Chapter 986: Zhang Teacher's Students (Part 2)

“Humph!”

Seeing the attacks surrounding him, Zheng Yang didn't panic. Instead, he smiled faintly, his eyes lighting up.

“Perfect timing!” he low cry. Ignoring all his opponents' attacks, he leaped straight into the air.

“What is he doing? In the air, he's even more vulnerable; he'll just lose faster!”

“Facing an attack with no way to avoid it, he'll only become more passive. Is he going to admit defeat early?”

“While this might temporarily evade the assault, it puts him in a new, dangerous situation. It's the most ill-advised move…”

A commotion erupted among the spectators. Just moments ago, Zheng Yang had been impressive in both his techniques and combat awareness. How could he make such a huge mistake at the most crucial moment? In the Chrysalis Realm, one cannot fly. On the ground, there was still a chance to fight, but flying into the air meant becoming an easy target. Once attacks came relentlessly, there would be no time to dodge.

Amidst everyone's shock, Zheng Yang, still in the air, moved several meters horizontally, instantly dodging all the attacks below. The next moment, his feet seemed to tread on air, suspending him upside down, with his spear tip pointing downwards.

“Is he flying?”

“How can someone in the Chrysalis Realm fly?”

Everyone was stunned. Only by breaking through to Half-Saint and opening the Sky-Chasing Acupoint could cultivators gain the ability to fly and soar through the clouds. How could this young man, only at the ninth layer of the Mortal Transcending realm, the Chrysalis Realm, freely soar in the air without falling?

“It seems Teacher also taught him the Mortal World Sky-Treading Steps…” Wang Ying smiled. Teacher could fly freely in the air even when he had just entered the Mortal Transcending realm, having cultivated this technique. Now that Zheng Yang was also flying, it was clear he had received the true inheritance.

“Zheng Yang is very clever,” Liu Yang said. “Normally, with those three unleashing their ultimate moves, he wouldn't be able to win. He deliberately exposed a weakness, allowing all their attacks to concentrate, while he used the common assumption that people couldn't fly to ascend into the air. This not only resolved the crisis but also turned a passive situation into an active one. Now those three are finished…” Most people assumed that those in the Chrysalis Realm couldn't fly and therefore had no defenses against aerial attacks, which presented a huge opportunity for Zheng Yang.

Before he finished speaking, the long spear in the air transformed into thousands of points of light, shooting down and enveloping all three attacking combat masters on the platform.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Power erupted in all directions. The three combat masters turned pale and were simultaneously sent flying backward; two of them even fell directly off the platform.

“My apologies, I won…” Holding his long spear, Zheng Yang stood on the platform, calmly surveying his surroundings, an air of proud confidence naturally emerging. The Dragon's Back assessment, which had seemed utterly hopeless, was also successfully passed.

After passing this stage, Zheng Yang didn't rush forward. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground, took out a vitality-restoring pill, and began recovering his depleted vital energy. Seeing his actions, everyone around lowered their voices, afraid of disturbing his cultivation. Below the stage, Liao Song clenched his fists, his face flushed with excitement. Passing the Dragon's Tail and Dragon's Back already demonstrated his strength. Entering the Combat Master Hall and training well, once his strength increased, he would at least reach the commander level. The benefits of discovering such a strong practitioner were undeniable. One could say that even if he didn't pass the subsequent Dragon's Head assessment, it would still be a huge gain.

After resting for nearly half an hour, Zheng Yang finally stood up. At this moment, the power within him surged like a storm, emitting a low rumble like thunder. With each step he took forward, his aura grew stronger. When he reached the eighth step, there was a sudden boom, and his cultivation, initially at the early stage of the Chrysalis Realm, broke through to the middle stage!

“Is this a combat breakthrough?” Wu Tianqiong was startled and couldn't help but look at Liao Song nearby: “Will the guardians of the third stage also correspondingly increase their strength?” The Dragon Gate Array's Dragon's Tail, Dragon's Back, and Dragon's Head stages are arranged according to the challenger's cultivation level. Now that he's broken through, will the difficulty of the subsequent stages also increase based on his new actual strength?

“No, it won't,” Liao Song said. “The assessment only lasts for one hour. A temporary breakthrough during combat is considered adaptability; the subsequent stages will not change.” The assessment for combat disciples is fair and just. Being able to break through during combat is your own ability. Even if the gap for the later stages is reduced, it's impossible to change it temporarily. After all, a breakthrough of a small level during battle is harmless. It's not like he could directly break through a major level!

As the two spoke, Zheng Yang on the platform continued to walk forward. After three steps, his cultivation, which had just advanced to the middle stage of the Chrysalis Realm, was already completely consolidated. He continued to advance, his vital energy boiling like thunder within him. Just like before, his aura continued to climb.

*Boom!*

After the eighth step, it was as if he had broken through another barrier, reaching the late stage of the Chrysalis Realm.

“This…” Everyone below the stage raised an eyebrow. They had seen fast breakthroughs, but never this fast. Breaking through two levels of cultivation in just about ten steps was simply incredible. But Zheng Yang didn't seem to stop there. He continued forward, his pure power still surging relentlessly. By the time he reached the Dragon's Head position, he had already reached the peak of the Chrysalis Realm!

