The Long Journey to Immortality

He surpasses ordinary people, but is still befitting the status of a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator.

As if to give Han Lu a hard time, Yu Chi Zhou, with his Qi Refining Level 2 cultivation, actually imitated a Foundation Establishment cultivator and demonstrated his sword-flying skills for a moment before taking the stage.

After landing from the spirit sword, which was about three meters high, Yu Chi Zhou gracefully performed a forward roll in the air and landed steadily on the arena.

Yu Chizhou's stylish entrance earned him a round of applause from the audience.

If it were any other cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining, they would probably stand on the arena and secretly admire Yu Chi Zhou's skill in controlling artifacts, praising him as one of the best.

However, the experienced Han Lu immediately saw that Yu Chi Zhou was merely taking shortcuts and was not actually able to fly on a sword like a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"It's just using a lightness spell to leap high into the air while simultaneously controlling the spirit sword to fly beneath my feet."

"In reality, it only made brief, casual contact with the spirit sword in mid-air."

"Even if it flies half a meter higher or five meters farther, it will reveal its weakness."

"His spiritual energy quantity and control are not sufficient to support him in performing complex techniques such as flying on a sword."

Watching Yu Chizhou's performance, Han Lu thought of herself and, considering the actual situation, predicted, "As for me? I'll probably be able to try to master the special techniques that can only be used by the Foundation Establishment realm when I reach the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining."

After Yu Chizhou stepped onto the stage, he focused his attention on Han Lu.

Seeing that Han Lu was just staring at him blankly, he assumed that his stunning appearance had already stunned Han Lu, the "witch." After a moment of self-satisfaction, he handed the identity token at his waist to the academy cultivator beside him.

"Junior Sister Han, hello." Yu Chizhou got the first advantage over Han Lu in their words.

According to the rules, Yu Chizhou, as an introductory disciple, was indeed Han Lu's senior brother, who was also at the second level of Qi Refining.

"Hmm." Han Lu simply nodded, not intending to call Yu Chizhou "senior brother".

After a symbolic formality to verify their identities, neither of them put any further effort into their conversation. Instead, they stood on opposite sides of the ring, patiently waiting for the match to officially begin.

Meanwhile, on another arena, Wen Er Ya's match was in full swing.

Chapter 109 Protracted War, Blitzkrieg

Because one of the matches at the fifth level of Qi Refining resulted in a crushing defeat, Wen Erya stepped onto the arena earlier than Han Lu.

As the biggest favorite in the Qi Refining Level 6 competition, Wen Erya's information was basically thoroughly examined by the other three cultivators who made it into the top four.

Wen Er Ya's opponent in the semifinals, Wu Leng, was no exception.

Because Wen Erya had participated in nearly fifty arena matches before the competition, and did not hold back excessively in the competition afterward, nor did she hide the treasures in her storage bag.

Therefore, by the time of the semi-finals, Wen Erya's information had been thoroughly investigated by numerous information brokers eager for spirit stones.

However, a thorough investigation does not necessarily mean there is a solution.

Most cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining might have one or two ways to counter one or two magical artifacts in Wen Erya's possession, but there are always areas where their power is insufficient.

Finding the opponent's weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and shortcomings, and then flexibly using appropriate magical items to defeat them, became the key to Wen Er Ya's advancement to the finals and eventual victory.

In this regard, Wen Erya, who had been specially trained by Han Lu and instilled with the fighting philosophies of Feng Bailu and Xiaoyaozi, did a very good job.

The match had just begun, and Wen Er Ya continued to adhere to her aggressive, suppression-based fighting style, patiently searching for an opportunity to strike.

Wen Erya brought out her Soul-Locking Tower once again during the semi-finals.

The pagoda, renowned for its numerous victories, was so powerful that even Wen Erya's opponent, Wu Leng, felt apprehensive upon seeing it. Wu Leng feared that, like in the battles described in the records, he would be trapped by the pagoda's supernatural powers from the outset, losing his ability to move freely and allowing Wen Erya to act with impunity and win easily.

