Holding the chisel in a reverse grip like a dagger, Zi Zun charged at Ba Shifang. Zi Zun was merciless in his attacks, each stab or slash aimed towards a vital or vulnerable organ such as the eye, heart, or throat. However, Ba Shifang's brows didn't even tremble under Zi Zun's relentless assault.
"I thought you were amazing. Can you only dodge like a coward!?" Zi Zun jeered, growing frustrated by his inability to land a hit on Ba Shifang.
Ba Shifang didn't say anything. Instead, his palm crackled with a green light as he slammed it towards Zi Zun. Seeing this, Zi Zun raised his chisel to block the attack. When Ba Shifang's palm struck the chisel, the green electricity disappeared and was sucked into the weapon in Zi Zun's hand.
"Daring to use lightning against me? Don't mock me!" Zi Zun sneered. He knew that Ba Shifang was proficient in numerous techniques ranging from fire to even light, but Thricesting never mentioned that Ba Shifang could use lightning. In Zi Zun's eyes, Ba Shifang wanted to mock him by using lightning that he was most proficient in.
And Zi Zun was right. Ba Shifang felt that Zi Zun, a no-named disciple was overly arrogant and wanted to teach him a lesson by using lightning that Zi Zun was most proficient in. Unfortunately, Ba Shifang never calculated that Zi Zun was the successor of the Thunder Duke, Leigong!
Ba Shifang didn't reply and retreated, causing a commotion amongst the spectators. In the past, only peak master level disciples could force Ba Shifang to do this. They didn't expect an early acupoint opening master like Zi Zun could accomplish such a feat.
Zi Zun twirled the chisel before grasping it in the standard grip. The sound of crackling electricity increased like thousands of crickets chirping at once. Blue energy coated the chisel and extended, forming a lightning blade over a meter long. "If you don't take out your weapon, you'll regret it."
Ba Shifang inwardly rolled his eyes. He didn't have the spare concentration to form a lifebound artifact like his main body. Not to mention that since Tianyi viewed Ba Shifang as a lab rat, he was given no weapon at all, but how could Ba Shifang expose to the truth?
Instead, Ba Shifang raised his fist towards Zi Zun. "I don't need a weapon. My body is my weapon."
As part of Tianyi's Nine-Five Scripture, the moment a cultivator entered the Core Formation Realm, they would have already formed their embryonic martial body. The only step left was to use the essence of the cores to nourish and birth the new martial body. Using his eight trigrams cores that consisted essence of heaven, marsh, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain, and earth, Ba Shifang possessed the Eight Trigrams Martial Body.
Because of this, Ba Shifang's current body was comparable to a core formation artifact in hardness. Even against a nascent soul grandmaster's power attack, he could tank it just by relying on his body's physical properties, so his words weren't just a bluff.
Not that Zi Zun believed Ba Shifang. "Don't regret it."
Zi Zun leaped towards Ba Shifang, chisel swinging. In response, Ba Shifang used his palms to deflect the strike and unleash an attack of his own. Zi Zun snorted when he saw that it was the same green electricity. He didn't even need to block it like before as his chisel started to absorb it. When Ba Shifang's palm reached Zi Zun's chest, it had weakened to the point that the electricity didn't affect Zi Zun at all.
Zi Zun formed the Levin Judgement Martial Body, so lightning elemental attacks had diminishing effects. What he didn't account for was Ba Shifang's brute power.
"Gah!" Zi Zun gritted his teeth to keep himself from continuing to howl from pain as he was launched a hundred meters back. After stabilizing himself, he clutched the spot where he was struck. The injury throbbed painfully.
Seeing that Ba Shifang was patiently waiting for him to recover, a sense of shame took hold in Zi Zun's heart. Although Ba Shifang didn't look like Xi Tianyi at all, Zi Zun felt the image of Tianyi superimposing over Ba Shifang, staring loftily at him. 'Don't you dare look down on me!'
With a loud roar, Zi Zun leaped at Ba Shifang once more, only this time, he vowed not to be careless again. The two, a core formation master and an acupoint opening master, clashed once more.
