Chapter 153: Astonishing Buff
"Senior Brother Fang is having a Magical Combat spar, and it’s against Senior Sister Bai! Come on, let’s go watch."
"It’s great that Senior Brother Fang came to Battle Peak at the beginning of the month."
"Junior brother, I don’t think you should get your hopes up. The chance to spar in Magical Combat with Senior Brother Fang is something only senior brothers and sisters at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer or higher can even compete for."
"But what if I get lucky and run into him on his way to Battle Peak?"
"You’d have to have that kind of luck first."
Below Dueling Platform Two, nearly every disciple still on Battle Peak had gathered.
The Magical Combat spar between Fang Yun and Bai Qinying was undoubtedly a huge draw for them.
In comparison, the spars between other senior brothers and sisters seemed bland and uninteresting.
On the Dueling Platform, Fang Yun and Bai Qinying had already taken their positions.
"Fang Yun, Qi Refining Eighth Layer."
"Bai Qinying, Peak of Qi Refining Tenth Layer."
After the two exchanged salutes, Bai Qinying launched her offensive without giving Fang Yun any warning.
In Bai Qinying’s eyes, giving Fang Yun a warning would be the same as looking down on his defense.
After the Inner Sect Grand Competition, not a single disciple worried that Fang Yun’s defense might have a weakness.
Bai Qinying slapped her Storage Pouch. A long, purple staff floated before her chest. The next moment, arcs of lightning flashed across the staff’s surface as it shot toward Fang Yun at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
The instant Bai Qinying summoned her Magical Artifact, Fang Yun made a judgment.
’This is a top-grade Magical Artifact!’
’In terms of power, it should be even stronger than the top-grade Magical Artifact Bai Qinying used before.’
Fang Yun didn’t hesitate for a second. Three Profound Iron Shields appeared, their edges immediately snapping together to form a barrier.
Only the central Profound Iron Shield was needed to block Bai Qinying’s attack. Fang Yun knew the other two shields hadn’t played any part at all.
’With the boost from my three-star Combat Talent, using an Upper Grade Magical Artifact really does give me the ability to anticipate attacks... This one’s power is top-tier even among top-grade Magical Artifacts, and it’s one specifically suited for a Thunder Spirit Root user...’
While fighting Bai Qinying, Fang Yun was continuously analyzing the effects of his three-star Combat Talent.
He was analyzing and fighting simultaneously, which meant he was distracted. His defense in battle was mostly driven by instinct.
Under the enhancement of his three-star Combat Talent, each Upper Grade Profound Iron Shield in his hands could display the effects of a peak top-grade Magical Artifact.
Otherwise, he would never have been able to block Bai Qinying’s offensive with the power of just a single Profound Iron Shield.
"A combination of three Upper Grade Magical Artifacts... Junior Brother Fang really has a trick up his sleeve."
"You all might not know this yet, but Junior Brother Fang has already successfully refined a Spiritual Artifact," said a Qi Refining Ninth Layer Inner Sect Disciple who had connections on Artifact Casting Peak.
"What?! Junior Brother Fang has already refined a Spiritual Artifact... Does that mean he’s a true Artifact Refiner now?"
"That’s right." The Inner Sect Disciple nodded. "And for an Artifact Refiner, modifying a Magical Artifact is easy."
"I’m so jealous of Senior Brother Fang’s talent for Artifact Refining. If I had a gift like that, I wouldn’t be using Magical Artifacts refined by other people."
When fighting with Magical or Spiritual Artifacts, it’s widely acknowledged that Artifact Refiners have an advantage, especially when using artifacts they refined themselves.
On the Dueling Platform, Bai Qinying summoned the Jiaolong Banner. Under her control, three white jiaolong heads launched an assault on Fang Yun from three different directions.
Fang Yun was slightly surprised by this.
He hadn’t expected that with her Cultivation at the Peak of Qi Refining, Bai Qinying could actually control two top-grade Magical Artifacts in battle at the same time.
