One Zodiac Spirit Defeated is One Blessing Wasted

"What's his cultivation level?"

"Can't you tell from the energy fluctuations? He should be at the Essence Gathering realm."

"Isn't that just him trying to hide his real cultivation level? How can someone at the Essence Gathering realm be capable of this?"

"Didn't Senior Martial Brother Xiong do something similar back then?"

"Have you forgotten? He might have cleared the other zodiac spirits rather easily, but not the tiger spirit!"

"Is this really this guy's first time challenging the Zodiac Tree?"

"He is an outer disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect, so that's most likely the case..."

As the spectating inner disciples of the Armed Ape Tower continued their discussions, more and more of them slowly decided to keep their comments to themselves from now on, especially those who had explicitly expressed their unhappiness about Zhao Yunxiao before.

After witnessing how easily he crushed the tiger spirit, they could not help but realise that there might be something different about Zhao Yunxiao.

Xiong Yekong also narrowed his eyes at the scene that just played out before him.

The truth was indeed as the other inner disciples mentioned – he had not defeated the tiger spirit with such ease back then.

It was not just him either. He had never seen anyone at the Essence Gathering realm shrug off the tiger spirit's intimidation ability in such a nonchalant manner!

At this point, the corner of his lips started curling upwards.

Was this what Chen Pingxi had seen in Zhao Yunxiao?

Interesting.

The Tidal Fairy's ability to read people was truly as outstanding as ever!

Zhao Yunxiao retracted his halberd, silently watching as the specks of red light reformed into a dignified tiger spirit.

"You have done well in defeating me, child," the dignified-looking tiger spirit said. "As a reward, you shall be granted the first blessing of intimidation."

He did not thank the avatar of the tiger spirit this time, merely watching it in silence as he waited for the changes that were to come.

And what was meant to come, eventually did.

Just like the ones before it, the tiger spirit dispersed into invisible matter that got sucked into the Heaven's Descent Bowl.

Zhao Yunxiao could not help but let out a disappointed sigh.

While he had already expected as much, he still could not help but continue holding onto a glimmer of hope, wishing that things would suddenly change for the better somewhere along the lines.

Unfortunately, the chances of that happening only seemed to get slimmer with each opponent that passed.

Come to think of it, the blessings from the Tribulation of Combat were supposed to be one-time rewards. No matter how many times a challenger cleared the same stages, they would only receive the blessings on their first victory.

Did this mean that even if he got the chance to try this again in the future, he would no longer be able to receive the first-level blessings from the avatars of the zodiac spirits?

He sure hoped that was not the case!

Otherwise, for each zodiac spirit he defeated here, it would be one blessing wasted!

Ah, whatever!

He might not even get the chance to return in the future anyway, so there was no point in thinking that far.

After the tiger spirit came the rabbit spirit, and this opponent was not at all easy to deal with.

The rabbit spirit possessed nigh unmatched agility, running circles around Zhao Yunxiao and throwing in lightning-fast attacks from time to time. Its attacks were not exceptionally strong, but they could not exactly be considered weak either.

Each time Zhao Yunxiao tried to go on the offensive, it would always nimbly dodge out of the way, boasting a reaction speed that could almost be considered instantaneous.

As a result, he practically had to roleplay as a punching bag here, relying on his tough endurance to withstand the attacks of the rabbit spirit while carefully reading its movements.

Each punch that landed on his guard was a learning experience, and each kick that came his way was a step towards solving the puzzle. This was a painful process, both physically and mentally.

Even the spectating inner disciples who had been impressed by his earlier feat against the tiger spirit started to feel conflicted about their assessment of Zhao Yunxiao.

Someone who had taken out the tiger spirit with such ease was actually this helpless against the rabbit spirit?

However, Zhao Yunxiao did not waver, for he knew that his patience would pay off eventually.

And pay off, it did.

Now!

Finally spotting an opening in the rabbit spirit's attack pattern, Zhao Yunxiao struck just as the rabbit spirit was coming in for another quick attack, catching it completely off guard by receiving its attack in exchange for a dagger to its neck.

Yes, he used a dagger instead of his halberd this time, just to make for a swifter attack. Otherwise, there could still be a risk of the rabbit spirit slipping away despite having already seen through its attack pattern.

Boom-!

The rabbit spirit might boast of great agility, but its defensive capabilities were not nearly as impressive. The dagger exploded while embedded in its neck, decapitating it an instant.

Unfortunately, what followed next was no different from before, with the rabbit spirit also being absorbed into the Heaven's Descent Bowl before its blessing of agility could be given.

This time, Zhao Yunxiao took less time to shake off the sense of disappointment that ensued.

People were indeed adaptable creatures. After a few rounds of disappointment, he was already starting to slowly get used to the heartache of losing each blessing.

Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!

