92: Chapter 92 Nascent Soul Stage Battle, Semi-Finals

The matches for the Golden Core group came to an end.

Lin Lei, with absolute and invincible strength, crushed all opponents with a single punch, firmly taking the top spot in the Golden Core group of this Grand Ritual of Luotian.

The entire audience, Sect Elders, and three billion netizens in the global livestream were still immersed in the domineering sight of Lin Lei's martial arts crush, and the atmosphere in the arena remained fiery hot.

But everyone knew that the Golden Core group was merely the entry-level contention for Cultivators of the new era. What truly represented the highest combat strength in the current cultivation world was the upcoming Nascent Soul group duel.

As the host, the Shangqing Sect did not send any Disciples to participate in the Golden Core and Nascent Soul group battles.

Because they all knew that with Lin Lei in the Golden Core Stage, they couldn't win at all, and they had no masochistic tendencies.

As for the Nascent Soul Stage, forget it—just look at who the Shangqing Sect's Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were!

Qingming, Peak Nascent Soul, half-step Soul Transformation, plus the Huandan Fa, his overall strength was no lower than Late Soul Transformation Stage.

Qingyun, Peak Nascent Soul, was only slightly weaker than Qingming.

Qingling, Peak Nascent Soul, possessed Ye Qingxuan's Karma. Had it not been to comprehend the profundities of the Nascent Soul, she would have broken through to Soul Transformation long ago, and her strength was even slightly stronger than Qingming's.

The same went for Qingmo; all of them were just one step away from breaking through to Soul Transformation.

Senior Brother Qingcang, Qingshan, and Qingxue were all uniformly Late Nascent Soul Stage. If they were to participate, the so-called top prize would merely be passed from the left hand to the right.

Handing out rewards only to have their own Disciples take them back? The Shangqing Sect couldn't afford to lose face like that.

Low-level events like Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment were hosted by Qingming and Qingling.

But when it came to the high-level battles of the Nascent Soul level, everyone in the audience looked at the stage in anticipation—who would host it?

In the guest seats, Ye Qingxuan slowly stood up.

In the livestream room—

[Holy shit, Daoist Ye is hosting in person!!]

[Makes total sense! Aside from Daoist Ye, who else could casually suppress these Nascent Soul powerhouses? They are all Geniuses from various Schools, not people ordinary Cultivators can compare to.]

[That's true, especially Daoist Yuzhu and Master Duyuan. Even Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators might not necessarily beat them.]

[It's about to start! I'm so excited! This is the Nascent Soul Stage—powerhouses who think nothing of flying through the air, tunneling through the earth, or overturning seas and rivers!]

Ye Qingxuan made no extra movements, merely raising one hand gently to begin dividing the arena.

At the same time, Ye Qingxuan's voice resonated across the entire field:

" The Nascent Soul Stage battles will be hosted by me. Everyone, hold nothing back and give it your all. There is no need for any misgivings."

As soon as these words came out, the three billion viewers in the livestream room exploded!

[Hold nothing back, give it your all? My God! We can finally see how terrifying ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators are!]

[Indeed, Daoist Ye's strength offers no standard for reference. Today, we get to see so many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators clash at once.]

[Wait, bro above? You call these people 'ordinary' Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators? Among them, even the worst had an eleventh-layer Qi Refining Dao foundation, right?]

[Compared to Daoist Ye and Lin Lei, aren't they ordinary?]

[That makes a lot of sense, but compared to Daoist Ye, Lin Lei is also quite ordinary.]

[That's true. The gap between the thirteenth layer and the fourteenth layer of Qi Refining is bigger than the gap between a human and a dog.]

[Then what about those of us whose limit is the ninth layer of Qi Refining? What are we?]

[Paramecia!]

[Although everything you said is a fact, it's way too heartbreaking!!]

[Fortunately, Daoist Ye didn't enter the National Destiny Space at this time, otherwise the Nascent Soul Stage confrontation wouldn't be able to happen at all.]

