Chapter 624: The Tianling Martial Contest Begins

Deep beneath the Congyun Sea, at the convergence of several major earth veins, the power of the earth veins surged and roiled with unusual violence.

Li Fan harnessed this power to set up the Earthfire Elevation Array and placed the dormant Tian Yang at its center.

One by one, he fed materials into the array: Eternal Calamity Gold, Vast Heaven Crystal Stone, Violet Spirit Crystal Marrow, and many others. Like a massive furnace, the blazing earthfire power slowly smelted these materials into Tian Yang's puppet body.

It was this very array that had sustained Tian Yang through his long slumber, allowing him to shatter his own limits and advance from Foundation Establishment all the way to Spirit Transformation.

Yet the Embodiment Transformation Dao Sect of that era had been an relatively obscure and minor sect, so even inheriting its entire legacy hadn’t left Tian Yang with many resources. Throughout the ages, Spirit Transformation had been his absolute ceiling.

The puppet body's inherent strength was also constrained by its base materials. It performed adequately against cultivators of equal realm, but slaying enemies across realms, the mark of a true prodigy, was an immense struggle.

With Li Fan's assistance, all of that was about to change.

Even a simple puppet crafted from these treasures could contend with an ordinary Dao Unity cultivator. Coupled with Tian Yang's indomitable will, surviving the battle with Ink Death, that ultimate Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth, might not be impossible.

The blazing light of the array flickered in Li Fan's pupils. He stood watching for several days before concluding that progress was moving slightly slower than anticipated.

"Little Junior Brother, let this senior brother add more fuel to your fire."

He began tossing pile after pile of top-grade spirit stones into the array. Laden with immense reserves of pure spiritual qi, they struck the array like dry tinder thrown into a roaring blaze.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. The Earthfire Elevation Array's operational efficiency more than doubled.

Li Fan kept his gaze fixed on Tian Yang within the array, his expression unreadable.

Ten days passed in a blur.

The Amity Conference in Tianling Province commenced.

To prevent unforeseen incidents, the entire province had been placed under complete lockdown. All teleportation arrays were rendered inactive, and entry was barred to any unauthorized personnel.

Ordinary cultivators had no chance to witness the opening ceremony or the mutual exhibition of the World-Quelling Divine Artifacts with their own eyes.

World-Quelling Divine Artifacts was the collective term used by the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council for those supremely powerful artifacts capable of influencing the course of war between the two factions.

Rumors held that each side had exhibited one such artifact at the ceremony, and that all who witnessed them had been left speechless by the terrifying power they could unleash. Any thought of reigniting conflict was thoroughly extinguished.

The specific functions of the two artifacts could not be disclosed, which only sharpened everyone's curiosity.

On the second day after the opening ceremony, the highly anticipated competition phase officially began.

Dao, martial, artifact, array, alchemy, talisman. One discipline per day, with the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council each sending three prodigies to compete.

The first event, and the one drawing the most anticipation, was the martial contest.

Across the Myriad Immortals Alliance, countless cultivators watched through the Tianling Observation Mirror as the first representative took the stage.

The figure that appeared looked to be somewhere in their early teens. Their gender was ambiguous, dressed in pristine white robes with a red ribbon in their hair, strikingly handsome in an androgynous way.

A moment later, the Observation Mirror displayed their corresponding information.

Wu-06.[1]

For a moment, the watching cultivators erupted in murmurs. The Five Elders Council delegation wore equally dark expressions.

"What is the meaning of this? Sending a mere child for such an important occasion?"

"Do they truly think there's no one capable among us?"

All those present were seasoned cultivators with discerning eyes. They could tell at a glance that Wu-06 was not an adult maintaining a child's appearance—this was genuinely a child, under ten years old.

No matter how exceptional their talent, with so few years lived, how strong could they possibly be?

The Five Elders Council cultivators' faces darkened further. A green-robed youth gripping a sword stepped forward, his eyes blazing with indignation and a sharp killing intent.

"Guzhi, do not be careless!"

A woman who looked no different from a mountain-village farmwife called out from among the Five Elders Council cultivators.

Her status was clearly remarkable; the green-robed youth, Xu Guzhi, gave a solemn nod before drifting forward to stand before Wu-06.

"Please enlighten me." Xu Guzhi narrowed his eyes, sword leveled directly at his opponent.

As the two faced each other, introductions appeared for the watching cultivators. Both competitors stood at the peak of Spirit Transformation. Wu-06 was nine years old. Xu Guzhi was fifty-six.

Cultivators across the land stared in disbelief.

"A nine-year-old at Spirit Transformation? Am I seeing this correctly?"

"Even if they started cultivating from the womb, it couldn't be this fast!"

"Is this real? Is Wu-06 the fastest-cultivating cultivator in history? How is this possible?"[2]

"I am three hundred and seventy-eight years old and still stuck at Nascent Soul. The gap between people is truly despairing."

"Nascent Soul? What about those of us still stuck at Foundation Establishment?"

Before the duel had even begun, it ignited discussion across the land. Cultivators everywhere speculated about Wu-06's origins.

Even Li Fan's eyes flickered with surprise.

A nine-year-old at the peak of Spirit Transformation simply defied common sense.

Could it be a method of reincarnating and restarting cultivation, like Senior Brother Zhang? Or perhaps body-seizing rebirth, like the Xuantian Sect's Dharma King?

Or maybe...

Li Fan studied Wu-06's face, which had remained utterly cold and detached from the moment they had appeared, and felt a flicker of familiarity.

A Celestial Legionnaire?[3] Is Wu-06 from The Eras?

Amid his conjectures, Xu Guzhi moved.

His sword swept out, instantly conjuring a massive sword silhouette that pressed down from the sky.

"A thousand swords unending, stretching forth like a mountain range."

The Observation Mirror displayed the synchronized commentary as layer upon layer of giant swords converged from all directions, crushing toward Wu-06.

There was no earth-shattering sound, only unadorned sword silhouettes carrying the weight of towering mountains, bearing down with unparalleled pressure.

Wu-06, surrounded by the encircling mass of blades, seemed to have been frightened stiff. They stood frozen, utterly at a loss.

The hearts of the Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators clenched.

Then, just as the countless colossal swords were about to land, Wu-06 moved.

A silver dragon blazed across heaven and earth like a thunderclap.

It tore straight through the ring of giant swords. Before any of the watching cultivators could react, it had already pierced clean through Xu Guzhi's chest.

1. 第陆武 is a numbered name following a naming convention where individuals are assigned numbers followed by their function or role. In this case, it can be directly translated Number Six, Martial. It's still not clear what 武 refers to so I'll leave it as Wu for now. ☜

2. “fastest cultivator” sounds like a cultivator that moves very quickly rather than cultivates very quickly. So yea hope you don’t mind the awkward phrasing ☜

3. Retcon note: Celestial Artificer has been changed to Celestial Legionnaire ☜

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