Junior Brother, I-I'm Not Fighting Anymore!

"Unless I was insane!"

Bai Hao shuddered. The tiny thought he had harbored of sparring at the tea gathering to win back his pride was instantly doused in ice-cold water, extinguished completely.

"Or do you think getting beaten up one-sidedly can still count as sparring?"

He swallowed and said sheepishly.

Then again.

Bai He looked at Lu He standing calmly on the stage, smacked his lips, and said with undisguised regret, "With strength like that, Brother Lu should've gone up earlier. By my count, those twelve monsters should be taking the stage soon. How many contribution points is he going to miss out on?"

Beside him, Su Lingchan's face likewise flashed with regret at those words.

But she said nothing more.

"Brother Lu must have his reasons..."

On the high platform.

"Haha." Steward Lu deliberately raised his eyes and swept them over the stewards beside him, a gleeful look flashing across his face. "What were you all saying just now? My memory isn't too good. Could someone repeat it for me?"

Once those words fell, no one dared respond.

The stewards who had spoken earlier all remained silent. Some even simply used mana to seal off their five senses and began cultivating right there on the platform.

Yet no matter what they did, they could not dispel the envy on their faces.

"Enough. Stop making a fuss. The time has come."

Deng Yuantong glanced back, then looked ahead again at the gathered seeds below and said, "Lu He wins. Fifteen contribution points as his reward. One hour remains. Make haste."

The moment his words fell.

The palace suddenly went silent.

Every seed's heart tightened. Their gazes swiftly moved away from Lu He and turned toward the front.

Before their eyes, the twelve figures who had originally been seated began rising one after another, slowly walking toward the arenas ahead.

Qin Lie led the way.

As he passed Arena Seven, his gaze involuntarily swept over Lu He on the stage. He gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Behind him.

Zheng Jingren smiled and nodded in greeting as well.

Before long.

The twelve people had spread out before different arenas.

Lu He stood with his hands behind his back at the center of Arena Seven. His gaze swept over the other eight arenas, and a meaningful glint flashed through his eyes.

Including Qin Lie, six of them had already stepped onto the arenas.

The remaining six had formed pairs and stood below three separate arenas. Battle intent filled the air between them, even as they discussed something.

"Tsk. Some have already tacitly claimed their spots, while others still need to fight for theirs. Did they spar with each other in private?"

Lu He murmured, his gaze falling directly upon the two graceful figures whispering beneath Arena Seven.

A few breaths later.

They seemed to have reached a conclusion.

Tap, tap—

Footsteps rang out. A young woman with a baby face and exquisitely picturesque features slowly stepped forward, stopping at the edge of Arena Seven.

She looked at Lu He, her almond eyes curving as a smile lingered on her lips. "You're Junior Brother Lu He, right? Could you let Senior Sister have this one and step down on your own, like the others?"

She pointed toward the other arenas.

Lu He followed the direction of her finger.

At that moment, aside from himself, the other seeds on the arenas had all left without even fighting.

"Senior Sister, please."

Lu He withdrew his gaze and smiled noncommittally. Taking half a step forward, his battle intent surged explosively.

At this sight.

The woman could not help freezing, as though she had not expected this junior brother to still possess such soaring battle intent when facing people like them.

I shouldn't have gone first.

She thought to herself, her gaze unconsciously flicking toward the woman waiting below the arena. The other woman's pretty face was filled with teasing.

Her expression clearly said: You can't even handle one junior brother?

Her gaze turned back to Lu He.

"Then Junior Brother, be careful."

The smile on the woman's face faded somewhat. When her baby face tightened, it carried a touch of adorably fierce sharpness.

She wasted no more words.

In an instant, three Red Qiu True Talismans trembled wildly. Her flesh beneath the skin blossomed with a lustrous glow, and Dao patterns flowed at high speed.

Boom—

The arena shook violently. The woman's figure abruptly vanished, and when she reappeared, she was already before Lu He. Red light coiled around her fingertips as she raised her hand like a blade and slashed directly at him.

