Chapter 356: Chapter 355: Overranked Battle, Counterattack Foundation Establishment_1

“Golden Core Stage?!”

“Calling it monstrous isn’t even an exaggeration!”

“This is rare even in history, isn’t it?”

“Not just rare. According to historical records, one may not even appear in hundreds of years; a Golden Core stage cultivator under eighteen.”

People did not know the ages of Lan Ting and the others.

Actually among the three, Bai Ming was the oldest, just over eighteen years of age, while Lan Ting and Yan Tianzhi were still a few months short of turning eighteen.

The pressure on the contesting cultivators escalated, especially for those seeded players. They were confident, working hard in their Foundation Establishment, thinking that they could certainly defeat many opponents and win the first prize.

They never thought that a Golden Core stage cultivator would participate in this grand event.

What kind of luck is this?

Foundation Establishment stage against Golden Core stage, they were merely swinging their fists in the air.

Among the competing cultivators, only one person revealed an excited smile, whispering to himself, “Golden Core stage, huh? Interesting.”

He was dressed in a black cape, and his face couldn’t be seen clearly.

He traveled across the continent, happened to pass by Qingzhou, and noticed that this place was hosting a grand event, hence he decided to participate on a whim.

The cultivation level he revealed to others was at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, but his actual cultivation was not like that.

His name was Zhou Fangge, and his real cultivation level was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

“I haven’t had a chance to fight against a disciple of the Immortal Sect. Although this Lu Yang cultivates faster than me, cultivation level isn’t everything in a fight.”

“Even if his cultivation speed is fast, it won’t be much faster. He should’ve just formed his golden core.”

Zhou Fangge had once defeated a cultivator at the early Golden Core stage. The battle was somewhat difficult, but he eventually won.

“There’s no reason I can’t try to fight.”

“Hehe, Lu Yang, I hope you’ll be a fitting whetstone!”

…

“Get ready, it’s your turn soon.” Lu Yang fist bumped Meng Jingzhou. It was quite interesting to participate in this kind of large-scale exchange activity for the first time.

“They’re all at the same age. Maybe some powerful opponents are hidden among them.”

Meng Jingzhou laughed, “Are you saying that I didn’t do my best in my last fight?”

They always fought cautiously and never slacked off.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

On the jury’s bench, Lan Ting watched as Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou fist-bumped, her eyelids twitching. She sent Bai Ming a voice transmission, “When it’s Meng Jingzhou’s turn to fight, you’re going to comment.”

Seeing the killing glare in Lan Ting’s eyes, Bai Ming nodded heavily, forced to accept the task.

…

The fight was ongoing, with exciting spells being cast one after another. As they were facing people of the same age, both sides did not dare to let their guards down. Battle of wits, meticulous scheming, magic techniques hidden in the shadows…

The two sides put their all into the fight, providing a great spectacle for the cultivators in the audience.

Most of the cultivators in the audience were at the Qi Refinement stage, they couldn’t have imagined that even at the Qi Refinement stage, such spectacular battles could occur.

Even those sect cultivators responsible for talent scouting repeatedly nodded their heads, deeming this year’s event of high quality.

“We’re more than halfway through the competition, right? Including the first one who came on stage, we’ve already seen five Foundation Establishment cultivators. There weren’t that many in the previous years.”

“No kidding, especially the fifth one who’s at mid-stage Foundation Establishment. He would have been a surefire champion in previous years!”

Bai Ming glanced at the list of participants and introduced, “This competing cultivator is from the Ocean Sect, Shang Deshui. He’s also a popular seeded cultivator. At the early stages of Foundation Establishment, he excels in water-based magic skills, especially his Water Control Technique, which is commendable.”

Talking about the Water Control Technique, Bai Ming’s eye twitched involuntarily, recalling how he was defeated in one move by Lu Yang’s Diving Spell.

Shang Deshui revealed a confident smile, as being at the early stage of Foundation Establishment could easily dominate the preliminary rounds.

“Shang Deshui’s opponent is a cultivator who registered for the competition at the last minute, Meng Jingzhou from Seek Dao Sect.”

Meng Jingzhou was full of smiles as he greeted Bai Ming.

“How is there another person from the Seek Dao Sect?” Shang Deshui’s smile froze on his face. Wasn’t one person enough, and now there were two?