[When low-tier Cultivators fight, they shatter mountains. When Nascent Souls fight, the aftermath can obliterate a nation. The gap is just too absurd.]

[This is real immortal and god battle strength! They are in a completely different dimension!]

The Elders of the major Sects present also nodded one after another.

Spiritual Qi had only been reviving for a few short months, so ordinary people simply couldn't imagine the terror of the Nascent Soul Stage, especially since Ye Qingxuan fought every battle as a complete crush.

When Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators went all out, it was basically on a scale that altered Heaven and Earth.

If Ye Qingxuan hadn't come to host, this competition wouldn't even be able to take place at all. Either the audience would be shaken to death by the shockwaves, or an opponent wouldn't be able to hold back and accidentally kill the other.

Ye Qingxuan raised his hand, his Spiritual Qi surging. The floating mountain operated rapidly, and a massive floating platform was precisely divided into thirty-six independent barrier domains.

Ye Qingxuan announced the rules:

"The number of participants in the Nascent Soul group is seventy-two. The format is one-on-one, with thirty-six battlefields opening simultaneously. Just give it your all. I will ensure you do not die. Severe injury will be judged as a loss, and defeat means direct elimination."

As his voice fell, seventy-two figures soared into the air at the same time, landing steadily on their respective arena platforms.

Nowadays, the time since Spiritual Qi's revival was extremely short, and the rise of the entire cultivation world relied completely on being strengthened by the National Destiny Game time after time.

The vast majority of the seventy-two Nascent Soul Cultivators participating this time were in the Early Stage or Middle Stage of the Nascent Soul.

They relied on the rewards of the National Destiny Game to break through their Realms along the way, but in Ye Qingxuan's eyes, their foundations were fairly 'ordinary'.

But a dozen or so among them were different. These were the ones who had consumed the butian pill, whose Dao foundations had been reshaped by the world's Origin, pushing their cultivation infinitely close to the Peak Nascent Soul Stage.

Zhang Yuzhuo of Longhu Mountain, Duyuan of Lingyin Temple, Yun Huan of Heavenly Demon Palace, Lin Yao of Yaowang Valley, and Zhou Wei of Wudang were all among them.

Aside from Ye Qingxuan and his Senior Brothers, this group of people represented the ceiling of the current younger generation at the Nascent Soul level.

With everything ready, Ye Qingxuan gave the final command:

"Begin."

Yun Huan looked at Ye Qingxuan with glazed eyes. From the moment she arrived at the Shangqing Sect, she had tried every possible way to get close to Ye Qingxuan, but unfortunately, Qingling had blocked every attempt.

'Sigh, does this guy look down on me that much? Where am I inferior to that old woman Qingling? Why won't he even spare a glance for me?'

Yun Huan's eyes blazed with fury. Since she couldn't win over Ye Qingxuan, she would vent her frustration on these people!!

Lin Yao had a carefree demeanor. Her admiration for Ye Qingxuan was that of a fan toward an idol. Although she was a bit disappointed that she hadn't won him over, she had let it go. This time she came solely to test her own cultivation.

Zhang Yuzhuo, Duyuan, Zhou Wei, and the others who knew some inside details felt their scalps go numb looking at Yun Huan's expression, praying they wouldn't meet her early on. Although they weren't unable to defeat her, they just felt it was a hassle.

They exchanged glances, shook their heads, and decided to focus on the matches first.

Terrifying battles erupted simultaneously across thirty-six platforms!

Nascent Soul duels were entirely different from the blood-and-flesh melee or spell bombardment of the Golden Core level.

Whenever a Nascent Soul Cultivator went all out, it was earth-shattering!

On some platforms, fierce fires scorched the sky as waves of flame turned into fire dragons to strangle opponents;

On some platforms, absolute ice covered the world as extreme cold Qi froze the entire space of the arena; on some platforms, howling gales tore through the air.

Ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators performed gorgeous, grand spells with immense power that seemed like divine methods to ordinary people.

But once they faced those who had consumed the butian pill, they were instantly crushed.

On the platform where Zhang Yuzhuo was, purple lightning shot into the sky! His opponent was a Disciple of Baiyun Temple, Huang Wenxiao, with a cultivation of Middle Nascent Soul Stage.

He activated the Golden Light Spell. The lightning empowered by his Spiritual Qi was different from ordinary lightning spells, carrying a domineering power that purged all evil and shattered all methods.

Rumble!

Sky-covering lightning woven into an inescapable net burst with purple light as lightning force penetrated space. The moment his opponent's Sword Qi was displayed, it was instantly vaporized to nothing by the lightning power.

Huang Wenxiao's face changed drastically as he desperately mobilized his Spiritual Qi to resist, but the gap in cultivation was too huge; the suppression was fundamental.

'The gap is too big! I can't block it at all. If Zhang Yuzhuo is already this strong, just how strong is Ye Qingxuan?!'

In less than three Moves, covered in lightning force and his Meridians paralyzed, he directly surrendered and admitted defeat.

On another side, Duyuan of Lingyin Temple began his battle.

Boundless golden Buddhist light shone tens of thousands of feet high, with a circular Perfect Buddhist light halo appearing behind his head and a Buddhist golden body flowing with radiance.

His opponent's countless spell attacks struck the golden Buddhist shield, but could only provoke layers of ripples, unable to crack it even slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Duyuan, your golden body is truly tough—I can't break through it at all. I surrender!"

This Daoist conceded with great free-spiritedness. Since the gap in cultivation was so wide that he couldn't break through at all, there was no need to risk his life; it was just a spar, not a life-and-death enemy.

"Amitabha. Fellow Daoist, you yielded." Duyuan offered a Buddhist salute, stepped down from the platform, and waited for the next round.

The platform of Yun Huan from Heavenly Demon Palace had a completely different style.

Sky-covering black heavenly demon fog surged as Devilish Qi blotted out the sky, and treacherous spell force distorted the surrounding space—this was the secret method of Heavenly Demon Palace, the Heavenly Demon Field.

"What crazy spell is this grand aunt throwing? Who provoked her?"

Her opponent was Daoist Wuke of the Quanzhen Sect, Middle Nascent Soul Stage, who was suppressed from the very beginning by the Heavenly Demon Field, unable to lift his head.

Her movement was ethereal and traceless, shuttling like a phantom. Her opponent's fierce attack spells all struck empty air, and in the next moment, Heavenly Demon Qi at her fingertips invaded the opponent's Meridians, instantly throwing their Spiritual Qi flow into chaos.

Wuke lost his Dao Heart, demon thoughts sprouting inside him, leaving him no choice but to silently recite the Mantra of Heart Purification and helplessly surrender.

Lin Yao of Yaowang Valley used extremely unique methods.

Luminous emerald medicine path light lingered around her body, and the aroma of source medicine filled the air, capable of both healing and sustaining, as well as turning into deadly poison.

Her opponent was a Gu Cultivator from Miaojiang with a high cultivation of Late Nascent Soul Stage. Unfortunately, from the very beginning, he was countered down to the core.

She raised her hand and scattered medicine powder all over the sky, which fell and turned into Spirit-Devouring Poison Vines, instantly blocking all of her opponent's movements and forcing them to surrender on their own initiative.

Zhou Wei of Wudang was even more decisive.

[part:gemini-3.5-flash-lite]

Raising his hand, a Yin-Yang fish suspended itself before him. The Yin and Yang principles of Wudang circulated, and his spiritual power was condensed to the extreme with no flashy special effects.

Under the circulation of Yin and Yang, all of the opponent's attacks were obliterated.

