Competition

The group arrived at an open space outside the encampment. Jiuhua Immortal flicked his wrist, and a log that had been only a few inches long grew rapidly in the wind, transforming in an instant into a wooden pillar nearly a hundred feet tall.

"Fellow Daoists, please, feel free to strike!" Jiuhua Immortal said with a smile.

The crowd looked at one another. Just as some were itching to step forward, a burst of wild laughter erupted from behind the throng.

"Hahaha! Since no one else is willing to make a move, let me, God Mountain, be the first!" As the laughter rang out, a burly man with a giant mountain tattooed on his body pushed through the crowd and strode out.

"God Mountain is going first?"

"Fellow Daoist God Mountain will take the lead?"

"This..."

Seeing the burly man, a portion of the Loose Immortals who had been eager to step forward instantly retreated.

In fact, these retreating Loose Immortals were all part of the same army division that Jiuhua Immortal had previously assigned to this man named God Mountain.

"Fellow Daoist Jiuhua, let me test just how hard this log of yours really is!" The burly man laughed, and a giant axe, significantly taller than he was, suddenly appeared in his hands.

"Hah!"

God Mountain let out a low shout. The mountain patterns on his body instantly lit up, and in a heartbeat, his stature surged to nearly a thousand feet in height.

"Break for me!"

God Mountain gripped the axe with both hands, roared, and swung it down with all his might.

BOOM!

In an instant, the giant axe collided with the log.

Streaks of golden light supported the log from below. After the axe fell, the position of the log remained unchanged, save for a gash about seven or eight inches deep appearing on its surface.

For a hundred-foot-tall log, a seven-or-eight-inch gash was nothing—or, one might say, negligible. Yet, shallow as it was, no one doubted the power of that strike, for the mere shockwaves generated by the collision between the axe and the log caused some of the nearby watching Loose Immortals to pale.

After taking a deep look at the log, God Mountain put away his axe and flickered, returning to his normal size.

"Fellow Daoist Jiuhua's log is indeed sufficiently hard. God Mountain is impressed!" The burly man cupped his hands.

"Fellow Daoist God Mountain possesses astonishing divine power. It seems the command of your army division shall fall to you!" Jiuhua Immortal laughed.

"Fellow Daoist Jiuhua is too kind! It is likely too early to speak of such things!"

Though God Mountain spoke with humility, in reality, judging by his expression and demeanor, he seemed quite in agreement with Jiuhua Immortal's assessment.

Ju Hua watched from afar, a trace of surprise appearing on his face.

The commanders of the various clans present were essentially all Loose Immortals, but this God Mountain clearly walked the path of the Godfiend, and he was already a Void-Refining Godfiend!

Of course, despite being called a Void-Refining Godfiend, God Mountain was still quite a distance behind the Void-Refining Godfiends found within the Autumn Mountain Great Marsh. When humans walk the path of the Godfiend, unless they cultivate the most supreme Godfiend body-refining techniques, they cannot compare to the primordial Godfiends birthed by heaven and earth at the same level.

The reason is simple: the Godfiend bodies produced by ordinary body-refining techniques are not perfect and always possess various flaws. Where there are flaws, strength is naturally weaker.

However, while the most supreme Godfiend body-refining techniques are powerful, they are extremely difficult to cultivate. Take, for example, the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens that Ju Hua was currently practicing. According to the descriptions in the Desolate Era, Ju Hua had lived for millions of years, yet his Godfiend path had remained stuck at the Primordial Spirit Godfiend stage! This alone shows just how difficult such a top-tier technique is to master.

Of course, although this God Mountain could not compare to a Godfiend birthed by heaven and earth, he was still a Void-Refining Godfiend. Within the Three Realms, the Godfiend path suppresses the Qi-refining path from the very beginning, and the higher the level, the more pronounced the suppression becomes. At the level of a Void-Refining Godfiend, ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals are absolutely no match for them.

If one cultivates a slightly more advanced Godfiend body-refining technique, even a top-tier Loose Immortal would be crushed!

The technique this God Mountain practiced might not be the absolute peak, but it was certainly quite advanced.

Judging by the power of the axe strike he had just delivered, his strength likely far exceeded that of the top-tier Loose Immortals present.

It was not strange that God Mountain was here, despite being a Void-Refining Godfiend.

In such wars, major tribes would certainly not send Void-Refining Earth Immortals. An Earth Immortal, no matter how slim the chance, still has the possibility of successfully passing the Tribulation; major tribes would not let any Earth Immortal throw their life away. For war, sending Loose Immortals is enough!

As for God Mountain, although he had not yet faced the Heavenly Tribulation, for an ordinary Void-Refining Godfiend to pass the Heavenly God Tribulation is essentially a pipe dream!

A true Heavenly God is fully comparable to a True Immortal. If the Heavenly Immortal Tribulation is a nine-in-ten chance of death, the Heavenly God Tribulation is essentially ten-in-ten death. Since the birth of the Great Xia World, no one among the human race had ever been heard of successfully passing the Heavenly God Tribulation.

Therefore, a Void-Refining Godfiend is effectively the same as a Loose Immortal. To the major tribes, both Loose Immortals and Void-Refining Godfiends are the type of expendable assets whose deaths on the battlefield would not cause any heartache!

The Loose Immortals in the same division as God Mountain who knew his background had already given up on the idea of striking from the start. Those who hadn't yet given up lost the desire to do so after witnessing the terrifying power of his strike. After all, anyone with eyes could see that God Mountain's strength far exceeded the limits of a top-tier Loose Immortal; for them to strike now would only be to serve as a futile foil to him!

In the previous division, God Mountain was grouped with major tribes like the Heishen Clan and the Shaoyan Clan. Consequently, the Loose Immortals who stepped up after him were almost all from the other divisions, including the Zhuanshui Clan.

The strength of the top-tier Loose Immortals was roughly similar; the slightly weaker ones could leave marks about three inches deep on the log, while the stronger ones could leave gashes nearly four inches deep.

As more people took their turns, the situation gradually became clear.

"It seems our division will have to be commanded by Fellow Daoist Bai Yun!" someone remarked with a sigh.

"Indeed. Fellow Daoist Bai Yun managed to leave a gash over four inches deep on that log. This is top-tier strength even among us Loose Immortals. Although it still falls short of Fellow Daoist God Mountain, it is a cut above the rest of us!"

"Yes, Fellow Daoist Bai Yun is powerful and hails from the top-tier Baiji Clan. We are more than willing to submit to his command!"

"..."

Many Loose Immortals exchanged messages through divine sense, and gradually, a consensus formed in their hearts.

However, just then, Jiuhua Immortal, who had been smiling silently all this time, suddenly turned around. He laughed aloud: "Fellow Daoist Ju Hua, won't you come down and give it a try?"