Chapter 199: Zuoqiu Hongting
Jiang Ning stood up and walked to the vermilion window. Her figure was supremely beautiful. She softly recited, “Invincible in five moves against all under heaven! The combat power displayed is too strong… Is he that short on money?”
“Who knows? They’d risk their lives for money,” Zhuang Yue said resentfully.
Jiang Ning said, “Why don’t you go fight? Give him a Thousand Year Elixir!”
“I… I’d better not!”
Zhuang Yue knew her straightforward personality meant she couldn’t act well.
“Lend the Thousand Year Elixir to Jiang Wuling, considering it as food for those seven little ones. As for Zuo Qiu Ting, her intentions are too sinister. If she is indeed using Li Weiyi to scheme for the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse’s advantage, then the battle at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival will be her doom.”
Jiang Ning spoke the most murderous words in a heavenly voice.
She knew Zuo Qiu Ting’s background and also knew Li Weiyi’s current situation was extremely dangerous.
The Imperial Court had long decided to crush the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse and eliminate its three major successors once the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival began. Jiang Ning had been indifferent to this matter, but now, she was somewhat looking forward to that day arriving sooner.
She gently waved her slender, jade-like arm, drawing a beautiful arc. The fourth Dragon Soul in her Governor’s Official Robe awakened and flew out.
The dragon roared low and deep.
…
The Zuo Qiu Gatehouse’s Ancestral Realm, Taoli Mountain.
Hidden Lord sat beneath an ancient peach tree by the cliff, a stone table and stools, accompanied by a pot of “Fang Hua” thousand-year-old brew.
The ancient peach tree was as thick as five people could embrace. Its roots were like ancient dragons, deeply embedded in the rocks. The three thousand ancient peach trees here had absorbed the Dao Domain’s Magic Energy for years, transforming into Spirit Wood. They bloomed for ten years, bore fruit for ten years, and ripened for ten years.
Each Spirit Peach was of Precious Medicine grade and could extend one’s lifespan.
It was said that deep within the Ancestral Realm’s Dao Domain space, the Spirit Peaches from the peach tree cultivated from the Peach Pit of Mythology and Legends were each equivalent to a Thousand Year Elixir.
However, the space deep within the Ancestral Realm was not accessible to ordinary people.
During the ten years of flowering, the peach blossoms fell along with the Flying Snow, creating a moving spectacle.
The view from here was expansive, with half of Qiu Prefecture City in sight, and one could even see the touch of azure in Bing Zu Marsh in the distance.
Seated opposite Hidden Lord was Lingxiao Jia Shou Zuo Qiu Ling, who was also the current Family Head of the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse.
“A towering physique, sitting like a divine mountain, lying down like a slumbering dragon, moving like the sun and moon,” this was the common evaluation of the Lingxiao Jia Shou.
Zuo Qiu Ling’s physique was more than twice that of Hidden Lord, but he was not a Deformed Humanoid Race, appearing extremely overbearing and aloof. “Brother-in-law of Cang Li, you were the one who sent out the news, weren’t you? Are you that afraid the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse will snatch him away?”
Hidden Lord and Zuo Qiu Ling had been friends for many years and knew each other’s foundations. Therefore, he did not wear a Metal Mask, revealing a refined and elegant face. He chuckled, “With rumors like ‘son-in-law of the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse’ spreading, you were the one with wolf ambitions first, so how could I sit idly by?”
Zuo Qiu Ting…
To be precise, it was Zuo Qiu Hong Ting.
She stood quietly about three meters away, enveloped by luminous particles, her slender and beautiful form like the moon. She wore a loose Green Daoist Robe, a Wooden Hairpin in her hair, her black tresses like ink. She was as still as a secluded orchid on a cliff peak.
Her Dao integrated the strengths of the Confucian, Daoist, and Diplomatic schools. Her aura was unpredictable, her eyes sometimes profound, sometimes lively.
The identity of “Zuo Qiu Ting” only represented her martial cultivation aspect.
Martial Cultivators in the Lingxiao Life Realm only knew Lightning Law as an immortal art. But she knew that both Dao Law and Confucian Law could lead to immortality, reaching the highest heavens and transcending life and death.
Zuo Qiu Ling said, “Invincible in five moves within the same realm is already terrifying. Ting’er, go tell him to stop while he’s ahead. Don’t hang out that last Cloth Banner! How much money has he actually made?”
