The disciple froze for a moment, then said anxiously, "But if no one else goes up, aren’t we just letting that kid from the Celestial Craft Cave look down on all the other peaks of our Taoist Sect?"

The issue wasn’t whether they could win. It was that no one could stomach it. Why should Xu Yunfan be the one favored by Sect Leader Bi Yuan, soaring to prominence overnight?

He had even been granted the position of second True Inheritor.

In just over a month, the resources he’d consumed for his cultivation surpassed even those of Chu Cangming.

Lu Wuchen’s lips curled into a slight smile, his tone indifferent. "He’s merely in the Washing Marrow Realm. Even if he has some brute force, it’s still just brute force. I’ll make my move after he’s won eighteen consecutive matches. That way, it won’t be said that I’m bullying a weaker opponent."

At his words, the surrounding disciples had a moment of realization. They sighed inwardly, ’Lu Wuchen really is something else. As expected of the prodigy of Cyan Nether Peak’s younger generation, to be able to make such a shameless statement sound so elegant. After eighteen straight victories, even if his opponent isn’t completely exhausted, his combat strength will be severely diminished. If I go up then, I can win with ease. So what if he has a Divine Weapon? Would he even have the strength to swing it?’

As the Daoist Children from the various peaks fell silent, the cold voice of Cui Yu, the head of the Punishment Hall, rang out. It was like the clash of Cold Iron, and the sound alone was enough to shake the accumulated snow from the pine branches around the Martial Arts Arena.

"If no one takes the stage within the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, all Thirty-Six Peaks will be considered to have forfeited!"

Before Cui Yu’s voice had faded, a clear sword hum suddenly echoed from the northwest corner. It sounded like ice cracking in a Cold Spring, and the resonant clang shook the snow from the pine branches around the Martial Arts Arena once more.

Bai Zhi, the chief True Inheritor of Liuyun Peak and a holder of the Daoist Child title, descended from the air. Steps of ice formed and shattered beneath her feet. Though the Frost Sword at her waist remained sheathed, a grim Sword Qi had already swept out three yards, instantly freezing a layer of crystalline frost onto the ground. Even the air itself seemed to congeal.

"Bai Zhi of Liuyun Peak. I ask for your guidance, Junior Brother Xu."

Her voice was cold and clear, like snow falling into a Cold Pool, utterly devoid of worldly emotion.

The crowd below erupted. This was the God of Slaughter who, three years ago, had frozen the meridians of the Northern Desert Mad Saber with a single strike of her Celestial Net Profound Nether Sword Technique! She was an expert at the Middle Stage of the Grandmaster of Refining the Internal Organs realm!

Some sharp-eyed disciples even noticed a faint, crystalline mark shimmering between her brows—the sign of having cultivated the Profound Nether Jade Scroll to the Ice Soul Flawless Realm.

"It’s Bai Zhi of the Frost Sword!"

"Three years ago, she shattered the meridians of a swordsman from the Northern Desert with her Celestial Net Profound Nether Sword Technique..."

"Looks like Xu Yunfan’s Pure Yang True Qi has finally met its match..."

Whispers spread through the spectator stands, and the gazes directed at Xu Yunfan began to change.

A Daoist Child in the Refining the Internal Organs realm, the designated successor to a Peak Leader, a genius among geniuses. How long could he, a mere Washing Marrow Realm cultivator, last against her?

Bai Zhi’s white robes were purer than snow. The moment her long, slender fingers rested on the hilt of her Frost Sword, her seemingly delicate forearm suddenly tensed. Her muscles coiled like strands of Hundred-refined Steel Threads. With no wind to move it, her sleeve began to flutter, and fine Ice Crystals trickled from the cuff.

These Ice Crystals were not naturally formed. They were an Anomaly created when the Profound Nether Force surging within her radiated from her body, freezing the moisture in the air. Each crystal was sharp and distinct, refracting a seven-colored, frosty glint in the sunlight.

Strength with an Exotic Attribute!

A glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. ’Powerful Qi is a derivative of Blood Qi once it’s been condensed to a certain point. It’s a concentrated form of Blood Qi that has no special properties. It can be projected outward for attack or defense, and it can let you instantly break your physical limits to achieve incredible feats of power. Why is Refining the Internal Organs the final realm before the generation of True Qi? The five steps of Refining the Internal Organs correspond to the Five Elements. The process involves tempering the viscera to accumulate the five qi in the chest. Following the principles of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, one’s immense Strength eventually undergoes a qualitative transformation, sublimating to produce a strand of True Qi. Heart-fire, liver-wood, spleen-earth, lung-metal, and kidney-water. Only by tempering the corresponding organs to their absolute limit can one imbue their Powerful Qi with an attribute. For her to be able to imbue her Powerful Qi with an attribute, creating Sword Qi as cold as frost, she must have cultivated the water element of the five organs—the kidney-water—to a profound level, likely aided by special Treasure Medicines. Furthermore, the Frost Sword in her hand is undoubtedly a Divine Weapon.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace seemed to sense the hostility. Its dark red patterns suddenly lit up, and the body of the mace surged with heat.

