Chapter 315

The duel between Liu Tianning and Ling Tianchen attracted the attention of countless people.

This was the first battle between Ling Tianchen and Liu Tianning. After he finishes, there will be the first battle between Wang Tianzhi and Liu Tianning.

Ling Tianchen has great fame in the high-grade circles because only Agricultural Officials of the Marquis-Change faction can go into many of the cruel cave-heaven danger zones to bring back rare treasures.

As for Wang Tianzhi, he is famous regardless of the grade because he is the disciple of the previous Grand Agricultural Official and the junior martial brother of the current one.

Liu Tianning is also long-renowned, having been widely known since the end of the Jingxin Calendar. He even beat the third-grade "Pang Xianyun" into submission while he was still in the fourth grade; the latter even changed his name to "Pang Yuanzhen."

As a Military Agricultural Official, he served as an inspector in the military realm and executed countless powerhouses. After succeeding as the Dean of the Shangluo Academy, he brought the Self-Nature faction's spells, especially the Ten Thousand Dharma Straw Man, to the new height of the "Seven Dharma Bodies." In the first seven rounds of dozens of battles, he didn't lose a single one.

Hearing that their duel was about to begin, Ji Che immediately gave the order to have the floating islet moved to the Heaven-Rank No. 1 Dao-Discussion Arena.

"According to the agreement the Grand Ancestor made with the three factions back then."

"The candidates of the three factions will fight at most ten rounds before the final winner is decided."

"The final winner will receive the Emperor's appointment and become the Grand Agricultural Official of the Great Zhou."

On the way there, Ji Wenchang acted as a commentator for the Prince of the Mosi Kingdom.

"The competition began in the first year of Yongzhi. It is now the eightieth year of Yongzhi. According to ancestral rules, this is already the second-to-last round."

"Looking at the history of the Great Zhou's past Grand Agricultural Officials taking office, usually, after the three factions fight seven or eight matches, the candidate is basically determined."

"Why? Isn't it said that they fight ten matches?" Prince Jinke asked, puzzled.

"Because they were beaten into submission," Ji Wenchang said. "The gap is too large, so naturally, no competitors dare to challenge them."

"The fewest even only fought one round before the Grand Agricultural Official candidate was determined, which was the founding Grand Agricultural Official, Wu Cheng, back then."

"So that's how it is." Prince Jinke suddenly understood, and at the same time said with slight envy: "Just the Dao of the Agricultural Official has produced countless powerhouses. With such a long history and profound foundation, it is truly worthy of being a Celestial Dynasty."

Prince Jinke suddenly felt that he had broadened his horizons.

If it were in his Mosi Kingdom, how could there be such a civilized way of selection? They would fight to the death from the very first round.

They also didn't have such prosperous traditions at all. Thousands of years ago, the Mosi Kingdom didn't even have the concept of an Agricultural Official; they lived by hunting, fishing, and fish farming, and had no habit of farming at all.

The City Governor of the Mosi Kingdom was also directly appointed by the King and was only responsible for managing finances. Anyone could serve as a City Governor, as long as they were a noble.

"Lord Zongbo, do the positions of Great Zhou's Grand Marshal, Grand Minister of Works, and so on, also have such grand selection events?"

Prince Bingtu asked curiously.

Ji Wenchang was very patient and replied: "Each department has some grand selection ceremonies, but the vast majority of the chief officials of each department in our dynasty are directly appointed by His Majesty. For example, the current Grand Marshal was directly appointed by His Majesty, as was the Grand Minister of Works, Nie Xiongying—"

Zhao Xing was also listening to Ji Wenchang talk about history on the side.

The reason for this situation is mainly that the Grand Ancestor of the Great Zhou came from a mechanical family in the State of Wu during the Era of Ten Thousand Nations.

The Grand Ancestor was proficient in the Dao of the Hundred Schools. Before conquering the ten thousand nations, he had studied under many sects and obtained many core inheritances: Martial Dao, the Dao of Mechanisms, the Dao of Spells, and the Dao of Fate. He also had a younger brother, Ji Shuang, known as the Martial God, who was the first-generation Dean of the Divine Martial Academy.

After years of development, many high-level members among the seventy-two academies are descendants of the Ji clan. In many top-tier Agricultural Official academies like the Lianhua Academy and the Qingmu Academy, those in power are all of the Ji surname.

Even among the three holy lands of the Agricultural Officials, there are many high-level members with the Ji surname, such as the two candidates in the Kunyuan Academy who have yet to fight; one is named Qiu Yuanshan, and the other is named Ji Youtang.

Of course, the Emperors of the Ji royal family occupy much of the world's fortune. Throughout the ages, although there have been many high-level members among the Ji descendants, it is rare for one to be called the number one person in a certain industry.

The former Prince of Liang counted as one; he was the former Dean of the Divine Martial Academy. However, this title was vacated for decades following the end of the Dingxin era when the Prince of Liang stripped away the Creation Disk, until the Prince of Luo took office.

In recent decades, many high-grade officials in various professions have been approaching their lifespan limits, and many new-generation powerhouses have come to the arena to demonstrate their abilities.

The period of transition between the old and the new is when powerhouses are most active. Countless people are waiting to show their abilities during this time, hoping to enter the vision of the next Emperor.

