Forge your destiny into a sword, slash your soul and ascend to immortality

Chapter 173 Levels of Genius

In the third transformation, a complete army formation composed of golden-armored Earthly Fiend cultivators appeared within the [Victory Tower].

This military formation, formed by the combined magical power of a hundred golden-armored cultivators, trapped Jing Qian within it.

At the same time, utilizing the power of the magic array, these cultivators divided their tasks clearly and began to hunt down and kill Yu Jingqian.

Jing Qian's eyes lit up. He drew his sword and rose up, his figure flashing continuously within the great formation without any hindrance.

This golden-armored army formation is a unique armed force of the [Boundless Celestial Dynasty].

In other lineages, cultivators focus on their own power and concentrate on improving their personal combat strength.

With its profound foundation and massive team of [Spirit Officials], the Celestial Empire has assembled an extremely terrifying army of cultivators.

In terms of group battles, China is truly unrivaled.

In particular, the unique "Star-Picking" troops, with their systematic military formations, hold a dominant position in large-scale, all-out wars with other realms.

The great generals and dukes in the army are in no way inferior to the core cultivators of other lineages in terms of individual combat strength.

It is precisely for this reason that the Wuji Heavenly Dynasty was able to dominate the Northern Heaven, and within its sphere of influence, there was no longer any lineage of the Dao Ancestor.

Even those of the Pure Yang and Yanfu sects could only be relegated to the margins and imprisoned.

Jing Qian rarely engaged in direct combat with such a military formation. Instead of using his full strength, he carefully observed the formation's operation using his Three Lives Eye.

Large-scale battles between cultivators are only seen in all-out wars between the celestial realm and even the universe.

Within each celestial realm, there are cultivation forces skilled in large-scale warfare.

Whether it's the Shangqing Heaven, which nurtured 100,000 heavenly soldiers in the Eastern Yuyu Changsheng Heaven.

In the Southern Demonic Tathagata Heaven, there is the Heavenly Demon Palace, which controls the Thirty-Three Levels of Demon Cave and can command countless great demons, and the Lingshan Temple, which gathers the Ten Directions, Ten Assemblies, Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons and Vajra Assemblies.

Even the collapsed and ruined [Yamfu Road] is controlled by a terrifying horde of ghosts through the [Ten Palaces of Yama].

They all possess extremely powerful large-scale combat capabilities.

However, even all the demons and monsters under the command of these lineages combined could not defeat the Spirit Official Legion of the Wuji Heavenly Dynasty.

The hundred Earthly Fiends standing before Jing Qian were more than enough to suppress and annihilate ordinary Star-Picking experts.

He used his "Three Lives Eye" to see the entire operation of this military formation.

Then, he held back, picked up the [True Illusion Immortal Sword Embryo], and with one sword, he slashed from east to west, easily turning the army formation into ashes.

The difference in combat strength between the two sides was too great; this military formation was merely for Jing Qian to observe and broaden his horizons.

The third round of illusions was easily swept away by Jing Qian, and changes began again in the [Victory Tower].

He completely crushed his enemies of the same level, and within the evaluation system of the [Victory Tower], he is now invincible among his peers.

A cultivator with this ability can already be called a "genius".

Jing Qian was shocked to discover that a silver talisman had quietly materialized above the head of his avatar.

This is an official certification of his personal combat prowess.

He silently sensed it for a moment and discovered that the rune contained a message:
[Level: Zhong Lingxiu]

Born from the essence of heaven and earth, the backbone of the empire, worthy to be a great spiritual official.

[Earthly Fiend: 183758th]

This is the evaluation standard for geniuses based on big data statistics from [Wuji Tianchao].

The golden-armored cultivator conjured by the Empress's [Ghost Appearance] and with the help of the [Boundless Heavenly Dynasty]'s big data is a standard [Earthly Fiend] cultivator template with one hundred [Golden Nature Root Life Essence].

Being able to break through an army formation composed of one hundred cultivators will earn the Empress's certification. As a Zhong Lingxiu-level talent, one can crush the true geniuses of the same generation and become the backbone of the empire.

