Chapter 77: Suppress Them All, Childhood Friend Battle Soul?!

"Those two were the ones beaten up by the lynx." Zhao Xing said lightly.

"Nicely beaten." Zong Shichang clapped and cheered, "I've long had a problem with that chrysanthemum face."

"You have a history with him?" Zhao Xing asked, surprised.

Zong Shichang snorted: "My father previously wanted to invite a Ritual Cultivator to accompany me up the mountain and had sought him out."

"The deal fell through?"

"Business failed, but goodwill remains. It was just a failed negotiation, it doesn't count as a grudge." Zong Shichang said: "He quoted a price, and was very enthusiastic at first. After it fell through, he actually turned around and put on a lofty act, saying the Zong family's money stank and he disdained keeping company with us. Isn't that smearing my family's face?"

Zhao Xing chuckled lightly: "That man is truly despicable. What about you and that Li Chengfeng?"

Zong Shichang's expression grew complicated: "That was before entering the mountain, don't ask about it… I once sincerely treated him as a friend. Though we've now severed ties, I don't wish to speak ill of him behind his back."

Zhao Xing nodded and asked no more.

Just then, a steady voice reached his ears: "Brother Zhao, my apologies, I'm late."

Zhao Xing turned his head and saw a familiar figure striding over briskly. It was precisely Shen Zhui, the martial department genius he hadn't seen the past two days.

"Not late at all, Brother Shen. There's still an hour left; you've actually arrived early."

"I broke my promise." Shen Zhui's face was full of shame: "I stumbled into a Peach Blossom Spring, and no matter how I walked I couldn't get out. After finally escaping, I discovered it was already the third day, so I hurried over."

"Oh? Such a thing happened?" Zhao Xing grew interested. "It seems Brother Shen had quite the encounter inside."

Shen Zhui nodded: "After I entered that Peach Blossom Spring, I found beneath an enormous willow tree two giants ten zhang tall playing chess, and they called me over."

"I don't understand chess, and felt the place was strange—I only wanted to leave. But then they smashed me with a chess piece, and suddenly I was at a battlefield."

"And then?" Zong Shichang asked with a gossipy look. "What happened after?"

Shen Zhui glanced up at Zong Shichang: "Before my eyes appeared soldiers in black and white, slaughtering each other on the battlefield."

"I was forced to follow the white-side soldiers in charging the enemy. Strange to say, every soldier I killed, a sword technique flashed through my mind, and primordial Qi seeped into my body. When the battle ended, I suddenly found myself outside that Peach Blossom Spring again."

"And I've also stepped into the Ninth Rank Realm."

"Hiss!" Zong Shichang drew in a sharp breath.

Zhao Xing teased: "What are you hissing about? Acting as if you understood."

Zong Shichang said: "Though I didn't understand, it sounds incredibly impressive. Uncle Cang, Uncle Hu, don't you think so?"

The two nodded repeatedly. Such a thing would be shocking anywhere.

Pang Yuan Bo suddenly spoke: "Heaven and earth as the chessboard, primordial Qi as the pieces, gods playing their game—you stumbled into it and became a chess piece, standing on the winning side, hence your cultivation surged."

"What if he had stood on the losing side?" Zong Shichang asked.

"Dead." Pang Yuan Bo uttered a single word.

Shen Zhui's face changed slightly. Clearly, only now did the realization hit him, and he understood the danger involved.

Zhao Xing patted his shoulder and said: "Whatever the reason, it's good that Brother Shen gained something. What's past is past—no need to dwell on it."

"Yes." Shen Zhui nodded. "I had this resolve before going up the mountain, I just never imagined such a thing could happen."

After a pause, he looked at Zhao Xing: "Brother Zhao, now that I've entered the ranked realm, whether I get the first incense or not is no longer so important to me. Tonight I'll help you seize the first incense, to make up for breaking my promise earlier."

"Hahahaha."

