The bone dagger flashed, teleporting again before vanishing, only to reappear in Luu Rugao’s hand.
"You’re actually a Body Cultivator too!"
Luu Rugao’s expression changed drastically. This bone dagger came from an Ancient Palace.
It had no specific grade and couldn’t be completely refined by anyone.
It wasn’t like a Magical Treasure. It was more like the natural bone of an Exotic Beast, roughly polished and shaped into this Bone Blade.
It possessed no additional Divine Techniques, but it could achieve something close to teleportation, tearing through the void.
Furthermore, the Bone Blade possessed the trait of ignoring all defenses. Many of the cultivators who had died at Luu Rugao’s hands had relied on their Protective Dharma Treasures, believing themselves to be safe.
But the Bone Blade pierced through them as easily as a hot knife through butter.
At the very least, Luu Rugao knew his own Nine Dragons Evil Body definitely couldn’t block the Bone Blade.
So when he saw Master Ge Cang take a strike from the Bone Blade head-on with his physical body, his eyes went wide.
"Damn you, Northern Barbarian... A century of my work, all wasted on you!"
Luu Rugao recalled Ju Bo Arhat’s private instructions, roared in anger, and nine Flood Dragons materialized behind him, each holding a Demon Pill in its mouth.
The nine Flood Dragons circled, elevating his aura to an unbelievable level.
These were all Dragon Beasts that had died at his hands, their souls extracted and absorbed into his own body using a Secret Technique.
He had also refined their Tier Three Demon Beast Inner Cores, turning them into something akin to Magical Treasures.
This was Luu Rugao’s true trump card. The essences of the nine Flood Dragons and their Demon Pills, which he had spent a full century finding and slaying, all ignited at once.
At this moment, Luu Rugao was equivalent to having the combined support of nine Tier Three Peak Demon Beasts.
In terms of quality, he certainly couldn’t compare to a Nascent Soul True Monarch, but in terms of quantity, he wasn’t far off.
He threw a punch, and the nine Dragon Beasts roared in unison. The entire space of the arena trembled, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
"Excellent!"
Master Ge Cang’s eyes lit up. He took a step, flashing to the other side of the arena with a speed that was nearly teleportation.
He activated Close as the Palm of Your Hand, Far as the Ends of the Earth. The overwhelming, space-suppressing punch landed on empty air, smashing cracks into the arena floor.
Ge Cang formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation. A deafening thunderclap echoed as if a rift had opened in the heavens, and endless Divine Thunder rained down, threatening to annihilate everything.
Within the entire arena, only the surge of lightning and the resounding roar of thunder remained.
"Brother Ge’s Thunder Skill already has a hint of the essence of a Celestial Tribulation; one could say it has reached the Transformation Realm... If he can survive the Nascent Soul Celestial Tribulation and integrate the Celestial Thunder Power, he might truly have a chance to achieve the realm where Divine Thunder possesses a spirit, creating life from annihilation."
Yann Yuanzai watched with eager anticipation, a powerful battle intent rising within him.
Seeing that Master Ge Cang had the upper hand and was in no danger of losing, Bai Zichen shifted his gaze to the other arenas.
The arena where Blood God True Man was fighting had been covered by endless Blood Shadows, turning the entire stage into a Blood Pool.
Only the high-ranking monk in the corner had his Buddha Beads fly out and merge with the Buddha Light emanating from his body, firmly blocking the Blood Pool.
Wielding a Magic Sword burning with a bright flame, he protected himself with the Severe and Just Sword Skill. With every swing of his sword, a Blood Shadow was cut down.
But the Blood Shadows in the arena were countless, launching one attack after another.
Filled with rage, Blood God True Man had unleashed the Hundred Demons Blood Sea Technique in its entirety the moment he stepped onto the stage, seemingly wanting to vent his anger on his opponent.
From within the Blood Pool, Blood Beasts continuously crawled out. They were bizarrely shaped with indistinct features.
Each Blood Beast only had the aura of a Tier Two Low-Grade Demon Beast, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming.
In an instant, there were already hundreds of them.
At the same time, these Blood Beasts were constantly merging.
When three to five Blood Beasts collided, their blood flowed and intermingled, reforming into a Tier Two Mid Grade Blood Beast.