The battles across the thirty-six arenas progressed swiftly, and the gap in strength was visible to the naked eye. In all of the battles, there were no unexpected outcomes, which was completely within Ye Qingxuan's expectations.

In just a few minutes, the first round entirely concluded.

Out of seventy-two people, thirty-six were eliminated, and the remaining thirty-six smoothly advanced.

The livestream bullet comments flooded the screen frantically:

[The gap is too exaggerated! It is completely a dimensional reduction strike!]

[No way, is Daoist Zhou Wei that powerful?]

[Bro upstairs, Daoist Zhou Wei is only weak compared to Daoist Ye. To anyone else, he is like a mountain.]

[My impression of Daoist Zhou is still stuck on "Qingxuan's Journey Across Dimensions"]

[It's not that Daoist Zhou is weak, it's that Daoist Ye is too strong.]

[It's very normal. Anyone who can break through to the Nascent Soul Stage at this time is a Genius. The gap in cultivation is too big, so losing is completely normal!]

[This is what a Nascent Soul fight looks like! If Daoist Ye weren't holding down the fort, every single battle could raze a mountain range!]

Without any rest, Ye Qingxuan waved his hand to reorganize the arenas. With a single Butian Technique, everyone was resurrected with full health.

The thirty-six people were divided among eighteen arenas, and the second round of matches instantly commenced.

The Cultivators who could make it to the second round were all elites from the major Schools, and their foundations far surpassed those eliminated in the first round. The lowest among them was at the Late Stage Nascent Soul.

Yet they still could not withstand the suppression of Zhang Yuzhuo, Duyuan, and the others.

Zhang Yuzhuo unleashed his lightning techniques once more. Rolling heavenly thunder suppressed the entire field, and his opponent's spell arts shattered layer by layer before the lightning, making them completely unable to contend.

Duyuan's Buddhist Golden Body remained as unmoving as a mountain. His opponent's bombardment of spells with all their might couldn't even touch the threshold of his defense, and in the end, they were shaken straight out of the arena by a single Buddhist seal.

Zhou Wei's Taiji grew increasingly profound. The Yin and Yang Qi crisscrossed, and his condensed magical power directly obliterated all of the opponent's defenses.

Yun Huan's Heavenly Demon Qi was simply unsolvable unless one crushed them with cultivation, playing the opponent in the palm of one's hand.

Lin Yao's medical Dao and poison techniques grew increasingly terrifying. The principles of Origin acute poison were pervasive, restraining the vast majority of Daoist spell Cultivators.

In less than two minutes, all eighteen duels concluded.

Eighteen powerhouses advanced. At this point, ordinary Nascent Souls who had broken through purely relying on National Destiny completely exited the stage.

The Elders in the spectator stands exclaimed with emotion one after another:

"The Spiritual Qi revival has been for too short a time, and cultivation accumulation is insufficient."

"Nowadays, the distinction between strong and weak depends entirely on whether one possesses the blessing of the world's Origin."

"This batch of juniors who have consumed the butian pill are already standing at the very forefront of contemporary Cultivators."

"There are eighteen people, and only eight will advance in the next match, beginning with random allocation." Without dragging his feet, Ye Qingxuan continued to urge the Formation to rotate. The eighteen people were divided into eight groups, kicking off the battle for the top eight.

Two of the arenas featured three-way melee battles.

At this stage, there were no longer any weaklings on the field.

In the eight arenas, eighteen Peak Nascent Souls simultaneously commenced battle. The scene was extremely spectacular!

Thunder magic, the Buddhist Dao, Heavenly Demons, Sword Dao, Medical Dao, Yin and Yang Daoist spells, and the righteous Confucian Dao—all kinds of top-tier principles frantically collided!

Lightning exploded across the void, Buddhist light illuminated the world, black fog swallowed the heavens, sword rivers flowed, and spirit vines covered the field!