Fast—faster than ever before!

Behind her, the phantom of a Red Qiu formed faintly from condensed blood vitality and will. Following her movement, it too roared as it thrust out a claw.

The force of this palm-blade had been concentrated to the utmost extreme. Even a spell could be cleaved apart by it!

Opposite her.

"Good!"

Lu He's gaze sharpened as he exhaled a breath of turbid air.

With a thought, six Red Qiu True Talismans lit up. Golden-red radiance shone through his body, and six crimson suns rose within him.

Deep within his flesh, strands of Dao patterns ignited one after another with scarlet spiritual radiance. In the blink of an eye, they intertwined and outlined a Red Qiu phantom that seemed nearly corporeal.

A heat wave swept across the entire arena.

Lu He moved.

From absolute stillness to absolute motion took but an instant. His five fingers clenched tight. Rather than dodging or evading, he threw a punch at her palm-blade.

Clang—

A deafening boom like great bells and mighty chimes erupted. The bronze Dao patterns of Arena Seven all lit up, trembling so violently that fine cracks appeared. Shockwaves spread in every direction, forcing the seeds below to retreat.

"Body Metamorphosis perfection, six True Talismans in Will Metamorphosis—impossible!"

The woman's expression changed wildly.

The instant they made contact.

She felt an immense, terrifying force, condensed like gold and iron, flooding madly through her arm and into her body.

Wherever it passed, whether the Dao patterns woven through her flesh or the true intent emanating from her three True Talismans, all crumbled at the first touch.

This force reminded her of Qin Lie from a month ago—except it was even more outrageous!

Her awareness snapped back to reality.

Without time to consider how this junior brother before her had condensed six True Talismans, the woman endured the pain radiating from every limb and bone and began retreating frantically.

Though she had been born extraordinary and possessed a slight advantage in the Dao patterns of her flesh—

Before that fellow's six True Talismans, she had no way to contend at all.

She retreated quickly, but one figure was even faster.

Lu He stepped forward. Divine radiance burst brilliantly from his flesh as he pressed in relentlessly, carrying terrifying momentum like mountains collapsing and earth splitting apart.

One punch, two punches, three punches...

Every punch carried nearly twenty thousand jin of savage force. Without the slightest tenderness, like a violent storm, they smashed directly into Senior Sister's face.

The blood in Lu He's body was heavy as lead and mercury, blazing like fire. It drove the Red Qiu Dao patterns throughout his body into frenzied circulation.

During this process.

The Dao patterns and True Talismans tangled together. A strand of nearly solid scarlet qi appeared faintly deep within his dantian, tugging at the spiritual mechanisms throughout his body.

It was as though, with a single thought from Lu He, he could completely step into the extraordinary Qi-Feeding Realm.

"So this is Foundation Establishment, and this is the Vermilion Essence Spring. They aren't nearly as mysterious as people make them out to be.

"Body Metamorphosis condenses essence qi into fleshly Dao patterns. Will Metamorphosis condenses true intent into talismanic runes. Essence and spirit combine to forge the first thread of mana—that is all. The more True Talismans one has, the stronger the true intent contained within that first thread of mana, and the more easily it takes shape, nothing more.

"The mana that follows is merely the result of that first thread of mana absorbing the spiritual mechanisms of heaven and earth, reproducing and multiplying on its own."

Lu He's thoughts became clearer than they had ever been.

At this point, the Foundation Establishment realm of this world's immortal path held no more secrets for him.

"The Dao gave birth to One, One gave birth to Two, Two gave birth to Three. It was nothing more than that."

Coming back to himself.

Wait, he seemed to be fighting Senior Sister right now!

Lu He suddenly realized and hurriedly pulled back his strength.

Before him.

"Wuwuwu~ I'm not fighting anymore, Junior Brother, I'm not fighting anymore~"

That Senior Sister crouched on the arena, covering her head with both hands as she cried her heart out. Her once exquisite baby face had swollen into a pig's head.