Political achievements, character, and reputation all require long-term verification, and the rankings in the arena are undoubtedly the fastest way to showcase them.

Therefore, regardless of the profession, academy, or internal screening of any faction, it all involves the 【Arena】

rankings.

"Old Liu's rise has broken many records," Zhao Xing said, flipping through the arena rankings.

"Excluding the dormant fifth-grade period, in the fourth-grade Origin Soul Realm, he took first place in the 【Nine-Section Arena】. He was also first during the third and second-grade periods, and he maintained an undefeated record in every period."

The Nine-Section Arena is specifically for calculating the rankings of Agricultural Officials.

Zhao Xing was looking at the points and win-rate rankings of the Nine-Section Arena; it's hard to compare with other professions.

For example, Musicians and Dancers; these professions need to be in groups for their technique power to be maximized.

People of the same profession can spar, but cross-profession duels are impossible to measure.

Take Ji Mengjun, for example. During her second-grade period, she was the number one in the Ritual and Music Arena rankings, but when she sparred with other professions, she couldn't even beat a martial artist ranked thirtieth in the Wu Yao Arena.

However, if she were to lead a team battle with fifteen Dancers and Musicians, she could suppress a team of martial artists composed of the first to fifteenth ranked in the Wu Yao Arena.

Therefore, for arena rankings, one only needs to look at their own profession; the rest don't have much reference value.

"Old Liu's dominance in his own profession is truly strong. From the twenty-eighth year of the Jingxin Calendar until now, in arena sparring, ninety-nine percent are wins, and the rest are draws."

Besides this, Liu Tianning has broken many records, such as: youngest Dean of the Shangluo Academy, and the record for the number and variety of top-tier Straw Man Dharma Bodies.

"Even this competition for Grand Agricultural Official has broken the record for the number of matches."

"Except for him, no past Grand Agricultural Official has fought so many matches."

"Except for the special case of Wu Cheng, most are decided after fighting six or seven rounds."

"He, on the other hand, is already in the eighth round, and the Profound Heaven Academy and Kunyuan Academy still have many who are unconvinced and want to schedule a ninth, or even a tenth round," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

There's no helping it; there is no precedent for a Dean of the Shangluo Academy to serve as the Grand Agricultural Official in the Great Zhou!

The status of the Self-Nature faction has never been high, and their numbers are the smallest.

Of course, it's much better now.

It has been over a hundred years since Zhao Xing wrote the two-scripture commentary for "Self-Nature Heavenly Object Theory" and the Theory of Object Laws; the number of Self-Nature faction Agricultural Officials has multiplied several times over compared to before.

Although they still cannot compare to the other two factions in terms of quantity, at least they are much more prosperous than before.

"Liu Tianning's life is different this time, but Ling Tianchen and Wang Tianzhi's lives are also different."

"I wonder if there will be any variables," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Now that Liu Tianning hasn't gone mad, it doesn't mean his combat power is stronger than his previous life; the gap won't be very large. Because the time he spent re-cultivating in the middle must be counted, one can only say it is good for Old Liu's future.

In terms of combat power, Liu Tianning had already touched the ceiling in his previous life; even if he is higher in this life, there won't be a huge change.

Ling Tianchen, however, obtained the "Ancestral Dragon Transformation" and a large amount of true blood. While Liu Tianning was re-cultivating the God-Derivation Art,

he switched from the "Kiss Transformation" to the "Ancestral Dragon Transformation" without spending much time at all.

Because the Kiss was originally a son of the True Dragon.

Wang Tianzhi's life trajectory has also changed. Originally, he was always serving as a second-grade Junior Agricultural Official, but now he resigned very early and was sent by Li Boqian to the West Sea for special training.

The Kunyuan Academy's "Qiu Yuanshan" didn't leave a deep impression in Zhao Xing's memory originally, but he has been studying the Kunyuan Divine Hoe in the Shrine of the Society God for over a hundred years. Since he can be compared with Liu Tianning, he must certainly have something to him.

"They should bring Old Liu some trouble," Zhao Xing thought. "I just don't know how big this trouble will be; the hope of winning against Liu Tianning is still very slim."

The floating islet soon flew to the Heaven-Rank No. 1 Dao-Discussion Arena, and his islet merged with Princess Youruo's islet into one.

The people on the islet also increased.

Princess Youruo, Ji Si, the Prince of Luo, Nie Xiongying, Lu Ying, the Prince of Shenluo, the Master of Longyuan Prefecture, Ye Yukong, the Duke of Wei, the Duke of Yang, Bai Yunwu, Xuanyuan Qingtian, Meng Kun, Gu Zhangqing, Li Boqian, and so on.

Those who could be named basically all ran to this best viewing position.

"Grand Agricultural Official, Grand Minister of Works, Grand Marshal—with so many people surrounding us, it would be enough to stage a rebellion," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Ji Che set up three seats separately and invited Li Boqian, Xuanyuan Qingtian, and Zhao Xing to the seats to explain the upcoming battle to everyone.

Zhao Xing originally didn't want to be so high-profile: "Your Highness, how can this be? I am merely a Lingshan Envoy; how can I sit with these two seniors? Besides, I am only in the Heavenly Fate Realm; I might not necessarily understand."

