I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 216 Ranking
"what?!"

The man in black robes was taken aback when he saw the vast lightning bolts approaching.

He had made many predictions and prepared for Wu Ming's spear techniques, but he never expected that Wu Ming's first move would be a divine technique completely different from martial arts!
In fact, it is quite common for cultivators of the Primordial Spirit to also cultivate martial arts. It is not unusual for martial artists to cultivate Taoist arts before the fifth coagulation of blood. However, the problem is that such cultivation usually focuses on one lineage. For example, those who mainly cultivate the Primordial Spirit are often not very strong in martial arts.

Wu Ming's martial arts spear technique had just reached the level of the five-blood limit. With such a level of martial arts strength, it would be impossible to consider the possibility that Wu Ming had also cultivated the Yuan Shen Dao technique. But the most unexpected thing happened.

"Solid as a rock!"

Faced with Wu Ming's thunderous attack, the man in black was surprised but dared not be careless. What was originally an offensive move was suddenly changed in mid-air. The sword he was thrusting suddenly turned horizontally, transforming into a continuous sword light. This sword light converged and transformed into a shape like a solid mountain rock, guarding the entire front.

This move not only produced sword light, but even from Wu Ming's primordial spirit perspective, his soul sense could clearly 'see' a vast, cloud-piercing mountain peak, centered on the black-robed man, unfolding above his head.

This is not an illusion.

This is the unique martial arts realm formed by the condensation and unification of a martial artist's essence, spirit, blood, and energy!

"The nascent form of martial intent..."

A glint of light flashed in Wu Ming's eyes.

In just a moment, he had already judged that the black-robed man's martial arts strength had reached the level of Gu Liufeng, having already cultivated the rudimentary form of martial intent, and was capable of passing through the eighth level of the Hidden Dragon Tower.

The difference between the rudimentary form of martial intent and the true 'ultimate intent' lies in the fact that the rudimentary form of martial intent is merely an unformed outline that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Only the spiritual perspective of the primordial spirit and soul can perceive the manifestation of martial intent. The true 'ultimate intent,' on the other hand, can be clearly seen even with the naked eye. It is the manifestation of one's essence, energy, and spirit being completely condensed and perfected.

of course,

Even at this stage, when the martial arts realm presented can be seen with the naked eye, its essence is still illusory, merely a kind of spiritual oppression. To transform it from illusory to real and give it substantial power, one must enter the Dao.

To enter the Dao, one must comprehend the universe, communicate with the universe, and have one's will be able to draw upon the power of the universe, allowing internal and external forces to converge—however, as far as Wu Ming knows, even among martial arts masters who have condensed blood seven times, very few can actually enter the Dao through their skills.

It's too late, but it's soon.

As Wu Ming was having some thoughts about martial arts intent, the Divine Firmament Thunder Technique had already collided head-on with the black-robed man's sword move. The nascent martial intent that shrouded the black-robed man, resembling a mountain peak, trembled violently after being struck by lightning. Although it did not collapse on the spot, it did show signs of cracking.

Under the bombardment of this lightning spell, he staggered back four or five steps. His arm, which was gripping the sword hilt, went numb, and the black cloth sleeves on his arm burst open, revealing a peculiar inner armor that clung tightly to his skin. This inner armor was very similar to Wu Ming's Black Dragon Soft Armor, and they looked like products of the same quality level.

"..."

After enduring Wu Ming's lightning spell, the black-robed man's expression changed drastically. Without any hesitation, he touched the ground with his toes and suddenly leaped away, intending to retreat into the distance.

Although he was very close to Wu Ming and had the opportunity to assassinate Wu Ming's true form, the strength Wu Ming displayed was truly terrifying. Not to mention that his martial arts strength had reached the limit of the fifth bloodline, just his casual lightning technique was so powerful that it was almost terrifying, almost reaching the level of the sixth refinement, which made the black-robed man have no intention of fighting head-on.

"Where to go?"

Seeing the man in black robes about to leave, Wu Ming snorted coldly, lightly stomped his foot, and instantly a dense burst of lightning erupted from his body. The Thunder Element Dharma Image manifested in an instant and pounced towards the man in black robes.

It must be said that this battle of geniuses from a hundred nations is truly extraordinary. The black-robed man was only the second genius from another nation he encountered, yet his strength had already reached the level of Gu Liufeng. Moreover, he was wearing a defensive armor that resembled a black dragon's soft armor, and he withstood his lightning attack head-on without any problems.

