Vol.2-Chapter 42 – The Situation Suddenly Changes

“Wow, a magical treasure!” an ordinary disciple exclaimed with a look of envy. However, the appearance of the Chill Wood Ruler didn’t cause an uproar like the first few times. After all, there was no lack of children from well-off families. This was not the first time they had seen a magical treasure. They couldn’t be compared to the disciples from ordinary families, so there were only a few cries.

Looking at the Chill Wood Ruler in the hand of the youth with the scar, even from a distance, Zhao Jiuge could feel the coldness. Layers of silver haze had surrounded the youth with the scar, and a sense of danger surged in his heart. He was no longer the naive boy who had just started cultivating. Just looking at the ruler, he could see that it was extraordinary.

The thing Zhao Jiuge was most worried about had finally appeared. Even though his cultivation was weaker, he was still confident in a fight using spirit force and spells. However, he had entered the cultivation world on his own and had no backing. The youth with the scar had been pushed to a path of no retreat, so he had used a magical treasure. He was suppressing Zhao Jiuge with his family’s wealth and bullying him for not having one!

The stubborn Zhao Jiuge just couldn’t believe this, and his eyes were filled with anger. His handsome face was a bit red. It was unknown if it was caused by his aura surging in his body or his anger, but he was filled with an indomitable spirit. He let out a roar and his hands formed seals even faster, creating afterimages.

The torrent of golden lights that had been frozen by the Chill Wood Ruler seem to be stimulated by something. If you looked closely, you would find that the torrent of golden light was like a phoenix that was about to be reborn, trying to break free of the shackles. They began to move once more, and their movements became bigger and bigger.

Zhao Jiuge’s face was pale and the blood in his body was surging. The Sanskrit Divine Body had been used to the extreme, and this was the limit of his cultivation. He injected spirit force like it was free and his dark eyes had a bit of panic, but he was still calm. Things hadn’t reached a point where he had no control, because he still had his ace.

“Hmph, a naive bumpkin. I’ll let a mortal like you expand your horizons and understand what a gap is!” When he saw how Zhao Jiuge hadn’t given up and was still manipulating the torrent of golden lights, the youth with the scar let out an angry laugh.

He wanted to properly show off before the crowd. Using this Chill Wood Ruler once had consumed a lot of spirit force. However, with his youthful temperament, he couldn’t help but show off. Also, the youth with the scar believed that this poor mountain body with no background wouldn’t have any way to deal with the Chill Wood Ruler. Therefore, he used the Chill Wood Ruler without any worry. The drain on his spirit force was huge. The more powerful a magical treasure, the more shocking its consumption became.

“Chill Wood first scroll, Startled Heaven and Earth!” With a roar, the youth with the scar revealed a sharp gaze and his hands moved. The Chill Wood Ruler drew an arc before his chest and then a faint silver light spread out from the ruler like the withering leaves falling off the trees in autumn.

With this arc, the temperature on the stone platform dropped sharply. It was like the air had become viscous. The cold light gushed out from the ruler and rolled up into a vortex. Then it grew like a snowball and instantly froze the torrent of golden lights.

Crackle, crackle...

The golden lights were frozen and slowly cracked until they turned into ice slags that dissipated. The powerful offensive attack had been dealt with by the Chill Wood Ruler.

Zhao Jiuge’s heart sank as he was shocked by the power of the Chill Wood Ruler, but that feeling quickly faded. After using the Chill Wood Ruler, the youth with the scar still looked okay. Didn’t magical treasures consume more spirit force when they more powerful? Just from the aura it gave off, one could tell that the Chill Wood Ruler was not an ordinary treasure.

However, Zhao Jiuge didn’t consider that if he could change his physique through the Moonlight Dew and Spirit Tempering Pill and cause his spirit force to undergo a qualitative transformation, then how could the youth with the scar be worse off? He came from a rich family and had been using these miraculous things since he was young. Besides, he was also at a higher cultivation level than Zhao Jiuge.

Although he was thinking of many things at once, his momentum didn’t decrease when facing the incoming coldness. It was too late to launch any offensive attacks, so he could only condense his spirit force to protect himself. The golden light from the Sanskrit Divine Body shined brightly and he took a step forward with his left leg, then his right arm swung forward to probe the attack.

Boom!

A loud sound echoed, then everyone saw Zhao Jiuge flying back over a dozen meters like a shrimp. The golden light around his body had dissipated. Just one clash and Zhao Jiuge had suffered serious injuries.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Lying one the ground, Zhao Jiuge struggled to get up, but his arms were trembling violently. His robes and sleeves were all broken, and just as he was about to get up, he couldn’t hold it anymore. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and then his body, that almost got up, collapsed back down.

