The great battle began with Huchen Wanli. Upon entering the rear mountain, he immediately began to search for others. The first person he found was one of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the two of them immediately formed a team. Anyone they encountered was either directly crushed or swept out of the competition. In less than half an hour, two people were eliminated by them. One of them was Huchen Gu. He was besieged by two Foundation Establishment cultivators working together. However, since spiritual artifacts and magical treasures were not allowed, Huchen Gu managed to escape their pursuit after a running battle, though not before being struck by a poison from Huchen Wanli. He was ultimately eliminated after fainting.
Just as Huchen Wanli was riding high on his success after eliminating two people in a row, he encountered Huchen Huiqing. Huchen Huiqing was also a defensive type. She had set up a highly secure formation in a valley using the Scale-Spear Vines within. The scale-like thorns on the vines were extremely poisonous and deadly, preventing Huchen Wanli and his Foundation Establishment partner from breaking through for a time. They were almost poisoned themselves. After some discussion, they began to bombard the area with the Fireball Art. Although Huchen Huiqing's spell provided some insulation, making the Scale-Spear Vines difficult to burn, they eventually caught fire under the relentless barrage of fireballs from two Foundation Establishment cultivators. Huchen Huiqing's pretty face turned cold with anger, and she cursed Huchen Wanli for his shamelessness in ganging up on her. By now, she understood that the other branch's Foundation Establishment cultivator was also from the First Branch. Her anger, however, was only met with Huchen Wanli's mocking laughter.
Just as Huchen Huiqing's defense was half-destroyed, the other Foundation Establishment disciple among the ten happened to arrive while searching for someone. Huchen Huiqing had a flash of inspiration and began to persuade him. The Foundation Establishment disciple initially didn't want to get involved, intending to find someone else to fight. But one sentence from Huchen Huiqing made him change his mind: "Huchen Wanli and his partner are both Foundation Establishment cultivators. Anyone who encounters them will be at a disadvantage. Even if you defeat everyone else, you will still have to face them together in the end. Are you confident you can win? It would be better to join forces with me now."
As luck would have it, when Huchen Wanli saw the Foundation Establishment disciple lingering outside the valley, he became annoyed. The arrogant nature he had developed since childhood led him to shout at the branch disciple, telling him to get lost. As soon as he said this, the Foundation Establishment disciple who had been with him knew it was a bad move. Inside the valley, Huchen Huiqing's cultivation was lower than theirs, but her mastery of the Ghostly Poison Scroll was clearly very strong, as they still hadn't broken her defense even with their combined efforts. If another Foundation Establishment cultivator were to join her, the situation would be drastically different.
Sure enough, although the branch Foundation Establishment disciple was usually wary of the patriarch's son, he knew that everyone was watching. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had his dignity. Without any further hesitation, he exchanged a few words with Huchen Huiqing via voice transmission and charged in.
The Foundation Establishment disciple who was with Huchen Wanli could only sigh in resignation and meet the attack. Before the competition, he had received orders from Xie Xiaoxiao to ensure Huchen Wanli's victory at all costs. He also knew that Huchen Wanli's Foundation Establishment cultivation had been forcibly raised with medicinal pills for this competition. From their earlier collaboration, he had seen that Huchen Wanli's cultivation of the Ghostly Poison Scroll was not very good, and he would not be able to face a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had advanced through true strength. So, he had no choice but to face the newcomer himself.
In an instant, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides, and the result was surprising to everyone. The two Foundation Establishment disciples were evenly matched and ended up injuring each other, both being eliminated at the same time.
Although Huchen Wanli had the strength of an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, his cultivation of the Ghostly Poison Scroll was clearly inferior to Huchen Huiqing's. Relying on the few remaining Scale-Spear Vines, Huchen Huiqing still managed to heavily injure Huchen Wanli. At the same time, because she had exhausted her Spirit Power while fending off the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, she was struck from behind by a palm from Huchen Wanli, whose eyes glinted with malice just before he fainted. She too fell unconscious. The three strongest Foundation Establishment cultivators and Huchen Huiqing were all eliminated at the same time.
This result made Xie Xiaoxiao's long, narrow eyes fly open, and she glared viciously at Chi Dongli. The usually gentle Chi Dongli also stared back at Xie Xiaoxiao with a grim expression. She could see that Huchen Wanli's final palm strike was not light. Although Huchen Tingchun and the other three Golden Core elders were watching over the rear mountain, they would not intervene unless it was a matter of life and death. Huchen Huiqing was likely seriously injured by that blow.
While Huchen Wanli and the others were fighting, Huchen Wuding on the other side was also facing a fierce attack. His attackers were none other than Huchen Jianghai and another branch disciple. Although this branch disciple's cultivation was only at the Grand Perfection of the tenth level of Qi Condensation , his cultivation of the Ghostly Poison Scroll was extremely formidable, especially his expertise in breaking through poison techniques. In less than an hour, he had successively broken through three of the "Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net's" outer layers of poisonous attack combinations. Looking at the smiling Huchen Jianghai nearby, Huchen Wuding knew immediately that this branch disciple was from the Fourth Branch.
Huchen Jianghai also assisted in breaking the "Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net" while scratching his head sheepishly and saying, "Third Brother, why don't you just come out? It's not good for brothers to fight. That Huchen Qiukong just now wouldn't listen to reason, and I ended up accidentally poisoning him until he fainted."
Huchen Wuding sat calmly on the mountaintop, watching the two of them slowly making their way up the slope while dismantling the "Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net," his expression completely unmoved.
