Watching Lin Xian bathe in the Thunder Tribulation, Zhang Zhiwei felt even worse than if he had lost himself.
This was no longer a battle between opponents. It was no different from the Baby Cup.
He had become nothing more than a tool.
"Perfected Lin, how much longer do you need to be struck?" Zhang Zhiwei asked with a dark expression.
"Not much longer." Lin Xian's divine sense flickered as he calmly said, "Another half day or so should do it. But the force needs to be stronger. That just now neither hurt nor scratched."
"My apologies for not making Perfected Lin use his full strength."
The Old Celestial Master took a deep breath. When he looked up again, his eyes shone brightly. What came next was no longer a battle of personal cultivation. The Celestial Master Sword and Celestial Master Seal rose into the air.
"The sixty-fifth Celestial Master, Zhang Zhiwei, has brought out the legendary Three-Five Male-Female Evil-Slaying Divine Swords and the Yangping Zhidu Technique! Those are Immortal Artifacts passed down by the ancestral Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling!"
Some sharp-eyed Otherworlders of the Dao Sect shouted excitedly, their faces flushed. Being able to witness a clash between such masters made the price of admission worthwhile even if they died!
In midair, the Old Celestial Master wielded the Celestial Master Sword to draw down heavenly lightning while vigorously stamping seals with the Celestial Master Seal, scattering yellow paper and drawing one Five Thunder Talisman after another. He fired them into the sky, expanding the range of the sea of lightning.
Carrying out a heavenly decree to deliver tribulation had more than a hint of settling personal scores.
"Are these talismans?"
Bathing within the Thunder Tribulation, Lin Xian keenly sensed the heavenly lightning growing stronger. His heart stirred. While his physical body continued to be tempered in the sea of lightning, his Divine Sense split into several strands and roamed every corner of Mount Longhu.
He was searching for every contestant participating in the Luotian Grand Ceremony, then challenging them to battle.
After all, he had also asked Feng Zhenghao to secretly register him for the Luotian Grand Ceremony.
Beating up the Celestial Master was easy enough, and entering the Luotian Grand Ceremony while he was at it was only natural.
"Damn, you entered the Luotian Grand Ceremony too?"
Listening to the divine sense ringing by his ear, Zhang Chulan looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"What, do I not look like a young Otherworlder?" Lin Xian asked faintly.
"Other than looking like a young Otherworlder, what part of you looks young?"
Zhang Chulan grumbled, then wisely recognized the situation and decisively gave up competing for first place.
"Ah, I'm fighting the Divine Bridge Immortal? Seriously?"
At another venue, when Otherworlders such as Zhuge Qing learned that their opponent was the Divine Bridge Immortal, they looked at the still-unfinished Thunder Tribulation overhead and obediently gave up as well.
The rewards of the Luotian Grand Ceremony were good, but they were not worth more than their own lives.
"Master never said that competing in a tournament meant fighting immortals." Many young Otherworlders turned pale.
Even the Old Celestial Master could not defeat the Divine Bridge Immortal. What could they possibly do? They had better be careful not to get reported for feeding themselves to him.
Thus, with everyone voluntarily forfeiting, the champion of the Luotian Grand Ceremony was decided in a mere ten minutes.
"Lu Jin, I'm here to claim my reward."
Lin Xian's divine sense found Lu Jin, one of the Ten Elders. Before the competition began, he had promised to pass the Connecting Heaven Talisman to the winner of the Luotian Grand Ceremony.
Lin Xian had assumed that even if Lu Jin did not go back on his word, he would at least hesitate.
Yet he had not expected that, upon hearing Lin Xian wanted the Connecting Heaven Talisman to fight the Old Celestial Master—
Lu Jin did not hesitate in the slightest. With incomparable decisiveness, he took out the Connecting Heaven Talisman and laughed heartily. "It's merely a Connecting Heaven Talisman. Immortal, please take it. Whoever beats up the Old Celestial Master, I, Lu Jin, will definitely lend my support!"
"Patriarch Lu, you're truly forthright." Lin Xian smiled faintly. Since he was taking payment for the job, he asked, "How do you want me to hit him?"
"I can choose how you hit him?" Lu Jin's eyes lit up. Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Smack his upper dantian! Hit his upper dantian!"
"Got it. Just watch." Lin Xian laughed, displaying professional ethics. His divine sense returned like lightning and merged with his physical body, both ascending together.
At the same time, the system reward for first place in the Luotian Grand Ceremony arrived: one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, Grand Luo Grotto Vision.
It observed the world from a unique perspective, perceived the universe, and saw through the essence of all things!
