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Chapter 185 – True Flame Body Refinement
TL: Sponsored chapter (3/3)
Half a day passed in the blink of an eye.
He Junyu and Xu Disheng stood together, watching as an enormous elevated stage made of mist slowly rose up in the center of the sea of clouds. He Junyu said, “Junior Martial Brother Xu, it would be nice if the two of us don’t get matched up against one another.”
Xu Disheng nodded his head, then looked around at the sea of clouds and the tens of thousands of profound cultivators from the Shan Mountain Territory who had come to watch. “I guess we don’t know what exactly the rules will be for the top 20 tournament.”
The spectators who were sitting on the seats made out of clouds began to size up the top 20 geniuses of the Sea of Qi division, discussing amongst themselves.
“That’s Zhang Yangui? He doesn’t look that strong.”
“Is that small, red sword-shaped between his eyebrows
?”
“Yes, that’s the Psychic Magic Treasure, the Burning Heart Sword. It was planted in him as a sword poison by his father. Back in the day, it set the entire Shan Mountain Territory abuzz with rumors, causing quite the controversy.”
“Mo Yue is pretty, but I hear she’s as cold as an iceberg, tsk-tsk,” a Dao Foundation stage rogue cultivator said, sighing with admiration as he stared at Mo Yue’s picturesque features. She was a cool beauty—alluring but icy.
“Who cares how pretty she is? Dao Foundation stage rogue cultivators like you have no right to lust over someone like her,” someone next to him sneered.
“Who are you?” that Dao Foundation rogue cultivator said, his face filling with humiliation and resentment. He whipped around to look for the person who just ridiculed him and came face to face with a Dao Foundation stage youth in the attire of the Peak Destroying Sword Sect, who was looking at him with an amused expression.
The rogue cultivator immediately swallowed his rage, muttering to himself as he turned back around, not daring to say another word.
Although the Peak Destroying Sword Sect was just a subordinate sect of the Shangqing Sacred Sect, they were still a large-scale sect in the Shan Mountain Territory. They also had a Primordial Spirit stage existence in their ranks, and they weren’t a force that a few rogue cultivators could provoke.
“That youth in the white and blue Daoist robe is Xu Disheng.”
“That secret ghost Dao technique of his is too overpowered!”
“No, as far as I’ve seen, the secret technique that Xu Disheng has demonstrated is related to attacking the soul. Although it’s similar to the ghost Dao, the might of the two are worlds apart.”
Xu Disheng had been using techniques from Soul Song more and more frequently, and there were many people with good eyes who started to have guesses about his cultivation method.
After all, if it was just a ghost Dao technique, it wouldn’t have been able to break through the defenses of a Psychic Magic Treasure so easily. The might of the Soul Extinguishing Blood Light was shocking, easily destroying a Magic Treasure!
Techniques that attacked the soul and mind were not as well known, but were inexplicable and strange, and very difficult to guard against.
At that moment, Cloud Stream Spirit Master’s voice resonated through the entire Luminous Cloud Abyss. “The top 20 tournament will be split into two rounds. In the end, only 5 will remain.”
Aftering speaking to that point, a profound light flew out from his sleeve, imprinting itself on the enormous list of contestants written in gold in the sky.
There were 20 names on the list. And at this moment, 10 golden lines appeared, randomly matching pairs between each of the names. Shortly after, it finished assigning matches to all 20 people.
“Mu Hui and Zong Zizhen!”
“Pu Li got matched up with Zhang Yangui! Pu Li’s luck is the worst!”

 

Xu Disheng had been matched with an unfamiliar name. It was a genius called Chen Chengwang, who came from the Refining Heart Mountain Range.
Cloud Stream Spirit Master looked up at the golden list of names and announced, “First match, Zhang Yangui vs. Pu Li.”
There was a colossal arena made out of mist in the middle of the sea of clouds. A fire phoenix appeared next to Zhang Yangui in an inferno of blazing flames and carried him up onto the arena.
Pu Li’s expression was unsightly. He followed closely behind, flying up to the arena on a Magic Treasure.
On the ranking jade slip, Pu Li had been given an ‘extremely strong’ evaluation mainly because he had a transformation stage spiritual beast called the Dark Thunder Lion, which was equivalent to a human Dao Foundation stage cultivator. Aside from that, he didn’t possess any outstanding characteristics.
Setting everything else aside, Zhang Yangui’s spiritual beast, the Scarlet Flame Phoenix, was a peak transformation stage monster, and was more than enough to crush his own Dark Thunder Lion single-handedly. If they were to compare any other aspect, they would still be worlds apart.
The Eight Mountains Grand Tournament didn’t allow its contestants to concede defeat. After all, so many influences from the Shan Mountain Territory were coming to watch. If the Sea of Qi stage geniuses just conceded without fighting, it would bring harm to the face of the Shangqing Sacred Sect.
