One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

On the day of the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony's semi-final battle, the Longhu Mountain martial arts arena was packed with people.

The stands were packed to capacity, with people even squatting on the trees and walls. Vendors selling melon seeds, peanuts, and bottled water weaved through the crowd, their mouths agape with delight at their booming business.

"Make way! Make way!" Zhang Chulan, holding four cups of milk tea, squeezed his way to the front row seats with difficulty—Xu San had reserved a good spot in advance, right in front of the arena.

Nie Lingfeng took the cup, inserted the straw, and took a sip; it was cloyingly sweet.

"Brother Feng, who do you think will win today?" Zhang Chulan asked.

"Wang Ye." Nie Lingfeng replied without hesitation.

"So sure?" Xu Si leaned closer. "Zhuge Qing is the cream of the crop among the younger generation of the Zhuge family, and he's incredibly skilled in Qimen Dunjia. Although Wang Ye knows Feng Hou Qimen, his Wudang kung fu..."

"Just watch," Nie Lingfeng said with a smile, offering no further explanation.

He looked toward the ring.

On the left, Zhuge Qing was already standing there. He wore a blue Taoist robe, his long hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, his face was handsome, and a gentle smile played on his lips, making him look like a refined gentleman. He was resting with his eyes closed, and faint images of the Bagua symbol were flowing around him, which made many female audience members scream.

"Zhuge Qing! So handsome!"

"The young master from the Zhuge family! I want to have your babies!"

"Wake up, he's a Taoist priest..."

On the right, Wang Ye slowly walked onto the stage. He still looked like he hadn't woken up properly, his Taoist robe was loose and his hair was messy, and he kept yawning as he walked. After getting on the stage, he first nodded to the referee, then looked at Zhuge Qing and scratched his head.

"Good morning, Brother Zhuge," he greeted.

Zhuge Qing opened his eyes and smiled in return, "Good morning, Daoist Wang Ye."

The referee walked to the center of the ring, cleared his throat, and announced: "The first match of the semi-finals: Wudang's Wang Ye versus Zhuge Qing of the Zhuge family. The rules remain the same: stop when you've made a move; no one may be killed. Are you both ready?"

"Alright," Wang said lazily.

"We can begin at any time." Zhuge Qing gracefully gestured for them to proceed.

The referee stepped back to the edge of the ring and raised his hand: "Begin!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuge Qing made his move.

He quickly formed hand seals in front of his chest, and the illusory Bagua image beneath his feet instantly solidified!

"The character 'Kun' (坤) - Earth River Chariot!"

Rumble—the arena floor shook violently! The hard bluestone slabs rippled like water, then suddenly rose up, transforming into a giant earthen dragon that lunged at Wang Ye with bared fangs and claws!

A gasp rippled through the audience:

"Holy crap! This is intense right from the start?!"

"Earth River Chariot! The Zhuge family's signature technique!"

"This power... it could probably turn a person into a meat patty, right?"

Wang Ye sighed, his figure swaying as he floated up like a willow catkin, narrowly avoiding the earth dragon's attack. He landed on the edge of the arena and dusted off his Taoist robe.

"Brother Zhuge, go easy on me," he complained.

Zhuge Qing smiled slightly, and his hand seals changed again: "Kan Character - Water Bullet!"

Moisture in the air condensed into dozens of fist-sized water bullets, which shot towards Wang Ye like machine gun fire! The water bullets looked weak, but the energy they contained was enough to pierce through steel plates!

Wang Ye moved with lightning speed, weaving through the dense water bullets. His footwork was peculiar, seemingly chaotic, yet he always managed to evade attacks at the last second. Occasionally, a water bullet would graze past him, leaving wet marks on his Taoist robe.

"Wudang Ladder Cloud Leap." Someone in the audience recognized him. "Master Wang Ye's lightness skill is quite impressive."

"But you can't win by just hiding," another person said. "Zhuge Qing's spells are endless; we can wear him down."

As expected, Zhuge Qing launched wave after wave of attacks.

"Separation Word - Fire Meteor!" A fireball gathered in the sky and crashed down like a meteor!

"Thunderbolt!" Arcs of electricity leaped across the arena, blocking movement!

"The character '巽' (Xun) - Wind Blade!" An invisible wind blade tears through the air, targeting blind spots!

Wang Ye kept dodging and weaving, occasionally using Wudang's fist and palm techniques to deflect unavoidable attacks, but he was clearly at a disadvantage. His Taoist robe had several holes burned in it, and his hair was standing on end from the electric shocks, making him look quite disheveled.

