Chapter 140: The Peculiar Zhao Xing, Third-Tier Advancement Battle

The moment Li Feng's feet touched the ground, he sensed something was off — when he had just taken off, there had been no frost on the ground, but after talking with Zhao Xing, a layer of frost had formed.

Clearly, Zhao Xing had cast a spell while chatting with him.

This guy was just talking to stall for time!

"Despicable!" Li Feng stamped his foot, shattering the frost on the ground, and hurriedly activated his Earth-Advantage Spell, because he sensed something was wrong.

"Mystic Earth Parts Gold, rise!"

The ground heaved, and three meters in front of Li Feng, nine mounds of earth suddenly burst forth; soil churned like spring water, and then nine rock giants broke out from the earth.

The giants were roughly three meters tall, their bodies piled together from chunks of Jin Shi, sand and dirt still sliding off them.

"Zhao Xing, if you've got the guts, take my Mystic Earth Spell head-on! What kind of skill is hiding and dodging!"

After speaking, Li Feng pricked up his ears to listen.

"Come."

The voice drifted out from the fog.

Li Feng twirled his index finger, and the nine rock giants charged into the fog to search for Zhao Xing's tracks.

In the fog, a pair of eyes watched the rock giants below and the tiger beasts that had barged in.

"Why does Li Feng's cultivation path feel like a summoner? Every spell he learns is the outnumber-and-overwhelm type."

"Last time with the Cloud Spell, it was the same."

Outnumbering the enemy — Zhao Xing had done that too, with the Strawman Spell.

The Strawman Spell falls under the broad category of Panic Among Grass and Trees, but by the Five Elements, it's a Wood Spell.

Zhao Xing knew Wood Spells too. Xue Wenzhong had once passed down the Liu Chuan Weaving Method to Zhao Xing; of the eighty-one types of strawmen, Zhao Xing had mastered seven, and the other seventy-four he had already committed to memory — he just hadn't practiced them.

Because the Strawman Spell is delicate work, and the remaining seventy-four types are extremely difficult, taking up too much time. Going into the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, where would he find the time to practice the Strawman Spell?

"As long as Li Feng can't break my Heaven-Timing Spell, no matter how strong his Earth and Wood Spells are, he can only take a beating passively."

"Hiding in the fog, I'm already in an unassailable position." Zhao Xing watched the giants and tiger beasts raging helplessly below.

【Fog Concealment】, this Heaven-Timing Spell, is a dedicated concealment spell.

Whether it's Five Elements Observation or the Bright Pupil Spell, they all become useless — there's no seeing through it.

This spell is a great help in warfare.

Offensively, it can hinder enemy movement and disrupt the commander's orders.

Defensively, it can be used to prevent enemy pursuit; when retreating, a heavy fog is the best cover.

The current environment isn't complex, but if it were more complex, combined with the Fog Concealment spell, an entire army might even suffer a camp panic, with soldiers fighting each other in the fog.

"The difference between Fog Concealment and Cloud-Swallowing is that the Cloud Spell is used to seize air superiority and assist other spells. Li Feng doesn't dare to prop up clouds because he knows it'd be useless, would waste his vital energy, and might even cause backlash."

"But without propping up clouds, his Heaven-Timing Spell is half useless."

"Fog Concealment, on the other hand, traps and blocks the enemy. It doesn't boost other spells much, but it's plenty powerful on its own."

Unable to find Zhao Xing for a long time, Li Feng grew restless and activated the Mystic Earth Spell again.

But its power was far weaker than before.

Because the layer of frost on the surface had seeped down into the earth.

It created a kind of insulating effect, reducing the effectiveness of his borrowing of the earth's vein power; the second batch of Jin Shi giants was a head shorter than before.

"Zhao Xing, is this a spell duel you're fighting? You're purely stalling for time! My Gang Wind Spell can't touch you — are you going for a draw?!" Li Feng felt deeply frustrated.

But Zhao Xing turned a deaf ear, simply watching the giants and tiger beasts in the fog.

"Under the fog's erosion, the rock giants and tiger beasts are both slowly weakening. This is what Heaven-Timing means — accumulating the momentum of the environment. In one spot it may not seem to matter, but as my fog expands and accumulates bit by bit, it becomes a natural disaster."

"Stronger than any single spell, no longer something one spell alone can resist."