Shen Zhui frowned at Zong Shichang: "Why do you laugh, sir?"

Zong Shichang pointed at Zhao Xing and said: "If you'd come out yesterday, you really could have lent him a hand. But now, Zhao Sanjia doesn't need you—he already has a very good chance of claiming the first incense on his own."

"Hmm?" Shen Zhui was stunned for a moment. He re-examined Zhao Xing and discovered the other had already reached the ninth stage of Qi Gathering.

That alone was remarkable, but looking again, he found Zhao Xing's aura utterly unique—like the ocean, bottomless—and even gave him a sense of danger.

Only now did Shen Zhui notice that a small cat's head was poking out from Zhao Xing's chest.

When its big, adorable eyes met his, Shen Zhui jumped in fright. "A ranked exotic beast?!"

Zhao Xing pushed the lynx's exposed head back in: "No need for alarm, Brother Shen. The lynx has been subdued by me."

Shen Zhui sighed in admiration: "I didn't even sense its presence. This… I spoke rashly just now."

It seemed he wasn't the only one with a fortuitous encounter—Zhao Xing's was even greater.

One must remember that before entering the mountain, Zhao Xing was only at the fourth stage of Qi Gathering.

Now he was not only at the ninth stage of Qi Gathering, but had also subdued a ranked exotic beast!

"So many people are looking at you with hostility, Brother Zhao. What exactly did you do?" Shen Zhui was somewhat surprised. He keenly sensed the gazes from all around.

Not directed at the lynx, but at Zhao Xing himself.

This made him quite curious about Zhao Xing's experiences over the past two days.

"It's nothing much. The lynx just had a friendly exchange with them."

"You wouldn't be saying you ordered the lynx to rob a lot of people's Lingxiu, would you? How is that friendly?" Shen Zhui seemed to understand something. Zhao Xing's techniques and cultivation both felt greatly improved to him.

Both could make him, a ranked martial artist, feel threatened. How many portions of Lingxiu must have been used?

But finding that many on one's own—how could one possibly gather so much!

It must have been the lynx helping him rob them!

Zhao Xing casually fabricated: "What Brother Shen doesn't know is that the lynx is wild by nature—meeting people, it wants their lives. It was only because I'm kind-hearted and patiently persuaded it that it merely robbed Lingxiu and didn't take any lives."

"As for the Lingxiu the lynux robbed, it insisted on forcing me to consume it. What could I do?"

Shen Zhui: "……"

Zong Shichang: "……"

Meow! The lynx poked its head out from his arms, looking at Zhao Xing in confusion.

Wasn't it you who told me to rob them? And you were fighting me for the food too!

"See, it's being naughty again." Zhao Xing casually pushed the kitten's head back in.

Shen Zhui glanced at the lynx: "With it around, it seems I can't be of much help."

Zong Shichang teased: "How could that be? Brother Shen, a strapping seven-foot man, is surely no less understanding than a cat?"

Shen Zhui didn't particularly like Zong Shichang's joke, but out of respect for Zhao Xing's face, he merely frowned and said nothing more.

Zong Shichang found himself rebuffed and stopped talking to Shen Zhui; Zhao Sanjia was more interesting after all.

Of course, the main reason was that Zhao Xing had now attracted quite a bit of attention.

Zong Shichang thought that if he chatted and laughed with Zhao Xing, that Miss Liu would surely look at him with more favor, wouldn't she?

"So he is the Mountain Cat's master—it's truly hard to believe." Liu Muqing gazed at Zhao Xing's figure and couldn't help sighing.

Originally, the position of Agricultural Officer held no advantage in the competition—in fact, it could be called a disadvantage.

But Zhao Xing's performance exceeded everyone's expectations.

Last night, he overpowered Cao Qiushui and helped Zong Shichang obtain four incense sticks.

Today, he had even brought along an entered the ranked realm exotic beast, becoming the most eye-catching presence of all.

