Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

He knew that anyone who dared to compete for the top ten spots wouldn't be simple.

A thought crossed his mind.

The dilapidated flying sword in his storage bag was summoned by Zhang Jing, wrapped in black spiritual power. The flying sword transformed into a beam of black light and, in an instant, darted to the side of the woman's flying sword, slashing fiercely across the blade.

"What?"

The woman could hardly believe her eyes upon witnessing Zhang Jing not only command his shield but also draw another flying sword. This left her a bit stunned.

An opportunity!

Zhang Jing manipulated his magical flying sword to block the woman's sword. At the same time, he poured spiritual power once more into the Water Cloud Shield.

The Water Cloud Shield instantly turned into a black halo, like a heavy hammer, ferociously whacking straight onto the woman's delicate face.

A gust of fierce wind emerged instantly!

Frightened, the woman clumsily pulled out a talisman and activated it in an instant.

A layer of protective white light immediately appeared around her.

Thud!

The Water Cloud Shield hit the protective spirit light, causing it to sway a bit.

So, her talisman is her trump card? Too bad it's useless in front of me.

The sharp property-added Condensation Ice Edge Technique was the best at dealing with this.

Zhang Jing's eyes revealed a hint of a smile.

In the five Dao Rivers, a wandering spell fish abruptly leaped out of the water, turning into an extremely concentrated sharp light, winding around Zhang Jing's right index finger.

He gently pointed it forward.

In an instant, the Condensation Ice Edge Technique arrived and, to the woman's horrified gaze, effortlessly shredded her protective spirit light.

The next moment.

The Water Cloud Shield grew bigger in her sight.

Duang——

Accompanying a crisp sound, the woman was sent flying straight up. A lump the size of half a fist suddenly bulged on her forehead. Her eyes rolled back and she looked utterly miserable.

The woman's flying sword instantly lost control and plummeted onto the magic stage.

Hiss——

Spectators, both on and off the stage, took in sharp breaths at the scene.

Zhang Jing couldn't tell if it was due to his Condensation Ice Edge Technique, but he could feel the surrounding temperature had dropped significantly.

One pair of complicated eyes after another gazed at Zhang Jing.

On the first magic stage, Shen Qingqing unconsciously opened her mouth in surprise at Zhang Jing's violent act, a glint of shock flashing in her eyes.

Meanwhile, on the second magic stage,

Chen Xiandao, whose face had previously been calm, now couldn't maintain his composure.

His face twisted, holding back his laughter, and he gave Zhang Jing a thumbs up.

Off the stage, Ji Bochang sighed at the sight of this, feeling that his brother's strength was indeed extraordinarily strong, but... it seemed to be beyond redemption.

"Zhang Jing, do you need to take a break?" The voice of Senior Brother Liu, holding back his laughter, echoed in his ears.

"No need, senior brother."

Zhang Jing felt that the battle had not drained much of his spiritual power, so he chose not to rest.

At that moment.

A sound of footsteps echoed.

Zhang Jing looked towards the source of the sound and saw that his opponent was the tall man who had nodded at him at the start.

The man glanced at Zhang Jing indifferently and said in a cold voice:

"My name is Xia Fangming. I believe Brother Zhang must have heard my name before."

"Xia Fangming?"

Realization dawned on Zhang Jing's face.

This guy was the first Grade-B genius who had mastered the Visualization Method. His talent was second only to the two Grade-A monsters. Moreover, Zhang Jing had heard that the man had already joined one of the top ten mission teams of the Outer Academy.

No wonder he had looked so calm when the rules were announced.

He was confident in his own strength.

And the woman named Xu Wan who had challenged him earlier, was it because he took the position she had reserved?

"Who among the newcomers who just joined the Dao Institute this year has not heard of Brother Xia's illustrious name?"

Zhang Jing's smile remained unchanged.

"Brother Zhang, you should not have been so ruthless to Xu Wan. How will I explain to her when she wakes up? I hope you can forgive me."

Xia Fangming said expressionlessly.

"Please advise."

Zhang Jing said seriously.

As soon as his words fell.

The Virtual Heart Eye opened once again, enveloping the entire magic stage within its perception.

This Xia Fangming might be the strongest opponent he faces in this assessment, so Zhang Jing naturally couldn't let his guard down.

"Alright!"

Xia Fangming let out a mighty roar.

The magical power at his disposal, close to the peak of the second level of Qi Refinement, erupted all at once.

