The Long Journey to Immortality

However, she knew that although Chai Tianjiao was impulsive, he was not stupid.

This kind of reprimand should be enough to prevent him from making a big mistake and going against the wishes of the sect's higher-ups.

The break between matches is still 45 minutes.

The audience outside the theater was unaware of the story unfolding in the dressing rooms of both sides.

During the break, the spectators discussed the previous two matches and considered which cultivator they should bet their spirit stones on for the next match.

The Central Plains cultivators involved in this matter have lost their mystique and, in the eyes of the vast majority of Jitian Palace disciples, are just ordinary cultivators like themselves.

It has neither three heads nor six arms, nor can it transform into a true spirit beast to fight against humans.

Making a judgment and a choice at this point will naturally be easier.

Chai Tianjiao was infamous throughout the Jitian Palace, and with the attractive odds, naturally, the vast majority of Jitian Palace cultivators placed their spirit stones on him.

The Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators on the viewing platform, however, appeared somewhat indifferent.

In their view, the previous two battles were not very interesting.

In fact, apart from Han Lu, there are hardly any other highlights.

If it weren't for the fact that it was a public place and Mo Zhehan hadn't even appeared yet, some Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators would have already been thinking of leaving early.

As for Elder Fan Qian and Daoist Songbai from the Central Plains, they were even more worried after the formidable Fu Tianqiao was defeated without any suspense.

They even had a feeling that the next match might feature a "three against one" scenario.

Two quarters of an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and it was Ni Kuan and Chai Tianjiao's turn to appear.

Chai Tianjiao was a rather extreme cultivator of the Great Yu Dynasty, and since he was indeed very skilled in combat, he had quite a few supporters in the Jitian Palace.

In addition, the previous two battles were too mild, so many viewers who wanted to see blood and have some fun were really looking forward to the fight between Chai Tianjiao and Ni Kuan.

As soon as the two appeared, the audience in the stands began to cheer and shout Chai Tianjiao's name.

Chai Tianjiao was slightly surprised, but quickly adapted. He even waved to the direction of the loudest shouts from the stands from time to time, enjoying the highest level of treatment that only Mo Zhehan used to receive.

Meanwhile, Ni Kuan, who was also on the stage, was shocked by the waves of sound, which made him feel timid. Although it didn't make his legs tremble so badly that he couldn't walk, he would be lucky if he could only use about 70% of his full strength when he stepped onto the stage.

However, having been a top disciple of Xuan Yang Valley, after a brief period of adjustment, Ni Kuan still managed to demonstrate his strength as much as possible once he entered combat mode.

Watching the match from the jade screen in the lounge, Han Lu judged that Ni Kuan's strength should be slightly better than Fu Tianqiao's.

Chai Tianjiao was not as powerful as Wu Jiayue, but his strength was about the same as Dong Fengyu's.

With each move, the two fought evenly on the ring.

However, Chai Tianjiao's fighting style of exchanging injuries for injuries, as always, soon achieved some results, regardless of the cost.

Having grown accustomed to peaceful days in the Central Plains, Ni Kuan only ever fought and clashed with his fellow disciples during sect competitions. Chai Tianjiao's barbaric fighting style left Ni Kuan bewildered.

Within five minutes, Chai Tianjiao had suffered numerous minor injuries, and even his clothes were stained with blood.

Ni Kuan suffered an even worse fate, as the technique burned large areas of his skin and turned his hair into a charred color.

Despite being severely injured, Ni Kuan still has about 50% of his fighting strength.

However, the intense pain left him with no will to continue fighting, and he involuntarily chose to admit defeat.

Upon hearing Ni Kuan voluntarily admit defeat, Chai Tianjiao felt something was missing. He put down the magic gourd in his hand and casually spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground.

With cheers echoing in his ears and a look at Ni Kuan's miserable state on the jade stone, Huang Ziqiang's face turned ashen.

Chapter 615 The Power of the Candle Dragon

Huang Ziqiang was not a psychologically fragile monk.

On the contrary, having spent some time training in the East Sea, he had already acquired some of the attributes of an East Sea cultivator.

If he were to stand in the ring in place of Ni Kuan and fight against Chai Tianjiao, he certainly wouldn't surrender and admit defeat so easily after suffering such minor injuries.