"Hmph, this fellow truly never changes—always snatching what belongs to others." Lu Qian was grinding her silver teeth to dust; she had thought tonight would be her chance to take back her Que Plume Dharma Robe.

But who knew her enemy would only grow stronger! Where was the justice in this?

"Qianqian, you seem to care a great deal about this person." Du Jiao Sect said softly, "Does he have a grudge against you?"

"No, I simply can't stand his way of doing things!" Lu Qian denied.

"If you won't tell me, I'll just assume that Que Plume Dharma Robe was a gift from you to him." Du Jiao Sect said.

Liu Muqing teased: "That's right, just consider it a gift to your sweetheart."

"After tonight passes, if you want to take it back, it'll be harder than ascending to heaven."

"Bah—sweetheart? How could you possibly think that?!"

"Then are you going to tell us or not?"

"Fine, I'll tell you!" Lu Qian then recounted the matter of fighting Zhao Xing for the Vermillion Fruit. "Sigh, with the Mountain Cat protecting him now, I'm afraid I really can't snatch it back. If he brings it down the mountain, how will I ever face anyone in the future? I'll simply die of shame."

Liu Muqing covered her mouth and laughed: "Your Que Plume Dharma Robe has already formed a spiritual link with you, and once you descend the mountain you'll forget everything that happened up here… When the time comes, you'll truly believe you shared some wonderful romantic fate with him on the mountain, and you'll go looking for him… Oh my, who knows, it might even bring about something good."

"Aaaargh, I don't want that!" Imagining the possibility Liu Muqing described, Lu Qian immediately went berserk.

As time passed, the sky had already turned completely dark.

On the Heaven Altar Plaza, there were fewer people than last night, but the experts had grown more numerous.

By the end of the Hai hour, virtually every notable expert had gathered on the plaza.

Moreover, they clustered in groups of three or five, each with their own little faction.

The newly entered the ranked realm bow warrior Gu Feng had taken in Zhang Boran and Wen Zhao.

Mechanism Master Hu Yang had also somehow found two warriors to assist him.

Apart from Yang Junxiong, virtually everyone had helpers—they weren't fighting solo.

On this final day, no one could be certain of claiming the first incense.

Because the competition was so fierce—beyond even entered the ranked realm humans, an entered the ranked realm exotic beast like the Mountain Cat had appeared—everyone knew a fierce battle was inevitable tonight.

"I never expected him to have tamed an entered the ranked realm exotic beast." Gu Feng stared in Zhao Xing's direction, his gaze icy. "Zhang Boran and Wen Zhao, who had a grudge against him before, were beaten severely by him. This man not only repays every slight, but his methods are vicious—even Cao Qiushui fell into his trap. I must strike first and cripple him."

Gu Feng was wary of the Mountain Cat, because exotic beasts found it harder to enter the ranked realm, and once they did, they were stronger than human warriors—he had no confidence he could prevail.

But if he could cripple Zhao Xing first, the Mountain Cat would surely not dare to attack with full force.

"Hiss!" As if sensing something, the little Mountain Cat poked its head out from his arms and hissed in the direction of Gu Feng.

Not far away, Yang Junxiong, riding his bamboo horse, also suddenly glanced over; he stared at Zhao Xing and the Mountain Cat, lost in thought.

"Clang!" a thick barrier toll of a bell rang out from the temple.

The sundial's pointer had also swung to the Zi hour's 'Martial Only' zone!

Ten golden orbs of light drifted out from the temple gates.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Figures flickered; in the dark night, someone immediately sprang into action, leaping into the sky to snatch the incense offerings.

Gu Feng didn't seize the incense first—instead, he struck at Zhao Xing.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!"

He loosed arrows from the southwest, aiming straight for vital points.

The arrows were like shooting stars; the instant they were released, Zhao Xing's skin prickled with pain.

