167: Substitute Jade Talisman and "Passive" Advancement

On the arena, the collision between lightning and the heavy sword raged like a storm.

Relying on the Spell-breaking properties of its "star iron" heavy sword, the explosive power of its "Mountain-Shaking Wrist," and its own tenacious will, Zhao Iron Pillar actually managed to hold on for dozens of rounds against Lei Hao, who was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!

Its clothes were tattered and charred all over, and blood constantly overflowed from the corners of its mouth. It was clearly heavily injured, but its eyes were frighteningly bright, and its Battle Intent was palpable.

Every time it swung its heavy sword, it carried a tragic Aura of perishing together with the enemy, forcing Lei Hao to temporarily avoid its edge, unable to take it down easily.

The more Lei Hao fought, the more alarmed it became, and at the same time, the more impatient it grew.

Lei Hao was the number one person in the Outer Sect; if it spent too much time and energy on a Disciple at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, even if it won, its face would lose face.

Moreover, it was time to use that "thing" that Elder Black Fiend had sent someone to deliver earlier.

A fierce look flashed in the eyes of Lei Hao. After forcing Zhao Iron Pillar back, its figure suddenly retreated violently.

Its hands formed seals rapidly, and the lightning around its body stopped dispersing, instead crazily converging and compressing inward!

"To be able to force me to use this move, you have enough reason to be proud!" Lei Hao let out a low roar.

The lightning, compressed to the extreme, condensed in the palm of Lei Hao into a purple lightning ball the size of a fist, yet it emitted a heart-palpitating destructive fluctuation!

On the surface of the lightning ball, countless fine electric snakes slithered, emitting a terrifying sizzling sound.

Five Thunder Orthodox Method Profound Truth—Palm Lightning!

This strike compressed the violent power of thunder to the extreme. Its power far exceeded the previous Purple Firmament Divine Lightning, and it was faster and even harder to dodge!

"Iron Pillar! Activate the jade talisman!" The voice of Wen Youyi rang out urgently through the "Mind Net"!

Zhao Iron Pillar, who had already received instructions, did not hesitate to crush the "Substitute Jade Talisman" in its bosom!

A layer of invisible ripples, completely undetectable to the naked eye and thin as a cicada's wing, instantly unfolded before it.

At that very moment, the purple lightning ball in the palm of Lei Hao, as if teleporting, tore through the air and arrived with a terrifying Aura of destruction!

Just as the lightning ball was about to hit the chest of Zhao Iron Pillar at the critical moment, a sudden change occurred!

That invisible energy mirror layer fluctuated slightly. The part where the front of the lightning ball made contact had its energy trajectory deflected and dispersed in an extremely subtle way!

Furthermore, a trace of almost imperceptible thunder Aura was instantly "recorded" and simulated by the jade talisman!

From the outside, it looked as if Zhao Iron Pillar had used some unknown protective secret technique at the last moment.

A layer of extremely faint yet incredibly tough earthy-yellow halo (the characteristics of the spiritual power of Zhao Iron Pillar simulated by the jade talisman) appeared around its body, forcibly withstanding the destructive lightning ball!

"Boom!!!" A more violent explosion than before occurred! The blinding lightning completely swallowed Zhao Iron Pillar!

Exclamations erupted from off the stage! Everyone thought Zhao Iron Pillar would surely die!

However, after the lightning dissipated, everyone was astonished to see that although Zhao Iron Pillar had been violently blown away by the explosion's shockwave, spitting blood and crashing heavily onto the edge of the arena, looking extremely miserable, it... was actually still conscious!

Moreover, although the faint earthy-yellow halo around its body was shattered, there were still fine traces of lightning flickering on it, as if it had really forcibly withstood part of the thunder power and temporarily "stored" it!

"This... how is this possible?!" The pupils of Lei Hao shrank, and for the first time, an expression of disbelief appeared on its face!

Its Palm Lightning had actually been taken head-on by a Disciple at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer using a protective Divine Ability?

Although the opponent appeared to be heavily injured, this result completely exceeded its understanding!

Even the Elders on the high platform showed looks of shock.

"What a powerful protective Divine Ability! It can actually withstand the Palm Lightning of Lei Hao?"

"The strength of the Physical Body of this child and the tenacity of its will are truly rare!"

"Ding Zi Courtyard... has really produced two Prodigies!"

The face of Elder Black Fiend turned livid instantly!

