Born with immortal seed

Chapter 86 The dust has settled
"Bai Zichen, you're quite impressive, even managing to defeat a Golden Silk Black Bear that's only halfway through its advancement... But since you're immobilized right now, I'll be the ultimate winner!"

Xiong Baishan's face twisted in anger as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

Judging from the trend just now, the Silver-Striped Black Bear has accumulated a wealth of essence and blood. If it has several more decades, it has a very high chance of advancing to the Golden-Threaded Black Bear.

Second-tier spirit beasts have long lifespans and can already serve as the guardian spirit beasts of cultivation families, protecting their glory for hundreds of years.

Bai Zichen tore off his tattered Taoist robe, revealing a thin inner armor with several obvious bear claw marks on it.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but with only half a life left, beating you won't be difficult."

Bai Zichen touched the Hundred Refined Heavenly Silkworm Armor with lingering fear. At the critical moment, this inner armor blocked a small portion of the damage.

Otherwise, he would have already been disemboweled.

Xiong Baishan took out a bunch of talismans and threw out several gray, finger-width, thin talismans in succession, which fell towards the Golden Sparrow Sword and the Ink Bamboo Sword.

"This is a spirit-sealing talisman I specially prepared for you. Without the flying sword, I'd like to see how you defeat me!"

With tears welling in Xiong Baishan's eyes, he learned that the Spirit Sealing Talisman could seal the spiritual power of magical artifacts and imprison treasures, but its use was subject to strict conditions.

Right now, one of the two flying swords is still stuck in the body of the dead Golden Silk Black Bear, while the other has been flung to the other corner of the arena.

They were all far away from their master, which gave the sealing talisman an opportunity to cover each flying sword with five or six talismans.

Bai Zichen reached out and beckoned, and sure enough, the connection between the two flying swords and himself became barely perceptible, extremely weak.

If you spend some time or close the distance between the flying sword and the spirit seal, you can easily break the spirit seal talisman.

But seeing that Xiong Baishan had already raised the pagoda, and the ground trembled with every step he took, slowly but firmly approaching, it was clear that he wouldn't give him that chance.

Bai Zichen wiped his hand on the storage bag, and a wooden sword appeared in his hand. He then used the ground to support himself as he stood up.

To Xiong Baishan's disbelief, a sword light flashed and blasted a crack in his pagoda.

Xiong Baishan hurriedly tried to reconnect the Three Treasures Exquisite Pagoda to the arena, but the milky white sword light, imbued with righteous energy, attacked from tricky angles, striking where the pagoda had to defend, forcing it to start all over again after each attack.

After several rounds of this, the pagoda's light and shadow were covered with cracks.

puff!
The pagoda shattered, and the Demon-Suppressing Peach Wood Sword stopped atop Xiong Baishan's head, a trickle of blood flowing down his forehead.

"I... admit defeat."

Xiong Baishan's face was deathly pale, his chest heaving violently, as he spoke with difficulty.

He couldn't understand how a Qi Refining cultivator could buy three flying swords and carry them around. Even a sword cultivator would only have one commonly used flying sword and one spare.

Elder Zhang instantly appeared above the arena. He had been overseeing the battle from the sidelines and was also responsible for intervening at crucial moments to prevent the two from suffering fatal injuries before they could save each other.

But the match was swift and unpredictable, with the situation changing repeatedly. There were two moments when he tried to make a move but failed to do so in time.

"The victor is Bai Zichen!"

Elder Zhang confirmed that both of them were unharmed and announced the results to the entire audience using amplification magic.

"If any inner disciple is dissatisfied and wishes to challenge, they may come up on stage now. The competition will resume one hour later. No more than three challengers may challenge. If the number exceeds three, the inner disciples will be selected in order of their seniority."

Bai Zichen ignored all of this and directly swallowed a Qi-restoring pill, slowly circulating the Changchun Gong to quickly restore his mana.

He had a list of the remaining inner disciples.

Apart from the two at the seventh level of Qi Refining, the rest were all at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

As long as there are no special treasures, he has no fear whatsoever due to his superior cultivation level; it will only take a few sword strikes.

"Junior Sister Tan, stop fooling around!"

Chen Wei grabbed Tan Qin, who was itching to act, knowing that this girl had been spoiled by her family since childhood and did things on a whim without considering the consequences.

