Chapter Seven: The Duel

  The old man wore a cyan Taoist robe and was actually the abbot of Zhenling Temple, Zhendan Period True Man Xuan Yong.

  This Xuan Yong Dao Zhang has a gentle and amiable appearance, very approachable and easy-going, earning the respect of the disciples from other institutes and the professors. He is seen standing on the stage, with two middle-aged men dressed as Taoist cultivators standing beside him.

  Xuan Yong Dao laughed and said: "My disciples have been practicing hard, all of you team leaders' efforts are not in vain!"

  The immortals all hastily expressed their gratitude.

  Xuan Yong Dao pointed at the two people beside him and said: "These two, you should also know, but as for the disciples below, they may not recognize them, so I'll introduce them again."

  He pointed to the thin and tall Taoist on his left side, saying: "This is Xuan Su True Man." Then he pointed to the red-faced Taoist on his right side, saying: "This is Xuan Ce True Man."

  All the disciples were shocked in their hearts, and it turned out to be two true immortals!

  These disciples are usually the only ones in the other courtyard who have reached the Dan stage, and even the head of the Xuan Yong Courtyard is rarely seen. The vast majority of disciples have only seen him once during the five-year grand competition. This time, there were actually three true people present, how could it not excite the disciples? If they perform exceptionally well in the grand competition and receive the favor of any one of the true people, they can immediately become inner courtyard disciples, with the dissolving blood stage within sight.

  Lu Ping gazed at the three true men on stage, although he deeply admired them in his heart, yet he kept a thread of clarity in his mind. The three true men had come to witness a grand competition among cultivators in the Blood Refining Stage, it seemed that this competition was indeed extraordinary!

  It was just that Lu Ping couldn't understand what kind of matter could make the true person of the Refining Dan period pay attention to their small trial as blood cultivators.

  More than 200 disciples drew lots and then fought each other, the competition venue was on eight small arenas, the first round would decide the top 128, two rounds a day, the first day would decide the top 64.

  Eight small shields rose up on the eight small arenas, Lu Ping knew that this was an application of a formation, which could avoid attacks below the dissolving blood phase from accidentally injuring people outside the arena.

  Each arena is presided over by a bloodthirsty Xianchang for the duel.

  Xuan Yong Zhen Ren didn't waste any words and directly announced the start of the grand competition. The disciples headed to the central arena, where they drew red or blue bamboo slips from a jar.

  Lu Ping didn't have high hopes of drawing a blank signature, but he also didn't draw the likes of Lian Xue's eighth or ninth layer seniors. After all, among these over two hundred people, more than half were at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

  Lu Ping's first-round opponent was a disciple of the twelfth faction who had reached the seventh layer of Blood Refining. This disciple looked younger than Lu Ping, about fifteen years old, with a slender and tall build, and an air of arrogance amidst his youthful appearance.

  Li Sheng indeed had the capital to be proud of, he was only fifteen years old this year and had already reached the middle stage of seven-layered blood refinement. In his cultivation, he not only had talent but also worked hard without being inferior to other disciples. Not only his family, even Fang Qian Xian Chang praised him for entering the dissolving blood phase with almost no problems.

  Among the second-generation disciples, there are five geniuses: Lin Sheng of the First Squad, Zhao Lang of the Fifth Squad, Shi Lingling of the Seventh Squad, Leng Qian of the Fourteenth Squad, and Qian Fei of the Eighteenth Squad. These five people are known as the "Five Xiu" and are all at the eighth or ninth level of Blood Refining, because they all entered the seventh layer of the late stage of Blood Refining before the age of 14.

  Li Shengyi had always thought of himself as the "sixth genius" among these five people. This time, he heard that the sect's reward was very generous, and his family had also prepared a good low-grade magic weapon for him, as well as many talismans. He was extremely ambitious and confident, feeling that even if he encountered an eighth-layer Blood Refining senior, he could still win, and even ordinary ninth-layer Blood Refining disciples were not impossible to defeat.

  So when this ordinary sixteen or seventeen year old Seventh Layer Blood Refining disciple stood in front of Lu Ping, Li Sheng naturally thought that this was his stepping stone to advancing to the next round.