It stared fixedly at Zhao Iron Pillar, who was at the edge of the arena looking like it was on its last breath but actually hadn't lost much vital energy, and then looked at the shocked Lei Hao. It was both shocked and angry!

The effect of that "Substitute Jade Talisman" had perfectly deceived everyone!

In reality, although Zhao Iron Pillar was not lightly injured, most of it was due to accumulated injuries and the impact of the final explosion.

The core power of that fatal Palm Lightning had actually been cleverly deflected and dispersed by the "Substitute Jade Talisman" for the most part!

Its miserable state right now was three parts real and seven parts acting!

The referee Elder stepped forward to check on the condition of Zhao Iron Pillar and confirmed that although it was heavily injured, there was no danger to its life, and it was conscious and had not lost its combat ability (which it was faking).

"Zhao Iron Pillar, do you concede?" The referee Elder asked routinely.

Zhao Iron Pillar "struggled" to lift its head, grinned, revealing teeth stained red with blood, and said in a "weak" but firm voice: "Con... concede? I... I can still fight..."

As it spoke, it even "struggled" to try to crawl up. Anyone who saw that appearance would think it was just barely holding on.

Lei Hao frowned as it looked at the "stubborn" appearance of Zhao Iron Pillar.

Although it was confident that it could completely finish off its opponent with the next move, the opponent's weird "protective Divine Ability" and undying tenacity made it feel wary.

Moreover, continuing to entangle further, even if it won, it would be an unglamorous victory and would only invite ridicule.

More importantly, it felt that the spiritual power within its body had been greatly consumed due to consecutively using major moves.

There was still that even weirder guy, Wen Youyi, behind, so it had to conserve its strength.

Thinking of this, Lei Hao snorted coldly and bowed to the referee Elder: "Elder, Junior Brother Zhao has amazing tenacity, and I admire it. However, if this battle continues, I fear it might damage its Foundation, which is not a blessing for the Sect. Let this battle be considered a draw, how about that?"

It said this beautifully, both showing its "magnanimity" and avoiding continued grinding with this "sticky candy."

The referee Elder pondered for a moment, looked again at the "dying" yet "stubborn"-eyed Zhao Iron Pillar, and nodded: "Agreed. This battle is a draw! According to the rules, both sides of a draw must have an extra match to determine who advances, but considering the injuries of Zhao Iron Pillar are too severe to fight again, it is judged that Lei Hao advances!"

This result could be considered giving both sides a way out.

Zhao Iron Pillar "fainted" in "relief" and was quickly carried down by Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li, who had been waiting under the stage, for "treatment."

The audience off the stage had complicated feelings; they were shocked by the tenacity of Zhao Iron Pillar and that magical "protective Divine Ability," and also felt regret for its defeat (in name).

Lei Hao walked off the arena expressionlessly, but a hint of gloom was hidden deep in its eyes.

The difficulty of Zhao Iron Pillar was far beyond expectations, and that Wen Youyi, who had not yet made a move, was likely even more troublesome.

After this battle, Zhao Iron Pillar was defeated but still glorious. The names "Undying Zhao Iron Pillar" and its mysterious "protective Divine Ability" quickly spread throughout the Outer Sect.

Next, everyone's attention was focused on the second quarter-final match—Wen Youyi versus Liu Qingqing of Danxia Peak!

Liu Qingqing was like its name; she wore a verdant green dress, had a graceful figure, and a beautiful appearance.

She was one of the famous beauties of the Outer Sect, with cultivation at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and her wood-element healing and enemy-trapping Spells were quite exquisite.

The two ascended the arena and exchanged greetings.

Liu Qingqing's beautiful eyes sized up Wen Youyi, with deep curiosity and a trace of imperceptible wariness in her eyes.

The performance of Wen Youyi of "talking Li Xue into being crippled" earlier was truly too shocking.

"Junior Brother Wen, please enlighten me." Liu Qingqing's voice was crisp, and she made the first move.

She lightly raised her jade-like hand, and countless emerald green vines burst out of the ground, winding towards Wen Youyi like spiritual snakes.

At the same time, a fragrance of grass and trees that made one's mind peaceful permeated the air, carrying a slight hallucinogenic effect.

A very standard opening move of Danxia Peak, focusing on crowd control and attrition.

Wen Youyi looked at the vines winding over, but it did not perform energy interference as it had done when dealing with Sun Miao before.

Instead... it took the initiative to meet them, allowing those vines to bind it layer by layer.