"Master Wang Ye," Zhuge Qing said while attacking, his tone still gentle, "if you don't use your true skills, I'm afraid... you'll lose."

Wang Ye dodged a wind blade and said with a wry smile, "Brother Zhuge, I'm just a lazy person, I really don't have any real skills..."

"Is that so?" Zhuge Qing's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly clasped his hands together!

"Qimen Manifestation - Four Plates in Harmony!"

boom--!

The illusory image of the Eight Trigrams on the arena suddenly enlarged, covering the entire arena! The eight trigrams—Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Xun, Gen, and Dui—lighted up simultaneously, their light swirling and forming a massive array! Within the array's range, the five elements were reversed, yin and yang were disordered, and even space itself began to distort!

Wang Ye's expression finally changed.

He felt the ground beneath his feet softening, like a swamp; the air growing heavy, like mercury; the temperature fluctuating wildly, sometimes like scorching heat, sometimes like freezing winter. Even more terrifying, the "qi" within his body began to become disordered and its circulation disrupted.

This is Zhuge Qing's killer move—using Qimen Dunjia techniques to forcibly change the "rules" of an area, causing the opponent to lose control completely from the inside out!

"It's over, Daoist Wang Ye." Zhuge Qing raised his hand, and a blinding white light condensed in his palm. "Dui Character - White Tiger!"

The white light transformed into a ferocious white tiger, roaring as it pounced on Wang Ye! Wherever the tiger's claws passed, the air was torn apart, and deep furrows were plowed into the arena floor!

This attack was unavoidable!

In the audience, Zhang Chulan nervously grabbed Nie Lingfeng's arm: "Brother Feng! Master Wang, he..."

"Watch." Nie Lingfeng didn't even blink.

On the arena, Wang Ye sighed as he watched the white tiger pounce on him.

"This is really... troublesome."

He raised his right hand and lightly tapped his index finger in the air.

"The chaotic clapper".

Time stood still.

No, it didn't stop completely. From the audience's perspective, the white tiger that pounced on Wang Ye suddenly slowed down to an extremely slow pace, like a movie played in slow motion a hundred times. Even Zhuge Qing's hand, which was forming a hand seal, froze in mid-air, moving inch by inch with great difficulty.

As for Wang Ye... he walked slowly to the side of the white tiger as if nothing had happened, looked at it, and then walked to Zhuge Qing, tilting his head to examine him.

Then he withdrew his hand.

The flow rate of time has returned to normal.

The white tiger missed its target, crashing into the barrier at the edge of the arena and exploding into a ball of white light.

Zhuge Qing staggered backward, his face deathly pale. He stared intently at Wang Ye, his voice trembling, "What...what did you just do?"

Wang Ye scratched his head: "It's nothing, it just slowed down time... a little bit."

"Time..." Zhuge Qing's pupils contracted. "Impossible! Manipulating time, that's..."

"Feng Hou Qi Men," Wang Ye finished for him. "That's right, that's it."

The audience erupted.

"What?! Feng Hou Qi Men?!"

"A lost martial art of Wudang?!"

"A legendary forbidden technique capable of manipulating time and space?!"

"Just who is this Wang Ye?!"

Zhuge Qing took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He re-formed the hand seals, and the Bagua formation beneath his feet shone brightly!

"Even if you know Feng Hou Qi Men... I don't believe you can use it forever!"

He waved his hands rapidly, unleashing a torrent of spells! Earth dragons, water bullets, fireballs, wind blades, lightning... the five elements spells took turns attacking, engulfing the entire arena in a dazzling array of light!

Wang Ye stood in the center of the magical storm and sighed.

"Brother Zhuge, why are you doing this to yourself..."

He raised his hands and formed a strange hand seal in front of his chest.

"Feng Hou Qi Men - Formation Arises".

Om-!

Centered on him, an even more complex and profound formation unfolded! The formation had three concentric circles, one inside the other, with runes flowing around it, and its light was ten times more dazzling than Zhuge Qing's Bagua formation! Even more strangely, the space within the formation's range began to distort, the light refracted, and even the images seen by the audience became blurry.

Once Zhuge Qing's magic entered Wang Ye's formation range, it vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

"This...this is impossible!" Zhuge Qing gritted his teeth, activating the formation with all his might, "Separation - Crimson Serpent!"

Flames shot into the sky, transforming into a giant crimson python that roared as it lunged at Wang Ye!

Wang Ye didn't even look at it, and just waved his hand casually.

