Chapter 94 - Arc 7: Dragon Ascension Gate | Chapter 94: Zhang Chi
Translator: Lynn
Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was too tired XD
As compensation, there’ll be a double update today
The spots in the purple smoke dragon are the external manifestation of the impurities within the true essence that attacked the Zifu1Barrier before breaking through. The mysterious meaning from the heavens is the combination of the fire-related understanding bestowed upon the fire-affiliated cultivators.
If Yanlong, the purple smoke dragon, wins, the foundation will be successfully established, and the little fire will fuse with the cultivator, leading to a complete rebirth. However, if Yanlong loses, the foundation will fail, and the consequences will be uncertain.
All the cultivators fixed their gazes, collectively holding their breath, and directed their attention towards the purple smoke dragon.
But as they observed more closely, their expressions changed once again.
The smoke dragon is covered in black spots, although they are not numerous, they are scattered throughout its body.
These are clearly the impurities contained within the true essence, which attacked the Zifu alongside it.
It is well-known that individuals with mixed spiritual roots, regardless of their exceptional talent or extraordinary comprehension, suffer from impurities. Even if most of the aura entering their body through the mixed spiritual roots belongs to the same category as their main spiritual root, some of the subsidiary spiritual roots are inevitably brought in and accumulate within the body over time.
Moreover, in order to advance their cultivation, many cultivators consume pills to accelerate their progress and supplement their cultivation. These spirit pills contain impurities, unless they are high-grade pills where the impurities are negligible and can be expelled from the body through breathing. The spiritual energy encounters these impurities and transforms them into the black particles that densely populate the true essence.
Upon seeing the manifestation of Cheng An’s true essence as the smoke dragon, the presence of black particles resembling pockmarks is evident. It indicates that they have been accumulated for many years. However, Cheng An dares to attack the Zifu at this time, displaying his fearlessness. Nevertheless, this leads all the cultivators to feel a sense of foreboding that Cheng An may not succeed in building his foundation.
Xu Ziqing wears a worried expression on his face. As a fellow cultivator, he simply hopes that Cheng An’s life is not in danger, despite his failure in establishing the foundation.
Unfortunately, the heavens do not fulfill people’s wishes. Under the heavenly way, the threshold of cultivating immortality remains stern, ruthless, and unyielding.
Everyone watches as the smoke dragon swiftly pounces forward. Suddenly, within the mysterious meaning of the heavens, a ball of white fire is spewed forth.
The fire appears white, resembling curdled milk, but it possesses great power. When it touches the smoke dragon, it is as if the flames are soaked in kerosene, rapidly spreading and climbing up its body.
In the blink of an eye, the milky white flames completely envelop the smoke dragon, transforming it into a magnificent white fire dragon, a sight of beauty.
However, the presence of all the cultivators makes them slightly pale. What they witness is not beauty, but terror.
At that moment, a scream echoed from the cave.
“Ah—”
The scream is piercing, and the fire dragon in the sky gradually diminishes. It turns out that the smoke dragon has been engulfed by the fire and is on the brink of disappearance.
Finally, the smoke dragon dissipates into thin air, and the cries gradually fade away. No one emerges from the cave anymore.
Their spirits and souls have vanished.
Cheng An’s foundation establishment has failed.
There is no longer any suspense. Xu Ziqing and all the cultivators feel a tinge of sadness.
Cheng An was the first among the cultivators to establish his foundation. Many people gathered to witness this event not only to gain insights and enhance their experience but also in hopes of witnessing his success and gaining a little more confidence for themselves. Unfortunately, Cheng An has failed. His excessive self-confidence led to his defeat. Shouldn’t this serve as a wake-up call for everyone?
One should not become complacent, even with the assistance of a third-order spiritual vein or superior aptitude. Success in foundation establishment is never guaranteed. If one is not careful, as demonstrated by Cheng An, there will be no chance for rebirth.
All the cultivators pondered for a long time before departing in small groups.
Xu Ziqing lets out a soft sigh and turns to leave. However, he is halted by someone.
“Xu Ziqing, wait a moment!”
The voice is unfamiliar, causing Xu Ziqing to pause and look back. The person he sees is unexpected yet somewhat anticipated.
Zhang Chi, the sole remaining disciple of the Wuliang Sect with a cultivation base surpassing the ninth level of Qi Refining, is known for being steadfast in his practice.
However, during the half-year retreat, Su Xin warned Xu Ziqing that Zhang Chi’s character was decent but excessively pedantic. He remained loyal to Wuliang Sect, regardless of right or wrong, and lacked the ability to plan for himself. While Xu Ziqing turns around to face Zhang Chi, he knows that the conversation to follow will likely align with their prior analysis.
As expected, Zhang Chi approaches quickly and says, “Friend Xu, I wish to make an appointment with you.”
Xu Ziqing secretly sighs and then smiles faintly. “Friend Zhang, we have no friendship between us. Are you making an appointment for a competition or something else?”
Zhang Chi hesitates, “This… is merely a meeting.” He is inept at speech and struggles to express himself. He knows he wants to harm the young man in the green shirt, but he cannot directly state his purpose or deceive him, leaving him at a loss for words.
Xu Ziqing understands that there is no avoiding this matter, and seeing Zhang Chi’s current state, he can’t help but find it a little amusing and somewhat helpless. After pondering for a while, he says, “Zhang Daoist, regardless of your intentions, you need to set boundaries. Senior Tang has given an order not to fight for your life. If you wish to engage in a friendly exchange, it must be stopped.”
Zhang Chi also ponders for a moment and replies, “It is not a competition, it is an engagement.”
Xu Ziqing understands. In other words, even if he cannot take their lives, Zhang Chi will not hold back. It is likely that he secretly received a request from Hu Guangyuan and intends to impose it upon Xu Ziqing.