In just that short amount of time, a Tier Two Peak Blood Beast had already appeared in the Blood Pool—a blood-tiger with wings on its back, its form becoming less blurry.
’At this rate, Tier Three Blood Beasts will soon appear in the Blood Pool, and they’ll be endless... No wonder they say Blood God True Man’s Cultivation Technique is best suited for group battles and he isn’t afraid of being surrounded. You can’t even attack his main body; he has thousands of incarnations, and he has Blood Beasts to help him fight. How could an ordinary cultivator be his opponent?’
Bai Zichen compared Blood God True Man to Mo Changzhi, who had died at his hands. All he could say was that while they practiced the same Cultivation Technique, in their hands, the results were worlds apart.
The range of the Buddha Light around this disciple of Ju Bo Arhat was shrinking, nearly submerged by the rising Blood Pool.
Only a single point of bright Buddha Light remained, holding firm within the gory and malevolent Blood Pool.
The more it was attacked, the more intensely the Buddha Light burned, blooming with immeasurable brightness.
Although he was at a disadvantage, it didn’t look like he would be defeated anytime soon.
The arenas with Fang Tiancheng and Peng Zefeng were much calmer. The two pairs of cultivators seemed evenly matched, and it would be difficult to determine a winner in a short time.
However, the former was likely holding back, while the latter was simply limited by his strength.
Even with Bai Zichen’s keen eye, he could tell that this Supreme Elder from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect wasn’t using the power of his Lifebound Spiritual Beast. He had merely summoned a Great Seal to engage in combat with the high-ranking monk opposite him.
The monk’s exposed skin, including his face, had turned the color of Red Copper. His bulging muscles strained against his loose kasaya.
He was actually blocking the Magical Treasure with his bare hands, creating a series of booming metallic clashes.
As for the inconspicuous Spirit Farmer fighting Peng Zefeng, the moment he made a move, he seemed like a different person. With one smash of his hoe, the entire space of the arena felt like it had lost its gravitational balance.
Peng Zefeng felt as if a ten-thousand-ton mountain was pressing down on his shoulders. More than half of his True Essence was being used just to resist this gravity.
"Earth Power Great Dao True Intent!"
Peng Zefeng was utterly horrified. He never expected that this most unassuming-looking Spirit Farmer had already truly touched upon a Great Dao True Intent.
Even channeling Earth Power on a small scale to change the rules within an area was the domain of a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s Divine Techniques.
For this old Spirit Farmer to be able to do this meant he already had one foot in the Nascent Soul Realm and possessed an extremely high chance of successfully forming a Nascent Soul.
He inverted the wine gourd in his hand, and gurgling Spirit Wine spilled out, transforming into a rushing river that lifted him up.
At the same time, the two Yin and Yang Treasure Beads on the wine gourd spun wildly. Two beams of Yin Yang Divine Light propped up a Tai Chi Circle, which barely managed to counteract the Earth Power.
However, the old Spirit Farmer did not press his attack, either because that swing of the hoe had consumed a great deal of energy or because he had other plans.
He bent down, and the moment his left hand touched the ground, countless Spirit Grasses sprouted, weaving into a vine fence that grew to surround Peng Zefeng.
"What a fine technique!"
A strange light flashed in True Monarch Jiulian’s eyes. It was the first time he had spoken since the arena battles began.
"Nourishing all things and controlling Earth Power... A dual Great Dao True Intent. If his True Essence weren’t so impure, I’m afraid he could undergo his Tribulation Crossing at any moment and achieve the Nascent Soul Realm!"
His gaze was like a torch as he looked at the kind-faced Ju Bo Arhat, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
"Master, where did you find such a helper? To think he isn’t in his sect purifying his True Essence and preparing for his Tribulation Crossing, but is out here fighting in an arena."
With True Monarch Jiulian’s nearly thousand years of age and experience, there were few things left that could shock him, but this was one of them.
He couldn’t understand how this old Spirit Farmer, who had reached Core Formation Perfection and even touched upon two types of Great Dao True Intent, had not even done the most basic Purification of True Essence.