An entered the ranked realm bow warrior's killing power was immense—especially at this range, assassinating an Agricultural Officer was, in Gu Feng's view, as easy as turning over his hand!

But at the very moment he released the arrow, Gu Feng suddenly felt a chill on his forehead, and the silver bow in his hand trembled.

"Clang!" "Clang clang clang!"

The outcome defied Gu Feng's expectations—all his arrow attacks had been neutralized!

What astonished him was that the one who deflected the arrows was not the Mountain Cat, but Shen Zhui beside Zhao Xing!

At this moment, he held an iron ruler in his right hand and a shield in his left.

The shield was originally the 'Palm Fiber Helmet' on his head—a specially made rattan armor, normally worn on the head, but in a critical moment it could be removed and used as a shield; it was a top-grade third-tier treasure!

That the Mountain Cat could block them, Gu Feng had anticipated.

But that unremarkable young man wielding an iron ruler could also block them—and not with a shield, but by slashing his arrows apart with a blade.

"Where did such an expert spring from? No… my archery's power has dropped—I've been affected!" Gu Feng's heart jolted.

A bow warrior's arrows were extremely hard to dodge—even across cultivation levels, they could hit their target.

He had just employed his secret technique 'Heart-Piercing Arrow', yet now it had been blocked! This was absolutely abnormal!

There was no time for shock, because he felt that chill wind assault him again—that young warrior was also closing in for the kill.

He fired seven more arrows, trying to stop Shen Zhui.

But this time, both their power and speed had grown weaker.

The Nine-Turn Yin Wind Soul Assault scattered most of his concentration as he resisted.

causing the arrow to be easily deflected.

"A bow warrior who doesn't hide in the back firing cold arrows, but stands so far forward — he's simply asking for death!" Zhao Xing manipulated the Yin Wind, wrapping layer upon layer around Gu Feng's body.

The other side regarded him as a threat, and Zhao Xing regarded them the same way.

It wasn't about holding a grudge, but among the Ranked warriors present, the bow warrior posed the greatest threat to him.

Because the speed and power of bow and arrow were too strong — even against an Eighth-Rank warrior, if one's movement technique was slightly lacking, one could be shot dead by a Ninth-Rank bow warrior.

So the moment "Martial Arts Only" arrived, Zhao Xing immediately locked onto Gu Feng, raising Yin Wind from beneath his feet.

The Nine-Turn Yin Wind instantly shook Gu Feng's soul, lowering his sense of direction and his control over his own strength.

Thus the Mountain Cat didn't even have to act — it was directly blocked by Shen Zhui.

"The use of rites, harmony…"

Wen Zhao activated his Rite Law, wanting to help Gu Feng.

"Go to hell with that!"

Seeing Wen Zhao courting death by still wanting to join the battle between the Ranked, Zhao Xing let out a sudden explosive shout, and the Yin Wind surged into his mind.

"Buzz!"

Wen Zhao felt as if his soul had left his body, and his whole person floated up.

"Thud!"

He collapsed onto the ground very cleanly.

The plaza was terrifyingly silent.

Because at the first moment, Yang Junxiong and Du Jiao Sect had not made a move to seize the incense, but were instead observing the movements of the bow warrior and the Mountain Cat.

To them, the threat of the bow warrior and the Mountain Cat was about equal.

As for the bow warrior's threat being even greater than the Mountain Cat's.

If they leapt into the air at the start, with no leverage in midair, they would become living targets for the bow warrior.

As for Zhao Xing himself, and the Ranked youth beside him, they could be ignored.

Gu Feng aiming at Zhao Xing first — they were very happy to see that.

Whether the Mountain Cat was shot dead, or the bow warrior was driven back, the result would become very favorable for both Du Jiao Sect and Yang Junxiong.

But what was unexpected was that the Mountain Cat had not even acted, and the bow warrior had already begun to retreat.

