Chapter 263: Human-shaped Cannon Turret

The cultivator on the stage arrogantly glanced at the people below, disdainfully pinching his ear: "Boring, noisy."

After saying that, the person stepped down from the stage and left.

"Winner, Sha Rui!"

Yan Buji narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Being young is great—arrogant and confident."

Afterwards, Yan Buji patiently watched today's duels to the end; overall, there indeed appeared some very impressive opponents, but one might not necessarily encounter them.

To be honest, just today's duels made Yan Buji feel that these people were even inferior to the cultivators from Kan Dao Territory who, having fought in Kan Dao Capital and survived by luck, were stronger.

They lacked vigor, but were full of confidence and satisfaction in their own strength, even arrogance.

Yan Buji wasn't afraid of these people; he feared that someone who thought like him would appear, forcing him to test them out if they did.

Returning to Accumulation Device Peak, Yan Buji built a wooden hut on the mountainside as his dwelling; the hut contained little, most of his belongings were carried with him, leaving only the bedding inside.

Sitting on the bed, Yan Buji began seated meditation.

He waited until the next day.

Yan Buji's opponent was a seventh-layer Lianqi Phase cultivator; indeed quite young, estimated to have reached this stage at around forty, which is not slow progress.

Although the Lianqi Phase is fundamentally a process of accumulating magical power to break through barriers, one must also learn multiple techniques to advance; for ordinary cultivators, aside from choosing techniques, acquiring resources is itself a problem.

Therefore, such disciples are not many in the Blue Mountain Sect; hearing his name and observing his attire, Yan Buji guessed he came from Lian Dan Tang.

"Sun Liwu of Lian Dan Tang, please advise."

Yan Buji bowed and said, "Huang Hao of Accumulation Device Peak, I dare not accept such guidance."

"The duel begins!"

As the referee gave the order, Sun Liwu suddenly took out several pills and stuffed them into his mouth; seeing his opponent's magical power surge instantly to the eighth layer of Lianqi Phase, Yan Buji looked puzzled.

No, taking pills before battle—even if you're from Lian Dan Tang, you wouldn't be this extravagant, would you?

"Come!"

Sun Liwu, seemingly intent on ending the fight quickly, promptly produced a First-Tier Accumulation Device longsword, leapt into the air, and swung it!

Several sword qi, as solid as substance, attacked with extreme sharpness; Yan Buji was forced to dodge, barely avoiding them.

Afterwards, as Yan Buji prepared to see what the opponent would do next, he noticed him taking more pills.

"Huh?"

Immediately afterward, the opponent's sword light and sword qi became somewhat stronger and faster, like a human-shaped cannon turret continuously unleashing spell attacks.

In the cramped space, Yan Buji frantically dodged, left speechless by him.

"No, the Lian Dan Tang folks are going too far—treating an old man like this?"

"Still popping pills, still popping pills—treating this place like a cafeteria?"

"Really hard on that old guy."

The surrounding cultivators looked at Sun Liwu with envy, jealousy, and hatred; honestly, if they could really take pills as meals, they'd want to do the same.

"The key is they don't have that ability."

After waiting a while, seeing that the opponent had no intention of stopping, Yan Buji could no longer hold back.

"Watch out!" Yan Buji shouted.

Sun Liwu panted heavily: "You're too good at dodging.... Not good!"

Before Sun Liwu could react, Yan Buji spat out a mouthful of spiritual fire, destroying all the incoming sword light; Sun Liwu, still mid-air and unable to dodge, could only activate his spiritual shield to block!

Boom!

With a blast, Yan Buji saw his opponent knocked off the stage, hands on hips, panting, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Winner, Huang Hao!"

After winning the first match, Yan Buji could rest.

Today's schedule, like yesterday's, requires pulling all participating disciples onto the stage for a run-through; yesterday they fought over a hundred matches from morning to night, today they should be able to finish.

Tomorrow, another fifty will be eliminated; the day after tomorrow's matches won't be delayed this long.

Standing below the stage, Yan Buji noticed the surrounding cultivators weren't discussing him, but rather how formidable the Lian Dan Tang disciples were—evidently his performance lacked any standout moments.

On the contrary, Sun Liwu's pill-popping fighting style indeed aroused envy.

"I don't know if taking too many of those pills will affect the body; otherwise I'd want to buy a couple as spares."

"What if it damages kidney function?"

"Then better forget it—look for a substitute elsewhere."

"Speaking of which, we hardly encounter any danger in the sect, so why bother preparing so many backups?"

"Don't you know 'better safe than sorry'?"

"Besides, you forgot that the Mutant Zone in Qian Dao Territory is about to open? We might even get a chance to go in and have a look."

Yan Buji froze for a moment, "Mutant Zone?"

"Is it the source of the Mutant Force Source Stone?" Yan Buji's eyes lit up.

It is said that this Mutant Zone, in ancient times, after abnormal beasts ran rampant in a certain region, caused the Mutant Force to seep into the earth's veins, affecting an area.

Within this zone, everything underwent mutation, becoming a playground for abnormal beasts.

The mutated things themselves are hardly useful, whereas abnormal beasts are more valuable. However, the Mutant Zone contains Mutant Force Source Stones, which can yield treasures, hence it has attracted widespread attention.

Actually, I'm not entirely clear on how it works; Yan Buji only learned about the zone's formation through the Stone-cutting Secret Art, but he's unsure whether anything besides Mutant Force Source Stones exists inside.

What if abnormal beasts exist there?

Yan Buji's expression shifted; the power of abnormal beasts is undeniable—even a first-tier abnormal beast, he now feels confident he could subdue and kill it.

He also didn't know where he got the nerve to seek out that many-eyed snake and even wanted to dig out its eyes.

All that can be said is that ignorance breeds fearlessness.

Now Yan Buji, the more he knows, the more cautious and careful he becomes, unlike when he first entered the cultivation world, when he was recklessly bold.

"Wait a moment, Junior Brother Huang."

"Oh? Senior Brother Hu, what important matter do you have?" Yan Buji said with a clasped-fist salute and a smile.

At a glance, he saw— isn't that the referee on the stage?

"This senior brother?"

Pang De laughed and said: "I'm Pang De from the Disciple Hall; we met today."

"Senior Brother Pang, what brings the two of you here?"

"Let's find a place to chat." Hu Bing said with a smile.

Yan Buji nodded, though he didn't know why they had suddenly sought him out— could it be because of that idea of his?

However, seeing that they didn't seem to be looking for trouble, Yan Buji didn't rush to decline and leave.

Following them to a courtyard, the three sat down, and Yan Buji said with a clasped-fist salute: "Senior brothers, what major matter has occurred that you're looking for this junior brother?"

Pang De glanced at Hu Bing, then laughed loudly: "Haha, Junior Brother Hu, go ahead and speak."

"Yes, alas, Junior Brother Huang, you've really done a great deed this time!!"

Yan Buji looked at Hu Bing's smiling face, for a moment unsure whether he was deliberately saying the opposite or what, and he said somewhat puzzled:

"What do you mean, Senior Brother?"