Chapter Twenty: Astonishing Innate Talent

  Jiǔ dī tóu kàn shū, duì jiē xià lái de tiǎo zhàn wú bù guān zhù.

  Translation:

  Nine bows his head to read books, paying no attention to the challenges that follow.

  Su Xingchen, who was sitting next to him, didn't even glance at Zhu Jiu, but instead watched the consecutive battles happening on stage with a concerned expression.

  Time flies, and the battle on stage never stops, cycling round and round.

  Wishing Jiǔ and Sū Xīngchén, as well as some other top-ranked students of the Xiū Fǎ Diàn, would always be unchallenged, sitting in their chairs feeling rather bored. Everyone was a little envious of Jiǔ, who had the foresight to bring a book to read.

  The challenges on the stage have been going on for ten rounds, with nine rounds won by the Xiu Fa Dian disciples and one round a draw, not simply because the two participants had similar strength.

  But it was the students on the side of the Refining Law Temple who lacked practical experience, and several spells were misused in the heat of the moment, ultimately losing the opportunity to win. The two ended with a draw.

  The Xiu Fa Dian's performance was astonishing, with ten consecutive victories without a single defeat. This was not only due to the superior talent and equipment of the Xiu Fa Dian students compared to those from other temples, but also because their most talented student, Sun Bu Fu, had been killed by Zhu Jiu early on, causing them to lose morale.

  As they were about to finish the first day's 15 matches, Zhu Jiu finally put down the book in his hand and turned to ask Su Xingchen beside him:

  "You don't want to come down and accumulate some actual combat experience? You know we haven't had many chances to fight in the past few years at the Refining Pagoda."

  Su Xingchen seemed to have not heard anything, and didn't say a word. Zhu Jiu himself was left looking foolish, but he didn't blush at all, still smiling faintly as he said:

  "Alright! It's because I want to see what your demon corpse looks like. If possible, pair your demon corpse with my sunset, how about that?"

  Su Xingchen's tense and pretty face finally couldn't hold back, a faint smile slowly appeared at the corner of her mouth, the smile gradually spread, and she said in a low voice:

  "Here we go again, you're talking nonsense, a zombie isn't a living thing, how can it be paired up?"

  He paused and continued:

  "My Yao Corpse is a Frosty Ice Hawk, an extraordinary elemental corpse with the name Bingshuo. When I subdued it, it was just a low-ranking Orange Soul Corpse Guard, but now it's almost evolved into a mid-ranking Corpse Guard, with very strong combat power."

  Jiu's curiosity got the better of him and he asked:

  "Are there still elemental corpses? Yet, it's something I've never seen before."

  Su Xingchen's dark eyes sparkled as he explained in a low voice:

  "The definition of a yao shi is that it does not possess the complete three hun and seven po, and has nothing to do with what constitutes the body, of course, elemental body yao shi may exist."

  Jiu nodded silently, and the two of them whispered for a while before falling silent again, turning their heads to watch the battle on stage.

  At this time, on stage fighting are two girls of about the same age as Zhu Jiu, wearing the same black robes.

  Neither of them was good at close combat, so they stood on opposite corners of the stage and exchanged elegant beginner-level spells.

  Among them, a slightly taller female student of the Refining Hall snapped her fingers in succession, with phosphorescent lights flashing between her fingers, casting a spell called Yin Phosphorus Flame.

  The phosphorescent ball of light flashed rapidly, and the female students in front of the outer temple had almost no power to resist. However, they still gritted their teeth and endured, refusing to admit defeat, with an unyielding glint in their eyes that did not waver in the slightest.

  This is the moment that changes a person's fate, and no one wants to give up easily.

  A disciple from the Xiu Fa Hall took a deep breath, and suddenly sprayed all the Qi in his abdomen towards the phosphorescent magic ball in his hand, which was to enhance the power of the magic with the inner yuan Qi.

  The ball of light in his hand suddenly surged, left his hand and instantly transformed into a gigantic sphere of over 10 meters in diameter, shooting straight towards the female student opposite him.

  The female student in the outer temple flashed a hint of fear in her eyes, but it was already too late to admit defeat.

  The nine-eyed man watched with gleaming eyes as the swift and flashing spellball enveloped and devoured the terrified girl, who didn't even have time to let out a miserable cry before her body was incinerated by the blazing flames.

  Jiu saw this scene and thought to himself:

  "These disciples have been constantly indoctrinated by the Dharma masters with the cruelty of cultivation, the scarcity of resources, and everyone knows the importance of staying in the meditation hall, becoming ruthless and merciless."

  This was still after Zhu Jiu's killing of Sun Bu, the first time a young man had died, and the crowd watching had a moment of silence.

  Later, a staff member shouted:

  "The 14th match has ended today, and the winner is Xiu Fa Dian. The next match will be the 15th challenge, which starts now."

  Jiǔ's side suddenly stood up, his voice clear and piercing, saying:

  "Strictly speaking, according to the rules, every disciple must go down. If not this time, then let me go! If my opponent doesn't come out voluntarily, I'll just let their transmission master recommend one casually."

  Li Chuanfa smiled and nodded, then turned around and shouted to Liu Chuanfa who was leading the team outside the main hall:

  "Liu Chuanfa, you also heard that, according to the requirements, everyone must go down at least once. There will always be an unlucky one on your side who encounters Su Xingchen. What do you think we should do about this?"

  Liu Chuanfa let out a cold snort and remained silent for a while before asking his disciples:

  "Who will take the initiative to come out and have a match with Su Xingchen?"

  For a long time, no one came out from behind him, where hundreds of students were waiting in silence. Liu Chuanfa was so angry that he shouted:

  "Li Mao, you come and represent the Outer Temple in this battle."

  Zhu Jiu saw Li Mao, who had been hiding in fear, come out and burst into laughter. It turned out that the person who was called out by name was actually the short and fat young man who had previously incited Sun Bu Fu and Zhu Jiu to fight each other.

  Liu Chuanfa also hated this guy for provoking a fight without reason, causing Sun Bu'er, the most promising candidate to challenge the outer hall, to die. That's why he specifically asked him to go to battle.

  Before Su Xingchen went on stage, Zhu Jiu whispered:

  "Be careful, this fatty is quite cunning."

  Su Xingchen didn't even turn his head back, and with a light and silent quick step, he walked towards the stage.

  This little girl's every move is as if born from heaven, with a strange rhythmic sense, as if she can easily resonate with the heavens and all things, making her breath harmonize with nature.

  The three-layered central seat was occupied by an old man in a blue robe, whose eyes shone with an unusual light as he gazed at Su Xingchen's every move. A dazzling radiance burst forth from his eyes the moment he saw Su Xingchen ascend to the stage, and he muttered to himself:

  "This little girl is a born cultivator, every move she makes can easily stir the heaven and earth's primordial energy, her cultivation speed is incredibly fast, she is indeed a natural-born suitable person for learning Tao. Hmm, it seems that this batch of students in our sect has her as the top, such talent is truly astonishing..."

  He paused and turned back to instruct:

  "This little girl cultivates but has needs, all are fully supplied."

  The staff member responsible for recording behind him respectfully nodded and looked up at Su Xingchen who was walking on the stage with admiration.