A bronze mirror floated slowly before him, its surface radiating layer upon layer of spiritual power, enveloping Xia Fangming within.

Next, a golden hammer was hurled by Xia Fangming, the weapon's body suffused with spiritual light, exuding an aura as heavy as a mountain.

The hammer had barely made its appearance before it was directly aimed at Zhang Jing.

The hammer wasn't moving very fast, but the heavy aura it emitted felt like a persistent hindrance to Zhang Jing's movement, making it difficult for him to dodge.

Bang!

The hammer slammed down fiercely, making the entire dueling stage tremble.

A little distance away, a narrow escape left Zhang Jing mopping the cold sweat off his forehead.

Getting hit by that thing won't be pleasant, he thought.

The Flying Sword artifact was once again wielded, turning under Zhang Jing control into a shadowy light too swift to follow with the naked eye. It appeared abruptly near Xia Fangming, slashing down fiercely.

Under attack.

Xia Fangming's protective spiritual light began to distort, and the Flying Sword seemed to have sunk into a quagmire, unable to advance.

Seeing this, Xia Fangming couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He watched from across as Zhang Jing simultaneously wielded his magical shield against his hammer in a relentless grind, not allowing the hammer to even graze the shield, yet also almost managed to break through the protective aura manifested by the bronze mirror with his Flying Sword. This elicited some admiration in Xia Fangming.

This fellow's control over his magical artifact is just too forbidding.

And then there is the powerful spell that directly shattered Xu Wan's protective aura.

No wonder he dared to ascend the third dueling stage!

What a pity—

Xia Fangming's spiritual sense commenced drawing the patterns of spells; three to five breaths later, three earthen puppets emerged under his feet, charging straight towards Zhang Jing with a ferocious momentum.

On the other side.

Witnessing that even with the full force of his Flying Sword spell, he could not break through the opponent's protective aura, and observing the Water Cloud Shield starting to wobble from being tied up for too long with the Golden Hammer, Zhang Jing couldn't help but sigh.

These magical artifacts don't serve much purpose against formidable enemies.

Indeed, one must rely on a variety of skills.

The Five Element Spirit River flowed rapidly, and the five Ice Light Spell Fish darted out of the river in an instant, transforming into bluish spiritual lights, which enveloped Zhang Jing.

Boom!

The giant golden hammer slammed directly on the protective spiritual light around Zhang Jing.

But in the next moment, to Xia Fangming's shocked amazement, there wasn't even a flicker in Zhang Jing's protective light; the hammer's strike seemed as though it was just tickling him.

However – how could this be possible?!

Simultaneously.

The remaining two Spell Fish from the Five Element Spirit River landed in Zhang Jing's hands, transforming into two 'Sharp' Ice Edge Spells, then sprang out like jumping dragons.

This time, Zhang Jing didn't prepare the double-imbued Ice Edge Spell mainly because he was afraid that it would be easily discovered by the disciples of the Inner Academy, making it hard to explain.

But after advancing to the second level of Qi Refinement, merely the 'Sharp' Ice Edge Spell was as strong as the third level Qi Refinement.

It's sufficient!

The earthen puppets were seen to be bisected by the sharp edge, and without any hesitation, the spell turned and streaked towards the layered protective spiritual power hovering over Xia Fangming.

Crack—

A piercing sound rang.

All the protective spiritual light dissipated.

Xia Fangming, with fear apparent on his frost-bitten face, cried out,

"I concede!"

The moment his declaration echoed, there was a hush all around.

Xia Fangming, alarmed and still in shock, cradling his now dim magic bronze mirror, slowly descended from the third dueling stage.

At this moment.

The crowd first took a look at Xia Fangming who was in a pitiful and wretched state, then stared hard at Zhang Jing who was concealed inside the bluish protective spiritual light, their hearts full of sighs.

Why was there no prior rumour about this man?

It's one thing to command and control a magical artifact to an extreme extent, but how is it possible that even his spells have reached such an absurd degree of intensity?

Now we're in trouble!

The original eight placements were already competitive, and now with one less, it's gotten tighter.

Faced with the precedent of Xia Fangming's challenge, the people around were quick to shift their attention towards the other seven dueling stages.

After all, everyone had only three chances to challenge.

If you still attempt when you know you're going to be defeated, you're either a fool or an idiot.

"Anyone wishes to challenge the third dueling stage?"

The voice of Senior Brother Liu echoed out.

But no reply came for a long time.