Seeing this, Huchen Jianghai sighed helplessly. "Third Brother, you've become less and less willing to listen to advice over the years. When we were young, you would listen to whatever Big Brother and I said."
As he spoke, his aura suddenly changed. It was no longer that of a Qi Condensation cultivator. His aura began to climb continuously, finally reaching the peak of early-stage Foundation Establishment, even stronger than Huchen Wanli's. The overwhelming pressure caused the grass and trees on Huchen Wuding's mountain peak to sway wildly in the wind.
This change caused a hint of surprise to appear on Huchen Wuding's previously calm face. After that, however, he remained motionless, sitting cross-legged on the mountaintop.
The crowd in the plaza, however, was not so calm. An uproar erupted. Even Huchen Wandong was somewhat moved; he had never seen through Huchen Jianghai's true cultivation.
The Huchen Ancestor, on the other hand, had a faint smile on his lips. He had, of course, long since seen through Huchen Jianghai's cultivation. It was due to a ring Huchen Jianghai was wearing, which had the effect of concealing his aura. Even an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to see through it at a glance. This treasure would be extremely valuable even in the hands of a Golden Core cultivator. It must have belonged to the Ye Family Ancestor.
'The Ye family is quite generous. For the Ye Family Ancestor to give up such an item, even with his Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm, it must have been painful. It seems he is determined to win this successor position,' a hint of ridicule flashed in the Huchen Ancestor's deep, abyss-like eyes.
At this time, Huchen Wanli, who had been brought back, had already been revived. When he saw Huchen Jianghai's cultivation soar, a wave of frustration welled up in his chest, and he fainted again.
The Xie Family Ancestor glanced at the Ye Family Ancestor. He had felt that Huchen Jianghai's aura was strange before, but since Huchen Jianghai had not used his full Spirit Power and Divine Sense, he hadn't paid too much attention. Although Huchen Jianghai had used his full Divine Sense in the light shield during the first round, the Xie Family Ancestor had not forcibly probed the situation inside the shield. He never expected the Ye family to give such a precious treasure to a Foundation Establishment disciple.
Xie Xiaoxiao quickly flew to Huchen Wanli's side, and her gaze towards Ye Luoyan now held a trace of killing intent. It was the murderous rage of being deceived for over twenty years, mixed with the humiliation of being made a fool of.
Ye Luoyan, however, seemed to ignore her gaze, simply staring at the light screen in the air with a smile. Her years of servile behavior had finally paid off.
Just as Huchen Jianghai's aura was continuously rising, Huchen Wuding also launched his attack. Without waiting for Huchen Jianghai to fully reveal his cultivation, he formed a hand seal in front of his chest. The seal shimmered with spiritual power and transformed into a spider web. He then quickly pushed his hands out from his chest to his sides. The spider web shot like a phantom into the grass on the slope below. The next moment, the grass, trees, and rocks on the entire slope seemed to come alive, moving and spewing out large amounts of thick, black, foul-smelling liquid. Like a volley of sharp arrows, it shot into the sky, weaving together to form a bizarre, inky-black, stinking net that descended upon the two on the slope.
On the slope, Huchen Jianghai's aura was surging. Seeing the large net descending upon him, the simple and honest look on his face vanished, replaced by a cold snort. He brought his hands up from his abdomen, past his chest, and cupped them above his head. As he lifted his hands, a blue arc of energy rapidly rose from his feet, enveloping him in a matter of moments. The foul-smelling black net pressed down on the blue arc, and where they met, a continuous hissing sound was produced. Puffs of blue-green smoke rose into the air. For a time, it was as if two worlds were clashing, a black canopy above and a blue earth below, locked in a stalemate.
However, the other Qi Condensation tenth-level Grand Perfection disciple was not so lucky. Caught off guard by the sudden change, he hastily erected a protective light shield and slapped more than a dozen defensive talismans on it with hands that moved like fluttering butterflies. But they only held for a few breaths before the talismans and the protective light shield were sliced apart by the foul-smelling black net, turning into neat squares of energy that dissipated into specks of light. Then, before his terrified eyes, he subconsciously raised his hands to block. A sharp pain shot through his hands, making him scream. In that moment of sheer terror, a large hand materialized out of thin air, seemingly ignoring the spider web, and grabbed him. The hand shone brightly with spiritual light, forcefully resisting the entanglement of the web, and carried the disciple away, disappearing from the rear mountain.
With that, only Huchen Wuding and Huchen Jianghai remained in the entire rear mountain. This was an outcome that many had not anticipated. Even though Huchen Wuding had won the first round, most people still believed that the final victor would be Huchen Wanli or Huchen Jianghai, followed by Huchen Huiqing and Huchen Qiukong.
The two on the rear mountain were locked in a stalemate. One was using his Foundation Establishment cultivation to suppress his opponent, while the other was using the Ghostly Poison Scroll to its absolute limit at this stage, holding his ground. It was either crush the blue light arc or break through the great net.
Huchen Jianghai was frustrated. He couldn't believe that the first time he revealed his full strength, he was being held off by a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator. Overall, he was even at a slight disadvantage. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he stomped his foot on the ground. His long boots instantly exploded, and his left big toe burst with a
peng, erupting in a cloud of blood mist. As soon as the blood mist formed, he grabbed it and slammed it into the blue light arc. The blue light arc flared brightly, almost blindingly. In just a few breaths, it had dissolved more than two feet of the foul-smelling black net that covered it. To block the blue light, the black net began to contract towards the mountaintop, reducing its attack surface. In just a few breaths, it had shrunk to cover only the peak.