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“Junior Martial Brother Pu, go ahead and attack first,” Zhang Yangui said casually. He hadn’t taken any battle stance whatsoever, and was just petting his Scarlet Flame Phoenix.
Standing on the other side of the massive mist arena, Pu Li cursed inwardly. After a moment’s thought, he sent out the Dark Thunder Lion and had it charge toward Zhang Yangui.
The Dark Thunder Lion was a transformation stage spiritual beast and had an extremely high intelligence, so it had already seen through Pu Li’s intention to avoid fighting. Although it was roaring loudly as it charged towards Zhang Yangui, lightning coiling threateningly around its body, it was only using about 60% of its power.
The Scarlet Flame Phoenix let out a resounding cry and spit out a massive ball of spirit flame. It collided with the Dark Thunder Lion, the momentum sending it flying backwards through the air. Wrapped in a blazing flame, it was slammed heavily into the floor of the arena.
Seeing the Scarlet Flame Phoenix turn towards him with its beak open, as if it was about to spit another ball of spirit flame at him, Pu Li hurriedly shouted, “Senior Martial Brother Zhang, I admit defeat!”
“What is this?!”
“Were they just acting?”
“So fake.”
“The Shangqing Sacred Sect has disciples like this?”
“Admitting defeat after taking a loss in a single move?”
Countless people started to make critical remarks, causing Pu Li’s expression to turn ugly. He turned to look up at Cloud Stream Spirit Master, who was sitting atop a cloud chariot. After seeing him nod, he immediately flew off of the stage as if he had been let off the hook, then left the Luminous Cloud Abyss right away.
On the other hand, the disciples of the Eight Mountains that were watching the tournament all deeply understood how Pu Li felt. After all, Zhang Yangui was of extremely noble status, and his name was synonymous with being unmatched. If it weren’t for the Burning Heart Sword Poison, he would have already broken through to the Divine Core stage. Everyone was well aware of this.
Before the start of a match like this with such a large disparity, the disciples that were hosting the betting tables had temporarily stopped taking bets. Even if anyone were to bet on Zhang Yangui’s victory, they would make only a few spirit stones.
“Second match, Xu Disheng vs. Chen Chengwang.” Cloud Stream Spirit Master’s voice resonated throughout the Luminous Cloud Abyss once more.
Xu Disheng stepped on the phantom image of the Yin Yang Diagram and flew onto the arena. The mist arena was simply too large, so he had to stare far off into the distance in order to see Chen Chengwang at the other end of the arena.
Chen Chengwang was a Rank 4 Spiritual Root genius from the Refining Heart Mountain Range.
Compared to Xu Disheng’s outstanding combat record so far, Chen Chengwang seemed completely unremarkable. His name didn’t even appear on the jade slip that contained the list of geniuses of the Eight Mountains.
As a result, most people thought that this battle was going to be much like the previous one, with Chen Chengwang only lasting a short moment before Xu Disheng beat him.
“Xu Disheng? Your secret soul technique and your Controlling Waves technique are pretty good. As for the rest, you’re pretty whatever,” Chen Chengwang said, his expression cold and indifferent. As he spoke, an extremely powerful aura started gradually rising from his body.
“This
?!”
“What?! This aura
 is this the Chen Clan’s True Flame Body Refining technique?”
“Yes! Only the True Fire Body Refining technique can have an aura like this that rivals the Dao Foundation stage!”
“The True Fire Body Refining technique uses the power of earthen fire to refine the body. There are very few body refining experts, and it’s extremely difficult to make breakthroughs. It’s surprising that Chen Chengwang would choose this path.”
“So the reason why he seemed so unremarkable and ordinary was because he’s actually a body refining expert, and naturally isn’t proficient in spells.”
“As expected of someone from the Chen Clan. Concealing their strength is like second nature to them.”
Quite a few people recognized the cultivation method that Chen Chengwang cultivated. As their expressions changed, they started to feel a renewed interest in this battle.
“I bet on Chen Chengwang! 300 spirit stones!”
“The True Flame Body Refining technique is a Dao Foundation stage technique. The fact that Chen Chengwang is able to practice it means its might is no different from Xu Disheng’s Controlling Waves technique! But I still believe in Senior Martial Brother Xu more. I bet 200 spirit stones on Xu Disheng!”
“260 spirit stones on Chen Chengwang!”
“All in! I bet everything on Xu Disheng!” a disciple with red-rimmed eyes slammed a storage pouch filled with all his spirit stones on the betting table. There were 800 spirit stones within!
As Chen Chengwang’s true strength was revealed, the wagers started to stack up in all of the large marketplaces, causing the atmosphere to surge festively.
“True Flame Body Refining technique?” Xu Disheng muttered under his breath as he sensed the Dao Foundation stage aura coming off Chen Chengwang’s body.