Chapter 508: Betting on Luck
The Lightning Master
After a brief rest, the third match began.
Jiu once again stepped onto the platform, looking toward the Daoist side. They were gathered together, whispering amongst themselves. Before long, a Daoist priest in purple robes with a pale face emerged from the crowd.
The priest was quite young, estimated to be around thirty-five years old. He coughed every few steps, giving the false impression of being gravely ill.
Derek scoffed,
"Are you out of people? Sending a sickly fellow to fight?"
"You'll see soon enough."
The middle-aged Daoist priest couldn't be bothered to respond to him and simply signaled the referee to prepare.
The purple-robed priest slowly walked onto the platform. When he reached the center, he bowed to the crowd while catching his breath.
"I am Wang Dan, from the Shenxiao School."
He said School rather than Temple. The Daoist members who were previously unaware of the plan were shocked. Only one major branch of the Daoist sect specialized in Lightning Sorcery: the Shenxiao. Lightning Sorcery was immensely powerful, but it damaged both the body and the spirit; its practitioners were all short-lived. Thus, Shenxiao had no temples, only the School (meaning the collective teachings).
The Shenxiao School was the general term for those who primarily practiced Lightning Sorcery.
With preparations complete, the match began.
Jiu charged forward without hesitation. Suddenly, a strong sense of danger came from above.
Zzzzzzt!
A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, narrowly grazing his body and hitting the platform.
Boom!
The ground cracked, and electricity scattered, causing the boy's body to twitch violently.
Wang Dan looked stunned. He hadn't expected the opponent to be able to predict the danger and dodge in advance.
Having missed the first strike, Jiu immediately entered a state of fury. His eyes turned blood-red, and the blood-colored, mottled tiger phantom appeared around him. Wang Dan drew his peach wood sword and chanted a spell.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky. A fierce wind assaulted the area, and an extremely terrifying aura brewed above.
"Heavenly Thunder!"
A member of the Special Affairs Department, who was observing, murmured, "Looking at the color of the clouds, it's very likely the legendary Shenxiao Heavenly Thunder. How old is that Wang Dan? To actually be able to cast that level of sorcery."
The middle-aged man next to him said gravely, "He is overdrawing his lifespan."
"Lifespan?"
The few observers were initially confused, but looking at Wang Dan's face, they immediately understood. In just a brief moment, his hair had turned gray, his complexion was dark and pale, exuding an air of decay.
Compared to before, he looked as if he had aged ten years.
A crackling sound came from above. Lightning bolts, dense and terrifying, streaked through the dark clouds. Wang Dan spat a mouthful of blood onto his peach wood sword. The sword began to glow, and a mysterious aura flew from the tip into the black clouds.
Boom!
The dark clouds began to churn. The energy fluctuations were so intense that even Luke couldn't help but frown.
Linda said nervously,
"How about we forfeit? Jiu won't be able to handle this strike."
Luke remained silent, his gaze fixed on the platform. The fifteen-year-old boy roared to the sky. Facing the Heavenly Thunder, he showed no fear, only fervent fighting spirit. The blood-colored tiger phantom was also affected, baring its fangs and widening its eyes, seemingly intending to contend against the heavens and earth.
Seeing him like this, Luke sighed.
"So be it."
"Ava, don't let him die."
"Understood, Young Master."
The dark clouds began to press down. To the horror of the crowd, a bolt of lightning as thick as a wrist sliced through the air. The blinding light rushed forth, consuming all visibility.
BOOM!
The blood-colored tiger phantom was instantly submerged in the lightning. It lasted only half a second before shattering. The white electric light flowed downward, targeting the center of Jiu's brow. At the crucial moment, the silver battlesuit flowed like a liquid, turning into a metallic shield that blocked part of the lightning. The remainder still struck the boy.
Terrifying currents ravaged his body, and a scorched smell filled the air.
Jiu vomited blood and painfully convulsed.
A few seconds later, the blinding light slowly faded. The onlookers, their hearts pounding, quickly looked toward the platform. Jiu, completely blackened, lay in a crater, white currents rising from his body as he twitched intermittently. Across from him, Wang Dan knelt on the ground. His formerly black hair was now gray. He clutched his chest and coughed violently, large amounts of blood overflowing between his fingers with every cough.
