The Long Journey to Immortality

"Senior Sister Han, I will do my best, so please don't hold back."

After saying that, Mo Mingchou turned around and, following the rules, stood on the other side of the arena.

Knowing he was no match for Han Lu, Mo Mingchou did not surrender as readily as he had done before. Instead, he secretly cheered himself up.

In his view, meeting Han Lu was both a bad thing and a good thing.

Having cultivated in the Zhengyi Sect for half a year, he was no longer the arrogant and ignorant person he was when he first entered the sect, having been called a genius in a small place.

He wanted to use this competition to find out exactly how much he differed from the true geniuses of the Central Plains.

Does he have a chance to catch up?

Han Lu was a touchstone in Mo Mingchou's eyes.

Mo Mingchou thought about many things, but Han Lu didn't have much inner monologue.

He simply replied with an "okay".

Han Lu took a dozen steps back, stood still, and waited for the second round of the competition to begin.

[Author's Note] Although there may not be corresponding allusions, it should be no problem to use some idioms and proverbs.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Economical Losses, Significant Wins

The Grand Competition is a major event for the disciples of the Zhengyi Sect. No matter who it is, even the disciple who won first place in the last Grand Competition, they will make a series of thorough preparations before the competition.

Like Han Lu's previous opponent, Xiao Hao, who chose to use spirit stones to purchase magical artifacts for the competition, Zhan Yujun did the same.

Han Lu had no shortage of magical tools and possessed the ability to fight against high-level Qi Refining cultivators, but she also sought to learn from Fu Chen and mastered two more techniques to meet her needs.

For disciples like Mo Mingchou, who don't have many spirit stones and whose strength is only average, relatively inexpensive and cheap consumable talismans have become the best auxiliary tools to improve their strength in a short period of time.

Mo Mingchou spent two spirit stones to buy some talismans from several senior brothers as an "investment" in order to improve his strength, raise his ranking in the competition, and obtain more material rewards.

In the first round of the competition, Mo Mingchou only managed to win with difficulty by relying on two talismans.

In the second match against Han Lu, Mo Mingchou really wanted to win and prove himself, but knowing the gap between them, he had no intention of using the few talismans in his storage bag in this match.

Talismans are not like ritual implements, but they are consumables made of real gold and silver.

Mo Mingchou preferred to use talismans in battles where the opponents were evenly matched, rather than against a formidable foe like Han Lu.

As the referee counted down, Mo Mingchou had a thousand thoughts flashing through his mind, pondering how to secure an economical defeat.

The first round of the competition consists of seven matches, and Mo Mingchou doesn't want to get injured early and affect his performance in the later matches.

"In that case, I will..."

Mo Mingchou imagined several scenarios in his mind and devised several plans, determined to show his skills in this match where he had a 99% chance of losing.

"3, 2, 1... Go!"

Upon hearing the command to "begin," Han Lu did not, as usual, give up the initiative, make hand seals, and use her usual lightness spell.

Considering that her opponent had watched her fight before, Han Lu decided to change her fighting style slightly.

She was rapidly chanting incantations. If the surrounding light were any dimmer, onlookers would clearly see that there were a total of eighty-five points of light shining on Han Lu's body, who was only at the second level of Qi Refining.

Han Lu and Mo Mingchou had similar yet different ideas. Han Lu wanted to achieve a significant victory, or even a victory that could provide positive support for the following matches.

Guided by the incantation spoken and the hand gestures made with her left hand, Han Lu's spiritual energy circulated rapidly within her body.

Nearly a third of the spiritual energy surged towards Han Lu's right hand, which was outstretched and had its palm open.

Half a breath later, the water dragon that had appeared during the match with Wen Erya reappeared on the number seven arena.

The moment the massive water dragon appeared on the arena, all the cultivators waiting for the match near Arena Seven focused their attention on Han Lu.

As the target of the water dragon's attack, Mo Mingchou, who was casting spells at what Han Lu considered a "turtle-like" speed, was so frightened that he swallowed the second half of the incantation and couldn't help but curse, "Holy crap!"

Before he could finish speaking, the water dragon had already arrived in front of Mo Mingchou.

He resisted the urge to touch the storage bag and use the "Wing Transformation" talisman to grant himself short-term flight ability and forcibly evade the attack. Instead, he forced himself to recite another incantation and cast a defensive spell.

But no sooner said than done.

Mo Mingchou had only recited half of his incantation, forming a faint blue spiritual energy shield in front of him, when Han Lu's Water Dragon Technique struck him relentlessly.

The giant, sapphire-blue dragon head seemed to swallow Mo Mingchou whole.

The violent impact shattered the protective shield that Mo Mingchou had hastily formed.

Before the onlookers could even see what was happening, the giant dragon struck Mo Mingchou, enveloping him and carrying him toward the protective barrier at the edge of the arena.

The water dragon flew for about seventy meters before finally hitting the barrier at the edge of the arena.

The spell collided with the restriction, and ripples appeared where it came into contact with the light-colored protective shield.

Anyone with eyes can see that this is a contest between magic and restrictions, and it is a battle of evenly matched strength.

The restriction, presided over by a cultivator in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, emitted muffled sounds.

The cultivator who supported the restriction looked slightly grim. He changed his hand, which had been gently placed on the spirit stone of the magic array, into a tight grip, and the spiritual energy in his dantian surged and was injected into it.

