Painting of the Nine Immortals

Chapter 23: Clan Combat Competition

Translator: /Tatienne Editor: Tennesh/Rundi

"Master, what happened? Did I cause all this destruction?"

Ling Xian glanced around dumbfoundedly, completely unaware of what just happened. The last memory he had was thousands of bands of lights emerging from his body. He had no recollection of the three indications and the guiding law he awakened.

Liao Cang Qiong bellowed. He waved his sleeve and instantly, the entire universe restored to its original state. Looking at the petrified Ling Xian, he informed him of the events that occurred.

After hearing Liao Cang Qiong's stories, Ling Xian was in a daze. He took a while to recover, and said to himself, "This explains it. No wonder I feel a source of mysterious energy inside my body."

"That is the power of the guiding law, Heaven Shadowing Palm Technique." Liao Cang Qiong stroke his beard. "I am a little jealous of you. To awaken a guiding law while in the Qi stage of training. Though you are not the only one to ever achieve this, this type of event is still very rare. Throughout history, only two to three grandmasters were able to accomplish this."

"Master you have flattered me." Ling Xian's face turned red. To receive such great compliments from Liao Cang Qiong made him shy. However, he mostly felt very proud.

To awake one of the six strongest guiding laws, Heaven Shadowing Palm Technique, with a level five qi. One could search around the entire town and investigate the whole history book and find very few people who have achieved this.

Not only did he attain this, but he has also awakened a pair of the Inner Eyes. How much natural talent was required to achieve all this?!

Arrogantly speaking, once the majestic ancient blood inside Ling Xian fully unseals, Ling Xian's abilities will reach an incomparable level. His potential was incomprehensible.

Liao Cang Qiong shook his head and smiled. "I did not over-compliment you. What you did was a result of your talent."

Ling Xian touched his nose and giggled. "It's all because of the majestic blood."

"That is your luck and fate. Majestic blood has nothing to do with your parents. It is born in random babies. Until now, there are known differences between majestic blood in different people. Similar to the different levels of training, some majestic blood is stronger than others. Some people are born with a high volume of ancient blood, while some people are born with very little. The more blood one has, the more talent and the higher potential does one have," Liao Cang Qiong explained.

"That's how it works? Then do I have strong or weak majestic blood?" Ling Xian was surprised.

"Of course you have strong blood. I had an old friend, who was also equipped with majestic blood. Same as you, he was sealed by the Gods. However, there was only one array in him, and that was because there was little majestic blood in him. He was relatively weaker hence he only needed one array." Liao Cang Qiong reminisced. He exclaimed, "Inside your body, there are four strong arrays. It is obvious that you have a lot of majestic blood. It is very powerful, powerful enough for the Gods to feel the need to suppress you with four arrays."

Hearing Liao Cang Qiong's words, Ling Xian's heart pumped faster. He was anticipating his majestic blood to be fully unsealed and the kinds of amazing things he would be able to do then.

Looking at his face that was full of expectation, Liao Cang Qiong grinned and encouraged, "work hard. The majestic blood in you can already break down arrays by themselves. The only road block left is that your level of training is too low. Once you improve, the other eight Immortals and I will help you unblock the other three arrays. It's not very difficult to do."

"I will." Ling Xian nodded.

"You must remember, get rid of all your prudence and arrogance. You cannot count only on your natural talent and forget to work hard. In my lifetime, I have seen too many glorious trainees who could not achieve greatness due to their lack of determination. There are many temptations on the cultivation road. Do not get distracted or you will disappear into nothingness, like the firework," Liao Cang Qiong said with a serious face.

"Master, please do not worry. I will not lose my way," Ling Xian said in a deep voice.

He was certain that he could keep this promise. The old him could not practice Taoism despite how badly he wanted to. Now that he finally has the opportunity to do so, he will treasure every second of it. On top of that, his dream was to stand high on top of the mountains, how could he get lost so easily?

"Good. If you can promise that then I can teach you." Liao Cang Qiong was very satisfied with Ling Xian's attitude. "Alright, you continue your training. I will go rest now. Shame that I need a lot of sleep to replenish my energy. I am only a soul these days after all."

As soon as finished speaking, he turned into a ray of light and shot off into the spiritual mountains.

[I have to figure out a way to help master out.] Ling Xian frowned, as his mind searched through his memories and looked for spiritual medicines that might help. With the low level of training he has, he could not help Liao Cang Qiong restore his physical body. He could only help by finding a soul-nourishing treasure or instrument.

