The Long Journey to Immortality

To be worthy of the spirit stone Wen Erya paid, Duan Mingcheng held nothing back and used all his skills.

Facing such a dedicated sparring partner, Wen Erya managed to struggle for a few rounds before being knocked unconscious on the ring once again.

Seeing Wen Erya training so relentlessly, Han Lu felt a growing respect for her "genius senior sister".

[Author's Note] I'm asking for free monthly tickets and razor blades next month.

Chapter 44 A cultivator without magical treasures is not a true cultivator.

Despite her respect, Wen Erya's two defeats in three battles left Han Lu with a rather unpleasant expression.

After the doctor woke Wen Erya up again and, with Wen Erya's consent, conducted a simple physical examination on her, Han Lu jumped onto the ring to continue her work as a "coach".

"Senior Sister Wen, how are you feeling?" Han Lu asked with concern. "Rest a little longer, and let me say a few words?"

Wen Erya rubbed her forehead, squinted, and nodded slightly. "I still feel like I'm not quite getting it. Junior sister, what should I do?"

Hearing Wen Erya drop the "Han" before "Junior Sister," Han Lu also changed her form of address.

"Senior sister, before answering this question, I'd like to ask you a question first."

"Hmm, what's the problem?"

Han Lu asked, puzzled, "Senior sister, don't you have many magical tools and treasures? Why don't you take them out and use them?"

Although I don't believe the rumors, I don't believe that Wen Erya received nine magical artifacts as a gift from the Royal Treasury simply because she joined the Zhengyi Sect.

However, she believed that as the youngest daughter of the Southern Dynasty emperor, Wen Erya, the apple of his eye, must possess at least three magical artifacts of considerable quality.

These high-grade magical artifacts, once used in battles between cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining, can absolutely turn the tide of the battle.

In the first three rounds of the competition, Han Lu noticed that Wen Er Ya did not use any magical artifacts at all, and did not even seem to intend to show them off.

Why give up such a useful tactic and hand over victory so easily? Even though it was a friendly match with her sparring partner, Han Lu still couldn't understand it at all.

She knew she couldn't figure this out by just thinking about it in isolation, so she took the opportunity to ask Wen Erya a question.

While tidying her disheveled hair, Wen Erya replied, "It's because you didn't use any magical tools when I saw you last time, Junior Sister."

"Coincidentally, two days ago, a senior brother who lost to me also suggested that I should not rely too much on the power of magic tools during training and competitions, but should improve my own abilities more."

“I thought it made a lot of sense, so I did it.”

Hearing this, Han Lu was speechless. She then understood why Wen Erya had lost more than she won in the training competitions of the previous two days.

"Senior sister, you're completely wrong about that."

Wen Erya blinked, clearly not understanding why Han Lu said that.

"The reason I refused to use magical artifacts that day was to prove that I could defeat ordinary Qi Refining Level 2 cultivators on my own, thereby resolving the controversy surrounding me."

"You are preparing for the competition, so you don't have any problems or burdens in that regard. There's absolutely no need to store your magical artifacts in your storage bag. You're fighting alone."

Fearing she hadn't explained clearly enough, Han Lu used the Grand Competition as an example, continuing, "Doesn't the sect know that the magical items in the disciples' storage bags are of different grades, some strong and some weak? But does the sect forbid everyone from using magical items, magical artifacts, and other magical treasures during the Grand Competition and the Minor Competition? No."

"Because magical artifacts are an integral part of a cultivator's strength."

"Otherwise, Master wouldn't have suggested that Senior Sister choose the 'Hundred Treasures Artifact Control Technique' to make use of your strength of having a large number of magical artifacts."

"When you're training outside the sect, there won't be any rules or restrictions when you need to fight."

"As for what that senior brother said, it was just self-comforting talk from a cultivator who doesn't have high-quality magic tools."

"Besides, you can improve your strength and get a good ranking in the competition by making more use of magical tools during the competition and becoming proficient in using them."

"Senior sister, for the next competition, how about you bring out a few of your magical artifacts so I can broaden my horizons?"

Ending with this sentence, Han Lu felt that her speaking skills had improved significantly after incorporating some of Xiaoyaozi's habits and personality.

Wen Er Ya's current state of being both mature and childish is due to the environment in which she grew up.

They are mature in their behavior, but somewhat naive in their thinking.

Han Lu's lecture had some effect.

“Junior sister is right, I was overthinking it,” Wen Erya sighed, repeating the key point of Han Lu’s words, “Indeed, magic weapons are part of a cultivator’s strength.”

Upon hearing this, Han Lu knew that Wen Erya agreed with her statement, so she comforted her, "Senior sister, you did a good job just now. If you use magic tools and follow the two points I mentioned before, you will definitely win the next two matches easily."

What Han Lu said was true; in fact, even if you removed the second half of her sentence, it still made sense.

She didn't think the remaining two sparring partners possessed any special skills that would allow them to gain an advantage over Wen Erya in her prime and win the match.

After taking another pill and fully regaining her senses and restoring her spiritual energy, Wen Erya stood up.

"Which of you two will do it?"

The "sycophantic" cultivator who had been cheering for Wen Erya's performance from the sidelines volunteered and leaped onto the stage, saying, "I am Tang Bochao, and I will be Senior Sister Wen's fourth opponent."

It's unclear whether it was because she knew this sparring partner was her "lapdog," or because she wanted to make the competition more effective for training and improvement after she used the magic tool.

Before the competition, Wen Erya added, "Junior brother, please do your best."

Tang Bochao was overjoyed that Wen Erya had given him special treatment. "Since Senior Sister Wen has spoken, I will certainly do my best."

