Liu Siyu of the Liu Household
The Liu Household's Azure Wood Returning Heaven Scripture was renowned for its gentle, rich, and vitality-filled spiritual power, which did an excellent job of nourishing a cultivator's body. But every gain came with a loss: its spiritual power was somewhat weaker when used to attack.
For that reason, Liu Household disciples who cultivated the Azure Wood Returning Heaven Scripture always prepared extra offensive Law Artifacts, talismans, and the like to make up for their lack of attacking power.
Liu Sijie was one such disciple. His flying sword was a first-tier middle-grade artifact, but it had clearly been treated by a high-level artifact refiner. It consumed less spiritual power without sacrificing any of its might.
The youngster kept his face taut as he circulated his spiritual power with all his might, guiding the flying sword through the air in streaks of brilliant green sword light.
Across from Liu Sijie, fourteen-year-old Zhuang Dongyi clearly had an inferior Law Artifact. He struggled to cope and soon fell into a disadvantage.
With early-stage Qi Refinement cultivation, one could not master particularly profound Law Techniques.
That made the strength of one's Law Artifacts crucial, and in that respect, cultivators from the deeply rooted Liu Household undoubtedly held every advantage.
"Zhuang Dongyi is going to lose."
Yang Tianxiong muttered beside him, his gaze fixed on the platform.
"That's hard to say. Twenty-fourth Brother, watch closely. Sometimes the stronger side doesn't necessarily beat the weaker in a fight. Examples of the weak defeating the strong are everywhere. That Zhuang Household kid is rather interesting."
Yang Tianyou stroked his chin, his tone playful. Yet he had forgotten that he was only a year older than Zhuang Dongyi, though he sounded like an old man.
The peculiar sight made Yang Tianxue glance at him, a hint of amusement deep in her beautiful eyes.
His nineteenth brother's words left Yang Tianxiong doubtful. Liu Sijie was clearly beating Zhuang Dongyi down so badly that he could barely lift his head. How could he lose?
With that thought, he continued watching. The fight was still one-sided, but Yang Tianxiong noticed something strange.
Though Zhuang Dongyi was clearly in constant peril, he had sustained little actual damage, and his defense remained steady.
Liu Sijie, on the other hand, was growing increasingly impatient in his desire for victory. Though his attacks were still powerful, Yang Tianxiong noticed something amiss.
Both were at the third level of Qi Refining, yet Liu Sijie was using considerably more spiritual power than Zhuang Dongyi.
Could Liu Sijie actually lose?
The thought had only just crossed his mind when the situation on the platform suddenly changed.
Zhuang Dongyi, who had been struggling to defend himself, keenly seized upon a small flaw in Liu Sijie's circulation of spiritual power and struck fiercely with his sword, putting all his strength behind it.
He had held back until now, but when he struck, it was enough to shatter stone and startle the heavens.
Zhuang Dongyi's sudden counterattack caught Liu Sijie completely off guard.
The earthy yellow sword light swept up clouds of sand, obscuring his vision and making the attack even harder to track.
Swish!
As the unstoppable sword light hurtled toward him, Liu Sijie hastily activated the Law Artifact armor he wore.
Clang!
Sword and armor collided, and the tremendous impact sent Liu Sijie flying.
The sword light followed up with another strike, as if refusing to relent while it held the advantage.
This time, Liu Sijie failed to block it. Yellow light flashed, and Zhuang Dongyi's flying sword was already pressed against his throat, its chillingly cold tip flickering with a frigid gleam.
"First match, Zhuang Dongyi wins!"
Yang Dangmo announced loudly.
Whoosh!
The flying sword turned back, and Zhuang Dongyi put it away. The composed youth walked down from the platform with a smile.
Liu Sijie of the Liu Household was quite the opposite. The youth from a Foundation Establishment family had clearly never suffered such a setback. He looked dazed, his face deathly pale.
Seeing this, his grandfather Liu Changqing gently stroked his beard. Rather than offer any comfort, he gave a faint smile. Apparently, he was not disappointed by the result.
"Twenty-fourth Brother, did you see that? Anything you want to say?"
Yang Tianyou asked, looking down at him.
