Half a month later, beneath Fallen Phoenix Mountain, in the shadow of the newly inaugurated Debate Platform, lay an area known as the Trial Hall. Previously referred to as the Dueling Platforms, but with the opening of the Debate Platform, it was expanded and outfitted with spacious chambers, collectively referred to as the Trial Hall. The purpose of these chambers was to provide rentable spaces for residents of the inner city to experiment with spells and refine their protective s.

The rental fees were reasonable, starting at a single spirit stone for a brief session, with costs rising depending on the duration. For those seeking disciples from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect as sparring partners, would pay the price starting at a hefty hundred spirit stones.

Recently, the seventh chamber of the Trial Hall had practically been monopolized. Every morning, two figures would appear without fail. Their sparring sessions had become a familiar occurrence to the hall attendants. At this moment, anyone entering the seventh chamber would hear the echoes of loud shouts.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Emerald-green light danced through the air like a school of fish gliding through water. Seven wooden flying blades—one large and six smaller—spun around Luo Chen with increasing precision. His eyes locked onto his sparring partner, he formed a hand seal and shouted, “Combine!”

The seven blades merged into a whirling formation, surging forward and cutting through the air with precision.

“Good timing!”

With a loud shout from the other side, a dazzling golden light erupted. The two forces clashed; the blades held for three breaths before scattering, clattering to the ground like defeated birds.

Luo Chen showed no disappointment. For a mid-grade enchanted artifact to withstand a supreme-grade one for even a few moments was a feat. His Grandmaster level Traction had enabled him to swiftly form the blade formation—an edge few others possessed.

This was only possible because of his Grandmaster level Traction, allowing him to quickly form a blade formation. If it were an ordinary person, they wouldn't even have time to form the blade formation before being overwhelmed by that golden light. But the match was far from over.

"Big Brother Qin, watch out!"

He slammed his palm onto the ground, summoning a sea of green vines that writhed like serpents, lunging toward Qin Liangchen. Once entangled, what awaited the opponent would be a deadly strangling force.

Qin Liangchen laughed heartily, stepped back, and with a flick of his hand, released a barrage of golden light. Upon encountering the golden light, the green vines were continuously torn apart.

Not only that, but a streak of golden light broke away and shot rapidly toward Luo Chen.

Luo Chen maintained his steady breaths and observed the golden light without panic, soon discerning them as golden needles. The golden needles moved at an astonishing speed, quickly closing in on Luo Chen. Yet, he remained composed,

Luo Chen leapt back with a swift tap of his foot, his agility reminiscent of a soaring roc. The needles chased him relentlessly, but each time he evaded with graceful precision. Despite their extreme speed, the needles couldn’t even graze the hem of his clothing.

Qin Liangchen laughed and chided, "Your agility is incredible, better than the late Leaping Tiger!”." As he spoke, he recalled the golden needles back to his hand.

Luo Chen grinned. He raised his hands, summoning ten flickering sparks of flame. In an instant, ten tiny sparks appeared, glowing brilliantly like fireflies.

Seeing this, Qin Liangchen’s expression grew slightly stern as he conjured a massive earthen shield. “Come on, let me see how much your Blazing Fireflies have improved!”

Luo Chen didn’t reply. With a casual flick, the sparks shot forward. As they traveled, each expanded into a fireball the size of a washbasin. They slammed into the earthen shield with explosive force.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The relentless explosions and massive counterforce forced Qin Liangchen to stagger backward.

Suddenly, Qin Liangchen's gaze sharpened. Within his pupils, he caught sight of a single spark bypassing the shield's defensive path, coming at him from the side.

"Good kid, that’s downright sneaky!" Qin Liangchen cursed. He quickly activated a water-element talisman. A water arrow shot out, colliding with the fireball. Steam burst into the air, scalding his face.

Sizzle...

The instant water and fire met, they erupted in intense heat. Scalding steam spread out.

Qin Liangchen retreated swiftly, feeling a stinging pain on his face—it had been burned by the proximity of the steam. Grimacing, he caught sight from the corner of his eye that ten more sparks had formed in Luo Chen’s hands, making him shiver involuntarily.

"No, no, that's enough for today!"

Luo Chen immediately dispelled the Blazing Fireflies, controlling them with ease, exuding a casual grace.

“Phew!” He exhaled deeply, his expression no longer stern, and a smile spread across his face. "Big Brother Qin, can we call it my win today?"

"You win, you brat—nearly burned me to death," Qin Liangchen grumbled while casting a Heal on himself. "I’ve noticed you’re getting sneakier. You never revealed before that your Blazing Fireflies could change direction."

Generally speaking, low-tier spells were merely external manifestations of internal spirit power. For low-tier cultivators lacking spirit consciousness, the spells they cast usually traveled in straight lines like the Fireball, Water Arrow, and Golden Spear. Only a few, like Swamp and Entangle could exhibit variation, and even then, only within a limited area.

However, among Luo Chen's ten sparks just now, one not only refrained from growing larger but also broke through Qin Liangchen's defenses from the side, concealed by the other nine sparks.

If not for his combat experience and the immediate activation of a water-element talisman, he might have suffered serious injuries.

