Chapter 130: The Agricultural Sect and the Yin‑Yang Master

Mu Yi naturally didn't know the thoughts of the spectators watching the battle.

After cleaving the elite monster to death, its corpse turned to ash and vanished, while a key dropped onto the ground.

【Treasure Chest Key】

Description: Can be used to open treasure chests.

Mu Yi sized up the key and the chest, tentatively slashed the chest once, but the chest didn't deform; the recoil nearly blasted Mu Yi away.

After confirming the chest was fine, Mu Yi thought this test might not be so formulaic, but rather a proper challenge competition.

Holding the key, Mu Yi opened the chest, and a ball of white spirit light lay quietly inside.

Mu Yi reached out to touch the white spirit light.

"Tip: You gain a temporary attribute that can be used to adjust attributes!"

Mu Yi realized the situation had become more complex; he had to balance speed and his own strength.

From this perspective, a speedrun seemed difficult.

Adding the temporary attribute to his will made the previously suppressed feeling suddenly much easier.

While Mu Yi was pondering, the chest emitted a teleporting radiance that enveloped him, transporting him directly out of the room.

In the next instant, the room underwent a dramatic transformation, and the old man Mu Yi had just slain reappeared at the center of the crystal palace.

It was as if nothing that just happened had occurred, and at that moment another figure was teleported into the crystal palace.

"Welcome to my game..."

Transported to a new room, Mu Yi felt a faint oddity in his wrist.

Looking down, a number was etched on his wrist—(-1).

When he saw the number, an instinct told him it represented his distance from the origin, and to reach the Jixia Academy, he needed at least a hundred.

"Is this number taken from the Hundred Schools?" Mu Yi guessed silently, while looking around.

Unlike the previous palace, he now stood in a wasteland, and a sturdy hunting hawk circled above his head.

Mu Yi frowned, drew his bow, feeling watched; besides, a normal hawk wouldn't circle a person's head for no reason.

Holding his breath and focusing, Mu Yi's archery wasn't exceptional, but having unlocked Transcendent Will, he could rely on his will to compensate.

After several continuous attempts, the arrow finally hit the hawk, but when the hawk fell, a spatial portal opened before him.

"Is that all?" Mu Yi was stunned; although the hawk was a test, in a contest of this scale it was perhaps too easy.

The old hawk just now was essentially a completely mundane creature, with no Transcendent element at all; as long as it dared to swoop down, even a novice could tear it apart.

"Is it because of that?" Mu Yi looked down at the number on his wrist; it seemed the later stages would become increasingly difficult.

The test became more complex due to these rules, and the final outcome grew even more unpredictable.

Having roughly understood the rules through preliminary probing, Mu Yi no longer hesitated and stepped directly into the portal.

0……1……3……7……9!

Accompanied by Mu Yi's relentless chopping, the number on his wrist also reached 9.

This time, he arrived in a forest of towering trees; after a flash of white light, a figure appeared opposite him.

Mu Yi understood that he had finally encountered disciples from another school; now it remained to see whether the two of them would cooperate or compete.

"Agricultural Sect! Jiang Feng! Pleased to meet you!"

Dressed in a long robe, Jiang Feng politely saluted Mu Yi; although they were rivals, there was no deep hatred between them, so a greeting was acceptable.

"Military Strategist! Mu Yi! Pleased to meet you!" Mu Yi returned the courtesy equally.

"Military Strategist disciple's combat power is unrivaled; normally one would naturally fear three points, but this place is my Agricultural Sect's main arena, so please grant me your instruction!" Jiang Feng clasped both hands in a decisive grip, ready to engage Mu Yi.

Seeing Jiang Feng jump straight to fighting over a single word, Mu Yi was taken aback: was he really that hot‑tempered?

—Pulling Up Seedlings to Help Growth

In the next instant, the forest plants seemed to come alive, countless vines and branches surged and tangled toward Mu Yi.

"Is this the Agricultural Sect's divine skill?"

Mu Yi was surprised, yet his hand moved without delay; he powered his legs and slashed with his arrayed blade, charging straight at Jiang Feng.

Since a fight was inevitable, he was not a coward, and it was a good chance to gauge the level of disciples from other schools.

