Chapter 12.6

Mo Yu and Zou Yiming were Chi Xiao Zhenren"s disciples, and also single spiritual roots geniuses, their natural strength was extraordinary, effortlessly defeating their opponents in the first few games, exceedingly ruthless from the starting bell. If those disciples hadn"t conceded in a timely manner, the fights would"ve ended in death.

The disciples watching off-stage were livid, but they didn"t dare speak out, although even a few peak masters were grumbling.

“The sect"s grand tournament has always been a life and death matter. The two people aren"t violating any rules, so there"s no need to speak of punishment. If the sect tournament is not harsh, how can the disciples improve their cultivation base, so when they travel abroad they won"t fall prey to others?” Chi Xiao Zhenren gave a light smile.

The peak masters were also subject to the sect rules, they could only remain silent.

Song Yufei was in late stage Jindan, he could be regarded as the strongest in this group of disciples, so his victories were very effortless. Because his foundation was originally very shallow, and his master never shows him favor, he didn"t dare act presumptuously, only forcing his opponents to step down, but many people still noticed that he had greatly improved.

Zhou Yun Sheng never entered the arena, he just stood behind Grand Elder"s seat and watched the fights, it seemed like he was waiting for the last battle. His "wait to attack for when opponents are exhausted" behavior garnered a lot of the disciples’ criticism.

“Having a strong master is really advantageous huh. While you and I are fighting to the end, this one can comfortably stand by, yet will still be able to enter the final ten rounds.” A disciple sneered and whispered.

"If he doesn"t do it this way, how can he expect to keep up with the others? He"s wearing a magic robe that conceals his cultivation base, but although we can"t see his rank, it"s only been ten years, the best he could be is early stage Jindan. Or maybe he took a few illegal pills to quickly improve, but then his foundation should be very unstable. Even if he enters the last ten rounds, someone else will probably beat him down. Grand Elder spoils him so much, but it won"t help him in the real world, just harm him." Another disciple shook his head and sighed.

Song Yufei, Mo Yu, and Zou Yiming heard this gossip, all three chuckling in their hearts.

It was seven days and seven nights before the last nine fighters were selected, the new matches were starting, and all the gossip from before faded away. Five would be chosen from the group of ten, then three would be chosen from the group of five, meaning, each person needed to fight at least twice. Only the extremely powerful disciples could enter the top ten. The previous games had already required all their efforts, but the last two required them to put their lives at stake.

However, the Fang Xinghai who had never entered the ring was somehow scheduled for three consecutive games, and his opponents were the ones most likely to enter the top three: Mo Yu, Zou Yiming, and Song Yufei. Who said he relied on Grand Elder"s influence to cheat, this was obviously courting death!

The Jindan Qi disciples looked at Fang Xinghai with changed eyes, since this person dared to take on this fight, he must at least have some ability. They were very much looking forward to experiencing the true strength of Grand Elder"s disciple.

In the limelight, Mo Yu leaped into the arena, raised the flowing light sword in her hand, then pointed it at the black-robed boy standing behind Grand Elder.

Zhou Yun Sheng"s figure flickered, then in a blink of an eye, he appeared opposite Mo Yu.

“Ladies first.” He extended his hand in a gentle and courteous manner.

Mo Yu was very blunt, she smirked, then immediately swung her ice cold light sword. Her movements were really too fast, she actually split Zhou Yun Sheng into two parts without even giving him time to react.

Watching the body of the black clothed man slowly fall down to the ground, the disciples in the audience were showing incredulous expressions. It’s over? This is the strength of Grand Elder"s disciple?

Mo Yu was in ecstasy, she was about to swing her sword to crush the man"s Gold Core, but was shocked to see the split in two corpse suddenly turn into ash, which exploded into black fog. In the blink of an eye, the whole arena was shrouded in fog.

Chi Xiao Zhenren"s relaxed expression instantly turned gloomy, Zou Yiming and Song Yufei"s eyebrows couldn"t help but jump.

In the dense fog, Mo Yu couldn"t see anything, she instinctually raised her sword to guard. After a while, she finally adapted to the dark environment, she glanced around and a figure slowly walked out from the dense fog, but it was the long dead Fang Wen Guang. He immediately attacked without preamble, his movements aiming to take her life.

Mo Yu"s horror was inexplicable, but she didn"t dare pause to think, she immediately raised her sword to greet the attack.

Zhou Yun Sheng stood above in the thick fog, his arms crossed, leisurely watching Mo Yu battle her imaginary enemy. This was one of his attacks – fog illusion. After his refined fog attached to the spiritual energy, then entered the cultivator"s body, the most unbearable secrets hidden in their soul would be reflected in reality.

