Chapter 782: Dragon and Tiger Fight!

May 15th, Bathing Buddha Festival.

Kaihuang City was full of joy, decorated with lanterns and colored streamers. The people got up early and knelt down to their own Buddha statues.

If conditions permitted, they would also go to Kaihuang Temple to worship Buddha and fast monks, in order to commemorate the birth of the World-Honored One, which showed the piety of the people of Kaihuang City to Buddhism and their reverence for the World-Honored One.

Even Lu Yang, who didn't understand the power of incense, felt that the power of incense was being born at this time.

Perhaps the rich incense power of the ownerless Buddhist Kingdom was created day after day like this.

Only one person had some criticisms about this.

"Today is not my birthday." The Immortal Fairy pouted and was very unhappy.

Lu Yang's heart moved, and he asked: "Then what day is your birthday?"

Speaking of which, he had known the Fairy for so long, but he didn't know the Fairy's birthday.

"The first day of the sixth lunar month."

"Then what day is it today?" Lu Yang felt that a festival wouldn't just be created for no reason; today must have some kind of commemorative significance.

The Immortal Fairy touched her chin and hissed softly, feeling that Xiao Yangzi's question was a bit tricky: "It's the fifteenth of the fifth month. I've lived through it so many times, who knows... ah, no, I'm only sixteen years old."

The Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang vigilantly. He didn't hear her talking to herself just now, did he?

As a minister, Lu Yang knew well that some things should be pretended not to be heard even if they were heard. He asked with a blank face: "Fairy, why are you looking at me like that?"

Only then did the Immortal Fairy feel relieved and continue to recall.

"I remember now, today is the anniversary of the first time I defeated Ying Ying Tian Xian and the other three after becoming an immortal!"

Lu Yang looked at the commoners on the street splashing water to celebrate the festival, his expression becoming subtle.

Is today really worth celebrating?

The streets of Kaihuang City were bustling with people, crowded to the point of overflowing; it was the liveliest time since the founding of Kaihuang City. Even the Buddha-Bathing Festivals of previous years had never been this lively.

Even Master Duanchen was overjoyed. He knew that Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had great influence, but he didn't expect it to reach this extent—it was several times the peak number of people in previous history, to the point where even the monks maintaining order were not enough, and the manpower was stretched thin.

When Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou passed by, they glanced at the clamorous arena, which was surrounded by a crowd.

On the arena, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Jin Dan cultivators were each showing their unique skills, striving to pass the preliminary rounds.

As judges, it was naturally impossible for Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou to comment on every match; that would be too demeaning.

Only when the cultivators passed the preliminary rounds, stood out from the crowd, and entered the top eight would Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou appear as judges to comment.

Therefore, every cultivator, even if they didn't want the prize, would try every possible way to squeeze into the top eight to get the two's comments.

If the two praised someone, it would be enough to make that person famous.

"The level is quite average." Lu Yang took two looks; they were all at the middle level of their respective tiers. Those with good levels were just above average, and even cross-tier challenges were difficult.

"Just make do with it. Do you think this is our sect, where geniuses are everywhere?"

Suddenly, the crowd became restless. Someone pointed at the Jin Dan cultivator on the stage, exceptionally surprised: "Look, that's Huo Ying! It is said that he completed the Vermillion Bird Trial of the Vermillion Bird Temple and was promoted to 99th on the Earth Ranking!"

"How could he come here?"

Lu Yang had a strange expression and turned to ask Meng Jingzhou: "What on earth is the Earth Ranking?"

Meng Jingzhou also shook his head: "Never heard of it."

Lu Yang patted the shoulder of the loudest spectator on the outermost edge, thinking he must know.

"Excuse me, what is this Earth Ranking?"

The man turned his head, surprised by Lu Yang's question: "You don't even know the Earth Ranking?"

"Yeah, we are cultivators from the Great Xia, here in the Buddha Kingdom to participate in the competition," Lu Yang said honestly.

"No wonder you don't know. Our Buddha Kingdom's Xitian Temple ranks the cultivators of our Buddha Kingdom to motivate them."

"There are three lists in total: the Human Ranking for the Foundation Establishment stage, the Earth Ranking for the Jin Dan stage, and the Heaven Ranking for the Nascent Soul stage. Each list has one hundred spots."

"See Huo Ying on the stage? That is the 99th on the Earth Ranking of the genius list. He is ranked 99th among Jin Dan cultivators! It is said that even ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivators are no match for him. Although no battle record has been released yet, everyone says his strength is enough to rival veteran early Nascent Soul cultivators!"

The man became more excited as he spoke, as if Huo Ying were some incredible big shot.

"Who would have thought he would participate in the Buddha-Bathing Festival in Kaihuang City? In this way, I'm afraid other cultivators won't have a chance!"

Lu Yang suddenly realized. No wonder this Huo Ying looked like he had some tricks up his sleeve. It turned out he could be ranked among the Jin Dan cultivators in the Buddha Kingdom. This was a genius comparable to Lady Bai Gu.

"Why isn't there a ranking above the Heaven Ranking? I still want to try and see where I can rank." Meng Jingzhou shook his head with regret. He came to the Buddha Kingdom too late. If he had known there was a ranking list, he would have come to the Buddha Kingdom when he was in the Nascent Soul stage.

Suddenly, the crowd cheered again, the sound growing louder and louder.

"It's Fang Wudi! Fang Wudi, ranked 95th on the Earth Ranking, he's here too!"

"What? It's that Fang Wudi who obtained the Supreme Dharma of the Hengsha Secret Realm!"

"Even he came!"

"A dragon fighting a tiger."

Two Earth Ranking cultivators fighting—what a rare battle to see!

"Fang Wudi, I didn't expect you to come too!" Huo Ying looked solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy. He had never fought Fang Wudi, but he had heard many stories about him. There was definitely a reason why the other party was ranked above him.

"I heard that you have the Innate Supreme Body. When you were born, a golden dragon circled and entered your body, turning into your birthmark. Afterward, you absorbed pure Yang energy at noon, guided Qi into your body, achieved Foundation Establishment in a hundred days, condensed a Jin Dan in the Hengsha Secret Realm, and forged yourself into iron skin and copper bones with your hard-training kung fu. You have almost reached the extreme on the path of body refining!"

"Just passing by, trying it out on the way." Fang Wudi took out a staff made of refined iron from his storage ring. No one knew how many desperate criminals had died under that staff.

"Huo Ying, you're not bad either. I heard your mother was a saintess of the Profound Mystery Holy Land. You were tempered with great medicine before you were even born. When you were born, you held a wisp of innate purple energy in your hand. Afterward, you wiped out wolf bandits, fought flying corpses, rampaged three thousand miles through the desert, escorted holy objects, fought peerlessly, became angry for the sake of a beauty, left the Holy Land saying you had no regrets... it's admirable..."

The two looked at each other, and the battle was about to break out!

The audience was boiling with excitement, not expecting to see such a battle as soon as the Buddha-Bathing Festival started!

Lu Yang watched Huo Ying and Fang Wudi's battle seriously. Seeing them fight to a draw, he couldn't help but sigh. It was hard to imagine that there were still three people ranked between them.

"The Buddha Kingdom still has experts. They can even make a ranking with such a small gap."

Meng Jingzhou watched for a long time, but he couldn't see anything outstanding about these two.

"No, these two have been bragging about each other for a long time, and this is all the skill they have? When I was in the Jin Dan stage, I could beat both of them at once."