The water dragon and the barrier remained locked in a stalemate for about three seconds before turning into mist and dissipating into the air.

Mo Mingchou, who had been held hostage by the water dragon's impact, finally broke free of his predicament and was thrown onto the arena's protective barrier. After another unpleasant collision, he finally landed on the ground.

Even though Han Lu had shown mercy, he was still seriously injured after being hit by such a powerful spell.

Before the referee could announce the result, the cultivator in charge of the arena's restrictions and medical care immediately deactivated the restrictions and rushed onto the arena to check Mo Mingchou's injuries.

After examining the unconscious Mo Mingchou, the Foundation Establishment cultivator roughly determined the extent of Mo Mingchou's injuries.

Seeing Han Lu walking quickly forward, the doctor subconsciously said, "She just choked on water, broke three ribs, and fainted from the pain."

The doctor forced Mo Mingchou to vomit a few mouthfuls of water by patting his back before he used his magic to treat Mo Mingchou's fracture.

Immediately afterwards, the doctor gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips and pressed twice on the major acupoint on Mo Mingchou's forehead.

The spiritual energy stimulated Mo Mingchou's Lingtai acupoint, and after a few breaths, Mo Mingchou, whose injuries had improved, slowly regained consciousness.

Seeing this, Han Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After confirming the results, Han Lu chose to leave immediately, just like in the first round.

She jumped off the ring and deliberately walked into the crowd.

Han Lu's stunning performance on stage made way for her, and the many onlookers watched her leave with admiring glances.

"A spell cast by someone at the second level of Qi Refining can actually break through a restriction?"

"What kind of magic is this?"

"Looks pretty impressive."

"This female cultivator seems to be a master?"

……

The cultivators below the stage, who were also at the second level of Qi Refining, were discussing Han Lu's brilliant performance and the powerful spells she had unleashed.

Recalling that giant dragon, these potential future rivals of Han Lu couldn't help but feel a little fear.

They tried to remember Han Lu's name and appearance.

No one wanted to be hit by such a terrifying spell, even if Han Lu would show mercy.

Han Lu's plan was executed perfectly.

Not only did she defeat her enemy in one move and decisively win her second victory, but she also became quite famous among these Qi Refining Level 2 cultivators, making many Qi Refining Level 2 cultivators from other academies remember the name Han Lu.

Chapter Ninety-Four: Break the front teeth, shut the mouth

However, fame takes time to spread.

Especially in the cultivation world, where knowledge can only be passed down orally.

Han Lu's third opponent was not standing near ring number seven when Han Lu was fighting Mo Mingchou.

Therefore, this third opponent neither witnessed Han Lu's domineering attack nor felt any fear towards her.

Han Lu's opponent in the third match was a strong opponent who had already completed three matches that day and achieved a three-game winning streak.

He comes from Zhongshan Academy and is named Shi Yiran. He is a disciple of a Golden Core elder in Zhongshan Academy.

He was also only at the Daoist Boy level when he first entered the sect, but after five months of systematic training, he successfully advanced to the second level of Qi Refining a month ago. He is also a top-notch genius disciple in the Zhengyi Sect.

In this respect, Shi Yiran and Han Lu are somewhat similar.

However, both of them had achieved seven consecutive victories in the first round, and when they faced off on the third ring, they showed no sign of mutual respect.

After verifying their identities and distancing themselves from each other, the two exchanged perfunctory greetings and no further communication.

Han Lu knew that Shi Yiran would most likely be the toughest opponent she would face in the first round of the competition, but she still didn't take him seriously and didn't think he had any chance of beating her.

With her abilities on display, Han Lu had plenty of confidence.

She was certain that even if she participated in the competition for the fourth or even fifth level of Qi Refining, she would have a very high chance of winning all her matches in the first round and advancing.

After all, she was able to defeat Wen Erya on the stage, and Wen Erya was a popular candidate to advance to the sixth level of Qi Refining with a perfect record.

With a little logical deduction, Han Lu's "arrogance" seems perfectly reasonable.

At the referee's signal, the two fighters on the stage moved simultaneously.

Han Lu changed her usual fighting style and immediately summoned the rarely used "Thunder Bamboo Wood Sword" to quickly cast spells.

Han Lu prefers to use the Lightness spell as her first choice when facing a stronger opponent or when engaging in a battle between two strong opponents.

In this contest where the strong beat the weak, she felt that a strong, aggressive approach was more suitable for her at the moment.

With the aid of magical tools to perform the spell, and given that Han Lu was a cultivator who was quite fluent in chanting incantations, Han Lu's spell was already completed while Shi Yiran was still making hand gestures.

Han Lu raised the Thunder Bamboo Sword high, channeling her spiritual power into the magical artifact. Immediately afterward, four dark green beams of light shot out from the sword tip, spun in the air, and flew towards Shi Yiran's location.

The four beams of light had just landed around Shi Yiran, before and after him, and before they could be fully unleashed, Shi Yiran had finally finished chanting his spell.

Suddenly, the arena shook violently, and a dark light pierced into the arena from beneath Shi Yiran's feet. This light "burrowed" into the ground at an extremely fast speed, heading towards Han Lu.

Upon seeing this light, the experienced Han Lu immediately guessed what kind of magic Shi Yiran had used.

"Earth Spike Technique?"