Even though Cai Junyang had been drunk at the time, he still recalled how Tang Jie had managed to get this suit of armor.
He looked at Tang Jie as he would an idiot. “I really didn’t think you would be capable of such a thing. You’re normally a pretty smart person, so how does getting drunk make you such an idiot?”
Tang Jie awkwardly said, “Alcohol inspires courage in cowards, and I lost my head for a moment. But I’ve already done it, and it’s not like I can return it. Take it, and I’ll rest easier.”
“Do you really think I can just wear this onto the stage?”
“Just change the color,” Tang Jie chuckled. “It’s just a suit of armor. The Wandering Palace won’t really go after you because of it. Staying alive is more important, and if you really end up getting discovered, just say that I did it.”
Cai Junyang was moved by his deeds. Softly punching Tang Jie, he said, “Screw you. Do you really think I’m the type to sell out my friends? You had the guts to steal it, so you think I don’t have the guts to wear it?”
He put on the suit of armor.
On the third day of the tournament, Godhead Palace was pitted against the Beast Refining Gate, the Thousand Passions Sect was pitted against Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the Basking Moon Sect was pitted against the Seven Absolutions Sect. There was no doubt that the battle between the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion would become the center of attention.
First up was the Thousand Passions Sect’s Shen Cheng versus Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s Wan Quan.
The moment they came onto stage, Shen Cheng raised his hand and fired off a white light at Wan Quan.
The Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for its fast casting speed, and it was a common sight for the people of the Thousand Passions Sect to unleash a rain of spell arts.
Though Shen Cheng had yet to reach this level, he didn’t waste time talking after making his attack, forming another spell. He fired off a golden light, and then he made another spell art. Given that he had fired three spell arts off in a row without a break, it was clear that he had been preparing before getting onto stage.
Wan Quan didn’t panic. As Shen Cheng cast his first spell, he did one thing.
He took out a talisman and slapped it on his body, creating an Astral Flame barrier that blocked this attack.
According to the tournament rules, the students were only allowed to use spell weapons in battle that were clearly their own. Things like puppets and refined beasts were all clearly personal possessions, so they could participate, but Yiyi and the little tiger weren’t bound by soul or blood contracts, so they weren’t considered personal possessions and couldn’t participate. The same principle applied to talismans. Since they were not explicit personal possessions, they could not be used.
The tournament had banned them, or else everyone would have been loaning stacks of talismans left and right, and this would ultimately become a contest of money and which sect had the most resources, one with high costs and low rewards. The six major sects would never do something so stupid.
This was also why someone like Shu Mingyang, a student who was skilled in talisman use, did not participate.
However, pills, talismans, formations, and tools were the Four Immortal Arts, so a complete ban wasn’t appropriate. Thus, after some discussion, it was permitted for students to bring one talisman into battle. The spell recorded in the talisman could not exceed the student’s cultivation level, and it could only be used three times.
Thus, a talisman was an ultimate move that students were very cautious about using.
Shen Cheng hadn’t expected Wan Quan to use a talisman, and his three-spell combo ran into a turtle shell and was rendered ineffective. Instead, it gave time for his opponent to cast a spell.
While Shen Cheng had been casting, Wan Quan had been chanting, but he was much slower than Shen Cheng when it came to using spell arts. When he was still casting after Shen Cheng had finished casting three spells, Shen Cheng instantly knew that he was in for a bad time and began to put all his strength into casting a fourth spell.
A black arrow of wind formed in his hand and howled at Wan Quan’s face.
Wan Quan just dropped his head and allowed the remaining power of the barrier to block the attack. And then with a roar, he pushed his hands forward, and a violet fog engulfed the stage.
“Primordial Fog Violet Cloud!” Cai Junyang, Tang Jie, and Ye Tianshang gasped. Even Peng Yaolong, who was in battle with a Seven Absolutions Sect student, couldn’t help but turn to look. The Seven Absolutions Sect student seized this chance to kick Peng Yaolong, but Peng Yaolong only shook slightly before punching that student back and continuing to observe what was going on with the Thousand Passions Sect…
The Primordial Fog Violet Cloud was produced by Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s Violet Heart Demon Tempering Secret Art. When unleashed on a large scale, it both obstructed vision and threw spiritual energy into turmoil, making it more difficult and more costly for opponents to use spell arts.
But the true origin of the Primordial Fog Violet Cloud’s name lay in its real birthplace, the Primordial Fog Domain. It was said that the Primordial Fog Domain was extremely barren, a world overrun by poverty, with red, black, and violet forming the primary colors. There was a place in the Primordial Fog Domain that was engulfed in violet clouds. These violet clouds were extremely poisonous, and just breathing it in would throw one’s spiritual pulse into disarray and make it difficult to use spells. It was a vicious toxin for the cultivators of the world.
In the Primordial Fog Calamity, an Archdevil brought the Primordial Fog Violet Clouds into the Great Stellar Chiliocosm, killing countless cultivators. Once the calamity had passed, some Immortals gathered some of the violet clouds to research them.
The Violet Heart Demon Tempering Secret Art was one of the secret arts that Horizon Ocean Pavilion had developed from the Primordial Fog Violet Clouds they had gathered back then.
The violet clouds created by this secret art were not as terrifying as the real Primordial Fog Violet Cloud, but they still made casting difficult. For most cultivators, the greatest effect of this secret art was that it allowed others to experience and adapt to the forces of the Primordial Fog Domain ahead of time.
Thus, everyone had allowed this Violet Heart Demon Tempering Art.
Cai Junyang asked Tang Jie, “Who do you think will win?”
