After Refusing Marriage to the Dao of Slaughter Patriarch (14)

Qi Baishan had long expected that the opponent would be difficult to deal with, but he didn't expect him to be this troublesome.

Ping Jushao of the Jinghua Dao also became famous at a young age. As the personal disciple of a Golden Core elder, he was highly favored by his sect. When he first made his name, some people speculated that he was the cultivator most likely to become the next Golden Core Patriarch.

On the Sword Testing Platform, the two met each other's eyes. Qi Baishan smiled and nodded; Ping Jushao's face, however, darkened slightly, as if he had seen some filth, shifting his gaze away immediately upon contact. With a face full of disgust, he drew out his magical weapon—

It was a chain. When long, it was flexible and could bind the enemy's limbs; when shortened, it became a vicious weapon covered in barbs, more fierce than swords or sabers, capable of taking a person's life within inches.

Although it wasn't good to think this way—Qi Baishan couldn't help but feel that his weapon was somewhat evil, unlike something used by a righteous path cultivator.

Of course, Qi Baishan himself wasn't much better. His Hidden Fan Blade looked elegant, but in reality, it was crafted by an elder relative from the spine of a great demon. It was also very sinister, on par with Ping Jushao's magical weapon.

At first, the two of them were evenly matched.

But soon, Qi Baishan's expression turned slightly solemn, his brows furrowed, finding it somewhat difficult to cope. The opponent's true essence seemed inexhaustible. The chain weapon continuously left scars on his body, his white clothes torn to shreds, yet the opponent's attitude was as frivolous as a cat playing with a mouse.

He couldn't continue fighting head-on.

Qi Baishan slightly restrained his aura and changed his footwork. It was one of the secret techniques of his Qi Clan, hiding his figure in the shadows, quickly disappearing from the line of sight.

His mastery of this technique was still considered unpolished, but Qi Baishan had a Wind Spiritual Root. He could manipulate the wind's direction to cover for him and sweep away his flaws.

Below the Sword Testing Platform, the cultivators were slightly surprised and openly engaged in heated discussion.

"Is this the Qi Clan's Shadow Walk Art?"

"For Qi Baishan to master this technique at such a young age, it seems the candidate for the next Qi Clan Master has already been decided."

Some had also begun to praise Qi Baishan's profound cultivation base, calling him a dragon among men, and fearing that Jinghua Dao's Ping Jushao was going to suffer a crushing defeat here.

Those words also reached the Sword Testing Platform. Ping Jushao's expression had already become extremely terrifying.

He sneered, "A petty buffoon."

In an instant, Ping Jushao released his divine sense, spreading it out in all directions. With the aid of divine sense, Qi Baishan, whose Shadow Walk Art was still unpolished, was discovered without any power to resist, the chain following him like a shadow.

Releasing divine sense externally required a Foundation Establishment cultivation base!

Ping Jushao had actually reached Foundation Establishment, and he had concealed his cultivation, making Qi Baishan mistakenly believe that they were both at the ninth level of Qi Condensation.

The other cultivators had also seen through this and became shocked and uncertain.

They truly hadn't expected that Ping Jushao, at such an age, would already have a Foundation Establishment cultivation base, showing outstanding aptitude. No wonder he didn't panic when running into Qi Baishan, who was as famous as him.

The leading elders of the top three sects sat securely in the upper seats, taking in the entire situation on the Sword Testing Platform.

The elder of the Bumeng Sect leaned past Ji Zhaixing, cupping his hands slightly towards the elder of the Jinghua Dao, genuine envy in his eyes.

"I didn't expect Elder Yi Hui's head disciple to have already advanced to Foundation Establishment. Truly, a famous master produces an outstanding disciple. Once your esteemed disciple grows up, Jinghua Dao will surely add another Golden Core Zhenjun."

This Elder Yi Hui was exactly Ping Jushao's master—if it weren't for his head disciple participating in the sword trial this time, he wouldn't be sitting here.

The Bumeng Sect elder's words, whether flattery or truth, hit right at Yi Hui's heart.

Seemingly intentionally or otherwise, Elder Yi Hui's gaze landed on Ji Zhaixing, then lightly shifted away, saying very magnanimously, "Daoist must be joking, this stubborn disciple of mine is still a bit too young and aggressive. I had originally told him to reveal his cultivation only when deciding the top ten, but I didn't expect him to be unable to hold back at this time."