Since Xu Ziqing wasn’t one to shy away from challenges, he simply nodded and said, “Your kindness, Zhang Daoist, is hard to refuse. Let’s set an appointment to fight. Do you want a witness?”
Zhang Chi shook his head and replied, “No need.”
The Wuliang Sect only had two remaining disciples, and the others were not chosen due to their insufficient spiritual roots. On the other hand, the Loose Cultivation League had four members, each with extraordinary cultivation. Zhang Chi naturally didn’t want them to stay, fearing they might interfere.
Glancing sideways, Xu Ziqing noticed that Su Xin had just watched the foundation building and gained some insight. He had already hurried back to the cave. Zhuo Hanyan and Ran Xingjian also left. Only Xu Ziqing was slower, so it wouldn’t be easy to call them back. After some consideration, he decided to proceed with the challenge.
Having cultivated diligently in recent days, Xu Ziqing also wanted to assess how his strength had improved. Zhang Chi could serve as a testing stone for him!
Since Zhang Chi had premeditated the challenge, he led Xu Ziqing to the back mountain, away from the mountain wall, to prevent others from observing their fight.
Xu Ziqing had no objections and followed suit.
Soon, the two were facing each other.
Zhang Chi wasted no time with pleasantries. He shook his arm, and a flying sword appeared in his hand.
The flying sword was about three feet long, sharp-bladed, and covered in a layer of brown, indicating that Zhang Chi practiced earth-type kung fu. This type of skill excelled in defense but lacked offensive power.
However, Xu Ziqing was of the wood attribute, and in terms of attack power, it was even weaker than the earth attribute. Seeing Zhang Chi ready to strike, a blue light flashed in Xu Ziqing’s right palm as he also grabbed the steel and wooden sword.
Zhang Chi was direct in his approach, stating, “I’m coming!” before swiftly flying up, holding the flying sword, and moving towards Xu Ziqing’s side.
Xu Ziqing took a deep breath and slashed the steel and wooden sword obliquely, meeting the flying sword with a “ping” sound.
Upon contact, Xu Ziqing felt as if the steel and wooden sword were stuck in a swamp, making it difficult to pull out easily. However, it was only a momentary deadlock. In the next instant, he noticed a pale golden dagger in Zhang Chi’s left hand. Zhang Chi lowered his body and aimed to stab Xu Ziqing’s dantian!
Xu Ziqing furrowed his brows. It became clear that Wuliang Sect’s intention was to disable his dantian! His dantian had already been destroyed once, and thanks to the essence of Ethereal Wood found in the cave at the bottom of the lake, he managed to repair it. Now, without the hope of obtaining the Essence of Yimu again, if his dantian were ruined, nearly ten years of hard work would be in vain. Thinking of this, Xu Ziqing couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger.
If Zhang Chi merely aimed to overpower Xu Ziqing and gain some prestige, that would have been acceptable. At worst, they would engage in a fight, and the outcome would provide a lesson to learn from. However, Zhang Chi’s approach was more akin to sneak attacks, devoid of any grace. Recalling how he was once deceived by Nian Hongzhi and the others, Xu Ziqing grew even more dissatisfied. Consequently, numerous grass stalks sprouted from Xu Ziqing’s left palm, covering it entirely. He swiftly lowered his palm, grabbed the dagger, and clenched it tightly!
Zhang Chi raised his head, sporting a rather surprised expression. He hadn’t anticipated that this seemingly gentle young man would be so ruthless, daring to catch the magical weapon with his bare hands.
Indeed, Xu Ziqing’s heart had grown resolute. While the grass stems were spiritually flexible, they couldn’t withstand the force of a magical weapon. They could only provide slight resistance.
With a tight grip on the dagger, Xu Ziqing pierced the grass stem to its end, drawing blood as it punctured his flesh.
In the midst of Zhang Chi’s astonishment, Xu Ziqing assumed the stance he had become most familiar with in the past six months. He pressed down firmly with the steel and wooden sword in his right hand, deflecting the edge of Zhang Chi’s flying sword. He then vibrated his wrist once more and swung down with force!
“Clang——”
Zhang Chi felt the weight on his right arm and pain in his tiger’s mouth, making it challenging to maintain a tight grip on the flying sword. Nevertheless, they were in the midst of combat and couldn’t afford to let go of their weapon. Zhang Chi had no choice but to release the dagger and dodge backward.
This strike was missed, and Zhang Chi realized he wouldn’t get another chance. He made a decisive decision and abandoned the magical weapon, the dagger.
With a thought, Xu Ziqing made the dagger that had pierced his flesh disappear instantly, sending it into the storage ring. He then retracted the grass stem, revealing his bloody palm.
Despite the injury, Xu Ziqing remained composed. He activated the power of Ethereal Wood, and the wound scabbed over in the blink of an eye, producing pink flesh. Soon, the pink flesh turned white, and the wound was as if it had never existed.
The entire process unfolded in an instant. Now that Xu Ziqing knew the tricks the other party was employing, he no longer held back any mercy. In this situation, it was possible for someone to end up permanently injured—or worse, dead!
Zhang Chi held the same notion. Before Xu Ziqing had finished self-healing, Zhang Chi had already adjusted his sword stance. He swung the sword with a cross-arm movement, raising it high before bringing it down forcefully.
“Don’t yield an inch—crack! Crack! Crack!”
In an instant, the flying sword struck the ground, emitting a dim glow.
Where the sword tip landed, the ground erupted with smoke and dust, inch by inch, creating cracks like a spider’s web, closing in on Xu Ziqing’s feet rapidly.
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1Barrier before breaking through