Every collision triggered violent tremors in the Formation barrier, and countless starlight Dao patterns flickered unceasingly, frantically offsetting the leaking destructive power.

The audience watched with tingling scalps. This was truly Earth's current top-tier cultivation great war!

Every Cultivator's Move could easily split apart mountains, dry up lakes, and tear apart a hundred miles of land.

Had it not been for Ye Qingxuan tightly locking down the destructive power, the entire area within a thousand miles around the arena would have turned into scorched earth.

After the eight Peak duels concluded, the list of the top eight was freshly released, and it was still completely within Ye Qingxuan's predictions.

Top Eight: Zhang Yuzhuo of Tianshi Mansion, Duyuan of Lingyin Temple, Zhou Wei of Wudang Sect, Yun Huan of Heavenly Demon Palace, Lin Yao of Yaowang Valley, Lu Ming of Shenxiao Sect, Zhao Yunlong of Qingcheng Mountain, Mo Ziyi of Shushan, and Yang Wenbo of Chunyang Palace.

Immediately following that, the top eight battled for the top four!

Four arenas simultaneously erupted into the highest-spec fierce battles!

Zhang Yuzhuo's thunderous might was peerless, crushing all the way through. His thunder magic shattered all spells, and he forcefully advanced.

Duyuan's Buddhist Golden Body integrated both offense and defense, steadily advancing step by step.

Zhou Wei's Taiji Force possessed infinite changes, directly blasting his opponent away and securing his spot.

Yun Huan's Heavenly Demon aura was ever-changing, directly suppressing her opponent.

Lin Yao ultimately stopped at the top eight. Her medical Dao excelled in endurance, healing, and wars of attrition, but her burst power was relatively weak. Her opponents were geniuses just like her—who could be considered inferior to anyone else?

"Zhou Wei, you fellow, you're really annoying!! This lady isn't fighting anymore!!"

Facing Zhou Wei's Taiji Force, Lin Yao's layers of venomous vines were directly shattered. After several bouts of entanglement, she dropped a fierce remark and conceded defeat.

Zhou Wei rubbed his nose, feeling somewhat speechless. Ah, women!

From this point, the top four of this Nascent Soul group were born:

Zhang Yuzhuo of Longhu Mountain, Duyuan of Lingyin Temple, Zhou Wei of Wudang, and Yun Huan of Heavenly Demon Palace.

The semifinal draw locked in the matchups: Zhang Yuzhuo versus Yun Huan, and Duyuan versus Zhou Wei.

As the semifinals began, the battle intensity upgraded once more!

In the first battlefield, Zhang Yuzhuo fought against Yun Huan.

The orthodox thunder magic of Tianshi Mansion naturally restrained all dark and evil forces!

Yun Huan exhausted her Origin to urge the Heavenly Demon Great Art, but her Heavenly Demon aura was useless because Zhang Yuzhuo's cultivation was even a bit stronger than hers, making it impossible to suppress him.

Black fog filled the sky, shrouding the arena, twisting space, obscuring perception, and causing illusions to run rampant. Countless Heavenly Demon sharp claws reached out from the void as layers upon layers of lethal Moves emerged.

But Zhang Yuzhuo simply didn't fall for this trick!

His magical power surged wildly, and lightning soared into the sky, transforming into a thunderous Tianshi dharma form that guarded the arena.

"Heavenly Thunder Suppresses Evil!"

With a rumble!

Endless lightning swept across the entire field, and all the black fog, illusions, and Heavenly Demon sharp claws were instantly purified, torn apart, and annihilated by the thunder!

All of Yun Huan's Moves completely failed. No matter how fast her movement technique was, she couldn't dodge the all-encompassing enemy-locking heavenly thunder.

The more she fought, the more passive she became. Her Heavenly Demon Qi was comprehensively suppressed by the thunder, and her magical power consumption rapidly accelerated.

"Good grief, Zhang Yuzhuo, this lady concedes!"

