“Valley Master, it seems that no one is going to challenge that ‘A’ stage.”
An elder noticed the situation in the Qi Refinement realm arena below. This kind of situation where no one dared to fight the arena’s defender was rare.
The last time such a situation occurred, it seemed to be Chu Yunxuan’s batch.
When the master of the Scripture Storage Valley, Daoist Wushe, heard this, he withdrew his gaze from the Foundation Establishment stage and looked at the battlefield below.
Then, he saw a familiar figure.
“Heh, it’s this kid again.”
As they looked at Jiang Li who had created a rocking chair with a technique and was lying bored on the combat ring, all the higher-ups could not help but chuckle.
This disciple of Elder He really had some of the demeanor that his master had when he was young. He was really… very indecent.
“It seems that the champion of the Qi Refinement realm disciples has been decided. Junior Brother He, congratulations.”
“Thank you, Elder He!”
This group of elders had seen Jiang Li’s several rounds of fights in the Long Clear Hall. At their level, they could naturally tell that Jiang Li’s physical cultivation level had already surpassed the Qi Refinement realm.
If the other disciples wanted to win against him, it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult.
In their eyes, just the Foundation Establishment realm Dragon Tortoise Blood Tattoo on Jiang Li’s body was enough to put a terrifying distance between him and the other Qi Refinement realm disciples.
This was the power of the secret technique, Beast Blood Diagram. An outstanding blood tattoo could completely help cultivators crush their peers easily.
Of course, the elders did not know that the Dragon Tortoise was captured by Jiang Li himself. Before he gained the Dragon Tortoise blood tattoo, his strength was already extraordinary.
With the two factors combined, Jiang Li naturally became even more invincible.
“Senior Brother, you must be joking. My disciple is naughty and mischievous. I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you and the elders.”
Although he was humble, Elder He was very satisfied with this disciple of his. Now that he had gotten the first place in Qi Refinement, he had to think of what he could reward him with.
“Junior Brother He, to be honest, how strong is this disciple of yours? Can he actually fight a Foundation Establishment disciple?”
The Valley Master, Daoist Wushe, did not look at the five floating stages that were currently striking out with spiritual qi fluctuations. Instead, he stared at Jiang Li below with interest.
“Regarding this… I’m not afraid to be laughed at, but Senior Brother, Jiang Li is very shrewd and cunning. He always likes to hide things. Even as his master, I don’t really understand his full strength.”
Elder He recalled what Liu Mulan had told him before. This disciple of his, Jiang Li, secretly possessed a speed that he could not control.
Who knew if he was hiding something else from him.
“However, he usually practices with my other disciples. I think it shouldn’t be a problem for him to deal with ordinary Foundation Establishment disciples.”
Elder He thought for a moment and felt that since Jiang Li was able to hunt the Dragon Tortoise alone, his strength should not be lower than this.
“Junior Brother He, why don’t we test your disciple?”
The horsetail whisk in Daoist Wushe’s hand fluttered. It was unknown if it was because he thought of Chu Yunxuan, whom he believed to be his legacy inheritor, or something else.
“Senior Brother, what do you mean?”
After that, he followed the other party’s gaze and understood what his senior brother meant.
That was… rather interesting.
Elder He, who liked to lock his disciples and demon beasts together and watch them fight desperately, was famous for enjoying huge commotions.
The two of them looked at each other and revealed expressions of tacit understanding. After that, they looked at the other elders who were puzzled by this.
“Elders, what do you think?”
A moment later, all the higher-ups and elders in the hall revealed interested expressions. All of them looked towards Jiang Li who was on the ‘A’ stage below. Obviously, a terrifying ‘plot’ was brewing.
If Jiang Li saw this scene at this moment, he would definitely be shocked for an entire year.
All along, in Jiang Li’s heart, these senior members of the sect with unfathomable cultivations should be sagely and respected wise men, or old antiques that followed the rules strictly.
