After entering the Fate Seizing Battle segment, one hundred phantoms suddenly separated from the high platform. They circled the center and coalesced into one hundred lotus seats, available for the disciples to await their turn. One hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators gracefully rose and landed upon the lotus seats.
This was also one of the Perceptive Moon Sect's magic tools, which had the function of helping cultivators recover their strength and was quite convenient during battles. Only after the cultivators were seated did the adjudicating disciple announce the rules. Since there were rankings, there was a mechanism for challenging those ranked higher.
However, one could not challenge across too many ranks. The ten below could challenge the ten above them. Twenty people made up one round, and after ten were promoted, they could challenge further up, all the way to the top ten.
For example, Du Fanzhi, ranked forty-eighth, could be challenged by those in the fifty-first to sixtieth positions. If he did not fall out of the top fifty after the battle, he could, in the next round, challenge anyone from the thirty-first rank up to the one right before him, continuously climbing with no upper limit.
For a cultivator at the bottom of the rankings who wished to climb all the way up, they would need to challenge continuously. The higher-ranked cultivators only needed to watch the battles from their lotus seats until it was their turn to fight. At first glance, this rule seemed rather unfriendly to the lower-ranked cultivators.
However, the elders of the major sects had eyes as sharp as torches, and their assessments were rarely wrong. It was extremely rare for a cultivator to break through the encirclement and leap up from the bottom ranks. In the first round, Huang Li fought.
This person, like Jiang Yun, had also risen from humble beginnings. After reaching Foundation Establishment, he entered the Inner Sect. His mastery of earth-attribute cultivation methods was exceptionally solid, yet he was ranked only at the very bottom.
Within the True Spirit Sect, there was a Mid-Grade Yellow Rank earth-attribute technique called the Dust Armor Technique, which he had actually cultivated to Major Achievement. Relying on his own ascetic cultivation, he finally rose from the hundredth rank to the ninety-second. To go any higher, he had the will but not the strength.
Right before Du Fanzhi was to take the stage, there was a cultivator, originally ranked ninety-third, who fought his way up to the seventy-third rank before stopping. The other sects were filled with gasps of astonishment, but the expressions on the faces of the True Spirit Sect members changed several times.
There was no other reason than the fact that this cultivator used Gu-worms to fight his enemies. He was a member of the Yang Water Sect! From the moment they entered, the three Core Formation cultivators of the True Spirit Sect had been paying close attention to the Yang Water Sect's location.
For this Hundred Sects Assembly, the Yang Water Sect had sent five Core Formation cultivators. This sect was originally a minor sect, like a mayfly, but it had prospered by constantly conquering and seizing the fortune of other sects. Now, its strength was even greater than the True Spirit Sect's, built upon the blood and tears of countless sects.
However, such acts of slaughter were characteristic of an evil sect. The Yang Water Sect feared displeasing the Three Great Sects and being exterminated. After their attack on the True Spirit Sect a thousand years ago, they had ceased their campaigns.
Relying on the great fortune they had seized, they developed to this day and were now flourishing. It was clear to see just how prosperous the True Spirit Sect of that era must have been. Besides this disciple who stopped at the seventy-third rank, the Yang Water Sect had two other people in the top hundred.
One was at the fifty-seventh rank, and the other was Unexpectedly even above Liu Xuan, occupying the high position of ninth rank, which couldn't help but cast a shadow over Li Su's heart. The elders of the Yang Water Sect also had grim expressions. The True Spirit Sect had not withered away and scattered as their sect had envisioned.
Instead, they had produced one brilliant talent after another. Qiu Jianying in the past was one thing, but this time, a genius of the Dao of alchemy had appeared, and they even had four Foundation Establishment disciples entering the Fate Seizing Battle!
The sects that could attend the Hundred Sects Assembly were considered the cream of the crop in the Southern Region. How could they not know of the enmity between these two sects?
They had a certain air of watching from the sidelines, waiting to see whether the newly risen great sect would prove superior, or if the former leader was like a centipede that does not collapse even in death. The Yang Water Sect disciple at the fifty-seventh rank had a sharp glint in his eyes.
After securing his own rank, he looked straight at the higher-ranked Du Fanzhi. What he was thinking was self-evident. This was a matter concerning the honor of the sect.
Du Fanzhi dared not relax his mind. As expected, once the adjudicating disciple gave the order, the Yang Water Sect disciple impatiently stood up and shouted, "Fifty-seventh rank, Zhuo Gongqing of the Yang Water Sect, challenges the forty-eighth rank!" Du Fanzhi gave a cold snort and stood up briskly.
"Du Fanzhi of the True Spirit Sect accepts the challenge!"
The two landed in the arena at almost the same time. The auras around their bodies flared up and crashed against each other with a boom! Among the three Core Formation cultivators of the True Spirit Sect, both Li Su and Qiu Jianying had fought against Yang Water Sect cultivators before and knew how difficult they were to deal with.
