Chapter 128: You’re Eighth-Rank, So Don’t Bother Stepping Up

“This Dongfang Haojie has three Second-Rate martial arts techniques mastered—such is the foundation of a first-rate sect.

And everyone who could make it here today is basically a chosen prodigy of their sect, not just an ordinary disciple.

He’s likely in the top tier among the Divine Sect’s Seventh-Rank experts.”

Yang Ling sighed inwardly.

The next moment, Dongfang Haojie was already locked in combat with Li Huaiyi.

They exchanged blows back and forth, initially probing each other. After over a dozen moves, Dongfang Haojie began to go all out.

Li Huaiyi’s strength was merely lower Seventh-Rank, far inferior to Yun Ruo, let alone Dongfang Haojie.

When the other party unleashed his full power, he felt immense pressure instantly, marveling inwardly at the Divine Sect’s depth.

Suddenly, Li Huaiyi’s sleeve spewed out a puff of pale yellow powder.

“The Valley of the Dead’s poison technique!”

Everyone’s eyes shifted.

Yang Ling suddenly noticed that Yun Ruo and the others didn’t seem surprised or disgusted by Li Huaiyi’s move.

“It seems the martial world of the ‘Divine Realm’ doesn’t consider using poison despicable.”

Yang Ling’s expression tightened. This was actually not a good thing.

If everyone could employ such methods without any moral burden…

Backstabbing in the martial world would become as common as fish in a river!

Dongfang Haojie suddenly let out a light shout, a stream of air blasting from his mouth.

The yellow powder immediately fell back onto Li Huaiyi’s own face.

Yet Li Huaiyi didn’t panic, as if he had a countermeasure prepared.

Taking advantage of Dongfang Haojie’s momentary pause, he struck again with the Tiger-Capturing Saber Technique.

The fierce saber technique hacked at his opponent blow after blow, even unleashing saber momentum!

“His saber momentum isn’t as strong as Yun Ruo’s, but it’s still momentum.”

“My Tiger-Capturing Saber Technique is also at Flawless Proficiency, yet I’ve never touched the realm of ‘momentum.’”

Yang Ling’s mind stirred. His Spirit was at 60 points, which by talent standards made him exceptionally gifted.

But none of his martial arts techniques had ever developed ‘momentum.’

“The first time was Wu Man—that Ninth-Rank expert brought momentum to Boulder Crushing Fist. Every native I’ve met since, those with decent cultivation, all have their own ‘momentum.’ It’s just a matter of how strong or weak.”

“Could it be… because I relied purely on Spirit Nurturing Pills to elevate my techniques?”

Yang Ling felt his guess was probably close to the truth.

Without painstakingly practicing each move one by one, it was hard to grasp the essence of ‘momentum.’

This was something he currently lacked.

“But it doesn’t matter. As long as I level up fast enough, I can use Skilled against Flawless Proficiency, and Transcendent against Skilled—momentum or not, it doesn’t matter.”

“At least for the short term, I don’t need to worry about it.”

Yang Ling’s attention shifted to Dongfang Haojie.

This guy had already activated Divine Path Heart Sutra, Divine Thought Palm, and Flowing Light Body Art.

His status panel had undergone a clear transformation.

The third layer of Divine Path Heart Sutra boosted both his Strength and Agility by 40 points.

Divine Thought Palm added another 12 points to both stats.

Flowing Light Body Art gave his Agility a whopping 24-point increase.

At this moment, Dongfang Haojie’s Strength reached 141 points.

His Agility hit 127 points.

“His Strength is on par with Director Yun’s upper limit, but his Agility is over twenty points higher.”

“Why do these guys’ Second-Rate techniques give higher stats than my Twelve Paths Vajra Legs? Could it be that Twelve Paths Vajra Legs is just a prerequisite, and advancing it leads to Wind God Vajra Legs?”

Yang Ling mused, then compared himself to Dongfang Haojie.

His current Strength cap was 108, Agility 145.

He was higher in Agility than Dongfang Haojie but much lower in Strength.

And he had a full 23 free attribute points unspent.