It was precisely because he was forced to use the talisman that he considered this round a loss.

Of course, this was far from Qin Liangchen's full strength.

Luo Chen chuckled and said, "It's not that I'm sneaky, Big Brother Qin. It's that you've suppressed your cultivation to the seventh stage of Qi-Refining and aren't fully accustomed to fighting with such limited spirit power."

Qin Liangchen shook his head. "It's not about suppressing my cultivation. It's that this new arm I received can only handle this level of combat for now."

He shook his right hand—a limb with a mix of flesh tones and metallic hues, giving off a slightly unnatural vibe. This was the new arm promised and fitted by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect. For this, he had given up his well-earned spoils of war, the sword orb and Bai Qi’s storage pouch.

Since having the arm attached ten days ago and resting briefly, he had been eager to regain his peak condition. Thus, he rented the seventh Trail Hall and dragged Luo Chen, who also needed to practice spells for daily sparring sessions every morning.

At first, he could completely dominate Luo Chen. But gradually, he began to feel increasingly powerless. Today, he even had to rely on two enchanted artifacts and a water arrow talisman just to avoid outright defeat.

Meanwhile, Luo Chen had only used a set of mid-grade flying blade artifacts. Luo Chen’s progress was nothing short of astonishing.

"You’re wasted as a rogue cultivator, kid," Qin Liangchen said and rubbed his face, making sure it had fully healed. "Fireball, Entangle —you wield them with such ease. Their power is already enough to threaten a seventh stage Qi-Refining cultivator.

"With such a talent for spells, you’re a natural fit for the Five Elements Divine Sect!"

The Five Elements Divine Sect, a grand sect led by Nascent Soul Sages, commanded its own domain. The sect was renowned throughout the Thirty-Six Regions of the Eastern Wilderness for its mastery of elemental spells.

Luo Chen smiled faintly. "Maybe."

However, the Five Elements Domain was far too distant from the Jade Cauldron Domain. Even if he wanted to join the sect as a disciple, there was no way to make it happen.

Although some might consider joining through the Five Elements Divine Sect's affiliated business, the Spirit Source Pavilion, but unfortunately, the pavilion didn’t offer such an option.

The Five Elements Divine Sect was a family-inherited grand sect that only accepted internal recruits. Even external recruitment was limited to the Five Elements Domain.

Reportedly, this was related to several secret divine techniques within the sect, and externally recruited disciples were often married into or joined the major families.

Luo Chen extended his hand, and under the effect of his Grandmaster level Traction, the seven jade blades scattered on the ground returned to him like swallows to their nest. Toying with the small wooden blades, Luo Chen frowned and said, “Big Brother Qin, these newly bought enchanted artifacts of yours don’t seem to suit you.”

Qin Liangchen sighed helplessly. “I used to fight with big enchanted artifacts like the great maces and the Broken Jade Gauntlet—but everything was destroyed in the Debate Platform duel. Top-grade enchanted artifacts are expensive, so having this set of Wishful Golden Needles and the Earth Shield is already pretty decent.”

The Wishful Golden Needles, seventy-two in total, were rare and unique enchanted artifacts. They were immensely powerful and incredibly fast.

Only Luo Chen’s quick movement could keep up; most people wouldn’t stand a chance against the Wishful Golden Needles.

However, this was completely out of sync with Qin Liangchen’s fighting style.

Luo Chen couldn’t help but ask, “Doesn’t the gang have a few top-grade enchanted artifacts reserved as rewards for contributors? Is Leader Mi unwilling to give you one?”

Qin Liangchen’s expression turned stern. “Watch what you say. My contribution was already rewarded with that Foundation Establishment pill.”

“But the pill isn’t even in your hands yet!” Luo Chen rolled his eyes.

“Old Man Mi keeping it safe works for me. With my current strength, I can’t protect the pill anyway. Besides!” Qin Liangchen smirked. “My son is a disciple of the Luoyun Sect. Do you think he’d dare to cheat me out of my own stuff?”

”Alright, as long as you’re confident.” Luo Chen shrugged and tucked the jade blades into his storage pouch.

The two walked out while chatting and laughing. However, they hadn’t gone far before someone hurriedly caught up from behind. “Qin Liangchen, you owe five more spirit stones!”

Qin Liangchen widened his eyes. “What did you say?”

The man, wearing the uniform of a Sword Pavilion disciple, snorted. “Today, you two trashed seventh Trail Hall far beyond the usual standard, so you need to pay extra spirit stones!”

“Damn unscrupulous merchants!” Qin Liangchen cursed, handing over five spirit stones.

Luo Chen winced at the sight, feeling a twinge of pain in his own heart.

That morning alone, Big Brother Qin had already paid dozens of spirit stones, and now he had to pay more. The Jade Cauldron Sect’s money-grubbing tactics were utterly shameless.

The two walked out while recounting the extortion tactics of these grand sects, cursing their shamelessness all the way. As they arrived outside the Sword Pavilion, they caught sight of the jade plaque.

Qin Liangchen nudged Luo Chen on the back.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“Are you really not going to join the mid stage Qi-Refining battles?”