Chapter 479: Same Name Technique

With a cruel smile on his lips, Zhao Yuan slowly walked towards the arena for the late Foundation Establishment stage group competition.

Modern cultivators lived too easily; they hadn't experienced blood and fire. A slight display of his cruel tactics would make them weep bitterly and give up the match. He had fought his way through the city-level and state-level competitions this way. If not for the timely intervention of referees, all his opponents would have died.

Killing someone openly on Wen Dao Sect territory, under everyone's gaze, was difficult. Fine, if he couldn't kill them, he would scare his opponents out of their wits, thwart their growth, and eliminate a potential threat in the coming struggle for dominance.

What was this opponent, this so-called genius of the Wen Dao Sect, this time? It didn't matter; whoever it was, they would be useless in the face of an absolute disparity in power.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Wei Nanfei of the Wen Dao Sect."

Wei Nanfei was a disciple of the same generation as Lu Yang, saved by the passing Dai Bufan after being poisoned by his stepmother in childhood.

"Rogue cultivator Zhao Yuan," Zhao Yuan greeted casually, looking at Wei Nanfei with disdain. If it weren't for this final match, his opponent wouldn't even be qualified to stand on the same stage as him. After all, he was a dignified peak Integration stage cultivator who had scattered his cultivation to re-cultivate. This re-cultivation would undoubtedly elevate him to the next level, aiming for the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao Yuan, please begin."

Zhao Yuan moved. A verdant long saber appeared in his hand, its hilt inlaid with a pigeon-egg-sized dragon's eye stone, and he swung it horizontally towards Wei Nanfei.

"So fast!" Wei Nanfei exclaimed and dodged sideways. Zhao Yuan wouldn't stand idle. He flipped his wrist, and the verdant long saber spun in the air, striking again towards Wei Nanfei's lower abdomen.

Clang—

Wei Nanfei drew two axes from his waist, crossed them, and held them in front of his lower abdomen, blocking the verdant long saber.

"These axes look so familiar," Mang Gu mumbled, then turned to Li Haoran beside him and asked, "Junior Brother Li, do you recognize these two axes?"

At that moment, Li Haoran had Su Yiren on his left and Qin Yanyan on his right, enjoying the company of two women. Su Yiren had broken his left arm several times already. Fortunately, he could regenerate severed limbs, and his wounds healed extremely fast. He considered it practice for how to use his Golden Core.

"These are imitations of the Mountain-Splitting Axe. I forged them for Junior Brother Wei."

"Mountain-Splitting Axe?" That name sounded familiar to Mang Gu as well.

Li Haoran had to explain further: "They're the three axes the River Spirit gave us during the sect entrance test: the mortal axe, the spirit treasure Mountain-Splitting Axe, and the immortal artifact Heaven-Opening Axe. Junior Brother Wei liked the style of the Mountain-Splitting Axe, so he asked me to forge two for him."

Only then did Mang Gu understand.

By this time, the battle on the arena had reached a fever pitch. Wei Nanfei's difficultly level was higher than Zhao Yuan had anticipated. Although he was confident he could defeat Wei Nanfei, a battle of this intensity wouldn't be enough to shatter Wei Nanfei's Dao heart. In ancient times, Zhao Yuan's favorite tactic was to play the pig to eat the tiger, pretending to be a genius to crush the Dao hearts of other prodigies.

"Time to use some tricks!" Zhao Yuan became ruthless, activating his trump card. His blood boiled, and his skin turned red and swollen, like a rampaging beast! The dragon's eye stone on the saber's hilt emitted a strange red light, as if an ancient dragon had opened its eyes, filled with oppressive power!

Boom—

The long saber struck towards Wei Nanfei's face. Even though Wei Nanfei blocked it with his axes, his arms trembled slightly, unable to withstand such force.

"What kind of cultivation method is this?" Yang Ding frowned. The Prison Suppressing Sect didn't research cultivation methods much, so he could only tell that Zhao Yuan was using a technique that temporarily burst forth power.

