Chapter 326 : The Strongest Versus the Strongest
Chapter 326: The Strongest Versus the Strongest
After the Grand Dao Tournament began, Li Qingqiu did not go to watch the matches. Instead, he remained within his cave dwelling, comprehending the Dharma Manifestation.
He already had a preliminary idea regarding the Dharma Manifestation, but how exactly to implement it still required further thought.
Suddenly, he came up with an idea—by utilizing the 【Tempered Through a Thousand Trials】 fate trait, he could continuously comprehend the Supreme Purity Primordial Unity Scripture. Perhaps the technique itself could guide him in shaping the Dharma Manifestation.
With that thought in mind, he immediately began putting it into practice.
He focused intently on comprehending the Supreme Purity Primordial Unity Scripture, while simultaneously condensing a sword soul beside him to absorb inner energy and cultivate. This way, it would not hinder the growth of his vital energy.
Time passed rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, it was already July.
The Grand Dao Tournament had entered the stage of competing for the Top Ten. Among the Top Sixty-Four disciples, only five had cultivation below the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, fully demonstrating the deep foundation of the Clear Sky Sect.
Every one of the Top Sixty-Four disciples had become a target eagerly sought after by the royal family and the great clans.
No one noticed that the Sect Master had not appeared for several months.
Inside the cave dwelling.
Yun Cai sat by the stone table, sipping tea while watching Li Qingqiu meditating on the stone bed. She could not help but ask, “Sect Master, are you really not going to watch the Grand Dao Tournament? It’s quite exciting.”
Although she had been the champion of the previous Grand Dao Tournament, she did not underestimate the younger generation. She had gone to watch several times and discovered that quite a few of the younger disciples possessed extraordinary aptitude. Even she could not help but sigh—geniuses within the sect were emerging endlessly.
With his eyes closed, Li Qingqiu said, “I will go when they compete for the top three.”
Yun Cai teased, “Hu Yan might not get first place. Won’t you be disappointed?”
“Why would I be disappointed?”
“Because first place won’t belong to your disciple!”
“Wasn’t it the same last time?”
“That’s different. Although I’m not your disciple, I’m closer to you than they are. Who in the sect doesn’t know I’m your person?”
Yun Cai glared as she spoke. Ever since the rumors spread that she wanted to become the Sect Master’s wife, she had stopped pretending. Whenever someone asked her about it, she would directly admit it.
Because of this, the great clans had restrained their younger members, forbidding them from trying to curry favor with Yun Cai. Even the female disciples had grown more respectful and wary of her.
With such strength and such an attitude, it was not impossible that she would truly become the Sect Master’s wife in the future.
If it were her, no one in the sect would dare to object.
“Hu Yan will not lose.”
Li Qingqiu replied calmly, as if stating an established fact.
Originally, he did not think Hu Yan had absolute certainty of victory, but with Yun Cai provoking him like this, he decided to take a gamble.
Even if he lost the bet, Yun Cai would at most laugh at him in private. She would never spread it—this girl was even better than him at preserving his dignity.
If she ever heard anyone questioning Li Qingqiu, she would sternly rebuke them, offending quite a few people in the process. He only knew of these matters because Chu Jing had told him.
After hearing this, Yun Cai did not argue back. Instead, she smiled and said, “Then it seems Hu Yan still has strength he hasn’t shown.”
Li Qingqiu asked, “Are you very free? If you have nothing to do, you should go back and cultivate.”
Yun Cai pouted. “Can’t I come see you even if I have nothing to do?”
“I’ve been practicing recently and need peace of mind.”
“I gained some insight into the Primordial Unity Scripture and came specifically to tell you.”
Her words made Li Qingqiu open his eyes and look at her curiously.
Heh, men.
Yun Cai resisted the urge to roll her eyes and said, “I’ve comprehended a method of cultivating the Dharma Manifestation from the Primordial Unity Scripture. You’ve been going into seclusion frequently lately, so I guessed you might be trying to break through to a higher realm—that’s why I came to find you.”
There was a hint of grievance in her gaze.
If anyone else had said this, Li Qingqiu would have dismissed it as nonsense—how could anyone surpass him in understanding the Primordial Unity Scripture?
But Yun Cai was different. She possessed the 【Tempered Through a Thousand Trials】 fate trait and had been focusing solely on studying the Primordial Unity Scripture, no longer cultivating other spells. She might truly have gained prior insight into the Dharma Manifestation.
This girl was only at the Third Layer of the Spirit Perception Realm, yet she could glimpse the Dharma Manifestation six minor realms ahead—truly unbelievable.
Li Qingqiu coughed lightly and said, “I actually understand your feelings and how good you’ve been to me. What I said earlier was just to push you to become stronger. I know your ambitions, and I believe you can achieve them. I look forward to you becoming the strongest in the sect.”
Hearing this, Yun Cai felt delighted, her gaze turning gentle and affectionate. She stood up, intending to walk toward him.
“Sit down and talk. Let’s discuss the Dharma Manifestation first.”
Li Qingqiu quickly said, startled inside. What was she trying to do?
With the All-Law Spiritual Eyes, she could definitely see the presence of Nangong E, Lin Chuan, and the Ghost Flood Dragon. And yet she still dared to act so boldly?
Yun Cai reluctantly sat back down, looking somewhat aggrieved. She continued, “The vital energy cultivated through the Primordial Unity Scripture is fundamentally different from that of other techniques. It is extremely pure and carries a trace of creation. One must disperse the vital energy throughout the body, sense its distance from the soul, and let it adhere to the soul. This step is the foundation for shaping the Dharma Manifestation. As for what comes after, I don’t know.”
“Speaking of the Dharma Manifestation, I only know it is the threshold to the next major realm. As for what it truly is, I haven’t comprehended it yet. Do you know?”
