The Power of Divine Sense Revealed! (Please Collect and Vote!)

"I sold everything for twelve High-Grade Origin Stones."

As he spoke, Zhao Hu started to hand the Storage Bracelet back to Zhou Hao.

"Er Hu, put it all on me."

Zhou Hao didn't take the bracelet. Instead, he pushed it back toward him.

"Okay." Zhao Hu wasn't surprised. Zhou Hao had exchanged everything he owned for Origin Stones in order to place a bet. "What are you betting on?"

"Twelve High-Grade Origin Stones." Zhou Hao's eyes narrowed. "I'm betting I can destroy the Vine Wood Puppet!"

Gulp! Zhao Hu swallowed hard.

He looked at Zhou Hao, then at Hu Yong on the First Arena, dodging six vine pillars as they battered him from all sides.

"Brother Zhou Hao, maybe you should think it over? I think betting on yourself to last thirty breaths, at odds of one to two point five, is pretty good. Twelve High-Grade Origin Stones would become thirty."

"I won't last that long." Zhou Hao shook his head.

The longer the fight went on, the stronger the Vine Wood Puppet became.

After twenty breaths, even he wasn't confident he could last another ten.

Besides, Zhou Hao had never intended to win by simply enduring.

He would strike with his strongest attack and destroy the puppet before it grew too powerful to defeat. That would be enough to win.

And thirty High-Grade Origin Stones still wouldn't be enough!

Four High-Grade Origin Stones could make Blue Flower Boss spit out a wisp of water energy containing thirty-six strands, and he had used more than half of it in one night.

In other words, if he wanted to cultivate in a state of enlightenment, four High-Grade Origin Stones would last him two nights at most.

Thirty would only last him a little over half a month.

He also needed Origin Stones to rapidly improve his Qi cultivation. He couldn't give them all to Blue Flower Boss!

If he hadn't been left with only six low-grade flying knives and a pair of Red Gold Copper Rods, he would have sold anything else of value and bet it all on himself.

Where else could he find an investment with a fivefold return?

Zhao Hu blinked. Seeing that Zhou Hao wouldn't be swayed, he gave up trying to talk him out of it.

"Fine. I'll go place the bet now."

Watching Zhao Hu hurry off and squeeze back into the crowd of veterans, Zhou Hao smiled.

He'd bet his entire fortune. Now he could only see if he'd have the last laugh.

"Thirty breaths!"

An astonished cry rang out, and everyone around them drew a sharp breath.

It wasn't because Hu Yong had lasted thirty breaths, but because of the Vine Wood Puppet.

...On the First Arena.

As soon as thirty breaths had passed, the Vine Wood Puppet—which had remained at one side of the arena, attacking challengers only with its vines and pillars—suddenly moved.

Boom!

Nearly three meters tall, with six pillars extending behind it, each as thick as an adult's waist and dozens of zhang long, the Vine Wood Puppet was a hulking behemoth. Now it suddenly accelerated toward Hu Yong, reaching him in almost an instant.

The six vine pillars enclosed the entire space, like a giant net closing around Hu Yong.

"Damn it, I refuse to believe I can't last one more breath!"

Hu Yong's eyes were bloodshot, the veins on his forehead bulging.

He knew the most crucial moment had arrived.

"Break!"

A flash of saber light appeared.

With all his strength, Hu Yong finally cut through one of the vine pillars.

But before he could escape through the opening, the Vine Wood Puppet's massive body slammed into him sideways like a wall.

Shit!

"Pfft!" Hu Yong spat blood and flew nearly twenty zhang before crashing heavily to the ground with a thud.

Hu Yong of the First Arena had lasted thirty breaths. Failure!

"Ah~~~"

Sighs rose all around the arena.

Word had spread among the well-informed veterans that Hu Yong had bet ten High-Grade Origin Stones before taking the arena, wagering that he could last more than thirty breaths.

