Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

Chapter 84 The Battle of Defending the Throne

"At the Earth-level Martial Arts Arena, Zhao Jingshan has advanced."

As the sound rang out, the entire venue erupted in cheers, and the disciples who were observing stood up, exclaiming Zhao Jingshan's name.

"That's incredible, Senior Brother Zhao Jingshan, he eliminated everyone else all by himself."

"I admire your dedication in doing this for the junior students who were eliminated first."

"I thought that the tacit siege of Qingyuan Peak by all the peaks would give Senior Brother Zhao a hard time, but I didn't expect it to end like this."

"5

""

Even the Qingyang Sect Leader, who was sitting in the head seat of the stands, couldn't help but stroke his beard and exclaim, "Wonderful!"

Next up was the Human-shaped Martial Arts Arena, which was rather ordinary. Five disciples successfully advanced, with Wu Tong from Lingxu Peak and Zhang Miaoran from Cuiwei Peak both making it to the next round.

But none of that mattered anymore; Zhao Jingshan became the focus of everyone's discussion, and no one cared about what was happening on the other two training platforms.

"Jing Shan is indeed righteous and awe-inspiring, and his strength is quite impressive. Among Qi Refining cultivators, without relying on external aids, I'm afraid no one can rival him."

"It's a pity that his cultivation speed is a bit slow, otherwise he should have been able to get one of the Foundation Establishment Pills in the last batch."

"It's not too late now. As long as he wins this time, he will also be able to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill."

At this point, one of the Foundation Establishment elders couldn't help but glance at Sect Leader Qingyang.

The latter smiled without saying a word, continuing to stroke his beard.

The case is solved! No wonder the reward for winning the sect competition was a Foundation Establishment Pill, and the sect leader even came out of seclusion to observe the competition.

It turns out this stage was set up for Zhao Jingshan!

The elders were speechless, thinking that it was really necessary to go to so much trouble. Wouldn't it have been better to just give the Foundation Establishment Pill to Zhao Jingshan?

Of course, they also had to admit that it would be a real pity if someone with Zhao Jingshan's combat strength couldn't reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

After witnessing this battle today, they felt it was only right to give the Foundation Establishment Pill to Zhao Jingshan.

Adding a strong Foundation Establishment cultivator to the sect is definitely worthwhile.

Lin Yun, who had just stepped off the training platform, was still somewhat bewildered and didn't understand what had happened.

He inquired around and finally learned the whole story.

It turned out that the other peaks had long resented Qingyuan Peak's overwhelming power. On the Earth-character martial arts stage, the disciples of the other peaks tacitly chose to besiege Zhao Jingshan and his group.

Faced with the combined attack of several cultivators of the same level, the other disciples of Qingyuan Peak were unable to withstand the onslaught and were quickly eliminated.

Zhao Jingshan, on the other hand, went a bit overboard. In his rage, he single-handedly eliminated all the disciples from the various peaks, leaving only himself on the field.

"This Senior Brother Zhao is really... a good person."

Lin Yun originally wanted to complain about why the other side waited until all his fellow disciples were eliminated before starting to deal damage.

Could it be that my junior brother sacrificed himself to the heavens, thus gaining boundless magical power?

But then I thought about it again, and realized that this would make it exactly ten people advancing to the third stage of the sect competition.

In other words, he is guaranteed to receive at least 300 sect contribution points.

As for whether it's possible to go further, Lin Yun shook his head and dismissed the idea.

Zhao Jingshan, Du Jin, Wu Tong, Zhang Miaoran, and Song Cheng, who possesses top-grade magical artifacts, are all formidable opponents.

Lin Yun was very self-aware; he understood that he had virtually no chance of competing for the top five.

As for those ranked sixth to tenth, the reward is 300 sect contribution points, so there's naturally even less need to compete for that.

The reward is the same whether you come in tenth or sixth place.

"What a great person! Originally, a total of fifteen people advanced from the three martial arts arenas, but they still had to put in a lot of effort for the tenth place reward."