As the fight continued, the spectators began to cheer and admire the two on the stage. Ba Shifang was as stable as a mountain. He stayed in the same place, deflecting Zi Zun's attack and retaliating with his own. Zi Zun, in contrast, was constantly moving. He was like a shadowy blur, and the only way to know where his current location was by following the blue light from his chisel.
While it seemed that a stalemate had occurred, Zi Zun knew he was at a horrible disadvantage. Zi Zun had been expending his qi at a tremendous rate to find a hole in Ba Shifang's defense, but his efforts were futile. Furthermore, Ba Shifang was still using lightning techniques against him, and with each attempt, the power behind the technique grew!
'This bastard is using me to train his lightning techniques!' Zi Zun growled. 'At this rate, I'll be exhausted and helpless. Although I haven't mastered that technique, it seems that I have to bring that out if I want to defeat this clone.'
There was a pause as Zi Zun's figure appeared a hundred meters away. His speed was so quick, it looked like a flash of light to many of the disciples present below the Nascent Soul Realm.
Seeing that Ba Shifang was still allowing him to activate his technique, Zi Zun growled. 'I'll make you pay for your arrogance!'
Zi Zun held both his fist next to his waist in a horse stance as blue light began to emit from his body, enveloping him in a layer of light. The veins on his temple became visible as a strained expression appeared on Zi Zun's face from the true qi of thunderous lightning coursing through his body.
"Hrahhh!!!" With a roar, a yellow-blue aura erupted from Zi Zun's body. It appeared as if he was at the center of a yellow-blue flame. Zi Zun's sleeves had been blasted off by the force he had emitted, revealing his bare arms covered in glowing blue tattoos. Still, the most striking change was Zi Zun's hair.
The front and sides of Zi Zun's hair had turned yellow and were spiked upwards. The only part that was still the original black was hair on the back of his head trailing down his neck.
"Don't regret giving me time to activate this technique." Zi Zun said.
The technique he used was called Thunder God's Descent. By using his true qi of thunderous lightning paired with his Levin Judgement Martial Body, he was able to temporarily release the power of Punishment Lighting that formed the core of his martial body. If used in the World Merging Realm, Zi Zun would have a body comparable to a true immortal of the martial way. The only weakness was the expenditure of qi and mental and physical stress was massive, causing the technique to be time-limited.
Zi Zun's current state was the first level, and his strength was increased by an astonishing fiftyfold! This state was already reaching the threshold of the late Soul Nourishing Realm.
Like a flash of lightning, Zi Zun's figure appeared in front of Ba Shifang, his chisel already in motion. Ba Shifang was surprised by Zi Zun's explosive increase in speed.
Clang!
Ba Shifang reigned in a hiss as the chisel sliced halfway to his bone through his flesh. It was only the pain but the electric shock transmitted through the chisel that sent paralyzing waves through his body. But that all that paled in comparison to the dumbfound expression on Ba Shifang's face as he looked into Zi Zun's cyan eyes.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
While Ba Shifang was in a stupor, Zi Zun used this chance to embed his fist into Ba Shifang's face. As a result, his body was launched hundred of meters and cracked the ground when landed, only stopping after rolling several times. "Hmpf, are you surprised?"
Ba Shifang stood up and brushed off the dust off his clothes. Zi Zun's narrowed his eyes when he saw that the cut on his arm was healing at a noticeable rate. After that, Ba Shifang used his fingers to reorient his crooked nose and wiped the blood from his nostrils. "Yes, I'm very surprised."
Zi Zun stilled, never expecting that Ba Shifang would openly admit it. He thought that Ba Shifang would deny his shock. However, the clone's following words sent shockwaves through Zi Zun's heart. "Do you have more transformations, such as a level two or three? Or maybe one that is called a god state?"
"How did you know?" Zi Zun asked, completely shocked. 'How did he know? Does he recognize my Thunder God's Descent technique? If he does, why is he so calm? Does it mean he still has the confidence to beat me? Impossible!'
Zi Zun rushed towards Ba Shifang again, his chisel-sword flashing like lightning strikes. Unlike before, Ba Shifang didn't stay in one place and calmly deflected Zi Zun's attacks. Now, his figure was like the fleeting wind, not one whit inferior to Zi Zun's speed.
