I Pick up a Lost Godhood

But a moment later, everyone’s eyes lit up. The rain of arrows... was bathed in a crimson glow. This was... Arrow Mist!

The crowd fell silent. It had been over twenty years since a new disciple among the Bow Cultivators had managed to master Arrow Mist.

And from the look of her technique, Jil Zhen had clearly mastered it completely, moving with practiced ease.

Lin Jinghao snapped his folding fan shut. With a single point of his hand, a circular array formation materialized.

The crowd instantly recognized it. ’Isn’t that what Ling Fei used in the last match???’

’But Lin Jinghao is a Sword Cultivator, right???’

BOOM!

The crimson Arrow Mist slammed into Lin Jinghao’s defense, erupting in a blast of Elemental Power.

Jil Zhen was also taken aback, not expecting Lin Jinghao to possess such a method. But the most shocked person wasn’t Jil Zhen; it was Ling Fei. Although Ling Fei and Celestial Dragon’s injuries were not light, they hadn’t left after taking their Pills. In a situation like this, no one would pass up such an opportunity unless their injuries were truly debilitating. The gains from simply observing a battle of this caliber were immense.

What shocked Ling Fei wasn’t that Lin Jinghao had imitated her Peacock Ming King Array, but that... he had surpassed it. Her own Peacock Talisman Formation simply didn’t possess such defensive power.

A glint appeared in Jil Zhen’s bright eyes. ’It’s good that my opponent is strong. Otherwise, this would be too boring.’ "Senior Brother Lin, your aptitude is incredible! In that case, I won’t be holding back!"

Her hands settled on the Rainbow Bow, and her Elemental Power surged. HUMMM...

Another Arrow Mist manifested, but this one was orange, not red. The change in color was not the only difference; despite being the same technique, its destructive style was completely different from the last. This wave of Arrow Mist was far more substantial.

Lin Jinghao used the same technique again, materializing another Defense Talisman Formation. Jil Zhen, however, had no intention of stopping. She unleashed one Arrow Mist after another.

A yellow Arrow Mist, a green Arrow Mist, a cyan Arrow Mist, a blue Arrow Mist, and a purple Arrow Mist!

One Arrow Mist propelled the next, forming a terrifying Arrow Mist Tide!

Stacking attacks is incredibly difficult, even for Sword Cultivators. For Bow Cultivators, it’s harder still. To do so with Arrow Mist should be completely impossible, yet Jil Zhen had done it.

The moment she unleashed this attack, Zhang Xiaopang’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He had to admit, he was really seeing something spectacular today. Zhang Xiaopang himself was very strong, but it just went to show how vast and full of wonders the world was. Jil Zhen was a different kind of genius, not the least bit inferior to him, just of a different type. Gazing at her elegant figure, as a fellow Bow Cultivator, Zhang Xiaopang felt a strong desire to... *exchange pointers* with her in-depth.

The six waves of Arrow Mist had stacked into an Arrow Mist Tide. Once formed, it was nearly impossible to evade. What could Lin Jingaho possibly do?

The Demon Crown Prince’s eyes widened. "How beautiful."

Everyone was instantly speechless. ’Seriously? Now’s the time for that?’

His words were casual, but his hands were not. If he didn’t defend, he’d be blown to smithereens, no matter what kind of physique he possessed.

With several continuous gestures of his hands, a massive, circular array formation appeared, suffused with black light. The unstoppable Arrow Mist Tide, like a raging tsunami, poured entirely into the black formation...

...and was swallowed whole without so much as an explosion.

Lin Jinghao was still casually swaying his fan, but the pressure on the surrounding Cultivators—both those who had already fought and those yet to compete—was immense.

Lin Jinghao was a Sword Cultivator. There was no doubt about that. But everyone, whether they knew him or not, realized the same perplexing fact: had anyone seen him draw his sword?

Any Bow Cultivator capable of unleashing an Arrow Mist Tide would be famous enough to shake the world. Yet, such a terrifying technique had been neutralized with utter ease.

