Chapter 125 - 119: Purple Thunder-Attracting Technique? Perfect, I Need to Absorb Lightning-Attribute Power

Chapter 125: Chapter 119: Purple Thunder-Attracting Technique? Perfect, I Need to Absorb Lightning-Attribute Power

"Let’s go check out the arenas," Ji Zhixing said, handing the phone back to Xiao Mingyue and standing up.

"Are you fully rested?" Xiao Mingyue took the phone and looked up at him.

"Yeah," Ji Zhixing nodded.

He had been quite exhausted earlier. Training under more than ten times normal gravity had placed an immense burden on his body, leaving him completely drained. However, that was in the past.

The Root of the Earth ability, intrinsic to his Five-Color Willow Mutant Tree gene, allowed him to continuously draw power from the ground simply by standing on it, replenishing his genetic source power. Furthermore, his other ability—Advanced Healing—could not only mend his injuries but also alleviate his physical fatigue.

After stepping out of the gravity Cultivation Chamber, taking a shower, and sitting for a brief rest, he already felt completely revitalized, his condition restored to its absolute peak. Ji Zhixing even suspected that with these two abilities, he could survive indefinitely without food or water. But he was human, not a tree. Living without eating or drinking would simply be too boring.

"Let’s get going, then." Xiao Mingyue stood up immediately. Together, they left the villa and headed toward the arenas set up by the university.

The twelve arenas were located within the university’s Martial Arts Hall. The Martial Arts Hall was the designated venue for all major competitions at Yu City University. It occupied a vast area and could accommodate thousands of spectators at once. The two of them crossed the campus and soon arrived at the entrance.

The building was a silvery-white structure shaped like a colossal, overturned bowl. The entrance was bustling with a constant flow of students coming and going.

Just as they approached, a tall, powerfully built figure emerged from the Martial Arts Hall. It was Du Zhan, whom they had met briefly before. He was breathing heavily, his clothes drenched in sweat and clinging to his body, revealing the outline of his well-defined muscles. Clearly, he had just finished a fierce battle.

Seeing Ji Zhixing, Du Zhan paused in surprise. "Ji Zhixing?" He looked him up and down before flashing a wide grin. "Are you getting ready to take the stage? It’s a shame; I can’t fight you today."

Ji Zhixing glanced at him and nodded. "No rush. Tomorrow works just as well."

Du Zhan shot him another look, grinned again, and walked away without another word.

He had never thought much of Ji Zhixing’s actual strength; he only wanted to fight him because of his immense fame, using it as a stepping stone to prove himself.

"This guy is incredibly arrogant," Xiao Mingyue scoffed, watching Du Zhan’s retreating back.

"Don’t mind him," Ji Zhixing smiled. With that, they walked into the Martial Arts Hall together.

The interior of the Martial Arts Hall was exceptionally spacious with a high vaulted ceiling. Rows of arenas stretched out, occupying a massive section of the hall. Each arena was octagonal, constructed from a special alloy, and surrounded by a waist-high fence.

"Ji Zhixing is here!"

As Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue entered, several freshmen who were watching the matches immediately lit up at the sight of him. Whispers and murmurs rippled through the crowd from all directions.

"This guy finally showed up! Most of the others have already participated in the qualifiers over the past two days. He’s the only one who hasn’t. I thought he gave up."

"I heard he even agreed to a duel with Du Zhan. It’s a pity Du Zhan just left after fighting over a dozen matches in a row today."

The chatter was filled with curiosity, skepticism, and the simple desire to watch a good show. Ignoring the noise, Ji Zhixing swept his gaze across the twelve arenas. Every single stage was occupied. Some had a lone person waiting for a challenger, while others featured two combatants locked in fierce combat, with glinting blades, clashing weapons, and colliding abilities.

"Should we each pick someone and take the stage together?" Ji Zhixing turned to ask Xiao Mingyue.

"I’ll pass," Xiao Mingyue shook her head. "I’ll just watch you from down here. As for me, I’ll find a few strong opponents to fight a couple of matches later."