But Ji Che pulled him and pressed him onto the seat: "Why can't it be? Is there anyone who disagrees?"

Ji Che looked around, his gaze fierce. He didn't need to look at others; he knew no one would object. Ji Che looked at that group of ritual officials.

Ji Wenchang directly pretended not to see, looking straight ahead, sitting upright.

Seeing this, Ji Che turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Zhao Xing: "Look, everyone doesn't object. Big Brother, you are the Vice Dean of the Shangluo Academy. With the Dean absent, you are equivalent to the Dean, so just sit here."

It had come to this; what else could Zhao Xing say? He could only sit between Li Boqian and Xuanyuan Qingtian.

If any other Crown Prince dared to arrange the seating like this, Li Boqian and Xuanyuan Qingtian would have jumped up and pointed at his nose to curse him.

You actually arranged a Vice Dean of the Self-Nature faction in the chief seat? Do you know how to do things!

However, since this person was Zhao Xing, the two of them just watched happily as Ji Che and Zhao Xing pushed the offer back and forth.

"Lord Lu," Ji Che looked at the Junior Minister of Works, Lu Ying. "Whether everyone can watch a wonderful match depends on you."

"Please rest assured, Your Highness." Lu Ying straightened his body and immediately summoned eight earth mirrors to form a cube.

Everyone sitting in the hall could clearly see the images in the earth mirrors from any angle.

At the same time, outside the floating islet, thousands of identical octahedrons flew up, turning into small matrices and hiding in various areas of the arena.

This live broadcast was completely military-grade!

Because Lu Ying is a Military Minister of Works, this was the exact method used by the military realm to monitor the battlefield back then.

Seeing this thing, Zhao Xing suddenly remembered his internship period.

When he was soaking in the hot springs in Yuncheng, letting the cat-eared girl dance would probably be seen clearly by others.

"The entry has begun," Li Boqian's voice spread throughout the hall. "According to the rules set by the Grand Ancestor and the founding Grand Agricultural Official Wu Cheng, in the Dao-discussion battle of the three factions, one must not carry any divine weapons."

"Including the Heavenly Time faction's divine artifacts: the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Order, the Seventy-Two Hou Heavenly Seal, the Spiritual Rhinoceros Star Compass, etc."

Li Boqian gave a few examples of the Heavenly Time faction's divine artifacts.

"The Earthly Benefit faction's divine artifacts: the Kunyuan Divine Hoe, the Earth Emperor Crown."

"For the Self-Nature faction, the use of treasure-grade divine trees is prohibited; there are no restrictions on the rest."

Speaking of this, many laymen were very puzzled.

Seeing this, Xuanyuan Qingtian immediately gave Zhao Xing a chance to perform: "Dean Zhao, why only restrict treasure-grade tree-type troop types?"

Zhao Xing said: "Although the Self-Nature faction has no divine artifacts, it has plant troop types equivalent to divine artifacts."

"Restricting only tree-type treasures is mainly because large tree-type troop types have overly powerful combat capabilities."

"The cultivation of tree-type plant troop types is far longer than the growth cycle of any other life form; once raised, their power is infinite."

"But we cannot completely restrict the Self-Nature faction from using treasure-grade troop types."

"The combat power of the Self-Nature faction's Military Agricultural Officials mostly comes from the cultivation and driving of plant troop types."

"If completely restricted, then the strength of the Self-Nature faction's Agricultural Officials would be cut by more than half, just like a Beast Tamer not being allowed to bring a battle pet."

Actually, there was one more reason Zhao Xing didn't say, which is that tree-type treasures are basically inherited by the strength of the entire academy.

Whoever becomes the Dean will definitely be able to inherit it, and the Dean of the Shangluo Academy has a secret technique.

To fully manifest the divine tree, but the sacrifice for this is too great; not only does the Agricultural Official himself suffer damage, but the divine tree within the body also suffers damage, and may even quickly head toward death.

This has nothing to do with personal strength.

Since it is a Dao-discussion dispute, one only looks at how the Dao techniques are.

If the three factions were all unrestricted, what would the result be?

The Earthly Benefit faction takes the Shennong Hoe, the Heavenly Time faction summons the Solar Terms Order, and the Self-Nature faction spends the cost to release the divine tree.

In this situation, the strength of the Agricultural Official himself can be ignored; just look at the divine artifacts and divine trees to see who is better.

"Liu Tianning, Self-Nature faction Agricultural Official, first-grade Life Palace Realm, Rule Domain fifth-grade." Zhao Xing announced Old Liu's official data.

"Ling Tianchen, Heavenly Time faction Agricultural Official, first-grade Life Palace Realm, Rule Domain sixth-grade." Li Boqian also stated Ling Tianchen's paper data.

After hearing this, Zhao Xing couldn't help but narrow his eyes; Ling Tianchen had indeed become stronger.

In terms of the Rule Domain, he was even higher than Liu Tianning.

However, this was just paper data. Zhao Xing looked at the information; even powerhouses with the same fifth or sixth-layer domain had lost to these two.

The Rule Domain represents the comprehension of the Dao; as long as the difference isn't too great, spells and martial techniques are the key to the battle.

