Standing Firm

"Before sunset; battles end; with me here; none shall die."

Feng Ziyang set the time limit. Sword light flashed, enveloping him as he flew off the Wind Cloud Platform, watching quietly from the side.

Rank 6 Dao Fruit: Sword Immortal.

Dharma cultivators can already manipulate objects at Rank 8, but flying on artifacts with such ease as Feng Ziyang requires reaching Rank 6, and specifically specializing in this path. And among those at Rank 6 specializing in the way of the flying sword, there is only the Sword Immortal.

'Outer Sect Elders are Rank 6 at most, some even only Rank 7. This Senior Brother Feng truly deserves his position as second among the inner disciples,' Jiang Li thought with admiration upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, below the Wind Cloud Platform, the crowd of outer disciples had already begun to stir restlessly.

The challenge began.

The outer disciples on the cliff edge looked at each other, scanning their surroundings, seemingly waiting to see who would make the first move. However, many present had heard of Jiang Li's battle record. For a moment, the crowd hesitated, unwilling to be the first to test the waters.

And this time, the Jiang family members didn't immediately step forward.

Time ticked by, second by second. After two quarter-hours, someone finally couldn't hold back any longer and made the first move.

"Outer disciple Jiang Baichuan, here to seek guidance."

After paying the merit points, spiritual light flared. Two Lightness Talismans adhered to Jiang Baichuan, lightening his body. Then, his figure moved like a swift swallow, tapping lightly on the iron chain and gracefully landing on the Wind Cloud Platform.

The moment he landed, two talismans were already in his hands. Judging by their patterns, they were Rank 9 Geng Metal Talismans.

The Geng Metal Qi emitted by this talisman was extremely sharp, ranking among the top Rank 9 talismans in terms of piercing power, making it a primary choice for talisman cultivators. This Jiang Baichuan was clearly a Dharma cultivator who had accommodated the Daoist Dao Fruit.

"Senior Brother Jiang, please."

Jiang Li held his sheathed long sword in one hand, the other behind his back. He appeared completely without stance, seemingly full of openings. Even as he spoke, his posture didn't change.

Seeing this, Jiang Baichuan acted decisively, unleashing the talismans instantly.

He had witnessed Jiang Li's two battles yesterday and knew his prowess. He understood that if it came to close combat, he definitely couldn't match Jiang Li's fierce, fiery slashes. Therefore, he had decided from the start to attack from a distance.

The Geng Metal Talismans activated, and two sharp golden beams shot out, piercing towards Jiang Li's shoulders with lightning speed.

Simultaneously, Jiang Baichuan grabbed two more talismans—Rushing Thunder Talismans—while vigorously shaking his sleeves. Other talismans were already prepared: restraining, attacking, intercepting, protecting. No matter how Jiang Li responded, he had a counter-strategy in mind.

However, Jiang Li didn't move.

As the golden beams reached his body, an invisible Qi shield suddenly materialized. The sharp beams from the Geng Metal Talismans bounced off with clanging sounds, like striking copper peas, failing even to make Jiang Li budge an inch.

"External True Qi emission!"

An outer disciple cried out in surprise from below the platform.

Even some of the inner disciples who had come to watch showed astonishment.

"External True Qi emission? No, that's not it," Luo Yi also looked startled but then denied it. "It's some kind of protective talisman art."

He keenly noticed faint talisman patterns flashing when the Qi shield appeared. Moreover, projecting True Qi externally—whether as sword Qi, saber Qi, or a protective shield—required a realm of Rank 8 or higher. The purity of a Rank 9 cultivator's True Qi was completely insufficient to support such a straightforward yet demanding skill.

"He wasn't using his full strength yesterday."

Realizing this, Luo Yi's expression instantly darkened. At the same time, he was shocked by Jiang Li's profound foundation.

This ungrateful wolf's foundation was actually this deep.

Both were Daoists, but some merely fulfilled the advancement ritual requirements and gained improvement by accommodating the Dao Fruit. Others, however, had already developed their potential to a certain bottleneck, desperately needing the Dao Fruit to raise their upper limit and continue progressing.

It was like a test paper. Some Daoists scored sixty, barely passing. Others scored full marks, inherently forty points ahead of others, and continued to advance rapidly after the score ceiling was raised to a thousand.

Jiang Li was clearly the latter.

Luo Yi had actually guessed this early on and had estimated Jiang Li's strength, but now he realized he had still underestimated him.

Putting aside Luo Yi's astonishment, the battle on the Wind Cloud Platform continued.

After discovering the Geng Metal Talismans were ineffective, Jiang Baichuan immediately activated the Rushing Thunder Talismans. Two bolts of lightning struck, while talismans flew continuously from his sleeves.

However—

Useless!

Useless!

Still useless!

The invisible Qi shield flashed repeatedly. Lightning crashed upon it, leaving only fading echoes. Subsequent Rushing Thunder Talismans, Sharp Metal Talismans, Fire Thunder Talismans, and others rained down like a torrential storm, creating a spectacular scene for a moment, but all were futile.

Without needing to move, Jiang Baichuan exhausted all his offensive talismans, consuming his True Qi excessively, leaving him panting.

Jiang Li also remained motionless, letting Jiang Baichuan attack. After the storm of offense passed, he stood composed and relaxed.

The difference in skill was instantly clear.

Jiang Baichuan's face was pale, partly from excessive exertion, partly from shock. He looked at himself, then at his opponent, and finally conceded helplessly, "Junior Brother's divine might is impressive. Senior Brother is convinced."

With that, he mustered his last bit of True Qi and leaped off the platform.

Seeing this, the crowd of disciples on the cliff edge became even more hesitant to go up.

Qi Changsheng, observing this, rolled his eyes, suddenly stood up straight, kept his mouth tightly shut, but his abdomen rhythmically expanded and contracted.

"So what if it's a True Qi shield? I refuse to believe he withstood that for so long without any consumption!"

A voice suddenly spoke up.

Then, another voice immediately followed, "That's right! No matter how deep Jiang Li's foundation is, he's only Rank 9. How could he possibly maintain a True Qi shield indefinitely?"

"Maybe he's just putting up a strong front now and secretly circulating his energy to recover."

"Exactly, I think so too."

"Me too."

Voices rose from the cliff, and the disciples' morale surged.

"I'll go."

Finally, someone else ascended the platform.

"Outer disciple Ding Zhen, please provide guidance."

A quarter-hour later, Ding Zhen descended the platform, panting heavily.

"Outer disciple Cai Zhiying, please grant instruction."

Half a quarter-hour later, Cai Zhiying's True Qi gave out, and Feng Ziyang sent him off the platform with a beam of sword light.

"Outer disciple Yi Yang, here to learn."

A quarter-hour later, Yi Yang helplessly descended the platform, nearly falling off the iron chain due to excessive exertion.

"There's sweat on his forehead!" Qi Changsheng continued his operation.

"Can't be wrong, this time he definitely can't hold on much longer!"

On the Wind Cloud Platform, Jiang Li silently circulated his energy, forcing a bead of sweat onto his forehead.

Seeing this, the previously hesitant disciples became even more eager to go up, unwilling to fall behind.

Losing only meant losing two hundred merit points. But if they could luckily seize a victory, it would be a great opportunity! Profit tempts the heart, and profit far exceeding the risk can make people lose reason.

From early morning until afternoon, over twenty people took the stage one after another. Palm techniques, fist techniques, sword techniques; fire, lightning, frost—all sorts of methods were employed, yet none could shake the steadfast Jiang Li.

Even though Jiang Li looked like he was about to collapse, swaying as if he could fall at any moment, he stubbornly held on, remaining standing even after several hours.