Chapter 573 - 345: An Analysis as Fierce as a Tiger
The reason was simple: this effeminate man was Gu Shaofeng, who had coasted into second place on the Ascension Rankings.
The first and second on the Ascension Rankings, appearing in the Battle Sanctum at the same time? What was going on?
The crowd immediately burst into discussion, all of them speculating if something big was about to happen.
"By the way, why don’t you just make Zou Feng go to the Dao Discussion Platform?"
"If we fight in the Battle Sanctum, my brother won’t see a thing. Besides, you should know that this kind of controlled spar is a completely different animal from a real life-or-death battle!"
Gu Shaofeng was clearly on good terms with Song Yuanze, speaking to him in a very casual tone.
Hearing this, Song Yuanze chuckled. "I have no grudge against Zou Feng. Why would I need to go to the Dao Discussion Platform and make things awkward for no reason?"
"When it comes down to it, you’re actually just very wary of him, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here trying to test your skills against his Mind Body beforehand..."
His intentions exposed by Gu Shaofeng, Song Yuanze wasn’t annoyed in the slightest. He grinned, revealing two rows of pearly whites. "He’s a rare Poison Cultivator, after all. Getting used to his poisons in advance is simply the safer bet."
"This doesn’t count as cheating. My Mind Body is in this Battle Sanctum too. Who knows, Zou Feng might have already had a taste of it."
Gu Shaofeng gave a dry laugh. "You haven’t been here in so long. The Mind Body you left behind is ancient history. Even if Zou Feng beat it, it would only give him a false impression of your strength."
"Fine. I just want to win. I want to use my rank as first on the Ascension Rankings and the ’momentum’ from winning this battle to forge a higher quality Celestial Tier Dao Foundation. Got a problem with that?" Song Yuanze shot Gu Shaofeng a glare.
Gu Shaofeng shrugged. "No problem. I just wanted you to be honest."
"Alright, you’re so honest, so tell me, why aren’t you number one on the Ascension Rankings?"
"Or maybe you want to test the waters with Zou Feng’s Mind Body first?" Song Yuanze teased.
Gu Shaofeng snorted coldly. "I admit Zou Feng has made a name for himself, but the path of a Poison Cultivator... is ultimately a trivial one!"
"Not to mention my medical arts are the perfect counter to him. It’s uninteresting!"
Song Yuanze’s eyebrow twitched. "Uninteresting? Is that why you ignored his challenge?"
"Could there be any other reason?" Gu Shaofeng said proudly. "Poison Cultivators are just taking an unconventional path. It’s easy for them to win by surprise, especially when their Realm isn’t high enough."
Song Yuanze said with great interest, "Oh? I’ve never heard that before."
"Count them yourself. How many of the current True Disciples in our Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect are Poison Cultivators?"
Hearing this, Song Yuanze tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, "You’re right, not many. I could probably count them on both hands..."
"It’s nothing to be surprised about. That is the limitation of a minor path. The further you go, the narrower the road becomes."
"Of course, for Zou Feng to have reached his current level on the Poison Dao, he truly deserves to be called a heaven-sent genius. A pity..."
As he said this, a look of genuine regret actually appeared on Gu Shaofeng’s face.
By now, Song Yuanze had walked up to the gate of light where one could challenge a Mind Body.
There was no longer a queue to challenge Zou Feng’s Mind Body, especially at night.
"So, you’re saying you’re betting on me to win this fight?" Song Yuanze didn’t rush into the gate of light, instead turning back to ask.
Gu Shaofeng didn’t answer directly, but continued his logical analysis: "Poison Cultivators excel at winning by surprise. They administer poison invisibly, forcing their opponents to fight them while also resisting the poison’s corrosive effects..."
"Back then, the Reincarnated Sword Emperor, Li Dingjie, was holding his own in a direct clash, but as the fight dragged on, he clearly faltered. Obviously, he was never able to neutralize the poison Zou Feng used."
"If Li Dingjie had cultivated the medical dao, even as a secondary skill, he could have quickly analyzed the structure of Zou Feng’s poison and found a way to counter it!"
"In short, once he loses the advantage of his poison, there’s no way Zou Feng could have defeated Li Dingjie in a head-on confrontation..."
Song Yuanze waved his hand, cutting off Gu Shaofeng’s long-winded analysis. "You talked all that just to say that the medical dao counters the Poison Dao?"
