Chapter 763: Monk (I)
A figure was sent flying backward from the arena, tumbling ignominiously out of bounds before slamming heavily into the ground.
"Anyone else want to come up and try?"
The man in the arena swept an expressionless gaze over the crowd, a hint of disdain in his eyes. He was powerfully built, and his body was covered in densely packed, mysterious runes. The runes were both rugged and intricate, imbued with a wild, untamed beauty. Using his body as their canvas, they formed the strange and ferocious totem of an exotic beast.
"I thought you might be impressive, but it seems you're nothing more than a bunch of trash. How boring. Isn't this the Wei Family's home ground? Where are they? Are they too afraid to come up?"
The man found it utterly dull to see the cultivators below seething with righteous indignation yet cowering away from the arena. He had expected to cross hands with the many genius cultivators of Great Wei at this Ascension Assembly, only to encounter a crowd of useless trash. He had come brimming with anticipation, but no one had given him a satisfying fight. What a disappointment.
The man narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance. "The Wei Family is renowned for its tortoise shell and claims to possess invincible defenses. I'd like to see whether the Wei Family's shell is harder or my claws are sharper."
Suddenly, a figure leaped up from below. It was a valiant-looking woman dressed in close-fitting martial attire, her bearing bold and heroic.
The woman cupped her hands and said calmly, "I'll take you on! Ran Yejun of the Azure Dragon Sect. Please enlighten me."
The man smiled slightly as his aura erupted with a thunderous force. "Heh, someone with a little substance has finally appeared. A disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect, one of Great Wei's strongest sects. I've long wanted to experience the Azure Dragon Sect's prowess for myself..."
In an instant, both figures vanished from where they stood, and terrifying waves of energy spread outward from the arena.
"So powerful! Jeez, as expected of a genius from the Azure Dragon Sect. This strength has completely surpassed the level of an ordinary Golden Core realm cultivator..."
More and more genius cultivators began appearing at the arena grounds. At first, only ordinary experts had participated, but the competitors gradually grew stronger and stronger.
Soon, two tall and muscular men approached from outside and entered the crowd.
Ji Haozhong stared at the battle between Ran Yejun and the barbarian expert, unable to contain his admiration. "What a bunch of monsters! Watching Ran Yejun of the Azure Dragon Sect fight is an absolute pleasure. If I could become Dao companions with such a perfect, fairy-like woman, I would gladly die this very instant."
Compared with the delicate and gentle female cultivators at Qionghua Garden, Ji Haozhong preferred strong and valiant women like Ran Yejun.
Lin Zheyu glanced at Ran Yejun's arena and said calmly, "Stop indulging in pointless daydreams. Let's go over there. Everyone fighting in these arenas is a monster. Ordinary mortals like us would be better off staying out of it."
Ran Yejun was indeed beautiful. Her bold, heroic bearing and decisive, forceful fighting style perfectly matched a martial artist's sense of beauty. Even Lin Zheyu could not help looking a few more times.
"There's no hurry. This battle probably won't last much longer. Let's watch it to the end before we go," Ji Haozhong said, stopping Lin Zheyu.
𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Ran Yejun was a newly ascended Golden Core realm genius of the Azure Dragon Sect. According to rumor, she had reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm less than five years after her breakthrough. Her cultivation speed was astonishing, and her strength was equally formidable.
As they spoke, a resounding dragon's cry echoed throughout heaven and earth. While rapidly evading, Ran Yejun formed hand seals at tremendous speed, and a terrifying Azure Dragon more than three hundred meters long emerged from the void. It roared and lunged at the barbarian man with its jaws wide open. The man sneered as a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from his body. With their initial probing exchange concluded, the two began unleashing their powerful attacks.
A deafening roar also erupted from the man as a burst of dark light flashed across his body. His figure expanded instantly, transforming into an enormous phantom no smaller than the Azure Dragon.
After their auras collided, an explosion erupted from the arena. The residual energy spilling from their attacks alone filled the surrounding cultivators with alarm. Fortunately, powerful restrictions had been arranged around the arena to contain the energy shock waves produced by the battle.
"S-So powerful! We martial artists fight in a manner similar to barbarian totem warriors, and we both possess the same glaring weakness. When fighting immortal cultivators, we must close the distance as quickly as possible, or they can easily keep us at bay while wearing us down from afar. Hmm, this barbarian expert is very strong. The distance between them is shrinking rapidly... It looks like Fellow Ran Yejun is going to lose... Damn..." Ji Haozhong stared fixedly at the battle in the arena, appearing even more excited than if he had been fighting himself.
