Chapter 307 : Sweeping Away the Rotten and Crushed Dry Weeds

Chapter 307: Sweeping Away the Rotten and Crushed Dry Weeds

Qingming Peak, Water-Evolution Residence.

Shen Lingxing and Chen Beiwu stood ten zhang apart.

The former was the Yuqing Chief, renowned within the sect for many years. The latter was an unparalleled prodigy who had begun to reveal his sharp edge and had forged the Yuanshi Golden Core.

The confrontation between the two could also be seen as a witness to the passing of an old era and the arrival of a new one.

“Perfect. Beiwu has long wished to experience the strength of the Yuqing Chief.”

Chen Beiwu raised his eyes to meet Shen Lingxing’s gaze, his expression calm and undisturbed.

Boom!

Neither of them made a move. Yet the clash of their auras alone caused the ten-thousand-zhang waterfall to stagnate, and the spiritual forces permeating heaven and earth around them split cleanly into two opposing domains.

Sensing the terror within that aura, Shen Lingxing’s battle intent restrained itself slightly, and unconcealed admiration appeared in his eyes.

“What a Yuanshi Golden Core. Junior Brother’s strength is indeed extraordinary.”

Shen Lingxing’s words were not mere courtesy. Through the collision of auras, cultivators of the Immortal Alliance could roughly gauge each other’s strength.

An ordinary Golden Core peak cultivator, when locked onto by his aura, would already have suffered chaotic mana and unstable energy, forced to retreat.

For Junior Brother Chen, merely a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator, to respond so lightly—meeting change with constancy, calmly dissolving his aura in its entirety—proved they were opponents of the same level.

“Senior Brother Shen is equally formidable.”

Courtesy demanded reciprocity. In response to Shen Lingxing’s praise, Chen Beiwu politely returned a compliment, then shifted the topic:

“But this kind of probing grows dull. Why not fight directly?”

“Wait.”

True Monarch Jiang Chuan spoke from the side, stopping them with interest in his voice. “The sect has long established a rule: when disciples spar, they should enter the Dueling Platform. Qingming Peak happens to have one.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

Su Muyun and Mo Chen nodded in agreement.

Watching a spectacle was always more enjoyable when nothing was held back.

The cave residence on Qingming Peak could not withstand a duel between two Golden Core prodigies. It might be halted midway in haste. Sparring on the Dueling Platform would allow them to enjoy the match fully.

Chen Beiwu and Shen Lingxing exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and agreed with True Monarch Jiang’s suggestion.

“Weng.”

Seeing their consent, Jiang Chuan casually clenched his right hand forward. Instantly, the scenery around Chen Beiwu and Shen Lingxing twisted and stretched, dissolving into a flowing blur of distorted light.

The next moment, the sensation of solid ground returned beneath their feet, and the warped lights froze abruptly.

Chen Beiwu discovered that he and Shen Lingxing were now standing upon the Dueling Platform of Qingming Peak.

‘So this is the mysterious ability of a Nascent Soul True Monarch to teleport!’ Chen Beiwu’s heart trembled slightly.

It was the first time he had so directly experienced the methods of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

No wonder cultivators on the Immortal Alliance Official Website often claimed the chasm between Golden Core and Nascent Soul was impossible to cross.

A Nascent Soul True Monarch needed only to let their Dharma Aspect descend to annihilate hundreds of Golden Core True Persons.

‘No. Senior Brother Jiang is no ordinary Nascent Soul True Monarch. He cannot be used as the standard for Nascent Soul combat power.’

The Guarding-the-One Mirror behind Chen Beiwu flickered faintly, cleansing dust and purifying thought. His gaze met Shen Lingxing’s once more.

With no environmental restrictions, they could now display their full strength without restraint.

“Will Junior Brother not make the first move?” After a moment of standoff, Shen Lingxing frowned slightly.

He acknowledged that Chen Beiwu’s aptitude and talent were astonishing.

Within the Yuqing Immortal Sect, including himself, it was nearly impossible to find another young prodigy whose talent could rival Chen Beiwu’s.

But the Immortal Sect Exchange Conference was imminent. It concerned the sect’s prestige. The leader could not rely on talent alone—he needed to withstand real combat, to stand independently and confront the chiefs of other sects.

Shen Lingxing’s requirement was simple. If Chen Beiwu could endure a hundred moves under his hand, he could take over the Yuqing Leading Representative Position.

However, just as Shen Lingxing finished speaking, a sudden change erupted.

Chen Beiwu, who had been standing ten zhang away, suddenly blurred and vanished.

In the next instant, Shen Lingxing’s pupils contracted. A calm and gentle voice sounded beside his ear.

