Beiluo City Martial Field

  A howling gale whipped across the arena, ripping the air with sonic booms.

  Zhao Zixu—Xu Chu’s prized protégé—was a peak Internal Organs cultivator with monstrous talent and combat prowess, forged with endless spirit stones.

  Normally, you saved your strongest for last.

  But these rules had put Xu Chu completely at ease.

  If it were any other kind of contest, he might worry.

  But pure combat?

  The Xiang Family army feared no one.

  So he threw his ace straight into the first round, utterly unafraid of any sacrificial plays from Jiang Li.

  And sure enough—

  The fight detonated the moment the drum stopped.

  The stench of gunpowder was thick. Both sides were giving everything; this wasn’t just a match, it was proof of whose path was superior.

  No one could afford to lose.

  “Zhao Zixu, first battle is yours—show them our pride!”

  Xu Chu’s roar still echoed in his ears.

  Zhao Zixu’s eyes narrowed. Spirit armor clanged into existence. His black spear whipped forward like a dragon striking, tearing the air with a vicious shriek.

  Three moves.

  He would end it in three.

  Yet—

  First thrust—empty.

  The spear stabbed the ground, sparks exploding.

  Lu Jiulian drifted backward as lightly as a lotus leaf on water, a slender sword appearing in his hand—his chosen weapon from the Academy.

  The entire field went dead silent.

  Even the war drums ceased.

  Only the flash of sword and spear remained.

  Lu Jiulian activated his own spirit armor. His aura was every bit as ferocious.

  Peak Internal Organs—equal realm!

  Gasps erupted from the stands.

  The gap was obvious.

  Zhao Zixu was already a young man; Lu Jiulian was still a boy.

  Same realm, but the difference in age made Zhao Zixu look mediocre by comparison.

  Of course, talent debates meant nothing.

  Victory did.

  Zhao Zixu felt no mercy just because his opponent was younger.

  One miss—he didn’t panic. His battle experience was forged in blood long before the cultivation era arrived.

  He closed the distance in a flash, spear spinning, black light hidden and deadly.

  Boom!

  Lu Jiulian floated away again, light as a feather.

  Zhao Zixu pressed relentlessly, another thrust—this kid was getting bullied and loving it.

  Xu Chu laughed from the sidelines, pounding his thigh.

  Done. This fight was in the bag.

  On the Academy side, every student held their breath for Lu Jiulian.

  Even Jiang Li’s fists were clenched—Lu Jiulian was young, his combat experience lacking…

  “It’s over.”

  Nie Changqing shook his head from the spectator seats, eyes sharp with veteran insight.

  Not just him—Overlord and every Nascent Soul present had already seen the outcome.

  Internal Organs battles lacked the spectacle of Heavenly Lock or Golden Core, but the danger was no less.

  “Plenty of aggression, but his control over power is crude,” Overlord commented, shaking his head.

  And as the words left his mouth—

  The tide turned in an instant.

  Lu Jiulian drew his sword.

  Calm, almost indifferent.

  The blade tapped the spear shaft.

  An explosive force surged through the weapon—Zhao Zixu’s tiger’s mouth split open, blood spraying.

  Shock flashed across Zhao Zixu’s face.

  He roared, spinning mid-air, drawing the longsword at his waist.

  Clang clang clang!

  A furious flurry—over a dozen exchanges in the blink of an eye.

  Lu Jiulian’s sword qi bloomed like lotus petals in all directions.

  Zhao Zixu’s face flushed crimson. His spirit armor was pierced in several places, blood blooming like flowers.

  His body was hurled backward, smashing into the ground and carving a long furrow.

  Lu Jiulian landed softly, expression calm beyond his years.

  First duel—decided.

  Dead silence.

  Only ragged breathing echoed above the field.

  Xu Chu stared dumbly at Zhao Zixu lying in the dirt.

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  His fists clenched so hard they creaked.

  Behind him, the Xiang Family soldiers were in disbelief.

  How… did they lose?!

  Zhao Zixu was their strongest!

  Lu Jiulian looked at the fallen warrior without joy.

  In the distance, Academy students cheered wildly.

  Jiang Li remained calm.

  What was there to celebrate? They had won one round. The next two were basically hopeless.

  Enjoy it while it lasts.

  Lu Jiulian himself sighed—he already knew how this would end.

  He was just one person, after all.

  Zhao Zixu was carried off the field. His physical wounds were light.

  The real injury was to his pride—he had planned to crush Lu Jiulian in three moves, only to be crushed himself.

  Same realm, yet utterly dominated.

  That kind of mental devastation was hard to recover from.

  “He’s… too perfect.”