"Your cultivation level is so much lower than theirs, do you really think you can go on stage and stage a show of the weak defeating the strong?"

"Don't be fooled by Bai Zichen's current exhausted appearance. He won't need ten sword strikes to defeat you. Don't go and humiliate yourself."

"Besides, there's no benefit in winning; it would only hinder someone's path to enlightenment and create unnecessary enmity. If it were a year with only one person registering, it would be one thing if they lost to a fellow disciple in the duel because they were simply not skilled enough. But in a situation like this, where two tigers are fighting, unless there is a deep-seated hatred, very few people would step up at this time."

“If you do the first day of the month, someone else will do the fifteenth. If you break the unspoken rules among inner disciples, when it’s your turn to undergo the True Disciple Trial in a few years, even if you are challenged three times in a row, Elder Tan will have no reason to stand up for you.”

Tan Qin looked around and, sure enough, the two inner disciples at the seventh level of Qi Refining were sitting steadily, showing no intention of challenging her.

She could only pout and sit down, feeling wronged.

"The registration period for the challenge has ended. This time, the newly appointed disciple is Bai Zichen!"

After calling out the challenge three times without any response, Elder Zhang officially announced the results of the True Disciple Trial.

Bai Zichen opened his eyes in surprise, not expecting that not even an inner disciple could challenge him, making his worries unfounded.

"Junior Nephew Bai has a bright future ahead of him. A true disciple at this age will surely be a fellow practitioner in the future... Pack your things and go see Senior Brother Liang. He's waiting for you up there."

Elder Zhang stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder in a seemingly friendly manner.

Indeed, an eighteen-year-old true disciple is not inferior even if a Foundation Establishment elder bows down to him.

"Since Uncle Liang has invited me, how could I refuse? I will go to pay him a visit immediately after changing my clothes."

Bai Zichen bowed to the audience in all directions as a way of thanking them for coming to witness the ceremony.

In the audience seats, some people had already left, a few were waiting for Bai Zichen to come down from the stage to chat and make friends, and most were still discussing the fight that had just ended. Upon seeing this, they all returned the greeting.

Bai Zichen caught a glimpse of Xiong Baishan out of the corner of his eye. The man staggered step by step to the bear beast beside him and knelt down in front of it.

He was radiant and full of vigor before going on stage, but compared to then, his back view now appears hunched and dejected.

"Junior Brother Bai, it actually worked..."

Even now, Lang Zhongping is still staring blankly at the scene, not even reacting when boiling water splashes from his teacup.

Putting himself in Xiong Baishan's shoes, even if he had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, he might not have been able to defeat Xiong Baishan on the arena, let alone force Xiong Baishan to advance to the next level in a final battle.

“We are all inner disciples, yet the difference is so vast… Some people are born to be protagonists, their talents will naturally shine through!”

"Zhong Ping, you said before that you were acquainted with that Junior Nephew Bai?"

Elder Jin, supporting his round belly, looked at Bai Zichen as he stepped off the stage and suddenly asked a question.

"Yes, Junior Brother Bai and I had a very pleasant conversation. The flying sword he used on the stage just now was arranged by me."

Lang Zhongping quickly tried to flatter himself, even though the two had only met once.

"Hmm... Try to visit him more often when you have time. This junior disciple Bai has probably caught someone's eye."

Elder Jin gestured towards the top private room with a smile, his small eyes narrowing into slits.

"Next time Junior Nephew Bai comes to the market, remember to bring him to see me."

"Understood. I will convey your message, Uncle Jin, to Junior Brother Bai as soon as I see him."

Lang Zhongping nodded respectfully, sighing inwardly. After the trial, Bai Zichen's status in the sect had completely changed.

Fortunately, he saw the opportunity early and made good connections in advance. Otherwise, Bai Zichen is currently very popular, and even the elders are vying to befriend him. As a mere steward, he might not have had a chance.

The longer the holiday, the busier I am. These past few days, I've been writing 12 words until after midnight every night. It will be even more difficult during the May Day holiday.

Fortunately, there's still a week until it goes on sale. I'll save up some more manuscripts after the long holiday so I can release a big batch on the day it goes on sale.

Thank you all for your monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and rewards.

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(End of this chapter)