“Senior Brother Shen, I concede.”

Shen Lingxing’s eyes shifted slightly. A slender finger was pointed directly at his glabella, the fingertip wrapped in a nearly imperceptible strand of Yuanshi True Qi that made every hair on his body stand on end.

‘Interesting!’

True Monarch Jiang Chuan and the other two’s eyes lit up at the sight.

This mysterious ability of breaking through space and traversing invisibly resembled the teleportation of a Nascent Soul True Monarch. It was far beyond what ordinary Golden Core cultivators could grasp.

“Junior Brother, what fine methods!”

Though slightly startled inwardly, Shen Lingxing’s expression did not change. Instead, a confident smile curved his lips.

“But Junior Brother—do you truly think you have won?”

The moment those words fell, Shen Lingxing’s vitality vanished completely. His skin turned gray and lifeless, transforming into a lifelike wooden puppet.

Chen Beiwu’s gaze sharpened. He immediately recognized it as the Heavenly-Gang Mystic Ability of the Five Qi Vine—【Five Qi Puppet Transformation】—which split the five qi and parasitized all things to form puppet incarnations.

“Weng!”

At that instant, a low hum sounded from the core of the wooden puppet. The lifelike wooden patterns across its surface turned crimson like blazing fire, stirring the spiritual forces of heaven and earth.

Self-detonation!

Chen Beiwu swept it with his divine sense and immediately activated the Cangming Step, retreating at once.

Yet the Five Qi puppet’s self-detonation was too swift. A nearly pure-white sphere of destructive lightning erupted violently from its center, completely engulfing Chen Beiwu. The raging lightning could sweep away and shatter even a Golden Core Consummation cultivator.

But Chen Beiwu’s expression remained unchanged—because he was not fighting alone.

“Roar!”

With a dragon’s cry resounding, within the raging thunderfire suddenly emerged a colossal figure—a domineering flood dragon with three heads.

Facing the sky-filling thunderfire, Golden Egg did not retreat in the slightest. The three dragon heads roared toward the heavens, tearing apart and annihilating everything before them in the most tyrannical and savage manner.

‘What kind of mutated flood dragon is this?’

High above the Dueling Platform, Shen Lingxing formed hand seals, a trace of surprise in his eyes.

He and the Five Qi Vine had created the 【Three-Origin Three-Aspect Thunderflame Incantation】 based on the Five Qi puppet as foundation, fire essence as trigger, and fivefold lightning as manifestation.

Its power was extraordinary—ranked among third-tier supreme arts. It could harness lightning and fire through wood, conceal itself within false form, then detonate to shatter the soul and incinerate true qi.

An ordinary Golden Core Consummation cultivator without a special protective magical artifact would be reduced to ashes in an instant.

Yet what did Shen Lingxing now see?

A three-headed flood dragon at Golden Core peak had directly withstood the combined Three-Origin Three-Aspect Thunderflame Incantation he and the Five Qi Vine unleashed—and not only was it uninjured, even its aura remained intact.

‘It seems I must get a bit more serious.’

Shen Lingxing looked down at Chen Beiwu, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

His hand seals completed. Spreading his five fingers, he pressed his palm toward Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg.

“Earthfall!”

Shen Lingxing shouted. The entire Dueling Platform—and even Qingming Peak—trembled.

Rumble!

An invisible yet incomparably heavy primordial magnetic gravity descended in an instant.

At that moment, centered on Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg, the space within a hundred-li radius collapsed downward violently.

This was not a spatial collapse caused by mana. It was a terrifying mystic ability where a Golden Core cultivator, in coordination with a Companion Beast, used Undying Golden Attribute mana to draw upon heaven and earth, shaking the earth’s core and unleashing primordial magnetic gravity.

Crack—crack—

Chen Beiwu felt his entire body sink. The ground beneath him groaned under unbearable strain. Countless dense cracks spread outward from him in frenzy.

At this moment, not only were his movements slowed, every inch of his skin and every piece of bone and flesh within him endured a crushing gravity capable of grinding refined gold into powder.

Even the circulation of Yuanshi True Qi within his Dantian Sea of Qi was severely suppressed.

Seeing this, Golden Egg’s dragon eyes narrowed. Three-colored divine light flowed across his body. Behind him manifested three flood dragon phantoms—neither metal nor jade, neither flesh nor spirit.

The metal-aspect phantom evolved into Taibai’s sharp edge. The water-aspect phantom evolved into the softness of Supreme Abyss. The wood-aspect phantom evolved into ceaseless Supreme Harmony.

