Many in the plaza did not know what kind of immortal art Huchen Jianghai had just used, but they could tell it was a method of self-harm to stimulate his potential.
Li Yan's eyes narrowed. He knew a thing or two about this art. Beside him, Zhuo Lingfeng, who had been silent all this time, frowned deeply and exclaimed in a low voice, "Sacrificing Oneself to Feed the Tiger! Someone in the Huchen family actually cultivates such an evil art."
Huchen Jianghai's movements were extremely fast. When he had grabbed the blood mist, many had not seen clearly that within it, a hideous and ferocious tiger, treading on bloody light, had vaguely appeared, twisting its head and tail. But before the evil tiger could fully manifest, it was crushed into the blue light arc by Huchen Jianghai.
Looking at the blue light arc that was now flaring brightly, he began to worry about Huchen Wuding. Although Huchen Wuding's mastery of the Ghostly Poison Scroll was exquisite, compensating for some of his deficiencies in cultivation, it was ultimately only enough for short-term resistance without the use of spiritual artifacts or magical treasures. Once a stalemate occurred, it still relied on abundant spiritual power for sustained support. Having failed to take down his opponent in one move, Huchen Wuding's weakness was now completely exposed.
In truth, all of this had been within Huchen Wuding's calculations. Borrowing the power of the plants and rocks here was more than enough to deal with any cultivator who had not yet reached the fifth layer of the Ghostly Poison Scroll. But he had never expected that Huchen Jianghai had hidden his strength and was a powerful cultivator close to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. And even so, Huchen Jianghai had still brought another cultivator at the tenth-level Grand Perfection of Qi Condensation to attack simultaneously, a man who was an expert at breaking restrictions.
It was that tenth-level Qi Condensation disciple who had broken several of his outer restrictions, causing the power of the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net to diminish slightly. But at that time, Huchen Jianghai and his partner had not yet reached the central area of the net, so it wasn't the best time to activate it. He could only let them break through. It was only when Huchen Jianghai unleashed his full cultivation that he had no choice but to launch his attack early, even though they still hadn't entered the central area, further reducing its power.
Similarly, because that tenth-level Qi Condensation disciple was in the middle of the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net, he had absorbed some of its attacks, preventing Wuding from concentrating all his power on Huchen Jianghai. All these factors combined meant he had failed to defeat Huchen Jianghai in a single blow.
Although Zhuo Lingfeng was worried about Huchen Wuding, his combat experience was exceptionally seasoned. "Sacrificing Oneself to Feed the Tiger" was an evil cultivation method where one mutilated their body and used their blood qi to stimulate their potential. The art's name was taken from the Buddhist tale of Shakyamuni cutting his own flesh to feed an eagle, but it had absolutely nothing to do with Buddhism. It was a true evil cultivation method. It was said that when cultivated to its peak, one could burst all ten toes simultaneously, summoning the souls of ten evil spirit tigers and increasing one's overall magical power by seventy percent. This art could only be used for thirty breaths. After thirty breaths, the caster would lose all their magical power and require a large number of precious medicinal pills to recover. Bursting one toe would reduce one's lifespan by ten years; ten toes would consume a hundred years of life. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator with a lifespan of two hundred years, after subtracting the time spent in early cultivation, they likely wouldn't have long to live. Huchen Jianghai had only burst one toe, either because his cultivation was insufficient or because he feared consuming too much of his lifespan.
Zhuo Lingfeng naturally knew the drawbacks of this art. He only hoped that Huchen Wuding could hold on for thirty breaths. After that, Huchen Jianghai would be at his mercy.
"This person has probably not been cultivating Sacrificing Oneself to Feed the Tiger for long. He should only be able to burst one toe," Li Yan's voice reached Zhuo Lingfeng's ears. He nodded, having come to the same conclusion. If Huchen Jianghai had burst two toes to stimulate his cultivation just now, Huchen Wuding would have already lost, and there would be no need for this protracted struggle.
After just ten more breaths, the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net had been compressed to within ten zhang of Huchen Wuding's body. The entire situation had reversed. Huchen Jianghai, his face savage, poured in a torrent of spiritual power without reservation. He advanced step by step towards the summit, as if pushing against a giant net. He had sixteen breaths left, but at his current attack speed, he believed it would take less than ten breaths to defeat Huchen Wuding on the peak. Although he would need a large number of medicinal pills to recover afterward, with his status as the successor, the family would surely provide him with full support.