"Hmm?" Liu Qingqing was stunned, and the audience off the stage was also stunned.

What kind of fighting style was this? Throwing itself into the net?

However, the next moment, something happened that left everyone dumbfounded.

Those emerald green vines that had wound around Wen Youyi did not tighten; instead, they withered and died at a speed visible to the naked eye!

It was as if the life force within them had been instantly drained!

Not only that, Liu Qingqing felt that her mental connection with those vines had been forcibly severed.

Moreover, a weird power with a purifying implication was eroding back along that invisible connection, causing the wood-element spiritual power in her body to stall!

"What is going on?!" Liu Qingqing's face paled.

She hurriedly retreated, severed all connections with the vines, and looked with shock and suspicion at Wen Youyi, who was still standing in place, its body seemingly surrounded by an invisible force field.

Wen Youyi spread its hands, looking innocent: "Senior Sister Liu, your vines... seem a bit malnourished? Is the 'bandwidth' of spiritual power supply not enough usually?"

Liu Qingqing: "???" What the heck is bandwidth?

She didn't believe in evil and once again cast another enemy-trapping Spell, "Hundred Flower Cage."

Countless petals condensed from spiritual power rolled toward Wen Youyi like a storm.

The result was the same!

Those beautiful and dangerous petals, after approaching a certain range around Wen Youyi, all lost their luster, withered, and shattered, as if they had encountered their natural nemesis!

Wen Youyi even yawned and commented: "The Spell model structure is not stable enough, and there is redundancy in the distribution of energy nodes, making it easy to be targeted and disintegrated. Senior Sister Liu, you can optimize the 'algorithm' later."

Liu Qingqing listened, completely confused, but the opponent's method of disintegrating her most proud Spell with such understatement made her feel a sense of powerlessness.

How could she fight like this? All her means seemed to be mere decorations in front of the opponent!

She tried to cast several offensive wood-element Spells, but the result was, without exception, that as soon as they entered the range of the opponent's weird "force field," their power would be less than one-tenth, or even directly disintegrate!

This battle turned into a one-sided "teaching" and "dismantling."

Wen Youyi didn't even make an active attack once, yet it made all of Liu Qingqing's efforts come to nothing.

In the end, Liu Qingqing had consumed most of her spiritual power, yet she hadn't even touched the corner of Wen Youyi's clothes, and a deep sense of frustration welled up in her heart.

She looked at Wen Youyi, who was calm and composed on the opposite side as if it were just taking a walk in its own backyard, bit her lip, and said dejectedly: "I... I concede."

She really had no courage or way to continue fighting.

"Wen Youyi, wins!" The referee Elder announced, its tone carrying a hint of helplessness.

This was likely the weirdest and most one-sided quarter-final match in the history of the Outer Sect Competition.

Wen Youyi bowed: "Thank you for the guidance, Senior Sister Liu. Your Spells are actually quite exquisite, it's just... hmm, the compatibility is a bit poor."

Liu Qingqing: "..." She wasn't comforted at all!

Wen Youyi easily advanced to the semi-finals!

Thus, the top four of the Outer Sect Competition were all born: Lei Hao, Wen Youyi, and two other Disciples at the Peak of the Qi Refining Eighth Layer who were also equally strong.

Everyone could see that the real final battle would unfold between Wen Youyi and Lei Hao!

One was weird and unpredictable, the other was fierce and unmatched!

As Wen Youyi walked off the arena, its gaze inadvertently swept over Zhao Iron Pillar, who was being "supported" by Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li and appeared weak but was actually secretly munching on a spirit fruit to recover, and the corners of its mouth curled up imperceptibly.

Plan successful.

Although Zhao Iron Pillar "stopped" at the top eight, it successfully forced out one of the trump cards of Lei Hao (Palm Lightning), consumed a large amount of its spiritual power, and more importantly, perfectly tested the effect of the "Substitute Jade Talisman" without exposing its true function (everyone thought it was some kind of protective Divine Ability).

And it itself, without drawing blood, easily advanced.

"Next," the gaze of Wen Youyi turned to the draw for the semi-finals, "it's time to consider how to 'reasonably' get the admission ticket to Falling Star Lake."

Sensing the "Substitute Jade Talisman" in its bosom and looking at the energy model analysis data of the "Five Thunder Orthodox Method" of Lei Hao in its Sea of Consciousness, it already had a plan in mind.

(End of this chapter)