Chapter 233: Kneeling on the Stage

His voice resounded, and strands of white mist like coiling dragons overflowed from within his body.

Above his head, an ice dragon roared ferociously, a pair of dragon eyes containing torch-like light staring down at the entire Celestial Flail Boxing Tournament.

Swish, swish, swish!

High above, on that ceiling as vast as the nether void, beams of brilliant light projected down from the imitation stars, making the tall, ink-robed figure appear to flicker between light and shadow.

The ice dragon was the manifestation of his own physical body.

Clear, deep radiance born from the dragon's tail continuously spread toward the dragon's body, filling in each crystalline dragon scale.

This process was just like the current physical body of Bing Yi, which, after the perfect transformation of all the meridians in the body, was about to forge a perfect Golden Body.

The path of Qi and blood consists of the Five Viscera Realm, the Hundred Meridians Realm, the Golden Body Realm, the Origin Realm, and the Dharma Truth Realm.

The Five Viscera Realm is for storing and casting Qi and blood, while the Hundred Meridians Realm is for transforming the hundred meridians.

After the hundred meridians are perfected, one then uses the hundred meridians to cross over into the Golden Body.

Throughout the entire body, the four limbs and hundred skeletons are washed by Qi and blood, undergoing a rebirth, making the physical body and Qi and blood perfectly integrated as one.

This is the path for a mortal to ascend to the extraordinary, a crucial milestone in the path of Qi and blood.

The more perfect a martial artist's foundation in the Five Viscera and Hundred Meridians realms, the smaller the difficulty of ascending to the Golden Body Realm.

But that is for ordinary people.

A true, ultimate genius would certainly not pursue an ordinary Golden Body.

What they want is a perfect Golden Body.

Take this Bing Yi, for example; his current posture clearly indicates he is aiming for a perfect Golden Body.

Such difficulty is shocking.

Yet, this very important cultivation process is something Bing Yi is now revealing to the outside, even inviting those from Luo Chen to come and fight.

Fighting while forging a perfect Golden Body.

The impact of this is a bit too great.

The entire Celestial Flail Boxing Tournament fell silent in unison.

It was as if they had fallen into a swamp filled with stagnation and shock.

One can imagine what kind of astonished faces must be beneath those masks.

Inside the Luo Chen viewing room.

After a moment of silence, a trembling laugh suddenly rang out.

"Damn it, damn it, hahahahaha!!!"

The burly man with a black tiger tattooed on his head crossed his arms and laughed non-stop, his teeth clenched, murderous intent overflowing from his eyes:

"He wants to step on my Luo Chen to plate his Golden Body?!"

The man named Chen Huang had a hideously ferocious expression:

"I'll skin him alive with my own hands later!"

Beside him, Chen Qianqian, who was half a head taller than Chen Huang and possessed an even larger and more robust physique, narrowed her eyes:

"This Bing Yi shouldn't be a fool; if he dares to do this, he must have some certainty."

The coldness in Chen Qianqian's eyes grew increasingly intense.

Though she was overbearing, she was no fool.

All this time, they had not known Bing Yi's identity or background, and even his strength was only based on hearsay.

If Bing Yi had cowered upon seeing Luo Chen arrive, she wouldn't have had many concerns.

But now...

"Are you afraid?" Chen Huang narrowed his eyes and shouted coldly from the side.

Boom!

Chen Qianqian suddenly kicked out, her thigh, as thick as a tree trunk, whipping up a powerful gale that swept Chen Huang away, slamming him into the wall.

"When I am speaking, is it your place to judge?" Chen Qianqian said in a low voice.

Chen Huang spat out a mouthful of blood, a trace of fear suddenly appearing in his eyes.

At the very front, Chen Jixuan of the Luo Chen Second House narrowed his eyes and looked at Chen Qianqian:

"Qianqian, what do you think?"

Chen Qianqian narrowed her eyes:

"This Bing Yi dares to do this, so he must have certainty in his heart; perhaps all our previous guesses about him were wrong."

Her voice was cold.

Previously, they had guessed that Bing Yi was a hidden genius under Shen Yiwei,

and even guessed that Bing Yi was Chen Yan, since the two rose to prominence at the same time.

Although current intelligence shows that Chen Yan is by Shen Yiwei's side and has not yet entered Xiaoyang City.

But it is also possible that the Chen Yan by Shen Yiwei's side is a fake.

They came to kill Bing Yi, on one hand, to establish an invincible heart for Chen Min.

On the other hand, if this person really is Chen Yan,

then the opponent is simply the fated enemy of Luo Chen and must be killed.

The probability of this guess is not high.

Because that Chen Yan had never displayed Qi and blood strength, and according to intelligence, Chen Yan's own Qi and blood talent had long been crippled due to absorbing impure blood.

