Chapter 8

Lu Ping cursed himself for his pessimistic predictions as he took out a high-quality blood talisman, "Vajra Talisman," from the pocket of his sleeve and slapped it on his body. A golden light with thin red threads emanated from Lu Ping, as if he had put on a set of golden armor.

Three crystalline ice blades consecutively collided with the protective golden light, producing a series of ear-piercing sounds. The three ice blades turned into piles of ice fragments, while the golden light on Lu Ping's body, though dimmed significantly, still formed a thin layer around him, firmly protecting his safety.

Li Sheng had originally thought that his high-quality talisman would certainly force Lu Ping to defend himself and even get injured, thus giving him an absolute advantage. However, he did not expect Lu Ping to also take out a high-quality talisman to counter his talisman attack, rendering all his prepared tactics useless. It was like throwing a well-prepared punch into a cotton ball, leaving Li Sheng extremely frustrated.

Li Sheng planned to change his attack and continue pressuring Lu Ping, but he suddenly realized that the magical effect of Lu Ping's high-quality talisman had not disappeared. A faint golden light still emanated from Lu Ping's body. How could this be?

When Lu Ping slapped the talisman on his body, Li Sheng saw clearly that it was a high-quality talisman. The magical effects of two high-quality talismans should have canceled each other out, right?

While Li Sheng was interrupted by these two unexpected events, Lu Ping did not hesitate. He was not only not hesitant but also somewhat angry. The blood talisman was one of his last resorts, yet he had to expose it in the first match. Moreover, how many spirit stones did a high-quality talisman cost? Three! And a high-quality blood talisman? At a conservative estimate, it would cost five spirit stones!

This was like throwing spirit stones into the water!

In Lu Ping's ten years of arduous cultivation, wasting cultivation resources was unforgivable! If Li Sheng's reckless use of talismans had merely annoyed Lu Ping, now it had made him furious!

Taking advantage of the talisman's effect and the interruption of his opponent's attack, Lu Ping used the "Art" realm he had recently comprehended, transforming the "Blood-Melting Bone-Refining Sword" into a huge sphere of light and crushing it towards Li Sheng.

Lu Ping's cultivation was originally higher than Li Sheng's, and his foundation was solid. He had only been at a disadvantage due to the inferiority of his magical weapon and Li Sheng's talisman tactics. Now that he had the initiative, his counterattacks became increasingly intense.

Li Sheng now fully understood what it meant to be frustrated. Just a moment ago, he had been in an absolute advantage, feeling satisfied and confident. But in the blink of an eye, the roles had reversed, and he became the one being suppressed.

Even being at a disadvantage was not the worst part; he still had a chance, as he had several high-quality talismans and even a magical artifact that he had not used. However, the problem was that he had no time to activate the magical artifact; he was completely overwhelmed by his opponent's moves.

Indeed, he was thoroughly suppressed. Li Sheng could not understand why the "Blood-Melting Bone-Refining Sword," a basic sword technique, could suppress his "Twenty-Four狂风剑" (Twenty-Four狂风Swords). Moreover, he was also very proficient in the "Blood-Melting Bone-Refining Sword." Why could his opponent use this basic sword technique so quickly and with such great power?

Li Sheng was starting to panic; after all, he was still a child under fifteen.

If he could remain calm and carefully observe Lu Ping's sword technique, he would notice that Lu Ping's sword movements were very smooth and fluid, without any traces of artificiality. Although the transitions between moves were not entirely standard, each transition was perfectly suited to the situation he encountered, giving a sense of freedom and spontaneity!

One could say that this sword technique was no longer the basic sword technique of the academy but had become Lu Ping's own sword technique.

This was the "Art" realm, where the sword technique transcended the standard rules and incorporated one's own understanding, transforming it into an art!

The spectators below could see that Li Sheng was about to lose. He had no room for a counterattack, and it was only a matter of time before he was defeated.

Li Sheng was a small genius and had some fame in the academy, so there were still some people watching his match. Additionally, Lu Ping's teammates from the Seventh Squad cheered as they saw victory within reach, including senior students Yao Yong, Du Feng, and senior student Shi Lingling.

Senior student Shi Lingling said with a smile, "I didn't expect that tenth-year student Lu Ping had also comprehended the 'Art' realm. I didn't notice it in his match against Li Cheng last time."

Yao Yong replied, "Their last match was brief, with only twenty to thirty moves before a winner was decided. Moreover, Lu Ping had just comprehended the 'Art' realm at that time. Otherwise, Senior Liu wouldn't have given him special training after his match with Li Cheng."

Shi Lingling nodded and said, "Senior student Yao is right. I remember that both Senior student Yao and Senior student Du comprehended the 'Art' realm at the eighth level of Blood Refinement?"

Yao Yong said, "Indeed, but Senior student Shi comprehended this realm at the seventh level, and she was only fifteen years old at the time."

Shi Lingling did not comment but said, "The talisman Lu Ping used must be a blood talisman. I didn't expect that he would have such a talisman and be willing to use it!"

Yao Yong said, "A high-quality blood talisman is two to three times more powerful than a regular high-quality talisman. However, creating such a talisman requires blood as a catalyst, and we true spirit cultivators have our cultivation in our blood, so we rarely use such talismans."

Shi Lingling giggled and said no more. Yao Yong said, "Let's go; this match is about to end. We still need to prepare for the second round in the afternoon." With that, the three of them walked towards the Seventh Squad's resting area, while Du Feng remained silent throughout.

It turned out that the three of them had already completed their matches.

On the central arena, the twenty team leaders gathered and were discussing.

This time, Senior Liu was quite satisfied. The Seventh Squad had the highest number of overall advancements and the most late-stage Blood Refinement cultivators among the twenty squads, earning praise and a generous reward from Real Person Xuan Yong. With this wealth, he could advance to the late stage of Blood Refinement, bringing him one step closer to the Core Formation stage.

"Senior Liu's Seventh Squad has performed admirably this time!" said Senior Fang from the Twelfth Squad.

"Senior Fang is too kind. Your squad is also excellent, with ten members reaching the late stage of Blood Refinement," Senior Liu replied slowly, but his eyes sparkled.

"Haha, no need for such formalities. In previous competitions, each team would place a bet. This time, it seems we can't be an exception. What do you all think?" said Senior Wang from the First Squad.

The other team leaders also chimed in, "Agreed, agreed! A bet! A bet!"

"Let's stick to the old rules! Each team contributes twenty medium-quality spirit stones, and the leaders of the top five squads will receive the rewards. How about that?"

"Agreed. The best squad will receive three layers of spirit stones, decreasing by half a layer for each subsequent rank, with the fifth-ranked squad receiving one layer of spirit stones. How about that?"

"Excellent, but we need Real Person Xuan Yong to witness it!"

The team leaders chattered, quickly clarifying the betting rules, clearly indicating that this was not their first time playing this game.

Real Person Xuan Yong smiled and said, "I will be the witness, but don't forget the task after the competition. Each squad must select several late-stage Qi Cultivation disciples to participate in the sect's trial."

The team leaders' expressions turned serious, and they all responded in unison.

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends