Chapter 1003: Peerless-grade Saint-tier, Supreme Illusion
“Hurry up and go look! Li Ziqi and Zhou Wenbin are up against each other on the number eight arena!”
Someone shouted out and a great commotion broke out in the massive field. Everyone gushed over.
Even ordinary citizens knew about these two people, let alone the teachers and students.
In the past half a month, all sorts of underground gambles filled up the streets and alleys. One could bet from as much as several hundred thousand taels to as little as just a few copper coins.
Even beggars wanted to take a chance at it, turning plain buns into meat buns.
Ordinary citizens didn’t care who Li Ziqi was. They only cared if this black horse would be able to let them earn money!
She was currently the strongest contender to come in first place.
“Hurry up! Go and maintain order!”
Tong Yiming, who was in charge of security, felt very troubled and immediately sent more men over to uphold order, avoiding people from getting stomped over and getting hurt.
…
Lu Zhiruo looked at the moving crowd while wearing a bitter look on her face.
“It’s over. Why did she have to go up against Zhou Wenbin in the second round?”
Lu Zhiruo felt troubled.
The beloved grandson from the Zhou Clan came from a learned family and was a genius himself, not a trash like herself. Given her eldest martial sister’s battle prowess, she’d probably be given a trashing.
“Is that guy very strong?”
Helian Beifang felt curious.
“En, he cultivates the Supreme Illusion Fist, a peerless-grade saint-tier cultivation art. When practiced to an extreme, it’s said that it can make an army of illusion.”
Lu Zhiruo introduced.
“You seem to know a lot about it?”
Qin Yaoguang wore a teasing expression.
“It’s not as if this is a great secret in the great teacher world.”
Lu Zhiruo opened her mouth then shut it. No, she better not talk about those private matters.
“Saint-tier?”
When Sun Mo heard this cultivation art’s domineering name, he raised his brows. He was going to look for an opportunity to spar with someone from the Zhou Clan. His Immemorial Vairocana had been starved for very long and it was time for a big feast.
However, getting such a family-inherited cultivation art would just be for increasing one’s knowledge and experience. Even if one were to practice it secretly, it couldn’t be used. Otherwise, it’d be a big problem.
In the crowd, Jiang Zizhong was squeezed until he found it hard to breathe. If it wasn’t because he wanted to see Li Ziqi getting crushed, he couldn’t be bothered to suffer like this.
“Could someone be scheming against us?”
Tantai Yutang frowned.
If Li Ziqi were to lose this round, Sun Mo would be embarrassed. However, if she were to win, it wouldn’t be good either since Secondary Saint Zhou would get a slap in the face.
It’d be a tremendous humiliation if Secondary Saint Zhou’s genius descendant had taken part in a simple 1-star great teacher examination yet ended up failing.
Their clan’s glory would be affected.
Regardless of who it was, they’d seek revenge!
Sun Mo fell silent, feeling a little displeased because he noticed that he didn’t have many connections that could be used. He could only get An Xinhui to check things out.
“That won’t do. I must establish my own influence network.”
Sun Mo started to reflect on the ways he interacted with others.
Why did those high star-level great teachers have such a great say?
Why was it that they’d find out immediately about any news that was to take place in the great teacher world?
It was because the students they taught in their lifetime, as well as the friends they made, were spread across the world.
This duel had definitely been secretly arranged by people from the Zhou Clan’s circle on purpose.
They weren’t targeting Sun Mo but just purely wanted to protect Secondary Saint Zhou’s reputation. It was because he was the flag for their faction and mustn’t have any taints to his name.
While Sun Mo was lost in his thoughts, sparks were already crackling between the two of the youngsters.
“Princess Li, I’ve heard of your name!”
Zhou Wenbin cupped his fists together, looking very polite but secretly hating Li Ziqi a lot.
Since the start of the examination, things hadn’t been going smoothly for him and he was repeatedly suppressed. He hadn’t been through such humiliation in this lifetime. But this was great. His chance had come.