The illusions created by the fog in the hallucinogenic border could only be seen by the parties who created it, outsiders couldn"t see their secrets. However, his fog illusion was very different, the fog reflected a mirage that all could see, so Zhou Yun Sheng could pry into the deepest secrets of anyone trapped in his fog field.

As if they were filming a movie, whenever they thought of something, the fog would reflect it out, and he could make his own judgments according to the plot, giving out appropriate responses, since it was possible to pa.s.s off a fake reaction as genuine.

Mo Yu quickly killed Fang Wen Guang, but then she saw Zou Yiming coming out of the fog. She sneered and waved her sword to greet him. According to her imagination, fake Zou Yiming also quickly counterattacked.

Zhou Yun Sheng stood over the fight and raised an eyebrow, gaining a new insight into Mo Yu"s jealousy. Turns out she wasn"t only jealous of Fang Wen Guang, she even disliked Zou Yiming.

Mo Yu expended tremendous strength to kill Zou Yiming, only to see Fang Xinghai walking out from the dense fog.

“Great, you"re all going to oppose me? Then drop dead!” The demons lurking in the bottom of her heart completely broke out. Mo Yu"s eyes reddened with rage, she flung the flowing light sword into the air, calling out the Eight Promise Swords Desolation spell, killing Fang Xinghai, who was walking towards her, in a loud explosion. Others only saw the flashing of a light sword in the thick fog, and felt a surge in spiritual energy, they all thought that the battle must be very intense, who could"ve guessed that this was merely a one man show.

She beheaded one imaginary enemy after another, but when she saw Grand Elder coming out of the thick fog, she finally revealed an anxious expression. Even with her internal demons in control of her mind, she still knew that she wasn"t Grand Elder"s opponent.

Zhou Yun Sheng, who had watched the show with a cheerful expression, revealed a cold expression at this. What guts, she even wants to kill Zong Yi!

Mo Yu"s hands closed together in a hand-seal, the flowing light sword was suspended in midair, she had resorted to Promise Immortal Sect"s most powerful spell, the Ten Immortals Killing Sword. But she had already bottomed out her spiritual energy, where could she get the formidable power required to cast the spell? A few waves of sword light flicked across the dense fog, finally, she half kneeled on the ground, unable to support herself.

But Grand Elder only flicked his sleeve to sweep away her light sword, then he slowly approached her.

“You"re a very pa.s.sionate woman, a real eye-opener for me.” Grand Elder stretched out his hand and pinch Mo Yu"s lower jaw. Mo Yu wanted to resist, but because her spiritual power had been depleted, she couldn"t even move a finger. She watched in disgrace, then was stunned to see Grand Elder"s face ripple, becoming Fang Xinghai"s gentle yokai face.

“How is it you?” Mo Yu"s eyes widened enough to spilt.

“Did you forget who you were fighting?” Zhou Yun Sheng gave a light laugh while calmly pulling out her jade white rood bone, making Mo Yu let out a tragic howl.

But the fog absorbed all of her voice, so the outside world felt nothing.

While the tragic howl became even more sorrowful, Zhou Yun Sheng completely removed all of Mo Yu"s root bone, crushing it to powder in front of her face, painstakingly slow, then he reached into her dantian with a clawed hand, digging out her dimming Gold Core.

Mo Yu experienced what it meant to wish for death for the first time in her life, more than the pain, she couldn"t bear the inner despair. Root bone, dantian, Gold Core, all were destroyed, she would become an absolute mortal. A mortal"s life purpose was to be born, to grow old, to get sick and then die, then the five roads of reincarnation, their existence was like mole cricket and ants! How could she live like that!

“Please, let me go! My father has many treasures, he can give you whatever you want, as long as you"re willing to let me go!” Mo Yu was now covered in blood, her tears flowing. As the Sect Leader"s beloved daughter, she had always been high above everyone else, she"d never been in such a difficult situation.

How could this fight be her loss? Even now she had no idea how to accept it.

“I concede! I admit defeat!” She used all her strength to shout, hoping the elders and peak masters would hear her, allowing her to promptly withdraw. But the dense fog absorbed all her voice.

“My master is Promise Immortal Sect"s Grand Elder, he has countless treasures in his possession, how can you have anything I"d fancy? At that time, why didn"t you let me go? Or let my brother go? As I said before, how you treated me, I"ll pay you back a thousand fold. You planted the seed for this retribution, you have to swallow your own medicine." Zhou Yun Sheng looked straight into Mo Yu"s despairing eyes as he crushed her Gold Core, then he swung his sleeve to withdraw the fog.