"You always have to be careful in a fight. You can't be careless!"
Yang Tianxiong answered. As he spoke, he glanced at Zhuang Dongyi not far away. The youth had left a deep impression on him.
Yang Tianyou smiled softly and said no more. He stood up and prepared to draw lots.
After a match, the winner needed time to recover, so the second early-stage Qi Refining match would take place after the first Late Qi Refinement match.
Yang Tianyou walked forward and casually drew a lot. A large character was written on it: "Fight!"
The Liu and Zhuang Households drew next. The Liu Household drew "Fight," while the Zhuang Household received a bye.
Thus, Yang Tianyou would face the girl in red first.
Yang Tianyou stepped onto the platform and stood opposite the girl in red.
"Yang Tianyou of the Purple Moon Yang Household. Please enlighten me!"
"Liu Siyu of the Thousand Wood Liu Family. Please enlighten me!"
"Begin the match!"
The moment Yang Dangmo's voice fell, Yang Tianyou vanished.
Swish!
Cultivators who practiced both magic and body cultivation were very fond of close combat, for it allowed them to fully experience the formidable explosive power of their bodies.
His figure moved like lightning as he swiftly closed in on the girl in red.
"A body cultivator? You don't see those often!"
Liu Siyu muttered, a fierce will to fight appearing on her pretty, snow-white face.
The best way to deal with a body cultivator charging in was to suppress them directly with overwhelming force. The Liu Household elders had taught her that more than once.
Fiery red spiritual power spread rapidly around Liu Siyu like a rising tide. Then, to everyone's surprise, the turbulent spiritual power condensed at astonishing speed.
Hum!
A fist-sized flame spirit pearl took shape. Three burning flames adorned it, red, cyan, and blue.
The Three-Flame Spirit Pearl was a first-tier superior-grade Law Technique, and she had cultivated it to the major accomplishment realm.
The Three-Flame Spirit Pearl shot out at extreme speed. In an instant, it was less than ten feet from Yang Tianyou.
Boom!
The Three-Flame Spirit Pearl exploded. Scorching flames formed fiery pythons that reared up and roared at the sky, while the surging heat waves created a vortex of air visible to the naked eye at the center of the explosion.
"Hiss, is this what a Middle Qi Refinement cultivator can do? What about Late Qi Refinement?"
Yang Tianxiong stared blankly. Compared to the sight before him, Liu Sijie and Zhuang Dongyi's match had been like children playing house.
"Don't misunderstand. A Middle Qi Refinement cultivator can't unleash an attack of this level. Nineteenth Brother and that girl from the Liu Household both have strength comparable to Late Qi Refinement cultivators."
Yang Tianxue spoke calmly, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly as she watched the center of the flames.
Whoosh!
A sound of rushing air rang out as golden blade light cleaved through layer upon layer of flame and surged toward Liu Siyu with a chilling edge.
"I knew that Three-Flame Spirit Pearl couldn't do anything to you."
The lovely girl lightly licked her red lips, an entranced look appearing on her face.
Clearly, she was a complete battle maniac.
Clang!
A red flying sword stopped the Sky-Piercing Blade. The two Law Artifacts then clashed dozens of times in rapid succession, with neither gaining the upper hand.
The flames dispersed, and Yang Tianyou slowly walked out with the Exquisite Treasure Pagoda above his head. As he walked, he tossed a Qi-Replenishing Pill into his mouth.
There was no helping it. The spiritual power of someone at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer was just that feeble. Casually activating a first-tier superior-grade Law Artifact a few times had used up fifty to sixty percent of his reserves.
And that was without activating the Law Artifacts at full power. If he used the Sky-Piercing Blade and Exquisite Tower at full power, his spiritual power would be drained dry in only one or two uses.
Ultimately, first-tier superior-grade Law Artifacts were meant for Late Qi Refinement cultivators. It was fine for Middle Qi Refinement cultivators to use them as trump cards, but if they used them as a regular means of attack, they had best prepare plenty of pills to replenish their spiritual power.
Even that was not enough. They also needed a powerful physique, or an ordinary Middle Qi Refinement cultivator's body would not be able to withstand the strain of swallowing pills one after another.