Throughout the hundreds of thousands of years of history of the Wuji Heavenly Dynasty, there have been as many as 180,000 people who have achieved such results at the Earthly Fiend realm.

Jing Qian couldn't assess the magnitude of the number, but he hadn't yet unleashed his full potential.

With nothing else to do, it's the perfect time to fully immerse myself in a ranked match!

Let's see if these genius predecessors are just a speck of dust in the history books, or if they are true monuments that stand tall through the ages, inspiring future generations to look up to them.

The fourth transformation then unfolded, and the golden-armored generals that reappeared were already at the [Star-Picking] rank.

As for Jing Qian, this level of combat power posed no threat whatsoever; he was simply a chicken to be killed as many as came.

When he killed the first [Star-Picking] enemy with a single sword strike, the ranking of the [Zhong Lingxiu] rune surged by more than 60,000, reaching 122953rd.

In other words, throughout the history of the Celestial Empire, there have been more than 120,000 outstanding geniuses who were capable of defeating opponents of higher ranks.

There is still a considerable gap between being invincible within the same rank and experiencing a qualitative leap in magical power across ranks.

Perhaps Jing Qian's promotion was too rapid, and his victory too easy.

Starting from the fifth round, [Battle Tower] began to increase his strength!
The next enemy to appear was an army of one hundred [Star Pickers].

However, Jing Qian remained completely unmoved!
These conjured tools, regardless of their level of cultivation, all exude a sense of mediocrity.

A fourth-rank cultivator, whose manipulated [spiritual energy] is also fourth-rank, poses no threat to him.

With sword flashes and attacks, Jing Qian easily wiped out these powerful "Star-Picking" experts.

This time, the emblem on his body turned gold, a complete transformation!
[Level: Amazing]

A world-shaking miracle, the heart of the empire!

[Earthly Fiend: 15789th]

His ranking skyrocketed by over 100,000 places, reaching 15,000, which is enough to qualify him as a genius of extraordinary talent, worthy of being called "World-Shocking."

The history of the Wuji Celestial Dynasty spans hundreds of thousands of years.

Such extraordinary talent is a rare find, appearing only once every few decades.

Jing Qian was even more excited!
He was really enjoying the ranked matches and got really into it.

Without stopping, the sixth round of battles began immediately, with the difficulty increasing even further.

Ten generals with the cultivation level of "Mending the Heavens" appeared quietly, each possessing the spiritual energy of a Golden Immortal.

Jing Qian was finally forced to show some real strength!
He no longer drew his sword randomly, but instead entered the [Sumeru] dimension to use the [Three Lives Eye] to probe the enemy's fatal weakness.

Then, after taking a quick aim, he killed the enemy with a single sword strike.

Although none of the ten [Heaven Mending] experts could withstand his sword strike, Jing Qian could already feel some pressure.

This victory has brought about another qualitative change for the brand.

This time, the golden emblem transformed into iridescent light.

[Rank: Forbidden Child]

Come up to the immortal mountain and see me!

[Earthly Fiend: 892nd]

In the history of the Celestial Empire, to be ranked among the top 1,000 is to be an exceptional genius, appearing only once in a millennium.

Upon reaching this level, one can be promoted to "Guozi" (Imperial Son), become a close confidant of the Empress, and be granted the title of "Guogong" (Duke).

Jing Qian mentally calculated and simulated that perhaps his mentor, Shang Xi, would end up in this position.

This level of genius should be the minimum standard for selecting Dao children from various top-tier Dao lineages.

However, he still didn't break a sweat!
The seventh round of battle suddenly began, and a second-rank [Wordless Stele] Grand Spirit Official, wielding a steel whip, appeared before him.

Jing Qian's sword is renowned, its strokes like dragons!

But surprisingly, it wasn't killed!
The enemy has indeed increased their strength again.

Jing Qian no longer held back, layering [True Illusion] with [Buddha's Salvation] and [Bitter Mist], making it both sinister, poisonous, and fierce.

He struck three times in succession, severing the steel whip, the Dharma body, and the soul of this second-rank general.

With his fifth-grade cultivation, he completely defeated a second-grade expert, causing the emblem to undergo another qualitative change!

"boom!"

The entire [Victory Tower] began to tremble as a result!