"It should be a method that burns lifespan to temporarily boost combat power," Luo Hongxia analyzed. Such methods were rarely cultivated by modern cultivators.

"It's the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art," the Immortal Fairy stated calmly, revealing her extensive ancient knowledge. Methods of burning lifespan to increase combat power were very common in ancient times. The Five Ancient Immortals would often burn a few years of their lives just for fun. The Immortal of Time, in particular, frequently burned his lifespan even before becoming an immortal, making him incredibly difficult to deal with. After all, the Immortal of Time's true form was the Jianmu Tree, whose existence spanned as long as human history, if not longer, and its lifespan was virtually infinite.

"So it's that cultivation method." Although the others didn't recognize it, they had heard of the name.

"Then your Wen Dao Sect disciple will have a tough time. I'm afraid he won't be able to defeat this Zhao Yuan," Crown Prince Jiang Qun said, his brows slightly furrowed. All signs indicated that Zhao Yuan was very likely an ancient cultivator.

"No worries. Wei Nanfei also cultivates the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art."

"Also?" Qiu Jin'an was surprised, thinking, *No wonder you recognized Zhao Yuan's cultivation method.*

"Yes, written by little Yun."

Wei Nanfei opened his mouth as if to say something, but Zhao Yuan, quick as a flash, struck first to prevent him from speaking. *Thinking of surrendering? No way!*

Seeing his opponent being so unreasonable, Wei Nanfei shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to activate his own cultivation method. Zhao Yuan's strength surged. Although he was still in the late Foundation Establishment stage, his combat power was enough to contend with a late Golden Core stage cultivator!

Zhao Yuan laughed wildly in his heart, his aura rising steadily. Wei Nanfei avoided his sharp edge, dodging attacks. Zhao Yuan was relentless, determined to leave a psychological scar on Wei Nanfei through this battle.

Kill, kill, kill!

Zhao Yuan grew stronger and stronger, and his lifespan burned faster and faster.

"Wait, why is my lifespan burning so fast!" Zhao Yuan exclaimed, startled. The Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art was his core cultivation method, one he had practiced his entire life. It couldn't be wrong.

"It's you!" Zhao Yuan glared fiercely at Wei Nanfei.

Wei Nanfei sighed softly: "I wanted to say earlier that if you surrendered, I wouldn't need to use this move. But you insisted on not letting me speak. Since both you and I cultivate the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art, why fight to the death?" He added, "And most importantly, you still can't beat me."

"What kind of joke is this! What you cultivate isn't the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art!" Zhao Yuan roared in anger. *Who are you trying to fool? Who understands this cultivation method better than me?* He had never heard of a cultivation method that could help *others* burn their lifespan!

"Anyway, Senior Sister said this is called the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art," Wei Nanfei mumbled. He also found it strange that when he was choosing a cultivation method, the elder had presented two manuals, one called the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art, and the other also called the Incinerating Heaven Blood Burning Art. The difference was that the former was excavated from an ancient grotto-heaven, while the latter was written by his Senior Sister. He decisively chose the latter.

Zhao Yuan watched his lifespan continuously drain away. Even if he stopped circulating his cultivation method, it was useless, so he quickly conceded defeat.

"What's going on?" Qiu Jin'an asked, surprised by the scene on the arena.

The Immortal Fairy showed an excited smile, just about to reveal Yun Zhi's dark past, when a cup of tea was placed next to her hand. She turned her head and saw the ice-cold Yun Zhi standing behind her, who asked with concern, "Acting Sect Master, have some water to moisten your throat." Cold sweat immediately broke out on the Immortal Fairy's forehead. She dared not say anything more.

Yang Ding recalled a rumor: it was said that every Wen Dao Sect disciple had to complete two tasks annually. To fulfill her tasks, Yun Zhi had falsely claimed to have visited ancient grotto-heavens and found ancient cultivation methods. She called them ancient methods, but in reality, she had concocted them all based on their names. And the cultivation methods with identical names that Yun Zhi wrote were often far more powerful than the original versions.