Three aspects merged as one—Three Aspects Revealed Sanctity. Instantly, Golden Egg tore open a gap within the heaven-sealing primordial magnetic gravity.

Yet this was merely the opening move of Earthfall.

The ground behind Chen Beiwu suddenly bulged and unfurled, surging upward with an ancient, primordial aura.

Chen Beiwu swept it with his divine sense, surprise flashing in his eyes.

What ground rising and spreading? That was clearly a colossal giant worm standing up.

The giant worm had no eyes, nor distinct facial features. Its skin shone with a tough luster, its entire body dark gold in color, roughly seven zhang thick.

Just the portion of its massive body revealed above the ground stretched a hundred zhang long, occupying nearly half the Dueling Platform and radiating an indescribable oppressive might.

This colossal beast was precisely the Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon, which had not originally ranked among the Heavenly-Gang number, yet had been step by step cultivated by the Yuqing Chief Shen Lingxing into a Heavenly-Gang Mystic Beast.

【Name】：Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon

【Attribute】：All Five Elements (Primarily Earth)

【Bloodline】：Fourth-Tier Supreme Grade

【Mystic Abilities】：Ten Thousand Earth Escape, Substitution by Withered Plum, Impure Earth Rebirth, Drawing the Land as a Prison…

Ten Thousand Earth Escape: Fourth-Tier Supreme Mystic Art. The Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon’s body could burrow into any soil or stone environment, ignoring the vast majority of formations and restrictions. It could traverse eight hundred li in an instant, comparable to a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s teleportation mystic ability, yet left not the slightest trace.

Substitution by Withered Plum: Fourth-Tier Supreme Mystic Art. Any injuries sustained by the Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon could be borne by the earth itself. Even severed limbs could regenerate within a flick of a finger.

Drawing the Land as a Prison: Fourth-Tier Supreme Mystic Art. The earth’s lungs concealed baleful energy, primordial magnetism rooted in mutual origin, embracing yin and holding yang. It could bind spirits and lock the soul, forming a primordial magnetic forbidden wall that suppressed mana, severed spiritual forces, and trapped enemies within a confined space.

Impure Earth Rebirth: ???

【Description】：The Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon was not a true dragon. It was a special Heavenly-Gang Mystic Beast formed when the Earth-Burrowing Sturdy Silkworm devoured the essence of Resting Soil.

It possessed neither eyes nor bones, was born from consuming earth, and concealed itself when calamity approached. Its survival ability was extremely strong. Even among Heavenly-Gang Mystic Beasts, it was one of the hardest to slay.

Recalling the information revealed earlier by Senior Brother Jiang Chuan and the others, Chen Beiwu’s divine sense stirred as he carefully examined the colossal beast behind him.

The Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon indeed lived up to its reputation. It could draw upon earth veins and manipulate primordial magnetism. Its defensive and enemy-trapping abilities ranked among the very best of Heavenly-Gang Mystic Beasts.

As for survival and escape, calling it unparalleled among the Heavenly-Gang would not be excessive.

Yet compared to the Three-Aspect Mystic Flood Dragon and the Five Qi Vine, it was still somewhat inferior.

This view was not arrogance on Chen Beiwu’s part, but absolute confidence in his own Yuanshi Great Dao and the mystic abilities of the Yuanshi Golden Core.

“Companion Beast Transformation—Earthfall as Prison · Primordial Magnetic Suppression Ring!”

Shen Lingxing shouted in a low voice as his hand seals shifted once more.

After the earlier probing, Shen Lingxing understood that while his realm gave him the advantage, ordinary treasure arts and mystic abilities could not harm Chen Beiwu in the slightest.

Thus, he did not hesitate to employ a killing move capable of briefly trapping even a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

“Rumble—!”

The Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon roared skyward. Through the connection of the Companion Contract, its massive body burst forth with incomparably dazzling dark-golden radiance, then shrank at lightning speed.

This contraction was not a simple change in size, but a fusion of the earth-vein primordial magnetic force of heaven and earth, the essence of Wutu Earth, and the mystic ability of Drawing the Land as a Prison.

In an instant, the mountain-sized giant worm vanished. In its place floated a dark-golden ring radiating immense weight.

Though only the size of a bowl’s rim, the ring seemed alive. The space within it subtly twisted and collapsed, emanating a sealing force that made Golden Core cultivators’ hearts tremble.

This was the Primordial Magnetic Suppression Ring formed from the Earth-Overturning Earth Dragon.

At the moment of its manifestation, Shen Lingxing’s aura surged violently, undergoing a heaven-shaking transformation.

Previously, although powerful and vast as the sea, he had ultimately remained within the category of Golden Core True Persons.

