The Lotus Seeds Ripened

Bang!

Before their fists collided, a look of admiration flashed in Cao Qingyang's eyes.

The sound of fists colliding was crisp. Xu Qi'an leaned back and was about to fall to the ground when suddenly, his abdominal muscles trembled like ripples on water, exerting force in an illogical way, and forcefully pulled him back.

Cao Qingyang retreated repeatedly, trying to dissipate the force while swinging his aching arm.

The tense atmosphere on the periphery suddenly froze.

After dodging the blade's edge, Chu Yuanzhen and Li Miaozhen stopped, neither offering assistance nor retaliating, and stared at Xu Qi'an in astonishment.

No way.

Tianji and Tianshu were both shocked and furious. They stared intently at Xu Qi'an, watching his every move and the subtle changes in his body.

An unbelievable thought arose in their minds.

The evil Daoists of the Earth Sect squinted, glaring at Xu Qi'an with malice. The Blue Lotus Daoist's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he sneered, "Cao Qingyang, how much longer are you going to play this game?"

From the perspective of those within the Daoist School system, Cao Qingyang was showing mercy and deliberately going easy on him.

"That punch just now..."

The martial arts masters looked at each other in bewilderment.

As high-ranking martial artists, they were far more knowledgeable than the Daoist priests of the Earth Sect.

The thud of that punch, and the subtle movements of Alliance Leader Cao as he staggered backward to dissipate the force, all proved that he wasn't acting; he was genuinely knocked back by Xu Qi'an's punch.

call.

Xu Qi'an exhaled a breath of stale air, suppressing his inner elation and preventing joy from creeping onto his face. He maintained his indifferent demeanor and slowly said:

"I've reached the fifth rank!"

Actually, what he really wanted to say was: I've become a terrestrial immortal!

However, this statement still caused a huge sensation among the "audience".

He had indeed reached the fifth rank. He had said before that he wanted to take this opportunity to advance to the fifth rank. Li Miaozhen's emotions were very complicated. She was happy for him, but also disappointed.

She is the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect. What is a Holy Maiden? Among her peers in the Heavenly Sect, only those with the most outstanding talent and the greatest potential can become Holy Maidens.

The Heavenly Sect holds a lofty and unparalleled position in the martial arts world, a position that commands respect and awe. Every disciple of the Heavenly Sect, if placed anywhere in the martial arts world, would be considered a prodigy.

Li Miaozhen was the cream of the crop among the cream of the crop.

She's already reached the fourth rank in her early twenties. What level of cultivation will she reach when she blossoms into a full-blown begonia?

The leader of the Heavenly Sect once said that the current generation of holy sons and daughters have a very high chance of advancing to the third rank and transcending the level of mortals.

Li Miaozhen had been proud for twenty years, until she met Xu Qi'an. She suddenly realized that her talent, which she was so proud of, seemed to be only considered good in comparison to him.

"A prodigy, a gifted genius"

Yang Cuixue, her expression excited, said in a sigh-like tone, "I have seen countless outstanding young talents, but Xu Yinluo was the best among them. His talent is truly astonishing."

"To break through in the heat of battle and advance to the fifth rank, Xu Yinluo is truly remarkable. Rumors in the martial world say that his talent is no less than that of the Prince of Zhenbei, and this is not an exaggeration," Xiao Yuenu remarked.

Her face was veiled, so her expression couldn't be seen, but starlight suddenly filled her eyes, which were like autumn water.

Capital Evaluation joined the Nightwatchers at the end of the year. At that time, he was only at the Peak Essence Refining. In less than a year, he was promoted from a peak ninth-rank fast hand to a fifth-rank Transformation stage hand.

The two top-ranking secret agents, Tianji and Tianshu, couldn't help but recall Xu Qi'an's information.

This talent surpasses even that of Chu Yuanzhen.

Chu Yuanzhen resigned from his official post to practice martial arts, but he was well past the age when he should have been learning martial arts, so no one thought he could achieve anything in the Martial Dao.

