Chapter 361: I Concede

Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii

(TL Note: Extra chapter thanks to Pastel5000 for buying the EPUB)

To be honest, when the Invincible Core provided such a detailed strategy, Lu Yang was astonished.

Previously, the Invincible Core only offered two options: escape or fight however you wish, making Lu Yang treat it like a glorified cultivation detection tool.

Who would have thought that when facing a formidable opponent, it would offer such a reliable plan?

No wonder it was recognized by the Everlasting Fairy!

“Hehe, now you see how amazing my Invincible Core is, right?” Everlasting Fairy, rarely smug, got up from her bed, conjured a chair, sat on it with her legs crossed, and swung her feet playfully.

“Show some respect to me in the future! I can do much more than this!”

“My shoulders are sore; give me a massage.” Everlasting Fairy gestured for Lu Yang to massage her.

Lu Yang thought that, as the junior disciple of Yun Zhi, the top cultivator of his generation, the number one sword cultivator at the Golden Core Stage, and the Dao Seeking Sect’s Sect Master’s disciple, it wasn’t unreasonable to massage a senior immortal.

“Is this pressure okay?”

“A little harder, hmm~ that’s about right.” Everlasting Fairy was quite satisfied with Lu Yang’s service.

…

The moment Bai Ming conceded, the audience erupted in shock. No one expected Bai Ming to lose so quickly.

Both were immortal sect disciples and both at the early stage of the Golden Core, so the gap shouldn’t have been that large.

“It’s said Bai Ming is proficient in Five Elements magic, but he only used gold and earth spells before giving up?”

“What else could he do? Stay buried underground forever?”

“Bai Ming lost so unfairly; he couldn’t even use his full abilities before being restrained.”

A cultivator with battle experience from Demon Subjugation Pass was displeased by such remarks and scolded, “Unfair? Who cares about that on the battlefield? Do you think the enemy will wait for you to use all your moves?”

The scolded person mumbled, unable to respond.

“Elder Kang, did you figure out what Lu Yang’s Golden Core is?” A group of Golden Core Stage cultivators gathered in front of the arena, still waiting for Elder Kang’s insights.

Though their talents meant they would never form a first-grade Golden Core in their lifetimes, it was still worthwhile to broaden their horizons, giving them bragging rights when they returned home.

Elder Kang was almost tugging his beard out in frustration, unable to determine what type of Golden Core Lu Yang possessed.

“I couldn’t pinpoint Bai Ming’s or Yan Tianzhi’s Golden Cores either, but there were at least clues—Bai Ming’s is related to the Five Elements, and Yan Tianzhi’s has something to do with suppression. But Lu Yang’s… I must admit, my old eyes can’t discern anything.”

Elder Kang shook his head. The Dao Seeking Sect’s Golden Cores were so varied and unique that even someone like him, who had seen countless Golden Cores and had the qualifications to appraise all Qingzhou cultivators’ cores, couldn’t recognize them all.

In the Imperial City Academy, there was a consensus: being able to identify three or four out of ten Dao Seeking Sect Golden Cores was considered having remarkable scholarship.

“Perhaps Lu Yang’s Golden Core is something entirely new, unlike anything seen before.”

The Golden Core Appraisal Event had only managed to roughly identify Lan Ting’s Primordial Chaos Golden Core and Meng Jingzhou’s Pure Yang Golden Core.

Out of courtesy to Meng Jingzhou, Elder Kang referred to his Single Bachelor’s Golden Core as Pure Yang Golden Core to make it sound better.

On the arena, Lan Ting was still fiercely battling Lu Yang’s lotus clone, but she remained distracted.

Earlier, she had caught a glimpse of Lu Yang’s fight with Bai Ming out of the corner of her eye, and with just one strike of Arhat Fist, Bai Ming’s hair had completely fallen out.

She was worried that Lu Yang’s clone would throw away the Qingfeng Sword and hit her with a set of Arhat Fist as well.

“Staying away from the clone is the safest.”

Lan Ting distanced herself from Lu Yang’s clone and took out a small palm-sized box from her identity jade token.