Han Lu was quite displeased with Tang Bochao's appearance. She secretly made a biased judgment that Tang Bochao could at most last three moves against Wen Erya.

Han Lu interrupted Tang Bochao, who was trying to get closer to Wen Erya, and said, "Are you ready? I'm going to call 'start'."

Tang Bochao straightened his sleeves and said, "Ready, Junior Sister Han."

"Then, let's begin." Han Lu hurriedly announced the start of the competition, afraid that this Senior Brother Tang might do something that displeased her.

At Han Lu's command, Wen Erya wiped her hand on the storage bag at her waist, and two beams of light shot out from the bag.

One is blackish-iron in color, and the other is dark green.

The black iron-colored light flew straight into the air.

In the blink of an eye, the light dissipated, revealing the true form of the magical artifact.

It is a pagoda with five floors.

A pagoda made of an unidentified black metal rotated in the air, emanating a chilling aura.

The other dark green light was a wood-attribute spirit sword.

With these two items brought out at the same time, the onlookers began to speculate about what methods Wen Erya intended to use to unleash the power of these two magical artifacts.

Tang Bochao was somewhat surprised to see Wen Erya take out a magical artifact.

"Didn't Senior Sister Wen never use magical artifacts in competitions?"

He and the other sparring partners were unaware of the whispered conversation between Wen Erya and Han Lu on stage, and they didn't know that Wen Erya had made a change in this regard because of Han Lu's words.

But Tang Bochao, who came here as a sparring partner, is certainly not just all talk.

Tang Bochao took out a magical artifact from his storage bag.

Looking at Tang Bochao's magical artifact, Han Lu couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "An iron ball the size of a fist? Could it be made from scrap materials left over by a weapon-refining master?"

[Author's Note] Brazil is without Neymar again in this year's "Weekly" Cup, but Hulk is still with Shanghai SIPG, so he can't bulldoze Argentina like a bull.

Chapter Forty-Five: The Soul-Locking and Spirit-Suppressing Tower

Compared to Wen Erya's spirit sword and pagoda, or the various magical treasures in the hands of other cultivators, the iron ball in Tang Bochao's hand can only be described as ordinary.

Han Lu's whispered complaints were overheard by Duan Mingcheng, who was standing next to her. Duan Mingcheng, who was familiar with Tang Bochao, quickly said a few good words for his friend.

"Junior Sister Han, do you know what nickname Tang Bochao has among me and a few friends?"

"Does this have anything to do with the current competition?" Han Lu asked, puzzled.

“Of course there is a connection,” Duan Mingcheng explained. “Tang Bochao’s nickname is related to the magical implements he possesses.”

"What nicknames?" Han Lu guessed two casually, "Iron Ball Taoist? Ball Pushing Master?"

Duan Mingcheng didn't keep him in suspense, "His name is Tang Bochao, a Golden Core cultivator."

"It refers to Tang Bochao's use of the iron ball magic tool in his hand, which is exactly the same as how a Golden Core cultivator uses his Golden Core to defend against enemies in a critical moment."

Once a Golden Core cultivator advances to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, their Golden Core becomes incredibly hard, even comparable to a low-grade spiritual weapon. It can be extracted from the body in the most critical moment and used as a magic weapon to defend against enemies.

Without practicing special techniques, this method of defense can be summed up in one word: "smash".

Duan Mingcheng's words made Han Lu understand how Tang Bochao used the iron ball magic weapon in his hand.

While the two were talking, the two on the ring had already begun their first round of combat.

Compared to Wen Erya's two magical implements, Tang Bochao's iron ball is simpler and more direct to activate and use.

He threw the iron ball forward, then used his control techniques to slam it towards Wen Erya.

If Wen Erya gets hit hard by that iron ball, it won't just be a matter of lying on the ring for a while.

Head injuries and bleeding are inevitable. Even with the best external medicine, one may have to endure the gruesome wounds and scars for a while.

Just as Han Lu and the others were wondering how Wen Erya would respond, the pagoda began to spin rapidly in the air. The black pagoda, which had been floating above the arena, suddenly emitted a cylindrical dark light from its bottom.

The light, without bias, trapped the iron ball that was hurtling towards Wen Erya.

The beam of light was like a cage, imprisoning Tang Bochao's iron ball inside.

With the magical artifact trapped, Tang Bochao had no choice but to temporarily change the target of the iron ball from Wen Erya to the cage of light.

The iron ball collided repeatedly with the intangible light, producing a series of muffled thuds.

If it were an ordinary Qi Refining Level 5 cultivator, at this moment, they would definitely be able to focus entirely on controlling the fiercely battling pagoda and iron ball, and would not dare to be careless in the slightest.

However, Wen Erya, who had already begun cultivating the "Hundred Treasures Weapon Control Technique," was able to multitask, wielding the dark green spirit sword to launch an offensive and opening up a second battlefield in the relatively small area of ​​the arena.

Under Wen Erya's control, the spirit sword attacked Tang Bochao from the flank.

Although wood-attribute spirit swords are not very sharp and their destructive power is not as great as metal-attribute or fire-attribute spirit swords, they are still spirit swords after all.

Tang Bochao, who had never practiced external martial arts, had no interest in using his own flesh and blood to clash head-on with this spiritual sword.

Since the iron ball couldn't escape for the time being, Tang Bochao temporarily put aside the competition and used ice to erect a shield beside him to block the three sword energies released from the spirit sword.

The green sword energy clashed with the ice shield, and neither side gained the upper hand.

But when Wen Erya noticed that the iron ball had become docile, she quickly withdrew, pointed the pagoda at Tang Bochao, and used the same move she had originally used against the iron ball on Tang Bochao.

Busy dealing with the spirit sword, Tang Bochao didn't even notice the pagoda's movements.