Wu Cheng didn't even cultivate the Ten Thousand Dharma Straw Man, yet he still created the "Wu Transmission Straw Man Method."

Xu Xing is two domain grades behind Li Boqian, but the outside world says Xu Xing can beat Li Boqian to a pulp; this is because the spells cultivated and the applications are different.

Outside the islet, many fixed-position tower ships and stone platforms were floating in the viewing area.

The dense crowd of spectators all stared at the situation inside the Heaven-Rank Dao-Discussion Arena.

"Liu Ten-Thousand-Dharma is invincible. Looking at his battles in the arena, he hasn't lost a single one. Betting on him will definitely make money!"

"Great Zhou has never had a Grand Agricultural Official from the Self-Nature faction. Ling Tianchen hasn't appeared yet; he's probably preparing some trump card. Ling Tianchen's odds are also high. Trust me, betting on him is where the money is!"

"Makes sense. I sold my eight large manors and bet everything on Ling Tianchen. After today, it'll be hard for me to be poor!"

"You're truly crazy—"

The grand occasion was unprecedented!

Earth mirror statistics showed that the number of people who personally came to watch this duel exceeded one million!

This was still after restricting the strength and status of the spectators; after all, for a battle of this level, those with too low a grade wouldn't understand even with commentary.

As for the odds opened by the official side, it also only harvested the leeks of the rich; those who were not wealthy or noble couldn't get in at all.

"It's starting," Zhao Xing said, looking down.

At this time, the protective golden light on Liu Tianning, who was in cyan Dharma robes, and Ling Tianchen, who was in white Dharma robes, slowly converged.

Finally, it dissipated completely!

"Boom!"

The moment the golden light converged, a rich golden air current erupted from Ling Tianchen.

"Ang~"

As a dragon roar resounded through the heavens and earth, a ten-thousand-meter-long five-clawed golden dragon appeared in the sky.

Complex secret patterns flickered on the dragon scales, and the golden dragon scales illuminated the earth. The five-clawed golden dragon opened its mouth and spat out a golden cloud.

The cloud layer quickly covered the sky; Ling Tianchen had actually raised a cloud technique after transforming.

"Big, big, big!!!"

Ling Tianchen didn't attack Liu Tianning at all; the dragon body surged in the golden cloud layer, constantly growing larger.

He wanted to use his Marquis-Change body and cloud technique to directly squeeze Liu Tianning out of the arena.

The clouds rolled, and in the area where Ling Tianchen was, the climate of heaven and earth changed drastically.

Originally, the soil below was dark black, but at this moment, it underwent a violent phenological change, turning into a kind of crystal-clear gravel.

In an instant, fertile soil became crystal sand!

The crystal sand below rolled violently, expanding crazily.

Sixth-grade Marquis-Change Domain!

The area where Ling Tianchen was at this time was undergoing a chaotic Marquis-Change with an intensity as high as the "hundred-year" level.

With the combination of internal and external Marquis-Change, anyone who dared to jump near him at this time would be completely crystallized!

"Want to squeeze me out?!" Liu Tianning immediately let out a cold snort and quickly landed on the ground from the air. "Heavenly Horn Bamboo, appear!"

The Pure Origin projection unfolded, and a bamboo forest suddenly appeared on the ground.

In the bamboo forest, one Heavenly Horn Bamboo was a thousand meters high, and the other hundred or so were all at the ninth-grade level.

"Boom, boom, boom~"

Thunder leaped between the bamboos, and every bolt of thunder was as thick as a water vat.

Finally, all the thunder gathered on that treasure-grade Heavenly Horn Bamboo that was looming in and out of sight.

"Boom!"

Spring thunder exploded, and a pillar of thunder shot into the sky, directly blasting away Ling Tianchen's cloud layer.

With the Heavenly Horn Bamboo forest as the foundation, the Thunder Domain also expanded crazily.

Anomaly, after the thunder spread, bamboo shoots actually grew around it.

Full of vitality, they directly took root in Ling Tianchen's crystal soil. In the blink of an eye, half of the arena area was completely a bamboo sea full of vitality and flickering thunder!

Fifth-grade Life Domain!

The two of them displayed their respective domains from the very beginning.

Each occupied one side of the world, both trying to crush the other's domain.

This was a duel between the Heavenly Time Rule Domain and the Self-Nature Rule Domain!

On the floating islet, inside the viewing hall.

"This is a bit exaggerated, right? He can actually still grow larger?" Xuanyuan Qingtian was somewhat surprised. "Brother Boqian, what move is this from Tianchen? As far as I know, the Kiss shouldn't be in this form, right?"

Xuanyuan Qingtian had stopped managing affairs long ago and was in a semi-retired state, so naturally, he didn't know Ling Tianchen's secrets.

But he knew at a glance that this shouldn't be the form of a Kiss.

"You should ask Dean Zhao," Li Boqian transmitted his voice; this was a secret and couldn't be explained publicly. A sound domain formed between the three of them. "He sent it well."

"This—" "—cough, cough." Zhao Xing's voice traveled back and forth in the sound domain: "What Dean Ling is performing is called the 'Ancestral Dragon Transformation,' which this junior created by chance while comprehending the Dragon Emperor's Dharma Code and the changes of the Ancestral Dragon in the Dragon Court."

