Chapter 492: Heavenly Court Sect Appears

As a sword spirit manifest in human form, Mingtai possessed a talent for the Dao of the sword that rivaled even Lu Yang's, sweeping through the early Golden Core stage group with unstoppable, absolute dominance, hard pressed only by true geniuses of the great immortal sects or those suspected of dispersing their cultivation to rebuild anew.

Yet even those peerless geniuses found their moves unraveled by his exquisite swordplay; though his cultivation remained modest, he already exuded a faint, brewing majesty capable of shattering ten thousand laws with a single strike.

The winner of the early Golden Core stage group, Mingtai.

Standing upon the arena stage, Mingtai raised his palm level with his chest, waving a small, shy hand toward Elder Sikong.

Beneath the brilliant sunlight, Mingtai's figure shone with a radiant splendor, as though cast in solid gold.

"Seeing Mingtai is like seeing the very shadow of Lu Yang," Meng Jingzhou lamented, his eyes rimmed with red as he reminisced on the glorious, tumultuous days of the past with deep sorrow, making it painfully obvious just how profound his bond with Lu Yang had been.

"What a pity. You know what a wonderful person Lu Yang was, so how could he just..."

Meng Jingzhou choked on his words, breaking down into uncontrollable, weeping sobs.

Bai Ming: "..."

Out of the goodness of his heart, Bai Ming inquired, "How about you keep crying for now, and I take the stage in your stead?"

The mid Golden Core stage matches had already commenced, and Meng Jingzhou was up first.

Wiping away his tears, Meng Jingzhou adopted a look of grim determination: "No need. Lu Yang cannot participate in this competition, so I must inherit his legacy and forge ahead. I am certain his spirit in heaven feels the exact same way."

With that, Meng Jingzhou stepped onto the arena, each pace exceedingly heavy, as though he bore a profound mission upon his shoulders.

Up in the grandstands, Lu Yang was seriously contemplating whether he could abuse his authority to declare this grandson Meng Jingzhou an immediate loser.

"The Orthodox Academy, Meng Jingzhou."

"The Charm Sect, Ye Mengyin."

Meng Jingzhou's opponent was a true disciple of one of the supreme sects, Ye Mengyin of the Charm Sect.

Ye Mengyin wore a pristine, flowing gown, her skin as flawless and translucent as snow, her demeanor so ethereal and immortal that she was a goddess pursued by countless admirers in the outside world.

Her charm arts were preeminent even among her peers; a single glance or a subtle movement of her brow could stir the deepest desires within a man's heart, and even women with insufficient mental fortitude would find themselves completely enraptured.

Ye Mengyin's voice was soft and alluring, so intoxicating during her self-introduction that it could practically melt a person's bones.

"Senior brother, please be gentle with your blows, for a fragile girl like me cannot withstand too much force."

Ye Mengyin gazed at Meng Jingzhou with a pitiable, delicate look, stealthily exerting her charm arts; during the city and provincial matches, a mere few words like these had been enough to leave her opponents utterly infatuated, driving them to surrender of their own accord.

"How about you surrender instead? I don't differentiate between men and women when I fight," Meng Jingzhou replied with a cheerful smile, showing absolutely no mercy whether he was thrashing a man, a woman, or Lu Yang.

Meng Jingzhou's eyes remained perfectly clear, devoid of the slightest sign of being charmed.

Ye Mengyin was astonished; since making her debut, she had never encountered a cultivator of the same realm who could remain completely unaffected by her charm arts.

Even peerless geniuses had to divide their focus to resist the enchantment, unlike Meng Jingzhou, who acted as if nothing had happened at all.

As expected of someone from the Orthodox Academy, he truly possessed some real capability.

Before the finals officially began, she had also strolled through the commercial streets and entertainment venues, and had caught wind of Meng Jingzhou's proclaimed rhetoric that "one must stay single to cultivate immortality, for women are nothing but skeletons draped in flesh."

She had dismissed it with disdain, thoroughly convinced that Meng Jingzhou simply had yet to encounter her.

Cultivators of the Charm Sect, after all, held a record of charming even ascetic temple monks into returning to secular life.

Ye Mengyin retrieved an ancient zither from her storage ring and gently plucked the strings, producing a melody so smooth and soothing that it felt like a refreshing breeze caressing the face, infinitely tender, leaving even the cultivators below the stage entranced.

