With a wave and a point from the Returned Pearl Tower Master, Liang Zhenjing, who was being supported by Cheng Xinzhan, floated out of the mirror and woke up mid-air.
He looked around in confusion, quickly recalling what had happened, and his face turned red, almost like the color of pig liver.
In the Haishi Restaurant, Xiao Shiniang patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief, thinking to herself: "Of course, with his skill in drawing talismans, how could he lose?"
Meanwhile, in the Purple Fragrance Boudoir, the expression of Gongchang Gongzi turned ugly, and the strength in his hands increased, causing the voluptuous woman in his arms to feel pain in her chest.
However, she dared not show it and maintained her smile.
After Liang Zhenjing was sent away, the scene in the Jilei Mountain Cave Heaven Mirror quieted down.
Until all the other thirty-five mirror scenes had their擂主s decided, he didn't encounter a second challenger.
"With the remaining thirty-six of you, each skilled in different elements that interact with each other, we will now draw lots to form groups. The winners advance, and the losers retreat."
The Returned Pearl Tower Master released thirty-six jade lots, and everyone in the mirror scenes used their qi to draw one.
Cheng Xinzhan looked at his jade lot, which bore the character "Kun."
He read it aloud.
Everyone read out the characters on their jade lots, which were a combination of the ten heavenly stems and the eight trigrams.
He looked towards another person who had also drawn the "Kun" character.
That person was in a crimson mountain, with flames burning on the mountain and fiery red clouds in the sky.
He saw five characters carved on the mountain wall:
"Flame Mountain Cave Heaven."
That person was also young, with long, disheveled hair, a long sword resting on the ground, and wearing blood-red robes.
On his left chest, over his heart, was a tattoo of a fanged demon.
This was the attire of the Northern Demon Sect, the Red Heart Sect.
After the lots were drawn, the thirty-six giant mirrors began to move.
The Jilei Mountain Cave Heaven where Cheng Xinzhan was and the Flame Mountain Cave Heaven where the demon was started to slowly converge, eventually merging into one mirror.
In the new mirror scene, one side was a seething red volcano with fiery clouds, and the other side was a silver-purple thunder mountain with dark clouds.
"Begin!"
The voice of the Returned Pearl Tower Master rang out, and the people in the eighteen mirror scenes began to move.
Since it was a demon sect member, Cheng Xinzhan naturally didn't bother with formalities.
He sent a thunderous sword qi slashing towards the other side, who responded in kind, swinging his sword to send a wave of fire.
The clash of heavenly thunder and earthly fire was spectacular, and being a battle between Dao and demon, it naturally drew the attention of most onlookers.
After a few bland exchanges, merely slashing from a distance, Cheng Xinzhan could clearly feel that the opponent's sword qi was scattered and lacked sharpness, like a child throwing stones.
It didn't seem to be the path of the Qi Nurturing School.
Feeling bored, Cheng Xinzhan suddenly said,
"If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain."
With that, he rode a cloud away from Jilei Mountain, heading straight for the Flame Mountain territory.
Exclamations of surprise came from the tower.
After the two mirrors merged, everyone was testing the waters, not daring to easily abandon their advantageous positions.
Cheng Xinzhan was the first to actively cross boundaries.
The Red Heart Sect demon was also surprised, but regardless, it was better for Cheng Xinzhan to come to him than for him to go to Cheng Xinzhan.
At close range, some techniques could be used more effectively!
He turned and fled, trying to lure Cheng Xinzhan deeper into Flame Mountain.
The Daoist cooperated, closely following.
Suddenly, deep within the mountain, the demon turned and slashed with his sword.
A wave of fire surged towards Cheng Xinzhan, who dodged.
However, the demon had held back during his earlier probing attacks, and now his sword strikes were several times faster.
Waves of fire came one after another, crisscrossing.
But Cheng Xinzhan, surrounded by the fire waves, didn't notice that strands of invisible fire qi were separating from the waves and entering his mouth and nose with each breath.
Seeing that Cheng Xinzhan was only focused on dodging and hadn't noticed the hidden trick in the fire, the demon secretly rejoiced.
