Chapter 586

In the arena, the young Daoist Huang Ming wore an expression of hesitation.

Should he continue the match?

Although he considered his own cultivation decent enough to rank among the top tier of young immortals,

he could tell from how casually Zhang Jie had dispatched his two opponents the vast gap in strength between them.

The chance of winning wasn’t zero—it was merely vanishingly slim.

For instance, if his ancestors of the Quanzhen Longmen Sect had blessed him, awakening memories of his three past lives,

or, more realistically, if Zhang Jie himself chose to forfeit and yield victory to him.

Huang Ming clenched his teeth; from the standpoint of their power disparity,

surrendering now was undoubtedly the best choice, sparing him the suffering endured by the previous two contestants;

yet as the sole representative of the Quanzhen Longmen Sect at the Luotian Da Jiao,

withdrawing in the preliminary round—especially by showing fear before even fighting—would bring great shame upon his sect.

There was only one answer left.

Even if he lost, he must fight with his dignity, with the prestige of the Quanzhen Longmen Sect!

He took a deep breath, his gaze hardening—he still had one hidden card unplayed.

Zhang Jie had first cultivated the Golden Light Spell, then employed this overwhelming, pressure-based technique,

his methods so profound and lofty they seemed beyond mortal comprehension; yet Huang Ming refused to believe anyone could, at this age,

have perfected his body entirely—he must have an unknown weakness!

Coupled with the Golden Light Spell’s irrational ability to effortlessly resist both object-manipulation attacks and physical fist energy,

he boldly speculated that although the Golden Light Spell was said to cultivate both nature and life,

Zhang Jie must have placed greater emphasis on physical defense.

Therefore, he boldly guessed Zhang Jie’s weakness likely lay in his soul!

If so, he still had a chance!

“Push through, Huang Ming—you’ll win!”

The young Daoist Huang Ming clenched his fists, silently encouraging himself.

With a resolve to give it everything, Huang Ming stepped ten meters opposite Zhang Jie and warned:

“Brother Zhang, be careful—your junior is about to use his ultimate technique.”

Zhang Jie raised an eyebrow slightly; giving a heads-up before unleashing his power? That was overly upright.

Still, he admired such people—after all, even villains wouldn’t mind having more good people around them?

For that reason alone, he made no move to stop Huang Ming from activating his technique, granting him a chance to shine.

“Accumulate yang to form the spirit; within the spirit dwells the soul…”

Huang Ming’s body suddenly relaxed, and a transparent figure emerged from the top of his head.

Upon closer look, it was a figure identical to him in build, appearance, and attire,

yet translucent and faint.

“What technique is this? So miraculous!”

“How are there two Daoist Huang Ming? Which one is real, which one is fake?”

This strange phenomenon immediately drew gasps from the audience of immortals.

Compared to Zhang Jie’s initially ordinary Golden Light invocation followed by inexplicable methods,

Huang Ming’s supernatural display was far more visually striking,

far more captivating—even spectators from other matches turned their attention here.

Well, because many young immortals had come to attend the Luotian Da Jiao,

and the Luotian Da Jiao couldn’t possibly run indefinitely,

as it drained the Celestial Master’s resources and wasted the time of both contestants and spectators;

thus, to improve efficiency, the preliminary rounds were not only four-person free-for-alls,

but multiple matches were held simultaneously, with only later rounds being one-on-one.

Spectators could move to watch their favored or watched contestants.

“What… is this? This floating, ethereal appearance—is it a ghost?”

The young immortals, faced with this baffling sight, stared in stunned silence.

“Do you know?”

They urgently wanted answers, asking their companions.

“I don’t know—do you?”

The uninformed asked their own friends.

“I don’t know either.”

The friend’s friend shook his head, giving a negative reply.

“+1.”

“+2.”

“…”

After going around, no one knew what technique Huang Ming had used.

After several rounds of questioning, they naturally turned their gazes toward the elder who had just explained things to them,

the one who seemed so well-traveled and knowledgeable.

Surely such a senior would know what was happening?

The elder surrounded by their stares: “………”

He had come to watch the match, not to serve as a commentator!

And besides, had these youngsters’ studies all gone straight to their foreheads? Didn’t they even know this?

The elder grew angrier by the moment—what a degenerate generation!

But seeing their hopeful eyes, he softened, sighing in exasperation:

“This is soul departure—formerly called ‘emerging Yang spirit.’ Your generation’s knowledge is shockingly shallow;

do you treat your elders’ teachings as wind through your ears?”

The young immortals chuckled sheepishly—they often dozed off in class,

occasionally skipped lessons to play, and their foundational training was extremely weak.

But then again, if they’d been diligent, they wouldn’t be sitting in the stands—they’d be competing themselves.

Did they volunteer to be spectators?

This Luotian Da Jiao was one of the greatest events in the immortal world in nearly twenty years, and with its age limit—

only those under thirty could participate—it was the perfect stage for young immortals to make their names.

If they achieved a high ranking, fame across the immortal world was no dream.

Of course they wanted to spend ten years in obscurity, then become known to all the world overnight.

But this wasn’t ten years of diligent study—they hadn’t studied hard at all.

“We young ones truly lack understanding in this area; please, Elder, enlighten us.”

The young immortals lowered their postures considerably.

Ten years of hard study was past and gone—but this juicy gossip couldn’t be missed!

“Please, Elder, do not withhold your wisdom!”

The plea echoed instantly, drawing agreement from all sides.

Not just the uneducated youths, but other immortals too were deeply curious.

A chorus of “Please, Elder, enlighten us!” prompted the elder to scoff, then finally speak:

“The Quanzhen Longmen Sect is most renowned for its internal alchemy—just as the Zhengyi Sect’s Golden Light Spell,

they discard all other flashy tricks, devoting all their energy to nurturing and refining their nature and life.”

“This is what ‘cultivating nature and life’ means—do you understand now?”

The young immortals suddenly understood; though they hadn’t paid attention in class,

they’d heard plenty of gossip about it—only now did they connect the dots:

“We’ve always heard Quanzhen practitioners have superb physical bodies, nearly flawless;

so surely their souls must be equally strong, right?”

The elder nodded slightly, acknowledging his insight:

“Correct. Through profound nature-and-life cultivation, Quanzhen Longmen disciples can temporarily let their resilient souls depart the body,

enabling direct attacks on an enemy’s soul—and without a physical body to restrain them,

the soul moves with incredible speed, arriving the moment thought forms, nearly impossible to block.”

“Moreover, this is soul attacking soul; conventional methods cannot resist it,

even if one’s body is robust and true Qi unbroken—if the soul is inferior, one still loses.”