Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? - Chapter 881: Unmoved

Chapter 881: Unmoved

Tang Er sprang up from the ground in a kip-up, his gaze fixed on the white-clothed swordsman, his brow tightly furrowed.

This was the stage of the World Elite Battle Master Tournament. Anyone interfering suddenly was a serious foul.

Even if this white-clothed swordsman was powerful, could he be stronger than the Battle Soul Hall Master?

A foul was a foul. Even if Li Qingran belonged to the Battle Soul Hall, no one would dare say anything.

“Referee!” Tang Er looked towards the referee, but the expected judgment was slow in coming, causing his frown to deepen further. “What are you waiting for?

During a match, no outsiders are allowed to interfere! He has already disrupted the match! Shouldn’t that mean the Battle Soul team loses?”

The referee was utterly bewildered at this moment.

He was, after all, a Battle Saint, and his perception was certainly much clearer than Tang Er’s.

It was precisely because he hadn’t figured out the situation that he didn’t dare to make a hasty judgment.

Although the white-clothed swordsman stood there, holding Li Qingran in his arms, he didn’t give off the slightest feeling of being a ‘person’.

That wasn’t a person.

That seemed to be… a Battle Soul!

As unbelievable as it was, his perception told him this was the truth. The white-clothed swordsman was Li Qingran’s Battle Soul, distinct from that sword, a brand new Battle Soul!

But even with his extensive experience, he had never seen anyone whose Battle Soul could take human form.

So, even though he was certain the white-clothed swordsman was a Battle Soul, he couldn’t decide whether the match should continue, his mind a complete blank.

Hearing Tang Er’s words, he immediately snapped back to reality and began a hurried discussion with the other referees around him.

“Hiss—! Could it be Twin Battle Souls? Terrifying! And a humanoid Battle Soul at that! Unheard of, unseen before!”

“This Li Qingran… is extraordinary! No wonder she became the captain of the Battle Soul First Team!”

“It’s basically confirmed that’s a Battle Soul. Li Qingran probably never intended to expose this Battle Soul, not even a World Ring. It was a desperate move, a last resort.”

The several referees were all experts at the Battle Saint level, so naturally they wouldn’t mistake the white-clothed swordsman for a person.

After thorough confirmation, the head referee cleared his throat and gestured for quiet to the clamoring spectator stands.

“Silence! Li Qingran has not committed a foul. This white-clothed swordsman is her Battle Soul. The match continues!”

After speaking, he glanced at Tang Er and said indifferently,

“You may continue your attack. Li Qingran has not fallen, nor has she been knocked out of the arena. Your team does not yet count as winning.”

Tang Er’s eyes widened upon hearing this. His gaze shifted back and forth between the silent white-clothed swordsman and the referee’s face, revealing an expression that screamed ‘are you fucking kidding me’.

What the hell?

This white-clothed swordsman is a Battle Soul?!

You’ve got to be joking!

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the white-clothed swordsman, and soon noticed something amiss.

The white-clothed swordsman didn’t have a trace of the ‘living person’ aura about him.

Simultaneously, when he activated his magic eye, he could clearly see that the battle energy on Li Qingran’s body was connected to the white-clothed swordsman.

In other words, the white-clothed swordsman’s existence depended on Li Qingran’s battle energy.

If that wasn’t a Battle Soul, what was it?

So, Li Qingran’s situation was the same as his—both possessed Twin Battle Souls. This white-clothed swordsman Battle Soul didn’t have a World Ring. Although he didn’t know how it had just broken his ‘Mother’s Embrace – Heavenly Net’, it definitely shouldn’t be as powerful as Li Qingran’s Sword Battle Soul.

Tang Er looked back and saw his teammates lying battered on the ground, each and every one of them looking at him with hopeful expectation.

He was their last hope.

Whether for himself, or for everyone… he had to win.

In that case.

Tang Er took a deep breath. The eight long spears behind him spread out, his hands tightened around the fire poker, and he assumed an offensive stance.

He still had one trump card.

A staff technique buried deep in his memory—the Magic Cloak Staff Technique.

This technique came from his father. Back then, when his father taught him to wield the staff, he only saw it as a means to make a living. It wasn’t until later, as he grew older, that he gradually realized this technique wasn’t simple. The seemingly simple staff movements actually created a stacking of force.

The first strike was harmless, even laughable.

But… what if you took ten strikes, a hundred strikes, a thousand strikes?

Even if a mountain stood before him, he was confident he could smash it open.

However, with his current strength, he could only manage 91 strikes.

But…

Even if it was just 91 strikes, so what?

It was more than enough!

“Hoo…”

Tang Er’s eyes darkened.

*Boom—!*

With one foot stomping fiercely on the ground, he shot into the air. His entire body was like a fully drawn bow, the pitch-black fire poker in his hand tracing an arc through the air.

From the very first move, the sound of wind and thunder arose.

“Magic Cloak… First Strike!”

*Whoosh—!*

The staff’s shadow whipped through the air like a lash, tearing through the atmosphere, carrying the force of ten thousand jun as it viciously lashed towards Chen Huaian’s head.

This strike had no fancy tricks, only one word—heavy.

Chen Huaian stood in place, not even lifting an eyelid.

He merely raised his left hand casually, his five fingers slightly spread, as if swatting away a bothersome fly.

*Thwack.*

A dull sound.

The fire poker, powerful enough to smash the arena, came to a gentle, effortless stop in the palm of his hand.

Utterly motionless.

It couldn’t even stir a single strand of Chen Huaian’s hair.

“So hard!”