The state of the two fighters made everyone's scalp tingle, and they couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
One summoned Heavenly Thunder, the other used his body to resist it. Such a scene belonged only in fantasy novels.
The referee rushed up to check on their physical conditions. Wang Dan used his peach wood sword to support himself, forcefully keeping himself from collapsing. Jiu was barely clinging to life, with no chance of standing up.
The result was no surprise: Wang Dan won.
The Spoils of War
Luke said nothing. He administered a strong cardiac stimulant to Jiu. Several bodyguards carefully placed him into a pre-prepared medical pod, and the group left the venue without looking back.
Derek said coldly,
"My Young Master is a man of his word. As of now, the Tiger Fiend Scripture is yours, and the temple plaques will be delivered tomorrow."
He then quickly chased after the main group.
The match was over. Oddly, the Daoist priests, as the winners, showed no joy, only grim faces.
They knew their own situation. Wang Dan's cultivation was far from the level needed to summon Heavenly Thunder. He had used a forbidden technique, sacrificing decades of his lifespan to achieve this effect.
In a sense, this was cheating.
Winning by cheating was anything but glorious.
The Daoist side was silent, but the martial arts community was buzzing with excitement, as if they were the winners.
Through this match, two things became clear to the crowd: First, ancient martial arts were not inferior and possessed limitless potential. Second, the Daoist sect was only so-so, far from as powerful as the legends claimed.
And the Tiger Fiend Scripture...
Countless eyes turned toward the long box on the stone table. The technique was inside. What if they could obtain it?
A greedy thought flashed through their minds, but was ultimately suppressed. This was Longhu Mountain, the Daoist sect's base. Who would dare cause trouble here?
Before long, the crowd dispersed.
The abbots and elders from the various temples gathered in the great hall of Longhu Mountain. On the table in the center lay a book, the spoils of war: the Tiger Fiend Scripture.
A white-haired old Daoist priest walked unsteadily to the table, opened the book, and quickly browsed through the pages. After reading the first few dozen pages, he flipped to the last few, muttering softly as he read.
The surrounding Daoist priests waited in silence for the verification.
After a few minutes, the elder closed the book and said with a complex expression,
"It is identical to the incomplete scroll preserved in the Daoist Treasury. There is no mistake. It is real."
At his words, a commotion broke out.
"It's actually real!"
"Luke Shaw actually used the genuine article as a stake."
"I didn't think that man had an honest side."
"Wait, wasn't the Heavenly Master's Strategy we offered fake?"
"Shh! Silence!"
The older Daoist priests sitting at the head of the room exchanged glances but turned their heads away. The Daoist sect prided itself on being a righteous, reputable school, yet they had tried to pass off a fake Heavenly Master's Strategy. In contrast, Luke, the one they deemed an 'evil outsider,' had kept his promise and offered the real Tiger Fiend Scripture.
The comparison was truly embarrassing.
A highly respected old Daoist priest coughed and slowly said,
"Since everyone is here, let's discuss how to deal with this technique."
One person immediately spoke, "Why ask? Of course, we must destroy it. This Demonic Path technique must not be allowed to circulate."
"Destroying it is useless. Luke Shaw has copies. It's best to seal it away."
"Seal it where?"
At this question, the air instantly grew quiet. The abbots of several temples looked eager. Although the Tiger Fiend Scripture was a Demonic Path technique, it could lead to cultivation and was, in some ways, even stronger than the Heavenly Master's Strategy. Such a rare technique was highly coveted. Who wouldn't want to hold it in their hands?
The atmosphere was subtle.
Zhang Huaixu, the Mountain Master of Longhu Mountain, sighed.
"Cultivation of the Dao, cultivation of the Demonic Path—the only difference between them is the word Greed. This book cannot be kept anywhere. It must be sealed in the Forbidden Area."
Zhang Ruochen and the other elders also nodded. "That is the best method."
Though the others were reluctant, they couldn't object. The Daoist Forbidden Area was a mysterious place that required seven highly cultivated elders to open simultaneously. The Forbidden Area was a one-way path (in but not out) and housed many forbidden objects, including the Daoist supreme treasure—the Heavenly Master's Strategy.
Sealing the Tiger Fiend Scripture inside was the most appropriate solution.
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