  “His control over strength, the precision of his spiritual energy output… he’s inhuman.”

  Zhao Zixu nearly sobbed the words.

  “Commander… I failed you. I’m sorry!”

  Xu Chu patted his shoulder.

  The Academy wasn’t as simple as they thought.

  That first loss nearly crushed Xiang Family morale.

  But the commander was Xu Chu—the madman who once charged the Peacock Kingdom’s capital swinging spiked iron balls.

  “Snap out of it!”

  “Two more fights—give me everything!”

  “You are soldiers! Show me your blood!”

  His roar reignited the fire in their veins.

  The second Xiang Family fighter dragged his blade across the ground, screeching metal on stone.

  The pressure on him was immense—if he lost, the entire individual round was gone.

  Jiang Li hesitated, then sent out his second student.

  The boy was beaming—Lu Jiulian had made it look easy. In sparring, he had always traded evenly with the friendly Lu Jiulian.

  So in his mind, the Xiang Family army was nothing special.

  He stepped onto the field full of confidence.

  The fight began—and ended fast.

  Jiang Li pursed his lips and exhaled.

  The Academy side fell silent.

  The overconfident student was brutally dismantled by a Xiang Family soldier who fought like a starving wolf.

  The individual round was dragged to a third duel.

  Unexpectedly, the third fight was fierce.

  The Academy sent a student who majored in hidden weapons—all self-forged.

  He dragged the battle out for half an hour.

  In the end, he ran out of projectiles and was closed in on—chest caved in by a blood-soaked Xiang Family warrior.

  Individual round: Xiang Family victory.

  Xu Chu finally relaxed.

  If they had lost the first round, he wouldn’t have had the face to see Overlord again.

  Zhao Zixu’s defeat had been a shock.

  The Academy had its own monster.

  “Second round—team battle… this won’t be easy.”

  Xu Chu frowned as the individual round ended.

  Zhao Zixu’s wounds were already healed—common healing pills were plentiful now, thanks to pill formulas from the Nine Prisons and Tianyuan refugees.

  “Zhao Zixu, in the team battle the Academy will center everything around that Lu Jiulian. Your only job—pin him down.”

  “As soon as it starts, split their formation and drag Lu Jiulian away. Everyone else—handle his teammates. Aside from him, the rest are average. Execute properly and we win easy.”

  Xu Chu laid out the plan.

  On the other side, Jiang Li was arranging formations on a sand table, arms crossed, a sly smirk forming.

  Little Qingniao, hugging her phoenix chick, watched curiously.

  Whenever Uncle Jiang got that look, someone was about to have a very bad day.

  People who played tactics… had dirty hearts.

  Western Liang was in for a rough time.

  ---

  Spectator stands.

  The Empress lounged lazily beside Ni Yu, actually enjoying the children’s fights for once.

  A rare moment of leisure in the tense cultivation world.

  Suddenly—

  Her lazy expression vanished.

  She shot to her feet, spiritual sense screaming danger.

  “Something’s wrong!”

  Without a word to Ni Yu, she vanished in a streak of red.

  ---

  Vast Sea, solitary island.

  Du Longyang stood tall, black robes whipping in the wind.

  Above, thunderclouds boiled, releasing terrifying pressure.

  “Yin Spirit Realm…”

  A bitter smile tugged at his lips.

  He had finally broken past Infant Transformation.

  Once he thought shattering the void meant ascension.

  A lie.

  But now—he had truly transcended.

  His soul felt freed from chains, embracing heaven and earth.

  His comprehension of the Origin and his Dao Intent had risen to new heights.

  “Young Lord Lu… thank you.”

  In the distance,

  Ye Shoudao and Prince Tianxu hovered in the air, watching the man radiating oppressive might with complicated expressions.

  Jealous? A little.

  Happy? Much more.

  The four of them—Du Longyang, the Empress, Prince Tianxu, Ye Shoudao—had suffered the greatest scam in history.

  They once thought they would never break the Infant Transformation cage.

  Now Du Longyang had.

  If he could, so could they.

  BOOM!

  The Origin surged.

  A thunder pool formed in the sky, unleashing bolt after bolt.

  Du Longyang’s spiritual sense had multiplied; his spiritual energy was explosive.

  With a thought, he calmed the raging sea.

  This was the power of a true mighty expert.

  He reveled in it.

  At the same time, curiosity gnawed at him—what realm had Young Lord Lu reached?

  Without Lu’s guidance, he would still be lost.

  “Young Lord Lu… perhaps he has already reached the Unity of Primordial Spirit?”

  Unfathomably deep.

  BOOM!

  Tribulation thunder was nothing new to him.