In addition, Zi Zun's palm strikes now incorporated the explosiveness of fire, the denseness of earth, and the fluidity of water. Whenever Zi Zun's chisel-sword connected with Ba Shifang's palm, he would feel his lightning's power be redirected and heavy suppression placed upon him. This made him realize that Ba Shifang hadn't been taking him seriously at all, enraging him.
"Oh, are you going to show me your second state of transformation?" Ba Shifang asked as he saw Zi Zun retreat a hundred meters and repeat the same stance he used to activate the Thunder God's Descent.
"Haaaahhhhh!" This time the accumulation of power took five minutes, a death sentence in a real life-and-death battle, but Ba Shifang was happy to oblige. After entering the second state, the rest of Zi Zun's hair turned golden. Although it didn't spike up, his cyan eyes started to glow as if flashes of lightning flowed through them, and there was arcing electricity all around his body.
Despite the increase in power, Ba Shifang frowned. From the building veins throughout Zi Zun's body and blood leaking from his orifices, it was evident that he couldn't handle the extreme power coursing through his body.
Ba Shifang crossed his arms in a defensive position as he blocked Ba Shifang's sudden attack. He hissed as the chisel sliced to his bones. "Junior Brother, give up. If you continue in this state, you will ruin your body and potential."
"Give up? Never! I will never lose to you!" Zi Zun roared as he unleashed a flurry of attacks. Unlike the previous precision he showed before, now he was just a mindless berserker.
If Zi Zun barely reached the threshold of the late grandmaster level, now, he was firmly at the peak of the grandmaster level. Ba Shifang wasn't like Tianyi after he formed his cosmos martial body, so he still couldn't compare at the early Core Formation Realm and was suppressed by Zi Zun.
'I can continue and outlast him, but that would result in my opponent suffering permanent damage. I don't mind letting him do it, but I might have to pay a price as well. Plus, if I heartlessly allow his future to ruin, it's not good for my or my main body's reputation.' After thinking it through, Ba Shifang made his choice. "You win. I surrender."
Zi Zun stood still in mid-attack, stunned by Ba Shifang's declaration. "What? What do you mean? You can still fight, can't you!?"
Ba Shifang held his hands behind his back and gave off the air of a senior. "Of course, but what about you? If I continued, I can easily outlast you, but then what? The battle would destroy your body and your potential ruined. We are both disciples. What need is there to go to the point of no return?"
"You don't remember me?" Zi Zun said, his eyes showing shock.
"Should I?" Ba Shifang asked. He furrowed his brows. He couldn't remember at all. It could be said that he perfectly inherited Tianyi's ability or rather, disability to recognize unrelated people.
Zi Zun released his Thunder God's Descent transformation and glared at Ba Shifang full of hatred. "Then remember my name now. It's Zi Zun, the man who will crush Xi Tianyi!"
Ba Shifang paused a bit and smiled. "Okay." In truth, he didn't believe that Zi Zun had the ability to crush Tianyi. Ba Shifang was capable of defeating Zi Zun; the question was just whether he was willing to pay the price. He cultivated the sixth grade of the Nine Five Scripture and was only one grade different from the seventh grade, but the difference in power was like heaven and earth.
"Bojing, hand Zi Zun his winnings." The duo left after Su Bojing reluctantly gave Zi Zun the hundred thousand spirit stones.
After this battle, the name of Zi Zun resounded across the Buzhou Immortal Sect as another disciple with the potential to become an immortal, an immortal seed.
Ba Shifang and Tianyi's names also could be heard again. It didn't concern their strength, but their character this time. Ba Shifang's actions of admitting defeat to preserve a prodigious talent made many praise him and, by extension, Tianyi.
"Sure enough, Senior Brother Xi is transcendent, viewing winning and losing in a simple light. I'm afraid many disciples would rather die than admit defeat, especially against someone like Senior Brother Zi." Some disciples would say.
Naturally, with praise, there was also mocking. Some called Ba Shifang a coward for not daring to continue to fight, but those voices were in the minority. Those people may mock Ba Shifang, but which person wanted to meet a ruthless person who would ruin their opponent's potential to win?