Immense Blood Qi rushed through his flesh and blood like molten lava. Fierce white steam erupted from the pores all over Xu Yunfan’s body, making him resemble a Forged Iron furnace heated until it glowed red.

His Pure Yang True Qi merged with the Strength from his meticulously tempered bones and sinews, producing a rumble like muffled thunder as his muscles bulged.

Across from him, though Bai Zhi’s Frost Sword remained sheathed, her grim Sword Force had already materialized into a tangible, cold tide. The two diametrically opposed auras carved a clearly divided battlefield on the snow-covered ground.

To the left, Ice Crystals grew wildly in a three-foot area, with Frost Blades sprouting like a thicket of thorns.

To the right, however, the snow vaporized with a SIZZLE, and the heatwave of a Red Flood Dragon could be faintly seen within the rising white mist.

Though they stood ten yards apart, the snow on the ground strangely formed a pattern resembling a Tai Chi Diagram, with Ice Crystals spreading on the left and snow evaporating on the right.

The moment Cui Yu struck the bronze sounding bowl, Bai Zhi’s expression remained cold as she gave a slight lift of her shoulder.

CLANG!

The sword left its sheath with a dragon’s cry, its tip tracing seven afterimages through the air.

’So fast!’

Xu Yunfan’s pupils constricted. Startled but not panicked, he advanced instead of retreating, his Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace dragging a trail of flowing fire through the air.

TING!

The mace and sword clashed with the sharp ring of metal.

A powerful jolt shot through the web of Xu Yunfan’s thumb. In the next instant, he dug his toes into the ground, using the leverage to forcefully stabilize his body against the surging Strength from her strike.

He was shocked to discover that her Sword Force attacked in three layers. The first was like a cold tide crashing over him, the second like an icicle piercing his bones, and the third was, unexpectedly, a scorching internal force.

"Nether Water Generating Fire..."

Bi Yuan was somewhat surprised. He turned his head to look at Daoist Purple Mirror, the Peak Leader of Liuyun Peak.

"Junior Brother, you’ve taken on a fine disciple. To think she has cultivated the Profound Nether Jade Scroll to such a degree. Given time, she might even manage to form Profound Nether True Qi and become a Ninth Realm Daoist Master for Liuyun Peak."

Hearing Bi Yuan’s unreserved praise, Daoist Purple Mirror couldn’t help but break into a smile.

"Sect Leader, you praise her too much. It has been a century since Liuyun Peak has produced a Ninth Realm master. For Bai Zhi to appear now, it must be that the Merit accumulated by previous generations has finally come to fruition."

Bi Yuan gave a slight, knowing laugh and said no more.

The Ninth Realm, Transforming Strength into Qi, was the true path of borrowing the false to cultivate the real. It was not a barrier so easily broken.

The Taoist Sect had a profound foundation, yet in its entire history, including the reclusive Supreme Elders, the number of such masters did not exceed ten.

Just then, an Elder in the crowd cried out in astonishment, "Ice and fire flowing as one? This child has touched the threshold of Great Mastery of Internal Cultivation!"

’She’s still a little ways off...’

At that moment, Xu Yunfan, who had come off worse in the direct clash, tapped his toes and shot backward.

The sleeve of his right arm exploded, revealing the Dragon Scale Armor beneath. The Armor Leaves pulsed in time with the throbbing blue veins on his knotted muscles. He had pushed his Blood Qi Strength to its absolute limit.

Bai Zhi pressed her advantage, her Sword Technique abruptly shifting to the "Avalanche Thirteen Forms." Each strike carried the crushing force of a thousand-ton avalanche.

Xu Yunfan was forced to counter with the "Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique." As he swung the Heavy Mace, the ground within a three-yard radius around him sank by three inches.

The two figures collided violently on the stage, the clang of metal on metal once again shaking the snow from the pine branches.

Xu Yunfan’s Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace, wreathed in Pure Yang True Qi and the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength, was like a torrent of molten rock with every swing, searing blackened trenches into the snow-covered ground.