āThatās the top-grade Magic Treasure, Misty Lightwood!ā
āKe Yue really deserves his name, being able to suppress Bai Zhaoyun.ā
āHah, heās just relying on the power of his Magic Treasure.ā
ā¦ ā¦
Ke Yue turned around and stepped on his withered branch, ignoring the gazes of the disciples in the audience as he flew back to Star Talisman Peakās circle of light.
With a casual point of Tao Yuanbaiās finger, the screen of light next to the giant turtle changed, showing 10 more new numbers.
āRanks 11 to 20 in the first match of the Sea of Qi division, please come up to the arenas,ā Tao Yuanbai said, pointing at the 10 numbers on the light screen. ā6,545th place, 1,360th placeā¦ These 10 people, please proceed to the arenas and challenge your respective opponents.ā
Because of the large disparity in strength early on in the competition, no casualties had occurred so far.
Most of the disciples that went up to the stage immediately surrendered. There would occasionally be a few people who wanted to feel out the skills of the people in the top part of the ranking, but all of them would be easily defeated without exception.
Morning Dew Peakās circle of light was closest to the 4th arena. Xu Disheng had already seen 10 battles so far, and in practically all of the fights at the top of the ranking, there were high-grade Spirit Tools appearing left and right. There were also people who directly took out Magic Treasures and crushed their opponents with a single move in a dull and tasteless fashion.
āRanks 121 to 130, please come up to the arenas,ā Tao Yuanbai said as he waved his hand, causing new numbers to appear on the light screen. ā1,456th place, 5,765th placeā¦ These 10 people, please proceed to the arenas and challenge your respective opponents.ā
āJunior Martial Brother Xu,ā Bai Zhehua said, turning his head.
Xu Disheng nodded slightly. Under the gazes of everyone from Morning Dew Peak, he rode on his black Spirit Cloud and flew over to the 2nd arena.
""
On the 10 arenas, 120 battles had already taken place in total. Without exception, every single winner so far had been those 120 people who had first gotten on stage.
Xu Dishengās opponent was ranked 122nd and was a frivolous-looking man dressed in black robes. After he flew onto the stage in a scarlet beam of light and saw Xu Disheng putting his black Spirit Cloud away, he laughed and said, āWhat are you doing putting your little black cloud away? Youāre not gonna surrender and fly away?ā
Xu Disheng didnāt even look at him. He simply turned his head to the Deacon next to the stage and asked, āDeacon, can we start?ā
The Dao Foundation stage Deacon glanced at him and said, āYou may start.ā
Seeing Xu Disheng ignoring him, a sullen look appeared in the black-robed discipleās eyes. But just as he was about to speak, Xu Disheng pulled the Frozen Spirit Sword out from the Yin Yang Diagram, causing it to appear in his hand. With a casual swing, a bone-chillingly cold sword light flew out and slashed towards the black-robed disciple .
A glimmering black chest armor appeared on the black-robed discipleās body, which was clearly a high-grade Spirit Tool. A barrier of light appeared over the armor, blocking the blue sword light. āA sneak attack? Unfortunately, the attack power was a bit too weak,ā he said coldly.
Just as the black-robed disciple finished speaking, he suddenly heard a āziziā sound in his ears.
When he turned to look, he found that when the blue sword light faded away, it didnāt actually disappear completely. Instead, it turned into blue motes of light that attached to the armorās barrier of light, emitting an aura of corrosion as it slowly wore away at it.
āTheĀ Corrosion Incantation? Just a trifling technique,ā the black-robed disciple scoffed, not paying it any mind. When he poured more profound qi into the barrier, the armor glowed with a radiant light and dispelled the aura of theĀ Corrosion Incantation.
A red battle saber appeared in the black-robed disciplesā hands, then quickly cast a footwork technique and charged towards Xu Disheng.
Xu Disheng activated the Soul Suppressing Vestment, causing a black barrier of light to appear around his body. He swept his sword out horizontally and muttered, āAmassing Water.ā
The two blades crossed! The icy blue sword light collided with the red radiance, but the red side appeared to be superior by a notch.
However, the black-robed disciple didnāt show any signs of celebrating. He was originally a disciple who mainly focused on body refining cultivation methods. In that clash just now with the icy blue sword light, he had imagined that he would cut right through and leave Xu Disheng either dead or seriously wounded.
But at this moment, even though Xu Disheng was forced back several steps, there wasnāt much leftover momentum in the black-robed discipleās attack. The blade landed on the black barrier of light surrounding Xu Dishengās body, but it only caused a few ripples to appear on its surface.
An early Sea of Qi stage disciple can have this much protective power?Ā The black-robed disciple thought to himself, doubtful. But he didnāt think too much about it and activated his footwork technique again, wanting to get in an attack to make up for the last trade of blows.
However, he suddenly found that his body felt unusually slow, as if he was moving in molasses. When he looked down, he found that his feet were already submerged in a puddle of water. There was a strong attraction force coming from the puddle, cutting his speed down significantly.
Xu Disheng put away the Frozen Spirit Sword. A small imperial seal appeared in his hands a moment later, which he immediately tossed towards the black-robed disciple.
