Chapter 198: Chapter 185: Blasted by a Single Palm
’As expected, I can’t communicate with it! A pity. This is a bit of a handicap for me.’
He activated his Divine Sense, but the Sword Pill in his sea of consciousness gave no response.
But Chen Che wasn’t surprised. This was typical for the competition, a way to prevent students from crushing others by relying on their background or a lucky find. He’d already expected this when they didn’t confiscate the students’ Weapons upon entry as they usually did.
’A Tier Six Magical Artifact would definitely be able to suppress a Tier Three Sword Pill.’
With a thought, his Wooden Token transformed into the Pure Jun Sword.
’As expected of a Tier Six Magical Artifact!’
Chen Che weighed the Pure Jun Sword in his hand. It was Tier One High Grade. Although its Grade was low, it felt quite comfortable to wield.
’This Qi Condensation and Transformation... it’s just like the real thing. I can’t tell the difference at all...’
He glanced around and saw that the other students had also transformed their Wooden Tokens into their most familiar Weapons. Some had even created Talismans or Array Artifacts. As for Yu Ziqing, she had turned her Wooden Token into an Ancient Zither.
However,
there was one exception: Hua Feng.
’Ye Zhihan!’
He stood with his hands at his sides, his gaze sweeping over the students on the mountaintop. He found the scene utterly boring. The one thing he truly looked forward to was a battle with Ye Zhihan. Only by defeating him in the Immortal Sect’s competition, under the watchful eyes of all, could he prove that he was the number one of his generation.
’What a shame!’
Gazing at the nearby mountain peaks, Hua Feng’s eyes filled with regret.
Casually putting away his Wooden Token, he walked directly to a corner and sat down.
The others exchanged glances. None of them had any intention of entering the arena either, so they followed Hua Feng’s lead and sat in a circle around it.
’No one’s an idiot. Whoever goes up first will just become a target. Besides, everyone must have files on each other, but there’s always a gap between a file and a person’s actual strength. Once someone gets on stage, anyone with a discerning eye can tell how strong they are in a single glance!’
Chen Che understood the logic perfectly.
After all, there was only one spot per mountain peak. It determined who would get direct admission to one of the Four Great Daoist Schools and also who would receive a Tier Four Technique.
Even the weaker students didn’t want to be the first on stage and get singled out as a target.
’A shame!’
Chen Che glanced at the distant peaks, also feeling a sense of regret.
In truth, he also wanted to fight Ye Zhihan. Nearly every Cultivator wanted to use the prodigies of their generation as a stepping stone to become the strongest of their time.
’Since he’s not here, I’ll just focus on the test!’
He felt more than a dozen pairs of eyes land on him. Some of these gazes came from Foundation Establishment students like Qiu Beixuan, but several also belonged to contestants at the Ninth Layer Great Perfection. He knew they were consulting their files, sizing up their opponents.
Chen Che remained perfectly still.
’If I go up, I could choose him as my opponent...’
Qiu Beixuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
And Chen Che, ranked thirty-fourth on the Celestial Ranking and suspected of using pills to boost his cultivation, was the perfect target to make an example of. An easy victory over him would not only allow him to conserve his strength but also serve as a powerful deterrent to the other contestants.
He could even use it to start building his ’momentum’.
Just then, the sound of a fierce battle suddenly erupted in the distance.
Looking over,
he saw that on a more distant mountain peak, students had already begun to fight.
In an instant, the clouds shrouding the peak were blown away by the churning flashes of blades and swords. A Sword Aura shot into the sky like a rainbow piercing the sun. The scene was accompanied by the roaring curses of the students, each word infused with True Essence.
Clearly,
some students on the other peaks had been impatient to start.
’...Someone’s getting antsy!’
Glancing at the crowd, which was clearly growing restless, Chen Che shook his head internally. ’They’re still just students, in the end. Hot-blooded and not nearly calculating enough!’
BOOM!
Almost as soon as the first mountain peak erupted in battle, the remaining few followed suit, one after another.
In the blink of an eye, out of the ten mountain peaks, only theirs remained quiet.
"Since no one is willing to take the stage, allow me to get the ball rolling and see what you’re all capable of." At last, a contestant holding a staff could sit still no longer. He strode toward the arena, his gaze sweeping around before landing on one of the students.
"Chen Ping, if you please!"
The student who was called out didn’t seem surprised and walked into the arena.
Both of them were at the Late-stage Ninth Layer. Among the roughly three hundred students present, their strength ranked in the upper echelons. As soon as they took their places, they drew everyone’s attention.
BANG! BANG!
The two of them instantly clashed.
The staff-wielding contestant brandished his long staff, creating a continuous blur of afterimages. His assault was ferocious and unrivaled, flowing like quicksilver. He was still one moment, but the next, his attacks crashed down with overwhelming force. He could even concentrate the area of his attack into a single point, focusing all his True Essence into one explosive strike.
