In the previous round, Lu Chengyi and Lu Chengping had fought against Nantian Blessed Land. Now, Lu Zhenyang had used his absolute strength to crush Grand Mountain Grotto-Heaven's Li Zhihuan. With two consecutive victories, it showed that the Spiritual Mountain Blessed Land behind the Lu Family had risen from the bottom of the 72 Blessed Lands to the top of the 36 Lesser Grotto-Heavens.
Moreover, with Lu Zhenyang's strength, this year's Spiritual Mountain Blessed Land would probably be the biggest dark horse in the Heavenly Grand Ritual. It was not impossible for it to advance a few steps in the rankings.
Officer Wang had invited me and Fatty to help him because he wanted us to help him keep his position as the leader of the top ten Grotto-heavens.
Before Lu Zhenyang appeared, I was determined to become the champion.
Fu's cultivation is at the Late-stage of Yang Spirit, so he has the power to fight anyone. In addition, Fatty and I are confident that we can dominate our respective Cultivation Realms, so it will not be difficult for us to keep our positions.
But now, Lu Zhenyang's appearance has disrupted my plans.
When Lu Zhenyang was at the Seal Celestial Master Realm, he had defeated Fu. Now that he had returned, Fu had no chance of winning.
As for Lu Chengyi and Lu Chengping, they were able to carry the Lu Family to this stage. Their strength was already extraordinary. Now that Lu Zhenyang had returned, if they were to be given some guidance, it would be hard to say if Fatty and I would be able to win.
Just the Chiyou Battle Axe in Lu Zhenyang's hand had left a deep impression on me.
At that time, he used the power of the Sealing Heavenly Master to activate the battle-ax. If he had given the battle-ax to Lu Chengyi to use in this battle, even I would not have had the slightest chance of winning.
Although there were many experts in the Blessed Enclave, the one with the highest cultivation level was only the Yang God Celestial Master.
Faced with the absolute strength that Lu Zhenyang had displayed, no one dared to step forward and criticize this battle for not complying with the rules.
Even the Grand Mountain Grotto-Heaven could only swallow this insult.
The remaining two contestants from the Grand Mountain Grotto first went up the stage and carried Li Zhihuan off. Then, they braced themselves and went up the stage to fight the remaining two matches against Lu Chengyi and Lu Chengping.
At this stage of the competition, the contestants themselves were the cream of the crop in their respective realms, and the difference in strength between them was not big.
At this moment, the aura of the Grand Mountain Grotto-Heaven had been completely suppressed. The results of these two battles could be imagined.
After winning three rounds, the three from the Lu Family walked down the arena side by side.
Lu Chengping clearly didn't expect victory to come so easily. His face was full of joy, and his voice was much louder.
Lu Chengyi and his son walked in silence, their eyes staring straight ahead. When they walked past where I was sitting, they both turned their heads to look in my direction.
After they walked away, the fatty stared at their backs and said with hatred, "This guy seems to have become more powerful. He must have obtained the power of the Demon Purification Gourd!"
The Demon Purification Pot …
Last time, I made Fatty lose the Devil Refining Gourd, and I felt guilty. I'd been looking for a chance to take it back for him.
However, as Lu Zhenyang grew stronger and stronger, the hope of taking back the Demon Purification Gourd became smaller and smaller.
What I was worried about the most wasn't that I couldn't take it back, but that Lu Zhenyang had found a way to use the Monster Refining Gourd, just as the fatty had said.
Divine artifacts have spirits. If Lu Zhenyang really finds a way to use it, and it recognizes him as its master, I'm afraid that it will be useless even if we take the Demon Purification Gourd back in the future.
After a moment of silence, I asked the fatty, "Aren't you connected to the Demon Purification Gourd?
Try to sense it and see if Lu Zhenyang has really used the Demon Purification Gourd's power. "
The fatty shook his head and said dejectedly, "When Lu Zhenyang came out, I tried to sense it.
I could sense its existence, but it was very vague. It seemed to be blocked by something.
I tried to summon the Demon Purification Gourd, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell if Lu Zhenyang had used the Demon Purification Gourd's power or not. "
After listening to him, my eyebrows relaxed. I smiled and comforted him, "If it's really like what you said, Lu Zhenyang definitely can't use the Demon Purification Gourd's power."
The fatty looked confused. "Why do you say that?"
I continued, "Think about it. You can sense the Demon Purification Gourd, but you can't clearly sense it.