But he rose to prominence, proving everyone wrong.

In just a few years, he openly challenged the fourth-rank Golden Gong, a talent that caused a great sensation in the capital at the time. Wei Yuan praised him as the number one swordsman in the capital.

That's the reason.

Xu Qi'an's talent was even greater than Chu Yuanzhen's.

If such a person is not killed, he will surely become a great threat in the future.

Qiu Chanyi's nose and eyes were red, and her cheeks were still wet with tears. At this moment, her small mouth was slightly open, and she was in great shock.

"Thank you for your kindness, Alliance Leader Cao."

Xu Qi'an expressed his sincere gratitude.

Cao Qingyang nodded and said, "Your Golden Body is already at its end. Without this protective divine skill, even if you reach the fifth rank of Transformation Realm, it will be a matter of one punch for me. Admit defeat."

Physical defense is the foundation of a martial artist's close-quarters combat; without a body of steel, how can one withstand an opponent's attacks?

Xu Qi'an refused to admit defeat, "How will you know if you don't try?"

Cao Qingyang said in a deep voice, "This time, I will not hold back."

In the lingering echo, his body was torn apart by the wind; it was just a blur. The purple-clad leader flashed in front of Xu Qi'an and punched him in the face.

Xu Qi'an's figure disappeared, and he appeared to Cao Qingyang's left.

"Has Alliance Leader Cao forgotten my unique skill?"

Xu Qi'an attacked quickly at close range, his fists and palms striking Cao Qingyang with resounding clangs.

He disappeared again, avoiding Cao Qingyang's back, and reappeared on the other side of the purple-robed alliance leader, ready to launch a new round of close-quarters combat.

However, Cao Qingyang's martial arts intuition was equally sharp. He grabbed Xu Qi'an's wrist with his backhand and tilted his body, turning himself into a collapsing stone pillar.

Xu Qi'an stopped first, then used his fists to strike alternately, knocking the collapsed stone pillar back.

Bang bang bang! Crack crack crack!

The two relied solely on their physical skills to create a stunning effect that shocked the onlookers. Their moves were continuous, flawless, fierce, and powerful.

If it were any other system at the same level, they would have been killed ten or eight times over in such a fierce hand-to-hand combat.

The onlookers were surprised to find that, at some point, Xu Yinluo was actually suppressing Chief Cao.

Xu Yinluo seemed to have the ability to foresee the future, always managing to dodge or intercept Cao Mengzhu's attacks before launching a fierce counterattack.

Although Cao Mengzhu, relying on his indestructible physique, managed to ignore Xu Yinluo's attacks to some extent, it was a fact that he was at a disadvantage.

This was only because Xu Yinluo's Vajra Divine Skill was on the verge of collapse. If he were at his peak, Alliance Leader Cao would probably be completely overwhelmed. Many people couldn't help but think.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an's face suddenly flushed red, and his moves froze. Such a huge opening could not be ignored. Cao Qingyang seized the opportunity and punched Xu Qi'an in the chest, causing him to stagger backward.

Then came the relentless attacks: a punch followed by a flying kick, then a pullback, a barrage of one-inch punches, then elbow strikes and whip kicks, then another pullback, and another powerful combo.

Bang!

The golden light suddenly surged and then completely dissipated.

The Vajra Divine Skill has been broken.

Xu Qi'an slapped Cao Qingyang in the chest, then twisted his wrist so that his palm was facing up, and slid it up along the other's hard chest before slapping Cao Qingyang's chin.

Thump, thump, thump. Alliance Leader Cao took a few steps back, feeling as if his jaw had almost dislocated.

Xu Qi'an ended the contest, cupping his hands in a fist salute. "I lost."

It seems that Alliance Leader Cao is indeed more skilled. Just as everyone thought this, they heard Cao Qingyang say:

"You're injured. If you were at your peak, I might not be your match."

Does Chief Cao mean that he can't defeat Xu Qi'an in terms of physical skills alone?

