Chapter 80

Chapter 80: The Ren Yang Poison Spider Shows Its Threat

As the Fortune-Seizing Battle began, the lofty platform fractured into a hundred phantoms circling its center. One by one, they solidified into lotus seats for the disciples to wait upon.

The hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators drifted up and took their places. The lotus seats were one of Zhi Yue Sect’s treasures, able to restore a cultivator’s strength—an invaluable convenience in a string of consecutive matches.

Only after everyone was seated did the judging disciples announce the rules.

Because rankings were at stake, challenges were allowed—but only upward, and only by tiers. Each bracket contained twenty spots: the lower ten could challenge the ten directly above them. Once the bracket’s top ten were settled, they could challenge the next tier up, repeating until only the top ten remained.

Du Fan Zhi, for instance, started at rank 48. He would accept challenges from ranks 51 through 60. If he held his place among the top fifty, then in the next round he could challenge into the ranks above—31 through 40—climbing tier by tier with no upper limit.

Those near the bottom had to fight again and again if they wanted to rise. Those ranked higher could sit on their lotus seats and watch until their turn arrived. At first glance, the rules seemed harsh on weaker cultivators, but the elders of the great sects had sharp eyes. Their assessments rarely missed the mark, and it was almost unheard of for someone to claw up from the very bottom and overturn everything.

Huang Li took the first match. Like Jiang Yun, he had fought his way out of obscurity, entering the inner sect only after reaching Foundation Establishment. His earth-element cultivation was exceptionally steady, yet he had still been placed near the bottom. Ling Zhen Sect possessed an earth-element Yellow-grade mid-tier technique called the Dust-One Thick Armor Art, and Huang Li had cultivated it to mastery. Through sheer grit, he climbed from rank 100 to rank 92—no farther.

Before Du Fan Zhi’s turn arrived, another cultivator drew everyone’s attention. He started at rank 93 and battled his way to rank 73 before finally stopping. Other sects cried out in admiration, while Ling Zhen’s expressions shifted again and again—for one simple reason.

That cultivator fought by controlling gu insects.

He was from Ren Yang Cult.

From the moment they entered the grounds, Ling Zhen’s three Essence Condensation elders had been watching the Ren Yang delegation. This year’s Hundred Sects Assembly, Ren Yang Cult had brought five Essence Condensation cultivators. The cult had once been nothing more than a mayfly of a sect, but it rose through conquest—seizing the fortune of other sects to feed its own growth. Its strength now surpassed Ling Zhen’s, and no one could guess how many sects’ blood and tears lay behind its prosperity.

Yet such slaughter marked it as a wicked path. Ren Yang Cult feared offending the three great sects and being wiped out, so after its campaign against Ling Zhen a thousand years ago, it had reined itself in. Relying on the vast fortune it had already stolen, it developed steadily ever since, flourishing year after year.

All of which only proved how terrifyingly powerful Ling Zhen must have been in its old glory.

Besides the disciple who stopped at rank 73, Ren Yang Cult had two more among the top hundred: one at rank 57, and another even higher than Liu Xuan—sitting in the ninth seat. A cold weight settled over Li Shu’s heart.

Ren Yang Cult’s elders were no less grim. Ling Zhen had not withered away as they’d expected. It had produced talent after talent. Qiu Jian Ying was one thing, but this time there was even an alchemy prodigy—and Ling Zhen had sent four Foundation Establishment cultivators into the Fortune-Seizing Battle.

The attending sects were all leaders of the South Domain. Of course they knew the feud between these two. Many watched with thinly veiled interest, waiting to see whether the rising power would crush the old champion—or whether the old champion, though fallen, still had fangs.

The Ren Yang disciple at rank 57 fixed Du Fan Zhi with a sharp, hungry stare after securing his own position. His intent was obvious.

This was a matter of sect honor. Du Fan Zhi couldn’t afford the slightest lapse.

Sure enough, the instant the judging disciple gave the signal, the Ren Yang disciple sprang up and barked, “Rank 57, Ren Yang Cult Zhuo Gong Qing, challenges rank 48!”

Du Fan Zhi gave a cold snort and rose without hesitation. “Ling Zhen Sect Du Fan Zhi accepts!”

They landed in the arena almost at the same time. Their auras surged and crashed together like thunder.

Li Shu and Qiu Jian Ying had both fought Ren Yang cultivators before; they knew how vicious and troublesome the cult could be. Ren Yang had very few disciples. Its followers were gathered from infancy—those who could step onto the gu path were kept, and those who couldn’t were discarded.

