[Detected Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique. Spend 6000 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
The next instant, a prompt popped up on the panel.
"Simplify!"
Lin Changâsheng decisively chose to simplify.
[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying World-Ending Nebula Fist... Simplifying... Simplification complete! World-Ending Nebula Fist == Punch Toward the Sky!]
[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique... Simplifying... Simplification complete! Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique == Swing Sword at the Sky!]
"Punch Toward the Sky? Swing Sword at the Sky?"
Lin Changâsheng mused to himself. These two didnât seem all that hard, and he could grind their proficiency at the same time.
So Lin Changâsheng left the cabin, found an open spot outside, and began punching at the sky with one hand, swinging his sword with the other.
World-Ending Nebula Fist experience points +1!
Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique experience points +1!
...
The experience points for both immortal techniques were climbing at a crazy speed.
[World-Ending Nebula Fist: Perfection!]
[Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique: Perfection!]
Three hours later, Lin Changâsheng finally ground both immortal techniques to perfection.
[Detected World-Ending Nebula Fist (Perfection), Four Symbols Divine Venerable Fist (Perfection). Fuse into a new Fist Technique?]
[Detected Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique (Perfection), Unrivaled Godslaying Slash (Perfection). Fuse into a new Immortal Technique?]
The panel popped up with a prompt again the next instant.
"Fuse!"
Lin Changâsheng decisively chose to fuse.
[World-Ending Nebula Fist (Perfection), Four Symbols Divine Venerable Fist (Perfection), fusing... Fusion complete! Gained new Immortal Technique, World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist!]
[Nine-Star Celestial Sword Technique (Perfection), Unrivaled Godslaying Slash (Perfection), fusing... Fusion complete! Gained new Immortal Technique, Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash!]
"World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist? Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash?"
Lin Changâsheng muttered, unsure just how powerful these two immortal techniques were.
[Detected World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist. Spend 9000 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
[Detected Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash. Spend 9000 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
The next instant, the panel popped up another prompt.
"Simplify!"
Looking at his rapidly dwindling Immortal Crystals in his storage bagâdown by thirty thousand alreadyâLin Changâsheng felt his heart bleeding.
This panel would bankrupt a normal person!
At least the rewards were massive.
[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist... Simplifying... Simplification complete! World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist == Punch the God!]
[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash... Simplifying... Simplification complete! Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash == Slash the God!]
"Punch the God? Slash the God? Is this panel trying to test the coordination of my hands or what?"
Lin Changâsheng couldnât help but feel a bit stumped by the simplified results.
But luckily, multitasking was no big deal for him.
Lin Changâsheng immediately carved a huge âGodâ character into a distant stone wall, then, left hand punching, right hand slashing, he attacked relentlessly.
World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist experience points +1!
Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash experience points +1!
...
With Lin Changâshengâs motions, both immortal techniquesâ experience points soared rapidly.
Creaaakâ
In the distance, Zhang Shisong yawned, pushed open his door, planning to go relieve himself.
But to his surprise, he spotted Lin Changâsheng furiously slashing and punching a giant boulder off in the distance.
Any trace of sleep vanished instantly out of pure shock.
"What the hell, isnât that Lin Changâsheng? Training so damn hard in the middle of the night?"
Zhang Shisong rubbed his eyes, not sure if he was seeing things. Are all geniuses this hardworking? Then what excuse did he have not to work hard?
The night passed without incident.
As the horizon turned pale with dawn, Lin Changâsheng finally cultivated both immortal techniques to perfection.
[World-Ending Divine Venerable Fist (Perfection)]
[Celestial Vault Godslaying Slash (Perfection)]
Seeing both immortal techniques at perfection, Lin Changâsheng felt deeply satisfied.
This night of bitter training hadnât gone to waste.
"Brother Lin, what on earth were you cultivating out here?"
From afar, Zhang Shisong saw Lin Changâsheng finally stop and jogged over to ask.
Because he had no idea what kind of secret technique Lin Changâsheng had been practicingâhe was wildly curious.
What kind of training has you punching rocks all night long?
"Iâm training my willpower, not just immortal techniques!"
Lin Changâsheng replied offhandedly, then turned to leave.
Which left Zhang Shisong even more baffled than before.
"Training willpower?"
Staring at the now-unreadable âGodâ character on the stone, smashed up by fists and slashes, Zhang Shisong was just lost.
"Could it be Brother Linâs goal is to slay gods?"
The idea just entered Zhang Shisongâs mind, but he quickly shook his head in denial.
Gods arenât that easy to killâeven Celestials can only yearn for that kind of power.
