Old Tian asked:
"Chenzhou, how many jade tokens do you have?"
"Six, and you?"
"I have three, acquired together with the Leopard Woman."
"Just now, three tokens exploded inside the Mountain God Temple."
"The number of tokens and their difficulty are linked."
Old Tian looked at the cold, desolate temple with awe. He had an intuition that the chance to turn the tables in this competition wasn’t with him, but with Lu Chenzhou.
Old Tian said:
"We already have nine tokens, let’s head straight for Bright Peak. If there are checkpoints along the way, we’ll take them down, and then wait for tomorrow’s final battle."
Leopard Woman looked into the dark night and muttered to herself:
"With Yao Cheng and Zhou Xingkong’s personalities, they most likely headed straight for Bright Peak."
These two brothers were always full of pride.
...
Underground control room.
The staff exchanged glances.
"Shh...those two actually killed the Stone Statue."
"An ordinary Ninth Rank isn’t a match for this Void Thing."
The person in charge of the Martial Arts Departnt asked:
"Of the four major challenges, have any others been breached?"
"No, only Wangwang Temple has been taken down."
The person in charge looked at Lu Chenzhou, his expression one of admiration.
"Not bad, your Dragon City has picked up a treasure."
Qingtian Cang barely smiled and said:
"For those who cultivate both internally and externally, this is all routine."
Li Gui remained calm, unsurprised by this news.
As a Fist Technique teacher, he knew Lu Chenzhou well.
What pleasured him even more was that the "Mountain Lord’s" Fist Blade still had its place in the martial world.
Wu Zun looked toward the teachers from Hua Mountain Martial Arts University with amusent in his eyes.
The Pine Wind Swordsman had a grim face; he was unhappy firstly because he hadn’t expected those two from Dragon City to overco the challenges, and secondly because he hadn’t foreseen that Yin Shishi’s trio would end up failing miserably and even get Jin Ling injured. Now Hua Mountain only had 6 participants left.
"Thankfully, Li Kongkong is here; the advantage is still ours."
...
Seconds and minutes passed.
The Eastern skies above Hua Mountain started to show the first light of dawn, and after Old Tian, Lu Chenzhou, and the four had regrouped, they no longer encountered surprise attacks from Hua Mountain Martial Arts University. Now, unless Li Kongkong led a team to kill them, no one could shake this group of four.
Together, they took down the checkpoints with ease, already securing 12 tokens. In total, Hua Mountain had placed only 32 tokens, and there were 9 left in the other three major challenges. Without conquering those challenges, Hua Mountain Martial Arts University could at most obtain 11 tokens on the premise that they could find and clear the remaining checkpoints.
The Eastern sunrise.
Tiandu Peak stood tall and majestic, steep and grand.
Atop it was an inscription, "Ascend to the Ultimate Peak!"
Yao Cheng arrived at the top of the peak, looking far into the distance. His eagle-sharp gaze turned towards the direction of Bright Peak when suddenly, his eyes narrowed, looking behind the stone carvings at the stone chamber. A figure, stretching leisurely while yawning comfortably, walked out with a folding fan gently swaying in hand.
"When will you ride a phoenix or crane in broad daylight, and tread across the clouds atop Tiandu Peak... Brother Yao, I’ve heard the cries of gods and wails of ghosts at the might of your Eagle Claw Technique. Today, may I have the privilege of experiencing it first-hand?"
Li Kongkong sang with a smile.
Yao Cheng frowned and said:
"Why beat around the bush with flowery words? You just want to fight, don’t you? Co on, there’s no need for anyone else to hide; co out all at once... I, Yao Cheng, will take you all on!"
With a snap, Li Kongkong closed his folding fan and said:
"Bravo, such boldness, but it is just alone."
He pressed forward with each step, then suddenly lunged out. Yao Cheng’s eagle claw reached for Li Kongkong’s face, the three fingers adorned with the gleaming, cold "Eagle Claw Set." The clash of tals rang out sharp and clear, penetrating clouds and splitting stones, but Li Kongkong parried the Eagle Claw’s deadly strike with a single hand holding the fan.
He sneered, his iron fan carved with towering pines and surging waves deflected the eagle claw and circled downward, slashing towards Yao Cheng’s abdon with a chilling cold force.
Yao Cheng quickly retreated to the edge of a cliff.
"Hand over your insignia and tokens, you’re no match for ."
Li Kongkong radiated a terrifying montum that shot straight to the sky.
"In your dreams!"
Yao Cheng roared, reaching out his right claw towards his opponent. As the folding fan gently blocked it, sothing in his palm suddenly exploded, releasing a large cloud of white powder.
Li Kongkong, concerned about poison, retreated slightly.
He calmly waved away the white smoke with his fan and, looking at the steep cliffs of Tiandu Peak, saw a figure soaring down the mountain like a great Peng spreading its wings, stepping as if flying.