After saying this, Yi Hui carelessly glanced at Ji Zhaixing's expression.

Ji Zhaixing... Ji Zhaixing had no expression.

His back remained straight, making his figure look incredibly slender. His gaze was slightly lowered, staring at the Sword Testing Platform. His long, fair fingertips tapped the armrest rhythmically, clearly focusing all his attention on the trial.

Qi Baishan was almost unable to hold on.

After his Shadow Walk Art was seen through by Ping Jushao, the attacks became even more fierce, like a violent storm. He had only a fifty percent chance of winning to begin with, and after discovering Ping Jushao's true cultivation base, that fifty percent plummeted to a mere five percent.

The gap between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment was almost like looking up at a high mountain; he dared not overstep.

And right at this moment, Qi Baishan slightly tilted his head up, looking wretchedly at Ji Zhaixing, almost as if asking for help.

His Senior Brother Ji was still sitting there. Their eyes met, and Qi Baishan saw those ink-like eyes quietly watching him. He seemed to slightly curve his lips into a very gentle smile. Qi Baishan trembled slightly in his heart, but miraculously, an infinite amount of desperate courage was born within him.

He couldn't lose here; he couldn't disgrace the Yushui Sect.

He couldn't, couldn't let Senior Brother Ji... be disappointed.

Qi Baishan still remembered that day, how Ji Zhaixing had beaten him, a ninth-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, to the point of being completely unable to fight back, using only his third-stage Qi Condensation cultivation—by comparison, the difference between the ninth stage of Qi Condensation and the early stage of Foundation Establishment didn't seem as impassable as a heavenly chasm as he had imagined.

Qi Baishan's movements gradually became sluggish. He allowed Ping Jushao's magical weapon to leave countless scars on his body; acting as if he was cowering, his eyes revealing fear and hesitation.

Just when Ping Jushao truly sneered, as the chain was about to wrap around his vital points and the judging elder was about to announce the winner, Qi Baishan moved like a phantom. The chains binding him had already been sliced open by the Hidden Fan Blade. Before they could tighten, his fan opened, and from the folds, scarlet blades flew out, deeply embedding themselves into every one of Ping Jushao's vital points. One step deeper, and they could sever the bones and flesh of his entire body.

Ping Jushao was completely restrained.

This move was executed extremely fast, reversing the victory and defeat in an instant.

Qi Baishan precisely controlled those sharp blades with his true essence, preventing them from cutting any deeper. Then he smiled slightly, smug and provocative, full of the impulsive spirit of a youth.

"Thanks for the match."

He won.

The judging elders on the platform didn't react for a long time. After a long while, a surprised sigh seemed to be heard.

"Yushui Sect, Lord Biyu, Qi Baishan wins."

Who could have thought that Ping Jushao, at the Foundation Establishment stage, would be defeated in the very first round.

Elder Yi Hui's face was already ashen. Clearly, the situation before him was completely beyond his expectations—

How could Ping Jushao lose?

At this time, Qi Baishan had already withdrawn those sharp blades. Looking at Ping Jushao, who was half-kneeling on the ground in a daze, his slight sympathy was finally awakened, and he somewhat embarrassedly reached out his hand to him.

"Hey, are you alright? I hit a little too hard."

Ping Jushao's hair was already drenched in sweat. He raised his head, his eyes showing somewhat demonic red bloodshot lines, looking extremely abnormal.

For some reason, Qi Baishan's heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously took a step back, not intending to attack, just wanting to get farther away from Ping Jushao. But a smear of scarlet flashed before his eyes, and Ping Jushao's magical weapon suddenly pierced through Qi Baishan's dantian.

Unbearable pain erupted in an instant. Qi Baishan's vision blurred slightly, and he couldn't even distinguish whether the sounds in his ears were his own screams of pain or the shocked shouts of other cultivators trying to stop it.

Faster than anyone else was Ji Zhaixing.

With movements almost nobody could see clearly, Ji Zhaixing appeared on the Sword Testing Platform, kicked away Ping Jushao who had pulled out the murder weapon, and caught his tottering junior brother.