“I don’t know, but it must be a colossal amount. I’m not as rich as he is now, and that doesn’t even include the large debts.” Zuo Qiu Hong Ting said.
Zuo Qiu Ling said, “If he keeps earning, he’ll incur the wrath of the masses.”
“He has already incurred the wrath of the masses. Everyone now thinks I earned the money and he’s just my pawn. I only just realized that I’m actually his pawn, being used by him, and even have to take a hit for him.”
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting was quite resentful, feeling she was the one most deeply tricked by Li Weiyi.
Hidden Lord laughed, “We are allies! I heard you’ve also earned quite a bit. If you help him collect the overdue payments, you can split it seventy-thirty. But the Family Head is right, that third Cloth Banner must not be hung out. Tell him, his current record is enough to get an Invitation.”
Hidden Lord was also very helpless. He hadn’t expected him to enter the fray in this manner. By the time he received the news, it was too late to stop him.
Because at that time, the news of “son-in-law of the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse” was spreading like wildfire, and he felt a sense of crisis, fearing that if he pushed Li Weiyi too hard, he would truly defect to the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse.
After Zuo Qiu Hong Ting left, Hidden Lord and Zuo Qiu Ling were discussing when they suddenly heard a loud tiger roar from below the mountain, echoing through Qiu Prefecture City, startling countless exotic beasts in the city into restlessness.
“Excellent! Cang Li has finally completed his cultivation of the Seventh Sea before the year ends, ten days earlier than I predicted. They should be able to withstand the first wave of impact at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival,” Zuo Qiu Ling said with a solemn expression, deeply concerned.
Hidden Lord said, “Ge Xian Tong received the true inheritance of Yu Yaozi. Although he is an eunuch, he possesses a heavenly gifted immortal body. In our youth, neither you nor I would have been his opponent. It will be very difficult for Cang Li to stop him. The key to victory still rests with Hong Ting, that girl.”
“It’s a pity that the young man from your Jiu Li Hidden Sect started cultivating a few years late. Otherwise, today he could have formed a tripartite balance with Ge Xian Tong and Luan Sheng Lin You, which is truly a great regret for the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival,” Zuo Qiu Ling sighed, somewhat helplessly.
Hidden Lord sneered inwardly. If that young man had cultivated for a few more years, Ge Xian Tong and Luan Sheng Lin You would be facing imminent disaster today.
No, I must hold back. I cannot let that Zuo Qiu scoundrel know that the young man is only in the Third Realm of the Five Seas Realm and has been fighting against stronger opponents.
…
……….
By the third day, Li Weiyi had moved the Arena to the seaside of Bing Zu Marsh, ten li from Heaven Pavilion.
Using the shore as a boundary, a sea area was delineated as the combat zone, with countless floating logs.
This was because many Martial Cultivators complained that the arena was too small and too slippery.
At this moment, it was the fifth day of the arena challenges, and the slogan “Unrivaled in the same realm, invincible in five moves against all under heaven” was being shouted loudly.
The seaside was overcrowded. Those martial cultivators who lost money naturally wished they could tear Li Weiyi limb from limb and feast on his flesh. However, the other young martial cultivators admired Li Weiyi to the extreme, believing he truly possessed combat power invincible within the same realm.
Among them, mortal martial cultivators and Deformed Humanoid Race martial cultivators revered him like a deity.
It was Li Weiyi who let them see that invincibility within the same realm was possible even without a Pure Immortal Body, so many young martial cultivators specifically came to listen to his martial discussions and teachings, feeling they gained immense knowledge.
Thus, the reputation of “Young Master Li” became polarized.
Some said he was greedy and insidiously cunning. Others called him the Young Son of Heaven, a master of the Martial Way, one who could weigh all the heroes under heaven.
By the seaside, Qi Wangshu and Zuo Qiu Bai Yuan were busy as bees, registering participants and tallying up all sorts of challenge fees, such as Spring Coins, Thousand Year Elixirs, Blood Crystals, and Magic Tools.
At first, they were very worried, feeling that defeating all enemies within five moves was too risky.
However, after Li Weiyi won ten consecutive matches, they cast all their worries aside and focused on tallying.