"Kan Character - Water Prison"

Four walls of water suddenly appeared around the giant python, trapping it within. The water walls contracted, and the python struggled, but to no avail. In the end, it was crushed by the water pressure and turned into smoke.

"You..." Zhuge Qing's forehead was covered in sweat. "How could you use the Kan character technique? The Kan position in my formation is clearly..."

"Your formation?" Wang Ye laughed. "Right now... this is my formation."

He took a step forward.

Just one step.

But with this step, the entire formation changed drastically! The "Gate of Life" that Zhuge Qing had occupied instantly became the "Gate of Death"; all the defenses he had laid out became weaknesses!

"This...this is..." Zhuge Qing finally understood, his voice trembling, "Tampering with the Qimen Dunjia formation...forcibly defining auspicious and inauspicious directions...Feng Hou Qimen, can it really do this..."

He bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence, and formed the most complex hand seals with his hands!

"Eight Gates of Transportation - Moving Mountains!"

This is his trump card – at the cost of sacrificing his cultivation, he forcibly moves the immense power of a "mountain" to suppress his opponent!

The arena trembled, as if an invisible mountain was pressing down from the void! Even the audience could feel the heavy pressure, and many people had difficulty breathing and their faces turned pale.

Wang Ye looked up at the "sky" and shook his head.

"it's useless."

He extended his right hand, fingers spread, and then... gently clenched it.

"Chaotic Golden Tuan - Town".

The word "mountain" stopped.

No, it didn't stop; it was that "existence" itself was forcibly "fixed." That invisible mountain hung in mid-air, unable to fall or dissipate, just awkwardly frozen there.

Zhuge Qing coughed up a mouthful of blood and knelt on one knee. The backlash from the formation had caused him internal injuries.

Wang Ye walked up to him, squatted down, and looked at him.

"Brother Zhuge, have you ever been defeated?"

Zhuge Qing raised his head, his face pale, but his eyes remained stubborn: "Never."

"Oh." Wang Ye nodded. "Then today, you'll lose just this once."

He reached out and gently tapped Zhuge Qing's forehead.

"Take a nap."

Zhuge Qing closed his eyes and collapsed limply.

The referee was stunned for several seconds before reacting, rushing onto the stage to check on him, and announcing: "Zhuge Qing is unconscious! The winner is Wang Ye of Wudang!"

The audience was silent for a few seconds, then erupted in a deafening roar.

"They won?! The king won too?!"

"Completely crushing them! Zhuge Qing had absolutely no chance to fight back!"

"Feng Hou Qi Men... This is terrifying..."

"There are so many monsters at this year's Luo Tian Grand Ceremony..."

Wang Ye stood up, patted his Taoist robe, and resumed his sleepy appearance. He glanced at the audience and met Nie Lingfeng's gaze.

Nie Lingfeng gave him a thumbs up.

Wang Ye smiled, waved his hand, and slowly walked off the stage.

Zhang Chulan was still immersed in the battle he had just fought, muttering, "Brother Feng... is this the Feng Hou Qi Men? It's... too monstrous, isn't it?"

"It's pretty perverted," Nie Lingfeng agreed, "but..."

"But what?"

"However, Wang Ye has also reached his limit," Nie Lingfeng said. "He expended a lot of energy forcibly suppressing Zhuge Qing's 'Mountain Moving'. No matter who he faces in the next match, he will have to fight with all his might."

Xu Si leaned closer: "Xiao Feng, who do you think is stronger, you or Wang Ye?"

Nie Lingfeng thought for a moment: "It's hard to say. Feng Hou Qi Men is unpredictable and difficult to defend against. But my martial arts follow a powerful and domineering path, relying on brute force to overcome all techniques. If we really fight... it's about a 50/50 chance."

"What about Wang Bing in the next round?" Zhang Chulan asked.

Nie Lingfeng smiled, but his smile was cold.

"he?"

"Solve in thirty seconds."

At the edge of the arena, medical personnel carried Zhuge Qing off. Wang Ye sat in the rest area, took the water handed to him by the young Taoist priest, and slowly drank it.

He appeared calm, but the hand holding the cup trembled slightly.

"I overused the 'random golden clapper'..." he muttered to himself. "Next round... this is going to be troublesome."

He looked up at Nie Lingfeng in the distance.

Their eyes met again.

Wang Ye raised his water glass in a gesture.

Nie Lingfeng also raised his milk tea cup.

"Next round, it's my turn," Nie Lingfeng thought to himself.

Is it Wang Bing?

Are you ready... to get beaten up?