In an instant, the entire world was no longer a singular existence in Lin Xian's eyes. Instead, Causality intertwined and interlaced, influencing one another.
He seemed to see his Self of Dao and Departed Self chanting scriptures and praying blessings for him.
"An immortal's technique truly is extraordinary. It has allowed me to glimpse the Dao Palace domain ahead of time. That realm concerns variables of the past and future, profound beyond measure."
Lin Xian sighed, but this transformation was not the end, because the Connecting Heaven Talisman analyzed by the system had arrived.
"System, you're awesome! 666!!!"
"Once I become an emperor and ascend as an immortal, I'll definitely help you become an Advanced System with everything I have. World Trees, Universe Seeds, Primordial Chaos Purple Qi—you can eat whatever you want."
Lin Xian, still only in the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm, talked big without hesitation, feeding Void empty promises.
System 10086: "Hehe."
It was used to it. If there ever came a day when it could not eat the host's empty promises, it would actually feel a little unaccustomed.
"Ding-dong, your Connecting Heaven Talisman has been credited."
A streak of light flew into Lin Xian's body, making him increasingly compatible with heaven and earth. Every gesture carried a natural Dao rhythm, as though heaven and man had become one, as though he had become part of the universe.
"So that's how it is. So that's how it is."
With the system's assistance, Lin Xian instantly grasped how to use the Connecting Heaven Talisman. Its essence lay in connecting to heaven, not in the talisman itself.
Talismans were the spirit of heaven and earth, while registers were the names and seals of ghosts and gods.
When Daoists used talismans and registers, they first had to write the contents, then submit them to patriarchs, ghosts, and gods for approval. Only in the end could they mobilize the power of heaven and earth.
The Connecting Heaven Talisman, however, refused to let middlemen take a cut. It communicated directly with heaven, earth, and the universe, bypassing middle management to connect directly with the will of the Great Universe and mobilize its resources.
One who held the Connecting Heaven Talisman was no longer a humble beggar, but an equal partner of heaven and earth!
No longer a descendant begging patriarchs, ghosts, and gods for favor, but an immortal recorded in the heavenly register.
The Connecting Heaven Talisman was an immortal register, an immortal rank.
Combined with the immortal perspective brought by Grand Luo Grotto Vision, it was also an immortal status.
The two combined into one, forming a genuine immortal rank.
At that moment, Lin Xian's body stood equal to heaven, perceiving all heavens. He seemed to transform into the legendary Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, wreaking havoc through Tianshi Mansion, bound by no restraints, seated high above the Nine Heavens, looking down upon every rule of the Human World.
That included the Five Thunder Talisman Zhang Zhiwei had cast!
"By decree!"
Lin Xian shouted, and the Five Thunder Talisman Zhang Zhiwei had drawn actually broke free of the Old Celestial Master's control and struck back at him.
"Rumble!"
After a bolt of heavenly lightning, the Old Celestial Master was blackened all over. The damage was minor, but the humiliation was immense.
"Old Celestial Master, this punch is from Lu Jin!"
Lin Xian flew out of the sea of lightning and threw a punch, then immediately followed with another as he shouted, "This punch is from Zhang Huaiyi!"
When the third punch came, Zhang Zhiwei, now sporting a pair of panda eyes, could not help shouting, "And whose punch is this one from?"
"Sorry." Lin Xian smiled awkwardly and cupped his fists. "I got carried away. How about you put this one on Lu Jin's tab too?"
Fine, fine, fine. So that was how he wanted to play it.
Watching Lin Xian fearlessly use heavenly lightning to temper his body, Zhang Zhiwei took a deep breath. "A hit is a hit, but Immortal Lin, using a Five Thunder Talisman to strike the Celestial Master on Mount Longhu is a little excessive."
"Ding-dong, system notification: mission limit has been raised." [Side Mission: Claim first place in the Luotian Grand Ceremony (Normal) completed] [Main Mission: Defeat the Old Celestial Master on Mount Longhu (Normal) completed] ... [Main Mission: Defeat the Old Celestial Master on Mount Longhu (Rare) incomplete]
"Phase two, huh?"
Lin Xian stood with his hands behind his back, utterly composed. This was exactly what he had been waiting for!
The normal Old Celestial Master could drop the Tranquilizing Mind Divine Spell to suppress inner demons.
What could the rare Old Celestial Master drop?
He was not greedy. A Five Thunder Righteous Method would do. He could bring it back to the Shrouding the Heavens universe to temper his body and refine his Primordial Spirit every day.
Please vote with monthly tickets. Tomorrow, One Person will speedrun to its finale!!!