She was a rare practitioner of sound cultivation.

The zither music, paired with her charm arts and augmented by her grade-one Golden Core, the Core of Raging Desires, meant no one within the same realm should be her match.

Except for Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, Man Gu, Lan Ting, Bai Ming, Yan Tianzhi...

"Six Styles of Heaven Shaking!" Meng Jingzhou bellowed, his voice drowning out the zither melody as he strode forward, his fists gleaming with a golden luster, friction against the air igniting bursts of flame.

With his twin Single-Dog Golden Cores revolving, no charm arts could possibly take effect.

The only true threat to him was the zither music, which slowed his steps and hindered his movements, but as a body cultivator of robust constitution, one whom even Lu Yang dared not clash with head-on, this level of control was mere drizzle to him, its effect practically negligible.

Ye Mengyin never expected her proudest techniques to fail so utterly against Meng Jingzhou; before she could even react, a fist the size of a sandbag crashed straight into her face, sending her thudding to the ground with a sound that practical screamed agonizing pain.

Meng Jingzhou claimed victory.

"Sister, are you alright?" Meng Jingzhou kindly pulled Ye Mengyin to her feet; during the match they were opponents demanding ruthlessness, but after the match, they were fellow Daoists supporting one another.

Ye Mengyin looked at Meng Jingzhou with a gaze full of tender affection; this was the first time she had encountered such a formidable male cultivator, as those she met in the past invariably bowed and scraped before her, terrified of letting her see through them.

Only Meng Jingzhou remained entirely unmoved by her presence.

"When I entered the Dao, I swore upon the name of my sect that I would marry whoever defeated me."

"That wouldn't be right..." Meng Jingzhou smiled sheepishly, quite caught off guard by this sudden stroke of romantic fortune.

Ye Mengyin shook her head gently: "There is nothing wrong with it, but our sect also has a rule: disciples of our sect shall not marry disciples of the Orthodox Academy, nor shall they marry members of the Meng family."

"My master said that marrying into either of these two families easily brings disaster upon the sect."

Meng Jingzhou: "..."

How exactly did my Meng family provoke or offend you? Go ask around the Imperial City; our Meng family's reputation is widely praised, and though it might not be entirely spotless, there is no way we should fall to the same abysmal level as the Orthodox Academy!

Forget it, no use overthinking it, a win is a win.

Securing a triumphant start, he cheerfully stepped down from the arena to flaunt his victory before Bai Ming and the others.

"Did you see my battle just now? Brought her down with a single punch."

"Impressive, truly impressive. When I fight female cultivators, I am always overly cautious, terrified of striking the wrong place and being mistaken for a rogue. It seems I really need to learn a thing or two from Senior Brother Meng," Bai Ming applauded, having truly learned a great deal from Meng Jingzhou.

In the past, he had cared far too much about saving face, which was honestly a foolish mistake.

"Remarkable," Yan Tianzhi remarked, short and concise.

As the rounds proceeded one after another, Bai Ming and Lan Ting passed their matches smoothly, their strength visibly a cut above the cultivators of the same realm.

"It seems the final victor of this group will emerge from among the four of us," Meng Jingzhou noted.

"We cannot jump to conclusions so easily," Bai Ming shook his head, pointing toward the cultivator currently standing upon the stage.

"You all saw the matches of the previous realms; there are cultivators out there fully capable of rivaling our great immortal sects, and this mid Golden Core stage group is no exception."

"See that cultivator on the arena? He hails from our Yun Province and was exceptionally prominent during the provincial trials, demonstrating an incredibly outstanding talent for combat and superb adaptability. Furthermore, his foundation is rock-solid with no apparent weaknesses, and he has not fallen behind even in the most difficult path of mental strength cultivation. His Golden Core should be the Devouring Golden Core among the grade-one cores, capable of consuming an opponent's spiritual energy during battle."

Just as the few were conversing in hushed tones, a resonant, booming laughter echoed from right above their heads.

Before the watchful eyes of the entire crowd, a youth leapt down from the sky, landing squarely upon the arena and interrupting the match.

"How could my Heaven Shackles Sect possibly miss out on such a lively and bustling grand occasion?"

Up amid the clouds, several more silhouettes loomed, every single one of them exuding a terrifying, awe-inspiring aura.

The second update will be at eleven o'clock.

(End of this chapter)