Who would have thought that this group of high-level cultivators, who were all 150 years old at least, would actually still want to have fun every day…
Jiang Li who was lying on the rocking chair and wasting time on the arena suddenly felt as if there were rays of light on his back, and it was as if many pairs of eyes with ill intent were staring at him.
Jumping up from the rocking chair, he looked around, seeking the source of the danger.
Then, he saw the expression of the senior sister of the Rejuvenation Hall—who had been guarding the gong beside him and also had nothing to do—freeze suddenly.
“Yes… yes… yes… yes, disciple understands.”
Then, as if someone was whispering in her ear, she nodded and responded. However, Jiang Li could not hear it at all.
A moment later.
“Junior Brother Jiang Li, the Valley Master asked you not to be so lazy. The better your results, the more rewards you will receive.”
The senior sister left behind these words without rhyme or reason, and as soon as she finished speaking, she jumped off the arena and stood on the empty ground at the side. She even waved her hand at Jiang Li as if she was saying goodbye to him.
“Lazy…? What do you mean?”
Jiang Li raised his head and looked in the direction of the Long Clear Hall, feeling a little puzzled.
The better his results? What sort of result could surpass first place?
Could it be that the Valley Master wanted him to kick all the Qi Refinement disciples out of the arena? Did he have to occupy all ten rings by himself?
This was not good.
Subsequently, before Jiang Li could let his imagination run wild for long, the ring beneath his feet suddenly shook.
Jiang Li was shocked. After stabilizing himself, he immediately assumed a defensive posture. He subconsciously thought that someone had launched a sneak attack.
However, soon, the arena that was slowly rising up from the ground made him develop of a bad guess.
A better result… could it be?
Jiang Li was dumbfounded, and so were the surrounding disciples. How could such a huge platform fly up so easily? Had the array formation malfunctioned?
“The ‘A’ stage seems to have… flown up?”
“Rubbish. Such a huge spirit array platform is already flying. Could our eyes be playing tricks on us?”
“But Senior Brother Jiang Li seems to still be up there. What… is he going to do?”
“Did someone apply to fight Senior Brother Jiang Li in the air? But I haven’t seen any other senior brothers go on stage.”
“Could it be that Senior Brother Jiang Li has broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm? Is that why he wants to participate in the Foundation Establishment competition?”
“How is that possible? Senior Brother Jiang Li has only entered the sect for less than a year. How could anyone succeed in building their foundation so quickly? It’s impossible even for the top-grade spiritual root disciples.”
Everyone, including Jiang Li, did not guess what the higher-ups of the sect thought at the first moment because it was simply outrageous.
A few minutes later, the ‘A’ stage Jiang Li was in floated to the same height as the five floating stages, and it became the sixth stage on the Foundation Establishment battlefield.
He stood alone on the stage, but like the stage below, he stood out very much.
“Junior Brother, this is the floating arena for Foundation Building disciples. You shouldn’t be here. Leave quickly!”
In the last round of the Foundation Establishment battles, a total of eleven outstanding disciples were competing in five floating stages.
Right now, on the five stages, there were two pairs. A total of ten disciples were fighting.
The last person was free. He flew in the air, waiting for the opportunity to issue a challenge.
After he noticed Jiang Li who had suddenly appeared, this disciple’s occupational disease suddenly acted up, and he came forward to skillfully drive Jiang Li away.
The Foundation Establishment senior brother was dressed in black and he was standing on a flying sword. He had a long saber on his waist and his characteristics were obvious. All the disciples in the Scripture Storage Valley could tell that he was a law enforcement disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall.
Only disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall would develop such a habit of meddling in other people’s business.
However, without needing Jiang Li to answer, the Foundation Establishment law-enforcement disciple had just finished speaking when his expression turned as stunned as the senior sister from the Rejuvenation Hall. A voice transmission that no one could hear entered his ears.
It was obvious that the sect elder was talking to him.
“Senior Brother, do you understand now?”
Jiang Li shrugged helplessly. He still had not figured out what the higher-ups of the sect wanted to do.
