Chapter 560 - 73: Spirit Ruins Magic Competition

The Demon Tide lasted for several days. Even Fang Cheng lost track of how many Low-Tier Celestial Demons he had slain.

He did, however, slay nine Tier Five Celestial Demons. The intensity of his killing intent instilled a sense of fear and awe in the other School Principals.

One of the Celestial Demons was comparable to a Three-Tribulation Great Power. With the assistance of Du Ruo and the female School Principal named Shuang Ling, Fang Cheng trapped it within the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array. In less than half an incense stick’s time, he extinguished its life force.

After this demon fell, the Demon Tide gradually dispersed, and the numerous Celestial Demons vanished into the vast, boundless, dark void.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, this is School Principal Shuang Ling. Since you both will be attending the Spirit Ruins Magic Competition soon, you might as well get to know each other."

Du Ruo said with a smile, leaving Fang Cheng and Shuang Ling together.

This battle against the Demon Tide had given them all a rough understanding of each other’s strength.

Among the seven School Principals present, Du Ruo could unleash the power of a one or even Two-Tribulation cultivator thanks to her Profound Celestial Battle Armor.

The other four School Principals, to varying degrees, could also unleash a single strike comparable to a Tribulation Realm Great Power by relying on Divine Secret Skills or Magical Artifact Talismans.

Only Fang Cheng and Shuang Ling’s strength was unfathomable, far surpassing the other School Principals present.

Shuang Ling, in particular, was astonishing. With just a single talisman, she had summoned a sky full of Water True Light to block the Celestial Demon comparable to a Three-Tribulation Great Power. The profoundness of her Divine Technique left even Fang Cheng breathless with admiration.

The Divine Technique Shuang Ling displayed, while perhaps not equal to his Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram, wasn’t far off.

Moreover, he could clearly tell that this was not the full extent of her true strength; she was holding back and concealing some of her power.

Du Ruo and the others returned to the high tower. The other School Principals made their excuses and left one by one, leaving Du Ruo, Fang Cheng, and Shuang Ling to chat and discuss the Dao.

It was only then that Fang Cheng learned Shuang Ling was the disciple of the academy’s Ji Jiu. She had cultivated at the academy since childhood and was destined to take over the position of Ji Jiu in the future.

Her talent and aptitude were second to none among all the Dharma Realm cultivators Fang Cheng had ever met.

Although she wasn’t as alluringly beautiful as some other female cultivators, she possessed a grandmaster’s air that was as refreshing as a spring breeze.

Fang Cheng was almost certain that in a flourishing cultivation world like Qianyu Heaven, she had a high chance of breaking through the ninth level of the Tribulation Realm and ascending to the Spiritual Sky Realm.

「Meanwhile.」

Shuang Ling, for her part, was secretly astonished by Fang Cheng. His comprehension of the Dao directly pointed to its source, and many of his high-level insights were things that even Tribulation Realm Great Powers had never taught her.

She herself had gained quite a bit from their discussion of the Dao.

’The cultivators of Qianyu Heaven have always looked down on Outer World Cultivators. Now it seems that’s not the case at all... I absolutely must not be arrogant.’

Shuang Ling reflected inwardly.

Fang Cheng was usually an Ascetic Cultivator and rarely interacted with the cultivators of this world. Now that he had the chance, he took the opportunity to learn about the Dongyang Immortal Alliance and the one hundred and eight academies.

Compared to other World Heavens, the worlds under the Dongyang Immortal Alliance were rich in resources and had complete legacies, producing far more Spirit Immortals than the outside.

Not only did this world have complete Spirit Immortal legacies, but even the cultivation insights left behind by Spirit Immortals circulated within many of the academies.

The three greatest academies even had Spirit Immortal Incarnations presiding over them and teaching the Dao. Regardless of one’s background, as long as one had the talent for cultivation, one could ascend to the heavens in a single step and have a chance to seek the peak of the Dao.

This was the very reason the Dongyang Immortal Alliance was so powerful.