Gazing at Lin Jinghao’s casual expression, Ling Fei’s shock was unimaginable. Her Peacock Talisman Array Method was something she had comprehended from the Peacock Great Ming King Holy Statue, and this was the first time she had ever used it in public. The chances of Lin Jinghao having figured it out on his own were extremely low. For him to use it so easily after seeing it just once... ’How terrifying is he?’

Clearly, the Flower Fairy Sect Leader, Bai Yu, understood this point as well. It had always been speculated that the top-tier masters of the younger generation were all roughly on the same level. Victory and defeat among the eight of them were thought to depend on their performance on the day and the compatibility of their cultivation paths. But after seeing this, it was clear that wasn’t the case. Bai Yu had initially held some grievances about Ling Fei’s defeat, but after watching Lin Jinghao fight, she felt she had nothing to complain about.

She glanced over at Demon Ba. The Sect Leader of the No Illusion Demon Sect seemed to have no particular reaction.

The No Illusion Demon Sect had been extraordinarily lenient with Lin Jinghao over the years. Perhaps this Battle of the Other Shore would finally reveal why. All the Sect Leaders present were thinking the same thing.

Jil Zhen, however, was not the least bit discouraged. Instead, she smiled. "Senior Brother Lin, what impressive methods. You can use Senior Sister Ling’s technique to perfection after seeing it just once. In that case, please face another one of my moves."

This Jil Zhen was no simple character. With one sentence, she sowed discord between the No Illusion Demon Sect and the Flower Fairy Sect, while also putting Lin Jinghao in a position where he couldn’t attack immediately without seeming churlish.

The Sect Leaders present all frowned. Her little trick was too obvious. However, Lin Jinghao seemed to play right along, smiling and fanning himself as if patiently waiting for her instruction.

Jil Zhen’s Elemental Power flared once more. Again, it was an Arrow Mist... seemingly no different from before.

’Will the same technique work twice?’

The same six waves of Arrow Mist shot forth. A brilliant light suddenly flashed in Jil Zhen’s eyes, tinged with a hint of killing intent.

A seventh Arrow Mist!

A crimson Arrow Mist!

—Peerless Splendor of the Seven Rainbow Mists!

The first wave of attacks had been merely a probe. The true power of the Arrow Mist Tide was unleashed when all seven combined into one. That was the moment of qualitative transformation, the true power of her Flying Rainbow Holy Statue.

The previous six Arrow Mists had only been a fusion, but the addition of the seventh triggered a transcendent leap in power.

A brilliant, multicolored light blossomed forth, coalescing into a colossal, radiant arrow that shot toward Lin Jinghao.

Smiling, Lin Jinghao once again made a gesture in the air. A black, circular Talisman Array unfolded. The colossal arrow thundered into it... and then... went silent.

Everyone was dumbstruck. ’What kind of technique is that?’

Jil Zhen was stunned. Her ultimate attack, one she had absolute confidence in, had just vanished without a trace. ’It would have been more satisfying if he’d blasted it back at me,’ she thought. ’But for it to disappear before it could even do anything...’

"Excellent Arrow Technique," Lin Jinghao said. "I’m not much of an archer myself, so I’ll just have to return this lovely gift."

He spun the folding fan in his hand once, then snapped it forward.

The void tore open again, and a multicolored light blasted out! BOOM—

Peerless Splendor of the Seven Rainbow Mists!

The attack shot fiercely toward Jil Zhen. She never dreamed she would one day have to face her own ultimate technique. In an instant, her Flying Rainbow Holy Statue erupted with power. She knew how potent the attack was—dodging was impossible. The Rainbow Bow in her hand flared as she unleashed the exact same technique.

RUMBLE!

The two Peerless Splendors crashed into each other, and the world seemed to turn upside down.

When the Elemental Power dissipated, Lin Jinghao was completely unscathed. Jil Zhen, however, was left looking quite battered.

But the scene suddenly turned awkward. At some point, Jil Zhen’s bow had vanished, and now, that very same bow was in Lin Jinghao’s hand.

The Other Shore fell silent. Snatching an opponent’s weapon wasn’t unheard of, but the problem was that even the Sect Leaders present hadn’t seen how he’d done it!