"This Marquis-Change method simulates the Ancestral Dragon form. Every twenty years, I send a batch of true blood to the Profound Heaven Academy,"

"to hand over to Dean Ling."

Xuanyuan Qingtian was stunned: "You created it? And taught it to Ling Tianchen?"

"Yes."

"Hahahaha." Xuanyuan Qingtian couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Why is Dean Xuanyuan laughing?"

"I don't know, maybe I remembered something happy."

"They seem to be whispering."

"Hahahaha, I know what he's laughing at."

"Tell me?"

"Can't say, it's a secret!"

There were also a few people present who knew this secret, including Ji Che, who also laughed along.

Many people didn't know why the big shots were laughing, but who cares! Laughing is enough.

Soon, for some reason, everyone in the hall started laughing.

Xuanyuan Qingtian couldn't help but say: "You are truly increasing the difficulty for Liu Tianning."

Using the technique created by Zhao Xing and the true blood provided by Zhao Xing to fight Liu Tianning, and the power is still so great?

Xuanyuan Qingtian naturally found it amusing.

"Qiu Yuanshan spends all day in the Shrine of the Society God comprehending the Kunyuan Divine Hoe. I thought only the Kunyuan Academy enjoyed the benefits,"

"I didn't expect there was another hand over there."

Liu Tianning in the arena was indeed in a bit of trouble.

Because he didn't have an advantage in the Rule Domain to begin with, and Ling Tianchen used the Ancestral Dragon Transformation to constantly squeeze his space.

This resulted in Liu Tianning being unable to use clones to carry out deceptive attacks.

His straw man, combined with his true self and plant troop types, should have had many ways to fight.

But now there was only one left, and that was to fight head-on.

"Split!"

One Liu Tianning after another emerged from the bamboo forest.

In the blink of an eye, there were over a thousand clones.

But it was only over a thousand, and Liu Tianning stopped.

Because there wasn't enough space!

"Explode!"

Liu Tianning could only first use the 【Heavenly Meteor Dharma Body】 and "Soul Explosion Technique" to expand his own activity space.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, the clones quickly headed toward Ling Tianchen in the clouds in the sky.

"Hmm? Why is he still growing larger? This shouldn't be the Kiss Transformation; it looks more like Zhao Xing's Ancestral Dragon Transformation?" Liu Tianning was also puzzled.

Although he is the Dean of the Shangluo Academy, he doesn't know the secrets of the Profound Heaven Academy.

He didn't know about Zhao Xing sending true blood.

But now that he looked at it, the more he looked, the more familiar it became.

"Ling Tianchen's trump card, which he held back for decades, came from Zhao Xing?" Liu Tianning was somewhat surprised.

Ling Tianchen's Heavenly Time Domain, which combined internal and external Marquis-Change, indeed caused him a lot of trouble.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

Most of the Heavenly Meteor Dharma Bodies exploded in the air before they could even rush into the clouds.

Out of a thousand clones, only a dozen or so were able to explode against Ling Tianchen's true body.

However, for the Ancestral Dragon body, this was completely painless.

Not even a single scale was blown off.

The effect of the Soul Explosion was better; Ling Tianchen's expansion speed slowed down.

"Liu Tianning, you want to be the Grand Agricultural Official? You're still far from it!" Ling Tianchen roared in his heart.

"Golden Scale Heaven!"

The expansion of the Rule Domain slowed down. Liu Tianning used a spell, and he also began to cast spells.

Shifting from the collision of the Dao to a contest of spells.

"~"

Tens of thousands of scales fell off the Ancestral Dragon body. One scale was the size of a plaza, and the surface was extremely smooth, like a huge mirror.

"Hoo~"

The scales, which blocked the sky and the sun, quickly flew above the bamboo forest, and the mirror surfaces were arranged in an arcane way.

"Boom!"

Dragon breath was exhaled, and the upper layer of dragon scale mirrors immediately magnified the beam of light.

After the light beam was reflected by the middle and lower layers of dragon scale mirrors, it headed straight for Liu Tianning's Heavenly Horn Bamboo forest.

"Zui, zui~"

The scorching air current immediately burned down patches of the bamboo forest below.

The Thunder Pool was blasted apart, and the violent air current impacted the barrier of the viewing islets around the arena.

A huge vibration came, even causing many small islets to be knocked sideways.

"Hurry up and reinforce the Dharma array!" Nie Xiongying shouted. "Do not collide with His Highness."

"Yes." Lu Ying was sweating profusely; he never imagined that the duel between these two could be this intense.

Other viewing areas were far away, but the floating islet where Ji Che was located was directly inside the duel area. "Hahahaha, good, well fought!" Ji Che, however, didn't care at all and instead shouted that it was satisfying.

"Who fought well?" Princess Youruo glanced at Ji Che.

"Of course it's Ling—"

"Hmm?"

"Of course it's Ling Tianchen's opponent, Liu Tianning fought well," Ji Che said sternly.

"You are the Crown Prince; how can you be so dissolute?" Princess Youruo glared at him. "Sit properly."