Those strands of invisible fire qi were the Red Heart Sect's unique secret technique, called the Formless Heavenly Demon's Desire Fire.
This aligned with the Red Heart Sect's doctrine, which held that human nature was inherently evil, insatiably greedy, and prone to violence and killing.
The pure heart of a child was the heart of a demon, and all virtues like benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom were shackles that bound the child's heart.
But shackles were still shackles, and the inner fire of desire could never be extinguished.
The Red Heart Sect worshipped the Formless Heavenly Demon, cultivated desire fire, and acted solely according to their inner desires, making them a true demon sect.
Desire fire was the foundation of their cultivation and also their means of combat.
If someone with an unstable mind inhaled the desire fire, their inner distractions and desires would be amplified, leading to a loss of mental control at best and a descent into demonic possession at worst.
The young Daoist noticed nothing.
After dodging a series of attacks, he suddenly felt that his "Dragon Chariot" was too slow and its movements too clumsy.
It had been satisfactory when he used it for qi absorption, but now it was clearly inadequate, especially during combat, where evasion was a major weakness.
What to do?
Cloud riding, cloud riding—clouds were made of water vapor, floating because they were light.
The "Dragon Chariot" was made of the fiery clouds of a summer evening, imbued with fire qi, so it was faster than ordinary clouds.
Actually, fire also rose upwards.
Wouldn't it be faster to step directly on fire qi? Especially since he cultivated both celestial and earthly fire, there was no risk of the fire extinguishing itself.
Thinking further, controlling wind and thunder also seemed feasible.
However, humans were born from the mundane world.
Their spirits were pure qi, and their essence was turbid qi.
Essence referred to flesh, blood, skin, and bones.
Opening the body's palaces and clearing the meridians was the process of refining turbid qi.
Once all five palaces were opened, the five elements would circulate within the body, and all turbid qi would be locked within the Crimson Palace.
At that point, the body would be as light as a feather, allowing one to ride the wind.
But wait, wasn't my current body a bamboo body? A mountain-guarding spirit, with all five palaces already opened? That meant I could start cultivating wind and thunder control in advance, responding to the changes of thunder and fire.
Once my physical body was cleansed and the palaces opened, I could directly use these abilities, saving time.
In that case, why not go further? Which techniques were limited by the physical body and cultivation level? Couldn't I start cultivating them now?
His thoughts grew broader.
In the distance, the Red Heart Sect demon saw the Daoist lost in thought and was overjoyed, knowing the Daoist had fallen for his trap.
He naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.
To create it, he had infused fifty percent of the Formless Heavenly Demon's Desire Fire stored in his body into his sword qi.
He raised his ritual sword and chanted,
"Formless Heavenly Saint Ancestor, the formless controls the formed, go!"
As the incantation rang out, the crimson ritual sword gleamed, its tip pointing at the young Daoist lost in thought.
The earthly fire from all over the mountain was drawn by the sword's spiritual essence, converging in the direction of the sword tip into an arrowhead shape, like a formation of fire geese, charging towards the Daoist.
Cheng Xinzhan, whose thoughts had been wandering, saw his opponent change his sword technique and stopped his musings.
With a thought, he put away his cloud chariot.
In its place, a flame suddenly appeared beneath his feet.
In such a terrain, controlling fire was the most convenient.
As he had expected, his bamboo body stood steadily in the flames.
With another thought, the flames flickered, and he disappeared from his original position.
In just a few moments, the flames flashed, and the Daoist had traveled dozens of miles away.
Seeing the surging earthly fire, he raised his "High Truth" sword, its tip pointing upwards, and chanted,
"Kitchen God, command the fire spirits, rise!"
The talismans on the ritual sword lit up with flames, and the ground began to shake.
Cracks appeared beneath the demon's feet, and fiery qi erupted from the fissures, threatening to engulf him.
A scream was heard as a figure shot up from the earthly fire, shouting,
"So you were pretending! But you clearly inhaled the desire fire, why didn't you develop greedy thoughts?!"
