Chapter 45: 45 - An incomparable technique The outer disciples’ arena was filled with murmurs as everyone watched the final duel of the inner disciples’ selection. Tianming was incredible. Although his cultivation was only at the fourth stage of the Foundation Realm, his real power rivaled that of a seventh stage cultivator. But it wasn’t him who caused these murmurs. It was Qingyi. With his cultivation of the first stage of the Foundation Realm, he didn’t just fight Tianming head-to-head, he forced him to retreat. Hua Feiyan felt her heart tremble every time their swords met. Qingyi was winning, but she couldn’t help but feel a tightness in her chest. Why did Qingyi have to fight like this? Why not just surrender? He was already guaranteed a place as an inner disciple! After the arena, if Tianming tried anything, she could simply protect him. As a core disciple, she had been given techniques and artifacts that would allow her to crush that bastard easily. She bit her lips as she stretched out her hands, an aura of earth Qi rising in her palm. What if she attacked Tianming right there? She didn’t need to kill him, just open a gap for Qingyi to finish the job. She would be punished for intervening, but nothing that would lead to her death. She hesitated, not for fear of punishment, but for how Qingyi would react. Would he be angry at her for intervening in his revenge? Would he blame her? Then she felt a gentle, wrinkled hand fall on hers, and the Qi seemed to be suddenly swept away. "I approve of your husband," Madame Xue’s calm, gentle voice penetrated her ears. "He’s one of the most talented young men I’ve ever seen, and if he gets the spirit root enhancement pill, he’ll probably be someone who will make the outer region of the Blue Moon Continent tremble." Feiyan didn’t get excited. "B-but what if he dies?" Her voice sounded shaky and depressed. "Do you think you intervening will make anything better? The sect won’t do anything to you, I’ll protect you, but your husband has no protection at all. If you intervene, it will be he who will suffer the punishment, and the sect’s punishment for this crime is death." Madame Xue closed her eyes. "There’s nothing you can do but pray." Feiyan shuddered, but finally just hugged her master. The battle was approaching its climax. Tianming and Qingyi’s bodies were covered in bruises and deep cuts as they fought, their clothes reduced to tattered rags that barely covered their sweaty, bloody skins. "Die, you bastard!" Tianming snarled, launching an endless flurry of blows towards Qingyi, but nothing was enough. No matter how much force he put into his sword, how much poisonous Qi he pushed towards the wounds that were accumulating on his opponent’s body, Qingyi simply wouldn’t budge. It was as if his poison had no effect on him. How could that be possible? Qingyi wasn’t in a good position either. He had already been pushing his body to the limit for long minutes, his vision beginning to darken as his draconic eyes glowed non-stop and his Dantian was rapidly drained of all Qi. He needed to end this battle, and fast. Gritting his teeth, he stomped hard on the ground, activating the Lightning Steps, sending so much Qi into his legs that they went numb. He threw himself towards Tianming, raising his sword. A metallic clang echoed and Tianming’s body went flying. He felt the bones in his left arm break, along with some of his ribs, flying more than a hundred paces until he fell. With difficulty, he knelt down, his eye twitching as he raised his face to look at Qingyi. ’Impossible...’ he thought. How could he lose like that? He had tried so hard, sacrificed so much! Why couldn’t he manage a single victory against Qingyi? Was he really destined to be an eternal loser? He turned his face, watching Feiyan from a distance. She had watery eyes, but her smile was bright, as if she had just been freed from the greatest weight she had ever borne in her entire life. "No..." Tianming murmured, his eye meeting Qingyi’s gaze, which was no longer brimming with hatred. Now cold and calm, he studied Tianming as if he were nothing more than a worm about to be crushed. ’I can’t lose like this!’ he roared internally, turning his face towards the audience and the obscure figure watching him with a disappointed look. A memory popped into his mind. *** He was in a dark forest, inside the trunk of a colossal tree. "What exactly are you?" Xu Tianming looked up, feeling that strange Qi in his body. It was poisonous Qi, a type he had never expected to have in his entire life. "Hm... now that we’re connected, I don’t think it’ll be a problem to tell you." The dark figure smiled. "I’m a traitor. My family is one of the most powerful in the Nine Peaks Basin." His words were casual, but Tianming shuddered. A cultivator from the Nine Peaks Basin? what would he be doing in such a remote place? "But... what could you possibly want from someone like me?" Tianming asked. He had received power from the man, but he still didn’t know the price he would have to pay. "I want to steal your sect’s spiritual vein and I want you to kill its leader," the shadowy figure declared. "I could do that myself, of course. Swatting your leader would be like swatting a fly, but my family will find me out the moment I use my power." Kill the sect leader and steal the spiritual root? Tianming shuddered. That was absurd. He was only in the Foundation Realm; killing the sect leader was obviously impossible. Fortunately, the shadowy figure seemed to understand his concerns. "Don’t worry, I’ll teach you an incomparable technique and help you with elixirs to quickly reach the Iron Body Realm. With this technique, you only need to use it against him. Even if he’s one cultivation realm above you, you’ll still defeat him easily." The dark figure stood up. "After I steal the spiritual vein, I’ll take you as my disciple to the Nine Peaks Basin, don’t worry." Hearing those words, Tianming’s eyes lit up. A technique capable of easily killing a cultivator at the peak of the Burning Blood Realm while the user was only at the Iron Body Realm? Was that really possible?