Chapter 563 - 76: True Spirit Incarnation

Fang Cheng’s expression was calm as he averted his gaze.

Xiao Yunyi chuckled softly. He gave Fang Cheng a few looks filled with great interest before leaving the Four Symbols Sacred Platform.

High in the sky, on the Ascension to Immortality List, the name ’Xiao Yunyi’ at the very top remained unmoved.

In the duels that followed, the true skills of every contestant were on full display. Even the Tribulation Realm Great Powers in the audience focused their attention, unwilling to miss a single detail.

Fang Cheng didn’t know the true strength of this world’s Tribulation Realm Great Powers, but he imagined they were far more formidable than the Tribulation Realm experts of the Red Profound Realm.

’I wonder what level of Tribulation Realm Great Power in this world a Demon Lord’s incarnation is equivalent to?’

He wondered to himself.

Soon, it was his turn to fight again.

As he flew out from the mountain where Chongxuan Academy was situated, a figure also flew out from a distant Immortal Tower wreathed in divine light. It was a middle-aged man.

The two sized each other up before they even stepped onto the platform.

’So it’s him.’

Fang Cheng instantly recognized his opponent. The man was handsome and imposing, with a strong, straight nose, lips pressed into a thin line, a straight back, and broad shoulders, carrying the air of an immortal.

This person was ranked tenth on the Ascension to Immortality List. He was from the Demon Suppression Sect, and his name was Meng Changqing.

During Meng Changqing’s previous duels, the many School Principals of Chongxuan Academy had already shared information about him.

Meng Changqing had originally been a disciple of the True Spirit Academy, one of the ten great academies. He had kept a low profile during his time in the Life Soul Realm. After leaving the academy, he joined the Demon Suppression Sect and followed the Tribulation Realm masters within the sect to traverse the void, training in the Outer Void and managing the sect’s affairs.

For the past hundred years, he had rarely returned to Qianyu Heaven.

But every time he did, he would spar with masters in the Spirit Ruins Treasure Realm. To date, his most glorious battle was defeating the master who had ranked sixth on the Ascension to Immortality List in the previous Spirit Ruins Magic Competition.

Therefore, he was also considered a potential master who could contend with Xiao Yunyi for the title of "Number One Dharma True Monarch in the World."

Judging from his previous few duels, the man cultivated the True Spirit Academy’s *Ancestral Beast Scripture*, which was also a legacy from the Upper Realm.

Moreover, Meng Changqing had likely succeeded in refining a drop of Tier Six True Spirit Essence Blood. His Body Refining was complete, and his strength was so formidable that it could rival that of an ordinary Tribulation Realm Body Refining Cultivator.

The two were wary of each other. After a brief standoff, they suddenly attacked.

Fang Cheng threw a punch. With a sound of wind and thunder, a Dark Gold Fist Aura, carrying an immense power that could shatter mountains and split seas, smashed forward.

A divine light erupted from Meng Changqing’s eyes. A roar that sounded like a dragon’s cry and a fierce howl suddenly echoed from behind him.

A golden shadow shot out from behind him. Amidst a great burst of light, it transformed into the phantom of a giant beast over a hundred feet long.

It shimmered with brilliant golden light, its entire body covered in scales—it was a golden Qilin beast. Although it was only a phantom, it raised its head and let out a majestic roar. An astonishing aura, far surpassing that of an early-stage Tribulation Realm cultivator, surged into the sky.

Fang Cheng felt as if he were being stared down by an ancient True Spirit divine beast. An immense Spiritual Pressure washed over him, overwhelming him and making him feel there was no escape.

Meng Changqing also threw a punch. It was like the giant fist of an ancient Demon God, tearing through the air to meet its target!

In an instant, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi for hundreds of li around was imperiously drained and gathered into the aura of this punch!

The tip of the fist radiated an astonishingly high temperature, causing the void around the Four Symbols Sacred Platform to appear as if it were melting and boiling.

BOOM!

A world-shaking explosion erupted.

Dark gold light and golden flames intertwined, erupting violently upward as if a giant pillar holding up the sky had risen from the Four Symbols Sacred Platform.

The violent shockwave kicked up monstrous waves and fierce winds that spread out in all directions.

Fang Cheng’s body trembled slightly. Shimmering with dark gold light, he retreated several dozen feet.

The Qilin phantom behind Meng Changqing began to dissipate, but it re-formed almost immediately.

’What an incredible Jade Furnace Golden Cauldron!’

He shouted aloud, knowing that in terms of pure physical Body Refining, the two of them were evenly matched, and it would be difficult to determine a winner.