The small imperial seal grew in size as it flew through the air. Before long, it had already grown to the size of a house, smashing down directly over the head of the black-robed disciple, who was still stuck in the puddle!
It was the high-grade Spirit Tool, the Severing Spirit Seal!
The black-robed disciple had to spend two breaths of time before he could struggle free of the binding puddle of water. By that point, the Severing Spirit Seal had already arrived above his head, leaving him no time to avoid it. He clenched his teeth and poured in as much profound qi as he could into the armor on his body. The barrier around his body became even more corporeal as he prepared to take the attack head-on.
Boom!
The Severing Spirit Seal crashed ruthlessly into the arena. Soon after, it shrunk back to its original size and flew back to Xu Dishengās hand.
The black-robed disciple was left in a somewhat disheveled state. As he stood there in the middle of the arena, it was clear that the barrier from the armor on his body had dimmed by a lot. āBrat, Iāll have you knowāā
However, as soon as he lost the decisive moment of the battle, he could only continue to be pushed around at every step.
Before he could finish speaking, three cyan droplets of water emitting a concentrated aura of corrosion fell over his head!
This time, the strength of theĀ Corrosion IncantationĀ was several times greater than it had been on the first sword light!
The expression of the black-robed disciple changed greatly. He immediately took a round drum out from his storage pouch and hurriedly activated it, using it to protect the area above his head.
The three droplets of water immediately pierced through the thinned barrier from the armor and came into contact with the round drum!
āAmassing Water, Arrow Form.ā
The sound of the youthās indifferent voice was no different from a death sentence in the black-robed discipleās ears!
He was still busy dealing with the water droplets above his head when ten water arrows condensed in the air along with Xu Dishengās utterance. In the next moment, the arrows all rushed towards him!
āI admit dāā the black-robed disciple started, unable to finish his words for the nth time. But before he could even spit out the three words to admit his defeat, the ten water arrows smashed ruthlessly into his body!
Even though the protective power of that round drum wasnāt bad, after dealing with the three cyan droplets of water, it didnāt have any power left to block the water arrows.
The black-robed disciple spat up blood as he flew out of the arena, landing unconscious amidst the crowd in the Green Lotus Domain.
Thanks to the defensive high-grade armor Spirit Tool that the black-robed disciple was wearing on his body, most of the power from the water arrows was mitigated, narrowly saving him from death. However, the powerful force of impact still sent him flying out of the arena.
The protective barrier around the arena was under the control of each Deacon standing by the arena. However, its function wasnāt to protect the people inside the arena, but rather to prevent any collateral damage between the contestants from leaking out and affecting the audience outside. If a contestant was about to be flung out of the arena, the protective barrier surrounding the arena would dim and let them fly out, and their defeat would be decided soon after.
āErrā¦ Rank 122 vs. Rank 5,675, match set. Rank 5,675 victory!ā the Deacon in charge of the arena announced, his expression colored with shock. This was the first time that a disciple near the top of the rankings had suffered a defeat in this arena! And he had lost to an early Sea of Qi stage disciple who had only gotten 5,765th place in the first match?
āWhat? Zhong Kang was defeated by an early Sea of Qi stage disciple?ā
The moment the Deacon announced the result of the match, all of the disciples standing by the nearby arenas all crowded around and asked the nearby disciples who had watched the match.
āWhat happened?ā
āZhong Kang placed 122nd in the first match, and he was an elite disciple! He even had several high-grade Spirit Tools! How could he lose to an early Sea of Qi stage disciple?ā
āThat early Sea of Qi stage discipleā¦ā
The disciples who had been watching the 2nd arena from the sidelines had complex expressions on their faces.
Next to him, another disciple continued where that other person left off. āThat early Sea of Qi stage discipleās battle sense was amazing! He first took advantage of the fact that Zhong Kang was underestimating him to make him get closer. After blocking Zhong Kangās first attack, he immediately used an incantation to bind him where he stood. Then, he took out a high-grade Spirit Tool to attack him and followed up with two techniques after that, gaining the upper hand! At the beginning, Zhong Kang underestimated him too much. Once he was behind one step, he continued to fall further and further behind. In the end, he could only suffer a frustrating defeat!ā
āIn my opinion, itās also because Zhong Kang was a body refinement expert, so heās better at close quarter combat. If it was a disciple who excelled in casting techniques, it definitely wouldnāt have turned out like this!ā
āBut you canāt forget that this disciple was only at the early Sea of Qi stage!ā
āThose techniques he usedā¦ werenāt they from the He ClanāsĀ Azure Ocean?ā
āIt was similar, but there were some differing points.ā
āThis was also the first time a disciple in the top rankings suffered a defeat! What is this discipleās name? Which Peak does he belong to?ā
ā¦ ā¦
From his perch atop the giant turtle, Tao Yuanbai watched as Xu Disheng rode his black Spirit Cloud back towards Morning Dew Peakās circle of light, then looked towards the Spirit Masters atop their respective chariots.
Seeing that the Celestial Tide Spirit Master, He Wenshu, still had his eyes closed in cultivation, seemingly oblivious of the events taking place below, Tao Yuanbai kept quiet. He only silently remembered Xu Dishengās appearance before continuing to host the event and announce the following matchups.