The emblem with its iridescent rays slowly lost its luster and turned pure black.

[Level: Eternal Demon]

A prodigy has emerged from the ages, slaying gods, demons, and even creating Buddhas!

[Earthly Fiend: 56th]

There will always be geniuses in the world!

Throughout the long history of the Wuji Celestial Dynasty, there will always be a truly unique genius who will dominate the world.

Even the remarkable feat of a [Di Sha] defeating a second-grade [Wordless Stele] is a case in dozens of instances.

From the Forbidden Child to the Eternal Demon, he is undoubtedly the most outstanding genius among the most outstanding geniuses.

Jing Qian's emotions were also stirred.

In the process of slaying this "Wordless Stele", he had almost given it his all.

Even so, fifty-one predecessors who were even stronger than him appeared.

You really can't underestimate people!

If they were both geniuses of the [Eternal Demon] level, the advanced third-rank powerhouses would be far beyond what Jing Qian could currently contend with.

However, he hasn't fully reached his limit yet!
His fighting spirit continued to soar, awaiting the start of a new round of transformations.

He wanted to see just how many cultivators of the same level were stronger than him!
The eighth round of transformation has officially begun. In this round, the powerful cultivators who appear have once again jumped to a higher level of strength.

A golden-armored divine general with the power of the "Three-Character Stele" quietly appeared.

The deity wielded a crescent-shaped blade over ten feet long, and his body was overflowing with the spiritual energy of a golden immortal.

His combat prowess was extraordinary, and his sword strikes were extremely fierce. He actually knocked away the [True Illusion Immortal Sword Embryo] that Jing Qian had slashed at!

Jing Qian also tasted it. This divine general was much more powerful than [Blood River] and [Three Poisons]. Its combat system was extremely comprehensive. The cleaver in its hand and the golden armor on its body were both second-grade [Spiritual Energy], with no weaknesses whatsoever.

This is the kind of opponent he needs!

He stopped holding back and began to give it his all.

In an instant, sword energy soared into the sky and blade light crisscrossed the battlefield, each radiating intense magical energy fluctuations.

For Jing Qian, he could easily evade all of the enemy's attacks by moving in and out of the [Sumeru] dimension.

The sword light in his hand was gradually amplified by the terrifying power of the [Sumeru] dimension, becoming increasingly stronger.

Unlike his sparring with Shang Xi, he showed absolutely no intention of holding back in front of this divine general.

He brought out all the miraculous blessings he received.

Gradually, more and more elements that enhance the power of his sword light were added.

And this [Three-Character Stele] deity was gradually and completely suppressed by him.

Finally, under the influence of a certain sword light, the god's mental world became the first weakness to be breached.

The power of the [Sacrificial Immortal Sword Embryo] was quite restraining to this martial arts god-general. In the tug-of-war between sword and saber, several sword lights were fiercely slashed towards the depths of the god-general's heart.

As a result, the god's body, which moved with lightning speed, suddenly trembled, and Jing Qian discovered its weakness and killed it completely with a single sword strike.

This great battle lasted for three days and three nights, leaving Jing Qian weak, short of breath, and extremely exhausted.

However, he also felt an extreme sense of exhilaration.

From the perspective of the battle itself, the greatest pleasure comes from fighting against an opponent of equal strength and status, and winning the battle!

The defeat of the second-rank master who defeated the Three-Character Stele once again triggered an upgrade of the emblem.

[Level: Eternal Demon]

A prodigy has emerged from the ages, slaying gods, demons, and even creating Buddhas!

[Earthly Fiend: 17th]

He remains a genius at the [Eternal Demon] level, without any new changes, but his ranking has directly risen to the top twenty.

Jing Qian was not satisfied with this result!
He has almost unleashed all his strength and potential; reaching this point in the rankings is already his limit.

However, among those of the same level, there are still sixteen enemies stronger than him.

Such a prodigy is nowhere to be found. At the very least, Jing Qian has never seen such a powerful person in his cultivation career.

Looking back at the powerful Daoist figures he had encountered, perhaps "Eyeless" and "Ren Chong" were stronger than him?
However, Jing Qian thought about it again and felt somewhat relieved. He had only been promoted to [Earthly Fiend] for a little over a year.