Few had dared to follow his bet, and even if he'd won, they wouldn't have gotten a share.

But he'd been just one breath away from winning the wager and taking a cut from the deputy general who ran the betting pool. In the end, he'd still failed.

"It looks like Brother Hu Yong will take the new squad leader position after all."

"Mm. Apart from Hu Yong, the strongest of the others only lasted twenty breaths. The gap's too big."

"There's no suspense now."

"Though Hu Yong lost those Origin Stones, if he becomes squad leader, he'll make them back in ten months of military pay alone, not counting the merit he earns on missions. It's not a bad deal."

As they discussed it, those who knew him hurried over to help Hu Yong up and congratulate him.

Hu Yong cultivated both Qi and his body. Though the Vine Wood Puppet had slammed him hard enough to make him cough up blood, it wasn't a serious injury, and he'd already recovered.

With everyone congratulating him, color even returned to his face.

"Haha, it's too early to congratulate me. The newcomers haven't finished yet, and there's still a second round."

Hu Yong laughed. "When today's over, if I really win and become squad leader, I'll treat all of you brothers to a drink tonight."

"What kind of experts could those newcomers have? The strongest of them only lasted fifteen breaths."

"Exactly. The Fifth Squad's new leader has to be Brother Hu Yong."

On the viewing platform.

"Haha, that kid Hu Yong really gave me a scare," Ren Baili said with a laugh. "Too bad he still couldn't make it past thirty breaths."

Although the bets were all placed by Xiantian Lifeforms, everyone was only doing it for fun. Most wagers were ten or twenty catties of Thunder Gold, worth just a few Origin Stones at most.

Few people were willing to wager ten High-Grade Origin Stones in one go, as Hu Yong had.

Ten High-Grade Origin Stones could be exchanged for one liang of Origin Liquid, enough to buy the most ordinary low-grade magical treasure.

"Not bad," the silver-haired elder agreed. "He's grasped a trace of the True Meaning of the Dao in his footwork. His movement technique is probably the best in the Xiantian Battalion, and his future is limitless."

He and Ren Baili were both Purple Mansion Cultivators, and even they had only reached the fourth level, the True Meaning of the Dao.

Among ordinary clans and tribes outside, most Purple Mansion Cultivators had only reached the third level, Unity of Heaven and Man.

By the standards of their sect, the Jade Dragon Sect, once Hu Yong entered the Purple Mansion, the realm of the True Meaning of the Dao alone would be enough to make him an inner disciple, where he could study deeper techniques and secret arts.

Of course, even among those who had reached the True Meaning of the Dao, their strength could differ enormously depending on how well they could apply and transform the meaning they had comprehended, and how deeply they had mastered it.

But Hu Yong had at least truly entered that level. He was strong enough to become a squad leader, standing alongside the other four leaders, including Li Zhan and Cao Rong.

"Hm? Some kid actually bet he could destroy a Vine Wood Puppet?" Ren Baili suddenly exclaimed. "Twelve High-Grade Origin Stones, too. What confidence!"

"Who is it?" the silver-haired elder asked curiously. Even True Person Muxuan glanced over.

"It's Zhou Hao, the kid cultivating the Chiming Nine Heavens Map," Ren Baili said with a laugh. "What a gutsy kid. He watched the Vine Wood Puppet's burst of strength after thirty breaths and still dared to place such a huge bet. Interesting. Very interesting."

Cao Rong, standing nearby, heard Ren Baili say Zhou Hao had bet on destroying the Vine Wood Puppet. His eyes shifted as he spoke up. "Lord Baili, Zhou Hao's my brother. I'll wager five High-Grade Origin Stones that he wins, too."

"Cao Rong, you're always a sly one. You never make a move until you see the rabbit," Ren Baili said, glaring at him. "What, is this kid Zhou Hao really strong?"

"Hehe, you'll find out soon enough," Cao Rong replied with a grin. "Or is Lord Baili afraid to take the bet?"