Ever since she became aware of the Dharma Manifestation, Yun Cai could not stop thinking about it, which was why she came to Li Qingqiu.
She believed that in the entire sect, only Li Qingqiu might know.
After hearing her explanation, Li Qingqiu was pleasantly surprised. Her insight saved him a great deal of time, allowing him to directly begin implementation.
The way he looked at her changed. Then, he shared everything he knew about the Dharma Manifestation.
After he finished speaking, Yun Cai became even more yearning for it. She looked at him with admiration and said, “You really know so much.”
Li Qingqiu, thick-skinned as ever, did not mention that he had learned it from Wei Tianxiong.
They chatted a while longer before Yun Cai left, not wanting to disturb him too much.
After she left, Li Qingqiu began following her method, evenly dispersing the vital energy within his body and attempting to attach it to his soul.
Though it sounded simple, it was extremely difficult in practice.
The soul existed within the body, yet it could neither be seen nor touched—it seemed to exist in another dimension. Making vital energy come into contact with the soul was not something that could be achieved by mere imagination.
Cultivators in the Spirit Perception Realm could glimpse the soul, but they could not directly observe it.
Li Qingqiu thus realized that observing one’s own soul was the key to the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm.
He temporarily set aside the matter of shaping the Dharma Manifestation and began focusing on how to observe his own soul.
……
By August, the weather had grown increasingly hot.
The Top Ten of the Third Grand Dao Tournament had been decided: Hu Yan, Xiao Wuqing, Liang Yulin, Bai Yutian, Yan Daozong, Clear Flame Daoist, Xie Shu, Ning Shu, Qin Zhaoxue, and Wang Mang.
Although Li Shouzheng and Li Shoumin had caught up in cultivation, they were still young and lacked time to deeply study spells, falling short of the Top Ten. Even so, their talent had already shocked the entire sect, replacing Hu Yan as the most dazzling geniuses of the Clear Sky Sect.
Everyone knew that Hu Yan would soon surpass the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, just like Xu Ning and Yun Cai, passing the mantle of genius to the next generation.
Next came the battle for the top three!
After a month of research, Li Qingqiu could finally use his spiritual sense to glimpse his own soul, but attaching vital energy to it remained extremely difficult.
Though difficult, he did not feel discouraged.
As Wei Tianxiong had said, achieving the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm before the age of fifty was something he had never even heard of.
On this day,
Chu Jing suddenly came to see him, saying there was an urgent matter.
Li Qingqiu let him enter the cave dwelling.
“Sect Master, traces of a mysterious immortal cultivator have been discovered outside Xiyu Immortal City. Someone attempted to infiltrate the city but fled into the deep mountains after being discovered. The disciples of Xiyu Immortal City were unable to catch him.”
Chu Jing reported as he bowed.
Li Qingqiu frowned. “What is his cultivation level?”
“Gu Changping of the Second Layer of the Spirit Perception Realm could not catch up to him.”
Hearing this, Li Qingqiu immediately concluded that the opponent was definitely not from a small sect within the Nine Provinces, but from a major sect outside.
From the west…
His brows furrowed tightly. He immediately said, “Inform Gu Changping that I will send Yuan Li to oversee the situation. Tell him not to act rashly.”
“Yes!”
Chu Jing accepted the order and left.
After he departed, Li Qingqiu took out his Sect Master Token to contact Yuan Li, instructing him to immediately head to Xiyu Immortal City.
Since it involved cultivation sects from the west, Li Qingqiu did not dare to be careless and could only dispatch his strongest disciple for now.
“It seems I must hurry and break through.”
His eyes flickered before he closed them again.
……
Yuan Li’s departure from the mountain did not alarm the sect disciples, who remained focused on the Grand Dao Tournament.
The battles of the Top Ten were incredibly captivating, drawing over two hundred thousand spectators, including nobles and pilgrims from below the mountain.
The first match was Hu Yan versus Yan Daozong.
The battle was extremely intense. The highly favored Hu Yan had to fight for nearly half an hour before finally defeating Yan Daozong.
Yan Daozong’s martial path shocked all spectators—he displayed sword techniques, palm techniques, fist techniques, leg techniques, and movement techniques, fully demonstrating the essence of martial arts.
After the match ended, thunderous cheers echoed along the Xi River—all for Yan Daozong.
As Hu Yan walked down from the platform, Yan Daozong’s back looked incredibly desolate.
“You were amazing!”
Duan Xiaojuan immediately rushed over. Unlike others, she cheered only for Hu Yan, her eyes filled with admiration.
Hu Yan smiled helplessly. “Being pushed this far—I must have disappointed you.”
“How could I be disappointed? You’re amazing. It’s just that your opponent was strong too. In my eyes, you’ll eventually become Number One Under Heaven. I believe in you—I’ll wait for that day.”
Duan Xiaojuan smiled brightly, even taking the initiative to hold his arm, causing his body to stiffen.
Meanwhile, Yan Daozong stood on the platform with a bitter expression.
He was the greatest genius Tianxuan Mountain had ever produced, yet at fifty-seven years old, he had been defeated by the twenty-six-year-old Hu Yan.
Although he knew Hu Yan was the sect’s top genius, he still could not accept it.
His conviction wavered once again.
Should he continue to persist on the martial path?
If he cultivated the immortal path instead, would he achieve better results?
Below the stage, Clear Flame Daoist and Bai Yutian watched Yan Daozong with complicated expressions. They came from Fengxia Mountain, which, together with Tianxuan Mountain, had once been known as the twin saints of the martial world.
They had abandoned the martial path, while Yan Daozong still persisted. Deep down, they felt a trace of guilt.
Most importantly, after careful consideration, they realized that if they had faced Yan Daozong themselves, they might not have been able to win.