There's only one explanation for this situation. Lu Zhenyang has purposely hidden the Demon Purification Gourd's aura.
Lu Zhenyang's power is very strong. If he really found a way to use the Demon Purification Gourd, he wouldn't need to hide it.
On the contrary, he didn't find a way to use it, so he purposely hid it.
After all, you're the owner of the Demon Purification Gourd. He's afraid that you'll use some secret technique to take the Demon Purification Gourd away from him. "
After listening to my explanation, the fatty's face looked better. However, he soon frowned again. "That's not right. When we were in Shenzhen, Lu Zhenyang had just advanced to the Yang God Celestial Master realm. It hasn't been that long. If he didn't use the Demon Purification Gourd's power, how could his power have increased so much?"
Then, he pointed at the Qilin not far away and continued to ask, "And the Qilin, it was originally in the Demon Purification Gourd. If Lu Zhenyang didn't use the Demon Purification Gourd, how could it come out?"
I turned to look at the Qilin, who was squatting on the ground and napping. I shook my head. "The Qilin's origin is mysterious. You saw it just now. It rode on Lu Zhenyang's head, but Lu Zhenyang didn't dare to say anything.
So, it's possible that the Qilin came out of the Demon Purification Gourd by itself.
As for Lu Zhenyang's increase in power, it's reasonable. After all, he received Chiyou's inheritance.
Chiyou is an ancient God of War. After receiving his inheritance, it would be strange if Lu Zhenyang's power didn't increase rapidly. "
After listening to my explanation, the fatty finally relaxed a little. However, from his expression, I could still see how much he valued the Demon Purification Gourd.
I sighed and pretended to be relaxed as I patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll definitely find an opportunity to get the Demon Purification Gourd back.
It's not that I don't want to help the fatty retrieve the Demon Purification Gourd, but Lu Zhenyang's power is really too strong. I'm not his match at all.
Moreover, I can't rashly fall out with him at the Heavenly Grand Ritual and expose the Demon Purification Gourd in front of so many people.
It's one of the ten legendary divine instruments. The appearance of such an important treasure will definitely cause a commotion in the cultivation world.
If it's just Lu Zhenyang, I still have a chance.
If the entire Metaphysics world, including the power of the Blessed Paradises, were to join in, I really won't have the slightest chance.
Of course, the fatty trusted me. Since I had said so, he didn't say anything else. He fiercely waved his fists at Lu Zhenyang's back to vent his anger.
After Lu Zhenyang left, the venue quickly returned to its previous order. The next match was between the Vermilion Mountain Grotto-Heaven and Qingyuan Mountain Grotto-Heaven, which was ranked 19th among the seventy-two Blessed Lands.
Qingyuan Mountain Grotto-Heaven was located in Guangzhou's Qingyuan County. It wasn't famous among the many Blessed Lands, but its opponent, the Vermilion Mountain Grotto-Heaven, was much more famous.
The Vermilion Mountain Grotto-Heaven was located in Nanyue Heng Mountain Grotto-Heaven, in Heng Prefecture's Heng County. Both Buddhism and Daoism had existed there for a long time. According to an ancient book, the Nanyue Heng Mountain Grotto-Heaven has a circumference of seven hundred li.
It's called the Vermilion Mountain Grotto-Heaven, in Heng Prefecture's Heng County.
According to the Song Dynasty's Chen Tianfu's' Collection of Total Victories', Pi Yuan and Wang Gushen lived in the Nanyue Heng Mountain Grotto-Heaven.
The Jin Dynasty's Emperor Sima Yan conferred the title of Mister Tai Wei, while Pi Yuan was conferred the title of Mister Tai Su.
From the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Daoism was passionate about refining inner alchemy, which was known as Qigong.
Burning the alchemy to refine mercury was an external alchemy, which was also medicine, which was ancient chemistry.
Today, at the foot of the Southern Mountain's Purple Cap Peak, there was a huge rock to the right of the Amitabha Temple's ruins. The Huandan Rhapsody explained a lot about the Dao of alchemy, which was written by Daoism during the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
When Daoism came from the South, their alchemy techniques and medicine had a deep influence, but Daoism's ideology and culture had a deeper influence in the secular world.
As for Buddhist culture, it entered Nanyue much later, about two hundred years later.
Hui Hai and Xi Dun were the first to arrive at Nanyue, around Liang Shi's Tianjian year, followed by Hui Si in Chen Guang's second year.