Zhao Jiuge’s handsome face had turned deathly pale and there was a touch of red on the corner of his mouth. However, his dark eyes were still bright, even in this cold temperature. Just looking at them would bring a ray of sunshine into your world and warm your heart.

Everyone below was abnormally quiet, and they looked at Zhao Jiuge with sympathy. Only Bai Qingqing’s face remained calm, but her white, slender fingers betrayed her heart. Her fingers were white from how hard she was clenching her fists, but she didn’t notice it at all. She softly whispered to herself, “Jiuge, when we can go out for missions in a year, I'll beat him up until he can’t stand up anymore. This old lady swears.”

Her voice was so quiet that not even Wang Baiwan, who was right next to her, heard her. There was no anger or any emotions, she was calm to a terrifying degree. She then sighed and muttered in her heart,?“Jiuge, ah, Jiuge, for the current you, this is already very good. I believe that your future achievements can’t be underestimated.”

Everyone looked at the bright and sturdy Zhao Jiuge struggling to get up. He looked pitiful, but his stubbornness was affecting everyone present.

“Hehe, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was against the rules, I would accept Zhao Jiuge as a disciple.” Instructor Zhou looked at the young man struggling on the stone platform with admiration and felt a bit of regret. He was just someone in charge of the outer sect disciples, and although his cultivation was not bad, he didn’t have the ability to accept disciples. Generally, only after entering the inner sect did disciples have a chance to be accepted by a teacher.

Instructor Wang and Instructor Li looked at each other but didn't say anything. Obviously, Instructor Zhou was moved by talent. At their level, they didn't care about short-term gains or losses. What they admired was the young man’s persistence and conviction. Many talented people shined like stars early but became unremarkable in the end.

One must be persistent in cultivation. Only a persistent person could steady progress step by step and be prepared to face any situation.

The woman in the white dress standing on the fiery-red sword and the elegant Wu Tianshan both looked at Zhao Jiuge and sighed in their hearts. They felt that it was a pity that no matter how persistent the youth was, he couldn’t change this situation. Losing meant nothing, they just were worried the boy wouldn’t be able to accept losing before so many people and would fall into depression. A momentary loss would just pave the way for the next victory.

“Admit defeat and say you were wrong. In the future, stay away from Bai Qingqing, then I’ll let you go to avoid you some pain.” The youth with the scar stopped and let out a triumphant smile. He held the Chill Wood Ruler up and pointed it at Zhao Jiuge arrogantly. He couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes as he looked at Zhao Jiuge lying on the ground—his eyes were filled with joy.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t open his mouth to admit defeat, so the battle was naturally not over. After the youth with the scar spoke, everyone became quiet as they waited for Zhao Jiuge’s reaction.

After coughing a few times and taking a rough breath, Zhao Jiuge managed to stand up with difficulty. He slowly raised his hand but seemed to have not caught his breath yet. He suddenly let out a laugh and smiled brightly. “In your dreams! You can go die!”

After he finished speaking, he looked like he had used a lot of energy. He didn’t say more, he just looked at the youth with the scar with contempt as if the youth with the scar was an idiot.

“You.” The youth with the scar’s chest trembled and he angrily spat out a word, but didn’t know what to say. His expression turned savage as he rushed up and kicked Zhao Jiuge a few times. Every kick made a muffled sound.

Zhao Jiuge’s body twitches after being kicked, and his coughs become even stronger. The cruel youth with the scar didn’t use the Chill Wood Ruler, he simply externalized his spirit force to kick Zhao Jiuge. Zhao Jiuge’s skin broke and blood flowed out, but he didn’t make a sound. He clenched his teeth and his eyes were stubborn.

When everyone outside the stage saw this, they became silent and their mood became complicated. Some couldn’t bear to watch this anymore.

Bai Qingqing’s eyes turned red, but she still didn’t make a sound.

The pain didn’t make Zhao Jiuge shout, but he thought of how similar this scene was to when he was being beaten outside the village that day. Who would have thought that he would embark on the path of cultivation afterward. Those people who underestimated him would pay the price, and the youth with the scar that was beating him at this moment would also pay the price!

Zhao Jiuge’s expression changed and he hoarsely shouted, “Wait!”

When the youth with the scar heard this, he suddenly stopped and raised his eyebrow. “What, are you begging for forgiveness?”

The corner of Zhao Jiuge’s bloody mouth curved up and he chuckled lightly. As for the glamorous woman in the white dress, her brows raised up as she looked at Zhao Jiuge. She was wondering if she had been wrong about him.

Just as Zhao Jiuge was about to beg for mercy because he couldn’t withstand the beating, a shocking change happened. Fire suddenly covered the sky, dispelling some of the coldness created by the Chill Wood Ruler. The sky was filled with orange, and the flames danced like snakes.

This flame that covered the sky shocked everyone, and they all stared at the platform with their mouths open.