Moreover, how much of a genius would one have to be to achieve great success in both tempering and the path of Qi and blood?

The possibility is very small!

But since it is possible, he must be nipped in the bud.

But now, Chen Qianqian found that the possibility of this guess had become even smaller at this moment.

It had become almost impossible.

Because, Bing Yi was too outstanding.

If it were Chen Yan, where would the other party have found so much time to secretly cultivate their blood and Qi to such a level?

Chen Yan's process of becoming stronger was no secret; the other party had no time!

Chen Yan had entered the Dao for nearly five months, and the time since Bing Yi's awakening was even shorter.

Five months, for the majority of martial artists.

They wouldn't even have forged a single one of the five viscera.

Chen Yan himself possessed the Hard-Refining path, practiced fist techniques, the 【Heaven-Patrolling】, and array formations.

This Bing Yi possessed the Azure Dome-grade, first-class Yin-Stagnation blood and Qi, their own cultivation technique was suspected to be the Morning Star-grade 【Deep Abyss】, their spear technique was incomparably refined, and more importantly...

There was also a fifth-grade spear intent!

And now, they even wanted a perfect Golden Body...

In five months, even Chen Changyuan could not have mastered all of these to such a degree.

Bing Yi was a genius several tiers higher than Chen Yan!

They had already reached the level of talent comparable to Chen Changyuan.

"This Ice Wing cannot be Chen Yan. If we kill him, we lose the necessary reason; killing him would purely become helping Chen Min," Chen Qianqian said.

The crowd's expressions stalled, and they all looked at Chen Min.

If it were just for a Chen Min who had even lost his ambition, was it necessary to continue fighting Bing Yi like this?

"Chen Qianqian!"

A low roar rang out.

The crowd looked over; it was Chen Huang, who had fallen to the other side. The other party spat out blood and roared:

"If we don't kill Bing Yi, do you really think that once he grows up, he won't target my Luo Chen clan?!"

Chen Qianqian narrowed her eyes.

"Long hair and short insight; your analysis for half a day is useless!"

Chen Huang suddenly began to grin hideously:

"Since we've formed a feud, kill them to death! Skin them, pull their tendons, chop them into meat paste, kill their whole family!"

Wild, surging killing intent stirred; Chen Huang's state at this moment was terrifying:

"Being wishy-washy, you can't do anything. To be a person, you must learn from the Invincible One—be ruthless!"

…………

High above, that Goat Deacon hadn't even reacted, and at this moment, he looked at Chen Yan and shouted coldly:

"Bing Yi, you are a member of my Heaven-Hammer Fist Tournament. I understand you killing Evil Flame in the arena; after all, that Evil Flame had just contacted the people of Luo Chen and accepted the mission to kill you."

The Goat Deacon was somewhat speechless:

"If you want to plate your Golden Body, my Heaven-Hammer Fist Tournament can provide you with a venue; why must you continue to issue challenges?"

His voice was cold, but it was actually a piece of advice.

Bing Yi was a genius brought by the Fire Deacon, and he did not want to become enemies, which was why he offered advice.

But speaking out to advise did not mean the Goat Deacon was not angry.

A martial artist should have reverence for the path of martial arts!

Promotion is a major event in a martial artist's life; how could it be so casual?

If you want a perfect Golden Body, lacking even a tiny bit means you are not worthy of being called a perfect Golden Body.

Even without anyone disturbing you, it is still difficult to achieve a perfect Golden Body.

Fighting while promoting is purely, damn it, playing house.

However, on the arena, Bing Yi, whose body was overflowing with cold intent, looked at the Goat Deacon:

"Thank you for your kindness, Deacon, but my mind is made up."

"You!"

The Goat Deacon's voice paused, and then his figure vanished directly.

I only said a few extra words because you are a heaven-gifted talent brought by the Fire Deacon; since you don't cherish your own martial path, I can't be bothered to meddle in your business.

However, after the staff carried away Evil Flame's corpse, the host's voice rang out, trembling:

"Contestant Bing Yi wants to forge a perfect Golden Body through battle. This is an unheard-of promotion process. Everyone will feast their eyes today. Coming up next is..."

Crack, crack, crack...

Beams of starlight shone down.

A woman wearing a white windbreaker, pitch-black trousers, with a curvaceous figure and a phoenix mask on her face, stepped onto the stage.

"Azure Jade-grade, thirty-first place, Divine Phoenix Feng!"

On the arena, Divine Phoenix Feng, wearing an Azure Jade-grade mask, held a blood-red longsword.

"Bing Yi, you take promotion a bit too lightly. Your Hundred-Meridian Battle Origin is indeed powerful, but wanting to fight while simultaneously perfecting..."

