Chapter 159: Martial Underworld

"A descendant of a collateral branch of a minor family in the Tianli Realm."

"Both parents passed away, relying solely on his younger sister for mutual support."

"An engagement that had been set for him was snatched away by the main branch of his family, who jointly bullied him and seized the property left behind by his parents. That fiancée almost put Wu Ming to death."

"At the age of fifteen, he fled the family with his younger sister."

"At the age of eighteen, he became the Saint Son of the Liyang Sect, the most powerful sect in the Tianli Realm, and reached the limit of the Blood-Qi Realm—the only one to achieve the Blood-Qi limit in the Tianli Realm for ten thousand years."

"Now, at twenty-one years old, Wu Ming has been designated as the future supreme powerhouse of the Tianli Realm, destined to ascend to the Upper Realm and protect the realm."

With just a few words from the woman, the image of Wu Ming took shape in Xu Chen's mind.

"I see."

Both parents dead, family bullying, a broken engagement—it almost checked all the boxes for a classic protagonist. Xu Chen couldn't help but inwardly吐槽 (mock).

"What has happened to the family that bullied him and that fiancée of his?" Xu Chen asked casually.

"The family has fallen into ruin, and everyone who bullied him has been executed, including that fiancée," the woman replied instantly.

"Decisive and ruthless, acceptable," Xu Chen nodded slightly.

The spirit boat landed in a vast canyon, in the center of which stood a gigantic arena.

Xu Chen and his entourage were assigned to the most luxurious courtyard.

Stepping off the spirit boat, followed by six beauties and escorted by a team of elite guards, he was led straight to the finest residence.

On a distant peak, a tall man dressed in a dark-golden robe watched Xu Chen step off the boat with such an extravagant procession. The man's brows twitched, and his eyes filled with contempt.

"Just some trash cultivated by pouring endless resources into them. I will trample all you prodigies beneath my feet," Wu Ming muttered, his eyes slightly bloodshot.

Inside Xu Chen's courtyard:

"When does the competition start?" Xu Chen asked, currently assuming the persona of a young master leading a realm-tier family.

"Tomorrow, Young Master. You only need to participate in the finals."

"If Young Master is interested, you may go watch the matches," an elderly steward carefully approached Xu Chen and said respectfully.

"No need. Just call me when the semi-finals arrive; I'm going to cultivate."

Even during a mission, Xu Chen never neglected his grind.

Cultivation—integrating the strengths of all his clone spells.

For half a month straight, although his progress in basic cultivation was slow, his mastery of spellcasting grew increasingly effortless.

He hadn't completely conquered the clone yet, but he felt he was getting close.

Inside the Fire Bird Spell chamber:

Xu Chen was exchanging blows with the spell-torrent clone.

By now, all the clone's tactics had been figured out by Xu Chen, who had used other spells to find countermeasures.

Capitalizing on his aerial advantage and combinations of different spells, Xu Chen held a slight upper hand.

A thunder spear, a zhang long, materialized in Xu Chen's hand. The Five Elements Giant Spirit Art directly reinforced his arm, transforming it into that of a giant. Grasping the thunder spear, he hurled it fiercely.

"Brat, do you think you can—" The clone darted rapidly across the ground below, hands moving in a blur of afterimages.

Fire bird spells of varying sizes were cast, but all were picked off one by one by Xu Chen's Water Sword Spell to clear the path for the thunder spear.

"This time, let's see what tricks you have left!" Floating in the air, Xu Chen looked down at the clone below, his emotions surging intensely.

Once he wiped out a clone and absorbed its insights, the snowball effect would truly roll.

And now, victory was right in front of him.

"Let me teach you one last ultimate trick."

Three sniper-like fire birds detonated the thunder spear, and the clone stepped back, hands forming seals.

Seeing the hand seals the clone was weaving, Xu Chen noticed they were completely different from the standard Fire Bird Spell.

Out of curiosity, he refrained from interrupting.

In two breaths, one hundred and eight seals were completed. A fire bird with a wingspan of two zhang gathered the fire spiritual energy of heaven and earth and soared forth.

A cry like that of a phoenix rang out as it spread its wings and flew toward Xu Chen.

"Is that it?"

Xu Chen immediately cast the Golden Blade Spell, slashing toward the fire bird.

Yet the fire bird seemed to possess intelligence, nimbly dodging the golden blade and flapping its wings toward Xu Chen.

Countless tiny fire birds seemed to emerge from its wings, blotting out the sky.

The fire bird manipulated these small birds to gather around it, forming a protective barrier as it charged at Xu Chen, growing larger and denser as time passed.

"Getting interesting, but not enough."

Xu Chen's hands blurred into afterimages as a dozen water swords pierced toward the fire bird. Just before hitting it, the water swords burst apart instantly, forming a curtain of water.

The moment the water curtain formed, three raging thunder spears pierced into it and exploded.

"Boom!!"

Like a violent thunderstorm, every fire bird that touched the water curtain detonated mid-air.

Yet that large crimson bird stubbornly pierced through the water curtain, reached right in front of Xu Chen, and exploded violently.

A blinding flash burst from the sky. Even though Xu Chen had been prepared, he was caught completely off guard by the blast.

Worse still, he was grazed by the flames of the exploding fire bird, and the fire seemed to burrow straight into his bone marrow, scorching half of his body.

"How was that ultimate trick? Derived from the Fire Bird Spell."

Lying on the ground with half his body charred and barely breathing, Xu Chen watched as the clone slowly walked up to him.

"One hundred and eight seals—do you really think you'll ever get the chance to cast that again?" Xu Chen said weakly.

"Of course not. Therefore—"

The clone smiled faintly, and the entire world shattered.

A look of surprise crossed Xu Chen's face. He passed just like that?