Knowing about the pagoda's two magical artifact manipulation abilities, Wu Lengyi had naturally made preparations and devised a countermeasure before going on stage.

Like Han Lu, she used a lightness spell to move nimbly on the arena to avoid being imprisoned by the pagoda.

Little did anyone know, this was just a deception by Wen Erya. She had no intention of injecting her spiritual power into the pagoda to allow the Soul-Locking and Suppressing Pagoda to use its binding power.

Wen Erya believed that if this move was used too often, her opponents would also know its weakness.

So Wen Er Ya simply took it out and showed it off, putting pressure on people.

Sure enough, this tactic was quite effective.

Because of the presence of the pagoda, Wu Lengyi couldn't help but look up at the Soul-Locking and Suppressing Pagoda hanging above the arena when casting spells and chanting incantations. This reduced the efficiency and frequency of her spellcasting, and gave Wen Erya more room to use magical tools.

The spirit sword was taken out, and the scroll that had once put considerable pressure on Han Lu also appeared in Wen Erya's hands.

Having mastered the Hundred Treasures Artifact Control Technique to a minor level, and reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining, she can easily control three magical artifacts simultaneously in battle as long as her spiritual energy is abundant.

Using her spirit sword to unleash the Azure Lotus Sword Technique to harass the enemy, Wen Erya also unfurled a scroll to summon the Ink Beast for assistance.

The Ink Beast's fearless attacks and the spirit sword techniques it unleashed kept Wu Lengyi constantly on the run, forced into a passive defensive state, only able to parry but unable to retaliate.

When Wen Er Ya retrieved the Soul-Locking and Suppressing Tower that had been suspended in the air and took out the fourth magical artifact, the competition came to an end.

A bronze-colored handbell appeared in Wen Erya's hand. She shook the bell casually twice, and Wu Lengyi, whose spiritual power was almost depleted, collapsed.

Although Wu Leng was ultimately defeated by Wen Er Ya's fourth magical artifact in the blink of an eye, he lost the match almost in a slow, agonizing way.

Coincidentally, Wen Erya's competition had just ended, and Han Lu's competition was just starting.

Although in Han Lu's opinion, Yu Chizhou was only half-baked, and his skills in controlling swords and weapons were not up to her standards.

However, Yu Chi Zhou does have some skill; his ability to control artifacts is quite good for someone at the second level of Qi Refining.

Two spirit swords flew out of their storage bags at the same time and fought fiercely in the air for several rounds in the blink of an eye.

Han Lu was superior to Yu Chizhou in both the level of her magical artifacts and her skill in controlling them. Naturally, Yu Chizhou suffered a setback in the first few rounds of their exchange.

"She's a master, and she has a good sword," Yu Chizhou thought to himself, subconsciously deleting several negative comments about Han Lu. "It seems that defeating her in one move will be difficult."

As a sword cultivator, Yu Chi Zhou wanted a quick victory, and Han Lu naturally had her own ideas as well.

Unlike Wen Erya's battle plan, Han Lu immediately unleashed all her skills upon hearing the referee shout "start," intending to defeat Yu Chizhou, a half-baked swordsman, with lightning speed.

At least on the surface.

The spirit sword was just a pretext. Han Lu was only pretending to want to compete with Yu Chi Zhou in sword control skills. In reality, she still had the idea of ​​"capturing the king first to catch the thief".

However, by the time it comes to the semi-finals, even if the participating cultivators don't have protective magic items, they will at least have one or two protective talismans. If they want to kill the enemy with one blow, they will need to do more preparation and think of more ways.

However, Han Lu had already made a plan.

Seven ice mirrors froze around Yuchi Boat.

Han Lu cast the Ice Mirror Illusion again.

Han Lu has always maintained a combat habit of targeting the five senses of Qi Refining cultivators and their inability to fight with both feet off the ground.

Qi Refining cultivators can only rely on their eyes to observe and control their spirit swords.

Yu Chizhou learned about Han Lu's "dirty" and "blinding" methods from the pamphlet, and naturally, he was prepared for it.

Upon seeing the ice mirror rise, Yu Chizhou took off running before the illusion was complete.

