Sister, Take My Hammer! (Please Bookmark)

Silence!

On the stone platform, a tall white-robed steward rose to his feet. His gaze swept across the tens of thousands below, his voice rolling like thunder:

"The selection for Spirit-Slaying Envoys of the major spirit-field districts begins now."

"If you fancy a Spirit-Slaying Envoy slot under a particular steward, then upon hearing their name, proceed to the corresponding arena and hand your identity wooden plaque to that steward."

"The first to win six consecutive matches shall obtain the slot."

"Take note: you have only one chance. Choose carefully!"

Having said that.

Without waiting for anyone to react.

The white-robed steward immediately assigned the arenas:

"Arena One, Steward Bao Shuo!"

"Arena Two, Steward Bai Yingyi!"

"Arena Three, Steward Yin Lan!"

"..."

"..."

"Arena Twelve, Steward Yin Fang'ai!"

As his voice fell, twelve figures abruptly rose from their prayer mats, descended the stone platform step by step, and took their places beside twelve golden banners.

There were men and women among them, all wreathed in dense spiritual radiance that wildly twisted the air around them, making their features difficult to discern.

Below, the crowd fell silent for a moment before erupting into earthshaking clamor once more.

Countless blazing gazes involuntarily turned toward the twelve stewards in the arenas.

In an instant, several hundred figures emerged from the crowd, carrying the wooden plaques they had received upon registering yesterday as they headed for different arenas.

Thud, thud—

Their footsteps were heavy.

Their faces were thick with tension.

Lu He sat cross-legged where he was. After giving the scene a brief glance, he closed his eyes again to rest.

Of the twelve stewards whose names had just been called, they were, in his memory, the weakest batch. The spirit fields under their charge were also the smallest, averaging less than eighty mu.

Had it been his previous cultivation.

Lu He might have entertained some thoughts of competing, but as his strength rose, his sights had risen a little as well.

Besides, every person taking the field now was at the early Body-Shedding Realm.

There was nothing worth observing for him.

Clearly, Lu He was far from the only one who thought so.

Beside him, everyone, including Zheng Jingren, seemed utterly uninterested in the happenings below. They did not even raise an eyelid.

Time passed bit by bit.

The fighting in the arenas grew ever fiercer. The clash of weapons rang through the skies, drawing waves of startled cries from the spectators.

Yet—

"Ha—ah..."

Lu He could not help yawning.

In his eyes, battles between Body-Shedding Realm cultivators were truly dull. With their thick hides and tough flesh, technique lost all meaning.

It was no more than a contest of whose strength was greater, whose speed was faster, and whose body was tougher. Nothing more.

Of course, those cultivators who had comprehended Scarlet Horned Dragon True Intent and condensed True Talismans were exceptions.

After all, once one had a Red Qiu True Talisman, both strength and speed would receive an enormous boost. Fights between such people were bound to be perilous, with victory or defeat decided in a hair's breadth.

"Brother Lu, are you still not going up?"

Zheng Jingren turned to Lu He and asked softly.

By now, the fighters on the stage had reached the late Body-Shedding Realm. Every gesture unleashed the force of a thousand jin, and each collision seemed to make even the ground tremble.

"No rush. I'll wait a little longer."

Hearing this, Su Lingchan could not help casting Lu He a surprised glance.

This fellow had just said his strength had only just crossed the threshold of a thousand jin...

Either he was lying, or... he condensed a Red Qiu True Talisman upon first entering the late Body-Shedding Realm? Impossible, right?!

She suddenly realized something and turned to meet Zheng Jingren's gaze, only to find a faint, knowing smile in his eyes.

Coming back to herself.

"Brother Lu is impressive. You really can keep your composure," Su Lingchan said softly.

"You flatter me, Miss Su. I merely wish to pick up a bargain."

Lu He replied with a smile.

A Spirit-Slaying Envoy position for five hundred mu of spirit fields would bring some gains, but...

His eyes abruptly deepened. In the depths of his consciousness, the White Ape Dao Diagram trembled and hummed, while the Red Qiu True Talisman rose and sank without cease, as though suppressing some yearning.

Quite clearly.

Lu He wanted more!

As for hiding his abilities...

After seeing the Medicine Garden's other rule.