Jiang Feng, standing his ground with a decisive grip, seemed surprised by Mu Yi's speed; Mu Yi's blade flashed with a cold gleam, and in a single motion, Jiang Feng's body was split in two.

However, Mu Yi's gaze hardened, and the blade's sweep cut through the continuously sprouting plant tendrils.

Why? Mu Yi wondered; even after defeating the opponent, could the divine skill not be halted?

When Mu Yi's eyes fell on Jiang Feng's corpse, he noticed a clue: Jiang Feng's bisected body had turned into two dead logs, rapidly withering.

—Bloom and Bear Fruit

A strange floral scent suddenly surged, accompanied by plant waves like the sea rushing toward Mu Yi.

"Not good!"

When Mu Yi smelled the strange scent, he immediately held his breath, took a mask from his bag to cover his mouth and nose, but even inhaling a little made his body feel sluggish.

No wonder they say this is the Agricultural Sect's main arena; with plants everywhere, it's the perfect venue for them. He had drawn a terribly bad lot.

Mu Yi dared not stop; although the branches weren't reinforced, their sheer number was overwhelming, like being able to cut the surface of a lake but unable to split the lake itself.

He could only flee while pondering a countermeasure.

He hadn't never seen similar opponents on the net; the Agricultural Sect's methods resembled those of druids, but seemed even more insane.

Lacking such massive destructive power, if he kept wasting energy aimlessly, he would eventually be worn out by the opponent.

"Brother Mu, behold my move!"

Seeming to realize that his current tactics couldn't deal with Mu Yi, Jiang Feng swiftly followed with another technique.

—Endless Vitality

Mu Yi instantly sensed something wrong; an unknown force was siphoning his life force, as if a straw were drawing his vitality.

—Ashes

Illusory flames spread in all directions, and Mu Yi simultaneously produced a fire-element crystal; at a time like this, he could only choose to set the mountain ablaze.

—Chain Fireballs

A series of fireballs fell on the spreading vegetation, igniting a raging blaze, but it was clear that the farmer had considered how to exploit the plants' weakness.

Numerous roots plunged into the ground, probing deeper, threading through soil and around stones, desperately drawing water, then spouting it out through the roots left on the surface.

A torrent of water splashed, spawning a localized downpour that instantly doused the sea of fire Mu Yi had ignited.

However, ordinary flames are easily subdued by water; the flame of will is not restrained by ordinary groundwater.

Following the plants animated by the world's vital Qi, the ash fire found Jiang Feng's figure amid the forest sea.

"Got you!"

Mu Yi couldn't help but grin wickedly, thrusting his legs, and his whole body transformed into a bolt of lightning that surged straight toward Jiang Feng's location.

"Come in!"

Just as Jiang Feng's form vanished into the forest and he tried to flee again, Mu Yi instantly erected a Six Paths Barrier, pulling Jiang Feng into it.

"Is this a Barrier Technique?" Jiang Feng was astonished; even among the Hundred Schools, such a divine skill is rare.

But the next moment, he realized it was no time for surprise; the sides had completely swapped positions.

It had just been his arena, but now it was Mu Yi's.

Crimson flames licked his body, steadily draining his strength.

Realizing he could not stall, Jiang Feng immediately revealed his trump card: a seed fell to the ground, instantly swelling and transforming into a towering tree.

As Jiang Feng merged with the tree, a massive tree spirit rose from the ground and slapped Mu Yi.

The forest is their arena, but that doesn't mean their farmer disciples lose combat ability once they leave it.

Turning into lightning to evade the tree spirit's slap, Mu Yi caught a strange fragrance; atop the massive tree spirit, flowers had bloomed unnoticed, and clouds of pollen drifted outward with its movements.

"Tricky, absolutely tricky!"

Mu Yi knew he had the advantage; compared to his partially enhanced attribute adjustments, the opponent should be fully suppressed by the rules.

Without attribute suppression, the opponent could have easily overpowered him in an instant.

Even with attribute suppression, the opponent's linked skill combos gave him a hard time, nearly exposing his trump card right away.

Nevertheless, Mu Yi gripped his sword; even so, he would fight on. Opening the treasure chest would restore his attributes, and as he grows harder to defeat, he must seize this period.

He must win!

Jiang Feng commanded the tree spirit to launch another slapping attack.