Many sects and families in Qianyu Heaven specialized in exploring other World Heavens, colonizing them, and bringing vast quantities of Heaven and Earth Treasures back to Qianyu Heaven to enrich the cultivators of this world.

...

After returning to his estate, Fang Cheng quickly entered cultivation once more.

He gradually reduced the number of times he went to the Spirit Ruins to challenge the Demon Lord, spending more time improving his Magical Power and physical body. Shuang Ling would also occasionally visit to discuss the Dao and exchange ideas.

Over time, the two became well-acquainted.

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, he had been in this world for over thirteen years.

The Spirit Ruins Magic Competition began as scheduled.

This grand event was jointly hosted by the ten great academies. Anyone in all of Qianyu Heaven who possessed a Spirit Ruins Talisman could participate.

In reality, however, very few cultivators below the Life Soul Realm participated.

Most participants were at or above the Life Soul Realm, with Dharma Realm cultivators being the majority.

Not all cultivators came for the title of World’s First True Monarch. More of them wanted to earn a ranking on the Ascension to Immortality List in exchange for greater resource allocation from their respective factions.

From Chongxuan Academy, a total of thirty-four people, including Fang Cheng, participated in the competition.

Among them, nine were Dharma Realm cultivators, all of whom were School Principals.

The remaining twenty-five were students.

「Spirit Ruins Treasure Realm.」

The moment Fang Cheng appeared in his exclusive Celestial Palace, a profound thought descended upon him—

[The Spirit Ruins Magic Competition has begun. Do you wish to proceed to the Four Symbols Sacred Platform?]

With a flicker of his thoughts, Fang Cheng agreed.

A ball of golden light materialized in the void. It grew from small to large, transforming in an instant into a golden ring several yards in diameter.

The inside of the ring swirled with clouds and mist, giving it a mysterious air.

Fang Cheng stepped onto a beam of Profound Light and leisurely passed through the ring. The scene before him opened up dramatically.

The first thing to enter his sight was an immense, bluish-gold stone platform. It was perfectly square, a thousand zhang across, and floated silently in the sky above a boundless, churning sea of clouds.

A thousand zhang above the platform, a magnificent, empty list blazed with golden light. The light swirled and condensed upon it, resembling a great sun hanging in the sky.

’So this is the Four Symbols Sacred Platform used for the competition?’

Fang Cheng recognized the origin of the bluish-gold stone platform at a glance.

Legend had it that this treasure was passed down from the Upper Realm. It was a Sixth-rank Magical Artifact, and the original item also existed in the current world.

The version manifested by the Spirit Ruins Treasure Realm was only at the Tier Five Top-Grade Level.

Even so, it was more than enough for the Spirit Ruins Magic Competition.

This treasure could evaluate a cultivator’s strength and potential based on their performance on the platform, which would then be displayed on the Ascension to Immortality List.

Surrounding the Four Symbols Sacred Platform were one hundred and eight Floating Mountains in the void, each with a different atmosphere. These were the designated areas for each of the great academies.

And between these Floating Mountains were countless Immortal Towers, Flying Boats, palaces, and simple huts... they practically filled the entire void.

These belonged to the major families and sects of Qianyu Heaven, as well as some Loose Cultivators.

Fang Cheng located the Floating Mountain belonging to Chongxuan Academy and gracefully descended, retracting his Escape Light.

There were already many students on the mountain spectating. A rough glance revealed at least ten thousand of them.

There was little point for those with low Cultivation to come and watch, so most of these students were at the Life Talisman or even Life Soul Realm.

Fang Cheng’s arrival immediately drew the attention of the many members of the Golden Jade Association, who all grew excited.

If the Jade Furnace Golden Cauldron could earn a spot on the Ascension to Immortality List, it would be a monumental victory for cultivators like them who were passionate about the path of Dual Cultivation.

It would be tantamount to declaring to the world that the path of Dual Cultivation could also lead to the other shore of the Great Dao!