One must understand that for a Cultivator at this Realm, being able to precisely control a single top-grade Magical Artifact was already very impressive.
However, this alone was far from enough to break through his defense.
Effortlessly, Fang Yun summoned another three Profound Iron Shields, further reinforcing his defense.
"Holy crap! Senior Brother Fang can already control six Upper Grade Magical Artifacts now!"
"Senior Brother Fang is already at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. I’m not surprised he can do this."
"Senior Sister Bai is amazing too, being able to control two top-grade Magical Artifacts at once. Junior Brother Fang is defending with six Upper Grade Magical Artifacts. In his previous Magical Combat spars, I think the other senior brothers and sisters only forced him to use four at most."
"What surprises me more is that Junior Brother Fang is still only defending in this match. I thought Senior Sister Bai would force him into a real showdown."
From their perspective, Bai Qinying’s current strategy was to completely abandon her own defense and go all-out on offense against Fang Yun.
"They already had their real showdown during the Inner Sect Grand Competition. Senior Sister Bai is probably just trying to break Junior Brother Fang’s defense, but looking at the situation now, she doesn’t stand a chance."
"Do you guys think Junior Brother Fang can find a chance to counterattack while Senior Sister Bai is attacking with all her might?"
"Precisely control seven Upper Grade Magical Artifacts? That’s way too difficult. You’d have to give Junior Brother Fang at least another year before he might be able to do that."
As time went on, no matter how Bai Qinying attacked, Fang Yun’s defense remained impenetrable.
Seeing that time was about up, Bai Qinying also halted her assault.
She was disappointed that even under these circumstances, she still couldn’t defeat Fang Yun.
Moreover, she could sense that Fang Yun’s defense had become even more effortless than before.
She was improving, and so was Fang Yun, but his progress was even greater than hers.
"Impressive! Junior Brother, you win." Bai Qinying gave Fang Yun a thumbs-up.
"You let me win, Senior Sister."
This Magical Combat spar was also very fruitful for Fang Yun.
He now had a much better understanding of the enhancement effect from his three-star Combat Talent.
In terms of Spiritual Power consumption, the three-star Combat Talent greatly reduced the amount of Spiritual Power he used to wield his Upper Grade Magical Artifacts.
In the recent battle with Bai Qinying, she had only managed to deplete five percent of his Spiritual Power.
’Once all my Combat Talents reach three stars,’ Fang Yun thought, ’I should be unrivaled below the Foundation Establishment Stage.’
In this Qionglin Domain.
He understood the principle that there was always someone better out there.
But based on his understanding of the overall strength of the Cultivation Realm in the Qionglin Domain, it would be difficult for a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator more monstrously talented than him to appear.
Before stepping down from the Dueling Platform, Fang Yun accepted a Magical Combat spar with a Senior Sister at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer. Then, he went with Bai Qinying to register, and Wu Junxin followed them at this time.
After watching the spar, he felt that it would be very difficult for him to last long against Bai Qinying, but he would definitely do his best.
’At the very least, I can’t let my loss be too humiliating.’
As for Fang Yun’s defensive capabilities, he found them more and more incomprehensible.
By now, probably not even the top two senior brothers and sisters on the Inner Sect Ranking, who were at the half-step Foundation Establishment Realm, could break through Fang Yun’s defense and harm him.
And Fang Yun was still only at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.
With such strength at this Realm, the only thing holding him back was his Spiritual Power reserves.
After finishing the registration, Fang Yun went to restore his Spiritual Power.
Even though he had a lot of Spiritual Power left, he had to pretend to recover it.
Meanwhile, the Magical Combat spar between Wu Junxin and Bai Qinying quickly began on Dueling Platform Two. As far as Bai Qinying was concerned, with the Spiritual Power remaining in her Qi Sea, she felt she had more than enough to defeat two Wu Junxins.