(To think that I can take care of you personally, this feels too good.)
“Good afternoon, Brother Zhou!”
Li Ziqi continued to put on a polite front. This was how she had been educated since young, that she mustn’t be rude. However, she was just a 15-year-old girl after all.
She was at the age where she would remember strongly if her lollipop was snatched away by someone else.
Moreover, being rejected by a secondary saint was far more painful and upsetting compared to having a lollipop snatched away.
In Middle-Earth’s Nine Provinces, secondary saints represented authority.
The words they said had undeniable accuracy.
Even the face of the Great Tang’s emperor was futile. Li Ziqi had still been rejected. This meant that she was extremely trashy.
Back then, even the little sunny egg herself felt that she was trash and that she’d just be wasting food if she continued to live on. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have felt such great despair that she’d want to commit suicide by jumping into a lake.
“If it wasn’t for Teacher, I would already be dead.”
Li Ziqi’s gaze gradually turned cold.
(No matter what price I have to pay, I must win this battle.)
“Please bow!”
The judge instructed.
“Zhou Wenbin, second level of the Blood Ignition Realm. Please give me your guidance!”
The moment he said this, he won a lot of surprised gasps from numerous teachers and students.
(Look, look, what a genius at the Nine Provinces’ level is like? This is it!)
How amazing must one be to reach the second level of the Blood Ignition Realm at 17?
While he was cultivating, he also had to study many different subjects. This was impossible to achieve if one wasn’t an amazing genius.
“Li Ziqi, ninth level of the Body Refinement Realm. Please give me your guidance.”
Li Ziqi said out loudly!
No one was surprised. Although this wasn’t bad, it wasn’t so strong that it’d cause others to be astonished.
“Please attack first!”
Zhou Wenbin humbly gave way.
“No need!”
Li Ziqi refused and then brought out the rich guy’s battle tactic.
This time around, she tore up a total of eight spirit runes, forming 36 lightning balls to protect herself.
At the same time, the huge black tortoise was also cast over her head.
“Why? Are you afraid that you’ll fall if you were to walk?”
Zhou Wenbin smiled. Given his status, it was an easy feat for him to obtain Li Ziqi’s information. “Since you aren’t attacking, then I’ll do it.”
Zhou Wenbin took a large stride forward and punched out!
Supreme Illusion Fist!
Rumble!
A tremendous amount of spirit qi gushed out from Zhou Wenbin’s body, condensing into a three-meter-tall warrior that was covered in heavy armor. It then appeared in front of Li Ziqi, clenching both fists together and raising it above its head before smashing down.
Bang!
Even the arena, which had been reinforced by unique spirit runes, showed some faint cracks. This showed how domineering this attack was.
Li Ziqi took two steps back and her countenance changed.
“Heh!”
Zhou Wenbin smiled gracefully.
This punch earlier had smashed six lightning balls. Therefore, lightning had darted onto the warrior but didn’t create any damage.
(Isn’t this a sure win for me?)
Zhou Wenbin punched out once again. The heavy-armored warrior was like a controlled robot, attacking Li Ziqi.
This time around, the little sunny egg was half a step slower, and the strong punch brushed against the turtle shell.
Bang!
The turtle shell trembled intensely but didn’t shatter.
“Hmmm? This defense is quite good.”
Zhou Wenbin was surprised. He knew the Supreme Illusion Fist’s destructive prowess very well. It could punch an artificial mountain in the garden into dust. But now, it had been received steadily.
However, after thinking about Li Ziqi’s high standards in the study of spirit runes, he could understand.
It wasn’t difficult for a person like her to draw out some peak-grade spirit runes.
(But it’s because you’re strong enough that you need to die!)
Zhou Wenbin attacked once again. He wanted to crush Li Ziqi himself, but that’d have to wait until those lightning balls were depleted.
“It’s over! She’s going to lose!”
Lu Zhiruo was in despair.