“From this perspective, even if I add those free attribute points, I still won’t exceed the upper limit of the upper Seventh-Rank.”

“The gap between Sixth-Rank and Seventh-Rank is still pretty significant.”

Yang Ling had already made up his mind.

For this reward, he had to step up and grab it.

Regardless of whether it caused trouble afterward.

Not taking these good things would make him a pure fool!

If necessary, he would also add all 23 free attribute points to Agility.

With pure speed, he’d crush these Seventh-Rank geniuses from the first-rate sects!

The outcome between experts was often decided in an instant.

Dongfang Haojie suddenly erupted, overwhelming Li Huaiyi with sheer dominance, forcing him back step by step. Finally, Li Huaiyi took a palm strike he couldn’t dodge, flying backward and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Even the Eighth-Rank Official Saber in his hand was knocked away, crashing heavily at Yang Ling’s feet.

Li Huaiyi’s face turned ashen, a flash of shame flickering in his eyes.

Dongfang Haojie smiled and clasped his hands:

“You yield.”

Li Ruhai looked at Lu Yunchen with a smile:

“Director Lu, your Eighth-Rank Ironclad Armor’s skills aren’t bad. Holding out for over a hundred moves against Dongfang Haojie is already quite remarkable. Even among the Divine Sect’s Seventh-Rank, few can exchange that many blows with him.”

Lu Yunchen replied with a faint smile: “Your disciple here is quite capable—seems to have upper Seventh-Rank strength.

Li Huaiyi is only lower Seventh-Rank; lasting a hundred moves was thanks to his restraint.”

With that, he glanced at Li Huaiyi.

Li Huaiyi immediately stood up and clasped his hands to Dongfang Haojie:

“Thank you for holding back, Brother Dongfang.”

“Not at all, not at all.”

Dongfang Haojie waved his hand dismissively.

Next, a disciple from Extreme Flame Sword Manor stepped up to fight Dongfang Haojie but ultimately failed to win.

Only then did Li Huaiyi’s expression improve slightly, as he had lasted longer than that opponent.

Then came a disciple from Nine Immortals Dao Palace, who also couldn’t beat Dongfang Haojie.

This guy fought three battles in a row and won all of them, earning qualification to advance to the next round!

Yang Ling noticed that the top Seventh-Rank from Nine Immortals Dao Palace, Extreme Flame Sword Manor, and Arhat Temple all tacitly chose not to challenge Dongfang Haojie in this round.

Just then, a bald head emerged from Arhat Temple. The man grinned and scratched his head:

“Everyone, I’m Li Shou of Arhat Temple, just at Eighth-Rank. I’d like to spar with you all. Are there any Eighth-Rank brothers or sisters willing to exchange a few moves? Seventh-Rank, please don’t come—that would be bullying.”

The Seventh-Rank experts from all sides wore strange expressions.

“Junior Brother from Arhat Temple, you’re Eighth-Rank—so don’t bother stepping up.”

One Seventh-Rank couldn’t help but say.

Li Shou said seriously: “I want those rewards too. I know it’s unlikely, but I still want to try.

I’m only Eighth-Rank now, but I’ll advance to Seventh-Rank later.”

The other party smiled and shook his head without replying.

“I’ll spar with you! I’m Zhang Shendao from the Divine Sect, also Eighth-Rank!”

A figure stepped out from the Divine Sect—it was Zhang Shendao.

Li Shou’s eyes lit up as he exchanged a glance with Zhang Shendao, both seeing a hint of mutual understanding.

“These two… seem to have agreed on something beforehand.”

Yang Ling’s expression shifted. His sharp intuition told him something was off.

Soon, after a fierce and thorough exchange,

Zhang Shendao ultimately lost to Li Shou by a hair’s breadth—just one move.

Then, Lin Caiyi stepped out of the queue:

“Lin Caiyi of Nine Immortals Dao Palace, please enlighten me, Senior Brother Li Shou!”

“Could these four have reached some kind of agreement? Using three people to send one into the next round?”

“But going to the next round is useless too. The opponents there are monsters—they have no chance of winning. Unless they still have hidden cards?”

Yang Ling suddenly grew very interested.