“In the past few days, Zheng Yang has been accumulating power, suppressing his cultivation from breaking through, finally achieving a massive release after long accumulation…” Wang Ying smiled. After hearing about the combat master assessment, her junior brother had been diligently cultivating but suppressed his cultivation from breaking through. His goal was precisely for this moment: to rush into a higher realm in one go, catching his opponents off guard. Of course, achieving this was also due to the miraculous nature of the cultivation method taught by their teacher. For anyone else, advancing even one minor level would be impressive, but to elevate three levels in one go was utterly inconceivable and astonishing.

“His move is quite good,” Liu Yang chuckled. “Before, there was a significant gap with the Dragon's Head, but now it's constantly narrowing. If I were to attempt the challenge, I could also use it…”

As the two conversed, Zheng Yang on the platform did not rush to attack. Instead, with a flick of his wrist, he placed a crimson fruit into his mouth.

“This is… Crimson Glow Fruit?” Wu Xu and Lu Cheng, below the stage, recognized it, and their mouths twitched involuntarily at the same time. Back then, they had gone to that valley precisely to find this item, only to return empty-handed. They had always suspected that Zhang Xuan had taken the fruit, and now it seemed their suspicions were confirmed. This item was a powerful tool for breaking through to Half-Saint. This guy on stage wouldn't, after continuously advancing three minor levels… want to directly attempt to reach Half-Saint, would he? There was a significant difference between Half-Saint and the Chrysalis Realm. If successful, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap, making it incredibly easy to pass the Dragon's Head at that point.

“Attack him in the middle of the stream before he crosses the river!” Not only did he notice this problem, but Liao Song also saw it and couldn't help but shout loudly.

*Rumble!*

The three combat masters at the Dragon's Head position, hearing the shout, all raised their eyebrows, lifted their weapons, and attacked in unison. Since the opponent was already within combat range, doing so was not against the rules.

“Heh heh, since I can't digest this power, I'll use you all to practice my spear!” With both eyebrows raised, Zheng Yang met their attacks with his long spear. The Crimson Glow Fruit was a treasure for breaking through to Half-Saint. Refining it alone might take at least one or two hours, but with the pressure of opponents' attacks, the process would be much faster. Back in the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance, Zhang Xuan had used this method to quickly increase the strength of those at the fourth layer of the Mortal Transcending realm, the Impure Cleansing Realm. At this moment, it was almost impossible to normally defeat the Dragon's Head. With the help of the Crimson Glow Fruit, the chances would definitely increase several times!

Indeed, the longer Zheng Yang fought them, the stronger and more surging the power within him became, as if he himself were a tireless perpetual motion machine. Not only that, this power was continuously transforming towards Half-Saint. After fighting for over a hundred moves, a violent roar erupted within him, and his entire strength underwent a qualitative leap, like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.

Half-Saint, achieved!

With his cultivation reaching Half-Saint, his combat power more than doubled. Previously, the three at the Dragon's Head were difficult to defeat, but now they stood no chance. After ten moves, all three were forcefully swept off the platform by his long spear.

The Dragon Gate Array, passed!

“This… did he really succeed?” Clenching his fists in excitement, Liao Song still couldn't quite believe it, despite witnessing it with his own eyes. Something that countless geniuses in the Combat Master Hall couldn't achieve, was easily done by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy who wasn't even a true Master Teacher… it was simply unbelievable.

“Passed!” The overseeing consciousness from the headquarters in the sky left behind two words and slowly receded, meaning this assessment had been recognized by the Combat Master Hall headquarters. In the future, when Zheng Yang went to the headquarters, he would only need to be assessed at the Dragon Pearl stage; the previous three stages would no longer require re-testing! Although this wasn't the complete Dragon Gate Array, fewer than ten people had managed to pass it in the last 300 years… To put it more clearly, Zheng Yang had now become one of the candidates for a combat disciple.

“I succeeded…” Zheng Yang clenched his fists, tears welling in his eyes. He was just a young man who loved spear arts, with perhaps a slight talent. If he hadn't met his teacher, he might at most have become a spear art instructor in Tianxuan Kingdom, with a cultivation no higher than Tongxuan, living no more than a hundred years, living a mediocre, unremarkable life, turning to dust after a century, leaving no trace behind. It was his teacher who changed his fate and gave him a second life. It was his teacher who brought him to this point, allowing his cultivation to break through to realms he had never dared to dream of. It was his teacher who gave him confidence, a goal in life, and taught him what to strive for.

“Teacher, rest assured, I will go further and further, make a name for myself in the Combat Master Hall, and not let down your expectations of me!” Clenching his fists, Zheng Yang secretly made a vow in his heart.

“Alright, Zheng Yang, you've passed the assessment… do the rest of you still wish to be assessed?” Zheng Yang stepped off the platform, and Liao Song turned to look at Wang Ying and the others.

“Of course!” Wang Ying smiled. Even if not to become a combat master, they wanted to prove their strength and bring fame to their teacher!

“Senior Sister, Senior Brother, why don't you let me try first? I joined the latest. If I can pass, you two definitely can!” Just as Wang Ying was about to leap onto the platform, she heard a slightly soft voice speak up. Turning her head, she saw Wei Ruyan, her beautiful eyes emitting a fervent glow.