Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"No, don't go, run!"

On a grandstand in the middle layer of the Jiaoyun Realm.

A beautiful woman in her twenties clenched her fists tightly and stared worriedly at the 29th fighting arena.

In her line of sight.

Zhang Jing was walking into a dense, wild forest seemingly off-guard and extremely young-looking.

Meanwhile, within the forest's darkness.

There were eleven cultivators hidden in ambush.

They had their presences suppressed to the extreme, arrayed as if waiting for the prey to walk willingly into the trap.

The tension reached a zenith.

The woman felt suffocated just witnessing it.

"These people are shameless. It's one thing to rob others, but to team up against one person and plan a hidden attack!"

As if having foreseen the events to unfold.

The pretty woman pouted in indignation.

At her side.

A young man of similar age noticed her concern.

He followed her gaze.

His eyes flashed, and after a while, he said with a hint of bitterness:

"He's so young to be participating in the Jiaoyun Realm... could be a novice from a small place who knew nothing, so came running for the Jiaoyun Realm. But Yun'er, you can't blame those people for ganging up and ambushing. There isn't a rule that forbids that in the Secret Realm."

"He shouldn't have taken the golden decree."

"This is just wrong reasoning!"

The pretty woman rolled her eyes at the man's words, frowning deeply.

"This is the real world of the Immortal Way. Treasures always belong to those who are virtuous."

The man seemed to recall something and a tinge of complexity flashed through his eyes.

...

"With this Jiaoyun decree, I can find a quiet place and wait for the end of the first round in twenty days."

Zhang Jing thought to himself, a faint smile crossing his eyes.

With the Jiaoyun decree in his hand.

The giant boulder in his heart finally landed.

Continuing to seek other Jiaoyun decrees-

He dismissed the idea as soon as it came up.

The effect of the Jiaoyun decree could not be stacked anyway.

There was no need to waste such effort.

In this time.

Zhang Jing would rather sit quietly to recuperate, preparing for the next round and topping the list of Foundation Establishment Realm.

After all, before entering the fighting arena.

He had sensed that among the many Foundation Establishment cultivators participating in the Jiaoyun Realm, there were some formidable ones.

And the struggle to be the first in the Foundation Establishment Realm might not be as easy as he had thought.

Especially the rules of the first round.

They left Zhang Jing with many uncertainties.

...

Lost in thought.

Zhang Jing suddenly halted, subconsciously scanning around him.

The surroundings were dimly lit.

The towering ancient trees shrouding the sky closely overhead.

It seemed to be peaceful and calm.

However, in Zhang Jing's senses, faint hostility was continuously wafting from the shadows.

Perhaps under ordinary circumstances, one might not be able to perceive such weak hostility.

But...

The instinctual sensitivity of the Taiyin Sea Dragon within Zhang Jing's Dharma Seeds was extremely fine-tuned to such things.

"One, two, three..."

He began to count one by one.

His clear voice echoing forth in the dark forest, unabashedly alerting the enemy.

...

On the other side.

Seeing the prey suddenly stop, a burly man with a face full of cross scars couldn't help but glance with confusion.

But then.

He heard Zhang Jing start counting.

His confusion deepened, and he instinctively looked toward their leader in the distance.

As if asking:

Why this guy stopped moving and is just counting there?

Their eyes met.

The man in a black robe also looked confused.

However, when he heard Zhang Jing stop at eleven.

He suddenly understood.

"Quit hiding and get to it! Damn it, this guy is counting us!"

The voice of the man in the black robe, filled with humiliation and rage, echoed out, instantly overshadowing Zhang Jing's voice and startling the spirit birds and beasts in the forest.

As his words echoed,

those who were hidden and preparing to move were taken aback.

Then,

His body was surrounded by terrifying waves of mana.

In an instant,

various magic artifacts such as swords, spears, halberds, bottles, banners, bells, and umbrellas flew out from different corners.

Within less than a moment,

these artifacts, working together, seemed to weave a large net above Zhang Jing's head. It was filled with a violent aura, rapidly descending to envelop him.

As it passed through,

ancient trees were reduced to dust.

The air instantly emitted a mournful wail.

Meanwhile,

dozens of talismans, radiating powerful energy, were summoned by them, covering the sky as they flew toward Zhang Jing's position.

Accompanying the talismans were,

various spells,

emitting cold, heavy, or sharp auras.

Various forces mixed together, turning the spiritual energy of the surrounding dozens of miles into a mess.

It was almost impossible to mobilize it again.

On the spot.

The man in the black robe stared at Zhang Jing, as if trying to find certain expressions on the latter's face.

"So you've found out? Not only did you not flee, but you dared to count? You didn't expect I would be so well-prepared."

He thought,

his heart was filled with delight!

However....

A smile on this man's face lasted less than half a moment.

A suddenly appearing colorful spiritual light reflected the fear in his eyes.

It was a giant hand that appeared out of nowhere.

Each of the five fingers flashed with five different colors; each color contained a different, terrifying intent, interweaving with a hint of the five elements' harmonious aspects.

The giant hand slowly descended.

The motion seemed slow, but in fact, it was incredibly fast.

The massive disturbance provoked by the eleven men disappeared in the overwhelming colorful brilliance.

What magic artifact net?

What torrent formed by talismans and spells?

In an instant, they melted away like snowflakes falling into molten lava, disappearing without a trace.

Bang!

A palm print of over ten feet appeared on the ground, and the colorful glow spread around it.

The view was immediately cleared,

Revealing the figures of the men who had been hiding, and the frozen look of horror on their faces.

The next moment,

Ten flashes of white light.

This was Zhang Jing's counterattack, triggering the protective mechanism of the fighting field.

These men were immediately teleported out of the Secret Realm.

At the back.

The remaining man in the black robe retreated rapidly, transforming into a dark afterimage, desperately fleeing into the distance.

His face, under the covering hood,

Was filled with fear.

Five types of intent!

Zhang Jing merely slapped casually, and a full five kinds of intense intent were contained within. Moreover, they were five cyclic, interconnected intents.

The key point was,

Each of these five seemed to be complete.

The degree of terror was unimaginable.

"Monster! He must be one of the monsters from a top-ranking legacy power!"

The man was immediately wrapped in profound regret.

Why couldn't he suppress his greed?

Now he had lost everything!

But at that moment.

Ding Ding--

The clear sound of a magic artifact colliding suddenly echoed in his ears.

The man in the black robe suddenly went cold.

He couldn't help but look back with a dull gaze.

A small river glowing with five colors of spiritual light suddenly crossed a hundred feet in an instant, like a long chain, sweeping directly at him.

At this moment,

there was nowhere to hide, no way to evade!