Boom! ! !
Since a casual move failed to overwhelm him, Wu Ming naturally began to get serious. He released his primordial spirit and activated the Heavenly Gang Thunder Yuan Dharma Form, which was much faster than the black-robed man. In just a moment, he had caught up with him, and thunder roared as he flew away.

He came up behind the man in black robes, and the Thunder Origin Dharma Image suddenly manifested four arms. Two of the arms swung down at the man in black robes, bursting out bursts of dazzling lightning. The other two arms were raised high, one of which tightly gripped a golden thunder drum, and the other thunderous hand slammed it down.

*Sizzle*

A torrent of lightning poured in, and after a brief pause, an even more magnificent burst of lightning erupted from the drumhead, nearly as thick as a bucket, like divine punishment, crashing down upon the man in black robes.

Seeing Wu Ming display such terrifying power, the man in black robes was immediately terrified. At this moment, he swung his long sword and barely blocked the swinging arms of Wu Ming's Thunder Yuan Dharma Form. Facing the thunderous power that followed, which was unleashed by the Golden Thunder Stone Drum, he had nowhere to hide. He could only forcefully push his blood energy to the limit and unleash a vast expanse of sword light on the spot.

boom!
Another head-on collision, and it was earth-shattering once again.

A bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket engulfed the black-robed man's body and slammed into the ground, shattering the earth around him and creating a crater. The soil in the crater melted and turned into crimson lava.

Whoosh.

The lightning subsided, and the man in black robes reappeared. With a whoosh, he transformed into a blur and continued his escape into the distance.

He appeared to be unharmed, but after enduring the full force of Wu Minglei Yuanfa Xiang, Shenxiao Leifa, and Jinlei Shigu, his condition was far worse than before. His hair was almost completely singed, his black robe was completely torn and burned away, revealing a suit of inner armor clinging to his skin. The dense scales resembled the leather of some kind of lizard, and there was a strong smell of burning coming from his body.

Obviously,

Even with perfected bloodline, a fully developed martial physique, and top-grade inner armor, he couldn't completely withstand the Thunder Lineage divine abilities that Wu Ming was unleashing with all his might.

Seeing the black-robed man escape, Wu Ming naturally didn't let him go and manipulated the Heavenly Gang Thunder Yuan Dharma Image to continue the pursuit.

The man in black robes activated some secret technique, increasing his speed by nearly double, but he still couldn't match Wu Ming's speed in controlling the Thunder Element Dharma Form. In an instant, Wu Ming caught up with him again and unleashed another barrage of thunder techniques without saying a word.

A vast surge of thunderous power descended upon the black-robed man, completely engulfing him.

Snapped.

It sounded like something breaking.

An indescribable pressure suddenly spread out.

Wu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly and saw that a piece of cyan jade hanging around the neck of the black-robed man opposite him quietly cracked under the engulfment of lightning, and burst out with a faint cyan light.

The azure light instantly spread, directly dispelling his lightning and revealing the figure of the black-robed man. He was bathed in the center of the azure light, and it seemed that he had completely resisted Wu Ming's lightning magic by relying on the power of the azure light.

But at this moment,
His face looked very unpleasant.

This is not his own power, but a life-saving item bestowed upon him by his master. It contains a portion of his master's power and will only be activated when he faces a life-or-death crisis.

Once this power is unleashed, it's as if his master has intervened in the battle of prodigies, which means his elimination.

He felt extremely unlucky because, with his strength, he had a great chance of winning a ranking in the Heavenly Pride Battle, but he just happened to encounter an opponent like Wu Ming who was stronger than him right from the start.

Normally, even if he encountered someone stronger than him, he would have a life-saving movement technique that could instantly consume a large amount of blood energy to greatly increase his speed, giving him a real chance to escape. However, Wu Ming happened to be a Nascent Soul cultivator and mastered the Thunder lineage's divine power, which was known for its speed, making him a complete counter.

They can't win in a fight, and they can't escape either, so their only fate is elimination.

"you……"

The man in black robes stared at Wu Ming, only managing to utter a single word.

Swish.

A beam of golden light descended from the sky in an instant, covering his entire body. Then, with a pull and a tug, he vanished from Wu Ming's sight in a flash, leaving only a pale red bracelet in his place.

Wu Ming wasn't too surprised by this scene. After all, although the casualties in each Heavenly Pride Battle were very serious, most of them were the lowest-ranking figures. Those who were truly powerful either had enough strength to dominate or were highly regarded and had many trump cards to protect themselves.