Lin Yun murmured to himself, then sat cross-legged on the ground to recover some of his magical power.

However, the third stage of the competition was delayed, and the elders and sect leader on the upper stands seemed to be discussing something.

"If there are only ten people left, how about we change the rules of the competition?" Sect Leader Qingyang said.

The other elders were slightly taken aback, thinking that even if there were only ten people left, they could still proceed according to the rules.

"If there are ten people, then we can divide them into two halves and draw lots for the battle, wouldn't that be the same?" an elder asked, puzzled.

However, the Qingyang Sect Leader shook his head and said, "Let's make some changes. The sect's small competition has remained unchanged for so many years, which has become rather boring."

"In my opinion, this three-stage competition should be changed into a battle to defend one's title."

"One person goes up to defend the title, and the rest go up to challenge in turn. The winner stays on the stage to continue defending the title, and the ranking is based on the number of wins."

The other elders were puzzled, wondering why the rules needed to be changed.

But thinking that the Foundation Establishment Pill was practically reserved for Zhao Jingshan of Qingyuan Peak, and that the sect leader wanted to change the rules, he didn't raise any further objections.

Soon, the rules for the three-stage competition were announced, and this time it was a battle to defend the title.

The Qingyang Sect Leader frowned slightly. Someone had secretly sent him a message that Wu Tong of Lingxu Peak had actually received a talisman from Elder Tieluo.

"That old geezer, half his body buried in the ground, really knows how to cause trouble, using a talisman in the sect's minor competition."

After cursing inwardly, a barely perceptible hint of anger flashed in the eyes of the Qingyang Sect Leader.

Therefore, he wanted to change the rules, turning the original draw into a title defense battle.

The use of talisman treasures is excessive. In the past, Foundation Establishment Pills were rarely given as prizes in sect competitions, so there was never a precedent for anyone using talisman treasures.

Soon, the battle to defend the title began.

The first to jump onto the arena was Du Jin, who was still leaning on a giant sword, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Please, fellow disciples, offer your guidance!"

For a moment, no one was willing to take the first step and challenge it, feeling that they would be at a disadvantage.

Soon, an elder spoke up: "If no one steps forward to challenge within a quarter of an hour, the winner will be automatically declared the champion."

Upon hearing this, the honest Song Cheng became restless. He was about to get up when Lin Yun pressed him down.

"Junior Brother Lin, you..."

Lin Yun whispered, "Wait for Senior Brother Song. Is there someone more anxious than you?"

As expected, the first to become restless was a disciple from Cuiwei Peak.

However, after taking the stage, this person only received five sword strikes from Du Jin before being unable to withstand the pressure and retreating.

Du Jin wins!

The disciple who was defeated will remember his defeat, and he will have another chance to defend his title and challenge other defenders.

"That's interesting. If we send weaker disciples to wear them down, it will accumulate victories for them," Lin Yun muttered to himself.

Immediately afterward, the second challenger leaped up. This was a pill refining disciple from Dan Ding Peak, whose strength was not low, also at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

However, the combat strength of the disciples of Dan Ding Peak is more ordinary, unlike the disciples of weapon refining, who at least have handy magic weapons by their side.

This time, Du Jin defeated the enemy with seven swords, accumulating his second victory.

Soon, the other disciples who were interested in vying for the Foundation Establishment Pill couldn't sit still any longer. If things continued like this, wouldn't it just be giving Du Jin more wins for no reason?

"Senior Brother Du, I'll fight you!"

Zhang Miaoran from Cuiwei Peak, with a sweet and charming smile on her face, flew onto the martial arts stage, stepping on a light blue ribbon.

She also enjoys a high reputation within the sect, being the chief Qi Refining disciple of Cuiwei Peak, with a cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"Junior Sister Zhang, the sword is merciless, you'd better be careful." Du Jin held the sword in both hands, then took a step forward and charged out, showing no intention of holding back.