The new practice has not yet fully begun, let alone reached its complete perfection.

Once he has accumulated enough [Fire of Evil], he will push his magical power to its peak.

Alternatively, one could further strengthen the [Sumeru] dimension to continue raising the sword slash limit.

These are all means to continuously enhance one's own strength.

Once he reaches the pinnacle of the Earthly Fiend realm, his combat power will undoubtedly increase significantly. At that time, if he returns to the Tower of Victory and competes in the rankings, his seventeenth place ranking will surely rise further.

Jing Qian has full confidence in this!
His thoughts raced as he slowly recovered his depleted mana, but he did not exit the [Victory Tower].

The ninth round of battles quietly began during this process.

A divine general bearing the inscription "Five-Character Stele" appeared, revealing himself to be a handsome figure holding a treasure vase.

As soon as the divine general appeared, he opened the treasure bottle in his hand, and immediately, boundless and terrifying karmic fire surged out from it, creating a long river of karmic fire similar to that in the "Spirit, Life, Emptiness, and Sea," which swept across the entire battlefield.

Jing Qian dared not be negligent and immediately used a teleportation technique to enter the [Sumeru] dimension, avoiding the invasion of [Karmic Fire].

The power of this [Karmic Fire] is extremely terrifying; it is a powerful magical force with a rank close to [Immortal Qi].

Moreover, it seems to have no capacity limit, being infinite and spreading throughout the entire area.

Jing Qian could clearly sense that this power was following its cause and effect with him, burning towards the [Sumeru] dimension.

With his status as the "Great Lord of the Void," he firmly blocked the "Karmic Fire" from entering.

All attacks are launched by using the power of space to directly penetrate the enemy's true location.

A beam of [True Illusion] sword light surged forth and struck the divine general.

However, the true form of that divine general also transformed into a wisp of karmic fire, which plunged into the bottle and refused to come out!

This powerful cultivator who manipulates flames is like a god of fire, untouchable.

He completely dissolved into the flames; as long as the "karmic fire" remains, his body and soul will not perish.

The Five-Character Stele indicates Zhu Yun's rank after her promotion.

Such cultivators possess a near-perfect system, and their combat power has already reached another level.

Even though Jing Qian used the [Sumeru] dimension to cheat, making it impossible for the opponent to attack him.

But he could hardly be said to have won!

In the midst of this stalemate, [Victory Tower] directly judged him to have lost.

His winning streak was abruptly interrupted, but his ranking actually rose.

[Level: Eternal Demon]

A prodigy has emerged from the ages, slaying gods, demons, and even creating Buddhas!

[Earthly Fiend: 12th]

Faced with the top-level overhaul of the [Five-Character Stele], he unleashed his full combat power.

Although they cannot win, they can remain invincible and negotiate with the enemy.

This allowed him to successfully advance to twelfth place.

Jing Qian was quite surprised. Given his own strength and background, he could accept the existence of geniuses stronger than him.

However, it was somewhat unbelievable that he didn't even make it into the top ten among his peers.

He was well-versed in the entire history of the Wuji Heavenly Dynasty, and there were abundant records of powerful cultivators who had been active in the past.

A cultivator stronger than him should, in theory, be someone who could dominate several generations before and after him.

However, after searching through historical documents, he could not find even eleven such geniuses.

These geniuses can't just appear and disappear mysteriously, can they?
What Jing Qian didn't know was that when [Goddess Ego] classified geniuses, based on reality and big data analysis, he first defined four major levels: [Zhong Lingxiu], [Ji Xishi], [Jinji Zi], and [Wangu Yao].

These four levels actually encompass all the geniuses that [Goddess Ego] has ever seen.

Even the Empress herself only objectively assessed and positioned it at the level of "Eternal Demon".

However, out of caution regarding the data and respect for the Great Dao, the Empress created another category of geniuses above the [Eternal Demon] category, reserving ten spots for this category.

From beginning to end, all ten spots in this category were fabricated and did not actually exist.

In other words, Jing Qian at this point was already the undisputed second-best player on the Heavenly Ladder.

