Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 358: Exchanging Blows

Boom! Boom! Boom!

On the stage, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou clashed fist to fist, their footwork and movements so precise that even the slightest shift allowed them to evade attacks. Noticing the control they exhibited over their power, the Golden Core cultivators in the audience felt their eyes twitch nervously as they gulped. Despite the intensity of their duel, not a single stray wisp of energy leaked out; it’s hard to believe that they’re only at the Basic Golden Core Stage.

No...could such mastery truly belong to Golden Core cultivators at all?

“You have the Single’s Curse Fist! Taking on three at once should be nothing!”

“Nonsense! My Single’s Curse Fist only works on men. It’ll even boost their combat power! You have the Lu-Style Arhat Fist. Why fear three measly opponents?”

“You must be joking. If I use the Arhat Fist, even if Lan Ting spares me, the whole Moon Laurel Immortal Palace won’t let me off! Besides, didn’t you want to be in first place? I’ll just concede it to you!”

“Oh, I’m not in such a rush. First place should still be yours.”

And thus, their battle ensued—for second place.

In one-on-one fights, they feared no one. But one against three? Unless their brains had been wholly replaced by the Unbeatable Golden Core, no one would take such a big gamble.

Lu Yang tried to jump off the stage, only for Meng Jingzhou to yank him back by the shoulder.

Meng Jingzhou tried to jump off the stage, only for Lu Yang to grab his wrist and hurl him backward.

The two scrambled to leap off the stage, but their attempts were thwarted by the other party.

After a heated tussle, the two were in a deadlock and tumbled off the stage together.

Bai Ming stood and applauded. “A tie for first place! Let’s give them a round of applause!”

Skipping the post-match commentary, Bai Ming leaped onto the stage from the judges’ platform, his platinum-patterned spear in hand. Lan Ting and Yan Tianzhi followed close behind.

Bai Ming addressed them with a frosty expression, though it almost cracked with schadenfreude. “Congratulations, Senior Brother Lu, Senior Brother Meng Jingzhou. I didn’t expect you to defeat so many talented Foundation Establishment cultivators and claim victory!”

Lu Yang protested, “I think there’s some misunderstanding between us! Lan Ting, you know me. I never bully juniors or those weaker than me!”

“Attack!” Bai Ming didn’t give Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou any chance to speak. This opportunity to spar is hard to come by. If we waste it, who knows when the next time will be?

As the most gifted disciple in the Five-Elements Sect, it was challenging for him to find worthy opponents. None of his peers at the same realm could defeat him, while fighting those at higher realms felt off. Only the disciples from the other four immortal sects could be his rivals.

As Bai Ming thrusted his spear upward, a white mark was drawn on the stage.

Lu Yang raised his sword in defense and deflected the spear tip, on full alert as if he was facing a formidable adversary.

“Not bad, your spear attack. I didn’t feel such pressure when I was in a violent battle with those Foundation Establishment cultivators just now!” Excitement began to pump through Lu Yang, his eyes gleaming with restlessness. Since they want a fight, let’s have a real one!

Wasn’t this the reason for coming to the Qing Province Grand Ceremony—to engage with peers of the same age?

Provoked by Lu Yang, Bai Ming ignited the Sun True Fire at the tip of his spear. The surrounding temperature soared, the heatwave penetrating even the protective arrays and reaching the audience below the stage.

Lu Yang raised an eyebrow. He remembered Bai Ming unleashing the Jinwu Crow Flame at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Looks like after advancing to the Golden Core Stage, his Jinwu Crow Flame has evolved into the Sun True Fire, equally renowned as the Pure Yang True Fire.

Of course, in terms of raw power, it can’t match Meng Jingzhou’s Pure Yang True Fire, which is the result of two Single’s Golden Cores. No Single’s Spirit Root cultivator in history had dared to go to such extremes.

“Break!” Lu Yang shouted as the sound of his Qingfeng Sword slicing through the air reverberated through the stage. Spectators at lower realms winced, as if needles had pricked their eyes.

“It’s sword qi!” a Golden Core cultivator in the audience gasped. He had heard that once sword qi reached a certain realm, even looking at it could harm the body, though he had never witnessed someone attaining such a realm, yet here was Lu Yang, a Basic Golden Core cultivator whose sword qi could already injure people.

