(Thanks to DaoistTrueSelf for the gift)
Everyone could feel this thunder had approached the level of 1-Leaf Immortal. Then, everybody began to wonder when it was so simple to reach the power level of Immortals.
Wang Wei watched the red lightning in the clouds; he could sense that the attack barely reached the level of 1-Leaf Immortal. Three Incarnations could deal with this level of attack with relative ease. And now that he had the power of four incarnations, this was no longer a problem for him.
However, he had another idea: he wanted to use this opportunity to temper his body. So, when the thunder fell from the clouds, he only used the strength of his main body to withstand the attack.
Of course, he could not tank such a powerful attack alone, so he had to be wise in the process. He used the Pig Zodiac to store some of the Immortal Lightning’s strength while also sealing some of them using the same seal Wu Hong left for the Divine Punishment Thunder.
Then, he would release these stored strengths slowly to destroy his body and rebuild it, thus achieving the purpose of tempering. He also used the power of Good Fortune Ancestor Wucheng left in his Divine Punishment Thunder to help refine his body.
So, the participants watched as the lightning constantly destroyed Wang Wei’s body before regenerating.
Ye Dafu immediately knew what his opponent was doing. One of the favorite things he enjoyed doing back home was fighting against powerful Lightning or Fire Cultivators. He usually humiliated these cultivators by using their strength to temper his body, but today, the same thing occurred to him.
As he watched his opponent’s action, he realized he had misunderstood something. He thought the latter only survived the previous Immortal Tier attack because of a secret technique with drawbacks and a long cooling time. But now, he realized his opponent’s strength was already touching the Immortal Realm.
He wanted to stop his technique but soon found a cage made of gray strings surrounding him, immobilizing and preventing his action.
After using his Proving Dao Artifact to stop Ye Dafu, Wang Wei continued his tempering for another half hour. Then, the clouds dispersed, and he healed himself one last time.
’15 Primordial Dragon Force, not bad,’ he thought to himself before looking at the Monkey King, who looked different. His shining yellow hair was not dull grey as if it lacked luster. He was now extremely thin, as if he was dehydrated and had not drunk water in a few decades.
The lightning bolt magic treasure flew before Ye Dafu, and he sighed when he saw how weak it also appeared; this was the first time he saw his Bloodline Dao Treasure in such a terrible shape.
This treasure has been with him since he was a fetus, and he spent hundreds of thousands of years nourishing it with his bloodline and cultivation.
After placing it away, Ye Dafu sighed loudly, “I’ve lost.”
Wang Wei nodded before looking at the other people: his eyes asking them if anyone else would like to challenge him. No one answered, but Ji Lanfang suddenly appeared in the sky while holding his gourd.
He took a sip before asking Ye Dafu, “Monkey, how long before you can return to your peak?”
“I can fight in a few hours.”
“I’m not asking when you can fight. I want to know when you can return to your peak.”
Ye Dafu did answer. In his current situation, he will need plenty of Immortal Tier resources to return to his peak as soon as possible. And currently, he is considering whether to withdraw from the trial since he only came here for the Insurgent Technique, but it appeared things were not in his favor.
Suddenly, Lord Spirit appeared next to these two with a talisman in his hand. “I have a solution to your problems.”
“Deceiving Body Talisman. With it, you deceive your body that you’re in peak shape, thus momentarily returning to that state.”
Ye Dafu pondered for a moment before accepting the offer. After crushing the talisman, his body did return to its peak; he felt he could use the same level of attack that had placed him in such a terrible shape before.
“To ensure no trouble, let’s decide victory with one attack,” said Ji Lanfang, who pulled out the sword on his waist.
“Fine by me,” said the Monkey King. He used the same technique except that the red lightning appeared on the tip of his staff. Ji Lanfang took one last sip of his gourd before concentrating on the fight.
A supreme Sword Will emanated from his body as his entire demeanor changed; he was no longer that drunkard but an unrivaled swordsman who sought a worthy challenger.
The two gazed intently at each other while their aura became tangible as they clashed. Then, they attacked at the same time.
Swish!
Ye Dafu’s red lightning was midway through its travel as it stopped. Then, a looked of horror displayed on the Monkey’s face, wondering what had just happened.
Then, his head suddenly left his neck as it flew in the air. While upside down, he could see the swordsman had returned to his lazy and vulgar demeanor.