The black-robed man from before clearly possessed a protective power at the Grandmaster level. This power did not belong to him. Once triggered, it was equivalent to external interference with the assessment, and he would be instantly eliminated. He was directly expelled by the formation covering the Wangyue Mountain Range.

But while they were eliminated, their lives were spared.

"Pity."

Wu Ming shook his head, stepped forward, and picked up the pale red bracelet that the man in black robes had left behind.

The inner armor worn by the opponent seemed to be similar to his Black Dragon Soft Armor, probably a treasure of the same level and extremely valuable. If he could kill the opponent, he could naturally take it for himself.

Click.

Wu Ming exerted force with two fingers, and the pale red bracelet instantly shattered. A wisp of blood light spilled out from it, quickly flying towards his own wrist. It was absorbed by the bracelet on his wrist, making the blood light on the white bracelet even deeper.

"Three hundred and eleven." After the blood-red light had completely merged into it, Wu Ming glanced at the bracelet and nodded slightly.

Judging from the situation, the man in black robes had probably already dealt with two opponents before attacking him, which would have given him a total of over 300 blood points. This attack brought his total accumulated blood points to 417.

……

The outer perimeter of the Wangyue Mountains.

somewhere.

The golden light curtain that enveloped the entire Wangyue Mountain Range converged into a golden thread, extending all the way here to form a pale golden light net, within which countless densely packed points of light were visible.

Some of these spots of light are pure white, while others are already pale red.

On the far right of the golden light screen, a list of names was presented in the unique script of the Great Jin Dynasty. A careful count revealed a total of one hundred names. These names were constantly floating and changing; some drooped down and disappeared, while others rose from the bottom. Behind each name was a record of specific blood energy points.

First place: Liang Guoqingjun, 1,113 points.

Second place: Da Fan of Lu State, 824 points.

Third place: Wei Kingdom's Mo Xie, 721 points.

……

In front of this golden light screen, the grandmasters from various countries gathered together, all observing the screen. Although the screen could not show the specific scenery inside the Wangyue Mountain Range, it could clearly display the real-time rankings.

Meng Huaizhen was also lurking in a corner, observing the light screen as well. He noticed that among the hundred names on the list on the right side of the light screen, not a single name from Yong Kingdom had appeared.

"It seems that this year's batch from your Yong Kingdom is not very good either, with not a single one breaking into the top 100."

Gui Li stood not far away and suddenly spoke in a low voice.

He looked quite relaxed, because the disciples of the Chi Kingdom this year made him very proud. Currently, two of them are in the top 100, and one of them has even reached the position of thirty-third.

These were all his personal disciples. If they could enter the sacred land of cultivation in the future, it would naturally be of great significance to him. Therefore, while he was in a good mood, he did not forget to casually mock Meng Huaizhen.

"The time has not yet come."

Meng Huaizhen remained calm, showing no sign of urgency.

Although several hours have passed, this battle of geniuses is still in its early stages. So far, only about two hundred people have been eliminated. Luck plays a large part in the current rankings, but as time goes on, their true strength will gradually become apparent.

With Wu Ming's strength, passing the assessment is definitely not difficult. As long as the people in Wangyue Mountain Range accumulate enough blood energy points, he can easily defeat a few people and his blood energy points will immediately skyrocket.

Upon hearing Meng Huaizhen's words, Gui Li merely sneered inwardly.

however,
Just as he was about to say something more, he suddenly noticed that the rankings on the right side of the screen had changed abruptly.

A name emerged from the bottom of the rankings and rose rapidly, eventually surpassing his personal disciple, Zang Mie of the Chi Kingdom, and climbing to the twenty-second position.

Yongguo Wu Ming, 417 points!
Seeing the changes in the light screen, Gui Li's gaze suddenly sharpened, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Meng Huaizhen, standing not far away, remained calm, with only a slight smile on his lips. He was not surprised by Wu Ming's sudden appearance. After all, with Wu Ming's abilities, he could easily defeat a few opponents in the Heavenly Pride Battle and stand out from the crowd.

……

Within the Wangyue Mountains.

A white Dharma image appeared in the forest. This white Dharma image exuded a chilling aura and had a crescent moon mark between its brows. It was one of the Heavenly Gang Dharma images, the 'Radiant Moon Image'.

"go."

Bai Qiulan's eyes were cold and clear. After releasing the Radiant Moon Dharma Image, she pressed forward lightly, and a beam of moonlight fell instantly, accompanied by a chilling aura that suddenly spread out.

