Chapter 202 - Another Hint Comes Out
The final four did not immediately begin their duel; not only Lin Shiming, but also Chen Yuan had expended a considerable amount of True Yuan in their respective battles against their opponents.
Both needed to recover, yet they were not significantly injured, so the final showdown was set for the following day.
Moreover, during the final showdown, the other seven cultivators who were enlightened would also make an appearance.
Only the top two finalists would rush to the Dao Enlightenment stage.
Time was of the essence.
Lin Shiming rested for a day, during which Lin Houyuan and Xie An came one after another to encourage him, and surprisingly, Zi Xuan Hermit also paid him another visit to offer his regards.
In the end, he even prepared another Supreme Grade Third Rank Defense Talisman for him.
Lin Shiming was extremely grateful and accepted it.
After a night of recovery, Lin Shiming finally returned to his peak condition.
Returning to the beast-fighting arena the next day, the number of spectators had increased even further.
Of course, apart from watching the final battle of the four, many cultivators also came to see the monks who were exempt from the preliminaries and directly qualified for Enlightenment.
These cultivators were the truly gifted of the Three Sects of the Zhao Kingdom, who would almost certainly have access to Purple Mansion Jade Liquid in the future and could even be regarded as half a True Person of the Purple Mansion.
Among the seven exempted, three were from Spirit Beast Sect, and both Qingxuan Sect and Spirit Talisman Sect had two each.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
However, this time the cultivators from Spirit Talisman Sect were not looking pleased. Usually, Spirit Talisman Sect would have at least one participant in the top four, but this time, they hadn't anticipated Xu Hao being kicked out of the competition early by Lin Shiming, leaving them merely as spectators.
Under the proclamation of San Ye Hermit, Lin Shiming and Chen Yuan each took their places on the beast-fighting platform.
Chen Yuan was still wearing his Spirit Beast Sect beast-embroidered robe, and as he entered the arena, he immediately released four strange beasts, two of which were late Third Rank Spirit Beasts and two were mid Third Rank Spirit Beasts.
Lin Shiming watched with some envy; he had the Golden Winged Mantis and the Red-haired Demon Monkey and naturally understood how precious it was to have four Demonic Beasts at this level, not to mention the immense resources required for their upkeep.
Chen Yuan's selection of Spirit Beasts was also meticulous, with two late Third Rank Spirit Beasts—a Golden Feathered Sculpture and a Thunder Rhinoceros—plus two mid Third Rank Howling Moon Wolves.
He had both agility and defensive beasts, and each beast exuded an extraordinary demeanor, clearly far from ordinary Spirit Beasts.
Seeing this, Lin Shiming also released the Red-haired Demon Monkey and the Golden Winged Mantis.
This time, he had no intention of ambushing; the Golden Winged Mantis's ambush could often result in death or severe injury and was not suited for stealth attacks with the Qinglian Taoist Robe.
Instead, it was better used to contain the Golden Feathered Sculpture.
"A mutated Six-Winged Heavenly Mantis?" Chen Yuan did not expect Lin Shiming to also be half a Beast Tamer, possessing the Six-Winged Heavenly Mantis ranked eighty-nine in the Heaven-Earth List.
"Daoist Lin, you're not being very magnanimous!" But the next moment, Chen Yuan saw Lin Shiming silently imbuing a Spirit Plant seed with energy and couldn't help but laugh coldly and speak out.
Following that, his Golden Feathered Sculpture took the lead in charging out, with the Howling Moon Wolves flanking from both sides, while the Thunder Rhinoceros stayed behind to protect Chen Yuan.
"Go!" Lin Shiming did not respond; seeing that Chen Yuan had made the first move, he also commanded his two beasts to rush out one after the other.
As for the issue of imbuing energy into seeds, he had no psychological burden whatsoever; Chen Yuan had more Spirit Beasts and a higher Cultivation Level, and certainly no fewer Magical Treasures than him.
Furthermore, Chen Yuan's Divine Sense was definitely stronger than his own; for a cultivator of Spirit Beast Sect, he did not believe his opponent lacked methods to train their Divine Sense, and therefore dared not hold anything back.
The Golden Winged Mantis flew out at the same time as the Red-haired Demon Monkey also charged out roaring.