“Only one serious slash? I guess it’s better than the weaklings in my world,” Ji Lanfang said as he continued drinking. Then, he squinted his eyes.
A cocoon that resembled rock surrounded Ye Dafu’s body. His flying head disappeared, and not long afterward, he broke out of the cocoon with a new head and a look of fear.
If his Disaster Bloodline did not have a technique to avoid disaster and saved him at the last minute, he would have died, his soul disappeared, and Dao vanished.
Ye Dafu did not say anything but handed his third-place token to his opponent. Then, he contacted his Ancestor. He had used both his bloodlines’ secret techniques, and he sensed that the backlash could kill him once the Deceiving Talisman’s effect ended.
So, he needed to return home as soon as possible to use the tribe’s resources to heal without affecting his Dao Foundation. As such, a monkey dressed in a blue robe appeared next to him before disappearing.
“So, what do I do with the fourth-seeded token?” asked Ji Lanfang.
“The other seeded players will go up one rank, and the sixth position will go to….” She looked around at all the participants before giving the spot to Jingwu Hua.
Now, Mu Lei was fourth, and Shi Qian was fifth.
Ji Lanfang did not care about this, so he focused on his other target: Wang Wei.
“Do you need time to recuperate?”
“No.”
“In that case, I challenge you.”
According to the rules, he only had to accept one challenge a day from the seeded players. Nevertheless, he accepted the duel as he was interested in this swordsman. So, after receiving the 500 Points fee, the two began.
Ji Lanfang concentrated his Sword Will.
Swish! He swung his sword exactly as he did to Ye Dafu.
“Interesting,” said Wang Wei as he caressed his throat.
“The Dao of Speed? You abandon everything to swing your sword with unmatched speed. It’s rare to find such a pure swordsman.”
“Such a thick neck. I know one sword was not enough to defeat you. Let’s try again.”
[Thousand Sword Cuts]
Swish!
Wang Wei could see the sword moving in slow motion, but his body could not move in time; this was how fast it was. And in less than a nanosecond, the opponent slashed his throat a thousand times at speed millions of times light-speed.
Ji Lanfang frowned when he saw he barely left a white mark on his opponent’s throat. Then, he became excited.
[Ten Thousand Sword Cuts]
For this attack, he increased not only his speed but the number of attacks. But to his surprise, his opponent evaded the attack. Ji Lanfang rapidly analyzed the situation.
“The Power of Time.” He could see his opponent delay the arrival time of his attack, so he had enough time to evade. “Try this sword.”
Swish!
A small red line appeared on Wang Wei’s neck that healed a few seconds afterward.
“A sword so fast it could cut time, cut concept,” he muttered.
“I’ve never felt so disgusted fighting a body refiner,” commented Ji Langfan. Any normal body refiners would have been dead long ago. But now, even if he could cut his opponent, the latter’s defense was simply outrageous.
“Alright, I’ll use my most powerful technique.”
[Infinite Speed]
Swish!
Unfortunately, Ji Lanfanf stopped midway through his swing. His eyes were momentarily confused before he regained clarity.
“I’ve lost.”
Wang Wei smiled. Although his body could not move, his mind and soul were fast enough to see the latter’s movement and speed. So, he just placed the swordsman into an illusion before he could even swing his sword and lose.
“Is that illusion real?”
“Yes.”
“Who is that person?”
“That’s my father.”
“I did not expect there was another pure and powerful swordsman as myself in the Endless Void. Can you give him my Communication Talisman? I would like to discuss the Way of the Sword with him.”
“No problem.”
After giving the talisman, Ji Lanfang flew away. He only came here to meet worthy challengers, and he met one. He hoped the others would also allow him to fight to his heart’s content.
Furthermore, it was a bonus to meet a possible fellow Daoist that was his equal on the Way of the Sword.
Meanwhile, Wang Wei looked forward to seeing a clash between these two extraordinary swordsmen. He wanted to know whether his father could cut Ji Lanfang’s speed or would the latter be too fast for him to cut.
He then looked at the participants, wondering whether there would be other fights. However, no one challenged the seeded players. Wang Wei guessed many people wanted to further their strength through the trial’s rewards or use the days off for some last-minute training.
Nevertheless, he knew things would not remain peaceful for long. So, he flew to his residence as he had other things to do. In his battle with Ye Dafu, he acquired the latter’s Soul Imprints to access the monkey’s home world.