Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

Zhang Jing calmly replied.

The two of them were talking.

"Zhang Jing, Ninth Performance Platform," Senior Brother Liu's voice rang out.

"It's my turn."

Zhang Jing gave a slight smile. Then, under the gaze of everyone around him, he strode towards the Ninth Performance Platform.

Below the performance platform.

The crowd surrounding the stage watched a stranger step by step climb onto the platform, and heard a unfamiliar name. They immediately realized that this was another Grade-B talent.

As a result, they all stared unblinkingly at the stage.

Huh--

After several deep breaths, Zhang Jing managed to block out all the noise around him, his gaze focused entirely on the puppet.

Step out!

It was just like triggering a switch.

In Zhang Jing's line of sight, the puppet suddenly raised its head. Its hollow eyes were staring straight at him, a complicated array of spell restrictions lit up, and a wild surge of spiritual power was coming towards him.

The next moment.

The puppet swung its fists in front of it, leaping high into the air. With a cold, martial aura, it rushed towards Zhang Jing like a heavy hammer.

Quick! Unparalled quickness!

Like a bolt of black lightning, it appeared before Zhang Jing's eyes.

The wind caused by the puppet's movement blew on his face, it felt like a needle prick.

There was no spell.

The puppet's extremely hard body, coupled with its ultimate speed, made this attack even more terrible than most spells.

Good!

Zhang Jing's eyes glinted, his hand brushed past his storage bag.

The Water Cloud Shield suddenly appeared, and then, as if it had teleported, it was directly in between him and the puppet. The abundant spiritual power in his Dantian was infused into the Water Cloud Shield, causing the black radiant light on the shield to become even more profound and condensed.

Boom——

A loud collision echoed across the whole square, attracting lots of attention.

Under the attack of the puppet, the spiritual light covering the Water Cloud Shield flickered uncertainly, as if it would shatter at any moment.

But in the end, it held up.

Seeing the small shield in front of it blocking its attack, a glint flashed through the puppet's eyes.

It grabbed the Water Cloud Shield with one hand, at the same time the puppet's body bent over. Using the Water Cloud Shield as a fulcrum, it transformed into a long whip, whipping fiercely at Zhang Jing who was hiding behind the shield.

An even stronger wave of spiritual power suddenly erupted from the puppet's body.

It can operate like this too?

A look of surprise flashed across Zhang Jing's face, but he remained composed.

With a 'clang', Zhang Jing summoned his magic artifact, the Flying Sword. The tip of the sword was immediately wrapped with an extraordinarily dense black edge, directly meeting the puppet's attack.

Accompanied by the sound of metal clashing, the puppet's attack was once again blocked by Zhang Jing.

With no other option, the puppet had to retreat and try to find an opening in the battle.

On the other side.

Zhang Jing's gaze slowly swept over the puppet.

Since you've retreated, then the initiative of this battle now belongs to me.

After only two attacks, Zhang Jing had already figured out the puppet's level of battle power.

Qi Refinement Second Layer!

It should match his own; after all, when he had watched from the platform earlier, the puppet didn't seem so strong.

However, Qi Refinement Second Layer... Just right!

With tough skin and high resistance, although the attack method was a bit simple, after all, it was of the same grade. Wasn't this the perfect target for practicing magic artifact control?

With a thought.

The Illusory Mental Eye slowly opened.

The Flying Sword's light became magnificent, transforming into a stream of light tearing through the air and slashing straight towards the puppet.

Thud!

A heavy hit made the puppet stumble back a step.

The puppet relied on its hard body, however, to ignore the Flying Sword and rose to kill Zhang Jing. But to its surprise, before it could take two steps, it was once again met with the Water Cloud Shield, hitting it heavily in the face.

For a moment, under Zhang Jing's control, the Flying Sword and Water Cloud Shield were sometimes aggressive like fire, sometimes slow and steady.

The understanding of magic artifact control sprung up in his heart, making Zhang Jing's control over the Flying Sword and Water Cloud Shield even more confident and fluent.

The two magical artifacts, one offensive, one defensive, wove a tight net around the puppet, trapping it.

In the end.

On the twenty-seventh breath.

The puppet was forcibly knocked off the platform by Zhang Jing.

There was silence all around.

"Zhang Jing, passed." Senior Brother Liu's voice sounded timely, breaking the silence.

Zhang Jing withdrew his magical artifacts and calmly went downstairs.

