Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 315 The Body Weaver

On the arena, Dugu Qingli, having fought for so long, was gradually gaining confidence.

At first, she thought the people of Golden Wind Island were incredibly strong.

People like Fang Qihao, Duan Ning, and Xiang Guang, whom I am currently fighting, are all top-tier in the human world, capable of crushing ordinary opponents of the same level.

Such a person can be called a prodigy; the term "rising star" is insufficient to describe him.

Even the Tianyao Holy Land, which boasts the best pool of talent in the world, only produced one person like her, Dugu Qingli, and there were only two in the previous generation. Other forces would find it difficult to find even one. If we don't count Lu Xingzhou and his disciples, among the thousands of people in the world, she has only ever seen Shen Tang and Pei Chuyun with this level of skill. One represents the Great Qian Imperial Family, and the other represents the ancient and powerful sect, Cha Nu He Huan, which has lasted for thousands of years. Neither of them are forces to be underestimated.

Even for Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice, their foundation was laid by Yan Jun. If they had an ordinary master, those two top talents might have been ruined.

As for the others ranked high on the rookie list, they were just there to make up the numbers. They were only slightly better than the average person, and none of them were even as good as Ye Wufeng.

But how could there be three such young people on an obscure Golden Wind Island?

Dugu Qingli didn't even need to pay attention to the whispers of the audience outside the venue to know that Jinfeng Island was about to become famous.

Why are the Immortal Sects in the Sea always envious and jealous of the Heavenly Yao Holy Land? Because the people they recruit are basically the ones that the Heavenly Yao Holy Land has rejected. If this continues, the strong sects will become stronger and the weak will become weaker. Everyone will have to be incredibly lucky to find some good talents. Who can stand that?

The performance of Golden Wind Island in this battle will surely spread throughout the seas, and Golden Wind Island will immediately rise from an unknown ordinary force to a prestigious one. Many people from the maritime kingdoms will flock to Golden Wind Island seeking immortality.

If Golden Wind Island, besides having the ability to teach disciples and the allure of many ancient treasures, also truly possesses top-grade items, then it's not impossible for it to rise again as a holy land in the sea.

Lu Xingzhou was also thinking about this.

If the ancient realm intends to use this as a fulcrum to establish a base in the human world... then participating in such a low-level competition makes sense; from their strategic perspective, it's not low-level at all.

If this is the goal, it would not be surprising if they attacked the prestige of the Tianyao Holy Land, or even killed its promising talents.

It was definitely not the strategy of the leader of Golden Wind Island to kill in the first match. Even if they did kill, it should have been done afterward. Fang Qihao was really impulsive because of A Nuo, which caused him to expose the overall killing intent.

Besides targeting their disciples, they must also have other schemes up their sleeves to deal with Ye Tinglan, at least to injure him and buy them time to develop.

The cause and effect can be roughly connected like this, and there shouldn't be any major logical problems.

The problem is that in the past, people in the ancient world could only steal and cheat, probably because acting too openly would cause some problems. So what makes them dare to establish a foothold openly this time?
During the battle, Dugu Qingli gradually began to find some answers.

Some things can only be perceived through personal experience... Dugu Qingli always felt that the other party should not have been this strong... It was as if he had used some abilities beyond what a third-rank person should have from time to time.

The Heavenly Net Umbrella and the God-Slaying Whip are magical treasures that even a third-rank disciple cannot wield smoothly. Each magical treasure is suited to a specific level; otherwise, any disciple wielding a top-tier treasure would be able to run rampant. Under normal circumstances, a third-rank disciple can only unleash part of the effects of such a treasure, but these disciples, aside from slightly underutilizing its power, have achieved all the desired effects.

This makes it difficult for Dugu Qingli to fight, but this is not right.

The resilience Fang Qihao displayed when he was injured by A Nuo was also beyond the level of a third-grade Dao cultivator. Even if Ye Tinglan were to be hit by A Nuo at the third grade, she would not be able to stand up. What merit does Fang Qihao have?

Therefore, Fang Qihao most likely used something beyond the scope of the rules, just like Yuan Muyu did when fighting Lu Xingzhou, to hold off A Nuo.

Now, this opponent, Xiang Guang, gives Dugu Qingli the same feeling.

Every time he felt he couldn't possibly withstand a sword strike, he would strangely manage to block it in some unknown way.

While her strength was indeed within the required range, her control and use of that strength, as well as her understanding and analysis of her swordsmanship, should not be classified as third-grade.

Either it has an ancient soul attached to it, or it's simply a body that has been possessed!
The latter is more likely, as there will always be delays in explaining things on the go, and a body possessed by another being is the closest to this kind of behavior.

These three people's third-grade bodies may very well contain the souls of ancient realm's supreme grade!
No wonder, all these young geniuses and amazing techniques are fake.

There are no good cultivation methods in the world!
"Clang!" Dugu Qingli recalled the flying sword she was fighting, caught the hilt in mid-air, and once again shot forward.

Don't be fooled by the fact that swordsmen always seem to be one with their swords, piercing the sun like a rainbow. The intent behind each strike is different. If you treat them all as the same move, you'll suffer a great loss.

Xiang Guang, on the other side, did not underestimate his opponent and was waving a mirror in his hand.

The mirror played a crucial role in deflecting Dugu Qingli's sword energy countless times before.

The sword tip swiftly pierced the mirror, scattering a soft light across the surface.

The chilling sword intent suddenly changed the next moment. It was no longer the extreme destruction of before. Instead, an extreme coldness seeped out from the tip of the sword. The soft light did not block anything, and the coldness directly penetrated into the mind.

Frosty skies and frozen moon, the sea of ​​souls solidifies!
After breaking through to the third rank, Dugu Qingli used the Divine Soul Killing Sword for the first time.