The rich guy’s battle tactic that her eldest martial sister used was very useful, but when she encountered someone that could use long-range attacks or control-type puppets and beasts, the battle tactic’s effects would plunge greatly.
“Don’t panic! Eldest Martial Sister can handle it!”
Xianyu Wei’s words sounded more like she was consoling herself.
Zap! Zap!
The lightning ball was detonated and the black tortoise shield also kept on shaking and flickering. Then, it finally collapsed.
There was a chance!
Zhou Wenbin looked elated and immediately charged forth.
However, he had just gotten close when he saw Li Ziqi tearing up a spirit rune.
Boom!
Over ten fist-sized fireballs shot out toward Zhou Wenbin right in his face.
“Hmph, simple tricks!”
Zhou Wenbin took them head-on but didn’t expect that when his fist smashed on a fireball, it exploded.
He could withstand the shockwaves, but the sparks that had exploded like fireworks were too annoying, obstructing his view.
Rip!
Zhou Wenbin heard the sound of a spirit rune being torn up and decisively held his sword to put up a defense. Then, many coconut-sized big fireballs gushed over.
Flame bullets shot out incessantly!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Zhou Wenbin didn’t want to back off, but the flame bullets’ collision, explosion, as well as scorching heatwaves, burned his skin, bringing him great pain.
His hair was almost lit up too.
Left with no choice, Zhou Wenbin backed off for now.
Li Ziqi immediately tossed out a large number of spirit runes as if they were free.
Only then did Zhou Wenbin see that the useless girl was riding on a ferocious tiger with snow-white stripes. She was avoiding the Supreme Giant while attacking.
“Eldest Martial Sister is really amazing!”
Lu Zhiruo clapped excitedly.
“Using a ride to make up for her disadvantage. It’s a great idea!”
Helian Beifang praised.
“You should admire Eldest Martial Sister for her amazing spiritual control technique!”
Qin Yaoguang corrected. This was the core reason why this battle tactic could be used. A ride that wasn’t summoned through spiritual beast control was forbidden to be used on the arena.
“Look! The wind elements have appeared!”
Xianyu Wei gasped in surprise. “There’s a chance to win!”
Two tornado-shaped wind elements appeared in the arena and started to shoot out crescent-shaped wind blades toward Zhou Wenbin. With that, he was unable to attack with ease.
Therefore, he let the giant pounce toward the wind elements. His plan was to crush them first.
Should she sacrifice the wind elements to get rid of the giant?
Li Ziqi hesitated. As she wasn’t familiar with this cultivation art, she was worried that after she depleted spirit runes to crush the giant, Zhou Wenbin would be able to summon another one immediately.
No, that shouldn’t be the case. This thing depleted a great amount of spirit qi. Even if Zhou Wenbin was a genius, how much spirit qi could he store up?
At the thought of this, Li Ziqi threw out a spirit rune.
Great Flame Explosion!
Boom!
A large fireball half a meter in size formed, smashing toward the Supreme Giant like a meteor.
At the same time, to avoid it from dodging, the wind elements kept on throwing out wind blades toward Zhou Wenbin to disrupt his control. Ma Qianzu didn’t move and just kept an eye on him, maintaining pressure.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Many flame explosions kept on colliding onto the giant, sending sparks splattering.
Finally, the giant collapsed and dissipated.
Zhou Wenbin’s lips twitched as he let out a disdainful smile. His spirit qi gushed out.
“You think that I can only use one? I’m sorry, I can do six!”
Six Supreme Giants appeared in the arena.
However, this time around, each of their heights was suppressed to two meters. The numbers had increased and their speed was faster, so Li Ziqi’s situation was even more dangerous.
In the blink of an eye, the white tiger was forced to a corner, surrounded and left without an escape route.
“It’s over!”
The judge let out a sigh.
Although Li Ziqi’s battle tactic wasn’t bad, peerless-grade saint-tier cultivation arts were too profound and powerful. This princess had no chance of winning.