After some thought, Tang Jie replied, “In terms of strength, Shen Cheng should be stronger, but Wan Quan’s Violet Heart Demon Tempering counters the Thousand Passions Sect. Horizon Ocean Pavilion has a higher chance of winning this match.”
The Thousand Passions Sect specialized in casting spells quickly, but this also made it so that their control was somewhat lacking. It was akin to how a galloping stallion was more likely to get into an accident.
The Primordial Fog Violet Cloud would also work on other sects, but its threat would not be as great. It was ideal to use against the Thousand Passions Sect, not only restraining their speed, but also introducing the chance of a backlash if they weren’t careful.
It was said that the grudge between the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion was also linked to this secret art.
Of course, it was always possible to find countless reasons in retrospect.
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Thus, the actual history was no longer important. What was important was that the Thousand Passions Sect loathed this spell art.
As Wan Quan used the Primordial Fog Violet Cloud, Shen Cheng’s breathing immediately grew labored, and even the energy flow through his body was hindered. He knew that this was bad, but he clenched his teeth and tried to cast anyway. But before the spell art could emerge, he felt a sharp pain at his chest.
Aghast, he saw that Wan Quan had already rushed over and chopped a palm at him, hitting Shen Cheng’s shoulder. If Shen Cheng hadn’t suddenly twisted his neck, his head would have been chopped off.
Shen Cheng furiously roared and fell back. He threw out a talisman, and a white-feathered crane emerged. It screeched before jabbing its long beak at Wan Quan. It was a savage peck, and Wan Quan was caught completely off guard. With a groan, he fell back, but at the same time, he unleashed a wave of energy from his saber.
This saber struck Shen Cheng and almost cut him in half. His body flew off the stage and out of bounds.
Wan Quan was worried that he still wasn’t dead, so he decided to risk another peck from the crane to chase after Shen Cheng and punch him before he could hit the ground. A fierce gust of wind slammed into Shen Cheng, sending him another several dozen meters. He landed with a bang, and there was no more movement, for he was already dead.
Wan Quan excitedly shouted, “I won!”
The Horizon Ocean Pavilion students cheered as if they had won some great victory.
On the other end, the Thousand Passions Sect students had dour expressions as they viciously glared at Horizon Ocean Pavilion.
Tang Jie and the others couldn’t help but sigh, “Another bloody day.”
In the face of this situation, nobody could hope for any peace.
Sure enough, as the two sects sent out their students, each battle was a mortal conflict.
Both sects had more women than men, so they were weakened by the purpose of the Immortal Fortune Conference. Thus, their strength levels were similar, and they each had their victories and losses.
The sixth match ended up being the climax.
Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s number one, Lan Yu, was pitted against the Thousand Passions Sect’s number four, Li Zhiping.
Most people weren’t worried about who would win, but about whether or not Li Zhiping would make it out alive.
Lan Yu entered the ring first, appearing as confident and imposing as ever. But Li Zhiping went up to the stage with very slow steps, and he seemed rather afraid.
By looking at that young and immature face of his, those who didn’t know his reputation might mistake him for some junior.
Upon arriving at his corner of the arena, Li Zhiping brought his hands together and bowed to Lan Yu. “Li Zhiping greets Senior Lan.”
Lan Yu cooly replied, “If you want to concede now, you can still live. Once the battle begins, concession won’t be so easy.”
Li Zhiping smiled and said, “As a student, I can lose and die, but I can’t back away before even fighting. I accept Senior Lan’s kindness, but Zhiping is willing to fight, so I must turn this offer down.”
As he parted his hands, a transparent barrier appeared. It turned out that he had been talking and saluting just now so that he could finish his spell.
This was a rather high-class diversion among cultivators, using the time to chat and some seemingly irrelevant movements to cast a spell. This barrier was colorless and transparent, so it was difficult to detect. If Lan Yu hadn’t possessed sharp spiritual senses, he might not have noticed. Many of the spectators had not even noticed that Li Zhiping had put up a barrier.
Lan Yu said in disdain, “A mere trick and nothing more!”
He waved his sleeve, and a surge of wind swept toward Li Zhiping.
Horizon Ocean Pavilion was a master of the Dao of Wind.
The Dao of Wind meant to instantly cover a thousand kilometers, to be omnipresent.
The students of Horizon Ocean Pavilion employed two kinds of tactics. If they were facing someone stronger than themselves, they would use Wind spell arts to increase their speed so that they could hit and run. When they fought against opponents weaker than themselves, they would create sweeping wind storms that would dominate the entire field.
Lan Yu was definitely the strongest among the students of the six sects, so he fought as the strong would. Not even moving, he waved his sleeve and unleashed raging winds that converged on Li Zhiping from all sides.
This was Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s Windwall spell, but in Lan Yu’s hands, the walls of winds were everywhere, constantly pushing and leaving no place to hide. It was many times stronger than the average Windwall.
A few wandering cultivators spectating the match were instantly lost in admiration upon seeing this spell. “This is the real power of the six major sects. I’ve managed to reach Nine Revolutions after a life of hard cultivation, but not even I can cast a Windwall spell like this. If I were against Lan Yu, I would probably lose after a few exchanges.”
Someone sneered, “Would you even be worthy of challenging Lan Yu? Even Li Zhiping might not.”
“Hold on, hold on. Let’s see how that Li Zhiping deals with this.”
Surrounded by wind walls, Li Zhiping was like a little tree in a storm, on the verge of being toppled over. But this little tree was firmly rooted in the earth and stood tall. Besides that, Li Zhiping cast several spell arts, creating halos of light around him. It seemed like this guy was desperately casting defensive spell arts, leaving everyone flabbergasted.