  Lu Ping looked at the half-grown child, smiled inexplicably, drew out his own superior law weapon, made a "Dissolving Blood and Refining Bone Sword" starting gesture, and said to Li Sheng: "Junior brother, please!"

  Li Sheng looked at Lu Ping, who was using this basic sword technique, and saw that he was also an ordinary disciple without a family background. His face showed even more disdain, "Clang" sound, he took out a top-grade law enforcement sword in a showy manner, and made the starting move of a set of kung fu passed down by his family. He thought to himself, "My father said that this 'Twenty-four Swords of Fierce Wind' is quite powerful during the Blood Refining stage. This ordinary disciple without any background probably hasn't even heard of it."

  Lu Ping had never seen this set of sword moves before, but looking at the little monk who was showing off like a child with his toys, he found it quite ridiculous. However, he still sensed the danger hidden within this unfamiliar sword style.

  Li Sheng's top-tier magic sword flashed, a white light like a whip shot out, and Lu Ping suddenly felt a surge of magic power hidden in the white light emitted by the magic sword, rapidly approaching his face. The move was not yet complete, but his face had already been cut to the point of bleeding.

  Lu Ping calmly responded to the battle, turning his body to dodge this white light, and the magic soldier in his hand also returned a sword energy to slash towards Li Sheng's wrist.

  Li Sheng didn't think much of it, relying on the sharpness of his French sword, he deflected Lu Ping's French sword to one side with a flick of his wrist. With his left hand, he pinched a finger seal, and at the same time, he muttered some words under his breath. A flame burst forth, just as Lu Ping's French sword was blocked out of the way, revealing an opening, Li Sheng seized the opportunity to strike him off guard.

  Unexpectedly, the two law enforcement officers met, and Li Sheng suddenly felt a thick law force transmitted to his own law enforcement officer. For a moment, he was unable to withstand it, not only failing to open up his opponent's law enforcement officer but also being pushed back by this force for two consecutive steps before resolving it.

  The flame in his hand was deflected by this surge of magic, and Lu Ping easily dodged it. The scattered flames were blown away by a simple Clear Wind Spell from Lu Ping.

  Li Sheng's face, which had been filled with disdain, suddenly became more subdued. This person's magical powers were incredibly dense and didn't seem to be any weaker than his own. It seemed that he had finally met someone who was a match for him. However, thinking about the wealth stored in his pouch, Li Sheng immediately regained some of his confidence.

  Lu Ping looked at the high-quality magic sword in his hand, and on its blade, a gap as big as a soybean had been cut out. He couldn't help but smile wryly. This magic sword had only been in his hands for three months, and he had only used it to fight twice, yet it had suffered such severe damage.

  Li Sheng's sword flashed horizontally, and he launched another attack. A set of "Twenty-four Swords of Frenzied Wind" was unleashed, with each sword faster than the last, and each one more ferocious than the previous. At the same time, his magic spells were also cast in rapid succession, with some talismans mixed in between, all aimed at Lu Ping's face.

  Lu Ping was indeed a bit overwhelmed at the time, his opponent's swordsmanship was like a raging storm, leaving no gaps, and it also included Flame Seal, Ice Seal, Wind Blade, Golden Sword, and Giant Tree techniques. Just when he managed to catch his breath thanks to his solid foundation, before he could even counterattack with a single move, the opponent had already launched another talisman to supplement his attack.

  Lu Ping looked at the inferior and even mid-grade Blood Refining Symbols being thrown at him without any cost, just like spiritual stones skipping water in front of him, and he cursed inwardly at the wastefulness.

  "It's good that Li Sheng still has some sanity and didn't treat the high-grade talisman as a joke." Just as Lu Ping was sighing in relief, a high-grade ice blade talisman suddenly burst open in front of him, releasing a massive surge of spiritual energy that startled Lu Ping so much he almost slapped himself on the ear.

  A chill ran down Lu Ping's spine, and the fine hairs on his body stood on end even before the three crystal-clear ice blades struck him.