Ah, so that's what it was.
Hearing this, Cheng Xinzhan suddenly understood.
He had been wondering why he suddenly disliked his cloud chariot and why he had been thinking about aerial control during a battle.
So someone had used a trick.
Interesting, such a technique was truly interesting.
It could make one indulge in wild thoughts, and it had actually helped him understand some key points.
However, even so, he wouldn't hold back.
With a change in hand seals, the "High Truth" sword disappeared into the clouds, then swiftly descended.
He chanted,
"Mars Emperor, flowing fire and shooting stars, fall!"
The fiery red clouds turned into a rain of fire, pouring down on the demon who was flying upwards.
"Ah!"
"I surrender!"
The demon, thinking the Daoist was going to kill him during the sword fight, remembered the Returned Pearl Tower Master's warning and quickly shouted his surrender.
As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared from the mirror.
The demon found himself outside the mirror and hurriedly flew towards the city.
The earthly fire and heavenly rain had truly terrified him, and he was also puzzled: "Isn't he a thunder cultivator? Why does Flame Mountain seem more like his arena?"
Cheng Xinzhan waited alone in the mirror scene until all eighteen mirrors had determined their winners.
Then, another round of drawing lots began, using the nine palaces.
Cheng Xinzhan drew the Gen Palace.
His opponent this time was a woman, and the mirror scene was a fusion of the Qingtian Mountain Cave Heaven and the Taoyuan Mountain Cave Heaven, presenting a scene of a water and wood marshland.
The woman, judging by her attire, was also from the Daoist sect, dressed in plain white Daoist robes, which was quite rare.
After the two mirrors merged, Cheng Xinzhan bowed slightly,
"Cheng Xinzhan from Three Purities Mountain, greetings, fellow Daoist."
The woman's expression was not good.
This man cultivated both thunder and fire, which naturally countered her.
She returned the greeting, "Qiao Shoujing from Tianmu Mountain, I hope you'll go easy on me."
After exchanging greetings, the sword fight naturally began.
Cheng Xinzhan, as before, first abandoned his advantageous position and directly entered the water and wood marshland, sensing the essence of water and wood techniques.
This was a simulated thirty-six minor cave heaven illusion created by immortals.
In the outside world, each had its own master, and entering to observe was not an easy task.
To visit all thirty-six cave heavens would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
This water and wood marshland was full of vitality, much more pleasing to the eye than the violent thunder and fire hell.
Among the five elements, Cheng Xinzhan was most familiar with fire, naturally, followed by water, thanks to playing with the green dragon.
Next was metal, due to forming an inner deity, then earth, as he lived among mountains and studied geomancy and corpse cultivation.
Lastly was wood.
Cheng Xinzhan had a photographic memory.
He remembered that when he first observed the battles in the Jilei Mountain Cave Heaven mirror scene, this woman was in the Qingtian Mountain Cave Heaven and had used wood techniques in her previous fight.
This time was no different.
The woman was from the Divine Summoning School of sword techniques, using the sword as a sacrificial tool to summon divine forms to fight.
She chanted incantations, pointing her sword at Cheng Xinzhan, and the grass and leaves on the ground flew up, forming a wooden dragon that charged at him.
Fire overcomes wood.
Cheng Xinzhan could have easily defeated her with fire techniques, but he chose not to.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned his advantageous position.
He wanted to use this precious place to comprehend water techniques.
The Daoist raised his sword towards the water and chanted,
"Dragon Prince, heed the summon, appear quickly!"
As the incantation ended, the water in the lake beneath his feet began to churn like a spring, then surged up into a massive water column.
The column leaped out of the lake, forming a water dragon.
Seeing this, Qiao Shoujing's expression turned even worse.
This man from Three Purities Mountain had initially used Qi Nurturing School sword qi to fight against Dragon Tiger Mountain.
When Dragon Tiger Mountain used thunder talismans, he had won with an unseen method of using talismans through the sword.
Earlier, against the Red Heart Sect demon, he had used spirit control techniques to summon heavenly and earthly fire.