The blood flowing from Qi Baishan's abdomen instantly stained the hem of Ji Zhaixing's clothes. He didn't seem to notice, his nose filled with the coppery smell of blood.

Ji Zhaixing's expression showed no visible change, but his hands were incredibly cold. A violent, chilling intent brewed in the depths of his eyes, which he covered up with a slight lowering of his gaze.

He then slowly transferred his true essence to Qi Baishan. The ocean-like consumption finally managed to keep Qi Baishan's dantian from collapsing.

That kick was truly heavy. After being kicked away, Ping Jushao began to continuously vomit blood, almost making people wonder if he was about to die, but this was only the beginning.

Ping Jushao had committed a major taboo.

The Hanlin Sword Trial indeed had a rule of bearing life and death on one's own. If he had used that move during the match, people would criticize him for being too ruthless and malicious, but he wouldn't face any substantial punishment. However, destroying Qi Baishan's dantian when he was caught off guard after the match had ended was maliciously murdering a fellow daoist, the act of a demonic cultivator.

Ping Jushao finally seemed to show a hint of fear.

Having transferred a massive amount of true essence, Ji Zhaixing's face was slightly pale. He half-supported Qi Baishan, his movements very gentle, but his eyes were filled with killing intent.

At this time, it seemed someone finally reacted. Several medical cultivators rushed onto the Sword Testing Platform to treat Qi Baishan's injuries. After Ji Zhaixing confirmed that they were all trustworthy people, he let go of his hand. His face was incredibly pale, with only his bright red lip bead retaining some color.

He said, "Thank you, I'll leave my junior brother in your hands."

Those medical cultivators felt somewhat overwhelmed by the favor, repeatedly nodding in agreement.

Ji Zhaixing then drew out that ordinary-looking sword. His snow-white, delicate fingertips tightly gripping the pitch-black hilt created an extremely sharp contrast. The blade itself was very sharp, the edge gleaming like snow, and there was a faint red bloodline running down the body of the sword. It was incredibly bewitching, just like the feeling Ji Zhaixing gave people at this moment.

He had killing intent. Towards Ping Jushao.

Ping Jushao seemed to have only just reacted sluggishly. His body stiffened desperately, like an exhausted fish. Even a face as exquisitely beautiful as Ji Zhaixing's couldn't alleviate the fear in his heart in the slightest.

He cried out in fear and trembling, "Master—"

Elder Yi Hui woke up as if from a dream.

In just a breath's time, Elder Yi Hui also landed on the platform and fiercely flung his sleeve. Hearing a muffled sound of flesh meeting flesh, a bright red handprint surfaced on Ping Jushao's face, swelling up into a mess that made people gasp in horror at his sorry state.

Yi Hui had used internal energy in this palm strike. The palm strike of a Golden Core Zhenjun almost beat Ping Jushao's realm into instability.

Elder Yi Hui didn't look back at him. Facing Ji Zhaixing, he revealed an expression of wanting to die from shame and indignation, and said to Ji Zhaixing, "For this sinful disciple to commit such a grave mistake, I will definitely take him back to the sect and punish him heavily according to the sect rules!"

"Of course, even if we exhaust the entire Jinghua Dao's strength and use all of this lord's personal spirit stones, we will definitely heal Qi Baishan."

This was to protect Ping Jushao, letting Ji Zhaixing ask for whatever compensation he wanted.

Given the strength of the Yushui Sect, if the person standing here right now was any Golden Core Patriarch from the Yushui Sect, Yi Hui wouldn't risk opening his mouth for Ping Jushao. But the person before him was Ji Zhaixing, a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He, a Golden Core Zhenjun, naturally still commanded some slight respect... Yi Hui even started to feel thankful that it was Ji Zhaixing who came for the Yushui Sect.

Ji Zhaixing didn't withdraw his sword.

His jet-black hair fell down, contrasting against his fair and delicate neck, making it look incredibly soft. Even his posture while holding a sword was as beautiful as a flower that could be gently plucked.

Ji Zhaixing even slightly curled his lips into a smile. In that instant, his smile was truly like spring flowers. Adding to his original beauty, it became ten times, a hundred times more gorgeous, almost making the cultivators who inadvertently witnessed this smile lose their minds and become utterly infatuated.

He said softly.

"Since your Jinghua Dao can't teach its disciples well, I'll teach them for you."