Li Kongkong’s lips curved into a smile, not bothering to chase after Yao Cheng.
Because Yin Shishi was leading her team below.
"It will be easier from here on out."
His figure disappeared from Tiandu Peak, scaling the walls as he headed straight for Bright Peak.
...
[Chen Daoke was defeated by Lu Chenzhou, Tian Xingjian, and others, eliminated from the competition.]
[Yao Cheng was defeated by Yin Shishi, Qu Ping, and others, eliminated from the competition.]
Two pieces of news ca in quick succession.
At the site of Lotus Peak, Old Tian and Lu Chenzhou’s four-person squad stopped, their expressions grim. They had just defeated a solitary Ninth Rank expert from Huangshan, finally gaining a nurical advantage, only to see it vanish in the next mont.
"The thing we were most worried about has happened."
"If Zhou Xingkong gets eliminated, there’s no point in playing anymore."
Li Kongkong lood like a mountain, weighing heavily on everyone’s minds.
...
Aboard the helicopter, Yao Cheng was taken away.
He received a phone from his teacher, with a call from Grandmaster Yao.
"You’ve disappointed too much! Teamwork, do you understand..."
Yao Cheng silently took the scolding without a word.
Qingtian Cang said,
"Grandmaster Yao, please calm down, Yao Cheng was just unlucky."
"Li Shoukun, you don’t always have to consider my feelings, educate him as you need... otherwise, he’ll never beco an eagle soaring through the skies!"
Wu Zun looked down below and sighed softly as well,
"We can’t afford to lose any more mbers, or we’re certain to lose."
...
Bright Peak.
At an altitude of 1860 ters, one of Huangshan’s three main peaks.
The east and west sea of clouds churned, with the sun high in the sky.
Among the cliffs, Zhou Xingkong held his breath and focused, sitting cross-legged on the twisted roots of a pine like a withered tree. He could already hear the proud discussion of the people from Huangshan Martial Arts University.
This contest was too difficult. Xiao He didn’t care, being just a mascot, but with the elimination of two formidable experts, Wang Hongdao and Yao Cheng, he had a bad premonition.
Ti passed, nearing midday.
Li Kongkong moved gracefully like a painting, effortlessly crossing over the oddly shaped pines and rocks, and gently landed on a stage built for today’s fight, the final battleground.
The Bright Peak stage!
Those who fell off the stage lost.
All around was a sheer cliff, forcing the competitors to focus fully. If they couldn’t match their opponent, they had to admit defeat; if they were unfortunate enough to fly off the cliff, masters would co to their rescue.
The match format was a five-on-five team battle.
In the high sky, the helicopter hovered.
A bald old man with white eyebrows, dressed in monk-style training clothes, sat cross-legged at the doorway. His benevolent gaze fell on the Bright Peak stage, and while stroking his beard he reminisced,
"Huangshan, it’s been a long ti..."
The head of the Martial Arts Departnt chuckled,
"Ding Yuan Zen Master, the next ti you co might be in eight years. You couldn’t attend the last Hua Mountain Sword Discussion because of the Void Realm... but we juniors haven’t forgotten about you. Many young disciples from the five Buddhist sects are waiting for your guidance."
"Ha-ha, I’m old and can only do so much."
"The Grandmaster ’Tuo Tian Head Monk’ from the legends never ages; I can hardly wait to witness the fad ’Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill.’"
Tuo Tian Head Monk · Ding Yuan Zen Master.
One of the professors from Songshan Martial Arts University, profound in Buddhist Law and philosophy, and also a Grandmaster placed fifth on the leaderboard in one of the earlier All Nations Martial Arts Competitions!
The ’Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill’ originates from the Buddhist Law of the Western Regions. What is a Divine Skill? Beyond True Skill, it represents the pinnacle of human martial arts achievents!
The power of the Divine Skill is akin to gods and immortals.
Within Buddhist Divine Skills, ’Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill’ is a superior thod, requiring high root bone and comprehension, as well as a deep understanding of Buddhist and Boxing Realms to cultivate. It has one characteristic: easy to learn but hard to master, with difficulty exponentially increasing later on.
Throughout history, many Buddhist Grandmasters have practiced this thod, yet none have mastered the Extre Limit Realm of it. Outside of Buddhist Grandmasters, others also shy away from attempting this cultivation technique.
The head of the Martial Arts Departnt was a fervent follower of Ding Yuan Zen Master and inquired,
"Zen Master, I’ve heard that Cangtian Dragon King once sought to learn ’Dragon Elephant Heaven-Supporting Divine Skill’ from the Buddhist sect. With his peerless talent, he must have mastered it by now, right?"
Ding Yuan Zen Master shook his head,
"I also do not know, perhaps he has."
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