There are only fictional characters, not real people, that are stronger or ranked higher than him.

Jing Qian was completely unaware of this, and in his own analysis, he only thought that it was due to the lack of accumulation and refinement in the [Earthly Fiend] stage.

If he matures over the next few years, he will surely achieve even greater success.

His fighting spirit was completely ignited!

Even after his winning streak was broken, Jing Qian never left [Battle Tower].

For him, the previous battles were a detailed test of his regular combat strength.

He now has a full understanding of this issue.

Next, without any more scruples or self-imposed limitations, he prepared to unleash the full power of the [Victory Tower]'s illusionary abilities.

In the tenth battle, the cultivator holding the jade bottle reappeared, once again unleashing the [Karmic Fire] to incinerate the world.

This time, Jing Qian simply raised his hand and scooped it up, revealing the embodiment of "good corn".

Strangely enough, under the Empress's magic, [Good Corn] also retained its intelligence.

Immediately afterwards, Jing Qian took out a strange piece of immortal energy that the Ghost King Palace had painstakingly condensed from the Void Realm and blessed it on Good Corn.

In an instant, he created a Void Mother Tree with first-grade magic power.

【Good Corn】transforms into a terrifying giant monster, standing tall and majestic on the battlefield.

Then, countless roots sprouted from its body and plunged into the [Karmic Fire], violently absorbing it.

The enemy's tactics have been completely transformed into food supplies for "good corn".

It completely suppressed the five-character stele opposite it!
Immediately, the other side launched a counterattack.

Within this karmic fire, numerous demons suddenly materialized, each one appearing as if alive, possessing supernatural powers and magic.

But [Good Corn] didn't care about any of that, letting all sorts of demons and monsters attack it, while it just kept absorbing the [Karmic Fire].

Although [Good Corn] has been promoted to the first-class level, the system is still lacking too much, and it is just an empty shell.

Its core methods of fighting enemies are almost entirely unreliable; it can only desperately absorb energy and fight by brute force.

Fortunately, it's not fighting alone!
Jing Qian could not extinguish this endless "karmic fire," but the demons that the opponent conjured were exactly what he wanted.

With the help of the spiritual sword light unleashed by the [Sacrificial Immortal Sword Embryo], this demon was easily shattered of its primordial spirit and returned to chaos.

Jing Qian revealed his first trump card: [Ghost King Immortal Qi]!
The effect is undoubtedly outstanding.

This is a legitimate ultimate skill with a cooldown. Even if you accumulate [Ghost King Palace] for a year, it can only transform [Good Corn] for a couple of hours.

If it weren't for the illusion, Jing Qian would never easily use this [Immortal Qi].

With this short-term advancement, [Good Corn] used its innate abilities to absorb almost all the fire in the bottle.

The god's entire cultivation had been contained within the fire, and now the [Karmic Fire] was almost completely exhausted, causing his cultivation and magical power to plummet.

Ultimately, under the combined strangulation of one person per meter, his soul was extinguished, and he perished on the spot.

Jing Qian used his trump card to achieve a victory that was otherwise impossible.

But upon closer inspection of the information on the emblem, which had changed, he nearly lost his composure:
[Level: Eternal Demon]

A prodigy has emerged from the ages, slaying gods, demons, and even creating Buddhas!

[Earthly Fiend: 11th]

It's unbelievable that he went through so much trouble and even used up a precious wisp of immortal energy, only to advance one rank!
How incredibly competitive must the top ten be?!

Jing Qian was completely obsessed, like someone who was just a few points away from becoming a top player.

He got up and stretched, loosening his muscles and bones, ready to unleash a powerful attack!
With unwavering focus, the eleventh round of battle officially began.

A withered old man, smoking a jade pipe, appeared before him.

This old man, Jing Qian, looked familiar. He was clearly the Duke of Dingguo, one of the top figures in the Celestial Empire who guarded the Dingshen Pass!
This first-rank expert is the strongest person in the [Boundless Heavenly Dynasty] besides the Empress.

The [Victory Tower] actually conjured up this old man as a test for Jing Qian.

If Jing Qian were to encounter him in the real world, he would run as far away as possible.