The ones who remained were perfectly suited to it. Their strength far exceeded ordinary cultivators.

Zhuo Gong Qing’s natal gu was a deep-blue, eight-legged spider.

As a Foundation Establishment disciple of Ren Yang Cult, he had already mastered the cult’s three secret arts, even reaching the final one: the Avatar Art.

The spider’s mind was linked to his. In an instant, Du Fan Zhi found himself trapped in a two-on-one fight.

“Tsk. Filthy poison vermin.”

Du Fan Zhi kept shifting and dodging. The spider spat strands of black webbing like poisoned arrows, corrosive enough that even a grazing touch across his sleeve ate through the protective layers of his robe artifact.

Under the spider’s cover, Zhuo Gong Qing formed seals in rapid succession, blasting razor-sharp beams of light toward Du Fan Zhi.

Among Li Shu’s disciples, Huo Zi Xun and Du Fan Zhi were his closest—both metal-element spell cultivators. Huo Zi Xun was Li Shu’s chosen successor, but Du Fan Zhi had been taught with the same painstaking care. Even while defending in an ugly scramble, Du Fan Zhi still didn’t let Zhuo Gong Qing land a single clean hit.

Ever since the feud began, Ren Yang Cult had made a habit of targeting Ling Zhen at the Hundred Sects Assembly. Under that pressure, every disciple who stepped onto the stage had been drilled in how to fight Ren Yang opponents.

An outsider might think to strike directly at the cultivator’s body. Unless there was an absolute gap in strength, that was the wrong move. In a match like Du Fan Zhi versus Zhuo Gong Qing, the correct approach was to cripple the natal gu—let the backlash injure the host, weakening the Inner-Birth Art. More importantly, it forced the enemy to activate that art and end the current two-on-one advantage.

Metal-element cultivators excelled at killing. Du Fan Zhi looked refined and mild, but his movements were sharp and decisive. He slipped away first, widening the distance between himself and Zhuo Gong Qing. A round treasure mirror flashed in his hand, and a golden arrow shot straight for the spider.

His footwork was superb. Zhuo Gong Qing went for his vital points again and again, only to miss by a hair. Enraged, he drove the spider in from one side while he struck from the other, aiming to spear Du Fan Zhi through the abdomen.

The Hundred Sects Assembly forbade maiming and killing. Essence Condensation cultivators watched from the sidelines, ready to intervene the moment true danger appeared. Even if they were somehow too late, Profound Division cultivators would halt the match.

A cultivator could fight fiercely—but few truly dared to carry killing intent.

Zhuo Gong Qing did.

The vicious light in his eyes only grew brighter as he attacked again and again for the kill, holding nothing back. Zhao Chun had no doubt: if not for the Assembly’s rules, Zhuo Gong Qing would have tried to cut Du Fan Zhi down on the spot.

Li Shu saw it at once. Ren Yang Cult dared to bare its cruelty even here, under Zhi Yue Sect’s gaze. That kind of malice deserved death wherever it was found.

Even Fang Du Nian’s expression cooled. The feud between sects was one thing, but Zhi Yue Sect hosted this grand event. Zhuo Gong Qing still dared to flaunt his killing intent. Was it only Zhuo Gong Qing—or did his sect stand behind it?

“Gong Qing is still too young…” A Ren Yang elder sighed, yet offered no real rebuke. It was only a quiet remark that Zhuo Gong Qing’s temperament needed tempering.

At the most dangerous instant, Du Fan Zhi chose brutality over caution—he took one of Zhuo Gong Qing’s strikes head-on, buying the heartbeat he needed to unleash the power stored in his mirror. A focused beam punched straight through the spider’s swollen abdomen.

The spider shrieked. Ichor sprayed outward.

The natal gu was injured—how could Zhuo Gong Qing not suffer? He stumbled back and spat a mouthful of blood.

“I’ll kill you!”

Fury warped his face. He thrust one hand forward like a claw. The eight-legged spider shrank rapidly, compressing into a small ball. He swallowed it in a single motion.

The sight made Zhao Chun think of Tu Mian—who had also swallowed his natal gu’s core and surged in strength.

Zhuo Gong Qing was far stronger than Tu Mian to begin with. With the Inner-Birth Art layered on top, Ling Zhen’s people couldn’t help but worry for Du Fan Zhi.