Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

"What this fellow Daoist says is quite right. There is no deep-seated hatred between us, so why fight to the death?" A mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator dressed in a yellow Daoist robe stepped forward and said.

"That's right, exactly. Cultivation is not easy, and the path to immortality is already fraught with difficulties. There's no need for us to fight to the death here!"

"Set up the arena, draw lots to determine the winners, each relying on their own abilities. The winner stays, the loser moves to the next level and cannot linger, nor can anyone else stop them."

The great cultivators quickly reached a conclusion by exchanging their opinions.

The crowd dispersed, and a powerful cultivator took out a piece of spirit wood from his storage bag and used his magic to carve it into a wooden stick, leaving red and black marks on it.

Of the ten high-ranking cultivators, five drew red and five drew black.

The one who draws red will compete against the one who draws black to determine the winner.

Jiang Shi drew the black number three and revealed the wooden slip.

A mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator dressed in black, with a fierce glint in his eyes, strode over.

He was holding the Red Three in his hand, facing Jiang Shi, the opponent Jiang Shi had drawn.

"I am Xu Jun, please enlighten me, fellow Daoist." Xu Jun exuded a murderous aura, and it was clear that he had taken many lives on his hands.

"Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist." Jiang Shi returned the greeting, and a crimson broadsword appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The heat immediately spread through the air.

Upon seeing this, Xu Jun's pupils contracted; he knew that the person in front of him was no weakling.

He was also skilled in fire magic, and before his opponent even made a move, Xu Jun could sense the subtle interplay of wood and fire within him.

However, he was also very confident in his own strength. Although his opponent had a high-grade magic weapon, he would not lose.

Xu Jun flipped his hands, and a set of eighteen fire-patterned silver rings appeared out of thin air, hovering in front of him and rhythmically rotating around him.

Each of these eighteen fire-patterned silver rings is a mid-grade magic artifact.

Don't underestimate these mid-grade magic artifacts. These eighteen artifacts form a set. The eighteen mid-grade magic artifacts are stacked together and interlocked, making them several times more powerful than high-grade magic artifacts.

If there is an opportunity in the future to upgrade these eighteen mid-grade magic artifacts, the Fire Pattern Silver Rings, into high-grade magic artifacts, then perhaps we can have a run with the geniuses of those major sects.

These eighteen mid-grade magic artifacts, the Fire Pattern Silver Rings, are the reason for his confidence.

"Fellow Daoist, please!"

"please!"

The battle between the two sides was about to break out. Jiang Shi made the first move, and a drop of magical liquid in his body exploded, instantly transforming the wood-type magic into fire-type magic.

The Crimson Sky, a superior-grade magic weapon in his hand, had crimson spiritual patterns illuminating its blade, with flames flowing like lava.

Jiang Shi used the [Wood Generates Fire] technique to activate Chi Xiao. He raised his hand and slashed at Xu Jun with a crimson blade, unleashing a rainbow-like trajectory.

This strike carried a burning intent that could consume everything. Xu Jun's expression changed, and he hurriedly manipulated eighteen fire-patterned silver rings to form a defensive formation in front of him.

Jiang Shi's slash struck the formation, breaking through the layers one by one. However, there were a total of eighteen fire-patterned silver rings, which meant there were eighteen layers of formation.

With each layer that Jiang Shi broke through, the crimson blade energy decreased, until it was completely destroyed by the sixth layer after the fifth layer.

Seeing this, Xu Jun smiled with satisfaction. With these eighteen fire-patterned silver rings, even if he couldn't defeat his opponent, he could still remain invincible.

Seeing this, Jiang Shi did not hesitate. His superior-grade magic weapon, Crimson Sky, shone brightly again, and he swung it repeatedly. Eight crimson blade beams rushed towards Xu Jun.

If a single crimson blade aura can break five formations, then theoretically, these eight crimson blade auras would be enough to break all of Xu Jun's formations.

As the eight crimson blades approached, Xu Jun was prepared. He calmly threw out five mid-grade spirit stones and made a hand seal. Under Xu Jun's control, the eighteen fire-patterned silver rings absorbed the five mid-grade spirit stones and began to change.

It began to spin and intertwine in a mysterious trajectory.

They drew out streaks of scorching, bright golden fire between each other.

Eventually, a fire net about ten zhang in diameter was formed. Eight crimson blades slashed into it, but only severed a few bright golden fire lines before disappearing.

Under Xu Jun's control, several more bright golden fire lines were generated and filled in.

The huge net of fire blocked Xu Jun's way, protecting him.

It seems that Jiang Shi will not be able to defeat Xu Jun if he only relies on the top-grade magic weapon, Chixiao.

This powerful cultivator who dared to stay and compete for the Blood Moon Demon Seal is indeed quite capable.

With this formation, even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would definitely not be able to defeat him.

Just as Jiang Shi was pondering how to deal with the enemy, Xu Jun on the other side made his move.

With a flick of his finger, a silver ring with fire patterns lit up, and a golden flame shot out from the huge fire net, rushing towards Jiang Shi at an extremely fast speed.

Jiang Shi lightly touched the ground with his foot, and a lotus flower rose up, supporting his ankle. He used the force to move away and dodge the attack.

"This kind of footwork must be a level-one footwork technique. It seems that this person's strength should not be underestimated," Xu Jun thought to himself.

"However, my formation can be activated with a mid-grade spirit stone, while he has to rely on his own magic power. Under these circumstances, I can wear him down."

Xu Jun, with his rich combat experience, quickly devised a strategy.

The two sides exchanged blows, locked in a fierce battle, with crimson blade energy and golden flames erupting frequently.

However, both sides had their own methods, and for a time neither could do anything about the other, resulting in a stalemate.

Two hours passed.

Xu Jun realized something was wrong. The opponent was using magic and mana so frequently, yet his mana was still so abundant and showed no signs of decreasing.

"Could it be that the other party has the aptitude of five spiritual roots, or has cultivated a special technique, or has a special physique?" Xu Jun thought to himself, but in any case, it was not good news.

He wanted to stall until the opponent's magic power was exhausted, but it seems that won't work. He has to find another way.

After all, Xu Jun used five mid-grade spirit stones as the cost of the formation.

We can hold on for another hour.

If he still can't defeat his opponent after an hour, he will have to invest five more spirit stones to continue using the formation.

Thinking of this, Xu Jun made a decisive move and decided to unleash his ultimate move, gathering the remaining magic power in the formation.

After this move, regardless of the outcome, he ceased fighting.

"Fellow Daoist, take my final move. If you can withstand it, I will immediately admit defeat," Xu Jun shouted.

Then he gathered his magic power and lightly tapped in the air, sending array patterns into the eighteen fire-patterned silver rings.

The eighteen silver rings with fire patterns spread out and merged with the giant net of flames, forming a fiery star disk.

The fiery star disk flew towards Jiang Shi, each fiery silver ring like a shooting star, and no matter how Jiang Shi dodged, he would be covered by several.

But if he were to take the hit head-on, Jiang Shi had a premonition that he would be blown to death on the spot by the fiery star disk, leaving no trace of his body.

The star chart composed of these eighteen fire-patterned silver rings is interconnected.