  With Valiant Spear Intent, he shattered the lightning.

  Origin feedback descended; Du Longyang grew ethereal, almost immortal.

  Of course—just the usual post-breakthrough ego inflation.

  Suddenly,

  Du Longyang, eyes closed on the island, felt an utterly terrifying presence.

  His eyes snapped open, light exploding within.

  Unbelievably, he looked up.

  His Yin Spirit sitting atop the Dao Lotus blazed with ultimate radiance.

  A heavenly eye seemed to open at his brow.

  He gazed into the ninth heaven.

  Clouds became transparent.

  And he saw—

  Beyond the sky, three colossal continents hung like judgment over Wuhuang.

  Each radiated invincible might.

  Du Longyang’s face changed drastically.

  Three continents reflected in his eyes like mirrors of the heavens.

  “What… are those?!”

  His body trembled.

  He had glimpsed something beyond comprehension.

  Three worlds—each stronger than the old Tianyuan!

  One seemed to bleed crimson.

  One blazed with golden Buddha light, radiant and serene.

  One was etched with massive runes across the sky.

  Three worlds that made his soul quake.

  And all three radiated pure malice toward Wuhuang.

  The joy of entering Yin Spirit vanished.

  Now he understood—“the stronger you are, the greater your responsibility.”

  “Is it that High Martial Buddha Realm sovereign behind the ascetic?”

  Du Longyang clenched his fists, eyes ice-cold with killing intent.

  Young Lord Lu had saved Tianyuan.

  The one who tried to destroy it was that same sovereign.

  And now they had chased the hunt to Wuhuang.

  “Why will you not let us go?!”

  ---

  Origin Lake, Heart Island.

  Wine rippled in Lu Ping’an’s cup.

  Above his palm hovered the white Sky-Covering Sword.

  He had activated the grand formation, blocking the hulking brute and the monk.

  But he had deliberately let the compass-wielding youth through.

  Through the formation’s vision, he watched the youth resist the World Protection Force.

  Runes appeared all over the youth’s body, clashing with the barrier.

  The sky burned white-hot.

  BOOM!

  Finally, the youth broke through, smoking but laughing maniacally.

  “I made it!”

  He was first!

  He would claim the lion’s share!

  After laughing, he closed his eyes, checking his suppressed strength.

  “About twenty percent sealed. Acceptable.”

  Twenty percent suppression was excellent against a Mid Martial world.

  A true High Martial sovereign would be reduced by ninety.

  Of course—even one percent of a sovereign’s power would crush him.

  “Hm? Why haven’t the brute and the bald donkey arrived?”

  He frowned, then shrugged.

  “Whatever. First, subdue this world’s master, then slowly devour the Origin.”

  He had destroyed plenty of worlds before.

  As one of the strongest Mid Martial worlds under that High Martial Buddha sovereign, he had lost count.

  Worlds devoured worlds. Eternal law.

  He loved watching a world’s inhabitants fall into despair.

  “After this job, I’ll have enough to assault the Soul Emergence realm. Once I reach Emergence, I can ascend to the Venerable One’s High Martial Buddha Realm and listen to true High Martial Dao Intent!”

  Excitement surged.

  He took a deep breath to calm himself.

  But he couldn’t hide his grin.

  He stepped forward, aura exploding without restraint.

  Like a demon king descending, a world-ending sovereign.

  He wanted the entire world to tremble beneath his pressure.

  He loved the feeling of annihilation.

  ---

  Lu Ping’an raised a brow.

  “This guy’s pretty full of himself.”

  Watching the youth unleash his aura unchecked, Lu Ping’an tapped the armrest.

  The Spiritual Pressure Chessboard appeared.

  A piece fell.

  Clack.

  Crisp and clear.

  The aura that should have terrified the world dissipated like smoke before it even touched the continent.

  The world remained blissfully unaware.

  “This one still has uses. Let Du Longyang test his new strength. And let Ye Shoudao and the others feel the might of a Yin Spirit—might motivate them.”

  If Ye Shoudao and company broke through from the pressure, Lu would profit massively.

  In his eyes, the youth was decent.

  But nothing to fear.

  Just a simple, pure—almost adorably excellent—tool.

  ---

  The youth, of course, knew nothing of Lu Ping’an’s plans.

  BOOM!

  With a triumphant laugh that shook the heavens, the youth shot forward, compass in hand, aura blazing.

  He streaked toward Du Longyang’s island.

  In his mind, the newly ascended Spirit Severing expert was undoubtedly this world’s master.

  Capture Du Longyang, and the world was his.

  At this moment, the youth’s heart soared.

  I came.

  I saw.

  I conquered!