Chapter 161: Sweeping Invincibly, Points in Hand, Half a Year Later

The ten-to-five elimination round, final match.

Shi Yong of the Tiger-Dragon Army faced off against Feng Qi of the Blazing Sun Army.

Shi Yong was an A-class genius from the Heavenly Timing Academy, while Feng Qi was merely a B-class genius from the Grand Granary Academy.

Given Shi Yong's consistently unparalleled reputation, everyone expected Feng Qi to lose to him in this match. After all, Shi Yong had also unseated Feng Qi from his third-place spot in the previous trial.

However, the battle unfolded completely differently from everyone's expectations! From the very beginning, Shi Yong was thoroughly dominated.

Both were Puppet Masters. Shi Yong summoned two types of Nine-Revolving Puppets: a Mystic Weapon and a Giant Shield. Surprisingly, Feng Qi also summoned two types of Nine-Revolving Puppets: a Divine Valor and a Flying Sky.

The summoning speed difference between them was minimal, with Shi Yong being slightly faster. But as soon as Feng Qi summoned his first puppet, he immediately launched an attack! Shi Yong also sent his puppets to attack.

In the initial clash of two puppets, the Divine Valor and Flying Sky puppets faced off against the Mystic Weapon and Giant Shield puppets. The Mystic Weapon puppet, lacking actual weapons and being a highly maneuverable puppet type, was at a slight disadvantage against Divine Valor's close-quarters combat. As for the Giant Shield puppet, it was completely overwhelmed and could only passively endure attacks due to the Flying Sky puppet's speed.

Overall, however, they were still evenly matched, as the difference in single-puppet techniques wasn't significant. Feng Qi gained a slight advantage and continued to summon single-technique puppets for his offense. His summoning speed was three breaths slower than Shi Yong's, but he was stronger in puppet control. Combined with his puppets' inherent advantages, this nullified Shi Yong's casting speed advantage.

With a relentless barrage of attacks from one puppet after another, Shi Yong was forced into a purely defensive stance. Furthermore, his casting speed wasn't significantly superior to Feng Qi's, leaving him no time to combine his two puppet techniques. Thus, both sides continued to compete using single-technique puppets.

By the fifth puppet, Shi Yong's casting speed slowed down, and Feng Qi caught up. When the seventh puppet was summoned, Feng Qi actually overtook Shi Yong, with Shi Yong's seventh puppet appearing five breaths slower than Feng Qi's. By the tenth puppet, all of Shi Yong's puppets suddenly experienced a decline in combat effectiveness. This was due to the immense mental burden of controlling too many puppets simultaneously, especially since each one was a Nine-Revolving puppet. Feng Qi, being less affected, maintained his advantage in puppet control. He extended this advantage until the twelfth puppet.

At that point, Shi Yong was defeated.

“Match Ten: Feng Qi wins!”

Liu Tianning's voice rang out, and the square immediately erupted in a stir.

“Shi Yong lost!”

“Both of his puppet types were Nine-Revolving, capable of dual-technique combination, yet he still lost to Feng Qi?!”

“Feng Qi also has two Nine-Revolving puppet types! Did he hide his strength in the previous round, or has he made a breakthrough in the past few days?!”

“I feel Feng Qi's puppets are more agile! Shi Yong's started out indistinct, but became increasingly clumsy as the fight progressed.”

“The battle was too intense; Shi Yong had no chance to combine his two techniques. With such an aggressive fighting style, Feng Qi had the upper hand.”

“In terms of spell mastery, there wasn't a big difference between them, but there was a gap in puppet control!”

“I can't believe Shi Yong didn't even make it into the top five.”

“Feng Qi, who would have thought a dark horse would emerge like this.”

“Given his puppet control, it seems the rankings will likely change this time.”

Inside the main hall of the Myriad Arts Palace.

“Feng Qi, I hadn't realized he possessed such talent,” Lu Bang remarked, somewhat surprised.

“Indeed, it’s quite unexpected,” Liu Tianning nodded. “His proficiency in combining techniques is slightly lower than Shi Yong's. When his two Nine-Revolving puppet types are combined, their individual power only reaches an Eight-Revolving level, whereas Shi Yong's is incredibly close to Nine-Revolving.”