Tang Er’s pupils contracted sharply. He felt a numbness in the web of his hand, as if that strike had just hit a thick city wall.

But he didn’t retreat.

This was only the first strike.

It was far from the limit of the Magic Cloak Staff Technique!

Using the force of the recoil, his body performed a hawk flip in mid-air. His waist and abdomen exerted force, and the fire poker in his hand swung around once more.

“Borrowing force… to strike with force!”

“Second Strike!”

This time, it was faster, more powerful.

Chen Huaian still didn’t move, merely shifting his palm slightly to block it again.

*Thump!*

“Third Strike!”

“Fourth Strike!”

…

The rhythm changed.

At first, the audience could still clearly see Tang Er’s movements, could still hear the dull thud of each strike landing.

But gradually, the sounds merged into one continuous stream, like a rapid series of firecrackers exploding, finally transforming into the unceasing rumble of rolling thunder.

*Rumble rumble rumble—!!!*

On the arena, a fierce gale howled.

Tang Er’s figure completely vanished.

In its place was a madly spinning black tornado.

He circled the motionless white-clothed figure, leaping up and down, leaving countless afterimages.

The sky was filled with staff shadows, the ground covered with killing intent.

With every collision, the air would explode with a visible ring of white shockwaves.

With every borrowed force, the black light on that fire poker would intensify by a fraction.

Later on, black flames actually ignited on the staff, as if trying to burn through the void itself.

*Crack, crack…*

The arena beneath Chen Huaian’s feet groaned under the unbearable strain.

It couldn’t withstand this terrifying power that kept stacking and unleashing.

Several cracks spread outwards in all directions from Chen Huaian as the center.

Gravel flew, dust billowed, as if a minor earthquake was occurring.

But he still didn’t move.

He held Li Qingran with one arm, as if holding the entire world.

Let the outside world rage with wind and storm, let the staff shadows crash down like a mountain collapsing or a tsunami surging, he remained steadfast and immovable.

Only that free left hand kept pointing, slapping, and parrying in the void.

In the eyes of the surrounding spectators, his movements were as slow as an old man practicing Tai Chi in a park.

Laymen watch the spectacle, experts watch the technique.

The referees, already Battle Saints, saw clearly—it wasn’t that the white-clothed swordsman’s movements were slow, but that they were too fast. So fast that not even afterimages could be seen. The repeated movements overlapped, giving the illusion that his actions were in slow motion.

Every single strike Tang Er delivered, he caught with pinpoint accuracy.

Eighty…

Eighty-five…

Ninety…

Tang Er’s eyes were already bloodshot red, the corners of his eyes split open, blood streaming down his cheeks.

The muscles on his arms were gnarled and bulging, veins standing out starkly, his skin taking on a terrifying purplish-red hue from the congestion.

This was the limit.

The limit that a mortal body could bear.

All his strength, all his rage, all his unwillingness, converged to their peak at this moment.

He leaped high into the air, his body hanging suspended for an instant.

In the void behind him, all the staff shadows instantly converged, coalescing above his head into the phantom of a massive pillar a hundred zhang long, pitch-black as ink.

“AHHHHHHH—!!!”

Tang Er let out a heart-rending roar.

“NINETY-FIRST STRIKE!!”

“BREAK… FOR ME!!!”

*BOOM—!!!*

The sky seemed to darken for an instant.

That enormous staff phantom, carrying the terrifying might to smash mountains,

Accompanied by an ear-piercing sonic boom,

Came crashing down squarely on the crown of Chen Huaian’s head.

The air was compressed to its limit, emitting a shattering wail.

Tang Er could no longer hold back with this strike. After all, they had all signed waivers before stepping onto the stage.

If anyone was to blame, blame Li Qingran for forcing him to his limit.

The entire audience held its breath.

Even the several referees wore solemn expressions, reinforcing the protective barrier once more.

This strike absolutely surpassed the realm of a Soul Ancestor, touching the threshold of a higher level.

However.

Beneath this heaven-and-earth-destroying staff phantom.

Chen Huaian finally looked up.

His expression remained placid, his eyes held not a single ripple, as if what he saw wasn’t a 91-in-one, sure-kill strike.

But rather…

A falling leaf.

*THUD————!!!*

A deep, resonant sound, as if originating from the earth’s core, instantly reverberated throughout the entire Battle Soul Arena.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

Billowing dust rose like a mushroom cloud, obscuring everyone’s vision.

Only the teeth-grating aftershocks continued to shake the protective barrier.

Everyone waited.

Waited for the dust to settle, waited for a result.

Had that white-clothed swordsman Battle Soul and Li Qingran been smashed flat?

Had Tang Er won?

Anyway, if they were the ones up there, they absolutely could not have withstood Tang Er’s strike.

After a few breaths.

A gust of wind blew past, the dust slowly dispersing.

*Hiss—*

Countless sharp intakes of breath rose and fell in succession from the spectator stands.

In the center of the already riddled and battered arena,

Tang Er maintained his posture of having delivered a vicious downward smash, the fire poker in his hand bent into a shocking arc.

His entire body trembled, blood flowing from all seven orifices.

And at the other end of the fire poker,

The swordsman remained clad in pristine white, untouched by a single speck of dust.

He simply stood there quietly, two slender, pale fingers lightly and effortlessly pinching that fire poker that weighed a thousand jun.

As if pinching a… chopstick.

And at his feet.

*Rumble!*

Only at this moment did the delayed destructive force finally erupt.

The entire arena, with Chen Huaian’s feet as the boundary, sank three chi deep as if tofu struck by a giant hammer.

Only the tiny patch of ground where he stood.

Remained steadfast and unmoving.