Chapter 131: Still 3 More
Based on this information, Fang Yun had already guessed that when he forced Dong Hongwen into such a desperate situation, he would definitely use his Fine Needle Spiritual Artifact for a final blow.
But speculation was one thing; his intuition was simply faster.
This was the advantage of talent.
The moment Dong Hongwen conceded defeat, the crowd below the Dueling Platform fell silent for an instant before erupting into a cacophony of voices.
It was incredibly noisy.
"He won! He won! Senior Brother Fang won!"
"Senior Brother Dong is ranked eighteenth on the Inner Sect Ranking! The fact that Junior Brother Fang could defeat him means he’s strong enough to be on the list himself."
"Getting on the Inner Sect Ranking at just the Qi Refining Seventh Layer... Has something like that ever happened before?"
"From what I know, there was an Inner Sect Disciple at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer on the Inner Sect Ranking over eighty years ago."
"Who was it?"
"Elder Miao."
Some Inner Sect Disciples had heard about Elder Miao Qinghong’s exploits from when she was a teenager from their own elders, so they knew a bit about her history.
"Junior Brother Fang is only at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, yet he can control three Upper Grade Magical Artifacts at once. I thought two Upper Grade Magical Artifacts were already his limit."
"You’re not the only one, Senior Brother. We all thought the same thing."
"At most, I can only control three Lower Grade Magical Artifacts at the same time."
"What can you even do controlling three Lower Grade Magical Artifacts at once? You’d probably have trouble killing even a mid-stage Qi Refining Demon Beast with that."
On the outskirts of the crowd, some of Fang Yun’s supporters were already shouting the nicknames they’d come up with for him.
"Sword Immortal! Sword Immortal!"
"No! It should be Turtle Immortal!"
"Turtle Immortal!"
Unlike the Inner Sect Disciples, many of these Outer Sect disciples couldn’t analyze the details of the Magical Combat that just occurred; they could only shout mindlessly.
Only after the clamor died down a little did Feng Tianrui announce the result of the Magical Combat.
"The winner, number one hundred sixteen, Fang Yun!"
After Feng Tianrui announced the result, Fang Yun intended to step down from the Dueling Platform immediately.
But at Feng Tianrui’s signal, Fang Yun walked over.
"Elder, you were looking for me?"
"Mm." Feng Tianrui nodded, then asked, "Can you control four Upper Grade Magical Artifacts?"
"I can, but it’s quite taxing," Fang Yun replied.
"As expected."
Feng Tianrui was not the least bit surprised.
Based on Fang Yun’s performance just now, he was already certain that Fang Yun possessed the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body. His question was merely to confirm it.
The defining trait of a special constitution like the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body is the innate ability to more easily master control of multiple Magical Artifacts compared to others. At a more advanced level, it allows for the simultaneous use of multiple techniques.
Considering Fang Yun’s age, he simply didn’t have a large amount of time to constantly practice controlling Magical Artifacts.
With enough practice, a normal Cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer could also learn to simultaneously control three Upper Grade Magical Artifacts. However, they could not manage four—three is their absolute limit.
And "enough time" meant an extraordinarily long time.
No sane Cultivator would be foolish enough to spend that much time practicing artifact control, unless they had already given up hope of breaking through to the next Realm.
"The Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body, do you know about it?"
"I know a little," Fang Yun nodded.
"Mm, it’s good that you understand."
Feng Tianrui assumed Fang Yun’s "I know a little" was just a humble turn of phrase in front of an Elder like himself. ’He must actually know a great deal,’ Feng Tianrui thought. ’Otherwise, after discovering he was special, he wouldn’t have spent time developing this particular constitution.’
’This must be why he comes to Battle Peak, in addition to his Artifact Refining and Alchemy.’
’Normally, Cultivators with his talents rarely show up at Battle Peak. Once every three months would be considered frequent; some never show up at all.’
"The Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body gives you a great advantage during the Qi Refining Stage, but it becomes average after you reach Foundation Establishment." After a moment of thought, Feng Tianrui decided to explain the later-stage effects of this special constitution.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, a Cultivator opens their Sea of Consciousness, giving rise to Divine Sense.
With some time, it’s not difficult for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to master the technique of attaching their Divine Sense to Magical Artifacts to aid in combat.
The drawback of this technique is its high consumption of Divine Sense.
If the drain on Divine Sense were small, then the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body wouldn’t even be considered "average" after Foundation Establishment. Its usefulness would plummet, rendering it practically useless.
"You may go."
"Yes, Elder."
Fang Yun quickly descended the Dueling Platform, rejoining Song Qiaoqiao and the other three.
Seeing Fang Yun, Bai Qinying put on a displeased expression and said,
"Well, isn’t this something! Junior Brother Fang, you have this kind of power and you didn’t even bother to tell me?"
"Senior Sister Bai, we’re opponents in the next match," Fang Yun quickly retorted. "Besides, you never asked."
"Forget it. The important thing is you won."
The next moment, Bai Qinying’s face broke into a wide smile; she had just been pretending to be upset.
’I’m just happy he won. Who cares what he was hiding? If he had lost, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to fight him in the next round of Magical Combat.’
"Senior Sister Bai, when you go back today, you better prepare well."
"That’s what I should be saying to you." In fact, Fang Yun had just spoken the very words Bai Qinying had been about to say.
"Senior Sister, would you like a tip?"
"What kind of tip?"
"A tip for our Magical Combat tomorrow, of course."
Bai Qinying was about to refuse, but she reconsidered. ’Getting a bit of information now wouldn’t hurt.’
’There’s a huge gap between third and eighteenth on the Inner Sect Ranking.’
’I could also defeat Dong Hongwen pretty easily, but there’s a real chance I could lose to Fang Yun.’
’If I lose to Fang Yun now...’
At this, Bai Qinying recalled what she had said to Fang Yun earlier.
’If I really lose, everything I said to him before will sound like a joke.’
"Fine, say it," Bai Qinying said, relenting.
"This." Saying that, Fang Yun took out five identical-looking Yellow Iron Swords in one go. "Their functions are all different."
With just that hint, Fang Yun put the Yellow Iron Swords away.
Bai Qinying said nothing, her expression turning grave. She hadn’t expected Fang Yun to have prepared so many Upper Grade Magical Artifacts for their fight—all identical in appearance yet different in function.
"Junior Brother Fang, you’re really something else." Wu Junxin, who saw this, couldn’t help but say, "If I have to fight you in Magical Combat after this, I’ll have a lot more to think about."
"You don’t have to overthink it, Senior Brother Wu. You can just focus on practicing your offensive techniques."
Without Fang Yun’s reminder, Wu Junxin, who had watched this Magical Combat, had almost forgotten the real reason Fang Yun was so famous among the disciples.
His invincible defense against those in the same Realm. In every Magical Combat spar, he served as the perfect whetstone.
This was one of the reasons many disciples liked him. After all, who wouldn’t love a whetstone like that?
"Alright, then I won’t hold back in the future."
Given the strength Fang Yun had just displayed, Wu Junxin felt no qualms about using him as a training partner, and the other disciples certainly wouldn’t object.
After this Magical Combat, there would definitely be Inner Sect Disciples at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer seeking Fang Yun out for a spar.