Energy blasts started bombarding him all of a sudden, but Zhao Yunxiao reacted just in time to dodge out of the way.

Avatar of the dragon spirit.

Just like the tiger spirit, it remained stationary while exerting its influence on the challenger.

But unlike the former, its idea of influence was nothing as intangible as mental pressure. Instead, the dragon spirit continuously fired energy blasts at Zhao Yunxiao – powerful projectiles capable of creating small craters on the surface of the tree branch platform.

These attacks were not just being fired out randomly either.

They were executed in a calculated manner that covered all possible angles, making them impossible to bypass if one wanted to approach.

At least, that was the case on the surface.

[Earth Burrowing Technique...?

Zhao Yunxiao widened his eyes in shock.

It did not work!

He had clearly been able to execute the technique when facing the rat spirit earlier, but he suddenly found it impossible to enter the tree branch platform now.

Damn it. The rules governing the Tribulation of Combat seemed to be changing with each test.

There was no other way then.

Zhao Yunxiao gritted his teeth and charged forward, using the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd to fend off the barrage of energy blasts.

Yet even with the halberd as a guard, the weight of each blast was no joking matter. Not just that, but the scattered energy sparks also kept landing on his body, directly testing the durability of his energy guard.

This seemingly short distance felt painfully long because of that, with him having to withstand an energy blast every two steps. By the time he reached the dragon spirit, Zhao Yunxiao's hair and clothes were already a dishevelled mess.

However, it remained a fact that he had managed to reach the dragon spirit.

Disappear!

Zhao Yunxiao cursed in his heart while striking out with all his might, ending the dragon spirit once and for all.

"You have done well in defeating me, child," the reformed dragon spirit said. "As a reward, you shall be granted the first blessing of energy resistance."

Energy resistance, eh? That would have been nice indeed.

Zhao Yunxiao lamented as the dragon spirit turned into invisible matter, which was in turn sucked into the Heaven's Descent Bowl.

With that, he turned around to face his next opponent.

Hiss-!

As the avatar of the snake spirit approached, its hands seemed to be excreting a strange colourless liquid that ended up dripping onto the ground.

Each drop that hit the ground burned a small hole into the surface of the tree branch platform, a testament to its strong corrosive properties.

Zhao Yunxiao took a quick glance at his Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd. It had managed to withstand Geng Guoye's Void Blade in the past, but would it be able to stand up to the snake spirit's corrosive attacks?

Logically speaking, it should be possible.

But under this Tribulation of Combat where the rules seemed to be constantly changing according to the opponent, Zhao Yunxiao did not dare to take the chance.

There was no choice; he would have to fight without his main weapon this time.

With a flick of his wrists, Zhao Yunxiao stored away the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd, choosing to hold onto his reliable daggers instead.

Whoosh-!

He threw the first dagger without hesitation.

He had been the one trying to close the distance on the dragon spirit earlier, but the roles were now reversed. The more distance there was between him and the snake spirit, the better!

The snake spirit was not going to make this easy for him. While it might not be as nimble as the rabbit spirit, it still managed to dodge the oncoming dagger by a hair's breadth.

But as the dagger was about to fly past the snake spirit just centimetres away from its face, it suddenly exploded right there and then.

Boom-!

The snake spirit was sent flying as a result.

Of course, this was not nearly enough to take it down. But as it got back up to face Zhao Yunxiao, it was immediately faced with a barrage of daggers that gave the spectating inner disciples a sense of déjà vu.

Zhao Yunxiao was not just trying to get past the dragon spirit's energy blasts earlier. While doing so, he was also studying the trajectories of the multitude of energy blasts, trying to understand just how the dragon spirit was using them to cover all possible approach angles.

And now, while he might not have sufficient daggers to throw out in such an unbridled manner, he could adapt accordingly by filling the gaps with explosive talismans.

The snake spirit did not stand a chance.

Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!

Explosion after explosion, and the snake spirit was sent flying again and again... until it eventually dispersed into specks of red light.

Up until the very end, it never got to show the effect of its corrosive attacks.

"You have done well in defeating me, child," the snake spirit said. "As a reward, you shall be granted the first blessing of venom resistance."

Another blessing that sounded great to have.

Zhao Yunxiao looked up at the heavens and sighed.

At least he was learning a little from the avatars of the zodiac spirits, so not all of his effort was entirely wasted. Then again, even if he did not receive any personal gains from this challenge, he could still see it as trying to fulfil his duty as a trip attendant.

That's right, let's try to look on the bright side of life!

Hmph-!

A cold snort drew Zhao Yunxiao's attention to the avatar of the horse spirit that had taken form at the other end of the tree branch platform.

Six down. Six more to go.

It's time to get this over and done with!

Bang-!

The next thing he knew, Zhao Yunxiao found himself crouched over in pain as the horse spirit covered the entire tree branch platform in an instant, smashing its fist straight into his abdomen.