Zhao Xing was experiencing the effects of Li Feng's spells and the changes within the fog, and faintly sensed some enlightenment.

The mist also gradually took on a dark-red tinge — after absorbing the pollen from the flower sea, it had been incorporated into the fog.

Accumulating the grand momentum of heaven and earth — this is the direction of insight for mastering the Solar Term Tokens.

"The erosion has intensified." Zhao Xing returned his attention to the spells themselves, watching the gradually weakening tiger beasts and Jin Shi giants.

Whether it was 【Heavenly Frost】 or 【Fog】, both were comprehended from the Solar Term Stele, each embodying the characteristics of a certain solar term.

The moment they were comprehended, they were already at the Seventh Revolution.

Now Zhao Xing was using the spells in reverse to comprehend the Solar Term Map.

Li Feng's Mystic Earth Spell could interfere with the two spells, and in turn 【Fog】 and 【Heavenly Frost】 were also eroding Li Feng's spells.

Cross-verifying, Zhao Xing felt that the two phantom Solar Term Tokens within his Origin Dantian had both solidified by thirty percent.

It was just that Li Feng kept screaming and hollering down there — anyone who didn't know would think he'd suffered some great injustice.

"A draw? You're dreaming."

Zhao Xing's figure emerged, staring at Li Feng.

"Do you have any more tricks? If not, we can end this."

"Go!" Seeing Zhao Xing emerge, Li Feng immediately cast a spell to direct the giants and tiger beasts to pounce on Zhao Xing. This time he wouldn't fall for it again and waste words with Zhao Xing.

First the ground frosted over, then the fog suddenly turned pink — how would Li Feng dare to say more to Zhao Xing?

"Looks like you've really run out of tricks. Well, it makes sense — comprehending the Three-Spell Union must have cost you a great deal of time, and you also know two Ninth Revolution spells."

"Roar!"

Without hesitation, Zhao Xing activated the Kui Ox Thunder Roar.

Faint ripples twisted in the air, spreading rapidly.

Seeing this, Li Feng hurriedly cast a spell to circulate the air around himself outward, reducing the Thunder Roar's power.

But Zhao Xing wasn't aiming it at him at all.

"Boom~"

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

The tiger-beasts and spear-shades formed by the Gang Wind Earth Transformation were all shattered.

The Jin Yan giant was largely unaffected, but this was already enough.

"Boom!"

Originally Zhao Xing's Gang Wind technique had been locked in a tangled struggle with Li Feng's Three Techniques United; now that the suppression was gone, eight streams of Gang Wind transformed into eight roaming dragons and charged toward Li Feng.

"Gang Wind Earth Transformation, rise!"

The Kui Ox Thunder Roar had left his head somewhat dizzy; Li Feng endured the discomfort and once again deployed the Three Techniques United.

But this time, the power of his technique was already less than half of its original.

"Boom boom boom boom!!"

The Gang Wind Green Dragon slammed into the newly appeared earth figure, knocking it apart and turning it back into dirt.

Li Feng's face went pale; although he had blocked this strike, he could no longer withstand a third wave.

The impact on him was too great. The slight advantage he had accumulated was gone—after merely a quarter-hour, the initiative was entirely in Zhao Xing's hands.

"Whoosh!" The Gang Wind reformed and continued its charge.

Li Feng was sent flying; a flash of Jin Guang appeared on his body, and he vanished into the air.

The battle was over.

First match of the promotion battle—victory!

On the preparation platform, Li Feng, whose injuries and vital energy were rapidly recovering, stood in place somewhat dazedly.

"Why? He clearly didn't deploy the Cloud technique, so why did it have such a huge impact on my technique?"

"The whole thing lasted just over a quarter-hour. The situation at the start and at the end felt completely different."

"Was it the Solar Term Order? No, he didn't even deploy the Solar Term Order."

The Solar Term Order's effect in a spell duel manifests relatively slowly, and Li Feng knew his Cloud technique couldn't overcome Zhao Xing's, so he had never thought of influencing the weather—because Zhao Xing could easily hold up clouds to cover the entire terrain, and before his Solar Term Order could even build momentum, he would have already lost.

"He didn't deploy the Solar Term Order, but the feeling he gave me was as if he had." Li Feng was somewhat unwilling to accept it. "Is the gap really this big?"

"I will definitely win it back!"