This turn of events brought a smile to Ye Luoyan's jade-like face on the plaza. The Ye Family Ancestor also felt a sense of relief. For this competition, he had violated his ancestral precepts and given Huchen Jianghai magical treasures and cultivation methods. No matter what, Huchen Jianghai still bore the surname Huchen.
Xie Xiaoxiao dared not speak rashly now. The Xie Family Ancestor remained as calm as ever, but in reality, he was uncertain. Ever since the Huchen Ancestor had come out of seclusion, he knew he could only slowly gain benefits from the Huchen family through the successor. But today, the moment he saw the Huchen Ancestor, he was even more alarmed. The current Huchen Ancestor gave him an extremely dangerous feeling. Facing him, even the Xie Family Ancestor felt as if he were facing a hibernating, peerless beast. So, his original intention to interfere if the competition went against Huchen Wanli had vanished into thin air. He simply resigned himself to being a spectator.
The calmest here was the Chi family. Aside from their displeasure when Huchen Huiqing fainted from her injuries, they had watched the battle with detachment. Chi Dongli had gone directly to the rear mountain to bring Huchen Huiqing back. With a single pulse of spiritual power, the Chi Family Ancestor had healed most of Huchen Huiqing's injuries. The touch of a Nascent Soul cultivator was truly extraordinary.
At this moment, Huchen Huiqing was sitting next to her mother, watching the huge light screen in the plaza, her delicate fists clenched tightly, her pretty face filled with worry.
Watching all of this unfold, Li Yan suddenly felt a sense of absurdity, as if he were watching a grand play of life's many states. He even felt a sense of pity for Huchen Wandong. It seemed that whether his children won or lost, or were even injured, it had nothing to do with him. The first person these children sought out was their mother's side. Li Yan had seen Huchen Wandong almost rise to his feet several times, precisely when Huchen Wanli or Huchen Huiqing were injured, but in the end, he had remained seated. It was unclear whether it was for the sake of the competition's fairness, or because at that moment, he was simply the Patriarch of the Huchen family.
Just as Huchen Jianghai was about to reach the summit, and everyone thought the battle was decided, when Huchen Jianghai had compressed the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net to less than five feet from Huchen Wuding, a smile suddenly bloomed on Huchen Wuding's sweat-drenched face. The smile was sudden and appeared eerie.
Faced with this strange smile, Huchen Jianghai suddenly felt a sense of foreboding, but he couldn't imagine what else his opponent could do. The use of spiritual artifacts and magical treasures was forbidden here. Even if Huchen Wuding had a powerful magical treasure on him, so what? Could it be that he also had a similar secret technique?
Before these thoughts could fully form in Huchen Jianghai's mind, Huchen Wuding smiled, slapped his waist, and more than a dozen lights of various colors shot out.
"How dare you use a spirit... treasure..." Huchen Jianghai couldn't help but roar in anger. He immediately retracted most of the spiritual power he had been attacking with to protect himself. But halfway through his shout, he froze. The dozen or so lights floating in front of Huchen Wuding were not spiritual artifacts or magical treasures at all, but medicinal pills of various colors. In the instant he was stunned, Huchen Wuding suddenly and completely released the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net. This allowed Huchen Jianghai's spiritual power to strike Huchen Wuding unimpeded. Huchen Wuding had already quickly raised his protective light shield before releasing the net and then rapidly retreated. But even with his premeditation and speed, he could not dodge the attack of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Just as he was escaping into the distance, he was still struck by the spiritual power. The spiritual shield around his body was shattered like a rotten branch, and Huchen Wuding's body was sent flying like a meteor, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. Fortunately, his actions had been bizarre. Huchen Jianghai, in his surprise, had already withdrawn most of his spiritual power for defense. All of this was within Huchen Wuding's calculations; otherwise, if Huchen Jianghai had continued his full-powered attack, the strike of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would have instantly taken his life. So, his smile was deliberately shown to his opponent, while he himself had retreated as far as possible.