The disciples in the audience first felt the atmosphere of the Eight Promise Swords Desolation spell, followed by the powerful atmosphere of the Ten Immortals Killing Sword spell, and all had sighed in pity for Fang Xinghai. They were indeed Promise Immortal Sect"s most powerful sword spells, one was already difficult to bear, not to mention both spells.

This also meant that Fang Xinghai had some skill if he was able to push Mo Yu to this point. But faced up against two sword spells, everything pointed to a disaster for him.

The dense fog suddenly appeared, then disappeared in the same strange way. In the blink of an eye, the stage was clear, a slender figure slowly walked out, golden light gradually dissipating from their hand. Another figure was crumpled on the ground, except for their intact head, their hands and feet resembled a soft candy twisted into a crooked shape.

Looking intently, the audience couldn"t help but gasp. The golden light was a powdered Gold Core, and the figure lying on the ground was senior sister Mo Yu, missing her root bone.

The root bone, dantian, and Gold Core, all destroyed, unless she took a Steal Heaven"s Fortune Pill, senior sister Mo Yu"s cultivation career would end.

And then they looked at the black clothed man, after such a fierce fight, forget being wounded, even his hair was still in place, his strength must be really unfathomable, and methods extremely insidious.

Chi Xiao Zhenren"s indifferent expression was replaced by rage. His internal organs somersaulted, his Yuanshen restless, his eyes flowing with thick desire to commit murder.

However, a more powerful Yuanshen shrouded the arena, also wrapping his short and thin small disciple in a thick layer, forming a watertight shield. Zong Yi glanced over at Chi Xiao Zhenren and slowly opened, “Ten years ago, your daughter destroyed my small disciple"s root bone and dantian, then pushed him down into an abyss to his death. My small disciple signed a life and death contract with her, promising that in the tournament he would return the favor. Have you father and daughter forgotten already?"

Grand Elder"s voice resounded throughout Promise Immortal Sect, making the spectating disciples suddenly come to a realization. In fact, there was this type of insider drama, no wonder Fang Xinghai was so ruthless, this was something Mo Yu deserved!

At that time, Chi Xiao Zhenren had self-fishy only announced the circ.u.mstances surrounding Fang Wen Guang"s death, concealing his daughter"s murder attempt on Fang Xinghai. Zong Yi hadn"t confronted him about it, waiting for this opportunity.

The peak masters" furrowed brows loosened, the resentment for Fang Xinghai and pity for Mo Yu all dissipated. Cultivators were generally very fearful of karma. Mo Yu had planted the seeds for such evil, and today was her long awaited recompense.

The elders that were going to speak up for Mo Yu heard this and remained silent.

Chi Xiao Zhenren looked over the audience"s obvious change of heart, after a few moments, he restored his calm and let out a forced smile, "Junior has not forgotten. Today was a fair battle, I will accept my child"s loss wholeheartedly.” Seeing Grand Elder drawing back his Yuanshen, he immediately waved to order his daughter be taken away.

The grand tournament continued. Standing behind Chi Xiao Zhenren"s seat, Zou Yiming clenched his teeth and muttered, "Master don"t get angry, your small disciple will get revenge for junior sister later.”

Chi Xiao Zhenren closed his eyes and didn"t reply, he seemed to have already entered a trance.

——————

Song Yufei retreated to the back of the crowd, then asked in horror, "Fairy, did you see what happened in the fog?” Even his spiritual awareness couldn"t penetrate the thinnest layer of the fog barrier, really strange.

Zong Yi had warned the stunning woman not to use her spiritual awareness to spy on Fang Xinghai anymore, otherwise she would be scattered. This wasn"t alarmist talk, the woman knew that Zong Yi had that kind of strength, so she had quietly hid in the jade pendant. At Song Yufei"s question, she coldly said, "These are just Jindan Qi battles, I"m not interested.”

The woman was a dignified Mysterious Immortal, her cultivation base was countless times higher than this group of children, so naturally she had no interest in a few small Jindan Qi disciples. Song Yufei believed her bravado and no longer asked, but his fear of Fang Xinghai grew a little deeper.

He"d thought that with a fight with Mo Yu, he would also be injured, but his appearance was unscathed, even his spiritual power was not consumed. What kind of magic weapon did he use?

Song Yufei immediately sneered, when it came to magic weapons, he wasn"t lacking, and everything he owned was high level.

