Battle Intent Blazing

"Shuitu Clan has really lost face this time..."

More and more people crowded over, craning their heads to look into Shuitu Clan's quiet chamber. Each wore a schadenfreude-filled grin. "Shuitu Clan really kicked an iron plate and smashed their toes swollen. These fellows bullied Elder Pu's disciple, never expecting to provoke a body refiner as savage as a Flood Dragon."

"That Zhongshan Clan member isn't merely a body refiner. His qi-refining methods are definitely more profound than those of these Shuitu Clan disciples!"

A Lishan Clan disciple shook his head and spoke up for Zhong Yue. "The battle in the quiet chamber just now was brief, but Zhongshan Clan mixed the Thunderclap Sword Art into his Body Refining Method, fusing thunder sword qi into the Flood Dragon Totem. The Thunder Totem and Flood Dragon Totem combined to sweep through the Shuitu Clan disciples. That shows how deep his attainments in qi refinement are!"

At those words, quite a few people nodded secretly.

After all, the Lishan Clan's core disciples had been personally instructed by the Lishan Clan's qi refiners. Their horizons and experience surpassed those of ordinary Upper Court disciples by a notch. Most Upper Court disciples believed Zhong Yue had won through his Body Refining Method, but few could see that he had mixed a qi-refining method into his body refinement.

This was somewhat inconceivable. Body refinement and qi refinement could be said to be contradictory. If one spent too much time and energy on body refinement, one's qi-refining cultivation would fall behind; if one devoted too much effort to qi refinement, the body could never become too strong. Trying to cultivate both at once would result in little progress in either, and one's strength would instead be even lower.

Yet Zhong Yue had broken this common understanding, combining body refinement and qi refinement and advancing them shoulder to shoulder!

"Shuitu Clan has so many disciples cultivating under qi refiners, yet they summoned Junior Sister Shui Qingyan up the mountain and let the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother possess her. It seems that even if Shuitu Clan's core disciples haven't defected to the demon race, most of their parents and elders have!"

Zhong Yue felt not the slightest guilt over injuring those Shuitu Clan core disciples. The Shuitu Clan disciples were simply too weak. Even after receiving true instruction, even after using soul weapons and Totem Pillars, their strength was still painfully unimpressive, making him deeply doubt the ability of those qi refiners to teach their disciples.

He was still doing Shuitu Clan's qi refiners an injustice. Among the Upper Court disciples, Shuitu Clan's disciples were already among the cream of the crop. Otherwise, Senior Sister Ting and He Chengchuan could not have been defeated.

Yet even though Shuitu Clan's qi refiners had painstakingly trained their disciples, how could they compare with Kindling Child?

With Kindling Child's instruction and more than ten days of tempering between life and death, Zhong Yue's cultivation and strength had surged. His control over his body, spirit, and soul had also reached the pinnacle among Upper Court disciples.

That was still not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was his utterly horrifying explosive power!

Perhaps Zhong Yue's cultivation could not rank first or second among the Upper Court disciples. After all, he had truly cultivated for only a short time. But his explosive power had absolutely reached a level that no one else could even hope to match!

Kindling Child had always said that he had not reached the level that satisfied him, but how high were Kindling Child's standards?

By those standards, Zhong Yue's explosive power might not count as astonishing. But among this group of Shuitu Clan disciples, he was a starving tiger, while everyone else was a little lamb!

When a starving tiger entered a flock of sheep, naturally it would slaughter a great swath of them, leaving the remaining lambs to bleat pitifully!

In the upper level of Scripture Hall, several qi refiners leisurely drank tea and watched the clashes between the disciples below. When Zhong Yue walked out of Shuitu Clan's quiet chamber, a middle-aged qi refiner could not help rising abruptly, fury on his face. He was none other than Shuitu Clan's qi refiner, Shui Anshan.

Shui Anshan was about to go downstairs when a gray shadow suddenly flashed. An old man with white hair and a white beard blocked his way. Taking a closer look, Shui Anshan sneered. "Elder Pu is certainly good at protecting his own! Your disciple beat my Shuitu Clan's disciples, and I'll let that go. But he spouted such wild words—he clearly needs some discipline."