Ji Zhixing nodded. He knew that Xiao Mingyue was not only astonishingly wealthy but also highly capable in her own right. The Flame Spirit Bird she had displayed in the Blood Beast Secret Realm was incredibly powerful, vastly outclassing Su Qing’s Flame Spirit Butterfly.

His eyes swept over the arenas once more before quickly settling on one. After a brief word with Xiao Mingyue, he strode up the steps and onto the stage.

The Defender of this arena was a remarkably ordinary-looking young man of average height and build. He wore a white training suit and gripped a long saber.

"Ji Zhixing?" The young man’s eyes immediately lit up.

Although Ji Zhixing was incredibly famous among the freshmen, many believed his luck far outweighed his actual skill. Few truly acknowledged his strength. Therefore, seeing Ji Zhixing choose his arena caused the young man’s heart to surge with excitement.

"What a perfect opportunity!" he thought. "Ji Zhixing is so famous. If I can defeat him, my name will spread throughout the entire school in an instant! Even if I can’t win, lasting a few dozen rounds against him will be enough to prove my strength!"

Taking a deep breath, he leveled his saber in front of him, his gaze turning sharp. "Get ready. My name is Han Hai, and I’ll be coming at you with everything I’ve got."

"Alright," Ji Zhixing nodded.

With a mere thought, the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod materialized from his genetic furnace and fell into his grasp. The university’s qualifiers allowed the use of Genetic Equipment, but with a strict limitation: participants could not activate any intrinsic skills attached to the gear. After all, the qualifiers were meant to select the strongest Genetic Cultivators, not the wealthiest.

Ji Zhixing gripped the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod and looked at Han Hai across the arena.

Below the stage, a crowd of spectating freshmen quickly swarmed the area, packing it tightly as soon as they saw Ji Zhixing step up.

"Ji Zhixing is making his move!"

"That’s Han Hai he’s fighting, right? From Elite Class Six. He’s fought over a dozen matches these past few days and won most of them."

"I wonder who’s stronger between the two."

"It’s gotta be Ji Zhixing. With a reputation that big, he can’t rely entirely on luck."

"We’ll find out soon enough. He already challenged Du Zhan. If he can’t even handle Han Hai, he’ll be a laughingstock."

The chatter buzzed relentlessly around the arena.

"Watch out!"

Amidst the discussions, Han Hai made his move. Taking a deep breath, his legs exploded with power, launching him toward Ji Zhixing like an arrow from a bowstring. His speed was blistering. Utilizing a unique footwork technique, his movements were erratic and unpredictable, making it nearly impossible to gauge his angle of attack.

Closing the distance to within two meters, he abruptly swung his saber. The blade slashed from right to left, a streak of silvery light accompanied by a sharp, whistling gust of wind, aiming straight for Ji Zhixing’s chest.

Ji Zhixing watched the approaching blade without a flicker of emotion. Gripping the rod in his right hand, he gave his wrist a subtle flick.

"Vortex."

The long rod spun before him, churning the surrounding air into a swirling vortex. As Han Hai’s saber cleaved into the cyclone, an immense rotational force transferred up his blade, dragging his strike violently off course. That fierce slash felt as if it had plunged deep into turbulent water—its momentum was steadily drained away, its trajectory completely distorted.

"What?" Han Hai’s pupils contracted in shock.

Although this wasn’t his strongest attack, he had still put seventy or eighty percent of his strength into it. Yet, in front of Ji Zhixing, it was neutralized with such effortless grace? With no time to overthink, he hastily retracted his saber and leaped backward to open up the distance. But Ji Zhixing didn’t give him the chance.

"Undertow."

The rod thrust forward silently, as fast as lightning. Before Han Hai could even process the blur before his eyes, the pale blue tip of the rod was already hovering inches from his throat. The sharp gust of wind radiating from the tip made his throat constrict and his hairs stand on end. He froze in place, terror filling his eyes.

