Chapter 376: Deception
“Senior Brother Yizhi? What’s going on? Are they talking about me?” This ‘Yizhi’ nickname left Su Hao feeling bewildered. Just yesterday, everyone was glaring at him, and now, after just one day, their attitude had changed so drastically?
But he also nodded in acknowledgment! Then he focused on watching the competition among the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The competition among Foundation Establishment cultivators could truly be called a fight, much more dazzling than the exchanges in the Qi Induction realm.
“Hundred Birth Arrows!”
“Shoo, shoo, shoo—”
A female cultivator in a blue robe gestured with her hand, and a short arrow, twenty centimeters long, rose into the air, multiplying into hundreds of shadowy arrows that densely floated in the air, aimed at a male cultivator with tied-up hair in the distance.
“Go!” With a light flick of her slender hand, the hundred short arrows turned into blue streams of light and shot towards their target.
The male cultivator knew that although the ‘Hundred Birth Arrows’ seemed numerous, only one of them posed a real threat to him.
With a quick movement of his large hand, a spell was cast.
“Eightfold Qi Formations!”
In the next moment, the male cultivator’s figure blurred slightly, transforming into eight illusory shadows. Even the ‘intentions’ of the Foundation Establishment realm would find it difficult to discern which one was real.
The seemingly fierce ‘Hundred Birth Arrows’ were easily shattered.
The hundred streams of light covered the eight illusory shadows, quickly shattering seven of them, while the weak arrows shot at the real body were all blocked by the shield around him.
By this time, the male cultivator had also completed his attack.
“Continuous Light Flying Sun Sword!”
A sword shadow appeared in front of the male cultivator, growing brighter and brighter. When it reached a critical point, a slender beam of light shot out from the sword, swiftly heading towards the female cultivator in the blue robe. At the moment the beam of light shot out, another beam of light shot out from the sword, uninterrupted, forming a continuous line of light.
As the female cultivator retrieved her arrows, she kept gesturing with her hands.
“Arc Light Flow Wind Barrier!”
In the next moment, a semicircular shield formed in front of the female cultivator, firmly blocking her behind the arc of light.
The continuous beams of light struck the barrier, emitting a series of crisp clangs.
…
The visual effects of these techniques made the Qi Induction disciples marvel and yearn for them greatly.
They didn’t want to engage in the monotonous exchange of Wind Bullets and Flying Swords! Unfortunately, they didn’t have a variety of techniques and magical tools at their disposal, so the idea of being ‘cool’ was still far from them.
As they thought about the word ‘cool’, the image of Su Hao, the short-haired young man, suddenly appeared in their minds. Light as a feather, he casually extended a finger and then unleashed an extremely powerful force, bursting each opponent with a single touch. It seemed… pretty cool?
Soon, the male cultivator with tied-up hair fell into a disadvantage and directly admitted defeat, jumping off the stage.
The reason for his disadvantage was that his magical tools were not as numerous as those of the female cultivator in the blue robe.
Su Hao stroked his chin and muttered to himself, “Having more magical tools does give you an advantage! Now that the preliminary plan for the Absolute Defense Formation is already in place, it will soon take shape. After this competition, I’ll complete the Absolute Defense Formation as soon as possible, and then start researching the refinement of magical tools.”
The fights among the Foundation Establishment cultivators on this day opened the eyes of Su Hao and the other Qi Induction disciples who had little knowledge. Each of them exclaimed, “So this is how techniques can be used, amazing!”
There are many types of techniques, and magical tools are varied. Under the imagination of the cultivators, various strange effects were produced.
For example, a cultivator used a magical tool to lift himself up, dodging the opponent’s attacks.
Another example is a cultivator who put a shield on his flying magical tool to intercept the opponent’s magical tool.
And then there’s the magical tool that can generate a large number of illusions, blocking the opponent’s line of sight, allowing the cultivator to sneak attack from the side!