"You’ve cultivated the medical dao, so you can look down on Zou Feng. But what about me? I haven’t cultivated even a sliver of it!"
Gu Shaofeng shot him an annoyed glance. "Cut the crap. The medical dao isn’t the only thing that counters the Poison Dao. You’ve succeeded in Body Refinement and are already impervious to all poisons..."
"If you can’t be poisoned, what’s the need for an antidote?"
Song Yuanze laughed heartily, one foot already stepping through the gate of light.
"Now that’s what I like to hear! Wait here a bit, we’ll grab a few drinks when I’m done!"
With that, Song Yuanze entered the gate of light and began his challenge against Zou Feng’s Mind Body.
To the other disciples watching, the moment Song Yuanze stepped through the gate of light, his aura was so overwhelmingly powerful that it seemed to make the entire Battle Sanctum tremble.
Seeing this, the crowd was dumbfounded, all marveling that Song Yuanze’s Vajra Overlord Body was truly so terrifying...
And just as Gu Shaofeng had analyzed, when an Overlord Body was this strong, like hell it could be poisoned.
Even if it was, the poison would be effortlessly neutralized in moments...
After Song Yuanze entered the gate of light to challenge Zou Feng’s Mind Body, Gu Shaofeng had no intention of leaving. He stood with his hands behind his back, calmly awaiting good news.
He had come here with Song Yuanze not just because they were good friends, but also to verify his own analysis of Zou Feng’s true, unadulterated strength.
But even as he waited for the result, he wasn’t the least bit Tense.
After all, ever since joining the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, his analysis of Cultivators in the same Realm had never once been wrong.
And according to Gu Shaofeng’s analysis, Song Yuanze would have even less trouble dealing with Zou Feng’s Mind Body.
However, Song Yuanze’s purpose in fighting Zou Feng’s Mind Body was to understand him in greater detail, so he would deliberately drag the fight out for a long time...
’Should I go challenge something myself to kill some time?’
Otherwise, waiting like this would be far too boring.
Thinking this, Gu Shaofeng started walking toward another gate of light.
Unexpectedly, just as he was about to enter, he saw the gate Song Yuanze had just gone through flash brightly. Immediately after, someone was teleported out.
Gu Shaofeng paused, utterly baffled, because he could already see that the person who had just emerged from the gate of light was none other than Song Yuanze, who had gone in only moments ago.
’What the hell? So fast!?’
The Song Yuanze of this moment bore no trace of the intimidating, powerful demeanor from before. He looked completely dazed and utterly dumbfounded.
"What happened?" Gu Shaofeng immediately approached and asked.
"I... I was just..." Song Yuanze stammered, clearly not having snapped out of it yet, or perhaps instinctively refusing to face reality.
It was the surrounding disciples, frequent visitors to the Battle Sanctum, who gradually began to see what had happened.
After all, Song Yuanze’s dumbfounded expression was one they had seen on many people challenging Zou Feng’s Mind Body for the first time.
So the conclusion was already obvious.
"Speak clearly! What the hell happened?" Gu Shaofeng demanded urgently.
Song Yuanze rubbed his still-throbbing head and continued, "I had just gone in and saw... Zou Feng’s Mind Body... when he unleashed a full seven Evil Qi poison dragons..."
"I immediately activated... my Vajra Overlord Body to resist it head-on..."
"I managed to hold on, somehow... but four of the Evil Qi poison dragons flew back into the Mind Body..."
"And then?" Gu Shaofeng thought Song Yuanze hadn’t finished.
Song Yuanze shook his head in disbelief. "There is no ’and then.’ I was just... out..."
Having said this, Song Yuanze had more or less sorted through his dazed state, but he still refused to accept this reality.
Gu Shaofeng was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"I witnessed Zou Feng’s battle with Li Dingjie with my own eyes. With his strength, even if it doubled, there’s no way he could take you out so quickly..."
Hearing this, Song Yuanze couldn’t help but say, "Then is it possible... that Zou Feng’s power, compared to before, has increased... several times over?"
Gu Shaofeng mulled it over for a moment, then shot Song Yuanze a look as if he’d seen right through him. "Are you trying to mess with me?"
Song Yuanze retorted irritably, "Who the hell wants to mess with you over this? If you don’t believe me, go try it yourself!"
"You really think I’m scared?" Gu Shaofeng snorted, then strode into the gate of light.