The next moment, a spatial fluctuation surged around him. His figure was instantly enveloped in a flash of light, vanishing from the arena. By the time he regained his senses, he was standing at the base of the stage.

"What just happened?"

"That was only two moves, right? Han Hai lost just like that?"

"Something feels off. Doesn’t the staff technique Ji Zhixing used look exactly like the one he was practicing on the training grounds before?"

"That’s supposed to be a Tier Two Five-Star Staff Technique, isn’t it? Did he trigger an intrinsic skill from his Genetic Equipment?"

"No way. The rules of the qualifiers strictly forbid the use of equipment skills."

Below the stage, the crowd of freshmen exchanged bewildered glances, their faces painted with shock and utter confusion.

"The Nine-Tiered Tide Rod?"

At the same time, the instructor overseeing the qualifiers in the Martial Arts Arena also recognized the technique. However, unlike the students, he could tell at a single glance that Ji Zhixing had executed the move through his own mastery, not through the weapon’s automated guidance.

A flash of astonishment crossed the instructor’s eyes. Tier Two Five-Star Staff Techniques were incredibly difficult to learn. Even the students in the Genius Class who had fused with Tier Four genes would need to invest a massive amount of time and effort to master a martial art of this caliber. Yet Ji Zhixing, an Elite Class student with only a Tier Two gene, had accomplished it in little more than ten days.

"Is this kid’s comprehension really that terrifying?" he thought, watching Ji Zhixing from afar.

Ji Zhixing’s reputation at Yu City University had skyrocketed recently, so the instructor naturally knew of him. However, he had never expected his first close-up observation of the boy to yield such a massive surprise.

Meanwhile, the freshmen in the Martial Arts Hall noticed the instructor watching Ji Zhixing without intervening. Realization slowly dawned on them.

"That’s a Tier Two Five-Star Staff Technique! Did Ji Zhixing actually master it?"

"How long has he even had that equipment? Ten days? How could anyone learn a Tier Two Five-Star Staff Technique in such a short time?"

"This has to be fake, right?"

The murmurs swelled into a cacophony. No one wanted to believe it, yet the evidence was right in front of them. Successfully mastering a Tier Two Five-Star Staff Technique in such a narrow window of time was completely beyond their wildest imaginations.

"Even the students in the Genius Class couldn’t pull that off!"

"What kind of monster is he? What kind of comprehension is that?"

On the stage, after defeating Han Hai, Ji Zhixing lowered his Nine-Tiered Tide Rod and stood quietly in the center, waiting for the next challenger. However, as the moments ticked by, he realized that while everyone below was staring at him and whispering furiously, not a single person made a move to step up.

"What’s going on?" he wondered. "Is no one coming up?"

Ji Zhixing frowned. After waiting a little longer with no takers, he prepared to walk down. If no one was willing to challenge him, there was no point in staying. He would just have to change tactics. He decided to become the challenger himself and target the Defenders on the other stages.

"Xu Cheng is here!"

Suddenly, a massive commotion broke out in the Martial Arts Hall. Ji Zhixing looked up and spotted a young man in black stepping through the distant entrance. The young man was tall and lean with a cold, unyielding expression. Clad in a sleek black martial arts suit, he walked with a calm, unhurried pace, both hands shoved casually into his pockets.

It was none other than Xu Cheng from Elite Class One. Xu Cheng had been riding a tidal wave of momentum throughout the qualifiers. He had fused with the Tier Three mutated Thunder Rhino gene, possessed the Four-Star Quality Purple Thunder-Attracting Technique, and currently boasted a spectacular thirty-two-match winning streak.

"Xu Cheng?" Ji Zhixing’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

"For my Five-Color Willow Mutant Tree gene to continue evolving, it needs to absorb lightning-attribute power," he thought. "Xu Cheng’s Purple Thunder-Attracting Technique should carry exactly that kind of energy. I just don’t know if I can develop my genetic ability by fighting him and absorbing the Thunder Power he strikes me with."