"Big Sister's lesson is correct." Ji Che respected Princess Youruo very much and immediately changed his sitting posture.

Afraid that Princess Youruo would nag more, he immediately changed the subject: "Grand Agricultural Official, two Deans, do you know what the outcome will be next?"

Li Boqian looked carefully, then shook his head lightly.

"Reporting to Your Highness, in at most sixty breaths, Ling Tianchen will show obvious signs of defeat. In another sixty breaths, he will have to admit defeat."

Xuanyuan Qingtian also nodded: "The Grand Agricultural Official is right. Right now, it looks like Ling Tianchen is at his peak, but every time he destroys a bamboo forest, Liu Tianning can immediately replenish it. His Profound Fire Dharma Body can greatly weaken his self-created spell, Golden Scale Heaven."

"Liu Tianning still hasn't released the Golden Divine Pillar. He has already gained a foothold with just the Heavenly Horn Bamboo forest. The Heavenly Meteor Dharma Body can also make Ling Tianchen's thinking sluggish, making his spellcasting stiff, causing flaws in his perfected spells."

"It won't be long before the momentum of offense and defense shifts."

Regarding the evaluation of the two big shots, Zhao Xing couldn't see it.

He only felt that Ling Tianchen was fierce right now and had the upper hand.

However, after the two of them spoke, Zhao Xing became thoughtful.

"Old Liu's seven Dharma Bodies: Soul-Devouring, Heavenly Meteor, Profound Fire, Yellow Springs, Floating, Heavenly Travel."

"The other four Dharma Bodies don't have much lethality against the Ancestral Dragon Transformation, but Heavenly Meteor, Soul-Devouring, and Yellow Springs can all have an effect."

"Soul-Devouring and Heavenly Meteor can attack the soul, and the Yellow Springs Dharma Body can even absorb vitality."

"Even if he doesn't use the Four Seasons Divine Splendor, once he uses the spring and summer seasons, he can turn from defense to offense."

Liu Tianning possesses two domains!

One is the Life Rule Domain he comprehended himself, and the second is the domain displayed by driving treasure-grade plants through the "Heaven and Earth Seed Troop Scripture."

The Life Rule Domain ensures that plant troop types can be smoothly spread and reproduced.

The Four Seasons Domain and Dharma Bodies are for attack.

Even if treasure-grade divine trees cannot be used, the Golden Divine Pillar and Heavenly Horn Bamboo are not considered trees.

So Liu Tianning can still use the Double Season Domain and perform 【Divine Splendor Strangulation】.

"Ling Tianchen's Ancestral Dragon Transformation is different from the Ancestral Dragon innate secret technique I comprehended. I don't know what effects it has," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

But after being reminded by the two, he could see the disadvantage of the Ling-style Ancestral Dragon Transformation, which is in the soul and vitality.

Ling Tianchen cannot resist the Yellow Springs Dharma Body's extraction of vitality; he can block the self-destruction of the Heavenly Meteor Dharma Body, but he cannot block the Soul Explosion.

Liu Tianning's God-Derivation Art has also reached the second level, and he is stronger than Ling Tianchen in the Dao of the soul.

Sure enough, after sixty breaths, Ling Tianchen began to show obvious signs of defeat.

Even those with low cultivation could see it just by looking at the colors of the two domains.

Because the golden-light-flickering Marquis-Change Domain was shrinking, while Liu Tianning's Self-Nature Domain was expanding.

"Damn, how is he about to be turned around?!"

"Black curtain! Black curtain!"

"Wuwuwu, I'm not playing anymore, give me my money back—."

"Hold on, Ling Tianchen!"

"I bet on Ling Tianchen. May I ask which way of dying is more comfortable?"

The viewing area was buzzing with discussion.

Soon, Ling Tianchen fell into a desperate situation.

Due to the excessive loss of vitality, his body size became smaller and smaller. Finally, when Liu Tianning used Divine Splendor Strangulation, he couldn't even maintain his Marquis-Change and turned back into human form.

"I—lost?" Ling Tianchen's eyes were somewhat dazed; he even forgot that he was naked,

and didn't immediately manifest a set of Dharma robes.

Swish~

It was Liu Tianning who picked a few leaves and wrapped him up so he wouldn't continue to be exposed.

It was at this very moment that Ling Tianchen woke up and accepted the fact that he had lost.

"After years of hard training, I thought I had cultivated the Ancestral Dragon Transformation to the ultimate level, perfect and flawless, but now it seems it is still not perfect."

Ling Tianchen waved his hand to blow away the leaves, draped a layer of clouds over himself as clothing, and then looked at Liu Tianning.

"Dean Ling." Liu Tianning also looked at him. "Are you willing to sit down and discuss the Dao with me?"

Ling Tianchen shook his head: "My Heavenly Time Rule Domain and your Self-Nature Domain have nothing in common."

"Liu Tianning, let's fight again in ten years!"

After saying that, he flew away directly.

Liu Tianning frowned; Ling Tianchen's performance like this meant he was unconvinced.

But it was understandable; he was one grade higher in the level of the Dao, yet he lost to Liu Tianning in spells.

Obviously, Ling Tianchen believed they were about the same.

In ten years, Ling Tianchen would definitely try again.