"What's going on?" Lu Qian watched this scene, somewhat puzzled. "They're both Ranked warriors — how can that person block Gu Feng's arrows?"

Du Jiao Sect's eyes emitted a faint Jin Guang — she too had reached the Ninth Turn of Bright Eyes. "It's Zhao Xing. There's a layer of Yin Wind wrapped around Gu Feng."

"What is Yin Wind?" Liu Muqing was somewhat curious; she knew very little about the Military Agricultural Officer's spells.

"Underground Yin Wind — it specifically damages the soul." Du Jiao Sect's eyes held a hint of wariness. "When the Strength Soul and Heroic Soul are affected, the body's movements will deform, and its strength will weaken. In severe cases, the soul may even be blown apart."

"One layer, three layers, nine layers of Yin Wind?!" Du Jiao Sect's expression changed slightly.

The Nine-Turn Yin Wind was completely beyond her expectations. With this spell, Zhao Xing could be regarded as a Ranked expert!

"This person is truly insidious — even his spells are like this." Lu Qian recalled her previous encounter; Zhao Xing had buried the straw figure in the soil back then, and played dumb to trick her into the trap.

"I understand why Cao Qiushui lost last night — it must have been by relying on this Yin Wind spell." Du Jiao Sect sighed: "Tonight's first incense will be difficult again; I'm afraid even second place is uncertain."

"It's this move again — exactly this move!" Cao Qiushui watched Gu Feng being hunted, his movements and arrows deforming, and immediately knew — this was being hit by Zhao Xing's Yin Wind spell.

"What move? Which move?" someone nearby asked.

"Yin Wind spell." Cao Qiushui said with some fear, "Without a soul-type defensive treasure, this move is unsolvable. At the mid-grade Ninth-Turn level, even Eighth-Rank experts would be affected."

Not far away, Li Chengfeng looked toward an old clerk beside him.

"Brother Zhang, why not, while they fight fiercely, you and I join hands to move with the clouds, seize the initiative for everyone…"

"Move with the clouds?" The clerk surnamed Zhang shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Before Zhao Xing leaves, who dares to move with the clouds? Didn't you see even Cao Qiushui hasn't made a move?"

Li Chengfeng was stunned: "Is he that formidable?"

The clerk surnamed Zhang pointed at the sky and said: "Last night he first defeated four Eighth-Stage Agricultural Officers, then forced Cao Qiushui to concede and withdraw. It's not that nobody wants to — they don't dare. I advise you not to act rashly either."

Hearing this, Li Chengfeng's expression grew complicated. He had thought that with his great fortune, having stepped into the Ninth Stage of Qi Gathering, he could look down on all heroes — but he hadn't expected Zhao Xing to be even more formidable, to the point that others didn't even entertain the thought of trying.

The instant Gu Feng and Shen Zhui disappeared from the Heavenly Altar plaza, someone moved.

Yang Junxiong rode his bamboo horse, leaping up, heading toward the golden orb of light in midair.

"Mountain Cat, go!"

Zhao Xing patted the Mountain Cat's back, and the Mountain Cat darted out, charging toward Yang Junxiong from another angle.

But just then, Yang Junxiong suddenly leaped off the bamboo horse — man and horse separated — his speed increasing by another third.

At the same time, the bamboo horse suddenly raised its head and lifted its hooves, sharply turning direction.

"Clip-clop~" The bamboo horse's four hooves shone with light, its whole body burning with fiery red radiance, like a celestial steed galloping through the air!

The light beneath its hooves flickered in the air, ripples spreading out, seeming to suppress even the golden light of the incense!

"What? Such heavy baleful aura — this is actually a War Soul Bamboo Horse?!" Mechanism Master Hu Yang jerked his head up, unable to help crying out in alarm.

On the other side, Du Jiao Sect also suddenly rose, her spear shooting out like a dragon straight toward the sky: "Zhao Xing, Zong Shichang, dodge quickly!!"