In general combat, few people directly use soul techniques because it is very dangerous. If something goes wrong, even Ye Tinglan and others who are responsible for saving the day will not have time to intervene.

Furthermore, if the opponent is a powerful and ancient monster, clashing soul techniques would be suicidal.

However, since the other party is a possessed body, there must be some incompatibility between the body and soul. Dugu Qingli did not attack, but froze, forcing out the flaws in the other party's incompatibility, causing the body and soul to become disjointed.

Sure enough, as the frost froze, the disintegration of the other's body and soul could almost be seen, and the hand that was manipulating the mirror stopped.

"Such powerful Ice Qi, this is innate Ice Qi." A soul voice resounded directly in his mind: "This is not something a human should have..." Dugu Qingli remained silent, her long sword retracting and turning, bypassing the mirror and aiming at the opponent's chest.

The opponent's body and soul were intertwined, and as expected, he was unable to dodge in time and was directly pierced by this sword.

But the next moment, Dugu Qingli also let out a muffled groan.

The soft light of the mirror fell on her, and her soul suddenly churned, as if many fragments were flashing in her mind in disarray. The red eyes of the ice demon at the bottom of the ice layer appeared in her heart again.

The opponent's treasure is clearly not only resistant to physical attacks.

The ice sword pierced the opponent's chest, splattering blood. Dugu Qingli's blue eyes reflected the blood, and seemed to be "dyed" as well, turning into red pupils.

Ye Tinglan was shocked and got up to intervene.

With a sharp shout, Dugu Qingli drew her sword and struck the mirror. In an instant, the mirror was covered in frost, and no light could shine through it.

The redness faded, and the eyes returned to ice blue.

Blood splattered on Xiang Guang's chest as he staggered backward, collapsing to the ground in disbelief, unable to move any further.

"The outcome is decided. Qingli wins." Ye Tinglan said this, then quickly rushed to the arena and carried her disciple away.

“Master,” Dugu Qingli smiled, “I have legs, I don’t need to carry him like I do.”

"Why are you still talking about this at a time like this? Your eyes are all red!" Ye Tinglan hurriedly checked her disciple's body, only to be surprised to find that nothing had happened, not even an injury.

Dugu Qingli said, "I'm really fine."

Ye Tinglan was silent for a moment: "Do you have murderous intent? Do you have violent tendencies? How has your temper changed?"

Dugu Qingli was silent for a moment: "If you keep holding me like this, I might get a little angry."

Ye Tinglan let go.

Dugu Qingli fell straight down, her bottom facing the ground.

Before even landing, he spun around in mid-air, stood firmly on his feet, smiled slightly, and cupped his hands, saying, "I have not failed in my mission."

Without needing explanation, she believed her master had already discerned the details of the battle.

As expected, Ye Tinglan nodded: "A possessed body... you really can't tell unless you fight it yourself. No wonder Xingzhou said he wanted to fight, did he have this suspicion before?"

"Yes." Lu Xingzhou walked from the stage to his side and whispered, "They probably know they've been exposed by now, and their behind-the-scenes operations will definitely intensify. Have the people you sent out to investigate given any feedback?"

Even before he finished speaking with Yuan Muyu, Ye Tinglan had already sent elders to investigate secretly, but so far they had only shaken their heads and said, "Nothing."

“There are many people here. If they wanted to establish a foothold in the modern world, they wouldn’t risk offending everyone right away. Therefore, the possibility of them setting up here is not very high.” Lu Xingzhou said decisively, “If there is a problem, it will be when you and I return.”

Dugu Qingli said, "But there are many of us who came out. Besides Master, there are several First-Rank Elders."

Lu Xingzhou shook his head: "Because we brought a large number of disciples to watch the battle, we are hesitant to act rashly, as injuring even one would be a loss. And the other side may not be a group of people... Gu Zhanting's people probably won't be here, but I suspect there may be demons outside. The first thing you need to do now is to find a way to move the disciples away quietly."

Ye Tinglan asked in a low voice, "With everyone watching, the sudden departure of all the disciples must have aroused suspicion. How did you manage to remain calm and collected?"

“It’s not just us who need to be relocated…” Lu Xingzhou looked in the direction of Nujiao Island, but Yuan Muyu was not there.

"Whatever she's doing, those she wants to ally with should also be protected for her," Lu Xingzhou whispered to A Nuo.

Ah Nuo excitedly ran towards the location of Nu Jiao Island, and said to the little girl who had just been tricked by her, "Sister, sister, my master said that the competition between our two families has been interfered with by too many factors, losing its original purpose of mutual learning. Master said that we fought earlier, and the next matches will be fought by others, while your loser's group will start very late, and it will be a long time before it's our turn. He asked if you would like to change the location and have a private match."

The little girl was overjoyed: "Really? Is it possible?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the team leader, his eyes full of pleading.

The elderly man leading the group was speechless. What kind of childish game was this?

But then I thought about it again, and the smell between Yama and this child's "master" just now...

Moreover, Yama was not present at the moment, which was after he had a private chat with that person.

The old man's mind raced, and he stroked his beard, saying, "That is exactly what I wish for. There is another small island a few dozen miles to the east, with pleasant scenery, which is perfect for exchanging ideas."

Ah Nuo said, "Then why don't all the disciples go and spar in pairs? There's no need for three regulars and two substitutes anymore, wouldn't that be great?"

The old man looked at Ye Tinglan in surprise. Ye Tinglan smiled slightly and said, "I have no objection to our interaction as disciples."

What kind of nonsense is this, disciples crossing paths? You're from the Heavenly Yao Holy Land, while we're from the Demonic Path!
(End of this chapter)