Losing to Zhao Xing again dealt a heavy blow to the confidence he had built up from his twenty-one consecutive victories.

To recover some confidence, Li Feng quickly started his next match.

【Tiger Jiao Army Li Feng, you have been matched with training opponent Xuan Jia Army 'Hua Zhilin'.】

The result was that, because his mindset had been affected…

A quarter-hour later, Li Feng lost again.

Promotion failed; his seven stars dropped to six.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after Zhao Xing finished matching with Li Feng, his second promotion-battle opponent was merely an ordinary Grade B talent—not even qualified to push Zhao Xing to raise his intensity—and was wiped out in less than thirty breaths.

【Divine Might Army Zhao Xing, you have completed the Seven-Star Promotion Battle!】

【Current Points: 23.】

【Net Wins: 23】

【Rating: First-Tier】

【Dojo Points Ranking: 912,452 (Shi Yang Grotto-Heaven)】

【Nine-Section Dojo Points Ranking: 75,214 (Shi Yang Grotto-Heaven)】

【After obtaining a rating, you have more permissions: you may freely select designated training terrain, filter training opponents, and observe others' battles.】

"910,000? There really are a lot of people in Shi Yang Grotto-Heaven."

The dojo's points ranking counts everyone together regardless of profession.

A First-Tier rating is probably also among the bottom group. Zhao Xing estimated that the total population of Shi Yang Grotto-Heaven exceeds two million!

Nine armies, plus all kinds of logistics personnel, and occasionally people from secondary legions coming and going—two million is quite normal.

"In the local armies, one Military Agricultural Officer is配备 for every hundred soldiers. But here, I'd estimate one Agricultural Officer for every ten men." Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Zhao Xing was ranked in the 70,000s, so the total number of Agricultural Officers was probably over 100,000.

Among the reserves, however, he was ranked in the 3,000s.

Because before entering, over two thousand people had already completed Grade C training, which only required obtaining a First-Tier rating.

"Continue matching." Zhao Xing knew that most of the opponents he matched with now were weak; to find strong opponents to verify what he had learned, he would have to keep climbing higher.

From that day on, Zhao Xing began to challenge relentlessly in the Nine-Section Dojo.

In most cases, his opponents could not withstand a single move from him.

Because although some people also had a First-Tier rating, their realm was only Ninth Grade.

Although they had many techniques, their levels were generally low. Those who possessed two Nine-Turn techniques were relatively few; most practiced a technique to the Seven-Turn level before going to learn another, verifying against each other and then breaking through.

Low grade, and techniques that couldn't compare—naturally, they were easily crushed by Zhao Xing.

Occasionally, an opponent piqued Zhao Xing's interest and could force him to deploy his other techniques, but nine times out of ten, it was a one-strike victory.

Under this efficient matching, Zhao Xing's net wins also climbed rapidly.

First-Tier One-Star, First-Tier Two-Star, First-Tier Three-Star…

On the fourth day of the Nine-Section Dojo…

Zhao Xing had already fought his way up to First-Tier Seven-Star.

The Second-Tier promotion battle: best of three, two wins to advance.

Zhao Xing still took two easy consecutive victories.

However, starting from the fifth day, the strength of his matched opponents rose a notch.

Zhao Xing's pace also slowed somewhat.

Mainly second-tier opponents, who could already provide him with "nourishment" in real combat.

If first-tier and below were chewed-up sugarcane dregs, fighting them offered no nourishment at all.

First-tier and above were like sugarcane not yet fully chewed, occasionally offering a taste of sweetness.

Second-tier and above were juicy and full — every battle, Zhao Xing could gain some insight.

As Zhao Xing's winning streak grew longer, combined with his unusual fighting style, soon his name was mentioned once again among the Si Nong Jian reserves.

"Did you hear? Zhao Xing from the Dili Court has already achieved sixty-one consecutive wins in the Nine-Section Arena! His total matches are sixty-one, his net wins are also sixty-one — he has never tasted defeat!"

"Defeat? Not even a draw! He's now at second-tier five-star, and not a single person can force a tie with him."

"Tsk tsk, truly outrageous. He's fought until now without a single loss, while I've fought over a hundred matches and I'm still stuck at first-tier five-star."

"The previous Zhuang Ziqing and Shi Yong also went undefeated all the way to third-tier. This Zhao Xing is probably going to charge straight up to third-tier unbeaten as well."