As for the third beneficiary, it was still Tianyi! Because an intelligent spectator decided to record the battle between Ba Shifang and Zi Zun and upload it to Xiyitube, it quickly became one of the most watched videos on the site. Now, the Xiyi Talisman users realized that they could also record videos and release them on the Xiyinet. Wouldn't they be able to watch high-level battles whenever they want? It wasn't good as watching in person, but it was a good substitute.
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"That little fellow, he's truly a lucky fellow. He actually broke through to the mid Acupoint Opening Realm after battling Little Xi's clone. Using the Thunder God's Descent's second state must have stimulated his body's potential even if it injured him." Sect Master Xia idly commented from his seat.
As the sect leader, he could view any places that were not the private territory of an immortal monarch or emperor and forbidden grounds. He had been paying attention to Zi Zun after Brocade Immortal Seventeen brought him back and especially after the battle with Tianyi's clone.
"Master, why are you paying attention to an acupoint opening disciple?" Xia Yushan asked. Xia Yushan had changed very little in the ten years that Tianyi was gone. It was as if time had stopped permanently for him.
Although his appearance remained the same, his cultivation had risen by leaps and bounds. Currently, he has integrated yin and yang essence to the penultimate point. He was at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and was only a step away from incurring the Unity Heavenly Tribulation.
"Of course, I have to pay attention." Sect Master Xia said as he fiddled with a Xiyi Talisman. After Tianyi's importance rose, he had begun to pay more attention to Tianyi, including the Xiyi Talisman Tianyi made. Had it not been for the video recording, Sect Master Xia would not have recognized the Thunder God's Descent technique Zi Zun used.
"Yushan, do you know about the Heavenblessed?" Sect Master Xia asked out of nowhere.
Xia Yushan shook his head negatively. "Please enlighten me, Master."
"But you must have heard about cultivators who were very lucky, right? They might have ordinary spiritual veins or ordinary potential, but through a stroke of luck, their future changed, and they gained immense potential. The worst example is the Dragon Emperor." Sect Master said.
"But what does the Dragon Emperor have to do with the Heavenblessed?" Xia Yushan asked.
"Everything. Those people suddenly gained immense karmic luck is because the Heavenly Dao transformed them into Heavenblessed. The Heavenblessed aren't a race or group, but a special existence favored by the Heavenly Dao."
"The Heavenly Dao possesses such power? But I thought the Heavenly Dao had no will." Xia Yushan said, his voice revealing his shock.
"It has no will, but it has instincts." Sect Master Xia calmly replied. "The Heavenly Dao of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System seeks to grow stronger, so it bestows karmic luck to people who can aid it. Of course, since it is an action based on instincts, the Heavenly Dao can also make mistakes. Instincts can never understand the depth of the human heart."
"Master, are you saying that Disciple Zi Zun is a Heavenblessed?" Xia Yushan cut the point of the matter.
"I am unsure. There is no easy identification method. But Zi Zun was an ordinary disciple, but he suddenly gained the Divine Duke of Thunder's inheritance and changed his physique. The possibility of him being a Heavenblessed is large." Sect Master Xia smiled and then looked playfully at Xia Yushan. "But you don't have to treat them any differently. Sometimes, the Heavenly Dao makes certain people Heavenblessed to deal with unwanted people. I imagine that the Heavenly Dao isn't that kind towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect."
"The Dragon Emperor was the Heavenly Dao's tool to deal with us?" Xia Yushan asked, feeling as if he had learned an enormous secret.
"That's the general consensus." Sect Master Xia admitted. "Pay attention to Zi Zun. See if he is any danger towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect or Little Xi, I mean Xi Tianyi. Well, you don't have to pay too much attention. Brocade Immortal Seventeen is his master and will be in charge of supervising him. If Zi Zun can be a sharp blade of the sect, then it would be good. If not..."
Sect Master Xia's words remained unsaid, but the meaning was evident. He added another word to prevent Xia Yushan from having unwanted thoughts. "Don't go out of your way to kill them either. Thanks to the Heavenly Dao's favor, their chances of surviving certain death is unmatched."