"Don't try that reverse psychology on me." Ren Baili scoffed. "I was playing games like this before your mother had even started cultivating! Since you want to give me your Origin Stones, I'll take them. Of course I will!"

He accepted the five High-Grade Origin Stones Cao Rong handed over, and the wager was official.

Ren Baili watched Zhou Hao leap onto the Fifth Arena in the distance, his gaze growing serious.

Though he had absolute confidence in the Vine Wood Puppet, he believed that among all the Xiantian Lifeforms in the Xiantian Battalion, only Li Zhan—the freak who had cultivated the Chiming Nine Heavens Map to the sixth level—might be able to destroy it. In his eyes, everyone else fell far short.

The Vine Wood Puppet was at the Purple Mansion level, and it was a wood-type puppet renowned for its vitality and ability to recover. To destroy it, one would need to unleash at least the strength of an early-stage Purple Mansion Cultivator, perhaps even a mid-stage one.

The gap between major realms was no simple thing to cross.

Even the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, the foremost body-refinement technique for gods and demons, could only let someone at the peak of Xiantian, at the sixth level, barely unleash combat strength comparable to that of an early-stage Purple Mansion body-refiner.

And being able to unleash that strength wasn't enough. One had to find the Vine Wood Puppet's weak point first.

It wasn't a human Xiantian Lifeform, with its head as its weak point.

That was assuming the Vine Wood Puppet couldn't, like a Purple Mansion body-refiner, regenerate from a drop of blood or cultivate divine abilities.

Otherwise, no matter how strong or monstrous a Xiantian Lifeform was, it still couldn't match the puppet.

Killing someone a level above you within the same major realm was easy. But crossing an entire major realm to kill an opponent?

That was unimaginably difficult!

"When I set up this bet, I never expected anyone would actually take it. And yet someone really does have too many High-Grade Origin Stones."

After weighing the gap between Zhou Hao and the Vine Wood Puppet in his mind for a long while, Ren Baili finally relaxed.

Zhou Hao had only reached the fourth level. Even if he were a prodigy who had also grasped the True Meaning of the Dao, Ren Baili still thought he fell far short.

"It's about to begin." True Person Muxuan, who had been sitting calmly all this time, suddenly spoke, his gaze toward Zhou Hao full of amusement.

That interesting kid Jingzhi had mentioned really was quite interesting.

...On the Fifth Arena.

Zhou Hao looked at the Vine Wood Puppet on the other side of the arena and flicked his wrist. A Red Gold Copper Rod appeared in his hand out of thin air.

Seven members of the newcomer squad had challenged the puppet, two more than at the other arenas.

Now that the matches at all the other arenas had ended, Zhou Hao was the only one left who hadn't faced the Vine Wood Puppet.

At that moment, all six hundred Xiantian Lifeforms, as well as the ten thousand Green Flood Dragon Army soldiers farther away, were watching the arena.

"So this is what it feels like to have all eyes on me," Zhou Hao thought silently. "My first appearance in Jade Dragon City starts with this battle."

No matter the world, the stronger the talent, the more attention one drew from the powerful, gaining better opportunities and more resources than ordinary people.

If he wanted to rise in the Wilderness World and travel farther along the path to immortality, then he would first put on the mantle of a true monstrous genius.

Below the arena.

"Brother Zhou Hao!" Shangguan Yun called out loudly. "You've got to win some face for us newcomers!"

The veterans had congratulated Hu Yong and mocked the newcomers earlier, leaving Shangguan Yun and the others with pent-up frustration.

Now that Zhou Hao was the only newcomer left, they naturally pinned all their hopes on him.

Zhou Hao smiled and nodded, then took a step toward the Vine Wood Puppet with the Red Gold Copper Rod in hand.

In every match, the Vine Wood Puppet waited for its opponent to make the first move before attacking.

Since Zhou Hao had moved, even if he'd taken only one leisurely step, the Vine Wood Puppet would attack at once.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Six long vines lashed toward him from all directions like whips.