"I wonder who would actually be stronger in real combat — him, Zhuang Ziqing, or Shi Yong."

In the public square area outside Cloud Gate, many people would occasionally come out for a breath of fresh air and listen to Cen Sanji's lectures.

At this moment, Yu Chunwu, Peng Ran, Yang Yang, and He Yu had gathered together to chat.

Ever since they had joined forces to fight Li Feng at Wanli Lei Chi, the four of them had become close friends.

"I haven't run into Shi Yong, so I can't say, but Zhuang Ziqing — I ran into him once." Yu Chunwu said, "Zhuang Ziqing defeated me using only one type of spell, and that was thunder law. I felt Zhuang Ziqing's strength was formidable — at least on par with Shi Yong."

"Not quite. I ran into Shi Yong, not Zhuang Ziqing, and it was twice." Peng Ran said, "The first time Shi Yong fought me, I had no idea what was happening before the Dao-Protecting Barrier ruled me the loser."

"The second time, the moment I entered, I asked Shi Yong to give me a chance to strike first. Guess what happened?"

"Not guessing." He Yu said deliberately.

"Stop dragging it out, speak quickly." Yang Yang urged.

"He just stood there and let me cast. I unleashed every spell I knew, yet didn't wound him in the slightest!" Peng Ran said.

"Hiss, that outrageous?" Yu Chunwu said.

"Could it be that you…"

"It's not that I'm just bad, brothers." Peng Ran sighed, "It's that he's just too strong. Do you know how I lost in the end?"

"In that match I humbly asked him for guidance, asked him to use his most powerful move against me. The result was that Shi Yong just gave a light wave of his hand, and suddenly scales grew on both my hands, completely wrapping them up — I couldn't cast at all!"

"After that, scales also grew on my chest. The Dao-Protecting Barrier ruled that I had suffered a fatal wound, and immediately teleported me out."

"Scales? Shi Yong's Solar Term Order — has he already grasped the Phenomena Law?" Yu Chunwu said in astonishment, "And this isn't ordinary phenomena change either — it involves the physical structure of the human body. How powerful must the Phenomena Law be to accomplish that?"

"So I say, Zhuang Ziqing would have a hard time resisting Shi Yong. As for Zhao Xing, I haven't run into him, so I don't know his situation. From what I've seen, I think Shi Yong is stronger than Zhao Xing." Peng Ran said, "Has any of you run into Zhao Xing?"

"Yes." Yang Yang and He Yu spoke at the same time, "I ran into him once."

"How did it go?"

"It felt very strange." Yang Yang said.

He Yu looked at Yang Yang in surprise: "You felt it too?"

Yu Chunwu and Peng Ran immediately grew interested: "How so? What was strange? Did he beat you with just one move too?"

Yang Yang shook his head: "On the contrary, I dueled him for nearly half a shichen. At first I even thought I had a chance to win, thought our strength was evenly matched, but as the fight went on, something started feeling off."

"No matter what spell I cast, he could edge me out by just a little in the fight, and only when the match time was nearly up did the winner get decided."

He Yu also nodded: "Yes, I had the same feeling. Even now I can't quite tell whether I lost that match by sheer bad luck, or whether I was truly toyed with."

Peng Ran burst out laughing at this: "Don't doubt it, you two — you were definitely toyed with. One person losing by bad luck is possible, but surely both of you can't have lost by bad luck."

He Yu said, "I asked him the same thing — was he toying with me? And he actually said I was formidable."

Yang Yang said: "Same with me. What do you think he's after?"

Yu Chunwu thought for a moment and said: "Is it possible that Zhao Xing is using the Nine-Section Arena to practice? Maybe he's currently comprehending some powerful technique."

Peng Ran said: "Whatever it is, he's about to reach third-tier soon. I figure once he gets to third-tier, he'll soon run into Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing. When the time comes, as soon as they clash, I bet a lot of people will go watch."

Yu Chunwu nodded: "Right. The Earth Mirror's spectating function lets you watch their battles — there are definitely a lot of people keeping an eye on it. When the fight happens, news will probably spread right away… Has any of you been following Zhao Xing?"

"I have." He Yu spoke up.

Yang Yang then took out his Earth Mirror: "Zhao Xing has a match right now — it's his promotion match to third-tier."

"Oh?" The others immediately looked over. "Who did he get matched against?"