Mr. Pu chuckled. "Junior Brother Shui, you may not know this, but this Zhongshan Clan member isn't my disciple. He offended Tian Feng Clan—who would dare take him in? He merely listened to one lecture under me and received the true transmission of the Thunderclap Sword Art. He has nothing to do with me."

Shui Anshan smiled. "Since he isn't Elder Pu's disciple, then I'll discipline him myself. Elder Pu won't stop me, will he?"

Mr. Pu shook his head with a smile. "Junior Brother Shui, when young disciples compete, it is ultimately just child's play. If an adult jumps out to beat a child, people will inevitably laugh. What do you think, Junior Brother Shui?"

Shui Anshan looked around. Other qi refiners were still in the tea room, drinking tea and chatting, but the corners of their eyes were turned this way. More than a few were waiting to enjoy the spectacle. Shui Anshan immediately let out a dry laugh. "Elder Pu is right."

Though he said that, Shui Anshan was seething inside. This Elder Pu says he doesn't protect his own, yet if he didn't, would he have thrown away his old face to stop me...? Good! The thousand-mile colt of my Shuitu Clan has finally arrived. The face we lost can finally be picked back up!

Zhong Yue walked toward He Chengchuan and Senior Sister Ting when he suddenly heard a gentle voice laugh. "This junior brother, wait a moment. You beat our Shuitu Clan's disciples and think you can leave so easily?"

Zhong Yue stopped and turned around. Outside Scripture Hall, waves suddenly came rushing down from the mountain, surging like a great river hanging upside down. An Upper Court disciple stood upon the crest of the waves, his body lifted by the water as he approached with the leisurely ease of a stroll through a courtyard.

With every step he took, waves automatically formed beneath his feet, lifting his body without touching the ground. He was free and graceful, unrestrained and elegant!

The moment this person appeared, his radiance dazzled the eye and drew countless gazes. Even Zhong Yue had to admit that this man possessed truly extraordinary bearing and was a rare figure.

"Senior Brother Qinghe!"

Inside Shuitu Clan's quiet chamber, one Shuitu Clan disciple after another struggled upright and looked outside. They were overjoyed. "Senior Brother Qinghe has arrived! Senior Brother, this man barged into our quiet chamber and injured us. Please uphold justice for us!"

Shui Qinghe's expression was gentle. He nodded in acknowledgment, then stepped forward as waves bore his body to the outside of Scripture Hall. A great river flowed beneath his feet, transforming into fish, dragons, giant pythons, and other strange sights. These were formed from totem patterns. One could even vaguely see ice swords drifting up and down in the river—strands of profound ice sword qi condensed from totem patterns!

To reach such a level was indeed rare among the Upper Court.

Shui Qinghe looked at Zhong Yue with warm eyes and a smile. "Zhongshan Clan? Junior Brother, this was a contest between fellow disciples, yet you struck so heavily. Aren't you going a little too far?"

Zhong Yue shook his head. "The Shuitu Clan disciples struck heavily as well, injuring Senior Sister Ting and Senior Brother He. Was that not also going a little too far?"

Shui Qinghe looked toward Senior Sister Ting and He Chengchuan. Seeing that both were seriously injured, he frowned slightly before relaxing his brows. "It is normal for someone to lose control during a contest between fellow disciples. Shuitu Clan's reputation cannot be insulted. Today, I have no choice but to act and win back some face for Shuitu Clan. Junior Brother Zhong, do you cultivate body refinement and qi refinement side by side? Since that is the case, I will not bully you. I will use a body-refining method to fight you."

With a roar, the water around him condensed, and various totem patterns combined. Shui Qinghe's feet vanished and transformed into a fish tail. His entire body was enveloped in spiritual power, gradually becoming a tall, strange being with a human torso and fish tail, white hair, silver eyes, and a wild, savage aura!

He had originally been about as tall as an ordinary person, but now he stood a zhang and three or four chi tall, his muscles knotted and filled with explosive power!