Lu He knew there was no need for it.

The people around him were all young, yet immensely strong. Every one of them had built their strength bit by bit by consuming resources!

How resource-consuming was the cultivation of the <Scarlet Horned-Dragon True-Origin Visualization Diagram>?

If he did not display sufficient value, why would those stewards above allocate resources to him?

Naturally, what needed to remain hidden would still stay hidden—such as the mysterious Golden Book, such as his innate Dao Diagram [White Ape Child Cave-Evolution Diagram]...

"Arena Twelve, Steward Lu Zhao!"

As the announcement fell, Lu He's eyes flew open, white light flashing swiftly in their depths.

"A steward ranked among the Medicine Garden's top fifty, with at least a thousand mu of spirit fields!"

He slowly rose to his feet.

Spirit fields of this scale had Spirit-Slaying Envoy positions worthy of Lu He's intervention.

Of course, in Lu He's judgment, this was also the best slot his current strength could contend for.

Any higher, and the gap in strength between him and his opponents would be so vast that neither the White Ape Dao Diagram nor the Red Qiu True Talisman could bridge it.

And at the very moment Lu He stood.

Several figures beside him unexpectedly rose as well.

This was the first time, since the competition for slots began, that anyone from either of the two groups seated on the ground had entered an arena. It immediately drew assessing gazes from all around.

"Good luck, Brother Lu!"

Behind him, Zheng Jingren sat atop a greatsword as broad as a door panel, smiling as he encouraged Lu He.

Lu He nodded.

In the arena.

Lu He stood on one side, while a woman around thirty stood on the other.

"Be careful, little brother. Big sister's staff has no eyes."

The woman smiled sweetly. Her boots tapped the ground in rapid succession, and dragging a refined-steel staff weighing over a hundred jin behind her, she transformed into an afterimage and instantly cleaved toward Lu He.

Not far away, many tenant farmers who noticed this cried out in alarm.

The woman was so fast that the eye could scarcely follow her, utterly astonishing.

But... the next instant!

Dong! A jet-black iron hammer struck later yet arrived first, appearing precisely before the refined-steel staff that split the air and blocking it dead.

Accompanied by a crack.

The bluestone beneath Lu He's feet shattered inch by inch. He had braced the hammer's shaft against the ground, directly channeling his opponent's force into the earth beneath him.

The first strike failing, the woman twisted and swept her staff again, smashing straight toward Lu He's waist and abdomen with savage ferocity.

Lu He's eyes narrowed slightly. Deep within them, the White Ape Dao Diagram flickered in and out.

In an instant, the woman's minute expressions, every movement she made, even the ripples produced by the steel staff tearing through the air... everything entered his mind and was caught by him.

Retreat three chi and one cun!

Lu He thought silently. With only one step backward, he stood firm as a mountain. The steel staff instantly missed, crashing into the ground right by his toes.

In that instant.

Rumble—within his body, the Red Qiu True Talisman roared, his blood surged swiftly, and Lu He gripped his iron hammer tightly before viciously smashing it at the woman's opening.

The timing of this blow was perfect, striking precisely when her old force had spent itself and her new force had yet to arise!

Watching the savage hammerhead grow ever larger in her sight, a flash of terror could not help appearing on the woman's pretty face.

Big sister, take my hammer!

Bang! A figure flew straight backward.

The refined-steel staff traced a great arc through the air and embedded itself precisely in the ground before a tenant farmer who had been sitting there watching, barely half an inch from a vital spot.

His face went white in an instant.

Lu He stood where he was, leaning on his iron hammer and breathing heavily.

For him, who needed the explosive burst of the Red Qiu True Talisman, every battle had to be ended swiftly.

"Lu He wins. The next contestant will take the field in thirty breaths!"

At the side, Steward Lu Zhao smiled and nodded at Lu He before softly making the announcement.

At the same time.

"Hm—"

Steward Liu on the stone platform seemed to have noticed something. His reed-thin body instantly straightened.

"That little fellow... if I remember correctly, he has been at the Medicine Garden for less than a year, yet he is already close to completing Body-Shedding? Interesting. Truly interesting."

"His talent is not bad. There also happens to be a 'seed' in his arena. Let us see how he performs. If..."

A trace of amusement flickered in his eyes.