After all, wasting precious resources on this old man yields no benefit whatsoever.

But in this virtual world, in the most crucial qualifying match, Jing Qian was fearless!

In terms of combat experience in the modern world, although he is incredibly experienced, he is still young and cannot compare with the many seniors of the Pure Yang Heaven.

However, when it comes to simulated combat experience within the illusion, Jing Qian feels that only the golden-armored puppet conjured in the [Victory Tower] can rival him.

Knowing how to utilize illusions to unleash their strongest power requires experience and practice.

Just considering the conventional move of self-destruction, Jing Qian had more than five thousand more experiences than the average person.

That's also a self-destruction, but he's confident it will be louder than anyone else's.

This gave him a unique confidence when facing the Duke of Dingguo.

With a flick of his magic, he used his immortal energy to elevate the good corn to the first rank of cultivation.

Then, it transformed into a thousand-foot-tall mother tree and swept towards the withered old man.

But then the Duke of Dingguo suddenly looked up to the sky and let out a long roar that shook the mountains and seas, almost causing Jing Qian's heart to stop.

The old man's form suddenly swelled, transforming into a Vajra bronze figure whose size was in no way inferior to [Good Corn].

The two powerful cultivators began to fight each other.

For Jing Qian, facing this powerful figure of the first rank, he had almost no chance of winning unless he used all his trump cards.

In the midst of the fierce battle, [Good Corn] used all its strength to entangle itself around [Duke Dingguo].

Then, with its cultivation level as a first-grade demon, it triggered a self-destruction.

It unleashed all its magical power without reservation, transforming it into a weapon to annihilate the Duke of Dingguo.

Even though the Jin man was incredibly powerful, he was still blasted into a sorry state by [Good Corn]'s reckless actions.

However, the title of Duke of Dingguo is a well-established and long-standing first-rank official with a complete system.

Faced with the self-destruction attack of "Good Corn", although it was blown up and looked a bit disheveled, it was not in any danger to its life.

Just then, Jing Qian, inside the [Virtual Realm], also prepared another trump card.

He shattered the Qingping Sword Box, and a terrifying sword aura, gathering thousands of Golden Immortal spiritual energies, suddenly slashed out.

Within this sword energy, the [True Illusion Immortal Sword Embryo] gathers the power of [Sumeru] and [Sacrifice], giving it comprehensive enhancement.

This sword light was like a dragon and thunder, yet it was also like a god and invisible. It was clearly of extraordinary power, but it could not be seen with the naked eye.

The sword light slashed wildly from the [Sumeru] dimension, landing heavily on the center of [Duke Dingguo's] forehead.

The Duke of Dingguo, already in a sorry state from being blown up by the "Good Corn," was unable to dodge and took the blow head-on.

And this dignified first-rank elder, who had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years, was actually severely injured and bleeding profusely in front of this fifth-rank [Earthly Fiend] cultivator.

The Duke of Dingguo is enraged!
The thousand-foot-tall golden man suddenly changed, growing four extra arms and transforming into two heads.

This is the ultimate martial arts supernatural power of "Three Heads and Six Arms," ​​which can amplify one's combat power many times over.

Following the direction from which the [Azure Sword Qi] slashed, he unleashed countless fist shadows with his six arms, delivering a barrage of blows.

This is to completely break down the barriers of space!

Despite being severely injured, the Duke of Dingguo unleashed his full power, actually smashing through the spatial barrier and carving out a void wormhole leading directly to the Sumeru dimension.

The old duke's ferocity erupted completely. With six arms, he clung to the edge of the void wormhole, about to burrow into the [Sumeru] dimension.

But suddenly, a thunderclap came from the wormhole.

Even before the thunder roared, a thin, fierce sword aura, crackling with lightning speed, had already emerged, piercing through the Duke of Dingguo's defenses and slashing into his head and face.

This top-tier first-grade powerhouse's body stiffened as if electrocuted, and he fell backward, dead.

This is Jing Qian's strongest trump card, hidden in the [Sumeru] dimension, the infinitely looping [Ren Chong] sword energy, a true world-destroying lightning tribulation, with overwhelming killing power!
(End of this chapter)