Roar!

A high-pitched dragon roar instantly drowned out Divine Phoenix Feng's voice.

A spear point sped over, fast to the extreme.

When the white, glistening spear tip rested against Divine Phoenix Feng's forehead, the sound of the latter swallowing her saliva was still ringing out.

"Can you give me a little pressure?"

A provocative voice rang out.

"Look..."

Bing Yi pointed toward the ice dragon dancing in the sky.

Shenhuang Feng stared blankly; the ice dragon was coiled high in the sky, and its clear, profound radiance had already filled one-tenth of the dragon's tail before anyone knew it.

In that filled portion, not a single trace of Qi and blood leakage could be seen, as if it were the true flesh of an ancient dragon.

This meant that in this short span of time, Bing Yi's advancement had already reached ten percent.

Shenhuang Feng felt her skin and flesh go numb all over:

"You, you, you..."

She spoke with difficulty.

Boom!

Fifth-grade Spear Intent erupted, and a terrifying icy aura burst forth from Chen Yan, blasting Shenhuang Feng's full head of beautiful hair into countless specks of powder.

"You are not good enough, next."

An indifferent voice rang out, and beneath Shenhuang Feng's mask, a pair of eyes widened.

Feeling the terrifying might that had just erupted from the tip of Bing Yi's spear, she felt as if she had been scrubbed through death itself.

She slowly looked to the side, and her pupils shrank abruptly.

A line of secret script standing on the edge of the arena displayed the combat power Bing Yi had just unleashed.

Fifty-six thousand seven hundred and ninety-one!

The opponent was breaking through, and the opponent's combat power had not yet been fully exposed!

Chen Yan's gaze was cold.

The Word Realm opened, and his own thoughts raced rapidly.

Combat, advancement, combat, advancement...

This was the terrifying aspect of the path of Will!

What appeared to be a rough advancement was actually perfect to the extreme.

He had an epiphany.

As the Master of Will, Chen Yan had always pursued true limit-breaking.

If this perfect golden body was something others had also achieved.

Then for him, it was not perfect at all!

He wanted the limit!

He wanted the limit beyond the limit!

Only by transcending everything could one obtain everything.

At this moment, forcing himself to break his limits was not very effective.

He hoped the outside world could provide some pressure!

Chen Yan thought as much; this was the reason why he chose to advance through combat.

The entire spectator area was boiling.

The youth dressed in black suddenly looked up at this moment.

In this world, is there a god who governs everything?

If there is...

Can this Will of mine make you marvel?

Chen Yan smiled; if there truly were gods on the path of Will.

"Wouldn't that just be myself?"

"Too arrogant!"

Inside the preparation area.

One by one, the Green Jade-tier fighters sat in their seats, watching Bing Yi advance on the arena.

"To actually fight the fourth stage at the second stage, fighting two levels above..."

A man wearing a green cat mask exclaimed in shock.

Just then, another man wearing a blood-red mask spoke indifferently:

"His Qi and blood realm is indeed only at the second stage, but the quality of his Qi and blood is Green Vault-tier Grade A, and his Spear Intent is even at the fifth grade.

If you really take him for a low-realm fighter, you have already lost."

Everyone fell silent.

Just at this moment.

Shenhuang Feng, who had just lost the match, returned, her posture becoming incredibly awkward as she walked.

"Jiang Guo, you lost too embarrassingly." The man wearing the green cat mask spoke.

Jiang Guo was indeed Shenhuang Feng's real name.

In the Heavenly Ranking Boxing Tournament, many fighters' masks were basically useless.

Because the techniques they displayed inside and outside the Heavenly Ranking Boxing Tournament were the same, there was no need for disguise at all.

"Kuang Mao, shut your mouth, you would be the same if you went up there!" Jiang Guo snapped:

"That Bing Yi is simply not an ordinary genius; if I don't advance to the Origin Realm, I simply cannot beat him."

Just at this moment.

The host's voice rang out:

"Please welcome the twenty-seventh ranked Green Jade-tier fighter, Kuang Mao!"

The man wearing the Green Cat mask stood up, a curve appearing at the corners of his mouth beneath the mask:

"Jiang Guo, watch closely, and see what real strength is!"

"Hmph!"

Jiang Guo gave a low huff; though dissatisfied, he knew the prowess of the Green Cat mask.

Once at the Green Jade rank, the gap in combat power between even a single ranking is actually quite large.

After the Green Cat mask left, Jiang Guo looked toward the person at the very front who had not spoken a word, a man wearing a Thunder mask who was looking at a document in his hands.

This person was the number one of the Green Jade rank, Thunder.