Was the Qingzhou grand gala such a big event that it required two disciples from the Seek Dao Sect to participate?

Keep calm, keep calm, just because they are disciples of the Seek Dao Sect does not mean they are at the Golden Core Stage. Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage who are under eighteen are met once every few hundred years. The opponent at most could be at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. With clever maneuvering, there’s a chance of victory.

Shang Deshui encouraged himself and from his sleeve took out a small vial. The vial contained water from the depths of the East Sea that he had spent a hefty price on. It was pure and suitable for implementing water-based magic skills.

“Water Control Technique – Emulate Snake!”

Water vapor surged, waves spilled out, and the deep sea water from East Sea transformed into fine threads and drilled out from the vial. The amount of deep water from East Sea accumulated, shifting shape and forming into a ferocious python.

“Go!”

The python opened its wide bloody mouth, charging towards Meng Jingzhou with the speed of lightning. It seemed like a raging tsunami, howling upon approach. The horrifying aura emitted by the python shocked everyone present.

“Shocking Heaven Six Forms!”

Meng Jingzhou prepared his stance and with one punch, crushed the python. The python exploded, transforming into a downpour of rain. The strength of the punch did not diminish, stopping right in front of Shang Deshui. Unable to withstand the force of the punch, Shang Deshui staggered backward several steps and fell off the platform.

Bai Ming: “…”

For a golden core stage cultivator like you dealing with the Shocking Heaven Six Forms as if you were up against Lu Yang!

Bai Ming gave a serious commentary: “The Water Control Technique’s mimicry repertoire is divided into three stages: Emulate Snake, Emulate Lizard, Emulate Dragon. It’s usually said that only when one reaches the late stage of Foundation Establishment can one grasp the basics of the Water Control Technique. For Shang Deshui to apply the Water Control Technique so proficiently in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, emulating a python, truly deserves applause.”

“It’s evident that Shang Deshui has been diligently practicing off stage, and has a profound understanding of the Dao of Water which is rarely seen at his age. I have only seen this level of comprehension from a few of my junior brothers.”

“Victory and defeat on the Cultivation path are predetermined. Hopefully, Shang Deshui won’t be shaken by this defeat, and will continue to study the Dao of Water.”

“Meng Jingzhou is at the Golden Core stage. Commentary complete.”

Below the stage, the crowd was once again in turmoil, filled with admiration for the Seek Dao Sect.

Golden Core Stage, another cultivator under eighteen who has reached the Golden Core Stage.

Is the Seek Dao Sect so powerful?

Geniuses, who are seen only once every several hundred years, have appeared twice in succession!

The first round of preliminaries ended. Apart from the noticeably outstanding Golden Core Stage cultivators Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, the top ten included outstanding Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. As for the fifty cultivators at the consummation stage of Qi Refinement, they were no longer the center of attention.

Lu Yang was particularly elated in the following battles. His next and following contestants were both at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

The Invincible Elixir’s advice was to deal with them casually.

Lu Yang couldn’t help but sigh. It’s been a long time since he’s encountered such an effortless battle.

Recalling his strenuous battles at the Seek Dao Sect, Lu Yang felt that this kind of competition suited him better.

Fairy Eternity, watching this scene, felt a warm familiarity. It was like returning to the beautiful times of the ancient era, engaging in the thrill of cross-level battles. She clamored to take control of the body and experience it herself.

Out of reluctance, Lu Yang could only cede control of the body to Fairy Eternity in the next battle, letting her have her thrill.

Meng Jingzhou had a similar reaction to Lu Yang. Ever since he joined the Seek Dao Sect, apart from that time with the Five Elements Sect, he didn’t even have a decent battle with cultivators of the same age.

Battling with peers was indeed satisfying.

He was even luckier; his opponents in the next two rounds were both at the stage of Consummation of Qi Refinement.

Watching Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who were still grinning from ear to ear, the trio of Lan Ting pretended not to know them.

The four rounds of competition ended, and the top eight emerged.

Aside from the undisputed Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, there were Zhou Fangge, who had hidden his cultivation level, a cultivator at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, and four early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

According to the competition rules, the top eight would engage in a large-scale chaos chess match to examine the cultivators’ ability to respond to random situations and their ability to work together as a team.