At this moment, his change in expression was more due to his amazement at the methods and combat power of the cultivators from the Extreme Heaven Palace.

Huang Ziqiang, who was also a cultivator from Xuan Yang Valley and had fought Ni Kuan no less than thirty times during the three months of training and preparation, was very clear about Ni Kuan's strength.

If Han Lu's previous victory and Fu Tianqiao's defeat made it impossible for him to guess the strength level of Mo Zhehan, the strongest among the four opponents, he was still uncertain.

Ni Kuan's fierce battle with Chai Tianjiao allowed him to understand his opponent's strength and deduce Mo Zhehan's approximate combat power.

"According to the records, Mo Zhehan had faced off against Chai Tianjiao seven times, and he had beaten Chai Tianjiao to a pulp both fifteen years ago and three years ago."

"Not only that, in the sparring session three years ago, Chai Tianjiao was defeated without even being able to force out Mo Zhehan's Candle Dragon power."

"From this perspective, even without the help of true spiritual powers, Mo Zhehan possesses the abilities of an ordinary early-stage Golden Core cultivator."

"If we also take into account the blessing of the Candle Dragon bloodline, I'm afraid Mo Zhehan would be able to put up a fight against an ordinary mid-stage Golden Core cultivator."

"And I..."

Huang Ziqiang was well aware of how much exaggeration there was in his record of escaping unscathed from a Golden Core cultivator in the early stages.

In his view, even after three and a half years of training, he, who had not yet advanced to the Golden Core realm, could only barely protect himself against early-stage Golden Core cultivators. He would only have a five-tenths chance of winning if he encountered a weakling who had only advanced by refining a beast core.

With her strong willpower, she should be able to defeat Chai Tianjiao, but she probably won't have many opportunities against Mo Zhehan.

Thinking of this, he lowered his eyes, shook his head, sighed, and muttered to himself, "There really are people more capable than me, and heavens beyond heavens. I originally thought I would come to the Great Yu Dynasty to make a name for myself, but now it seems that I will most likely become someone else's stepping stone."

Hearing Huang Ziqiang, who was sitting next to her and sighing as he looked at Ni Kuan, who was receiving treatment in the jade, Han Lu felt that she should still do her part to help this fellow villager who had drawn the worst possible lot.

So she started talking loudly about the Candle Dragon with Fu Tianqiao.

"Tianqiao, have you ever heard of Zhulong?"

Fu Tianqiao was unaware of Han Lu's subtext and simply responded out of habit, assuming that Han Lu was testing her.

“I’ve heard of it, I just heard it today,” Fu Tianqiao said without any attempt to hide her ignorance. “That Mo Zhehan from the Jitian Palace said he has the bloodline of the Candle Dragon and can transform into a Candle Dragon to fight.”

"Then do you know what Zhulong excels at and what his weaknesses are?"

Han Lu asked further questions.

Upon hearing Han Lu's words, Huang Ziqiang's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned his attention to the two women chatting, hoping to hear some brilliant plan that would give him a better chance of winning when he went on stage later.

"I only know half of it," Fu Tianqiao replied honestly. "The information states that Mo Zhehan can use True Spirit Divine Power by relying on the Candle Dragon bloodline, summoning a dark flame with immense power."

"In addition, he is skilled in external martial arts and can transform into a half-human, half-dragon body, making his body incredibly tough and his strength immense."

As the most famous Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Jitian Palace, the information about Mo Zhehan in the records is very detailed. Fu Tianqiao gave a simple summary and answered Han Lu's question.

“That’s right,” Han Lu said with a smile. “Do you know where the Candle Dragon’s weakness is?”

“This…” Fu Tianqiao recalled for a moment and said, “The only time Mo Zhehan was clearly recorded as a defeat in the data was when he was at the third level of Qi Refining. I don’t know where his weakness is.”

Fu Tianqiao was ultimately just looking at the pictures and making a summary; he didn't really know the specifics of the true spirit, Zhulong.

Han Lu said, "Actually, I don't know much, but I do know that transforming a Foundation Establishment cultivator into a True Spirit for combat must be an extremely energy-consuming process."

"In addition, Zhulong is good at external martial arts, but its weakness is its defense against magic."