What kind of technique had Lin Jinghao used?

Jil Zhen didn’t know what to do. She could still fight, but an opponent who could snatch her bow without her noticing could just as easily take her life. This was his way of telling her to back down. But how could she be willing to concede just like that?

Lin Jinghao stroked the Rainbow Bow. Instead of persuading Jil Zhen to concede, he slowly drew the bowstring.

A Treasure Artifact of this caliber couldn’t be controlled by just anyone. All Treasure Artifacts possessed a degree of resistance. Normally, when a Cultivator seized an opponent’s Treasure Artifact, they would have to take it back and spend a long time refining it. Yet, the Rainbow Bow showed no resistance whatsoever to Lin Jinghao.

An uncanny light flickered in the Demon Crown Prince’s eyes. The bow was drawn taut.

WHOOSH... WHOOSH... WHOOSH...

One after another, waves of Arrow Mist shot toward the sky in a magnificent spectacle. It was truly the Peerless Splendor of the Seven Rainbow Mists!

The look in Jil Zhen’s eyes was no longer one of astonishment. Only she knew what she had sacrificed to master the Peerless Splendor of the Seven Rainbow Mists. She knew that to distinguish herself, to get what she wanted, there was only one path: she had to practice. Bitter, arduous practice, day and night. She knew the secret price she had paid to master this Arrow Technique, which she had planned to use to make her name known to the world.

But the man before her had only seen it once.

But the problem was, it wasn’t over yet.

The seven Arrow Mists fused, but instead of bursting into a multicolored radiance, they transformed into a single, dazzling white light.

RUMBLE!

It seemed Lin Jinghao’s imitation had failed. Not every technique could be learned just by seeing it.

But there wasn’t the slightest hint of dejection on Lin Jinghao’s face. Jil Zhen’s, on the other hand, flushed red and then turned deathly pale. Her eyes reddened, and finally, all the color drained from her face, leaving it ashen.

The Sect Leaders present couldn’t help but murmur in amazement. The Cultivators watching from the five major cities might not understand what had happened, but they could see it with perfect clarity.

Lin Jinghao hadn’t failed. On the contrary, the realm of his arrow had surpassed Jil Zhen’s. This was the highest realm of Arrow Mist. The multicolored light indicated it still possessed form; to become a single, pure light was to achieve formlessness. That was the state of Great Success.

Jil Zhen lowered her head and walked off the stage in silence. This was no longer Magical Combat; her opponent could have been her master. They were on completely different levels. He had reached the highest realm she had been pursuing, a state she once believed would make her invincible throughout the world. And now...

Lin Jinghao was still savoring the feeling. It was only then he remembered he hadn’t returned her bow.

The Sect Leaders couldn’t help but look toward Demon Ba with a mixture of envy, jealousy, and resentment. At this point, the tiers of the competing disciples were becoming clear. With this one display, Lin Jinghao had established himself in the first tier. Of course, Celestial Dragon and Mengg Lord were also in the first tier. As for Cultivators like Bu Qingyun, Longyue, and Suo Ming, they could only be considered second-tier.

The first tier was defined by the demonstration of absolute dominance.

"Heh, a talent like this probably only appears once every few hundred years," the Extreme Dao Immortal Venerable said, not stingy with his praise.

"The Boundaryless Cultivation Body," the Lord of Pure Land, Liao Qingqiu, remarked, a trace of surprise in her voice. She truly hadn’t expected Human Cultivators to have made such terrifying progress.

Jil Zhen silently took the Rainbow Bow back from Lin Jinghao’s hands, looking as if she wanted to say something but holding her tongue. When she saw his harmless, almost apologetic smile, the sense of helplessness in her heart became simply indescribable.

The Battle of the Other Shore truly made a Cultivator understand their place in the world.

When the strong met the strong, it didn’t necessarily result in a shower of sparks.

When the Star Alliance first promoted the new cultivation methods, they never imagined things would turn out like this. The power being displayed now had far surpassed all expectations.

This was the power of humanity. Open a single door for them, and they would forge a path where none existed.