Chapter 435: Re-match

"What? He actually won?"

Huolingzi was battling a demon tiger prince when his spiritual sense briefly swept over and saw the black dragon emerge victorious, causing his heart to jolt.

But in that instant, the opposing demon tiger seized the opportunity, and a royal character mark appeared on its forehead.

A massive white-browed tiger with golden eyes leapt from the void, transforming into a spiritual assault that surged into Huolingzi's mind sea.

'The royal clan's innate divine art—Tiger Roar?'

Huolingzi sensed danger, and his mind sea was already lined with layers of spiritual defense.

But it was already too late.

In the moment he diverted his focus to defend, a terrifying tiger claw descended, shredding his dust whisk and leaving a deep gash across his chest.

The immense force carried him back, and by the time he regained his senses, he was outside his own cloud terrace.

"I… lost?"

"Damn it, I could've won."

A bead of cold sweat formed on Huolingzi's forehead: "This is bad…"

Given the stakes of core member status, aside from the top three, no other core member would ever voluntarily yield—they'd seize any opening to crush their opponent!

As Baiyuan Wuqi put it: we're all core members—who's afraid of whom?

Huolingzi's strength ranked among the lower tier of core members; losing this first round made his position extremely precarious.

If he slipped into the bottom three, he was finished…

After Fang Xing won, he soon faced his second opponent: the green-robed woman who had accompanied Huolingzi.

Though she looked frail, she cultivated the Dao of Destruction, and her attacks were brutally fierce.

He still refrained from using his terrifying physical body, focusing instead on refining his own Dao techniques.

Even so, his claws still surpassed the weapons provided by the illusion—accidentally crushing one would be embarrassing.

Shiiii!

Streams of destructive light rained down as the green-robed woman wielded a jet-black longsword, and behind her, a three-headed, six-armed, crimson-eyed divine demon appeared.

"That's Yuxin's most skilled soul-attack technique!"

Huolingzi, engaged in his own second battle, scanned with his spiritual sense and felt a surge of joy: "This is Yuxin's 'Divine Demon Fury'—she'll definitely win…"

But the next instant, he saw Fang Xing completely unaffected, whipping his tail across Yuxin and sending her flying off the cloud terrace.

"Impossible!"

Even though he had warned himself, Huolingzi still couldn't help but momentarily lose focus.

To many cultivators, this lapse wouldn't even count as a flaw.

But for a peerless genius, Huolingzi's moment of shock was as good as hanging a sign that read "Kill me."

Puff!

A green long spear pierced Huolingzi instantly.

"No!"

Huolingzi's figure reappeared, his expression grim: "I can't lose again—next time, no matter who the black dragon faces, I won't let my focus slip!"

When he finally stepped onto the cloud terrace with renewed resolve, he saw his opponent—and his heart sank.

Standing before him was a white-robed figure, his face covered in scales, horns rising sharply—Qiongbai, the number one core member!

"I… surrender…"

Huolingzi's mouth was filled with bitterness, and a sharp sense of urgency rose within him.

If he kept losing like this, he'd truly slip into the bottom three!

…

"Final match?"

In the next few rounds, Fang Xing had both wins and losses.

Whenever he encountered an opponent whose Dao principle offered something superior to his own, he'd simply surrender—never relying on his physical might to bully.

He flapped his wings and soared onto the cloud terrace, where he spotted a familiar face.

The man had fiery red hair and a grim expression, but his eyes lit up slightly upon seeing Fang Xing—it was Huolingzi!

"Huolingzi, what a… coincidence."

Fang Xing smiled.

He looked up and saw countless pairs of eyes—cold, impartial, like the Dao itself—unable to identify which belonged to the 'Supreme Chaos Saint.'

'Intentional? Or accidental?'

'The Grand Void Spirit was created by humans—perhaps inherently impartial, but once its master gives an order, it will obey without question…'

As he pondered, Huolingzi struck first.

"Water and Fire, Indifferent… Merge!"

Huolingzi's fiery red hair whipped wildly as he swung his dust whisk.

Countless white threads carried the endless flow of water, while thousands of crimson birds sang in unison.

A flame phoenix emerged—a manifestation of Dao essence.

Flames encircled by flowing water—water and fire sharing the same origin—plunged downward.

Swoosh!

Fang Xing moved through the void, suddenly appearing before Huolingzi with his signature move—'Black Dragon on the Face.'

"I've been waiting for this!"

Huolingzi's eyes gleamed—one pupil became the sun, the other the moon.

From his Sun-Moon Eyes surged spiritual assault, striking Fang Xing's mind sea.

On Huolingzi's body, a semi-transparent armor of flowing flame appeared—water serpents and fire phoenixes writhed, lunging at Fang Xing! 'Others haven't been idle… Huolingzi has advanced far on the path of merging water and fire.'

'Huh? Is this… some kind of anti-flight force? Even 'Void Break' can't be used?'

Fang Xing's mind stirred as he saw Huolingzi's smug smile.

"I knew you favored 'Void Break'—so I crafted this 'Water-Fire Cage' specifically to counter it… Now, fall!"

Huolingzi's heart surged—win this match, and even if his rank was low, he'd avoid the bottom three.