“However, in terms of puppet micro-management, he controls them more flexibly than Shi Yong and can sustain a greater number of puppets.”

“When Feng Qi controls nine puppets simultaneously, their combat effectiveness only drops by ten percent, but Shi Yong's declines by twenty percent when he controls nine.”

“At the scale of ten puppets, Feng Qi's puppets experience a twenty percent drop in combat effectiveness, while Shi Yong's falls by forty percent.”

Lu Bang nodded, “Shi Yong is excellent at casting spells himself, but he can't adapt to the demands of puppet-based techniques.”

“Yes, when you mentioned his struggles in training, and despite Shi Yong being first, Zhao Xing was leading, I knew he wasn't suited for specializing in puppet techniques.”

“Judging people by this method, Shi Yong is an excellent general, but not a true commander,” Liu Tianning commented. “If he were to lead troops, unless he has some other fortunate encounter and undergoes a transformation, ten thousand men would be his limit.”

Shi Yong left immediately after his defeat, but the others remained. With Feng Qi emerging as a dark horse, everyone wanted to see who the ultimate victor would be.

“Old Zhuang, Old Cai, are you two holding back too?” Cao Shuang asked. “Damn, I'm starting to think Zhao Xing's first place isn't secure anymore.”

“Guess,” Zhuang Ziqing chuckled.

“Cai Jin, is this Feng Qi's full strength?” Han Bing asked.

“Feng Qi is quite low-key. Although we shared the same teacher at the Grand Granary Academy, I haven't interacted much with him,” Cai Jin shook his head.

“You can't blame him for being low-key. Given your situation, how could you have time to socialize?” Han Bing pointed to the jade pendant around Cai Jin's neck.

After Shi Yong's defeat, the rankings from sixth to tenth were finalized. This tier would earn eight thousand points. The fourth and fifth places still needed to be determined, and these would also receive eight thousand points.

Only five competitors remained: Zhao Xing, Zhuang Ziqing, Cai Jin, Feng Qi, and Yu Hao. Based on Zhao Xing's previous performance, Liu Tianning granted him a bye. This meant Zhao Xing was guaranteed to receive at least a top-three points reward. No one had any objections to this arrangement; Zhao Xing's prior performance certainly merited the bye. The other four, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief, no longer having to worry about facing Zhao Xing in the first round and ending up in fourth place.

The remaining four were paired as follows: Zhuang Ziqing against Yu Hao, and Cai Jin against Feng Qi. The losers wouldn't need to fight again, as fourth and fifth place received the same tier of points.

In the first match, Cai Jin faced Feng Qi. This match was quite prolonged; Cai Jin and Feng Qi fought to a standstill even after summoning their fifteenth puppets. Finally, both martial brothers chose to combine their puppets. Ultimately, Cai Jin lost to Feng Qi by a narrow margin. Cai Jin's combined puppet was a Giant Shield Martyrdom Explosion Puppet, while Feng Qi's was a Flying Sky Divine Valor Puppet. Before the Giant Shield Martyrdom Explosion could detonate and blast Feng Qi away, the Flying Sky Divine Valor puppet kicked Cai Jin flying.

In the second match, Zhuang Ziqing competed against Yu Hao. Zhuang Ziqing lost! His defeat was similar to Shi Yong's. Both were unable to contend with Yu Hao from the Grand Granary Academy when pushing their mental limits.

Although Zhuang Ziqing performed strongly when researching single puppet techniques, and even dual-technique combinations, in actual combat, since his single and dual techniques were only slightly superior to Yu Hao's and didn't create a significant advantage, his inability to control multiple puppets effectively was infinitely magnified. The higher the level of combat, the more pronounced the unique characteristics of puppet techniques became. This also made the spectators in the square realize: strength in other areas doesn't automatically translate to strength in puppet techniques. Even talents as formidable as Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing couldn't manage it; it was as if proficiency in puppet techniques required a separate talent altogether. Anyone wishing to deeply pursue this path would need to proceed cautiously.

So, could Zhao Xing handle these two geniuses from the Grand Granary Academy?

Three remained: Zhao Xing, Feng Qi, and Yu Hao. There was no need for draws; each person would fight the other two once.