Thus, he held back no longer. From within the golden light behind him, three more figures suddenly flew out.

These three figures bore some resemblance to him, but one was an old man, one was a young man, and one was a child.

The auras of the three were in no way inferior to Meng Changqing’s.

On the mountain where Taiqing Academy resided, Xiao Yunyi chuckled and said, "Impressive, Meng Changqing. To think he has cultivated True Spirit Incarnations!"

His words seemed to carry a hint of wariness and admiration.

As for the others at the top of the Ascension to Immortality List—such as Murong Qing from the Nine Heavens Academy, Li Xinghe from the Celestial Secret Academy, Lu Qingyang from the Moon Python Lu Family, and Su Su from the Beiming Academy—their expressions all turned grave as they stared intently at the Four Symbols Sacred Platform.

They knew that one of the two people on the platform would become their opponent in the next round.

Meng Changqing had hidden his strength before. It seemed he was truly aiming for the top three!

On the Four Symbols Sacred Platform, the pressure on Fang Cheng suddenly intensified.

Behind each of Meng Changqing’s three incarnations was a True Spirit phantom.

Behind the old man’s incarnation was a one-horned Sun-Devouring Giant Ape.

Behind the young man’s incarnation was a Fire Phoenix bathed in flames.

Behind the child’s incarnation was a three-legged Golden Crow.

’Where did he get so many Tier Six True Spirits...’

Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered, and he let out a soft sigh.

Simply finding the essence blood of one kind of Tier Six True Spirit was a stroke of heaven-defying luck. Yet this person before him had actually found four different kinds, and all of them were fire-attribute True Spirits.

Qianyu Heaven was truly unfathomable.

Meng Changqing then shouted, "Fellow Daoist Fang, I know your strength doesn’t end here. I was originally saving this move for Xiao Yunyi, but since fate has brought us together today, I must ask for your guidance!"

With that, he and his three incarnations soared into the air, chanting an incantation:

"Born before Heaven and Earth, an image without form, deep and obscure, it receives the formless, vast yet not overflowing, dark yet able to illuminate..."

As he chanted, the four True Spirit phantoms behind them flew high into the air, circling and dancing.

An intense fluctuation of Spiritual Qi suddenly appeared.

A ball of pure light quietly materialized between the four True Spirit phantoms. It spun at extreme speed, transforming into a majestic Dharma Aspect in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, from the unseen world, a tyrannical and lofty Power of Heaven and Earth descended and merged into the Dharma Aspect.

When the Dharma Aspect first took shape, it was as small as a grain of rice. But in less than an instant, seven-colored light filled the air, and the Dharma Aspect suddenly swelled, growing to a height of a thousand feet.

In that moment, everyone watching felt as though the ancestor of all divine beasts from the primordial wilderness had appeared. The roar of ten thousand beasts, like a landslide and a tsunami, pierced the heavens with an irresistible, supreme might.

The Dharma Aspect gradually grew brighter and clearer!

It was a Golden Armor War God Dharma Aspect. It wore a Purple-Red Battle Robe, was clad in War Lion Armor, had a Lion-Man Treasure Belt at its waist, and stood upon black clouds. Its facial features were obscured behind the light, making them difficult to see, but its eyes alone seemed to contain the true forms of mountains and rivers, and the subtle transformations of yin and yang.

The Qilin, Sun-Devouring Giant Ape, Fire Phoenix, and Golden Crow circled around the Dharma Aspect. From the unseen world, four streams of Majestic Power of Heaven and Earth empowered it, causing its aura to climb higher and higher!

The Golden Armor Dharma Aspect pressed a palm down toward Fang Cheng.

Firelight erupted from the center of the Dharma Aspect’s giant palm. A dense Fire Cloud spread out, transforming into a crimson ocean that enveloped half the sky, as if intending to refine the entire world.

RUMBLE!

A clap of thunder echoed through the void as a thousand-foot-tall Profound Gold Giant appeared out of thin air on the Four Symbols Sacred Platform.

The "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation" was wreathed in Thunder Light. From the twenty-eight snowflake-shaped flame vents on its back, it suddenly shot out dense, astonishing flames. The vast fluctuations of its aura caused the void to tremble violently.

Twenty-six Sword Auras circled the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation." Their treasured light flowed dazzlingly as they instantly formed a Sword Array.

The moment this array appeared, a brutal aura of slaughter filled the world.

After the Demon Tide, Fang Cheng had hunted nine Tier Five Celestial Demons in the Outer Void and used them to trade for several more Tier Five Flying Swords, further enhancing the power of his Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array.