At the same time, the Aristocratic Family Alliance had spent these past few days ranking the strength of candidates from all over who were about to participate in the imperial examinations.

This Thunder, the second young master of the Zhang family in reality, Zhang Lei, was ranked fifteenth.

The fifteenth in all of Qinzhou!

At this moment, Jiang Guo looked at Zhang Lei and pondered.

"Is it possible that this Bing Yi is charging through the levels directly to reach Brother Lei here?"

The crowd was startled, and soon someone mocked:

"Brother Lei is the number one of the Green Jade rank; for that Bing Yi to be in the middle of a breakthrough and fight his way to the Green Jade rank number one, isn't that a bit too exaggerated?"

The crowd looked at the man in the Thunder mask, and the latter chuckled:

"What does it matter if he is the Green Jade rank number one? If he wants it, I'll let him have it.

Besides, he is in the middle of a breakthrough; although he is courting death himself, let's not put too much pressure on him. If he fails the breakthrough, that would be miserable."

Someone was dissatisfied:

"Isn't that him looking for his own death? Why the hell should we yield?"

Zhang Lei shook his head:

"He was forced into this by Luo Chen. I think he must be filled with resentment and acted on a hot-headed impulse, which is why he chose to do this."

The crowd was speechless.

With Zhang Lei putting it that way, they understood.

Everyone was young; for Luo Chen to come and kill him, he must certainly be furious.

At a time like this, losing one's reason and choosing the brainless act of fighting while breaking through was understandable.

Zhang Lei shook his head:

"I don't care about things like the Heavenly Ranking Boxing Tournament right now. With the imperial examinations imminent, whether we can soar into the sky depends on our own performance."

Jiang Guo smiled: "Brother Lei is ranked fifteenth, after all."

"What does being fifteenth matter? I have been held back for three years, and this year is my last. If I still cannot obtain the fortuitous encounter, I won't have another chance in the future."

Zhang Lei shook his head.

The imperial examinations were called the Autumn Examination two hundred years ago.

It happened once every three years.

But because of the changing times, it is now once a year.

However, if a candidate fails the exam or is dissatisfied with their ranking, they can retake it the following year.

But this retake can only be done twice.

This year is already Zhang Lei's third attempt.

It is not because he failed, but because he only ranked sixteenth in Qinzhou last year, and he was not satisfied.

"Only the top ten in Qinzhou will have a great fortuitous encounter, and the number one will even obtain a Heaven and Earth Thunder Spirit—a Heaven and Earth Thunder Spirit!" Zhang Lei sighed.

A spirit object naturally born of heaven and earth can give a martial artist almost infinite possibilities.

"Brother Lei, is the number one on the list this year still Zhang Luobai?"

"Yes, that son of a bitch was also number one last year. It wasn't enough for him to take one fortuitous encounter; he has to take a second." Zhang Lei cursed in a low voice:

"His father is the Acting Chief Administrator, so there is nothing we can say."

With an Acting Chief Administrator as a father, even if Zhang Luobai did not go to an academy, he would still have immense capital for cultivation.

On the contrary, the spirit object rewarded for being first in the imperial examinations is even more tempting.

That is, after all, a reward from the continent.

Moreover, given the current state of confrontation between Zhang Ting and the Xia Imperial Clan, it is a good thing that Zhang Luobai is not going to other continents.

"This year is a headache!" Zhang Lei sighed:

"The top three, Zhang Luobai, Yu Changsheng, and Qiu Changji, were all in the top ten last year, and the fifth, Jiang Yuan, and the sixth, Shi Ziqin, were also in the top twenty last year.

There is also a Third-Rank General Star who appeared in the Military Guard named Zhu Lili; she seems to be a newcomer this session, from Wushi City."

Zhang Lei rubbed his brow: "A Third-Rank General Star is only ranked fourth by the Aristocratic Family Alliance; do you dare believe that?"

He put down the document in his hand.

On it, Chen Yan's ranking was clearly at thirty-ninth.

The expressions beneath the masks of the crowd also changed; the difficulty of this year's imperial examinations was a bit too terrifying.

Are these people holding back, intending to go straight to the front lines or take up a post in Jinzhou after the imperial examinations?

"Let me tell you this: Kuang Mao was ranked over fiftieth in the imperial examinations last year, and this year he is about the same."

As Zhang Lei spoke, he suddenly paused:

"Where is Kuang Mao?"

"He just went up on stage," someone said. The one wearing the Green Cat mask, whose nickname was Kuang Mao, was indeed Kuang Mao.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Zhang Lei smiled. He was too focused on the imperial examinations, to the point that he didn't care much about the Bing Yi matter happening right now.

Yet at this very moment, Jiang Guo's faint voice rang out:

"Kuang Mao is kneeling on the stage."