Chapter 119: Ning Anning

Amidst a deafening roar, two blood-soaked figures simultaneously fell. Chen Mobai immediately rushed towards Shi Yuanqing, intending to catch him before he hit the ground. But while Chen Mobai reacted quickly, someone else moved even faster. A pure white figure, arriving later but moving faster, bypassed Chen Mobai and caught Shi Yuanqing. The figure then gently laid him flat on the ground and, with skilled hands, sealed several of Shi Yuanqing's vital acupoints.

"Fellow Daoist Ning, this one is more urgent; he's barely breathing. Come help quickly!" As soon as Shi Yuanqing was tended to, the anxious voice of the Five Thunder Academy representative on the arena stage could be heard. "Don't worry," the Grand Medical Academy representative said, "with me here, I can bring him back from the King of Hell, even if he's stopped breathing." As he said this, Chen Mobai had just arrived. The representative, wearing a white coat, immediately grabbed Chen Mobai's hand and placed it on Shi Yuanqing's heart. "Keep pressing with this much force, don't stop. I'll go save the other one."

The Grand Medical Academy representative was a young man wearing a mask. After instructing Chen Mobai on the emergency procedure, he immediately rose and descended onto the arena stage. Although Xue Luan had knocked Shi Yuanqing out of the arena, his own condition was exceptionally dire. Not only were all his pores burned away, but the flesh of the five fingers on his left hand, which he had used to form a lightning fist, had melted, leaving only bare bone. Furthermore, his breathing was extremely weak, and the violently chaotic power of heavenly thunder surged within him, tearing and even rupturing his meridians. If the Five Thunder Academy representative hadn't possessed a deep understanding of lightning spiritual energy, protecting Xue Luan's Dantian and placing a lightning pearl on his chest to continuously draw out the unrefined, chaotic heavenly thunder energy from his body, Xue Luan would likely have already perished.

Upon arriving, the Grand Medical Academy representative proved even more professional. He pulled a scalpel from his sleeve and, with precision and grace, made eighteen incisions on Xue Luan's body, sending blood splattering. As these incisions opened, streaks of dark purple heavenly thunder energy, freed from the confines of meridians and flesh, surged out from Xue Luan's body along the cuts, all drawn into the lightning pearl controlled by the Five Thunder Academy representative. "Take him back and let him recuperate for half a year," he instructed. "His life isn't in danger, but for a complete recovery, it might depend on your Five Thunder Academy's Divine Firmament Righteous Law." "This person isn't even guaranteed to get into our academy yet," the Five Thunder Academy representative retorted, his initial urgency gone now that Xue Luan's breathing had returned to normal. He even put on an act in front of the Grand Medical Academy representative.

The Grand Medical Academy representative, Ning Anning, was the cultivator whose medical reputation had risen the fastest in the past two decades. After giving some instructions to the school medics, he returned to Chen Mobai's side. "Hmm, the compression is good," Ning Anning said after observing Chen Mobai's actions and praising him, then told him to stop. He then drew his scalpel again and deftly cut through the layer of ceramic armor on Shi Yuanqing's body. The ceramic armor, which could withstand even the power of heavenly thunder, was as fragile as tofu before this small scalpel. "This kid is also reckless," Ning Anning muttered, "even with three broken ribs, he insisted on deciding the outcome." He cut open the sunken chest wound Shi Yuanqing had sustained from Xue Luan's blow. After releasing the lightning spiritual energy within, he took out a bottle of medicinal powder, sprinkled it on the wound, then smoothed it with his hand. All the fractured and displaced bones returned to their proper positions, and the caved-in flesh sprang back, becoming flat again. However, wound healing would take time, and bone recovery was the slowest.

"Take some calcium, and three months of bed rest should be enough," Ning Anning concluded. "Thank you, doctor," Chen Mobai and Shi Jingjing said simultaneously. Ning Anning immediately waved his hand, then, after using a cleansing spell on himself, called for the Danzhu Academy medics to bring a stretcher and carry Shi Yuanqing away.

"I originally thought this would be a rather boring duel, but now I'm quite interested in the next two rounds." After saving the individuals, Ning Anning leisurely returned to his spectator seat and, smiling, spoke to the other representatives from the Daoist Academies. "Both of those just now were quite good; they qualify to enter our Taiyuan Academy," a girl with an exceptionally beautiful face said, glancing at Xue Luan and Shi Yuanqing being carried away on stretchers. Her remark caused the Five Thunder Academy representative to snort in disdain. "Not to mention the one with earth and fire dual spiritual roots who had a breakthrough during the fight," he retorted, "if this Xue Luan doesn't come to our Five Thunder Academy, his remaining life will be crippled."

"If he has fire spiritual roots," a plump man interjected, "he could come to our Pure Yang Academy for further cultivation; he might even have a chance to form a Golden Core in the future." This remark made everyone roll their eyes. Who among those present wasn't expected to have a chance at forming a Golden Core? Yet in the end, perhaps only one or two would actually succeed. Lan Haitan and Yan Qiongzhi had sufficiently great reputations, yet they had been at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment for over a decade, still waiting for an opportunity and not daring to rashly take that final step.

"The third match has begun." With the first two matches as warm-ups, the Daoist Academy representatives, who had initially been somewhat uninterested, immediately focused their attention on Yang Jing and Hong Gang, who had just stepped onto the stage. "This young girl seems to have some issues," Ning Anning remarked. He hadn't noticed much at first, but upon closer inspection, he suddenly discovered something. "What's wrong? Are you interested in this unique spiritual root? Do you want to snatch her from Senior Sister Yan?" the Five Thunder Academy representative asked, somewhat curiously. "No, perhaps I was mistaken," Ning Anning shook his head and said nothing more. However, the girl in the blue dress seated at the far left of their row raised her eyes and looked at Ning Anning with slight surprise. Yan Qiongzhi hadn't expected him to be able to discern it.

This battle, however, left the spectators somewhat disappointed. Although Hong Gang had cultivated the Indestructible Vajra Body, he was completely countered by Yang Jing's peculiar Yin spiritual energy. Eventually, a flaw in his divine sense was exploited, and he only lasted ten moves against Yang Jing before his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious onto the arena stage. "A bit disappointing," Chen Mobai said, shaking his head. Hong Gang had a considerable reputation and was said to have fought Xue Luan multiple times with no clear victor. Chen Mobai had thought that even if Hong Gang wasn't Yang Jing's match, he would at least force out some of her hidden cards, but unexpectedly, he didn't even have the strength to fight back.

The final match of this round was Kong Feichen against Ji Jing. This match was even less suspenseful. Although Ji Jing tried her best and was at the peak of the eighth Qi Cultivation layer, Kong Feichen gave her no opportunities, having learned from Shi Yuanqing's in-combat breakthrough. He immediately unleashed a barrage of first-grade superior Wind-Thunder talismans combined with his innate wind spiritual energy. Ji Jing struggled for a few rounds, but after exhausting all her talismans, her defenses were completely shattered by Kong Feichen, and she had no choice but to raise her hand in surrender.