But after executing Companion Beast Transformation, his aura soared at a breathtaking speed.

In the blink of an eye, he broke through the barrier of Golden Core Consummation and stepped forcefully into an entirely new domain.

It was a power far beyond the Golden Core level.

Those who condensed the Purple Mansion Nascent Soul and attained the position of True Monarch had already formed the Yang Spirit.

If the Nascent Soul did not perish, the body would not die. Aura, mana, and blood became undying; one could regenerate from a single drop of blood and nurture a True Monarch Dharma Aspect.

At this moment, although Shen Lingxing’s aura had entered the realm of a True Monarch, he had not truly advanced into that realm nor condensed a Purple Mansion Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect.

Yet the aura, mana, divine sense, and control over heaven and earth’s spiritual forces he displayed had already touched the threshold of an Early Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Simply put, Shen Lingxing now stood above False Nascent Soul cultivators. He could crush Golden Core cultivators at will and battle a Nascent Soul True Monarch. However, if a True Monarch unleashed a Dharma Aspect, he would still be defeated.

“Primordial Magnetic Forbidden Wall—Suppress!”

Shen Lingxing clasped his hands together. The spinning Primordial Magnetic Suppression Ring emitted a world-shaking hum and vanished instantly.

The next moment, above Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg, the ring reappeared, projecting a golden ring phantom magnified millions of times.

From within descended countless dark-golden primordial magnetic chains solidified into substance, filling the sky as chain-shadows that sought to seal heaven and earth, utterly suppressing and locking Chen Beiwu in place.

‘As expected of the Yuqing Chief who overwhelmed countless prodigies of the Yuqing Immortal Sect.’

Seeing this, Chen Beiwu slowly closed his eyes.

Among all Immortal Alliance prodigies he had encountered, Shen Lingxing shone the brightest—able to cross the Golden Core barrier and display strength infinitely close to a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

‘Strange. Is Junior Brother Chen planning to concede like this?’ Mo Chen raised an eyebrow, transmitting his voice through divine sense.

To him, Chen Beiwu closing his eyes without activating any mystic ability was no different from surrendering.

But would an unparalleled hero who forged the Yuanshi Golden Core truly concede so casually?

‘Watch carefully.’ True Monarch Jiang Chuan glanced at Mo Chen.

Their duel had reached its crucial moment. Without watching until the end, how could one know the outcome?

Moreover, in True Monarch Jiang’s heart, Junior Brother Chen was not someone who conceded easily.

“At the beginning of Supreme Yi, undying through myriad tribulations.”

Chen Beiwu’s mind stirred. His hands formed a seal before him, containing the cycles of five tribulations’ birth and extinction.

The Five Qi Vine upon his shoulder also closed its eyes familiarly. Behind it, five-colored radiance erupted violently.

Green, red, yellow, white, and black—the five elemental treasure lights soared skyward, ignoring the sealing force of the Primordial Magnetic Suppression Ring, and poured madly into the Primordial Origin Azure Seal formed in Chen Beiwu’s hands.

Time seemed to freeze.

There was no earth-shattering spectacle, no dazzling brilliance. Chen Beiwu slowly raised his right hand as a palm-sized azure Dao Seal gradually condensed.

Boom!

As the Primordial Origin Azure Seal descended, the Primordial Magnetic Suppression Ring that sealed heaven and earth let out a mournful cry, as if encountering an insurmountable nemesis. Dense cracks instantly spread across its body as it began to collapse and dissipate on its own.

“Puh—!”

Linked in mind and mana with the ring, Shen Lingxing felt as though struck by lightning. Blood spurted from his mouth, and his aura fell from that comparable to a Nascent Soul True Monarch back down to Golden Core Consummation.

Step!

Step!

Step!

Shen Lingxing retreated three steps before barely suppressing the backlash of Companion Beast Transformation being broken, stabilizing his divine sense, mana, and aura so he would not collapse to one knee from severe injury.

Chen Beiwu slowly withdrew his seal, looked directly at Shen Lingxing, and spoke calmly:

“Well then, Senior Brother Shen—shall we continue?”

At this sight, solemn expressions appeared in the eyes of True Monarch Jiang Chuan and the others.

What had they just witnessed? The Yuanshi Five Tribulations Seal.

The Yuanshi Five Tribulations Seal was the prerequisite mystic ability to the sect-guarding divine power of Yuqing. Only those with great opportunity, great fortune, and great perseverance could cultivate it. It was also explicitly designated by the Yuqing Immortal Sect’s Dao lineage.

Without exaggeration, the fact that Chen Beiwu had obtained and comprehended this mystic ability carried significance far beyond the outcome of a single battle.