"Dodge!" Countless people cried out in their hearts.

The six menacing vines were closing in, yet Zhou Hao stood motionless, making him look as though the Vine Wood Puppet had scared him stiff.

"Could he really fail to last even one breath?" someone scoffed. "After watching so many fights, he's still scared of a few vines? What a—"

Now!

At Zhou Hao's thought, the Divine Patterns on his back suddenly lit up.

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Twelve water and fire dragons, formed from the power of heaven and earth, appeared out of thin air. They wound around the six long vines, head to tail, and transformed into six enormous Water-Fire Taiji Diagrams, grinding down on the vines like millstones.

After reaching Xiantian in Qi cultivation, Zhou Hao's soul had grown stronger again. Controlling six Taiji Grindstones at once with his divine sense was effortless.

And the water and fire he controlled after advancing to Xiantian with the Chiming Nine Heavens Map were far more powerful than those produced by other cultivation methods.

The six vines that twenty-six challengers had struggled to cut through appeared to frost over almost instantly. Then the Fire Dragons' searing heat rapidly charred them, while the Taiji Grindstones crushed them with tremendous force...

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The six charred vines snapped in the middle.

The tips of the vines, which had nearly reached Zhou Hao, crashed to the ground, their life force extinguished.

"Divine sense?"

On the viewing platform, True Person Muxuan abruptly changed expression, his gaze toward Zhou Hao suddenly burning with intensity.

Everyone else at the Drill Ground, including the two Purple Mansion deputy generals beside him, would have thought that Zhou Hao had formed the Water-Fire Taiji Diagrams and Taiji Grindstones using the water and fire he controlled after condensing two Divine Patterns through the Chiming Nine Heavens Map. They would have considered his technique somewhat clever and its power impressive, at most.

But True Person Muxuan was different. He was a Myriad Phenomena True Person whose soul had also manifested divine sense.

Under True Person Muxuan's divine sense, Zhou Hao had indeed used his Divine Patterns to form water and fire from the power of heaven and earth. But it was divine sense that he had used to control them and shape them into Taiji Diagrams.

"At the Xiantian level, his soul is this powerful? He can manifest divine sense, and wield it so effortlessly?" True Person Muxuan was astonished.

Only after reaching the Myriad Phenomena Realm, with his soul continually nourished, had his divine sense gradually manifested.

By comparison, Zhou Hao's soul was practically defying the heavens.

"A prodigy—a true super-prodigy. Even the core disciples in the inner sect might not have been this powerful when they were Xiantian Lifeforms."

At that moment, True Person Muxuan even wondered whether Zhou Hao might be an immortal reincarnated to cultivate anew.

There was no other explanation. A Xiantian Lifeform with the divine sense normally manifested only by those in the Myriad Phenomena Realm was simply too monstrous.

P.S.

I'm worried that readers following the book on other legitimate platforms won't see the chapter comments on Qidian, so while this chapter is still free, I want to explain:

I only posted one chapter yesterday because I was taking my wife and child back to her hometown. She had been running a high fever for four or five days, and her temperature wouldn't come down. I couldn't manage everything on my own while looking after them both here.

The test results came back this morning, confirming pneumonia. We're arranging her hospital admission now.

Updates won't stop. There'll be at least one chapter, and two if I have the strength.

If Suifeng only posts one chapter on any given day, please don't hold it against me.

I had a lot of errands today, so there's only one chapter again. Sorry.

Once everything is settled tonight, I'll try to write another chapter to make up for yesterday's missed update.

If I owe a chapter, I'll definitely make it up later!

Thanks to "Wuji Guizhen" for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to "Ping Yi Jin Ren 2014" for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to "Top-Quality Left King" for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to "Boss Add Some Spice" for the 1,500-point tip.

Thanks to "QWER5883" for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to "Ku Wei" for the 3,000-point tip.

Suifeng bows in gratitude!