The strength he had always revealed was only at the level of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. When he sparred with his senior brothers and sisters, he had always been more restrained. The strength he displayed was always slightly inferior.
How could they think that they could defeat the strongest 11 people in the Foundation Establishment realm below the age of 30 in the Scripture Storage Valley?
Moreover, so what if he won a few of them? In the competition for the share of the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm, the Qi Refinement realm and the Foundation Establishment realm were separated; he could not help them anyway.
Jiang Li was instinctively resistant to this sort of pointless display. But in the next moment, he was slightly stunned.
In his ear, he heard the deep voice of his master, Elder He, mixed with the roars of subtle beasts.
“Regarding the reward for getting the top five spot, I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”
Elder He only said this sentence, but Jiang Li sneered at this.
Who did he think Jiang Li was? So what if there was a reward?
I, Jiang Li, merely love to fight on the stage!
“Yes, Master. I understand.”
The bored Jiang Li instantly became energetic.
On the opposite side, the law-enforcement disciple who landed on the ‘A’ stage raised his head and just happened to end the voice transmission conversation.
He raised his head to look at Jiang Li, and a trace of disdain could still be seen in his eyes.
“I’ve already heard the whole story. Since it’s arranged by the Valley Master and the elders, as a disciple, I naturally have to obey.”
“However, Junior Brother, I hope that you can admit defeat and return to the surface to have a proper martial arts competition.”
“You should understand that it’s impossible for Qi Refinement realm disciples to defeat Foundation Establishment realm cultivators. If you continue, the one who will suffer in the end will only be you.”
An aura erupted from that senior brother’s body, and he showed Jiang Li his cultivation and strength without any fear.
If it were an ordinary Qi Refinement realm disciple, they would have long kowtowed, begged for mercy, and retreated. This was his experience from enforcing the law. It had been tested time and again.
Unfortunately, it was not a weak and helpless outer sect disciple that stood before him, but the disciple of the Head Elder of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, Jiang Li!
“Junior Brother appreciates Senior Brother’s good intentions. However, please make a move quickly. After I’m done fighting Senior Brother, I still have to challenge the rings later.”
As he spoke, Jiang Li’s gaze had already shot towards the other five arenas not far away, and he seemed to really want to end the battle as soon as possible. He utterly did not take this Enforcement disciple seriously.
“Hehe, how arrogant!”
“Don’t think that you can ignore us seniors just because you’re the first in the Qi Refinement realm. You don’t understand the power of the Foundation Establishment realm at all.”
That disciple was very displeased by Jiang Li’s attitude. After all, he was still a senior brother. This was too outrageous.
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became. The aura on his body became slightly stronger.
Wasn’t he afraid that he would expend too much of his spiritual qi just to create this useless aura?
“Sigh, what a bad temper.”
Jiang Li sighed. He was completely disappointed in the disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall.
The special nature of their work put them in an emotional state of arrogance. They were used to offending people with their words, for example: “What are you looking at? Stare at me and I’ll make sure you regret it.”
They generally believed that only anger could control the tens of thousands of disciples from the outer sect.
After a long time, they had gotten used to tyrannizing others.
Jiang Li did not expect his few words to be able to change their character, so he was unwilling to say anything to the senior who was up his own ass.
With a tap of his foot, a piece of shattered rock was kicked flying, bringing about a whistling sound as it smashed into the gong that flew up along with the arena.
Dong!
The sound of the gong meant the start of a battle!
“You don’t know what’s good for you!”
The Foundation Establishment disciple’s expression was as black as the bottom of a pot, believing that Jiang Li had wasted his good intentions.
Therefore, he did not want to waste any more time talking. He pointed his finger at the flying sword floating in the air.
The flying sword, or rather, the sword-shaped artifact, suddenly erupted with a burst of extremely powerful spiritual qi and shot towards Jiang Li.
The place he aimed at was not a vital spot, but it was enough to teach this arrogant Qi Refinement realm junior brother a lesson.
However, at the next moment.
Swoosh!