Afterwards, two groups of disciples went up, the fight was very intense, much more interesting to look at than Fang Xinghai"s fog. Zou Yiming carefully wiped down his fate spirit sword while sweeping a knife sharp look at Fang Xinghai, his whole body exuding a war hungry atmosphere.

But Zhou Yun Sheng didn"t even give him the corner of his eye, his was staring at the handkerchief Zong Yi was using to wipe his fingertips, dumbfounded.

“What are you doing?” He asked in a low voice.

“Dirty.” Zong Yi spread out his palm and burned the handkerchief.

Zhou Yun Sheng thought about it a bit, then understood, he"d used that hand to pinch Mo Yu"s chin. So many reincarnations, yet still so possessive. He sighed inwardly, but the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

After the two rounds were over, Zou Yiming jumped into the arena to wait for his opponent.

Zhou Yun Sheng also jumped in, then made a ‘you first, please’ gesture.

Zou Yiming and Mo Yu were indeed brother and sister under the same master, he immediately swung his sword, attacking without preamble. Zhou Yun Sheng"s figure faded away, instantly exploding into thick fog.

This trick again, he"s not done yet? Why does that Fang Xinghai always hide his head? The disciples in the audience sighed. However, if they knew that Fang Xinghai had fog spiritual roots, they wouldn"t complain about this. If you can"t use fog as a weapon, then what can you use?

Zou Yiming"s mind was extremely firm. He didn"t randomly attack like Mo Yu, he just stood still in the thick fog, quietly feeling out the surrounding atmosphere. A figure surfaced, it was the long dead Fang Wen Guang, and when he split the figure with his sword, he realized at once that this was an illusion and no longer wasted his spiritual power.

“Fang Xinghai, if you have the ability, come out to face me with actual combat, don"t use these ghost tricks.” He sneered at the void.

“If that’s what you want.” The man’s cold voice suddenly appeared behind him, making Zou Yiming immediately spin to attack.

When he swung his sword, Fang Xinghai"s body instantly turned into fog, not even a trace of his breath was left. Zou Yiming frowned, slowly realizing that the other side"s techniques were not as simple as they seemed.

“Carry on.” Zhou Yun Sheng appeared at Zou Yiming"s side with a dagger, effortlessly drawing a thin line of blood down his arm, then he disappeared. Fog spiritual roots were most adept at concealment, so their attacks were destined to be sneaky, rather than fighting face to face.

Zou Yiming thrust his sword, only to stab into a ma.s.s of fog. He began understanding why his junior sister had had to use the two sword spells. When you couldn"t find your opponent"s position, only an AOE attack was effective, but it also consumed a lot of spiritual energy.

Fang Xinghai just needs to wait until his enemy"s exhausted, so naturally, he easily won.

Zou Yiming repeatedly told himself not to be fooled, but he still couldn"t find Fang Xinghai"s location. He seemed to be a part of the fog.

Zhou Yun Sheng patiently played with Zou Yiming, slashing his neck, dantian, his heart and other key areas, all shallow cuts, nothing fatal.

For Zou Yiming, this violent sword cultivation base warrior, the most annoying opponent wasn"t a weak one, but one he couldn"t even find. Just like Mo Yu, he gradually lost his reason, inch by inch, using more powerful sword spells one after another.

The disciples watching the battle only saw the constant flashing of the light sword in the thick fog and had to use their imaginations to fill in a wonderful fighting scene. But in fact, Zou Yiming was an arrow at the end of its flight. His spiritual power was gradually depleting, he was covered in cuts, but he hadn"t even touched a hair on Fang Xinghai"s head.

“Come on out you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Fang Xinghai, if you have the ability, come out and face me!” Zou Yiming waved his sword to crazily hack at the fog, his eyes bloodshot.

Zhou Yun Sheng lost his playful heart, he condensed his body and quietly appeared behind Zou Yiming. He fingers shaped into a claw, he pierced Zou Yiming’s dantian, instantly destroying his Gold Core. To perform this series of moves, not to mention disturbing the air, he didn"t even expend an inch of his spiritual power. As long as he was in his fog, he could come and go as he pleased, silent.

Blood sprayed out from Zou Yiming"s mouth, he kneeled on the ground, struggling to support his body with his fate spirit sword. He would never allow himself to collapse in front of others. He looked back, wanting to ask Fang Xinghai where he was hiding, but the blood was filling his throat, so he could only let out a grunt.

The once genius talent had now become a waste, even if he built up his cultivation base again, he would never be able to reach the height he should"ve reached.