His dust whisk exploded, unleashing countless fire phoenixes and water serpents that roared, merged, and detonated—blue and red light nearly drowned Fang Xing…

The whisk in his hand exploded, countless fire phoenixes and water dragons roared and bellowed… merging and bursting… blue-red radiance nearly submerged Fang Xing…

Swoosh!

Fang Xing's body vanished from within the Water-Fire Cage.

Then he reappeared behind Huolingzi, one claw striking out.

This was not 'Void Break'—it was 'Instant Teleport'! A teleportation that ignored the Water-Fire Cage entirely!

In that claw's motion, his own 'time' accelerated threefold!

In other words, his speed tripled!

In martial combat, even a ten to twenty percent difference in speed is enormous—let alone several times over!

By the time Huolingzi reacted, Fang Xing's dragon claw had already touched his Water-Fire Armor.

By the time Huo Lingzi realized it, Fang Xing's dragon claw had already touched his Water-Fire Armor!

Huolingzi's face paled, and he could only surge his spiritual power.

His true-body template granted him top-tier spiritual energy—the Water-Fire Armor's power far exceeded what he'd shown before.

But on Fang Xing's claw, a sound like a mighty river surged forth.

Black waters surged, shattering Huolingzi's armor, the claw piercing through his back and seizing a still-beating crimson heart…

Black waves surged, shattering Huo Lingzi's Water-Fire Armor, the dragon claw piercing straight through his back to grasp a still-beating crimson heart…

Huolingzi looked down, a bitter smile flickering across his face.

Then he was swept into a spatial storm, torn into countless fragments.

Then he was swept up by the spatial storm, torn into countless fragments.

Qingyuan Great Realm.

Inside a Dao palace.

"No!"

A terrible cry echoed through the entire palace.

Huolingzi's fiery red hair flared wildly, as if about to ignite: "Black Dragon! My core member status…"

He roared, ready to log into the Grand Void Illusion—when a prompt appeared:

【You are no longer a core member. Special templates are unavailable. Current available templates: Class A…】

【You are no longer a core member and cannot use the special template. Current available templates: Class A…】

Huolingzi's rage vanished instantly—he collapsed to the ground, as if his spine had been ripped out: "This defeat means I can't challenge for core member status again for a hundred years… My resources slashed by over half, my chance of becoming a Heavenly Immortal dropped by at least fifty percent! Damn it!"

He now wanted nothing more than to kill the black dragon or defect from the Boundless Mountain.

But remembering those eyes—aloof, divine, like the Dao itself—he lost all will, clenching his fists instead: "I'm already old—within a hundred years, I'll be near five hundred. Even becoming a core member won't help now… Better to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Nascent Soul cultivators live ten thousand years—I still have chances. I can still turn this around!"

Those who become core members aren't just powerful or talented—they also possess strong wills, unwavering resilience.

Otherwise, they'd have no hope of ever becoming Heavenly Immortals!

Otherwise, there is absolutely no hope of achieving Celestial Immortality!

"Congratulations, Black Dragon. You rank seventy-seventh among core members."

Congratulations, Black Dragon, you are ranked seventy-seventh among core members.

The Cloud Platform dissipated, signaling the end of this Core Member assessment.

Baiyuan Wu Qi walked to Fang Xing's side and congratulated him: "To defeat several Core Members with only third-layer Dao Principle comprehension… you're impressive!"

"Dao Principle comprehension is important, but it's not everything."

Fang Xing shook his head.

Having clashed with so many geniuses this time, he gained deeper understanding and insight into the Dao Principles of Time and Void.

"Heh… I see you must be Imperial Blood."

Wu Qi sighed: "Imperial Blood, Emperor Blood… even just their base cultivation outreaches what we Royal Blood can ever hope to achieve with minimal effort…"

'No, you're mistaken—I was still Common Blood until recently…'

Fang Xing mentally grumbled; moreover, he had not even revealed his true strength in physical cultivation.

"For us, bloodline will eventually become a shackle."

He sighed, but at least that was a problem for after becoming a Heavenly Demon—and he wasn't truly a Black Dragon, so he didn't care much.

"Alright, let's not talk about that. Have you considered taking on a mission lately?"

Wu Qi said: "The Peach Valley Realm… the Immortal Peach Grove is about to ripen again. I'm planning to go gather some Merit Points. Want to come along?"

"The Peach Valley Realm?"

Fang Xing had certainly heard of this Realm's reputation—it was intelligence accessible only to Core Members.

This Realm, too, was left behind by a Celestial Immortal, discovered and seized by Wuji Mountain and the Green Emperor Palace… its interior produces a special Pantao that is not only uniquely flavored but also packed with benefits.

One 'Green Pantao ' is worth a thousand Merit Points; one 'Red Pantao ' is worth ten thousand. Wuji Mountain buys as many as they can get.

But its greater notoriety lies in its extreme danger: only cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage are permitted entry—and the last Core Disciple perished inside the Peach Valley Realm!

"You'll go, right? We're both from the Great Sage of Chaos's lineage. Let's gather plenty of Red Pantao to offer our Ancestor…"

Wu Qi grinned, his monkey face brimming with cunning.

Only two chapters today.

(End of Chapter)