Now, he was using divine summoning techniques.
How could he have studied so many different methods? Where did he find the time, and why was his mana so abundant?
She was even more puzzled.
Divine summoning techniques not only depended on mana, sacrificial tools, and incantations but also on the caster's understanding of the divine form's appearance and spiritual essence.
The wooden dragon she summoned had the shape of horns, but its body was no different from a snake.
But look at his water dragon, with distinct scales and tail, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, as if alive, exuding a divine aura.
Did this man spend every day with dragon-kind?
The water dragon met the incoming wooden dragon, entwined and twisted, shattering the wooden dragon.
However, Cheng Xinzhan did not press the attack.
Instead, he waited for the wooden dragon to reform.
No matter what techniques the woman used afterward, Cheng Xinzhan only used the water dragon to counter, effortlessly defeating her.
This time, Cheng Xinzhan was the one who dragged out the fight the longest.
In the end, Qiao Shoujing exhausted her mana and surrendered.
She had long realized that Cheng Xinzhan was using her to practice his techniques, but she had also used the water dragon to hone her own skills, gaining much in the process.
The remaining eight people looked at Cheng Xinzhan with increasingly different expressions.
The remaining nine drew lots again using the nine palaces.
The Qian Palace faced the Kun Palace, the Zhen Palace faced the Xun Palace, the Kan Palace faced the Li Palace, and the Gen Palace faced the Dui Palace.
The winners of Qian and Kun would then face the Zhong Palace in a sword fight.
This time, it was a coincidence that Cheng Xinzhan drew the Zhong Palace, and the other eight breathed a sigh of relief.
After a series of battles, Qian defeated Kun, Xun defeated Zhen, Li defeated Kan, and Gen defeated Dui.
The one who drew the Qian lot left a deep impression on Cheng Xinzhan because it was a monk.
As their mirror scenes merged, the monk was the first to bow to Cheng Xinzhan.
He clasped his hands together, slightly bent, and said,
"Benefactor Cheng, this humble monk is Xiang Zai from Wutai Mountain. Greetings."
Since the monk already knew his identity, Cheng Xinzhan did not announce his mountain and name again.
He simply bowed and said, "Greetings, Master."
"Benefactor Cheng's sword techniques are exquisite. This humble monk seeks your guidance."
"You flatter me, Master."
Both sides first established their attitudes before beginning the sword fight.
The monk's ritual sword was a broad, golden sword without an edge.
The broadsword was inscribed with many small characters, neatly arranged like scriptures.
The monk looked gentle and scholarly, but he followed the Qi Nurturing School's path.
He wielded the broadsword with both hands, and although the blade was edgeless, sharp Geng Metal sword qi erupted from it, slashing towards Cheng Xinzhan with terrifying whistling sounds.
Encountering the purest form of ritual sword techniques for the first time, Cheng Xinzhan was delighted and only used sword qi to counter.
Within the "High Truth," the stored sword qi was most abundant in fire, metal, and thunder attributes, thanks to the inner deity helping circulate and refine mana.
Now that the monk was attacking with Geng Metal, Cheng Xinzhan chose to meet it head-on with Xin Metal qi.
Geng Metal sword qi was dazzling and radiant, while Xin Metal sword qi was dark and unadorned but sent chills down one's spine.
The battle between the Qian Palace and Zhong Palace lots happened to be the only one at that moment, and this pure clash of sharp metal sword qi attracted everyone's attention.
From the city and the tower, the onlookers felt that this was what they imagined ritual sword techniques to be.
This sword fight followed the same process and result as the previous one: the monk exhausted his mana and surrendered.
The sword fight arena remained quiet for a long time.
Even the slowest to react could see it now.
This Daoist from Three Purities Mountain had fought four battles: he defeated Dragon Tiger Mountain with talisman sword techniques, the Red Heart Sect with spirit control sword techniques, Tianmu Mountain with divine summoning sword techniques, and Wutai Mountain with Qi Nurturing sword techniques.
Was it unintentional, or deliberate?
It's a bit late, my apologies.
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(End of Chapter)