Zhou Yun Sheng shook the blood off his hand and sighed, "You stood on the sidelines while my brother was murdered, but I only destroyed your Gold Core as repayment, you should thank me for my kindness. The debt between us is cleared.”

He raised his hand and the fog returned to his body, then he lightly jumped to his master"s side and stood in position, smiling faintly at Song Yufei, hiding in the crowd.

To tell the truth, his appearance was very beautiful, beautiful enough to bewitch, one smile from him could hook in a person"s three immortal souls and seven mortal forms. But to Song Yufei, his smile was not stunning, it only inspired dread.

The disciples in the audience were in an uproar at the sight of Zou Yiming’s horrible outcome, but when they remembered his part in Fang Wen Guang’s death, they fell silent. Cultivators were most afraid of karma, and this was a living example.

Chi Xiao Zhenren secretly pushed down his anger and ordered people to carry Zou Yiming out. Today, he lost both his beloved daughter and his head disciple, he even lost his dignity. He feared that in the future, he would become the sect"s laughing stock. But even so, as long as the Grand Elder didn"t fall, he had no way to get rid of Fang Xinghai.

The peak masters gained a new understanding on Fang Xinghai"s strength. He really was worthy of being the Grand Elder"s last disciple, his promise was immeasurable ah!

“He has fog spiritual roots, you need to avoid his fog during the fight. Without the fog, he has nothing to rely on. There are very few cultivators with fog spiritual roots, so I"m not familiar with this cultivation method, I can only say this much, so you need to be attentive." The stunning woman in the jade pendant suddenly opened.

Song Yufei"s eyes lit up and he secretly nodded.

While another group of Jindan Qi disciples fiercely fought on stage, Taiping Zhenren called Song Yufei to his side and slowly said, “Fang Xinghai should have fog spiritual roots, so just leave his fog and he can"t do anything to you. But I have to remind you, don"t go overboard." Here, he looked up and glanced at the Grand Elder.

Grand Elder was holding a handkerchief and carefully wiping the left-over blood off his small disciple"s fingers. He clearly only needed to use a Dispel Dirt Talisman to remove it, but he insisted on cleaning it by hand, anyone could see how much he pampered and deeply loved Fang Xinghai. Offending Fang Xinghai ultimately meant offending the Grand Elder. Cultivators greatly feared facing retribution because they"d struck down a strong person"s protégé, and if that person was the strongest in Grand Heaven World, their protégé was also untouchable.

Song Yufei obediently nodded, but his heart was even more resentful. He"d thought that having a Mysterious Immortal to protect him would be incredible, who would"ve thought that this Mysterious Immortal wasn"t even a match for a Dasheng Qi cultivator, really useless!

Whatever, if you want something done you have to do it yourself, one day, he would make every cultivator, including the Immortal Emperor and Immortal Seniors in the Immortal World, prostrate at his feet.

“After these two fights, perceptive people should be able to guess your spiritual roots, you have to be careful.” Zong Yi burned the handkerchief, squeezing his small disciple"s slender fingers, and said in a soft tone.

“It"s alright, I still have a lot of techniques I haven"t used yet, Song Yufei can"t do anything to me.” Zhou Yun Sheng"s tone was relaxed.

Zong Yi shifted his grip, tightly interlocking their fingers.

Zhou Yun Sheng glared at him then glanced around, fortunately, everyone was watching the fight. He pulled down his sleeve to cover their hands, so others couldn"t notice. He didn"t want to expose his relationship with Zong Yi yet.

After the fight, Song Yufei rode into the arena on a flash of lightning, then looked toward his master"s seat.

Zong Yi let go of his small disciple, patted him on his back and said, "Go on, don"t play around so much, end it quickly and come back.”

Zhou Yun Sheng loudly promised and jumped into the arena, he waved at Song Yufei and said, "You first, please.”

“No, please go first junior brother.” Song Yufei politely bowed, and when he looked back up, he had been shrouded in a thick dark fog.

This again! The disciples in the audience complained, but after a while, a few people guessed, "He uses this thick fog every time, do you think junior brother has fog spiritual roots?” That was a junk spiritual roots, rumors said that the cultivators could only reach Jindan Qi. Song Yufei seemed to be late stage Jindan, and he also had lightning spiritual roots, the strongest one, they feared that junior brother would fall head first this time.

Song Yufei stood in the fog, his expression had no trace of panic.

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T/N:

Fairy: See Glossary

Junior brother- The other disciples call ZYS Shishu Zuxian, 師叔祖先請, which I think is a respectful way to refer to a younger disciple of a master who"s a higher rank than yours.