The sword qi sliced through the Sun True Fire, scattering embers that scorched small pits into the stage.

Not even the battle between Heir Yan’s team and Meng Jingzhou had left a scratch on the stage.

Lu Yang laughed heartily, brimming with heroic grandeur. “Lan Ting, you and Bai Ming can come at me together!”

Lan Ting smiled faintly. “As you wish, Senior Brother Lu Yang.” Her skirt’s sash fluttered like a swimming dragon, coiling around Lu Yang before snapping taut, aiming to bind him.

“Shrinking Earth!”

Having anticipated her move, Lu Yang darted underground, dodging the waistband.

“This little girl is quite interesting; she also has an immortal physique. You’ve got a fight on your hands.” Inside his mental space, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy was observing the battle in the real world.

“Lan Ting also has an immortal physique?” Lu Yang had assumed she had a Single Spirit Root.

“Yes, she has a Genesis Immortal Physique. Legend says that this was the first immortal physique humanity mastered. Before the cultivation system was established, the mainstream cultivation method of humans was Qi Training—drawing qi into the body and absorbing myriad qi from nature. Those who succeeded were called Qi Refining Practitioners.

“However, the cultivation method of Qi Refining Practitioners was ultimately not universal, so humanity gradually abandoned it.

“The first Qi Refining Practitioner had a Genesis Immortal Physique. He pioneered humanity’s cultivation, leading humans to defend against demon beasts and natural calamities, allowing humanity to anchor their footing in an era of savagery. ‘Genesis first stirred; dawn of humanity.’ That was how the name ‘Genesis Immortal Physique’ came about.

“So, do you want me to help you fight?”

“No need. I’ll test the Unbeatable Golden Core first.”

~~~

Yan Tianzhi silently walked toward Meng Jingzhou, a faint glow tracing from his back to his neck. It was only then that Meng Jingzhou noticed his opponent had a tattoo.

A phantom demon beast emerged behind him. It had the body of a goat, teeth of a tiger, eyes in its armpits, and wails of a crying infant, grating on one’s nerves.

“Taotie?” The crowd below the stage buzzed with confusion.

Someone in charge of scouting talents for their sect explained to the crowd, “That’s the battle tattoo of the Prison Suppression Sect. From the Foundation Establishment Stage, disciples can inscribe the images of demons and monsters onto their bodies to obtain their power and mighty abilities. Each higher realm they progress to allows them to add the tattoo of another demon beast.

“However, it’s my first time seeing a cultivator with a taotie battle tattoo at the Golden Core Stage.”

“So you’re a senior brother from the Prison Suppression Sect. Our elders hold your sect’s battle tattoo method in high esteem.” Meng Jingzhou cupped his fists. “Meng Jingzhou, Dao-Seeking Sect.”

“Yan Tianzhi, Prison Suppression Sect.” Yan Tianzhi opened his mouth, and the phantom taotie grew more distinct, almost as if it were alive.

“Swallowing Heaven Devouring Earth!”

A hurricane howled across the stage, its terrifying suction force threatening to drag Meng Jingzhou off his feet.

“Heaven-Shaking Six Forms: Quaking Earth Swaying Mountains!”

Meng Jingzhou remained unflustered, countering with punches that rumbled like muffled thunder, each strike compressing the air into shockwaves. Yan Tianzhi swallowed them all, but the acute pain in his abdomen forced him to interrupt his taotie ability.

As Meng Jingzhou gathered his inner force, it felt as if the heavens were shaking, the earth was quaking, and gales were surging with frightening momentum. On the other hand, Yan Tianzhi was like a taotie in human form, devouring all things.

Deafening booms resounded with every collision of their massive fists, sending chills down people’s spines. Sweat streamed down from their faces, which were wreathed in exhilaration.

The two had almost blurred into afterimages. Those with weaker eyesight couldn’t even catch sight of their figures. The top eight contestants of the tournament could keep track of their movements—but only barely, and their spirit platforms couldn’t keep up.

“Is this really the combat power of Basic Golden Core cultivators?” The Golden Core cultivators in the audience were filled with disbelief, wondering if the golden cores they had cultivated had been fed to dogs.

“What kind of golden cores are theirs... oh right, isn’t there a Golden Core Appreciation Convention? Bring those people here to take a look!”

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