Free Web NovelChapter 21: Chapter 21: Situ Qingtian
Gu Yun’s expression showed a hint of surprise when he heard of the Recovery Pill and the Cyan Jade Soft Armor.
The Recovery Pill was a Human Tier Top Grade healing elixir, capable of rapidly healing even severe injuries sustained by those in the Spiritual Martial Realm.
This was clearly the elixir Gu Yun urgently needed at the moment.
The Cyan Jade Soft Armor was a Human Tier Upper Grade defensive magical artifact that would, to some extent, compensate for his relatively weak defense.
"Thank you, Elder De. Please convey my gratitude to the family. I will not let them down," Gu Yun said solemnly.
After they exchanged a few more words, Gu De departed.
Gu Yun immediately returned to his meditation cushion and took the Recovery Pill.
...
「Two days later.」
In the early morning, the sun slowly rose in the east, its light illuminating the entire land.
Gu Yun stood beside the fighting stage in the Outer Sect’s massive plaza. The previously shattered stage had been fully repaired.
The semi-finals began.
"The semi-finals will now begin!"
With a wave of his hand, Elder Li Tianhu’s words faded, and a steward at his side began drawing lots to determine the matchups.
Gu Yun’s first match was against a Spiritual Martial Ninth Layer Early Stage cultivator from Group Three. He showed no mercy, unleashing his full Spiritual Martial Ninth Layer Peak strength and defeating his opponent in a single move.
In his second match, Gu Yun faced a cultivator at the Spiritual Martial Eighth Layer Peak from Group Ten. The opponent, aware of the power gap, surrendered without a fight.
Thus, Gu Yun maintained his winning streak and advanced to the final round with the last sixty-four competitors.
The sun began to set, casting a brilliant afterglow over the Profound Celestial Sect’s Outer Sect plaza, making the ongoing battles seem all the more ferocious.
The top Outer Sect cultivators clashed fiercely until the last ray of twilight vanished, signaling the end of the semi-finals.
Tomorrow would be the grand finals of the Profound Celestial Sect’s Outer Sect competition.
「The next day.」
On the same massive plaza, by the fighting stage.
Gu Yun and the other disciples who had made it to the finals stood at the foot of a high platform.
Li Tianhu stood atop the platform and announced in a solemn voice, "You have all done well. To be standing here today, out of the one hundred thousand disciples of the Profound Celestial Sect, proves that you possess more than enough strength."
Without any further pleasantries, he crisply explained the rules for the finals.
"The finals will use a point-based system. You sixty-four will be split into two groups of thirty-two. A win earns one point, a loss earns zero. Final rankings will be determined by your point totals."
"The finals begin now!"
The stewards moved quickly, preparing two stages for the competition—Stage One and Stage Two—before drawing lots to determine the matchups.
Meanwhile, Gu Yun stood below the stage, his eyes closed as he centered himself, preparing to face the finals in peak condition.
The rumored rewards for the competition were incredibly generous, and Gu Yun couldn’t help but be tempted.
The top three hundred disciples would enter the Inner Sect. The top fifty would be rewarded with one hundred Spirit Stones and a Human Tier Top Grade Technique.
The top twenty would get two hundred Spirit Stones, a Profound Tier Low Grade Technique, and a bottle of Spirit Enhancing Pills.
The top ten would get five hundred Spirit Stones, a Profound Tier Middle Grade Technique, a bottle of Spirit Enhancing Pills, and one Truth-Breaking Pill.
A Profound Tier Low Grade Technique cost at least one thousand Sect Contribution Points, and in the outside world, it would be considered an impossibly rare treasure.
As for the Truth-Breaking Pill, it was even more extraordinary. It could increase a cultivator’s chances of breaking through from the Spiritual Martial Realm Ninth Layer Peak to the True Martial Realm by a full thirty percent.
Normally, a cultivator only had a ten to twenty percent chance of successfully breaking through from the Spiritual Martial Realm to the True Martial Realm.
Without a profound foundation, the help of related elixirs, or a fortuitous encounter, the vast majority of Spiritual Martial Realm cultivators would never break through to the True Martial Realm in their entire lives.
Those who reached the True Martial Realm lived for three hundred years and could genuinely fly using their True Yuan.
"Stage One, first match: Yu Jie, number ten, versus Min Qingsheng, number twenty-nine."
"Stage Two, first match: Zhen Pengwei, number nine, versus Jing Changgen, number eight."
...
The subsequent fights were even more spectacular, with figures on the stage locked in desperate combat.
Afterimages blurred as they clashed, their exchanges of Spiritual Qi sending shockwaves of sound across the plaza.
Several battles passed in succession.