It's even possible he would reach the step of the final 【Great Dao Dispute】!

Swish~

Liu Tianning also flew out of the arena.

He also had to summarize the battle process; this time he didn't form an overwhelming advantage over Ling Tianchen.

If it had been an overwhelming advantage, perhaps Ling Tianchen would have sat down and chatted with him.

"Lost!"

"It's over."

"Damn, isn't the Marquis-Change method supposed to be the best in the world? How could this happen?"

"Domain six lost to domain five? Liu Ten-Thousand-Dharma is truly fierce."

Many people couldn't have imagined that Ling Tianchen, who was fierce and incomparable at the beginning and transformed into a domineering golden dragon, would actually lose.

In the eyes of outsiders, it was as if Liu Tianning had turned the tables on Ling Tianchen.

After all, in terms of posture and ferocity, Ling Tianchen's Marquis-Change method had a stronger visual impact.

Inside the hall, Wang Tianzhi watched the earth mirror silently. "Even Ling Tianchen lost."

His pressure suddenly increased!

Everyone was working hard; he was in special training in the West Sea, and Liu Tianning and Ling Tianchen were also working hard to cultivate.

Wang Tianzhi was full of confidence when he just came out of seclusion, but after watching this battle, he knew he had laughed too early.

Li Boqian had been paying attention to Wang Tianzhi's expression. Seeing him staring at the earth mirror in silence, he couldn't help but shake his head: "Junior Martial Brother is truly unlucky to be born in the same era as Liu Tianning."

In the West Sea special training, Wang Tianzhi's progress was huge because he was trained by Li Boqian himself.

But from his perspective, he also felt that Wang Tianzhi's hope of defeating Liu Tianning was not great.

One day later, Wang Tianzhi dueled Liu Tianning and lost.

Two days later, Qiu Yuanshan, who was supposed to fight, gave up the duel and pushed the time to ten years later.

Two wins and one retreat once again established Liu Tianning's invincible reputation!

Zhao Xing watched those two matches and felt immense pressure.

"Wang Tianzhi is also Rule sixth-grade, and he has also cultivated the Profound Heaven Thunder to the ultimate level."

"He entered the ultimate level with Burning Heaven Thunder; his Heavenly Time Domain is the Great Heat Yang Thunder Domain!"

"Excluding the Marquis-Change method, Wang Tianzhi is proficient in all four methods: thunder, cloud, wind, and rain."

"But he didn't last long either."

Zhao Xing repeatedly watched the battle between Wang Tianzhi and Liu Tianning.

"He also launched a preemptive strike. When Old Liu released his clones, he swallowed five thousand of Old Liu's clones in one breath with the Overlapping Cloud Realm."

"Five thousand clones; his Overlapping Cloud Realm trapped Old Liu."

"But when the number of clones exceeded ten thousand, the spell 'Overlapping Cloud Realm' was broken."

"Wang Tianzhi dodged with 'Measure the Horizon,' but Liu Tianning's Pure Origin projection grew larger and larger. Under the strangulation of the Golden Divine Pillar and the Heavenly Horn Bamboo, the cloud technique couldn't be maintained, which ultimately led to him having nowhere to hide."

After watching, Zhao Xing was extremely moved.

Liu Tianning is indeed heaven-defying; no wonder he couldn't be killed no matter how much they tried in his previous life. He offended so many powerful people and was hunted down fiercely by the old hag, yet he lived until the end of his life.

After re-cultivating, Liu Tianning's true self and clones are completely indistinguishable!

Even if one wanted to carry out a decapitation strike, it would be difficult.

"If they can't beat him in this ten years, they will have an even harder time in the next ten years," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

As for Qiu Yuanshan of the Earthly Benefit faction, he retreated directly; in Zhao Xing's view, he was even less likely to pose a threat.

"Old Liu really wasn't bragging."

"Even if Ling Tianchen and Wang Tianzhi were enhanced versions, they still didn't force out his full strength."

In arena sparring, Liu Tianning didn't use the cost-based killing move from the second level of the God-Derivation Art,

which is to have half of his soul power leave his body and head straight for the opponent's body, a method of mutual destruction.

At the same time, due to the rules, he couldn't display the complete Four Seasons Rule Domain, only the spring and summer seasons.

If it were a field battle, the kind without any restrictions, Liu Tianning would only win faster!

"Is Old Li bragging? Did his Origin Seal really beat Xu Xing to a pulp?" After watching Liu Tianning's battle, Zhao Xing began to doubt whether Li Boqian was bragging.

"Surpassing Old Liu is truly a challenge." Zhao Xing pursed his lips; he was also somewhat excited at this moment.

"Only an Agricultural Official who cultivates all three factions has a chance to beat Liu Tianning; otherwise, it would be a draw at best."

"If I don't defeat Liu Tianning, who will?"

"First, set a small goal: comprehend the Rule Domain in arena sparring!"

In the eightieth year of Yongzhi, the duel between the Agricultural Official candidates of the three factions came to an end, but the arena in Daoyuanzhou was still overcrowded.

Zhao Xing also began his training plan in the arena.

His true self returned to the Shangluo Academy to continue comprehending the "Troop-Using God Scripture," while his clones began to spar.

