Zhuang Min was cautious. Even as he admired his handiwork, he had not let his guard down.
After all, he knew that Alchemist Zhen possessed a Golden Cicada Shedding Shell technique. On several previous occasions, opponents had believed they had already subdued Alchemist Zhen, only to be deceived by that very ability.
Zhuang Min also worried that what he had trapped was merely an illusion, not the real Jiang Chen. So even as he observed, his vigilance remained fully primed.
Yet when he saw Jiang Chen struggling within the water curtain, the great stone in his heart finally settled.
He knew that this time, his opponent was truly trapped.
"Alchemist Zhen, how does it feel, this living coffin of mine?" Zhuang Min said with a faint smile, the mockery on his face undisguised.
Now that he held the victor's stance, he could do as he pleased.
Within the water curtain prison, Jiang Chen was genuinely surprised. A water-attributed divine ability cultivated to this degree—Zhuang Min truly was no ordinary opponent.
No wonder he had earned the eleventh spot on the Young Master Rankings. Reputation was no empty thing.
This water curtain prison could not be broken free from, nor could it be cleaved by sword strikes. Not only was it extraordinarily tenacious, but it also possessed a strange force-field structure that made it extremely difficult to shatter.
Ordinary water-attributed divine abilities tended to have distinct characteristics—seeping into every crack, endlessly resilient. Jiang Chen had tried numerous methods, none of which succeeded in breaking through the water curtain prison.
Seeing Zhuang Min watching him with that half-smile, Jiang Chen let out a quiet inward sigh.
"As expected of a Sovereign Realm powerhouse. This water curtain prison carries a Sovereign Realm domain, and combined with the peculiar force field of this ability itself, even I can't find a way to break out at the moment."
If the opponent were only a Saint Realm powerhouse, Jiang Chen could have simply used his Divine-Asura Golden Body to force the water curtain apart, without needing to waste time on all those fruitless attempts.
But now, with a water curtain prison wielded by Zhuang Min using the full might of a Sovereign Realm domain, its resilience was at least ten times greater than what a Saint Realm genius could deploy.
Sovereign Realm power, Sovereign Realm domain—truly extraordinary.
Jiang Chen could feel the crushing pressure of the water curtain prison bearing down on him. The prison was steadily contracting, the immense water elemental force pressing inward as though it would crush him into paste at any moment.
"Alchemist Zhen, surrender now and Zhuang Min may show a rare mercy and let you go. If you insist on resisting, then just wait to be drained dry, drop by drop, by this water curtain prison!"
Zhuang Min laughed heartily. As the victor, he not only felt no sympathy whatsoever, but was in excellent spirits. Every opponent before him had failed to stop Alchemist Zhen's advance, yet he had succeeded.
This alone was enough motivation for him to charge powerfully into the top ten of the Young Master Rankings.
But in the very next instant, Zhuang Min's expression froze. His eyes went wide with sheer disbelief.
"Impossible!" Zhuang Min stared fixedly at the water curtain prison, only to discover that the water elemental force constituting it was dissipating, wisp by wisp, turning into vapor and vanishing into nothing.
And his opponent? Completely unharmed, looking as relaxed as someone who had just woken from a lazy afternoon nap, languid and at ease.
Jiang Chen stretched his arms leisurely. "Zhuang Min, is this really the divine ability you're so proud of? This is all you've got, and you still dare claim you'd leave me no chance to fight back?"
Jiang Chen's smile was thoroughly devious, and it sent an unmistakable chill down Zhuang Min's spine.
"Take this!" Jiang Chen gave Zhuang Min no time to think. Seizing the instant the man was stunned, his sword surged forward with overwhelming force.
The Five-Colored Divine Light Sword churned the void. A heaven-rending, earth-shaking strike slashed straight toward Zhuang Min, leaving an afterimage etched across the air.
The speed was tremendous, the momentum ferocious, leaving Zhuang Min no time whatsoever to react.
Zhuang Min's rhythm had clearly been broken by Jiang Chen, but fortunately his strength was formidable. Seeing the sword about to cleave into him, he rubbed his palms together, and a shimmering ripple resembling a water curtain materialized around him.
*Thud!* The sword struck the water-curtain ripple, carving a deep groove into its surface. The curtain nearly shattered, but clung together at the last moment, swaying but refusing to fall.
Jiang Chen pressed on without pause and launched a second strike.
"Heaven and Earth Diverge!" This strike drew upon the natural laws of heaven and earth, embodying the principle of "Creation bestows its finest beauty, yin and yang divide dusk from dawn." One stroke separated yin from yang, deciding life and death.
One sword stroke was yin, the other was yang—the profundity was unfathomable.
The sword light raced forward: on one side, an eternal night; on the other, a brilliant polar dawn. The layers were distinct, as though returning to the primordial chaos when heaven and earth first came into being.
This strike, condensed from the force of yin and yang, descended once more.
This time, Zhuang Min was mentally prepared. Though he looked wretched, he frantically activated two Heavenly Water Runes in succession. Two water-curtain ripples undulated violently through the void, barely managing to block that terrifying blow.
But even that formidable water-curtain defense was completely torn apart.
Zhuang Min's body bounced backward, finally leaping free from Jiang Chen's range of attack.
Jiang Chen silently cursed his luck. Those two consecutive sword strikes had been designed as a progressive combination. He had not expected his opponent to recover so quickly—or to possess such powerful Heavenly Water Runes.
He had seen Wei Wudao use Heavenly Water Runes before, and had even experienced them firsthand. At the time, they had not seemed all that impressive.