First up was Zhao Xing against Yu Hao. Yu Hao and Feng Qi had eliminated Zhuang Ziqing and Shi Yong in very similar ways. They both employed aggressive tactics, giving those with higher enlightenment realms no time to combine multiple techniques.

However, Yu Hao had clearly chosen the wrong opponent this time. He had painstakingly trained in practical combat control, but Zhao Xing's main focus since the fourth trial had also been on practical combat control. As for combat experience? The caliber of opponents Zhao Xing had faced was far higher than Yu Hao's, and from the fourth trial onwards, Zhao Xing's past life experiences gradually merged with his current one. Regarding the limit of mental burden, Zhao Xing cultivated the 'Great Dream Spring and Autumn' technique and was personally praised by Liu Tianning, who even told Zhao Xing to seek him out if he needed anything. All of this indicated that Zhao Xing's talent in puppet techniques was in a class of its own.

Therefore, from the start of the battle, Yu Hao was at a disadvantage. What's more, Zhao Xing was dominating him using the very tactics Yu Hao excelled at!

“Tenth puppet!” Yu Hao gritted his teeth and summoned his tenth puppet, but he felt immense fatigue, and his puppets' combat effectiveness significantly dropped. By this point, Yu Hao couldn't even issue precise commands to control his puppets. After all, the puppets moved at three to four tenths the speed of sound! At this level, every combat action required split-second reactions! One or two puppets were manageable, but a dozen, each requiring millisecond-level operations? It was too difficult!

“In terms of puppet types, I have no advantage either. He knows everything I do, and he's stronger. Flying Sky is perfected, Martyrdom Explosion is perfected, Divine Valor is Nine-Revolving, and Sacred Shield and Illusory Form are also Nine-Revolving.”

“As for quantity... does he have no limit?”

Yu Hao already knew he was going to lose, because his previous nine puppets had all suffered varying degrees of damage, while his opponent's, aside from one Martyrdom Explosion puppet that was traded, were almost entirely unharmed. But Yu Hao refused to surrender. He would rather be knocked out of the arena than cry surrender; not surrendering was a soldier's most fundamental belief!

“Martyrdom Explosion puppet, charge!” Yu Hao gritted his teeth and summoned a Martyrdom Explosion puppet, but the summoned puppet was only a Six-Revolving type. There was nothing he could do. Unlike the battle with Zhuang Ziqing, Zhao Xing put too much pressure on him. By the tenth puppet, he could only summon puppets below the Seven-Revolving level!

“Go!” Zhao Xing pointed his hand, directly ordering his Giant Shield puppet to embrace the opponent's puppet. He now had fourteen puppets on the field, giving him a complete advantage. Yu Hao, however, refused to surrender and was barely holding on.

“Boom!” Before the Martyrdom Explosion puppet could even charge, Yu Hao was blasted out of the arena, and the Martyrdom Explosion puppet detonated harmlessly mid-air.

“Zhao Xing wins!”

Yu Hao was carried away for treatment and rest. Feng Qi's heart sank halfway when he saw this. Zhao Xing was exceptionally strong, both in his techniques and his skill. Feng Qi knew that in this course, he could only aim for second place, because he wasn't much stronger than Yu Hao, and his victory over Cai Jin was a narrow one. Zhao Xing defeated Yu Hao with such apparent ease. He was also capable of perfect dual-technique combination; the fact that he didn't immediately summon a perfectly combined puppet to defeat Yu Hao was out of courtesy, to avoid making Yu Hao's defeat too humiliating.

“I thought that by defeating Shi Yong, I could finally contend for first place, but I didn't expect to climb one mountain only to find another,” Feng Qi mused. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the plaza.

Half an hour later, Feng Qi was knocked off the plaza.

With this, Zhao Xing won both his matches, secured first place, and earned 50,000 points. After recovering, Feng Qi and Yu Hao fought another match, with Feng Qi winning, placing second, and earning 30,000 points. Yu Hao received 10,000 points.

What seemed like an ordinary selection and training course caused quite a sensation. This was because Zhao Xing's dominance in puppet techniques even surpassed that of the Grand Granary Academy's geniuses. Even Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing failed to break into the top three, yet Zhao Xing stood tall above the rest, claiming all 50,000 points for first place. Suddenly, the puppet technique training course became the focus of discussion within the Military Agricultural Department, with many people coming to the Myriad Arts Palace to study, drawn by its reputation.