But none of this had much to do with Gu Yun, who had been assigned number nine in the first group.
Then came the announcement for the fourth match of Group One: Gu Yun, number nine, versus Situ Qingtian, number eighteen.
Gu Yun, who had been meditating below the stage, snapped his eyes open. They flashed like lightning, crackling with faint traces of Purple Lightning.
With a single movement, his figure flickered and appeared on Stage One.
Gu Yun stared gravely at his opponent’s overwhelmingly powerful figure, a tremor of apprehension in his heart.
Gu Yun had heard of him before.
Situ Qingtian, one of the ten great experts of the Outer Sect, chosen from among the hundred thousand disciples of the Profound Celestial Sect.
He had surpassed the Spiritual Martial Ninth Layer Peak but had yet to reach the True Martial Realm.
Experts at this level were known as being in the Half-Step True Martial Realm.
He was an existence even more formidable than Shangguan Jian!
"Begin!" With the Deacon Referee’s command,
Gu Yun seized the initiative, his Spiritual Essence instantly surging.
He struck first, his slash combining Saber Momentum with Wind and Thunder Annihilation. In an instant, Saber Qi like Purple Lightning shot into the air.
It was like the roar of a Thunder Dragon, its sound shaking the entire plaza!
As the lightning flared,
Situ Qingtian, on the other side, felt the entire stage instantly fill with crackling thunder.
"’Saber Momentum... and Thunder?!’ Situ Qingtian didn’t dodge."
’Then let me show you what true heavenly might is.’ Situ Qingtian snorted.
His long, dark hair floated up behind him, stirred by an unseen force.
An aura that surpassed the Spiritual Martial Realm Ninth Layer Peak erupted from his entire being.
A wave of energy, deep as the abyss, crashed out from him in every direction like a tsunami!
The next moment, BOOM!!!
"One Palm Imprisoning Heaven and Earth!"
He thrust out a palm, and the overwhelming energy coalesced into a gigantic golden Palm Seal. It felt as if all the ambient energy of heaven and earth had been stirred into a boiling frenzy, growing more violent than ever before!
The colossal golden palm erupted with a blinding light, so brilliant that the crowd below the stage couldn’t look at it directly!
That world-enveloping golden palm blasted straight toward the incoming flash of purple saber light!
"BOOM!"
A massive explosion erupted, and the frenzied Spiritual Qi kicked up a visible shockwave across the stage.
The blinding light made it almost impossible for the spectators to keep their eyes open.
The whole stage seemed to tremble under the terrifying impact!
In the clash between the two ultimate techniques, the giant golden palm proved superior.
The remnants of the giant golden palm continued on, hurtling toward Gu Yun!
Gu Yun’s expression changed!
Wandering Dragon Step!
He executed his Perfection Level Wandering Dragon Step.
His movements were light and fluid, like a dragon in flight.
He retreated with ghostly speed.
At the same time, he thrust his right palm forward and roared, "Earth-Bursting Heaven-Shaking!"
The golden palm was pushed back by an invisible force in the air.
Then, the golden palm gradually dissipated and crumbled.
But Gu Yun wasn’t content to be beaten back so easily.
As he landed,
the hard floor of the stage beneath his feet suddenly cracked.
He shot forward like a cannonball, transforming into a streak of lightning that tore through the air, launching himself at Situ Qingtian without a moment’s hesitation!
In an instant, Situ Qingtian’s Spiritual Qi roiled like dragons and snakes. Flames condensed out of thin air, writhing across his body.
His hair flew wildly as he transformed into a small giant made of flame!
"That’s Situ Qingtian’s Fire Spirit Body!" a knowledgeable Outer Sect Disciple in the crowd cried out in alarm.
Purple light erupted from Gu Yun’s fist, leaving a brilliant violet trail. In that instant, his fist, empowered by Mountain-Breaking and Mountain-Suppressing might and crackling with purple lightning, smashed toward Situ Qingtian!
But the power of Situ Qingtian’s giant flaming fist was even more astounding!
Their fists collided with a solid CRACK, and the hard floor of the stage split beneath them.
Purple lightning and red flames intertwined, erupting in a dazzling explosion of light that captured the attention of everyone in the audience.
To the eyes of the crowd, Gu Yun was fighting one of the Outer Sect’s top ten to a standstill. His strength was immense!
In reality, however, only he knew the true cost.
’Outsiders see the spectacle, experts see the technique. Only he knew the bitter truth.’
’He was already at a disadvantage. His opponent was overwhelmingly powerful, both in terms of Spiritual Power and Body Refinement.’
’Gu Yun gritted his teeth against the pain, enduring the damage.’
’He just didn’t want to lose!’
’It definitely wasn’t because of those generous rewards.’
