Chapter 119: Chaotic Battle
"It's already the second day."
A battle had just ended.
After obtaining three heads, Fang Lingqing frowned and took out the jade tablet from his pocket. He looked at it back and forth.
It had been a day since Qiao Wan went missing, and the small red dot symbolizing her remained in place, motionless.
Even if there were any adventures, it's already the second day, so shouldn't there be some movement?
With only one day left until the end of the trial, the situation in the illusion realm changed rapidly. After a day, the scores fluctuated quite a bit.
Xie Xingzhi , Meng Canglang , and Bai Shanhu were far ahead in the rankings, leaving others far behind. Behind them were Qi Feidao and Fang Lingqing .
As for Lu Cixian, who hadn't moved from his spot all day, his score was mostly accumulated from earlier. He had a relatively high ranking before, but after a day of intense competition, he was left far behind by others.
Even Qi Feidao finally realized that something was wrong. "If Taoist Friend Lu doesn't move soon, it will be too late. He will be eliminated in the first round."
The problem was that they had searched around the area where the red dot was, but they didn't see the young man anywhere.
As the end time approached, Fang Lingqing glanced at the pitiful score behind the three big words "Lu Cixian" on the jade card and his face looked a bit grim.
*
Water.
As far as the eye could see, there were endless ripples of water.
This Five-element compass was Zhang Zhiyi's way of dealing with enemies. Based on the experience from the previous challenge, Qiao Wan could fully imagine how terrifying the challenge of "water" would be.
The water in front of her looked clean and clear from a distance, and there was a beam of light shining on the water, seemingly from nowhere. A gentle breeze blew, creating a peaceful and serene atmosphere.
Looking ahead, there were more than ten skeletons lying in all sorts of positions at the bottom of the water. The water had washed away all the flesh and blood, leaving nothing behind. These unfortunate souls were probably sucked into the compass by Zhang Zhiyi.
Behind them was an endless sea of fire.
In front of them was a "water" that could dissolve flesh and blood.
There was no way forward or backward.
If they went back, they would be trapped in this compass space, but perhaps there was still a way out if they went forward.
Gazing at the tranquil and beautiful water surface, Qiao Wan took a deep breath and used her spiritual power to protect her body. With trembling steps, she bravely stepped into the water.
The moment she stepped in, it was a hundred times more painful than being burned by the fire just now.
Qiao Wan stumbled as soon as she stepped in. It felt as if she was being scrubbed vigorously with a brush made of sharp steel nails, scraping away every layer of skin and every piece of flesh, leaving her completely clean.
After steadying herself, Qiao Wan took a confident step forward.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the dozen or so skeletons. She shivered uncomfortably. If she hadn't trained her body and mind beforehand, her fate would have been no better than these poor souls.
...
"Why aren't they dead yet?"
Zhang Zhiyi took out his compass and examined it. He saw the pale blue light representing life crisscrossing on the compass, refusing to fade away. He couldn't help but be amazed.
This shouldn't be happening.
In his Five-element compass, he had designed five ways to kill using the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Normally, anyone sucked into it would disappear within half a moment to half a day, completely silent. Their spiritual energy would be absorbed by the compass and converted for its use.
With each battle, his artifact would become stronger and more formidable.
Lu Cixian had been sucked in for nearly a day. Why wasn't he dead yet?
...
There were still five hours remaining until the first round ended.
In the secret realm, everyone's ranking is displayed on another stone nearby called the Souvenir Stone.
Apart from Fang Lingqing, many people on Lotus Seat Peak also noticed something strange. Lu Cixian's score hasn't changed since yesterday! No matter how intense the competition is, Lu Cixian's score remains steady.
If you don't make progress, you'll fall behind. Lu Cixian, who started with a relatively high ranking, has now been left far behind and is trailing behind.
"What's going on with Lu Cixian?" Green Waist widened his eyes, growing anxious. "Did he oversleep?"
The students from Buping College haven't dared to blink their eyes since yesterday, attentively watching the Souvenir Stone.
Do something!!
After all the effort to participate in this debate, Buping College can't possibly give up in the very first round, right?
Zheng Wenliang was filled with tears in his heart.
If they give up now, Buping College will truly be absorbed by the neighboring Chuandao College!!
There is something that Li Pan hasn't told Qiao Wan yet.
Not only are they poor, but Buping College is also in danger of being taken over by Chuandao College next door. Chuandao College has been rapidly developing in recent decades, and the mountain master there has strong ambitions. He has a close relationship with Yuqing Spiritual Master from Kunshan, who has a wide network and strong power. Chuandao College has been trying to improve its position in the Confucian school by pressuring and enticing smaller colleges without strong support. It has already taken over many of them in the past thirty years.
Before leaving, they made a bet with Chuandao College to make a name for themselves in the upcoming Three Teachings Law Meeting.
Initially, Zheng Wenliang and the others thought of inviting a cultivator at the Yuan Ying stage to show their strength, but Li Pan stubbornly refused.
Well, if he doesn't agree, who knows what secret move Li Pan might be planning.
But instead of a secret move, they ended up with a mountain master who was barely at the foundation building stage.
Of course, it's not that the mountain master is bad, but Zheng Wenliang feels conflicted.
Just having a cultivator in the foundation-building stage as the head of a academy to represent the academy in the conference seems a bit unreliable.
For example, look at it now.
Li Pan glanced lightly.
These little kids are still too young, restless.
Li Pan looked at the Souvenir Stone and said calmly, "Don't worry, let's wait and see."
He believed that the person's child would not even fail the first round of this conference.
*
In fact, Qiao Wan not only didn't die, but also ascended.