This time Mu Yi did not dodge, confronting the tree spirit as he swung his formation blade.

—Ten Thousand Armies Take Head·First Form

The blade flash sliced, and the first strike severed the massive giant hand.

—Ten Thousand Armies Take Head·Second Form

The guaranteed-hit blade flash cut through the huge tree spirit's body, exposing Jiang Feng from the trunk; the blade broke the heavy wooden armor, leaving a deep, bone-visible wound on Jiang Feng.

—Ten Thousand Armies Take Head·Third Form

A fatal slash; Jiang Feng's unwilling expression turned into a white flash and vanished.

And a new number—1—appeared on Mu Yi's other wrist.

"Zongwang Prompt: You have gained 1 point."

The barrier dissipated, returning to the forest; now free of Jiang Feng's control, the woods fell silent again.

"Not good!" Mu Yi rubbed his chin; he wasn't sure of Jiang Feng's strength, but he was certain Jiang Feng wasn't a top contender for the championship.

At least among the few names he had heard from Lin Yi, Jiang Feng was nowhere to be found.

"What a gathering of geniuses!"

Mu Yi sighed, recovered in a seated posture for a moment, then moved toward the forest's center.

Based on prior experience, a guard should be there; defeating it would open the portal to the next room.

The guard is a Level 9 boss—a stout black bear—undoubtedly a tier above ordinary or elite monsters.

Compared with Jiang Feng, the Level 9 boss was like a toy; Mu Yi decapitated the black bear in just a few swings.

After slaying the room's guard, Mu Yi proceeded to the next chamber.

This room featured a riverside; the bank was a relatively flat pebble shore with no cover.

As long as he doesn't face a water-using opponent, it shouldn't be as messy as before.

But before his mental illusion cleared, a white flash again brushed a figure nearby; this time he encountered another contestant.

"A bit unlucky!"

Mu Yi felt a headache watching the young Daoist in a robe appear before him; compared to these guys, he now preferred to see the treasure chest monster.

"Yin-Yang Practitioner, Zhang Ze, pleased to meet you, fellow cultivator!"

Seeing Zhang Ze's battle-hungry expression, Mu Yi knew the fight was about to begin.

"Military Strategist, Mu Yi, please bestow your teachings!"

He exhaled lightly, reluctantly returning the courtesy.

After the brief exchange, the Daoist youth shook a small flag without hesitation.

—Water Walk·Water Marsh Capital

The nearby stream roared instantly, its waters surging wildly, breaking free of the riverbed in a blink and forming a massive black tortoise that slammed toward Mu Yi.

"What you fear comes indeed!"

Mu Yi's face darkened; he had just said he didn't want to meet a water user, yet he immediately collided with one.

He took a deep breath, strode toward Zhang Ze, and shouted, "No fear, let's fight!"

The blade rose and fell, the Black Tortoise was split in two, turning into helpless water droplets that scattered.

Before Mu Yi could catch his breath, the scattered water droplets gathered again, condensing into an even larger Black Tortoise apparition that pressed down from above his head.

Seeing this, Mu Yi also grinned, you bastards, come fight me in close combat!

Old Man Fa and such are really annoying.

——Time Confusion·Double Speed

Mu Yi's figure sped up again, a flash and his silhouette appeared before Zhang Ze.

——Metal·Indestructible Vajra

Zhang Ze remained calm, tossing out a golden small flag from his hand; a barrier instantly coalesced before him, while his other hand threw out a deep yellow small flag.

——Earth·Ten Thousand Jun Gravity

A layer of gravity instantly enveloped Mu Yi's whole body, as if trying to crush him; his movement stalled and his speed slowed a bit.

Two new small flags appeared in his hand, obviously intending to resist Mu Yi's attack head-on, then use a powerful spell to directly annihilate Mu Yi.

"Hehehehe!"

Mu Yi's mouth curled with a cold smile, wanting to play a defensive counterattack, first ask if my blade agrees.

——Blade Intent·Severing Shackles

Mu Yi's blade intent burst forth from within him, the gravity pressing on him instantly shattered; seeing the earth-yellow small flag representing the earth phase of the Five Phases break, Zhang Ze revealed a pained expression.

However, before he could continue feeling sorry, a fierce blade light swept up a raging wind and howled toward him.

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