Chapter 488: Cultivation Method with the Same Name

With a cruel smile hovering at the corners of his lips, Zhao Yuan paced slowly toward the arena to join the Foundation Establishment late-stage division.

Cultivators nowadays lived far too easily, never having been forged through blood and fire; a mere touch of his ruthless methods would leave them weeping bitterly and abandoning the match.

He had slaughtered his way through the city and state-level competitions in precisely this manner, and had the referees not intervened in time, every single one of his opponents would be dead.

Yet on the territory of the Seeking Dao Sect, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, taking a life carried its own difficulties.

Very well, if he could not kill, he would shatter his opponent's courage, ruining their path of growth and eliminating a potential threat for the future struggles of the grand era.

Who was his opponent this time? Some so-called genius of the Seeking Dao Sect?

It mattered not; whoever it was, all efforts were futile before an absolute disparity in strength.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Wei Nanfei of the Seeking Dao Sect."

Wei Nanfei belonged to the same generation of disciples as Lu Yang, having been poisoned by his stepmother in his youth and saved by the passing Dai Bufan.

"Loose cultivator Zhao Yuan," Zhao Yuan greeted carelessly, casting a disdainful look at Wei Nanfei.

Were it not for this final round, the other youth would not even be qualified to stand upon the same arena as him.

After all, he was a grand peak Body Integration cultivator who had dispersed his cultivation to rebuild; this reconstruction would surely take him a step higher, allowing him to attain the Tribulation Transmutation stage.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao Yuan, please."

Zhao Yuan moved, a jade-green long saber appearing in his grip, its hilt embedded with a longan stone the size of a pigeon's egg, as he slashed horizontally toward Wei Nanfei.

"So fast!"

Wei Nanfei cried out in surprise, twisting his body to evade the strike.

How could Zhao Yuan possibly stay his hand? With a flick of his wrist, the jade-green saber spun through the air, slashing once more toward Wei Nanfei's lower abdomen.

Clang—

Wei Nanfei drew two axes from his waist, crossing them before his abdomen to block the jade-green blade.

"Why do those axes look so familiar?"

Mangu muttered, turning his head to ask Li Haoran beside him: "Junior Brother Li, do you recognize those two axes?"

At this moment, Li Haoran had Su Yiren on his left and Qin Yanyan on his right, enjoying a double blessing, though his left hand had already been snapped several times by Su Yiren.

Fortunately, he possessed the ability to regenerate severed limbs, allowing his wounds to heal with extreme speed, treating it as an exercise in utilizing his Golden Core.

"Those are replicas of the Mountain-Splitting Axe; I forged them for Junior Brother Wei."

"The Mountain-Splitting Axe?"

The name sounded familiar to Mangu as well.

Li Haoran could only explain further: "The three axes given to us by the River Spirit during the sect entrance trial—the mortal axe, the spiritual treasure Mountain-Splitting Axe, and the immortal artifact Heaven-Splitting Axe. Junior Brother Wei liked the style of the Mountain-Splitting Axe, so he asked me to forge a pair."

Only then did realization dawn upon Mangu.

By now, the battle on the arena had reached a white-hot phase, and Wei Nanfei proved to be far more troublesome than Zhao Yuan had anticipated.

Though he was certain of victory, a battle of this caliber would not suffice to crush Wei Nanfei's Dao heart.

In ancient times, what Zhao Yuan enjoyed most was playing the pig to eat the tiger, disguising himself as a genius to destroy the Dao hearts of true talents.

"Time to use some real measures!"

Zhao Yuan grew fierce, deploying his trump card as his blood began to boil and his skin turned flushed and swollen, resembling a frenzied beast!

The longan stone on the saber's hilt emitted an eerie red glow, as though an ancient dragon had opened its eyes, radiating an overwhelming pressure!

Boom—

The longan saber hacked toward Wei Nanfei's face; even though Wei Nanfei blocked it with his axes, his arms trembled slightly beneath the sheer force.

"What kind of technique is this?"

Yang Ding frowned; the Prison-Suppressing Sect did not study cultivation methods deeply, but he could discern that Zhao Yuan was employing a technique that exploded with power for a short duration.

