it exceptionally difficult.

Liu Wuxie activated Ghost Pupil and Divine Tribulation Pupil. His mental energy spilled outward like mercury, spreading over everything within dozens of meters.

"I said leave. This isn't an argument!" Liu Wuxie snapped. In his eyes, Yu Jingtong was a junior. Only his regard for the young man's grandfather had brought him into this fight.

Yu Jingtong could find no response to the reprimand. Something in Liu Wuxie's gaze compelled him to obey.

"Be careful, then! Don't let them delay you," Yu Jingtong urged. After drawing a deep breath, he guided his divine steed forward.

The Mou Clan's construct took the shape of a kunpeng. When its enormous wings opened, they blotted out the sky, and the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot beside it looked no larger than its claw.

"Force him off the course," Mou Shaochun roared.

The Mou Clan's divine steed lacked the power of the Cloudbreaker Warship or the Skybreaker Wasp, but its immense size still offered an advantage. Its wings swept around Liu Wuxie's chariot, sealing his escape routes. If they closed completely, his fate would lie entirely in the Mou Clan's hands.

Even the breadth of the Divine Rainbow Road offered little protection. A single sweep of those wings could throw him dozens of meters beyond its boundaries. With his path blocked from the front and rear, it looked like he had almost no chance of escape.

"Is that the best you can do?" Liu Wuxie asked. Runes formed beneath both his hands, and the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot moved straight up and down unexpectedly.

Most divine steeds could travel only forward or backward, although some also managed sideways movement. Only Hundred Blossom Manor's war chariot could ascend or descend like Liu Wuxie's.

The kunpeng's wings closed around empty space. Already above it, Liu Wuxie angled his chariot's nose toward the Mou Clan's vessel and dropped into an eagle-like dive.

Cries of disbelief burst from the crowd. What unfolded before them scarcely looked like a Divine Steed Tournament now. It resembled two martial experts locked in a duel.

Liu Wuxie had woven immortal arts and martial techniques into his chariot's operation, achieving something unprecedented in the Divine Steed Art.

Mou Shaochun was shocked. He had regarded Liu Wuxie as helpless prey, only to discover that his opponent had no intention of waiting for an opening to fight back. Liu Wuxie had already taken control of the exchange.

The Nanmen Clan's Skybreaker Wasp had failed to subdue Liu Wuxie. The Mou Clan's ordinary divine steed offered even less reason to be confident. Its enormous frame made it cumbersome, and its sluggish movements could never keep pace with the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot.

As Liu Wuxie descended upon him, Mou Shaochun could muster no defense.

"Conceal us," Mou Shaochun commanded, activating the divine steed's concealment function in the hope that Liu Wuxie would lose his target.

"That won't work. You think a handful of Concealment Talismans will save you?" Liu Wuxie chuckled.

Concealment Talismans arranged across the vessel accounted for the entirety of the Mou Clan's supposed concealment ability. Each use depleted their limited supply, and they had already activated it once while fighting the Yu Clan.