A series of strange gazes were fixed on Xu Qi'an.

Just then, from the cold pond, the nine-colored lotus flower burst forth with magnificent rosy light, soaring straight into the sky.

A few breaths later, the rosy glow dissipated, and the nine-colored flower bud floating on the surface of the pond slowly bloomed, petal by petal.

All eyes shifted from Xu Qi'an to the lotus flower, and in an instant, countless people began to breathe rapidly.

Suddenly, a massive amount of black mist, like a waterfall, gushed out from between Master Lanlian's brows.

The black mist condensed into a blurry human figure, moving slowly but actually fast, rushing towards the icy pool and the nine-colored lotus before anyone could react.

The Earth Sect Master's clone had actually been hiding inside Master Blue Lotus's body all along, deceiving everyone.

He wanted to seize the lotus flower with lightning speed and escape before the expert from Chuzhou could react.

Yes, from beginning to end, the Earth Sect Dao Capital believed that the mysterious powerful figure was hiding nearby.

Cao Qingyang used his palm as a blade, unleashing a slash of blade intent that easily sliced through the black mist. However, the black mist quickly coalesced again, without sustaining any real damage.

By the pond, the Golden Lotus Daoist, who had been sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, finally opened them.

"Black Lotus, I've been waiting for you for so long."

As he spoke, the Golden Lotus Daoist's brow collapsed, resembling a black hole, and a swirling vortex of energy appeared out of thin air, sucking in the Black Lotus Daoist's clone.

Master Jinlian immediately closed her eyes, remaining motionless as if she were a stone statue.

He was to fight the avatar of the Earth Sect Leader on another battlefield.

Master Jinlian resolved a threat, but in doing so, she also handed over the lotus flower to the Martial Arts Alliance.

The Lotus Daoist of the Earth Sect, the secret agents of the Prince of Huai, and other forces joined forces to compete for the lotus seeds.

In response to the threats from these "lackeys," Cao Qingyang retaliated with a swift and powerful strike, sweeping across the entire area.

"Puff"

Everyone present, except for those at the fourth rank, coughed up blood as the blade's intent swept across the battlefield.

Only one person dared to stand in his way.

Cao Qingyang narrowed his eyes, staring at the young man who was pushing his luck, and said coldly:

"Xu Yinluo, our duel is over. This time, I won't hold back. I've given you the face you deserved. Now, even if I slap you to death, no one in the martial world can say a bad word about it."

Tianji and Tianshu, who were in shock and anger, suddenly felt that the development of events was exactly what they wanted.

The two were worried that Xu Qi'an was difficult to kill, but he was protected by the Yuezhi Manor and by some self-proclaimed chivalrous people from the martial arts alliance.

Suddenly, things took an unexpected turn.

Cao Qingyang was determined to obtain the Nine-Colored Lotus. He had already yielded and given Xu Qi'an face. Now that Xu Qi'an was disrespecting him and obstructing him in every way, even if Cao Qingyang injured or killed someone, no one could say anything about it.

The disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society were greatly alarmed and shouted:

"Young Master Xu, you have done your best. You don't need to guard the lotus seeds any longer."

"Young Master Xu, please step back, please step back."

They truly felt that it was enough; Xu Yinluo had done his utmost, given it his all. The disciples of the Heaven and Earth Society even felt that, compared to Xu Yinluo's safety, the lotus seeds were no longer important.

Xu Qi'an ignored him, looked at Cao Qingyang, and smiled, "It's not that I want to stop you, but there's someone else."

He reached into his robes and pulled out a yellow talisman, igniting it with his remaining energy.

He cried out, "Imperial Preceptor, save me! I am Xu Qi'an!"

P. S.: It's holiday time, and I need to take the bus home, which is why I've been late with updates. I think everyone understands, right? I'm so tired, I've been up until now, and my mind is still foggy. This chapter is a bit short today, please forgive me. I'll make up for it tomorrow.