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“One cannot transcend anything without becoming fully conscious of what it is.”
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Although Qai’s Ant General only had a shadow-based movement for its ability and tough mandibles for its main attack, it was much stronger than the bizarre Spirit Beast enemy due to cultivation base alone.
As a matter of fact, his giant Ant was enough to contain both his opponent easily.
In a sense, Qai was finally on a cheat mode in the Pagoda—fortunately for him, there was no way for outsiders to guess what was going on inside.
Perhaps, the only thing that the sect elders could tell from outside, through their Spiritual Sense, was which floor a disciple was actually in.
At any rate, Qai finished off his opponents and spent some days to cultivate. In total, he already spent more or less half a month inside—and he was just halfway the Pagoda.
In this Pagoda—without enough Contribution Points—time would definitely be of the essence.
Qai thus stood up and went on the next floor.
His next opponent was a level 9 faceless figure in the Qi Condensation stage with 2 bizarre Spirit Beasts of the same cultivation base.
Qai once again summoned his Ant General but this time with two other Ant Soldiers.
And on the sixth floor though, Qai fought against another the faceless figure which was accompanied by 3 bizarre Spirit Beasts.
But surprisingly, on the seventh floor, Qai faced 2 early Foundation Establishment stage faceless figures.
With the giant Ant colony by his side, he easily swept the enemies on each floor.
After completing the seventh stage, Qai had already made a breakthrough to the middle layers of level 9 in the Qi Condensation stage. However, he already consumed his entire month-worth of free stay—and he was aware of how much time he had already spent inside the Pagoda.
Qai could only sigh as he could do nothing about it.
But since he had already gotten to that stage, he wouldn't want to waste the opportunity to continue.
Hence from thereon, Contribution Points would be deducted from his badge per day.
Qai let out a deep breath and immediately went up the eighth floor.
However, he was stunned to see his opponent.
In fact, his face filled with astonishment.
It was no longer faceless—instead, it looked exactly like him and held a Guandao that exactly looked like his.
Dang!
The enemy was practically ‘him’ from all angles.
He didn't know if other disciples who reached the eighth floor had experienced the same, but there was no time for him to think of it.
His thoughts at the moment were busy thinking of ways to beat the enemy that appeared to be him.
‘If I summon my giant Ants, will he do the same?’
Qai was overly cautious to make his move.
He didn't know what to expect in this fight but so far, the enemy wasn't making any move just the same.
In his mind, this by far would be his most difficult battle.
Qai made a quick incantation and unleashed an attack just to test the waters.
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‘Sky Piercing Dart.’
‘Sky Piercing Dart.’
Baam. Baam.
A small spiritual Qi energy explosion flared as 2 similar-looking Darts collided along the distance between them..
‘What!?’
If the enemy would indeed have the same abilities and weapons as him, then he wouldn't have any method to defeat the enemy.
‘Raging Bison.’
‘Raging Bison.’
Baam. Baam.
‘Dance of Death.’
‘Dance of Death.’
Waboom. Waboom.
Qai tried his beast to unleash all the tricks he had but to no avail. Everything he threw at the enemy, his opponent threw the same back at him.
Unexpectedly, even his Guandao Intent was also copied.
But even then, Qai still fought.
In his mind, if he could at least exhaust the enemy maybe he could win.
Unknown to him, Qai had already been fighting for an entire day. And before he knew it, he was the one already exhausted.
He was frustrated.
If there was any consolation which he noticed throughout the fight, it was the fact that the opponent would not fight back if he did not actually attack—and this gave Qai some period to rest and recuperate.
Two days later, he was still clueless about how to get past the enemy.
‘Shall I exit now!?’
The temptation to not continue was strong. For after all, he didn't want to waste his Contribution Points in the Pagoda if he could not really figure out what to do.
Qai decided to sit down and just stare at the enemy.
Just like him, the enemy appeared to have achieved Master rank Knight physical strength.
He took a deep breath and told himself that perhaps the only way to win was to bring out a new kind of attack.
All of a sudden he recalled the one thing that he had already forgotten to try ever since he started to cultivate—and that is, to advance to Grandmaster rank Knight.
To be able to achieve that, he must ‘create’ an entirely new attack purely out of his Guandao Intent.
How to do it, Qai didn't know—but he would definitely try just the same.
He closed his eyes, and try to feel the Intent he had been using.
He recalled the experience back in the nameless village when he tried to be one with the waterfall current—and did the same with his Intent.
‘To know the nature of Intent, I have to be one with it.’
For a moment he felt his Guandao Intent surging within his thoughts. But he did not disturb it. Instead, he let it fill his mind and allowed to linger in his thoughts.
From outside, Qai’s face was twitching occasionally—but his entire being was actually glowing.
The enemy ‘him,’ on the other hand, was standing across him with an expressionless face.
After a moment, Qai’s thoughts suddenly flickered.
He didn't know how much time he already allowed the Guandao Intent to linger in him. But he couldn't care less.
‘If spiritual Qi energy can be moved to form a figure, the same must be true with Intent.’
Then Qai recalled the process how he first made the figure of Bison to enhance the basic attack provided in his ‘Transcending Autumn Arts.’
Once again he went to meditate deeply as he sat on the ground.
And after a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.
The enemy’s face moved but it simply watched him as it stayed still across the other side of the floor.
On the other hand, Qai looked intently at the opponent then smiled.
‘So this is what it feels like to kill oneself.’
He raised his Guandao and slashed through the air straight. There was no ceremonial incantation, just a simple hack.
All of sudden a huge image of Guandao formed above Qai and immediately streaked towards the enemy.
Wooosh!
It had the same image of the very weapon he held—Guandao—but apart from its large size, there was still definitely something different in it.
It was made of pure Intent but it was clearly visible to the naked eye.
Grandmaster rank Knight!
The skill he created was simple—there was no flare, but it satisfied the requirement nonetheless.
As the huge image of Guandao flew from Qai’s side towards the target, the surrounding atmosphere along the way twisted hard just from the intimidating force of the Intent.
The enemy who just stood on the other side finally had no answer.
When his new skill and then enemy’s body collided, a huge blast exploded on the eighth floor.
Booooom!
And when the dust finally settled down, a surge of pure spiritual Qi energy surged towards Qai’s glabella while a portal appeared on one side of the eighth floor.
Qai took a deep breath and sat once again to cultivate.
A week later, he opened his eyes and carefully examined his cultivation base.
‘Peak of the ninth level in the Qi Condensation stage.’
Qai stood up, stretched his robe and walked through the portal.
He was in anticipation of the worst enemy on the that last floor. However, when he emerged from the portal, to his surprise, no enemy welcomed him.
There was nothing but a plain hall and a cool low voice.
“Congratulations, dear disciple!”