Chapter 145: Status
’All or nothing...’ Xuan Ke thought and rushed forth.
Xuan Kong frowned when he saw Xuan Ke’s move, but he wasn’t stumped for too long.
He adjusted his hold on his staff and twirled it in a half circle.
Although the movement looked casual, the wooden staff seemed to undergo a transformation. When it travelled through the air, a loud whine was heard as if the staff was forcibly going against the wind.
A breath later, the two staff met.
In the moment they collided, a force travelled through Xuan Ke’s silver staff, and blood spurted out of his mouth. He felt like a force was constricting his organs, and he heard a light crack as one of his ribs broke.
’As expected, the third form of the eighteen forms staff art is not a joke.’ He thought, and a self-mocking smile appeared on his lips.
He placed his free hand on his abdomen, but all his attention was on Xuan Kong.
Fortunately, using the majority of qi to coat his staff brought the desired outcome, and Xuan Kong was also injured.
However, his injuries were clearly lighter, which made Xuan Ke frustrated.
Without delay, he coated his staff with another layer of qi and prepared to fight until one of them could no longer take it.
"I admit defeat." Xuan Kong suddenly said.
"What?" Xuan Ke was surprised.
He did not understand why the other admitted defeat when he clearly had the upper hand.
Although Xuan Ke had not revealed all his tricks and was still confident he could win, he was surprised by the other’s surrender.
"Why?" He asked.
"What’s the use of a pyrrhic victory? Even if I win, I won’t be able to keep the platform after the next challenge."
Xuan Ke woke up at that moment.
He was so preoccupied with winning that he forgot about the rules of the competition.
There was only an incense stick of time between consecutive battles. If he incurred serious injuries, he would not have time to recover before the next challenge.
After thinking about this, Xuan Ke felt a deep frustration, but he could only bow to Xuan Kong and say, "thank you for letting me win."
Xuan Kong looked at him for a moment and then jumped out of the platform without saying a word.
Xuan Ke clenched his hands, and determination filled his eyes.
He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to adjust his condition.
First, he took a rejuvenation pill to repair his rib and the other minor injuries he incurred during the fight.
However, he did not wait until the rejuvenation pill was fully refined before he swallowed a qi replenishing pill.
Although his qi was not depleted in the last battle, he worried his next opponent would be difficult to handle. To avoid accidents, he needed to recover his condition as much as possible.
....
In one of the middle platforms, young emperor Zhu Bing was seated in the middle of his battle platform.
His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be sleeping, but no one was deceived by this posture.
On the second day, someone had really thought the person was asleep or cultivating and wanted to take advantage to sneak an attack.
However, the opponent didn’t manage to draw his weapon before a shard of ice penetrated between his brows.
The attack came so fast that the spectators didn’t even realise what happened until the frozen corpse fell to the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces.
After everyone understood what happened, they were filled with horror.
At first, it was spread around that Lin Huang could manifest phoenix fire in a wide area outside her body. Everyone admired it since she was still in the origin forging realm, but after all, she had a phoenix origin.
It was easy to accept that a phoenix origin could allow her to do this since the phoenix was one of the four divine beasts.
However, Zhu Bing was different.
Even if his ice origin was abnormal, it was not a living thing. Manifesting his qi outside his body was several times more difficult than Lin Huang.
Now that the spectators saw him do it so easily, no one dared to underestimate him. Even those who thought they had a chance to beat him felt their previous confidence was too arrogant.
After that display of power, Zhu Bing’s platform became as idle as Lin Huang’s, and he spent most of his time sleeping or cultivating.
This time was no different.
Behind closed eyes, he was looking at his dantian where more than half his qi had transformed into ice shards.
’If I can get the treasure in the core region of the secret realm, I will be able to transform all my origin qi before I break through to the qi transformation realm.’ He thought.
In fact, everyone was right when they said he suppressed his breakthrough to enter the thousand herbs garden.
However, the assumptions weren’t all correct.
Even if the thousand herbs garden didn’t open, Zhu Bing wasn’t willing to break through before he transformed all his qi.
Although it was beneficial to break through at the earliest possible time, rushing blindly was stupid.
What was the point of breaking through two years earlier when breaking through two years later would exponentially draw out and increase his potential?
’It’s been a while since the number of ice shards stopped increasing. For now, I can only continue to polish them.’
Zhu Bing was about to resume his cultivation when he felt a shift in the platform boundary.
His entire body became alert, but there were no outward signs of his awareness.
However, he relaxed a moment later.
"What is it?" He asked without opening his eyes.
Although the young emperor couldn’t see with his eyes closed, the newcomer still bowed before he spoke.
"I have come to report the situation."
"Say."
"Aside from the young emperor, seven people have not lost a fight." The person spoke and waited for the young emperor to raise his eyebrow before he continued.
"The first is Lin Huang on the first platform." The person’s voice had some animosity as he said this.
It was clear he was loathe to admit the young woman’s strength, but Zhu Bing was still expressionless.
The informant didn’t know if the young emperor didn’t care or if he was good at hiding his feelings. Either way, the expressionless face was impressive.
"The second person is Wei Ge on the eleventh platform."
"Shen Ru and Meng Zihua couldn’t win against each other, but Shen Ru lost a draw, and left the platform. They have both not lost to others."
"Di Shan on the tenth battle platform and Li Futian on the fourth have also not lost."
"Li Futian is the disciple of the Celestial Sky sect?" The young emperor asked.
The informant was a little surprised that the young emperor was interested in Li Futian, and he immediately told him everything he knew.
"Li Futian is the only direct disciple of the Sky sage. At first, Shen Ru and Meng Zihua wanted the fourth platform, but he occupied it before they could make a move. In the end, they left the fourth platform and fought for the fifth."
Zhu Bing nodded, and the informant took it as a sign that the young emperor wanted him to continue.
"Xuan Ke of the Thunder God temple is also undefeated, but his most recent victory was given by his temple brother."
Even though it wasn’t said, none of the spectators were fools.
They had watched the fight and could easily understand the situation.
However, it didn’t matter whether Xuan Kong was more powerful than Xuan Ke. What mattered was whether they could defeat Xuan Ke to grab the seventh platform.
"Bei Chengling is also undefeated."
Since everyone already knew his identity, Bei Chengling no longer hid behind a mask and competed openly.
In the last several days, many had challenged his platform, thinking he was a formation master and didn’t have a high force value.
However, Bei Chengling had a lot of formation stones, and no one had a chance to defeat him. After that, no one dared to underestimate him.
"A few more platforms have been occupied by the Death Flower Ascension Front, but they are constantly challenged. They won’t be able to hold on for much longer."
"That isn’t necessarily the case." The young emperor said.
Although it was difficult for the Death Flower Ascension Front to keep its platforms, it wasn’t impossible.
All they needed to do was intentionally surrender to their own people.
While the new people were holding the platform, the others would take the time to recover. If they changed this way back and forth, it was not impossible to keep the platforms until the end of the competition.
"Is that all?"
"No. Two platforms are held by two disciples from the Sea Cloud sect. One is called Jiang Yue, and the other is a swordsman called Yu Nianzhen."
The young emperor frowned when he heard the names. For some reason, they felt vaguely familiar.