The Golden Winged Mantis faced the Golden Feathered Sculpture, while the Red-haired Demon Monkey smashed towards the two Howling Moon Wolves.
To everyone's surprise, the speed of the Golden Winged Mantis was not even slightly inferior to that of the Golden Feathered Sculpture. Furthermore, it had two incredibly sharp scythe-like limbs, which cut through the air, creating streaks of golden light.
The Golden Feathered Sculpture was, in fact, somewhat restrained, constantly angered and screeching, only daring to pull away instead of lunging forward to claw at the Golden Winged Mantis.
It was the Red-haired Demon Monkey that faced considerable pressure against the two wolf kings; wielding the Crimson Flame Rod, it struck the Howling Moon Wolves from time to time, while also continuously throwing the Profound Spirit Mountain.
However, the two Howling Moon Wolves dodged the attacks, and only by igniting the Crimson Flame Rod with Strange Fire was it able to prevent the situation from becoming too dire, though it was clearly suppressed by the two wolves.
Then there was the Thunder Rhinoceros, its sole horn flashing fiercely. Subsequently, bolts of lightning fell from the sky towards Lin Shiming.
The Star Wood Shield was immediately deployed, the lightning striking the shield and scattering the starlight, while creating wafts of blue smoke.
At the same time, Lin Shiming's Formation Swords also slashed through the air, this time releasing as many as four smaller Purple Wood Profound Heavenly Sword Formations!
At this moment, many cultivators from Qingxuan Sect were dumbfounded. They were naturally familiar with the Purple Wood Profound Heavenly Sword Formation, as many cultivators practiced it. However, nobody's formation was capable of exceeding their own rank in strength, nor did they have as many formations as Lin Shiming did.
Even the distant Zi Xuan Hermit flashed a look of surprise; seeing this, Lin Shiming felt somewhat helpless.
He couldn't avoid failing at concealing his prowess any longer, and at this point, all he could hope for was that Zi Xuan Hermit wouldn't pursue him for previously hiding his capabilities.
As soon as the four Sword Arrays were deployed, Chen Yuan also took out five copper ring Magic Artifacts.
Each copper ring was engraved with strange beast patterns. As the five copper rings shot out, they transformed into five True Spirit beasts, lunging towards Lin Shiming.
Clearly, these copper rings were a set of Supreme Grade Magical Treasures, and the power of the Spirit Might was greatly enhanced when they were used together.
Lin Shiming's four Sword Formations were struggling, and so he had to bring out the Zilai Sword again.
The Zilai Sword soared upon facing the wind, like a purple sun, its Sword Qi unparalleled and majestic. Your journey continues on empire
The spirit might of the Supreme Grade magic sword was also driven to its peak, once again putting the copper rings on the defensive.
Then his other hand fiercely performed hand seals, and the seeds that had been sprinkled at some unknown time began to catalyze instantly. Countless Purple Gold Vines surged forth, binding the two Howling Moon Wolves.
In that moment, Chen Yuan certainly didn't expect Lin Shiming to make a move on the two Howling Moon Wolves, and not a single one escaped. The Red-haired Demon Monkey instantly became ferocious, its Crimson Flame Rod instantaneously covered with Strange Fire. Having been suppressed the entire time, it was already seething with rage.
The next moment, Chen Yuan abruptly leaped up, landing on the Thunder Rhinoceros, only to see countless golden spirit spears emerge from his position, overwhelming his location in an instant.
Meanwhile, a Spirit Shield appeared again on the surface of the Thunder Rhinoceros, and at the same time, Chen Yuan also tore off a Defense Talisman, forming a blue water shield, blocking the golden spirit spears.
All these attacks happened in a flash, one after another, leaving Chen Yuan somewhat overwhelmed.
Chen Yuan frowned lightly, and in the next moment, he took out a set of twelve Silver Needles. This set of Silver Needles didn't conceal any attacks; he was unable to hide them, being suppressed at every turn. Now he had to break the stalemate.
Most importantly, he felt that Lin Shiming's hand was infusing spirit power into the seeds again. As the infusion lasted longer this time, it also meant that their power would be even greater.
The seeds were of the Poisonous Dragon Vine.
But the next moment, Lin Shiming's system alert rang out abruptly:
"Please be alert to the sneak attack from the demonic sect's cultivators after securing victory!!!"