Just as Huchen Wuding spat out blood, two large hands suddenly materialized in the air. One grabbed Huchen Wuding, ignoring the subsequent spiritual attacks that struck its back, and held him in its palm.
The other large hand had also grabbed another person. This person was none other than Huchen Jianghai, who was in an even worse state than Huchen Wuding. He had already fallen unconscious.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Many in the plaza did not see it clearly; they only saw one person heavily injured and the other unconscious.
However, cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level and above, like Li Yan, saw it clearly. Just as Huchen Wuding took the initiative to retract the Rakshasa Thousand Poison Net, Huchen Jianghai's remaining spiritual power came crashing over. But his spiritual power first struck the dozen or so medicinal pills, which were instantly ground into powder. Huchen Wuding's actions—taking out the pills and retracting the net—were seamless. Huchen Jianghai had no time to react, only able to withdraw most of his spiritual power to protect himself. The next moment, he felt various colored mists explode in the space around him. Some were directly inhaled, while others clung to his body, stirred up by the spiritual power. He found it difficult to breathe, his body ached, and he couldn't muster an ounce of strength, collapsing directly to the ground.
The plaza was in an uproar. The final outcome had caught them completely off guard. Some disciples began to whisper among themselves.
At that moment, four long streaks of light whistled from the distance. The leader was none other than Huchen Tingchun. He carried one person in each hand. With a sound of tearing air, the four streaks of light arrived above the plaza and landed directly in front of the main viewing platform. As soon as the four of them landed, three figures immediately flew out, all heading for Huchen Tingchun.
The three figures rapidly flew to Huchen Tingchun. One looked at Huchen Wuding, the other at Huchen Jianghai—they were Zhuo Lingfeng and Ye Luoyan, respectively. The last person was surprisingly Huchen Wandong, who was looking at his two sons with a moved expression.
When Ye Luoyan saw Zhuo Lingfeng, she first snorted heavily through her nose, a murderous glint flashing in her eyes. But the killing intent was fleeting, and her back was to the main viewing platform, so no one else noticed.
Zhuo Lingfeng frowned. He hadn't expected this woman to be so arrogant. His mind was entirely on Huchen Wuding, so he paid no attention to Ye Luoyan's attitude. After taking Huchen Wuding into his arms, he infused a stream of spiritual power into his body.
At this point, Huchen Tingchun, seeing that the two in his hands had been taken, turned to bow to the Huchen Ancestor. "Ancestor, in the end, both were injured. Huchen Wuding is better off, only hit by the aftershock of the spiritual power. But Huchen Jianghai is in some trouble. Although we have already fed him medicinal pills, he has been afflicted by many types of poison, and some are very potent, having already invaded his body..."
"He... he... how could he be so vicious? I... I beg the Ancestor to quickly save Jianghai!" Just as Huchen Tingchun was speaking, a shrill voice came from behind him. It was Ye Luoyan.
She had first used her spiritual power to probe Huchen Jianghai's condition, and the result had shocked her. At this moment, the spiritual power in Huchen Jianghai's body was running rampant and had a strange color. There were strands of brilliant, piercing red, some black, and even large patches of blue. At the same time, some of his internal organs had begun to rot. Although a force was suppressing all this, it was only slowing down the corrosion. It was clear that this suppressing force was Huchen Tingchun's doing.
This made Ye Luoyan's killing intent surge. She glared viciously at Huchen Wuding, but he was currently unconscious. Her gaze then turned, like a viper's, to Zhuo Lingfeng. But the next moment, she remembered where she was. The most urgent matter was to save her son's life. She turned her head, knelt directly on the ground, and pleaded with the Huchen Ancestor. Her father's realm was, after all, only Golden Core, and he was not an expert in the way of poison.
Huchen Wandong's figure flickered. He first appeared beside Huchen Jianghai, grabbed his wrist, and sent a stream of spiritual power into his body. Then, his brow furrowed. He flickered again, appearing beside Huchen Wuding. He did the same, grabbing his wrist. A moment later, he looked up at the Huchen Ancestor.
"Ancestor, Wuding's injuries will be fine after some recuperation. But Jianghai has been afflicted with several severe poisons simultaneously. Because he wasn't treated immediately, although I am confident I can treat him, it might take a very long time..." He hesitated.