If such a person were in the Holy Lotus Sect, True Monarch Jiulian would have placed him in the sect’s forbidden grounds, absolutely forbidding him from going out until he reached the Nascent Soul Realm.
Putting aside the difference in strength, the survival capabilities of a Perfect Core Formation Cultivator and a Nascent Soul True Monarch were worlds apart.
If a Nascent Soul True Monarch wanted to escape, it was nearly impossible to stop them unless they were trapped in a Grand Array that sealed the void.
"Little Friend Gu comes from a small sect. The Cultivation Technique he initially practiced was flawed, leaving him with no path forward after reaching Core Formation Perfection... This humble monk took pity on his talent, gifted him a Top-Level Cultivation Technique, and lent him a Thousand-Year-Old Relic to help him purify his True Essence."
Ju Bo Arhat flicked a Top-Grade Spirit Stone from in front of him, and it turned into a streak of light, flying off the high platform.
"After Little Friend Gu uses our sect’s Tier Four Spirit Land to pass his Celestial Tribulation, he will become an Outer Dao Elder of the Dharma Aspect Sect."
True Monarch Jiulian felt a bitter taste in his heart. To think the Dharma Aspect Sect had such good fortune, able to recruit such an Outer Dao Elder.
’Why won’t the Nascent Soul Seed I’ve set my sights on agree to join my sect with his existing skills?’
A Top-Grade Spirit Stone also flew out from in front of him. This happened just as the old Spirit Farmer, having surrounded Peng Zefeng with Spirit Grass Vines, swung his hoe once more.
The river of water in front of Peng Zefeng reversed its flow, his Protective Spirit Light distorted, and his Magical Treasures fell one by one to the ground.
At the critical moment, a lotus seed appeared, enveloped Peng Zefeng, took the blow from the hoe, and instantly teleported him out of the arena.
Before the battle, no one could have imagined that this would be the first match to have a winner.
...
’How come I feel like this Master Wan’s Sword Dao Realm isn’t much stronger than mine...’
Master Ge Cang was sure to win, so Bai Zichen quickly turned his attention to the match he was most interested in.
The Sun Concealing Sword Sect was limited by its size and wasn’t considered a top-tier power in the Liang Country’s Cultivation Realm, but the strength of its Sword Cultivators was widely acknowledged.
Naturally, he was very curious about the gap between himself and the number one Sword Cultivator in Liang Country.
’If I’m not mistaken, Master Wan is only at the Sword Qi Thunder Sound realm. He’s just gone a bit farther than me in the Second Realm of Sword Dao... But as for the Third Realm, One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws, he hasn’t even grasped a shadow of it.’
Bai Zichen was greatly disappointed. He had hoped to improve his Sword Dao experience by observing Wan Qi’s battle.
Of course, Wan Qi’s strength was immeasurably greater than his own. Every ray of Sword Light carried an overwhelming and tyrannical might, capable of crushing anything in its path.
But in the end, his Sword Dao Realm was still stuck at Sword Qi Thunder Sound.
Moreover, the high-ranking monk he was facing, who had thin, long eyebrows and a smile on his lips, could annihilate the Sword Light with a gentle shake of the Treasure Wheel in his hand.
His movements looked casual, yet they caused the entire space to tremble, leveling everything.
No matter how tyrannical the Sword Light was, carrying the momentum to shatter the void, it was reduced to nothingness under the suppression of the Treasure Wheel.
Bai Zichen could faintly sense that wherever the Treasure Wheel passed, the space seemed to be restructured, scattering all the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.
The Sword Light was no exception. No matter how numerous or complex the changes in its Sword Path, it could not escape a simple collision with the Treasure Wheel.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Wan Qi had been forced into a corner of the arena.
His Sword Light was still sharp, but he could only parry left and right, defending the space in front of and behind him.
’I can’t just blindly rely on the sharpness of my Flying Sword. If my Sword Dao Realm can’t keep up, my methods of fighting are too one-dimensional, and I can be easily countered...’
Watching Wan Qi trapped in a difficult situation on the stage, his defeat imminent, served as a wake-up call for Bai Zichen.
At his current stage, because his Flying Sword had been universally successful, he had already developed a sense of dependency. His only method for defeating enemies was his Flying Sword, a severe case of overspecialization.