Ultimately, knowing she was powerless to turn the tables, Yun Huan voluntarily conceded defeat, stopping at the top four.

"Haha, this vixen still wanted to go head-to-head with Zhang Yuzhuo? Look at her getting the short end of the stick, serves her right!" Qingling hugged Xiao Jiu, shaking with laughter.

"Sister Qingling, this meow is so bored..." Xiao Jiu in her arms said in a resentful voice.

"Hmph, you little cat. Sister is happy today, go play." Qingling rolled her eyes and put Xiao Jiu down.

On the arena——

In the second battlefield, Duyuan versus Zhou Wei.

Wudang's Taiji Force versus the Buddhist Golden Body!

Zhou Wei erupted with all his might, his Taiji Force evolving and condensing into a hundred-zhang sword river. Sword Qi tore the air apart, and every single streak of sword light possessed the might to split mountains and sever rivers, frantically slashing toward Duyuan's Golden Body!

The sword light was continuous and impenetrable, wildly bombarding for a full dozens of breaths.

Yet Duyuan's Golden Body remained motionless!

The golden Buddhist light barrier was as sturdy as an ancient divine mountain, impervious to all spells and unbreakable by ten thousand strikes.

No matter how the sword river washed over it or the sword lights chopped at it, the Buddhist light merely rippled layer upon layer.

"What a Taiji Force, Daoist Zhou. If it weren't for this poor monk's Golden Body advancing further, the one who lost today would be me."

Feeling the power of the Sword Qi, Duyuan couldn't help but be startled. This power—if it were just a little bit stronger, it would have shattered his Buddhist light.

"Fellow Daoist Duyuan, next is the Divine Ability I comprehended after breaking through to the Nascent Soul. It is my strongest method, so be careful!"

Looking at the motionless Golden Body, Zhou Wei knew he had to pull out his trump card; otherwise, when he went back, Master would nag him to death.

"Taiji Force, Yin and Yang Rotation." Zhou Wei held his hands in an empty embrace, and the Taiji Yin-Yang fish at the center continuously rotated. A destructive aura brewed in Zhou Wei's hands.

Duyuan's gaze turned grave as he slowly raised his hand. "Amitabha, what a great Divine Ability, Fellow Daoist. This poor monk must also bring out his trump card."

A huge golden Arhat palm print condensed out of thin air, carrying heavy and steady Buddhist principles as it suppressed forward head-on!

"This is a Divine Ability passed down by Ancestral Master Daoji. Even this poor monk cannot fully Master it, so Fellow Daoist must be careful!"

"Arhat Heaven-Overturning Seal!"

"Taiji — Yin and Yang Annihilation!"

Bang!

The two Divine Abilities collided, and a force far surpassing the Nascent Soul Stage erupted.

At the moment of the collision, both of them knew—things had blew out of proportion!! They were about to lose control!

The very instant the two forces erupted, their entire arena turned grayish-white, and this region of time and space also came to a standstill.

"Heaven and Earth Lose Color!" People in the spectator stands and the livestream room all recognized this as Ye Qingxuan's Divine Ability.

Under Ye Qingxuan's control, both Divine Abilities dissipated.

Then, Ye Qingxuan's voice came over: "Daoist Zhou, you lost this match. If those two forces had erupted, Fellow Daoist Duyuan would have been heavily injured, and you would have died for sure!"

"Haha, the moment they collided, this poor Daoist already knew. Thank you, Fellow Daoist Qingxuan, for saving my life."

"Fellow Daoist, this poor Daoist concedes defeat!" Zhou Wei executed a Daoist obeisance, turned, and stepped down from the stage.

"Amitabha, benevolent, benevolent. Thank you, Fellow Daoist Qingxuan." Duyuan offered a Buddhist salute toward Ye Qingxuan and Zhou Wei.

The semifinals concluded!

The two finalists emerged: Zhang Yuzhuo and Duyuan!