The Ice Mirror Illusion was not some secret technique, but just a common water-attribute spell. Yu Chi Zhou knew its principles and naturally figured out a way to break it.

The ice mirror needs to be fixed in several key positions, and then calculated and adjusted in terms of angle and arrangement in a specific way to refract light and defeat the enemy with light.

If the target of the attack escapes the range of the illusion array, the array will naturally break down on its own.

Yuchi Zhou didn't see his plan working out as he expected; he thought he had made a brilliant move.

With his head tilted back, Yu Chi Zhou ran towards the edge of the ice mirror's encirclement, watching the battle of spirit swords overhead.

Seeing his spirit sword defeating Han Lu's golden sword, Yu Chizhou's face gradually lit up with joy, believing that he had gained the upper hand on that battlefield.

"Beautiful," Yu Chizhou thought to himself, "If I win the battle with the spirit sword and successfully dodge the ice mirror illusion, then my chances of winning this match are at least 70%."

Yu Chizhou was also aware of the drawback that the Ice Mirror Illusion required a lot of spiritual power to be used. In his opinion, if such a move hit thin air, he would have gained a great advantage.

However, before he could even feel happy for a moment, the plot took an unexpected turn.

With his head tilted back to watch the duel between the spiritual swords in the sky, Yu Chi Zhou naturally had no third eye on the arena beneath his feet.

As soon as he stepped out of the ice mirror illusion array, Yu Chizhou felt that the texture of the arena he was standing on was a little strange.

Looking down, Yu Chizhou knew in his heart that something was wrong.

Chapter 110 Advancing to the Finals

It turns out that all of this was a series of traps carefully set by Han Lu.

The swordplay and combat drew Yu Chi Zhou's attention to the air.

Then, the Ice Mirror Illusion forced Yu Chi Zhou to move around the arena on his own.

Han Lu deliberately summoned only seven ice mirrors, partly to conserve spiritual energy, and partly to create a clear escape route, surrounding three and leaving one open, so that Yu Chi Zhou could choose an escape route according to her thoughts and ideas.

The young Yuchi Zhou did indeed follow Han Lu's plan step by step, completely falling into the trap.

Just as Han Lu had expected, he walked without looking where he was going and stepped into the water trap that Han Lu had set.

As the water prison rose, Yu Chizhou was initially puzzled, wondering how he had stepped into a trap that only a "blind person" would fall into.

But when his spirit sword fell to the ground in the blink of an eye after he stepped into the trap, he realized that it was all a carefully designed deception by Han Lu.

The water trap was successfully triggered, and Han Lu's smugness was practically written all over her face.

The sense of accomplishment from such meticulous planning gave her an indescribable feeling of satisfaction.

Having advanced to the semi-finals, Yu Chizhou naturally wouldn't surrender simply because he was imprisoned in a water dungeon.

With his spirit sword temporarily knocked away, he could only rely on magic to find a way to escape from the water prison, lest he become a fish on a chopping board and be slaughtered by Han Lu.

Unfortunately, cultivators have limited energy, and cultivators at the second level of Qi Refining like Han Lu, who have encountered extraordinary opportunities, are ultimately a minority among the minority.

Yuchi Zhou was not proficient in magic or spells.

Ordinary spells simply cannot break the cage and help Yuchi Zhou escape in a short time.

Looking at Yuchi Zhou struggling in the water dungeon, Han Lu knew that the competition was not over yet.

With a flick of her wrist, she wielded her spirit sword, stabbing it at Yuchi Zhou in the water prison with lightning speed.

The moment the spirit sword emitted its light in the air, the sound of it cutting through the air sent chills down one's spine.

But this move did not end the match.

Just as Han Lu had suspected, Yu Chi Zhou did indeed have a powerful protective artifact hidden away.

The robe worn by Yu Chizhou was also a magical artifact, just like the fiery rainbow robe worn by Han Lu.

Despite his intense focus and the infusion of spiritual power, a thin layer of light enveloped Yu Chizhou, blocking Han Lu's casual strike with her golden sword.