Under the influence of spiritual power, the eroded muscles were constantly shedding and regenerating.
In the end, Qiao Wan calmly looked at the smooth leg hair flowing with the water ripples.
Could this be... an advancement in body refinement?
Qiao Wan closed her eyes and tried to recall the essence of "Essentials of Body Refinement" that she had read before.
Refining the skin, refining the flesh, refining the blood, refining the tendons, and refining the bones, these can be roughly divided into five levels, with the first level being the lowest and the fifth level being the highest.
When she cooked herself in the iron pot before, she roughly reached the fifth level of refining the skin.
After going through these two tough rounds just now, Qiao Wan could vaguely feel that she was about to break through again.
Gold, wood, water, fire, earth.
As she waded through the shimmering blue waves, what came into view next was a densely packed mountain of blades.
She looked up at the towering mountain peak that pierced the sky.
Qiao Wan's brain buzzed and her scalp tingled again!
How do I climb this?!
The further she went, the more rigid Qiao Wan's entire body became as she looked at the sea of blades before her.
Even though she had swallowed a Human-faced Scorpion-tailed Spider before, putting her bones back together and passing through the iron pot and fire.
This majestic and treacherous mountain still left Qiao Wan stunned on the spot.
On the mountain path, several ragged bodies hung from knife tips emerging from the stone peaks, swaying in the wind.
Qiao Wan looked up at the mountain of blades.
She had been dragging on for too long.
After struggling through the "Water and Fire" challenges for over a day, her initial high score seemed impressive, but she knew that in the later stages, she would definitely be left far behind by others. If she couldn't find a way out, she would have to give up on the Three Teachings Law Meeting.
Mentally prepared, Qiao Wan clenched her sword with a serious expression on her face.
Before she traveled through time, she never imagined that one day she would reach a level where she could climb mountains without changing her expression.
Thinking back to the time when she would get exhausted after running only 800 meters, she realized how far she had come from the simple life of the college campus. The only comfort she could find was by reflecting on her campus life in her memories.
That's the plan! Just like running 800 meters in college!
With determination, she rushed forward!
Qiao Wan widened her eyes and silently encouraged herself as she swiftly ascended the mountain on her flying wheel.
Charge ahead!!!
*
There were still three hours left until the end of the first session of the Law Meeting.
On the Souvenir Stone, Xie Xingzhi, Bai Shanhu, and Meng Canglang still held the top positions, while the names below rose and fell in intense competition.
In this fierce competition, the words "Lu Cixian" remained motionless.
The students of Buping College were almost in tears.
Oh, Headmaster! There are only three hours left, please make a move!
"What's wrong?" Qi Feidao asked curiously, "Aren't you going to watch?"
Fang Lingqing tucked the jade plaque into his chest and intentionally suppressed the faint complex emotions in his heart. He casually replied, "It's hopeless, there's no hope left."
Only three hours remaining.
At this point, the number of people in the illusion has basically settled, and it has become clear who will advance and who will be eliminated.
To ensure safety, most cultivators in the illusion reached an unprecedented understanding.
No killing, just defeating monsters.
For example, there's this spirit beast called Shan Gao that has been alive since the first day and no one dares to touch it.
A few days ago, some people had the idea of challenging this "territorial" spirit beast, but after several failed attempts and Xie Xingzhi, a brave man, getting injured, the other cultivators in the illusionary realm became cautious and no one dared to try it anymore.
As the battle was approaching its end, gradually, someone couldn't resist anymore.
This Shan Gao is worth 800 points.
800 points!!
Moreover, this Shan Gao has a powerful bead in its mouth. As long as it holds the bead in its mouth, it becomes incredibly strong, like a dragon or a tiger. This is the first treasure that appeared in the Three Teachings Law Meeting. According to the rules, whoever possesses this bead will have a great advantage.
They couldn't defeat it in the past few days, even when it was pinned down on the ground. But now, it's the last day, and they have grown stronger. They should be able to conquer it, right?
Maybe they can even earn some additional points after this first battle ends.
Not only others, but even Liu Xinwen also had some thoughts: "How about it? Taoist Friend Fang, Taoist Friend Qi, would you like to go together and take a look?"
This temptation was irresistible, even for Fang Lingqing and Qi Feidao.
Inside the deep and quiet forest, it was so quiet that one could almost hear the breath of the spirit animals.
Fang Lingqing exchanged glances with a few others, their expressions heavy.
The spirit animal "Shan Gao" was wandering in this forest. Shan Gao looked like a pig, all red, but this one looked more like a wild boar.
As soon as they entered the area, Qi Feidao's gaze subtly changed.
It was abnormally quiet around here.
Qi Feidao chuckled lightly and glanced into the mist.
Fang Lingqing asked, "What do you think?"
Qi Feidao whispered, "One, two, three, four... quite a few people have come."
Everyone was quiet, each practicing their own techniques, hiding in the thick fog and shadow of the trees.
At this moment, no small group dared to make a move.
The early bird gets shot by the gun, and every small group wants to be the fisherman behind the scenes and the sparrow.
Nonsense, if we make a move, what if someone else snatches it?
Those who come here are not just those who want to push this tough hedgehog, but also those who want to take advantage of the chaos and steal the treasure when others are pushing the hedgehog.
Whoever goes first will become the target of everyone's arrows.
Therefore, although there are many cultivators within a few miles, everyone maintains a delicate balance, and no one dares to break it for the time being.
While Fang Lingqing and the others are still waiting for the breaking point of that balance, Qiao Wan is still stubbornly fighting with the mountain of knives.