Zhao Xing, the protagonist of this buzz, quietly returned to his Huailiu Courtyard.

“Clip-clop, clip-clop,” the familiar sound of bamboo horse hooves rang out, pausing at Huailiu Courtyard. “Ah!” “Clip-clop, clip-clop.” Then the bamboo horse rode away again.

Zhao Xing appeared at the courtyard entrance and carried a box into his cultivation room.

“The first-layer secret technique of the Dripping Water Domain,” Zhao Xing murmured. He opened the box, revealing a fifth-tier doctrinal painting. It required 50,000 points to purchase, but he received a thirty percent discount, costing him only 35,000 points.

“Improving the Dripping Rain technique can help me better comprehend the ‘Seasonal Edict’.” He took out the painting and set it aside. Inside the box were two more scrolls. “Doctrinal paintings for 'Divine Movement Underworld Palace' and 'Mystic Earth Guardianship', valued at 20,000 points.” Zhao Xing originally had 10,000 points. After receiving his training course points, he immediately purchased the Dripping Rain Domain, as well as the doctrinal paintings for Divine Movement Underworld Palace and Mystic Earth Guardianship.

“Divine Movement Guardianship is also a high-tier technique. Cultivating it to the tenth revolution will help me comprehend the ‘Secret Canon of Reverting to Earthly Origin’. Learning this spell can help me grasp the way of earth veins by understanding individual points and then expanding to a comprehensive understanding.” For the Geomancy Faction, the most important secret canon was the ‘Reverting to Earthly Origin’. The speck of sand within its dantian would continuously grow with enlightenment, eventually forming 'Pure Origin Soil'.

As for Ego Faction techniques? Zhao Xing would dedicate at most twenty percent of his energy to them, and he wouldn't even need to buy any extra treasures. He could visit the Grand Granary Academy to study the 'Original Dao Field' to improve his 'Four Ego Techniques', or go to the Myriad Arts Palace to find Liu Tianning and use puppet techniques to comprehend the Ego Faction's ‘Yin-Yang Ego Scripture’.

“It's now mid-August, and the Military Agricultural Department's training is intensifying. The last six months will be dedicated to actual combat,” Zhao Xing mused. For the final six months, training wouldn't take place in the Ten Yang Caverns; instead, they would go out for real combat, as Datong Prefecture was a border region. According to tradition, practical combat experience was a must!

“The Military Agricultural Department's last six months are akin to an internship. Whether one can directly become a seventh-rank official after completing training depends on these final six months.”

Zhao Xing closed his door and began to plan and adjust his personal schedule based on the information provided by Tian Hou, Old Chen, and the Military Agricultural Department's various selective and mandatory training courses.

“The three great secret canons remain my primary focus, including all theoretical books; this is the Dao.”

“The two high-tier techniques, Dripping Rain and Divine Movement Guardianship, along with the three faction techniques, will still prioritize Heavenly Timing and Geomancy, with Ego as supplementary. The breadth of my magical knowledge doesn't need to expand further; instead, I must begin intensive research.”

“Technique – this refers to casting skill and experience. My past life's experience is increasingly influencing me as I apply spells, but I also need to constantly discern the differences and integrate everything.”

“I must acquire as many resources as possible and, with the aid of a 'Sleepworm', sleep only two hours a day.”

“I cannot waste this opportunity of the Pacification of Barbarians War during Emperor Jing's reign,” Zhao Xing mused. During Emperor Jing's reign, large-scale wars occurred in the Jingxin era. “After that, there wouldn't be much military merit to gain. Just look at the subsequent era names: 'Great Governance' and 'Eternal Governance'. If it's already 'Great Governance' and 'Eternal Governance', it clearly means there won't be many battles.”

“Time to cultivate!”

Time flowed like a shuttle, days and nights flying by. Within the Ten Yang Caverns, the Military Agricultural Department's training was in full swing. Zhao Xing, like a small plant, took root in the Ten Yang Caverns, absorbing every bit of resource and nourishment with all his might. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.