Shui Qinghe's appearance changed drastically. Once this battle form emerged, the air seemed to become extraordinarily humid, as though one could grab a handful of it and wring out water.

"Water God He Bo!"

Zhong Yue's expression turned solemn. He had already seen the method Shui Qinghe was using. In Shuitu Clan's quiet chamber, one of their disciples had used the River God Totem Visualization Art, visualizing He Bo and forming a He Bo totem with spiritual power to aid him in battle.

However, that Shuitu Clan disciple's He Bo totem possessed only an outer form, without flesh or bones. It was far from as lifelike as Shui Qinghe's.

Moreover, Shui Qinghe was not merely visualizing He Bo. He was transforming into He Bo, using his terrifying spiritual power to turn himself into He Bo's body!

He Bo was the Water God. The totem of the Weishui Tribe's Shuitu Clan was the Water God He Bo, and he was also the Totem Spirit left behind by Shuitu Clan's ancestors when the Human race opened up the Great Wilderness ten thousand years ago. Many in Shuitu Clan visualized He Bo, but few had refined it to this degree!

He had visualized flesh and bones for He Bo, making him seem like a real Water God!

Cultivating the River God Totem Visualization Art to this level was already terrifying. It not only made up for the body's deficiencies, it even allowed one to gain an unparalleled advantage when fighting body refiners in close combat!

Fighting like a god—the might of it could be imagined!

"Boy Yue, this person is formidable."

In Zhong Yue's sea of consciousness, Kindling Child's voice suddenly grew solemn. "His foundations are extremely deep. The moment he enters Spirit Void Hall, he can immediately become a qi refiner. His spiritual power is too strong—stronger than yours. It has already approached the level of a qi refiner. He can turn the ethereal into reality. He is probably one of the strongest figures among the Upper Court disciples!"

"Turn the ethereal into reality?"

Zhong Yue's heart tightened. This was a qi refiner's method!

Qi refiners could turn spiritual power from the ethereal into reality. For example, when Zuo Xiang Sheng fought the Tian Feng Clan elder in Azure Sky Hall, that elder used wood as sword qi, combining his spiritual power with wood-element sword qi to manifest one enormous tree after another, laying out a Myriad Wood Sword Formation. This was turning the ethereal into reality—solidifying spiritual power so that it became like real wood.

Of course, this did not truly turn spiritual power into wood. It was merely the manifestation of solidified spiritual power, with little difference from actual wood. Once the spiritual power dispersed, the wood would vanish along with it.

Shui Qinghe had also achieved this. He had condensed the Water God He Bo from his own spiritual power, and the resilience of his spiritual power had already reached the level of a qi refiner!

Among all the Upper Court disciples, this was the first time Zhong Yue had seen someone so powerful!

"Turning the ethereal into reality and solidifying He Bo into a real form is enough to increase his physical strength tenfold or even dozens of times, transforming him into a body-refining expert. He may even be stronger than my physical body!"

Zhong Yue's expression was solemn. This Shui Qinghe was powerful—far stronger than Yu Feiyan, terrifyingly so. He was worlds apart from those Shuitu Clan core disciples just now!

Yu Feiyan had already cultivated her Fish Dragon until it possessed flesh and bones and looked vividly alive, but she was still a thread away from turning the ethereal into reality. The main reason was that her spiritual power was not strong enough. The Fish Dragon she visualized was clear, but still lacked a touch of reality.

Zhong Yue took a long breath. Instead of feeling the slightest fear, he was somewhat excited—excited to face an expert like this!

"Boy Yue, you're excited?"

In the sea of consciousness, Kindling Child looked at the turbulent sea of consciousness and asked in surprise, "This Shui Qinghe is stronger than you. You should be afraid."

"No!"

Battle intent surged within Zhong Yue's chest. "The stronger the opponent, the more excited I become! Fighting such a powerful opponent, knocking him down, crushing him, grinding his body beneath me, shattering his confidence, and trampling his dignity—Kindling Child, can you understand that sense of accomplishment?"