"If I were to face Mo Zhehan and force him to transform into a Candle Dragon, I would definitely adopt a war of attrition and use as many spells as possible to attack him."

Upon hearing Han Lu's answer, Fu Tianqiao had a question, "Senior Sister Han, how do you know these things? Do you also know cultivators who can transform into true spirits?"

Han Lu pulled Feng Yufei out, "I am good friends with the Fairy Feng of the Seven Mountains Alliance. She is the true spirit of the Phoenix Bird."

"I see."

Although these words were spoken by Fu Tianqiao, Huang Ziqiang repeated them in his mind as well.

Huang Ziqiang wasn't stupid; now that he was here, he could naturally tell that Han Lu's words were specifically meant for him.

Han Lu had no reason to set a trap for him, and since he already knew that Feng Yufei was a true spirit, he naturally listened to and believed everything Han Lu said.

On the ring, Ni Kuan's injuries were not as severe as they appeared.

After simple treatment, new skin and flesh have grown back, and the internal injuries, blood stasis, and external spiritual energy have been cleared away by the elixir.

However, losing the game in this way made him lose face, so he left the venue early and returned to his residence instead of going back to the rest room to meet Han Lu and the others.

This saved Huang Ziqiang, who had been struggling to come up with a few words to comfort Ni Kuan, some trouble, allowing him to focus more on the upcoming battle.

After two consecutive victories, the cultivators from the Extreme Heaven Palace watching the match couldn't help but smile.

They knew Mo Zhehan's strength all too well.

In the eyes of all the cultivators of the Extreme Heaven Palace, Huang Ziqiang was definitely no match for Mo Zhehan.

At this point in the day's friendly match, it was a foregone conclusion that the Celestial Palace would achieve a "great victory".

During the two-quarter-hour break, 99% of the disciples of the Extreme Heaven Palace placed their spirit stones on Mo Zhehan.

Despite the extreme odds of 10 to 1, people still flocked to it, eager to bet their entire fortune to win these sure-fire spirit stones.

With all the advantages of timing, location, and people in Mo Zhehan's favor, even Han Lu, who had just given Huang Ziqiang some inspiration and reminders, didn't think Huang Ziqiang could defeat Mo Zhehan.

Han Lu's idea was simple: she only hoped that Huang Ziqiang could force Mo Zhehan to reveal more of his methods so that she could understand this cultivator, who also possessed the bloodline of the True Spirit, better.

The 45-minute break gave Huang Ziqiang time to adjust his mindset.

When he stepped onto the stage, he was as calm and composed as when he first went to conquer the Great Yu Dynasty. He had already prepared a thousand strategies and plans, ready to be a dark horse and cause an upset.

Compared to other cultivators from the Extreme Heaven Palace, Mo Zhehan was the most decisive.

Once on the stage, he didn't say many polite words and directly declared his intention to fight Huang Ziqiang.

"Come on, Fellow Daoist Huang of the Central Plains, let's have a good fight!"

Chapter 616 Mo Zhehan's Semi-True Spirit Transformation

Huang Ziqiang's answer was also very direct: "I also look forward to competing with Fellow Daoist Mo, who possesses the bloodline of the True Spirit."

"Oh?" Mo Zhehan suddenly became interested, thinking of chatting with Huang Ziqiang for a bit. "Could it be that this is the first time Fellow Daoist Huang has encountered a cultivator with a True Spirit Bloodline like me?"

"This is the first time," Huang Ziqiang said honestly. "Our Central Plains is quite far from the wilderness, so I don't think many true spirits from the wilderness would accidentally come to the sect to sow seeds and bloom. However, there are a few hybrids of spirit beasts and magical beasts."

Huang Ziqiang had no intention of engaging in any psychological warfare with Mo Zhehan or humiliating him by mentioning his background.

The "birdman" fellow disciple that Han Lu once encountered in the competition was an example of the latter.

The Valley Master of Xuan Yang Valley, Long Daoren, has always claimed that his bloodline comes from a true spirit of the Dragon Clan.

However, as a top disciple of Xuan Yang Valley, Mo Zhehan knew very well that Daoist Long had lied about this matter, so he did not include Daoist Long in the calculations.