At that moment, Fang Cheng was walking to the summit of the Floating Mountain to pay his respects to the academy’s Ji Jiu.

In the dozen or so years he’d been at Chongxuan Academy, this was the first time he had formally met the esteemed Ji Jiu.

The Ji Jiu was a refined, elderly man dressed in white robes, his gaze as sharp as a torch.

He was sitting in a palace at the summit with over twenty other School Principals, chatting and laughing as they waited for the competition to begin.

Shuang Ling, Du Ruo, and the others were, of course, among them.

Several other School Principals he knew also greeted Fang Cheng.

After taking his seat, Fang Cheng listened to the others idly chat about the Dharma Masters in the various academies and waited in silence.

For him, in this competition, only by taking the top spot could he go to the three greatest academies and seek guidance from a Spirit Immortal Incarnation.

There was no other choice.

Even the Ji Jiu, Du Ruo, and Shuang Ling, who had a vague understanding of his strength, wouldn’t entertain a hypothesis like, "What if Fang Xuezhen wins..."

Since the inception of the Spirit Ruins Magic Competition in this world, there had never been a precedent of an Outer World Cultivator winning the title of "World’s First True Monarch."

In their eyes, no matter how powerful an Outer World Cultivator was, they couldn’t possibly be stronger than the prodigies from the thirty-six great Spirit Immortal Academies.

Let alone the Immortal Seeds from the top ten academies who came to participate in the competition?

As for the other School Principals, most of them had come with the mindset of just watching a good show.

A short while later, a bell chimed from high in the sky. The Magic Competition had officially begun!

The Four Symbols Sacred Platform, suspended high above the sea of clouds, suddenly split into over a hundred identical platforms, neatly arranged in the air as if a chessboard had been perfectly sliced apart.

Each platform was the same size as the original.

Suddenly, a streak of cyan light shot out from Fang Cheng’s body and flew straight toward one of the platforms.

The same thing happened to the other School Principals participating in the competition.

The nine of them stood up, walked out of the grand hall, and followed the guidance of the cyan light to their respective platforms.

Just then, an Escape Light flew in from the opposite direction, revealing a cold and beautiful female cultivator with flowing robes.

This female cultivator only had a Late Stage Life Soul Cultivation, but the Evil Qi around her was dense. She was clearly an expert in combat who had slain countless living beings.

The woman landed on the platform and called out, "Jiang Zhiruo of Taiqing Academy. I ask for your guidance, senior."

With that, she waved her hand and summoned an incomparably fast and sharp streak of sword light, which instantly slashed toward Fang Cheng.

Fang Cheng’s brow twitched slightly. This Taiqing Academy was one of the three top academies in this world. It had a Spirit Immortal Incarnation presiding over it, and the academy had more than ten Tribulation Realm School Principals alone!

’No wonder this woman dared to participate in the Magic Competition!’

Although she was only in the Life Soul Realm, her sword strike was profoundly mysterious and incomparably sharp, its Sword Intent suppressing the heavens. An ordinary Dharma Realm cultivator would be no match for her at all.

In any other World Heaven, she could most likely execute Reversing Dharma Aspect on any cultivator below the Mid-Dharma Stage at will.

"A fine Sword Technique."

Fang Cheng smiled faintly. With a flick of his finger, he shattered the profound sword light as it reached him.

The next moment, he threw a punch. A surge of Dark Gold Fist Aura flooded the platform, instantly engulfing her graceful, slender body.

In the span of a finger-snap, before the female cultivator could even react, her body was utterly crushed and annihilated by an irresistible, immense force.

「A moment later.」

Jiang Zhiruo’s figure reappeared on the Floating Mountain of Taiqing Academy.

She stared in horror at the Four Symbols Sacred Platform where she had just been. That incomparably ferocious punch lingered in her mind like a raging sea.

It was an indescribable feeling.

...

What that man had given her was not simply a violent slaughter, but a paradigm-shattering, unprecedented display and a baptism of sorts.

This baptism gave her a new understanding of the disparity between cultivation realms.

...