Just as he expected his soul to be dragged into another realm, he was inexplicably returned to the Sanctuary of Pristine White.

The only difference was the extra year of memories of being tutored by the clone now lodged in his mind.

The wooden door of the Fire Bird Spell remained unvanished, sealed by a ray of spiritual light.

Savoring the memories of that one-on-one year of tutelage from the clone, Xu Chen felt his mastery over the Fire Bird Spell skyrocket.

He might not reach the absolute microscopic control of the clone, but he had learned seventy to eighty percent of it.

"Hard to tell if this is a blessing or a curse," Xu Chen muttered, staring at the sealed wooden door of the Fire Bird Spell.

At that moment, a knock sounded outside his room, and his consciousness returned to his physical body.

"Young Master, the semi-finals are about to begin," the female attendant announced respectfully.

"Understood."

From a towering viewing platform, Xu Chen looked down at the arena in the distance.

"As expected, those two are the ones who made it to the finals," Xu Chen remarked to the woman beside him.

Long before their arrival, this attendant had already gathered all the intelligence.

"Both of them advanced to the Precious Body Realm from the limit of the Blood-Qi Realm. Both are rare prodigies of the realm, once in ten thousand years."

"Of course, compared to the Young Master, these people are like mud versus clouds," the woman said, looking at Xu Chen with fanatical eyes.

"Let's watch the match."

Down in the arena, the two fighters were already clashing. Both practiced body-refining spells and divine abilities, and the combat generated shockwaves over a massive radius.

As they crossed blows, only afterimages could be seen.

One used a saber; the other used a sword.

Their respective Blood-Qi Avatars radiated vastly different pressures.

Li Yumo's Blood-Qi Avatar was a cyan-jade giant with formidable speed and defense, wielding a longsword with a gentlemanly grace yet crushing oppressive momentum.

Wu Ming's Blood-Qi Avatar was far more tyrannical and bloodthirsty, every move and stance reeking of absolute supremacy.

The battle drew gasps of awe from the spectators in the stands, but Xu Chen, sitting high on the viewing platform, frowned slightly.

It wasn't because the two were exceptionally strong, but rather that Xu Chen suddenly began to wonder about the purpose of this mission.

Wu Ming's moves carried a trace of demonic essence, giving off the feeling of being tainted by something filthy.

And his mission was to defeat Wu Ming; he sensed an inevitable connection between the two.

"Why overthink it? I'll know as soon as I beat him tomorrow," Xu Chen thought to himself.

After an hour of combat, bolstered by that trace of demonic essence, Wu Ming grew stronger the longer he fought, his eyes flashing with a faint reddish light.

Finally, seizing a split-second opening, he directly severed Li Yumo's arm and hoisted him up by the throat.

An arbiter hurriedly stepped in to declare the end of the match, proclaiming Wu Ming the victor while swiftly subduing him.

Wu Ming's eyes regained a shred of clarity, though his gaze remained arrogant as he suddenly turned and locked eyes with Xu Chen on the viewing platform.

Xu Chen smiled faintly at Wu Ming, his expression calm and unruffled.

"Young Master, is there a problem?" the woman whispered by Xu Chen's ear.

"A minor annoyance. Easy to solve."

With the semi-finals concluded, the grand finals were held the following day.

That night, in the Sanctuary of Pristine White, Xu Chen absorbed the year-long insights taught by each spell clone.

After absorbing the year of guidance from the Fire Bird clone, Xu Chen tackled the Water Sword, Golden Blade, Thunder Spear, Wind Blade, Wood Vine, and Wind Wing spells all at once.

As for the remaining basic spells: the Bright Light Spell cast too fast for Xu Chen to even react before being one-shotted; the Shadow Spell left no trace to be found, and Xu Chen couldn't be bothered to play hide-and-seek; the Earth Spike clone was too cheesy, requiring him to brute-force the spikes; and the remaining two body-refining spells ran out of time.

This massive influx of comprehension swept away the lingering gloom Xu Chen had felt since breaking through to the Precious Body Realm.

Though not as thoroughly internalized as when his soul physically entered those worlds, a year of dedicated tutoring from the clones still brought Xu Chen immense gains.

Having digested all his insights, Xu Chen looked at the sealed wooden doors, puzzled as to what they were for.

"Maybe they need upgrading or some other triggering condition," Xu Chen scratched his head in confusion.

The next day, amidst great anticipation, the top powerhouses of the six realms gathered on the elevated viewing platform.

Glancing at the platform, Xu Chen couldn't help a silent internal sneer.

"Not even a single Ascension Realm expert. These six realms really aren't all that strong."

Down in the arena, Wu Ming watched Xu Chen step onto the stage amid the cheering crowd, dark and violent impulses churning deep within his eyes.

"It wasn't easy making it to the grand finals just to see you."

"From the very first moment I set eyes on you, I wanted to trample you beneath my feet," Wu Ming rasped, his voice sounding like a ghost crawling out of the abyss.

Xu Chen looked at Wu Ming with serene detachment.

"A Saint Son cultivated by a top sect of a realm, and this is your temperament."

"Everything in this world is illusory; only strength allows one to stand firm."

"I am stronger than you, so I can trample you beneath my feet."

As Wu Ming spoke, the toll of a bell rang out across the sky.

Wu Ming instantly materialized his Blood-Qi Avatar, turning into a blur as he charged at Xu Chen.

Behind Xu Chen, the Wind Spirit Wings manifested. With a gentle breeze, his figure vanished.

A moment later, a massive golden blade cleaved down with the force of splitting a mountain, slashing straight toward Wu Ming.

"Boom!!"

The immense impact caused the ground beneath Wu Ming's feet to collapse into a massive crater.