"It should be a technique that burns one's longevity to temporarily boost combat power," Luo Hongxia analyzed, noting that very few cultivators in the present era practiced such methods.

"It is the Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique."

The Immortal Fairy spoke softly, displaying her vast store of ancient knowledge.

The method of burning longevity to increase combat power was common in the ancient era; the five ancient immortals would routinely burn a few years of their lifespan just for amusement.

The Time Immortal, in particular, had frequently burned his longevity even before attaining immortality, making him exceedingly difficult to deal with.

After all, the Time Immortal's true form was the Jianwood tree, which had existed for a span equal to or greater than human history itself, rendering his longevity virtually limitless.

"So it is that technique." Although the crowd did not recognize it personally, they had heard of its name.

"Then it will be difficult for your Seeking Dao Sect disciple; he might not be able to defeat this Zhao Yuan," the First Prince Jiang Qun remarked, his brow furrowing slightly.

All signs indicated a very high probability that Zhao Yuan was an ancient cultivator.

"No matter, Wei Nanfei also practices the Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique."

"Also?" Qiu Jin'an was astonished, thinking to himself that it was no wonder the other could recognize Zhao Yuan's technique.

"Yes, written by the Yun girl."

Wei Nanfei opened his mouth, seemingly about to speak, but Zhao Yuan was quick of eye and swift of hand, striking first to prevent him from uttering a word.

Want to surrender? No chance!

Seeing his opponent act so unreasonably, Wei Nanfei shook his head helplessly and could only activate his own technique.

Zhao Yuan's strength surged wildly; though he remained at the late Foundation Establishment stage, his combat power was now sufficient to battle a late Golden Core cultivator!

Zhao Yuan laughed maniacally in his heart as his aura climbed higher and higher, while Wei Nanfei avoided his sharp edge, dodging the assaults.

Zhao Yuan pressed on relentlessly, determined to leave a psychological shadow in Wei Nanfei's heart through this very battle.

Kill, kill, kill!

Zhao Yuan grew ever stronger, and his lifespan burned faster and faster.

"Wait, why is my longevity burning so quickly!" Zhao Yuan cried out, gripped by sudden terror.

The Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique was his natal cultivation method, practiced for an entire lifetime; it was impossible for an error to occur.

"It is you!" Zhao Yuan stared fixedly at Wei Nanfei.

Wei Nanfei sighed softly: "I wanted to say earlier that if you surrendered, I wouldn't have to use this move, but you insisted on stopping me from speaking. Since you and I both practice the Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique, why must we fight to the death?"

"Most importantly, you cannot beat me anyway."

"What a joke! What kind of Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique are you practicing!" Zhao Yuan flew into a rage, wondering who the youth thought he was fooling; no one understood this technique better than him.

He had never heard of a technique that could help others burn their longevity!

"Anyway, Eldest Senior Sister said this is called the Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique," Wei Nanfei muttered. He had found it strange himself; when he was choosing his technique, the elder had brought out two manuals—one called the Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique, and the other also called the Sky-Burning Blood-Ignition Technique.

The difference lay in that the former had been excavated from an ancient grotto-heaven, while the latter was written by Eldest Senior Sister.

He had decisively chosen the latter.

Watching his longevity drain away continuously with no effect even after halting the technique's operation, Zhao Yuan hurriedly conceded.

"What is going on here?" Qiu Jin'an watched the scene upon the arena in sheer bewilderment.

The Immortal Fairy flashed an excited smile, just on the verge of exposing Yun Zhi's dark past, when a cup of tea was placed right by her hand.

She turned her head to look, only to find the frost-cold Yun Zhi standing behind her, asking with tender concern, "Acting Sect Master, have some water to moisten your throat."

Cold sweat poured down the Immortal Fairy's back, and she dared not say another word.

Yang Ding recalled a certain rumor which claimed that every disciple of the Wendao Sect was required to complete two missions a year; to fulfill this quota, Yun Zhi had falsely claimed to have visited an ancient grotto-heaven and discovered ancient cultivation methods—but while she called them ancient methods, they were actually entirely made up by her based solely on their names.

Yet, the methods Yun Zhi fabricated under those same names often proved to be far more powerful than the original versions.

The second update will be at eleven o'clock.

(End of this chapter)