A pitch black chain flew out from Jiang Li’s waist, and it curled and pulled against the sword shaped artifact that shot over, causing it to be directly bound tightly, despite having extraordinary might.
The Dragon Imprisoning Lock immediately flickered with a dark light, and a terrifying binding and suppression force acted on it. In an instant, it completely exhausted the spiritual qi on the sword shaped artifact, and it directly descended to the ground before being firmly stepped on by Jiang Li.
In terms of flying swords and sword-shaped artifacts, there was almost no difference in their appearance. However, their essence was two completely different things.
The simplest difference was that the most important thing to drive the flying sword was still the sword techniques cultivated by sword cultivators.
Sword-shaped artifacts relied completely on the artifact itself. What cultivators needed was only to provide spiritual qi and point out their targets.
From the sound of it, a sword-shaped artifact seemed to be more convenient than it was cost-effective. It did not require a cultivator to do anything to unleash its power.
However, such sword-shaped artifacts were actually things that true sword cultivators did not fancy.
True flying swords could often accompany a cultivator for life and become stronger together with a sword cultivator. In theory, there was no limit to the power of a flying sword.
As for a sword-shaped artifact, it was ultimately just an artifact. Unless one paid a huge price to reforge it, the upper limit of it had been set since the beginning of the forging.
If this thing was a flying sword, with the external support provided by the sword cultivator, it might be able to struggle a little.
However, if it was only a single artifact, it could only be ruthlessly suppressed by the Dragon Imprisoning Lock.
Boom!
A ten-meter-long flaming saber slashed down.
When the Foundation Establishment realm disciple saw that his sure-kill attack had been easily blocked by Jiang Li and that the junior had even used a strange chain to directly seal his artifact, he immediately felt humiliated. He no longer held back and ruthlessly slashed down with his saber.
However, Jiang Li seemed to be shocked silly as he stood on the spot without dodging.
The moment before the blade light landed, a pitch-black color crawled all over his body. At the same time, he instantly activated the Overlord Body Art.
Coupled with the Anti-Demon Golden Skin, Hardened Skin, and Cool Skin, it formed a thick layer of multiple defenses on Jiang Li’s body.
The flame blade qi was extremely strong, and Jiang Li’s defense had almost reached the limit of bearing the pressure. However, in the end, he still defended against it.
Swoosh!
Black chains shot out from the raging flames, instantly arriving in front of the law-enforcement disciple and about to completely bind him.
Under Jiang Li’s continuous refinement day and night, the current Dragon Imprisoning Lock was practically equivalent to receiving the nourishment of over a hundred high-grade spirit stones, and its might was already incomparable to before.
Once caught by it, not to mention Foundation Establishment cultivators, even Core Formation experts would have to kneel down and surrender.
Unfortunately, Jiang Li’s sneak attack still did not succeed. The Dragon Imprisoning Lock was slashed away by numerous blade lights, and he was still able to escape defeat in the end.
The flames dispersed, and Jiang Li’s upper garment had already been burned to ash, revealing his pure muscles. The clothes on his lower body were protected by his spiritual qi so they were intact.
Below his feet was still the sword-shaped artifact. After losing the Dragon Imprisoning Lock’s suppression, this thing began to struggle again, trying to overturn Jiang Li and regain freedom.
However, when Jiang Li wiped the cloth bag at his waist, a small rune carving knife appeared in his hand.
With sharp eyes and agile hands, he slashed at the core runes of the sword-shaped artifact ruthlessly.
Under the immense brute force, the key rune was destroyed. It was as if a precise circuit had been cut off. The spiritual qi of the sword-shaped artifact was quickly lost. In a few seconds, it lay on the ground and did not move anymore.
Jiang Li kicked away the sword-shaped artifact, raised his hand, and took back the Dragon Imprisoning Lock that was flying around while chasing after the law-enforcement disciples. He then wrapped it around his hands.
Crack! Crack!
The bones in his body rumbled as if an ancient ferocious beast had awoken from its slumber. Jiang Li stretched his waist, raised his iron fists, and charged towards his opponent.