Hui Si taught her disciple Zhi in Heng Mountain, which was then passed on to Zhang An, Fahua Heavenly Palace, and Jing Xi Zhanran, forming the Tiantai Sect (also known as the Fahua Sect).
Hui Si was known as the Tiantai Three Grandmasters, and Zhi was known as the Fourth Grandmaster.
This sect's teachings spread to Japan, and was widely spread, also known as the Fahua Sect.
Nan Chan Sixth Grandmaster Hui Neng taught at Cao Xi in Guangdong, and developed into the most important Buddhist sect in Nanyue.
This was another overwhelming battle.
The three people from Southern Mountain's Vermillion Mountain Grotto-Heaven were obviously well-known figures in the same realm. As soon as they got on the stage, they used their divine abilities and spells, not giving Qing Yuanshan blessed land a chance to breathe. In less than ten minutes, the person with the highest cultivation in Qing Yuanshan blessed land fell from the stage and admitted defeat.
Next was the battle between Northern Mountain's Everlasting Mountain Grotto-Heaven and Gaoxi's Lanshuishan blessed land. Similarly, there wasn't much of a ripple, and it ended with the Mystic Grotto-Heaven's victory.
Ever since the Heavenly Grand Ritual had been carried out, the number of grotto-heavens that could still stand on the stage had decreased. However, their strength had also increased, and both sides gave their all in every battle.
After all, this was a major matter related to cultivation resources. The more resources they obtained, the faster the grotto-heavens and blessed land would develop in the next ten years. Only then would they have the chance to fight for a better ranking and better resources. Therefore, they had no choice but to fight with their lives on the line.
However, after the incident with Lu Zhenyang, the atmosphere in the venue became much quieter.
Although the battle was intense, there weren't many exciting parts.
I didn't have much energy to watch, while the fatty slumped in his chair and fell asleep.
Not long after, Wang Can came from outside the venue in a hurry.
As a matter of fact, not long after Lu Zhenyang left, Wang Can followed him out. I didn't ask much, but I could guess the reason.
It must be because of the protective formation.
Wang Can sat down next to me and lowered his voice. "Sage, the formation was broken."
Although I had already guessed it, I furrowed my brows after hearing his confirmation.
The Wangwu Grotto-Heaven's formation had been passed down for more than a thousand years, and it wasn't weak at all. However, such a powerful formation had been broken. Moreover, Wang Can, the master of the formation, hadn't sensed it.
How strong was Lu Zhenyang?
What was more frightening was that the Wang family didn't have many talented people. Except for the two reclusive granduncles, Wang Can's only reliance was the protective formation. Now that the formation had been broken, Wang Can couldn't help but feel anxious.
While I was deep in thought, the Qilin got up from the ground not far from us. It glanced at Wang Can and I. Then, it raised its four hooves, and a cloud seemed to form under its feet. It lifted its big body and ran far away.
Although this little fellow was born from the Qilin Gu that the old witch had planted in my body, it didn't treat me well. I didn't know what it wanted to do, and I couldn't stop it, either.
As we had been together for a long time, I wasn't surprised by the Qilin's strange behavior. However, most of the people in the venue were still paying attention to the Qilin. As soon as they saw the Qilin move, their eyes followed it.
At first, they thought that the Qilin riding on Lu Zhenyang was a joke. However, when Lu Zhenyang showed his formidable power, their eyes changed.
If Lu Zhenyang was so strong, how strong would the Qilin be?
Unconsciously, some people moved their eyes away from the Qilin and turned to look at me.
No one cared about the Wangwu Wonderland's power, so their eyes were full of greed.
I shook my head with a wry smile. Although I had put up a lot of defenses, I couldn't escape the fate of being the target of everyone.
However, let them be. Anyway, the Qilin was strange. If they could rob it, they could.
However, from the way the Qilin was riding on Lu Zhenyang, I knew those people wouldn't have a good ending if they provoked it.
As I watched the Qilin fly away, a guess popped up in my head.
When Lu Zhenyang came here, he was with the Qilin. If the Qilin was stronger than Lu Zhenyang, was it possible that the Qilin had broken the protective formation?
After thinking about it for a while, I felt that it was highly possible, so I wanted to tell Wang Can.
However, right at this moment, I felt a burning gaze not far from me.
It was different from the gaze that wanted to take the Qilin as its own. This gaze was filled with joy, as if someone had found an oasis in the middle of a desert.
I followed the gaze and saw Cang Feng, the old monster from the Mysterious Treasure Wonderland.