In just one hour, the value of the various challenge fees received had exceeded one million Spring Coins, filling five large boxes.
Qi Xiao was very uneasy and kept patrolling back and forth, as he had a stake in this and it couldn’t be lost.
As the Spring Coins earned increased and the prize pool grew larger, Zuo Qiu Lan Cheng, the Second Successor of the Zuo Qiu Gatehouse, was invited to station here.
Sea surface.
“Boom!”
Li Weiyi unleashed what everyone believed to be his unique ultimate skill, “Ci Hang Kai Guang.” He swung out a finger, creating a long gash on the water surface and striking Lu Wensheng, who was challenging him for the fourth time, causing him to spit blood and fall into the sea.
“Ten! Nine! Eight…”
After ten counts, Lu Wensheng failed to surface.
Li Weiyi released his Magic Energy and personally fished him out, carrying him back to the seaside.
Instantly, an earth-shattering cheer erupted. Countless young mortal female cultivators on the scene shouted his name, their clamor comparable to that of inheritors making an appearance.
Li Weiyi handed the severely injured Lu Wensheng over to a Lei Xiao Sect Disciple, gestured to the onlookers on the shore, and apologized, saying, “The arena is large, so I can’t hold back. I can only defeat them completely. Lu Wensheng was too strong, and I could only go all out; I couldn’t hold back my power.”
“Old Qi, record a sum for medical expenses for the Lei Xiao Sect Disciple.”
“Young Master Li, spare us your pretense. From today onwards, the Lei Xiao Sect and you are mortal enemies.” The Lei Xiao Sect disciples glared at him fiercely, refused any medical fees, and quickly departed carrying Lu Wensheng.
Li Weiyi watched their retreating backs and sighed, “Of all the challengers, Lu Wensheng was the wealthiest, his fortune comparable to a nation’s. The Lei Xiao Sect’s Foundation is incomparable to any other gatehouse or sect. It’s a pity the quality of their disciples is so poor.”
“Next!”
Striding on the waves, Li Weiyi leaped back into the central water area where the arena was located, standing on a three-zhang-long circular floating log.
“From the Zhu Men of the Western Territory, Zhu Yu Zhao, I have come again to learn from Young Master Li’s Ci Hang Kai Guang Finger.”
Zhu Yu Zhao was a Pure Immortal Body, extremely dashing and elegant, clad in a brocade robe, holding a three-foot jade sword, a smile on his face, treading on the waves several zhang at a time as he approached.
Li Weiyi’s senses were extremely sharp, and in the other person’s pupils, he detected a dangerous aura.
He had fought Zhu Yu Zhao once before and remembered him as very strong, but he would never have given him such a sense of danger.
Under this human skin, was it still Zhu Yu Zhao?
Li Weiyi became vigilant and shifted his body to the right.
Zhu Yu Zhao’s footsteps also shifted, always using his Battle Intent to seal off all routes for Li Weiyi to escape back to the shore. He chuckled, “Young Master Li’s Martial Arts Attainment is beyond that of ordinary people like myself. I have a question, and I wonder if you could help me answer it?”
Li Weiyi was about to make a move to circle to the right and escape to the shore before the other person got closer.
Just then, Zhu Yu Zhao stopped first.
It was predictable that if Li Weiyi were to flee or cry out loudly at this moment, it would instantly draw a stormy assault from Zhu Yu Zhao.
If it were Cang Jin or Qi Jin inside Zhu Yu Zhao, with Li Weiyi’s current distance of fifty zhang from Zuo Qiu Lan Cheng on the shore.
By the time Zuo Qiu Lan Cheng arrived, he would certainly be dead.
The situation he least wanted to see had finally occurred.
Li Weiyi remained calm and composed. Since the other party wanted to chat, they would chat. He said, “Young Master Zhu has traveled from the Western Territory; he is an honored guest of the Southern Territory. If you have any doubts, I will surely tell you everything without reservation.”
Zhu Yu Zhao said, “You, in your mortal body, have defeated all opponents within the same realm in five moves; I am deeply impressed. But I observe that the Might your Ci Hang Kai Guang unleashes is absolutely not something a martial cultivator in the Fourth Realm of the Five Seas Realm could display. I wonder, what is the secret to it?”
“In other words, how can one unleash the strongest Power of martial arts moves?”