After watching for a while, Lin Zheyu lost interest. With his powerful perception, none of the techniques or secret arts employed in a battle between Golden Core realm cultivators could escape his notice. After observing for a few moments, he had already foreseen the outcome.
"It's over. That barbarian warrior has no chance of winning," Lin Zheyu said.
With that, he turned and headed toward an arena in the distance. Ji Haozhong was briefly taken aback upon hearing Lin Zheyu's voice transmission. He was just about to object that the barbarian warrior clearly held the upper hand and could not possibly lose when a tremendous explosion interrupted his thoughts.
Ji Haozhong's eyes widened in disbelief as the barbarian man was blasted away and slammed heavily into the ground. When the dust cleared, it revealed his battered figure and mangled body. Ji Haozhong stared in astonishment, thinking, He actually lost!
After standing stunned for a moment, Ji Haozhong hurried after Lin Zheyu and asked curiously, "H-How did she do that? What happened just now? How did the situation suddenly reverse?"
"Ran Yejun possesses too many secret arts. Her numerous powerful secret arts compensated for the disparity in raw strength between her and the barbarian expert. If you carefully think back over the battle, you'll realize that every attack and evasive maneuver she made from beginning to end was merely intended to mislead him..." Lin Zheyu explained through voice transmission as he walked leisurely toward the distant arena.
The Immortal Dao truly deserved its status as the cultivation system that had distinguished itself from countless others and ushered in a once-glorious golden age. Its endless array of mysterious, uncanny, and powerful secret arts, together with its many formidable dharma treasures, allowed immortal cultivators to equip themselves in every conceivable way and unleash all manner of strange attacks. Martial artists, by contrast, could rely only on their own cultivation, with their physical bodies and martial cultivation as their sole foundation.
"So that's what happened! I truly envy your spirit divine ability. If I had spent several more decades refining my foundations in the Divine Repository realm, I might have had a slim chance of opening the spirit divine repository and awakening a spirit divine ability myself," Ji Haozhong said wistfully.
In his view, Lin Zheyu could discern so much entirely because of his awakened spirit divine ability. With such a powerful spirit divine ability, he could see through the many secret arts and techniques of immortal cultivators, allowing him to find a way to overcome them. This was the only path available to martial artists when facing geniuses of the Immortal Dao.
Lin Zheyu smiled without explaining. There was no need for him to activate his spiritual Heavenly Eye. His current perceptive abilities alone were enough to see through the methods of Golden Core realm cultivators easily. Of course, if he encountered monstrous geniuses nurtured by the leading sects, he might still need to use the Heavenly Eye.
Within the crowd, a cultivator watched Lin Zheyu and Ji Haozhong depart and secretly sent a voice transmission. "Xiao Yu is here. Hurry and inform our lord."
They were not the only human cultivators watching him. Even among the barbarians, a group of cultivators was regarding Lin Zheyu's retreating figure with interest.
"I thought I would have to resort to a few tricks, but it seems there's no need to trouble myself," Collis said with a smile from among the barbarian cultivators.
Beside him stood several barbarian men and women dressed similarly to him. Among the barbarians, the styles of totem warriors and shamans differed greatly, making them easy to distinguish by their builds and clothing. These individuals were clearly all barbarian shaman cultivators.
The cultivator beside Collis turned her head and asked in a cool voice. "A martial artist? Do you have a grudge against him?"
She was a woman whose facial features suggested that she was likely quite attractive. However, peculiar runes resembling ritual symbols had been painted across her face with a special liquid, obscuring her appearance.
"He's the one who killed Sar. Sar might have been useless, but I was the only one allowed to bully him. No one else had that right!" Collis grinned as a trace of cold killing intent flashed through his eyes.
The woman glanced at him indifferently before looking away. "Let me know if you need help."
"He's nothing more than a crude martial brute. I can deal with him myself," Collis replied, shaking his head.
After a brief silence, he added, "Thanks."
With that, Collis headed in Lin Zheyu's direction. The remaining shamans did not spare him a single glance, keeping their eyes fixed on the arena throughout. They narrowed their eyes at Ran Yejun and considered how they would have responded if they had been the ones fighting her.
"The Four Symbols Sects have entered the fray. It's about time for us to make our move as well," one of the shamans said calmly.
"There's no hurry. Let those ancient yao go up first and test the strength of Great Wei's geniuses," the woman from before said calmly. She appeared to be the leader of the group.