“What is that?” Lu Yang’s clone used his divine sense to probe it. Inside the box was a thick stack of talismans, and at the bottom of the box was a formation that seemed oddly familiar to him.

Lan Ting didn’t keep him guessing. “After returning to the Immortal Palace, I researched the automatic skewer formation day and night. Unfortunately, my talent in formations is limited, and I couldn’t perfect it. The bamboo skewers always shot out at an incredible speed.”

“So, I changed my approach. If bamboo skewers could be propelled by the formation, why not talismans? Based on that idea, I made a few modifications—shrinking the formation and replacing the skewers with talismans, just like this.”

Lan Ting aimed the box at Lu Yang’s clone and activated the formation. The talismans shot out with a swish, transforming into lightning, flames, wind blades, and other shapes mid-air. Each was meticulously crafted by Lan Ting, and each could severely injure a Golden Core Stage cultivator, making Lu Yang’s eyelids twitch.

Boom—

Crack—

Snap—

Each talisman manifested a different attack, and they struck without pause, one after another, pounding Lu Yang’s clone with varying sounds.

Qingfeng Sword blocked in front of him, his wrist trembling as he deflected the relentless attacks.

The talismans exploded, raising a cloud of dust on the field. As the box of talismans was exhausted, the dust settled, revealing Lu Yang still largely intact.

“Quite impressive, Senior Brother Lu Yang. But what about double the attack?”

Lan Ting smirked and pulled out two more boxes filled with talismans, aiming them at Lu Yang’s clone.

Just as she was about to unleash another round of attacks, Lu Yang’s main body walked over with a smile. “Bai Ming has already conceded, so you’re the last one.”

“Conceded?” Lan Ting was stunned. She had been so focused on launching talismans that she hadn’t noticed what was happening on Bai Ming’s side. Had he lost already?

She turned her head and saw Bai Ming sitting on the judge’s seat, looking disgruntled.

She turned back to face Lu Yang and his clone, realizing her chances of winning weren’t great. “Fine, I’ll concede too.”

Meanwhile, Meng Jingzhou and Yan Tianzhi were locked in a fierce battle. Yan Tianzhi seemed like a true Taotie, devouring everything in sight with ferocity.

Meng Jingzhou was even fiercer. He opened his mouth and used the divine ability he had just learned from Lu Yang, “Swallowing Heaven.” The spiritual energy on the arena was immediately sucked dry and held in his mouth.

“Pui–!”

The spiritual energy compressed into a perfectly shaped sphere in his mouth, which he spat at Yan Tianzhi.

Yan Tianzhi dared not touch the spiritual energy sphere and somersaulted out of its path. Meng Jingzhou sneered coldly. “Let’s see how many times you can dodge—pui–, pui–, pui–!”

Three spiritual energy spheres blocked Yan Tianzhi’s escape routes. Yan Tianzhi’s eyes narrowed, and another tattoo flashed on his body.

“Shield Ghost!”

A ghost king wielding a shield appeared behind Yan Tianzhi, brandishing its claws. The ghost king’s shield blocked the spiritual energy spheres, which exploded upon contact.

This was one of Yan Tianzhi’s battle tattoos from his Foundation Building Stage, the Shield Ghost, known for its exceptional defense, though it had no offensive capabilities.

“I don’t believe this—pui–!”

Spiritual energy spheres continuously shot out of Meng Jingzhou’s mouth, with the attack duration determined by how long he could keep spitting.

Meng Jingzhou spat until his mouth went dry. He pulled out a gourd from his identity jade token, took a drink, and advised, “Brother, let me give you some advice. Concede early, and we all save trouble. Don’t make me beat you so bad you can’t even crawl, or what would that look like when word gets out?”

Yan Tianzhi, furious, spoke each word deliberately: “I’ll… con… cede.”

Meng Jingzhou was overjoyed. That was easier than expected. He jumped off the stage and joined Lu Yang.

Then he heard Yan Tianzhi finish his sentence.

“In.. your… dreams!”

Meng Jingzhou: “…”

(End of the chapter)