Midway through the battles, Su Hao’s master, Feng Ling, couldn’t help but step onto the stage to compete. Unexpectedly, his seemingly unremarkable master could still win a match. Using the visual deception technique of the Long Ribbon Flying Belt magical tool, she misled her opponent’s vision, secretly accumulating a spell and using a Flying Shuttle magical tool, making her opponent admit defeat.
The competition among the Foundation Establishment cultivators soon ended, and the champion was a male cultivator named Feng Changge with his amazing deception techniques!
After watching it, Su Hao gained a new understanding of cultivator battles. The core is just one word: ‘deception’!
There isn’t much difference in techniques, and no Foundation Establishment cultivator has mastered powerful magical tools and techniques. They just use basic techniques and magical tools to achieve new effects. What’s tested is a kind of martial arts in battle.
This kind of deception technique is different from the martial arts techniques in the mortal world, which emphasize ‘strength’, ‘speed’, and ‘trickery’ in close combat.
And the truly powerful battles among Foundation Establishment cultivators emphasize the kind of ‘you think you’ve seen through my feint, but actually I let you see through it.’ You think my move is on the fifth level, but actually it’s in the stratosphere…
Su Hao sincerely praised, “What a wonderful match! It seems that these Foundation Establishment disciples, after leaving the sect, are not just focusing on cultivation; they’ve also put a lot of effort into battle!”
However, Su Hao asked himself inwardly, “Do I need such flashy battle deception techniques?”
Su Hao quickly shook his head and thought to himself, “No, I don’t need them! Instead of all those flashy techniques, it’s quicker to just make a bomb and throw it over. Isn’t it better to spend time learning knowledge? Fighting and killing, it’s really not suitable for me.”
After the Foundation Establishment stage competition ended, the disciples of the Feng lineage quickly became acquainted with each other. The atmosphere was as warm as during the New Year celebrations. By evening, they even built a bonfire and sat around chatting. Each cultivator’s face showed a sense of leisure that naturally emerged in such a safe place.
This surprised Su Hao greatly. It turned out that cultivators didn’t just bury themselves in seclusion to cultivate; they also held gatherings. This added a human touch to their lives!
Su Hao rarely participated in the first gathering of the 56th generation disciples after joining. However, after staying for a while, he noticed everyone casting strange glances at him, some curious, some admiring, some fearful, some friendly…
Then, after about ten minutes, Su Hao made an excuse to go to the bathroom and left!
“Forget it, I thought I could regain that feeling of not wanting anything and just chatting! I was expecting too much! They are indeed just a bunch of little kids! Well, little kids who can cultivate!”
After walking around the wide grassland for a while, Su Hao returned to his residence in the Luanshi Peak. “I’d better go back and research the Absolute Defense Runes!”
In reality, if you add up all the time Su Hao has been awake and conscious, it’s only been a little over two hundred years. Strictly speaking, Su Hao is just a young man in his early two hundreds. However, for some reason, in Su Hao’s perception, it feels like many years have passed.
The memories of the previous life, or even the one before that, are vivid and clear. Even the records in the Pinball Space are still fresh in his mind.
However, the pain and torment experienced, the irreversible events, have left indelible marks on Su Hao’s heart.
As time passes, he can only move forward.
…
The night passed quietly.
After the sun set and the stars filled the sky, when the first rays of sunlight pierced through the mountains, no matter how much the sky wanted to linger, the stars faded away.
The cultivators of the Yunzhong Valley, with faces full of anticipation, gathered once again at the Shouzhao Slope, silently waiting for today’s Golden Core cultivators’ competition.
The battles among Golden Core cultivators are not something you can casually witness. For low-level cultivators, seeing battles among Golden Core cultivators outside the sect could very well result in them being casually eliminated.
Su Hao also arrived at the Shouzhao Slope early, choosing a good spot to sit and wait with his eyes closed.
He has encountered quite a few Golden Core cultivators, even defeated one, but he has never seen battles among Golden Core cultivators, which aroused his great curiosity.
“The Golden Core realm seems very powerful!”