The other student, Chen Ping, had transformed his Wooden Token into five Talismans—three for offense and two for defense—but he was reluctant to use them, desperately dodging under the barrage of staff-strikes.
Everyone watched nervously.
Only Chen Che was shaking his head inwardly. ’At this rate, Chen Ping is bound to lose.’
’Talismans are meant to be used.’
’He’s had several chances to counter-attack with his Talismans, but he keeps hesitating, unwilling to play his trump cards.’
’By the time he decides to use them, it’ll naturally be too late!’
THUD!
Sure enough, a long defense is a recipe for disaster.
At the last moment, Chen Ping saw that things were going badly and finally released two Talismans at once, but he had already lost his chance. The staff-wielding contestant blew right through his Wood Armor Talisman with a single strike and, quick as a flash of lightning, pierced his chest with the staff.
He was eliminated with three unused Talismans still in his hand.
After that match, the other students no longer showed any hesitation, and one by one, they walked onto the arena.
Even Yu Ziqing, Lei Qianfei, and Huang Min voluntarily took to the stage.
Each of them displayed the formidable combat prowess of a top-ten on the Celestial Ranking, defeating their opponents in just two or three moves. Lei Qianfei was particularly impressive; wielding a Giant Blade, he knocked his opponent off the arena with nothing more than the wind from his swing.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, more than a day and a half had passed.
Over a hundred battles, large and small, had already taken place in the arena, and the weaker batch of students had long since been eliminated.
As for everyone’s relative strength, it had become clear to all.
Hua Feng was in a league of his own; no one dared to challenge him.
Below him, Lei Qianfei, Yu Ziqing, Huang Min, and the others formed the next tier, all of them at Foundation Establishment.
The students on the Celestial Ranking were perhaps not far from each other in terms of strength.
And below them were the students at Ninth Layer Great Perfection, who were only a hair’s breadth away from Foundation Establishment. Even the recently-ascended Foundation Establishment students on the Celestial Ranking had to take them seriously, or risk an upset.
On the entire Stone Peak, only a handful of people, including Hua Feng, Qiu Beixuan, and Chen Che, had yet to fight.
At that moment, Qiu Beixuan leaped directly onto the arena, his eyes sweeping across the crowd.
Wherever his gaze landed, the students below Foundation Establishment lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes for fear of being chosen as his opponent. But they never expected his gaze to sweep right past them and finally settle on Chen Che.
"Chen Che, I challenge you!"
WHOOSH!
In an instant, all eyes converged on Chen Che.
"Not all the Ninth Layer students have been eliminated, and he’s already challenging someone from the Celestial Ranking?"
someone asked in surprise. "Could it be that they have a grudge?"
The others all exchanged confused glances.
Only the few Foundation Establishment contestants in the arena frowned.
’He’s starting to build his ’momentum’!’
A glint of light appeared in Hua Feng’s half-closed eyes.
What was this ’momentum’? To put it simply, it was one’s aura.
Even mortals who held high positions for a long time would develop a certain imposing presence. Butchers and soldiers would each have their own unique auras. Such an aura was enough to intimidate others, making ordinary people feel like rabbits facing a tiger.
If it was like this for mortals, how much more so for Cultivators?
Thus, there was the concept of ’building momentum’. By continuously defeating other contestants, one could naturally cultivate an invincible aura that would make others shrink back in fear.
This was the same logic behind Chen Che’s own plan to overwhelm all the contestants with absolute strength, intimidating them so much that no one else would dare take the stage.
"Me?"
"That’s right!"
Chen Che raised an eyebrow.
Slightly surprised, he nonetheless nodded and began walking toward the arena.
"Chen Che, ever since I saw you at the airport, I’ve been wanting to have a match with you,"
Qiu Beixuan announced in a clear voice,
"Today, let’s use the opportunity of this competition to see who’s better!"
After speaking, he stomped his foot violently. The aura around his body surged as True Essence gushed forth, almost forming a swirling white mist. His body sank slightly, and in that instant, he looked like a coiling dragon and a crouching tiger. An overwhelming, unstoppable aura swept out from him.
For a moment, the students on the peak with weaker Cultivation found it difficult to breathe.
"He’s planning to use Chen Che as a whetstone!"
At this, the others also realized what was happening.
A slight smirk touched the corner of Chen Che’s mouth as he smiled.
"Same here!"
He had, of course, overheard the conversation between Qiu Beixuan and his teacher back at the hotel.
With that said, he raised a hand.
As he lifted his palm, Chen Che was still in his original spot. But as it fell, it was as if he had shrunk the distance in an instant, striking directly toward Qiu Beixuan.
"Heh~"
Seeing the palm strike, which seemed light and powerless, Qiu Beixuan let out a soft laugh and raised his own palm to meet it.
"Is that all you’ve got—Hmph?!"
The moment their palms connected, the expression on Qiu Beixuan’s face changed drastically.
BOOM!!!
...