This sect had very few cultivators. All of its disciples were found and brought back as infants. If they could enter the path of Gu-worms, they were kept; if not, they were cast aside.
Therefore, the disciples who remained were all extremely suited for this path, and their strength surpassed that of ordinary cultivators. Zhuo Gongqing's life Gu was an eight-legged spider that was an eerie blue color all over.
As a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Yang Water Sect, he had long mastered all three of the sect's secret techniques and had cultivated to the final one, the Incarnation Technique! The eight-legged spider was telepathically linked with him, instantly putting Du Fanzhi in a one-on-two predicament!
"Tsk, what a venomous insect."
Du Fanzhi constantly dodged and evaded. The black spider silk spat from the eight-legged spider's mouth was like a poison arrow, possessing extreme corrosive properties. It had only brushed past his sleeve, yet even his treasure robe, which was a magic tool, had rotted in several places.
At the same time, under the cover of the eight-legged spider, Zhuo Gongqing continuously formed hand seals, condensing sharp beams of light and blasting them towards Du Fanzhi! Among Li Su's disciples, Huo Zixun and Du Fanzhi were the closest to him. This was because all three of them were metal-attribute spell cultivators.
Huo Zixun was seen by Li Su as the heir to his teachings. Although Du Fanzhi was beneath him, all of his spells had been painstakingly taught by Li Su. Even though his defense was a sorry sight, he had not let Zhuo Gongqing succeed even once.
Ever since the enmity began, the Yang Water Sect had repeatedly made things difficult for the True Spirit Sect at the Hundred Sects Assembly. Forced by this situation, all disciples who took the stage had been taught how to fight against disciples of the Yang Water Sect.
Those who did not know the inside story would often directly attack the user's main body. This was a viable method only when there was an absolute power disparity between the two. In a situation like Du Fanzhi's and Zhuo Gongqing's, one had to severely injure the life Gu to cause a backlash to the main body.
Only then would the power of the Internal Growth Technique be greatly reduced when used. At the same time, this method also forced them to use the Internal Growth Technique, thereby ending the current unfavorable one-on-two situation. Metal-attribute cultivators excelled in the path of slaughter.
Du Fanzhi had a delicate and refined face with a gentle disposition, yet his moves were extremely sharp and decisive. He took the initiative to dodge and pull away from Zhuo Gongqing, holding a round treasure mirror in his right hand that conjured a golden arrow and shot it towards the eight-legged spider! His movement technique was also outstanding.
Zhuo Gongqing intended to attack his vital points, but he was repeatedly dodged. In a great rage, he commanded the eight-legged spider to pounce on Du Fanzhi, intending to attack his abdomen from both the left and right simultaneously! At the Hundred Sects Assembly, situations that resulted in the opponent's disability or death were not allowed.
Core Formation cultivators were watching from the side, and if any unfavorable situation arose, they would immediately intervene to rescue them. Even if they were too slow, a Profound Division Stage cultivator would stop the fight. Cultivators could fight without restraint, but those who truly dared to harbor killing intent were few and far between.
However, a fierce light erupted in Zhuo Gongqing's eyes. Every attack was aimed at a fatal spot, holding nothing back. Zhao Chun dared say that if not for the rules of the Hundred Sects Assembly, he would have definitely wanted to slay Du Fanzhi here today!
What was there for Li Su not to understand? The Yang Water Sect dared to expose their intentions so brazenly even at the Assembly. Their hearts were so malicious, they deserved to be executed on sight!
Even Fang Dunian was somewhat displeased. The enmity between the two sects was a secondary matter. The Perceptive Moon Sect was the host of this grand assembly, yet this Zhuo Gongqing dared to be so filled with killing intent.
He did not know if this was his own idea, or if the sect behind him shared this sentiment.
"Gongqing, still too young..."
An elder of the Yang Water Sect sighed softly, yet there was no hint of opposition in his voice. He was merely lamenting that Zhuo Gongqing's temperament had not yet stabilized and still needed to be tempered.
At the critical moment, Du Fanzhi, at the cost of taking a direct hit from Zhuo Gongqing, had the spiritual power accumulated in his treasure mirror gather into a single beam and pierce straight through the eight-legged spider's bloated abdomen! A sharp, mournful cry was heard as the fluids from its abdomen burst out!
With his life Gu injured, how could Zhuo Gongqing feel any better? He immediately fell back and spat out a mouthful of blood!
"I'll kill you!"
He was instantly filled with incomparable rage. Making a claw shape with one hand, he caused the eight-legged spider to shrink continuously until it turned into a small ball, which he then swallowed. This action reminded Zhao Chun of Tu Mian, with whom she had once fought.
He too had swallowed the ball transformed from his life Gu, and his strength had soared! Zhuo Gongqing was immeasurably stronger than Tu Mian. Adding the boost from the Internal Growth Technique, the members of the True Spirit Sect could not help but worry for Du Fanzhi.
(End of this chapter)