"No wonder heâs training his will. I get it now! Against the mightiest of enemies, you canât let your heart be shaken!"
It seemed to dawn on Zhang Shisong all of a sudden.
Of course, Lin Changâsheng had no idea Zhang Shisong was thinking this far ahead; he was just grinding immortal technique proficiency, thatâs all.
Back in his cabin, Lin Changâsheng tidied up a bit, and by then, the sky had brightened.
Soon, a middle-aged, long-sleeved elder showed up at the new disciplesâ cabins.
"Get ready to climb the mountain!"
The elder barked, and all the disciples hurried outside, following the elder toward Heaven-Reaching Peak.
This batch of newly promoted elite disciples totaled seven.
Besides Lin Changâsheng and Zhang Shisong, there were four male disciples and one female disciple.
All of them had remarkable cultivation, all at late stage Void Refining, though they were a bit olderâmost were just past thirty, some even over fifty.
But thatâs perfectly normal; with a lifespan of over a thousand years, even a hundred is not considered old for a cultivator.
The group trailed behind Elder Chang Xiu, who explained the rules for the challenge as they walked.
Heaven-Reaching Peak has sixty-five Grotto Heaven Blessed Lands.
Challenges must proceed one tier at a time; you canât skip ranks.
For instance, as newly promoted elites, they could only challenge the disciple ranked sixty-fifth at the bottom of Heaven-Reaching Peak.
The winner could use that cave dwellingâs resources for seven days. After seven days, theyâd face new challengers. Only by continuously climbing higher would the challenges decrease.
Also, in the challenge, if the new disciple won, only then could the next person challenge the disciple ranked sixty-fourth.
Even the disciple at the very bottom of Heaven-Reaching Peak was at late stage Void Refining cultivation. Defeating a disciple of that level wasnât easy at all.
Still, none of the new elite disciples were the least bit intimidated; every one of them was fired up.
Soon, Elder Chang Xiu brought Lin Changâsheng and the others to the cave dwelling of Disciple No. 65.
The cave was located at the foot of the mountain, beside a river of spiritual spring water streaming down from above.
Although most of the spiritual energy from the spring had already been absorbed by the upper-ranked disciples, the aura in this area was still rich.
Plus, there was an array enhancement here that would make cultivating twice as effectiveâ
One day of training here was worth at least two or three days outside.
At that moment, a disciple was meditating in lotus position outside the cave, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi from the spring river.
As the group arrived, the disciple stood up and disabled the barrier around him.
"Disciple Liu Hao greets Elder Fang!"
The disciple bowed politely to Elder Chang Xiu.
"Your seven days are up. These are the new disciples. Who wants to challenge?"
The elder didnât mince words and got straight to the point.
Lin Changâsheng naturally didnât want to challenge the lowest-ranked disciple. Even if he won, he wasnât all that interested in the cultivation resources here.
"Iâll go!"
One of the new disciplesâa burly manâstepped out right away.
"Junior Brother Jiang Tian, please advise, Senior Brother Liu!"
The disciple spoke courteously.
"No need for formality. Please!"
Liu Hao gestured for the challenger to come forward, then activated the array barrier.
That way, no matter how intense the fight got, nobody watching outside would be hurt.
Jiang Tian looked about forty, his muscles knotted tightâclearly a strength-type cultivator.
With a wave, a giant axe appeared in his hand.
Liu Hao, meanwhile, was a bit more refined; his weapon was a red tassel spear.
Both were wielding lower grade Celestial Spirit Treasures.
"Heaven and Earth Creation!"
"Gun Breaks the Sky!"
Right out of the gate, both men used their most powerful immortal technique, aiming for a knockout in one move.
Jiang Tianâs giant axe erupted with a hundred-zhang-long axe aura, crashing down toward Liu Hao.
Liu Hao wasnât about to show weakness. He swung his long spear, thrusting it right at the descending axe.
The surging spear aura seemed like it could shatter the firmament.
BOOMâ
Their attacks collided fiercely, releasing an earth-shaking explosion.
In the blink of an eye, the spear aura crushed the giant axe, carrying on with unstoppable force straight at Jiang Tian.
"What the..."
Even Jiang Tian was stunned; he hadnât expected his own powerful strike to be so easily destroyed.
So how was he supposed to win?
"I concede!"
Jiang Tian admitted defeat at once, just as the spear aura stopped three feet from his chest.
"Thank you for going easy, Junior Brother."
Liu Hao withdrew the spear aura.
Hissâ
The surrounding new disciples all sucked in a breath.
If just the lowest-ranked disciple on Heaven-Reaching Peak was this strongâdefeating them in a single blowâhow terrifying would the disciples further up be?