From a distance, two colossal figures faced off on the Four Symbols Sacred Platform. The Golden Armor Dharma Aspect stood high in the heavens, pressing down with one palm, its Fire Cloud blanketing the sky.

Beneath the Fire Cloud, the Profound Gold Giant stood proudly. Endless sword light surged upward, blooming with a brilliant radiance, as if intending to pierce straight through.

The Fire Cloud buzzed loudly and began to roil even more violently. The moment the sword lights touched the cloud, they immediately let out a strange sizzling sound. The mighty hum of the swords resounded, yet they were locked in a stalemate.

The sword lights were pinned down beneath the Fire Cloud, completely unable to break through even an inch.

Of course, the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect’s giant palm was also unable to press down any further.

One must know that Fang Cheng had already ignited five Thunder Pools in his Feather Divine Soldiers, making them comparable to a Tribulation Realm Great Power who had passed the Fifth Celestial Tribulation.

This was also the absolute limit of what Fang Cheng’s current Magical Power and soul could control.

Coupled with the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array, which possessed an extremely strong Power of Slaughter, the might unleashed at this moment made even the many spectating Tribulation Realm Great Powers feel a deep sense of dread.

That Meng Changqing could block this Sword Array was a testament to the profoundness of his Divine Techniques, which was equally breathtaking.

The various Dharma Masters on the Ascension to Immortality List secretly calculated whether they could withstand an attack from either of these two if they were in their place.

Vast thunder surged around the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation" as it tapped its fingers in the void several times with one hand.

After an invisible ripple passed through space, the speed at which the sword light flowed within the array suddenly increased by more than tenfold. The twenty-six Sword Auras continuously divided, multiplying into millions of sword lights in just a few breaths, surging upward once more like a tidal wave.

Beast roars echoed unceasingly around the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect. Countless profound runes appeared within the Fire Cloud. Faced with the surge of sword light, it remained as steady as a mountain, blocking it firmly.

The runes in the firelight and the sword lights continuously annihilated each other, yet both sides regenerated at an astonishing speed, as if they were endless.

Suddenly.

The Golden Armor Dharma Aspect’s other hand quietly formed a seal and suddenly struck down toward the Feather Divine Soldiers, "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation."

Fang Cheng was already prepared. He sat cross-legged at the center of the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation’s" brow, his hands forming a seal.

From within the thunder behind the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation," a thousand-foot-wide Yin Yang Vortex appeared. A massive Cyan Lotus grew out from its center.

The Cyan Lotus blossomed, and from its pistil, an axe light capable of Heaven and Earth Creation burst forth.

It was the first form of the Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram: Primordial Light Division!

The axe light clashed with the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect’s left hand. With a flash, the left hand shattered and was annihilated. The giant axe chopped into its left arm and then exploded.

After a continuous series of rumbles, the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect’s left arm vanished into thin air.

From the chest of the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation," a dense, dark red fog suddenly billowed out, spreading toward the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect’s severed left arm.

Taishi Demon Qi!

The dark red Demon Fog surged across the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect like a raging river, spreading rapidly. Wherever it passed, it left scarlet stains on the brilliantly golden Dharma Aspect.

A massive amount of Taishi Demon Qi evaporated from these stains, turning into a thick fog that spread out, continuously corrupting and devouring the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect. A terrifying demonic intent brewed within it.

As one waned and the other waxed, the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect could no longer maintain its right hand. The sky-spanning Fire Cloud was instantly shredded by the Great Inference Celestial Net Sword Array.

Endless sword light surged upward, flooding the sky and engulfing the entire Golden Armor Dharma Aspect. A murderous intent filled the air. In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the Golden Armor Dharma Aspect was completely obliterated.

Meng Changqing used a Divine Technique to stumble out of the Sword Array in a sorry state. His three True Spirit Incarnations had all perished. With a look of regret, he said, "I admit defeat."

If this battle had taken place in the real world, even if he had escaped with his life, his losses would have been extremely heavy. It would have been a fatal blow to his cultivation path.

Fortunately, within the Spirit Ruins, there was no need to worry about such things.

The Four Symbols Sacred Platform returned to calm. Fang Cheng unhurriedly returned to the mountain of Chongxuan Academy.

The surroundings fell silent as all sorts of thoughts and speculations bubbled up in people’s minds.

’Is this his true strength...?’

’So he also possesses a Spirit Immortal’s legacy.’

’That’s right. Without a Spirit Immortal’s legacy, how could he have gotten this far?’

’I wonder what this person’s true origins are?’

...