On the neighboring stage, stage ten.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The puppet's attack was like a storm, and Wu Mingyuan, pale as a ghost, was struggling to control his magic artifact and resist one terrifying attack after another.

The spiritual power of the Qi Refinement First Layer was almost exhausted, and the magical light on the magical artifact had dimmed to its lowest point.

"Five breaths, four breaths, three breaths..."

In front of his darkening vision, Wu Mingyuan silently counted down the remaining time.

"Wu Mingyuan, pass."

The voice of Senior Brother Liu at this moment sounded like divine music to Wu Mingyuan.

The prohibition spell engraved on the puppet gradually faded.

Wu Mingyuan, unable to hold on any longer, slumped to the ground. He couldn't care less about his image, breathing heavily as he lay there.

At that moment, he saw the figure of Zhang Jing leisurely leaving the ninth stage.

An involuntary sigh of relief came from his heart:

I'm fortunate to have apologized in time, otherwise now I would be...

At a certain stone platform outside.

"Junior Brother, is that the Zhang Jing you once invited, but was rejected by him?"

"Yes, Senior Brother."

"As for talent, it was assessed as Grade-B; but in terms of temperament, he could remain calm in the face of an enemy and had excellent judgment in offence and defence, he indeed has potential. After the ranking is done, Junior Brother, could you invite him on behalf of our Hundred Rivers Squad again?"

"Senior Brother, he did reject us before——"

"Then, Junior Brother, offer him more, rejection is just because our previous offer did not meet his expectations."

"A thirty percent deduction in Tao Merits?"

"We can't break this rule, find some other ways."

...

"Brother Zhang, your cultivation... the second layer of Qi Refinement?!"

Ji Bochang stared at Zhang Jing with a stunned expression, speaking in a tone of shock.

"It's all by luck, all by luck.", Zhang Jing modestly replied.

"Haha, so it's luck again..."

There was a hint of complexity flashed through Ji Bochang's gaze as he looked at Zhang Jing.

The time elapsed from the initial entry into the seventh Temporary Institute, to mastering the Visualization Method, to introducing Qi into the body, and now, was less than a month.

And within this short period of time.

He had watched as his Brother Zhang went from being far behind, to mastering the visualization method just one day later than him, and now stepping into the second layer of Qi Refinement first—

All of it appeared to be as exaggerated as a dream, to the point of feeling unreal.

For a moment, Ji Bochang felt that Brother Zhang might not be inferior to the two Grade-A monsters.

But the very next moment, he shook his head.

What in the world was he thinking?

...

"Chen Xiandao, the first stage."

The voice of Senior Brother Liu burst out suddenly, attracting everyone's attention. Including Zhang Jing, everyone rushed to the first stage.

Outside on the stone platform.

As soon as they heard the name, many of the team members stopped their idle chatter and unconsciously looked at the first stone platform.

A bald, muscular man was sitting on it, his body exuding an intense spiritual power, much like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"Is that... one of the two Grade-A monsters, Chen Xiandao?"

In the crowd, Zhang Jing looked curiously at the tall figure ascending the stage.

He heard that this man was always cultivating in the Coiling Dragon Team's island cave, so he had only heard of his name but never seen him in person.

Finally, he was going to see the real deal!

Of course, more than his appearance, what Zhang Jing was curious about was his high-grade cultivation method.

Up on the stage.

The puppet's body became blurry and then suddenly appeared in front of Chen Xiandao.

Here it comes!

Zhang Jing's heart raced, and he immediately activated his mind's eye.

Chen Xiandao's body suddenly stiffened, giving off an eerie sensation as though he were a towering giant. His entire body was covered in fiery red Dao patterns.

A punch was thrown!

A fist met a fist!

Boom!

The puppet was sent flying with a single punch from Chen Xiandao.

"Chen Xiandao, pass."

The voice of Senior Brother Liu rang out.

"My God! Brother Zhang, did you see that?"

Ji Bochang exclaimed, his facial expression distorted due to excessive shock.

"I saw it."

Zhang Jing replied with a smile, his eyes revealing a hint of excitement he failed to hide.

He really saw it!

Just now, when Chen Xiandao made his move, a sliver of unfamiliar dao rhyme encased his fist in Zhang Jing's perception.

Through that dao rhyme, Zhang Jing seemed to sense an enormous terrifying figure engulfed in flames.

He was certainly sure now, high-grade cultivation method was related to dao rhyme!

——

ps: Thank you to Boss "Mozong Wuyou" for the reward~~