"Marquis Shenwei Zhao Xing, 'Liang Yu' has accepted your challenge request. Please fly to the Earth-Rank No. 106 duel area."

"." Zhao Xing immediately flew toward the Earth-Rank area.

Now that there were many people in the arena, he challenged Agricultural Officials of his own profession, and this one named Liang Yu came from the "Tianyi Academy," a top-tier Agricultural Official academy, and was also in the second-grade realm.

Earth-Rank No. 106 area.

On the vast grassland, Zhao Xing and Liang Yu appeared in the sky above the grassland together.

"Marquis Shenwei." Liang Yu cupped his hands. He looked like an old man, and Liang Yu's age was indeed quite advanced.

Originally, he was concentrating on cultivating his fortune in a blessed land, but he was approaching his lifespan limit, and he couldn't break through on his own.

He could only come to the arena to improve his ranking and strive to be noticed by the next Emperor.

Generally speaking, when a new Emperor wants to employ people, the arena ranking is a good reference.

If he caught the eye of the new Emperor? Then there would be a chance to extend his life!

"Marquis Yu." Zhao Xing cupped his hands.

"Marquis Shenwei, I won't be polite," Liang Yu said with a smile. "The points ranking is very important to me."

"Marquis Yu, no need to hold back," Zhao Xing stared at the other party. "If you can defeat me, maybe I'll put in a good word for you."

"Good!" Liang Yu's eyes lit up. "Offense taken!"

"Go!"

Liang Yu waved his hand, and a waterfall suddenly appeared in the sky, enveloping Zhao Xing.

Afterward, clouds appeared above the waterfall, but the clouds were illusory and black.

"Profound Darkness True Meaning? Rain before the clouds? Indeed, there's something to it." Zhao Xing immediately activated "Measure the Horizon" to retreat.

"Where are you running!" Liang Yu's whole body also became illusory, as if he had merged with the rain, and he chased directly.

"Good, I won't run!" Zhao Xing suddenly remembered that he was here to train, and running would lose the original intention, so he stopped again.

"Go!" Zhao Xing pointed his finger, and the Prison-Suppressing Thunder Cage appeared. Dense thunder floated, forming purple pillars of light that pierced through the heavens and earth in the air.

The rain passed through, its speed greatly reduced, directly forcing Liang Yu to appear.

"Boom!!"

Liang Yu wanted to flow out of the thunder cage, but between the thunder pillars that seemed to have gaps, there was another layer of fine mesh.

"Zzzzz~" The moment his body was cut, Liang Yu immediately emitted a golden light.

"Yin Thunder Method?" Liang Yu was teleported out by the protection rules with a stunned expression.

【Marquis Shenwei Zhao Xing, wins. You have gained 100 arena points.】

"Liang Yu is still a bit too weak, but this 'rain before the clouds' of his? Can it be used like this?" Zhao Xing pondered for a moment and summarized his insights.

However, in just a few breaths, he digested the insights from the battle. Now he was only one step away from comprehending the Rule Domain. Like Liang Yu, a second-grade Agricultural Official whose potential was exhausted,

was indeed difficult to give him much inspiration.

"Continue to the next match."

Time passed, and Zhao Xing, immersed in arena sparring, soon achieved consecutive victories.

Ten consecutive wins, fifty consecutive wins, eighty consecutive wins—after a few months, in the Nine-Section Arena, Zhao Xing achieved an astonishing two hundred consecutive wins!

Gradually, Zhao Xing was no longer satisfied with only dueling with Agricultural Officials and began to choose opponents from different professions indiscriminately.

High-intensity duels used the experience of powerhouses from different professions as nutrients.

In the arena, Zhao Xing's ranking soared.

On the other side, his learning progress following the Prince of Shenluo and You Xuanfeng was also slowly improving.

In the eighty-third year of Yongzhi, the powerhouses in the Daoyuanzhou arena had almost all been challenged by Zhao Xing.

In the eighty-fifth year of Yongzhi, Zhao Xing's clones began to travel the world, heading to the arenas of other continents to find powerhouses.

In the eighty-seventh year of Yongzhi, the Prince of Shenluo and You Xuanfeng left, and Li Boqian became responsible for the teaching of the "Burning Heaven Locking Origin Array" and the "Five New Divine Talismans."

In the eighty-eighth year of Yongzhi, Xuanyuan Qingtian passed away at the age of eight hundred. The new Deans were Qiu Yuanshan, Meng Kun, and Ji Youtang.

Zhao Xing's true self briefly came out of seclusion to attend Xuanyuan Qingtian's funeral.

This leader of the Earthly Benefit faction had raised a top-ranked Lingshan during his lifetime and had seen the return of the Shennong Hoe in his lifetime.

Xuanyuan Qingtian turned into a Yin God with a smile.

In the ninety-second year of Yongzhi, Shangluo Academy, Ice Rock Forest.

The true self, who had been comprehending, opened his eyes, and the image of a vast sea of clouds appeared in his mind.

"The Heavenly Time Rule Domain is born; the first ultimate technique, the Cloud Heaven Dao."

"If I don't break through, I don't; once I break through, it's a double breakthrough of Dao and Dharma," Zhao Xing smiled.