Wherever this cold air reaches, patches of the earth are visibly frozen.

In front of Bai Qiulan stood a tiger demon with a blood-red body, its whole body exuding a fierce aura and a pervasive demonic power. The demonic power it was brewing around it was at the peak level among the five-transformation great demons.

"Roar!!"

The Blood Tiger Demon King roared at Bai Qiulan, and a burst of intense bloodthirsty energy suddenly erupted from its mouth, rushing forward and colliding directly with the moonlight that Bai Qiulan had unleashed, causing them to explode instantly.

The moonlight was cold and clear, and the bloodlust was overwhelming. For a moment, they seemed to be locked in a stalemate, neither gaining the upper hand.

As the senior disciple of the Dao Academy, Bai Qiulan had already passed the seventh level of the Hidden Dragon Tower, so she naturally had more than just these tricks up her sleeve. With a series of taps of her hands, two silver-white beams of light shot out, which were actually two slender flying needle magic weapons, directly piercing towards the Blood Tiger Demon King.

The Blood Tiger Demon King roared repeatedly. Although its body was enormous, it was extremely swift and agile. It swung its tiger claws to protect its vital parts and accurately knocked away the two flying needle magic weapons that were coming at it.

"Golden Light that Dispels Illusion!"

Seeing that all her magical forms and artifacts were being blocked by the Blood Tiger Demon King, Bai Qiulan did not hesitate to use her trump card. She opened her eyes, and a pale golden light appeared in her pupils, suddenly bursting out with a beam of golden light.

This is the Eye of Truth she has cultivated. Among all her abilities, this divine power is the strongest. She was able to pass the seventh level of the Hidden Dragon Tower by relying on this eye technique.

hum.

The golden light struck the Blood Tiger Demon King's body. Although it did not cause any actual damage, it was like a flying needle piercing his soul, causing him to pause for a moment.

Although the Blood Tiger Demon King roared and resumed its movements in the next instant, the damage caused in that brief moment was already irreversible. Its two tiger claws were covered by the spreading cold moonlight and instantly frozen. At the same time, two flying needles pierced through its body one after the other!
Although it managed to avoid the vital points with all its might, it still suffered a severe blow.

It roared and immediately tried to escape.

But Bai Qiulan had already gone all out, so she naturally wouldn't let it escape. She immediately gave chase and pursued it relentlessly, riding her Dharma form to catch up. With the help of her two flying needle magic weapons, she finally killed the Blood Tiger Demon King on the spot after a short while.

"call."

After slaying the Blood Tiger Demon King, Bai Qiulan breathed a sigh of relief.

She stepped forward, revealing her wrist bracelet. The bracelet immediately began to absorb the residual blood energy from the Blood Tiger Demon King's corpse, quickly turning a faint red hue.

Bai Qiulan had a clear understanding of herself. With her strength, she had almost no advantage in the Hundred Kingdoms Prodigy Battle. What she needed to do was to hunt down as many monsters as possible, and while trying her best to protect herself, see if she could "pick up the scraps" and deal with some wounded opponents. Finally, she could rely on the accumulation of blood energy points to break into the top 100 and enter the next round of assessment.

"Ok?"

Just as Bai Qiulan was looking at the bracelet on her wrist and pondering, her expression suddenly changed slightly.

In the distance, a faint silver light suddenly pierced through the air, and within that silver light was a small flying sword, only three inches long. As it cut through the sky, it carried an astonishing power.

Without hesitation, Bai Qiulan immediately manipulated two flying needle magic weapons to meet the attack.

Ding!
The flying needle magic weapon collided with the silver flying sword, and was immediately sent flying by the flying sword.

With just this one collision, Bai Qiulan immediately judged that the newcomer's strength was above hers and beyond her reach. Without hesitation, the scattered Radiant Moon Dharma Image instantly condensed again, lifting her body and quickly fleeing into the distance.

"Can you escape?"

A figure clad in black appeared in the distance. His eyes were cold as he indifferently watched the direction Bai Qiulan had fled. As he used his soul to control his flying sword and chase after her, he also had a thought. A beam of silver light spread out, like countless threads, forming a Dharma image that enveloped his entire body. Then, he flew through the air and chased after the direction Bai Qiulan had fled.

He was Zang Mie, a disciple of Gui Li. He recognized Bai Qiulan's identity as a participant from Yong Kingdom. If he hadn't met her, it would have been fine, but since he had, he naturally had to 'take good care' of her in accordance with his master's orders.

(End of this chapter)