After thinking about it for a while, he could not find an answer. Ling Xian temporarily gave up. He sat back down into his lotus position with his palms facing up. He breathed in and out the endless spiritual energy.

……

Three days later.

The sun had just risen, spilling soft gold light over the city.

Ling Xian had also just woken up from his sleep. He had returned to his home, washed up, and changed into a brand new white robe. He was rushing towards the arena.

Today was the day of the Clan Combat Competition.

Even though he had no plans to participate, he wanted to go and watch. He was curious as to whether or not Ling Hu can place first and get the opportunity to enter the Hidden Territory.

Not long after, he arrived at the arena.

At the arena, the crowd was rowdy. Hundreds of collateral siblings assembled and stood in their cliques. Each one of them was brimming with nervousness, anticipation, excitement, and confidence.

Around the battleground, there were six total battle rings. The materials of the rings were spirit absorbing rocks. These rocks disable spiritual attacks dispersed out of the battle rings and therefore, ensures the safety of the audiences.

In the center of the arena, a ten-meter-tall stage stood. On it sat three men and one woman.

They were the clan leader Ling Tian Qing, the second elder Liang Tian Jiao, the third elder Liang Tian Ao, and the pearl of the Ling clan, Ling Tian Xiang.

Ling Tian Xiang's eyes were busily scanning the groups of collateral siblings. Suddenly, she noticed a tall and straight body walk by her. Her face blossomed into a heart-wavering smile.

"Big brother, that is Ling Xian."

"Oh?" Ling Tian Qing gazed at the handsome young man and teased, "Little sister, do you really have your eyes on that guy?"

"How's that possible? Big brother stop joking around." Ling Tian Xiang blushed.

Ling Tian Qing roared into laughter and continued his teasing. "Why are your cheeks red then? You sure are looking like a young woman desiring love."

"Ah, you are so annoying! I am not talking to you anymore," Ling Tian Xiang pouted. Her watery eyes were still following Ling Xian. Her emotions were fluttering about.

There was still some time until the competition began. Therefore, everyone was being rather loud. Groups of the Ling direct descendants were converged in their groups and checking out participants they thought were strong. They gossiped and deduced who they thought would win the precious first place this year.

Out of everyone, there were three collateral siblings who were popular candidates. They were the youth leader Ling Chen, the grandson of the first elder, Ling Zhan, and the daughter of the second elder, Ling Fei.

The three of them were all around age 18 with qi levels of six. To be so far into training at this age, they have already proven their skills. Each one of them was standing in the arena with more than ten other siblings flooding them with compliments. Their faces were full of confidence and pride as if the first place seat was theirs to take.

Ling Bai, who once started a fight with Ling Xian but was beat up instead, was also present. After three days of treatment, most of his wounds have healed. However, his mentality seemed to have been gravely wounded. After being defeated by Ling Xian, his wild ambition toned down quite a bit.

He noticed Ling Xian the moment he walked into the arena. His fists uncontrollably tightened and his eyes filled with hatred.

A person who saw Ling Xian breaking down the Tidal Sword Technique was also in the crowd. After noticing Ling Bai's hatred-filled gaze, he couldn't help but look in the same direction and scream, "Ling Xian?"

His voice was loud. Immediately, the crowd rioted.

"Ling Xian? The one who beat up Ling Bai? That Ling Xian?"

"Of course, is there a second Ling Xian in our clan? Of course, it's the genius who broke down the Tidal Sword Technique!"

"Is he competing too? Oh my god, I already had little hope of getting to top three. Now I have no chance!"

"If he is participating, I am certain he will get first place. A genius who saw the flaw in our clan's technique, how could he not place first?"

All eyes were on him. They displayed curiosity, anticipation, and admiration.

Soon, Ling Xian became the center of attention. Listening to all the gossips about him, he remained calm and accepted all the stares.

If he had no skills, then he would feel embarrassed. However, he was rather confident. So why should he shy away from other people's attention?

On the arena, the other three potential winners also glanced in Ling Xian's direction. After Ling Xian had broken down the Tidal Sword Technique in one go, his name was wildly spread. These three have heard much about him since then.

"So he is the Ling Xian guy. Pretty good looking," Ling Fei grumbled to herself.

"He seems really weak and skinny. Did he actually break the Tidal Sword Technique?" Ling Zhan had a healthy and sturdy physique. Competitiveness flashed across his eyes. He was crazy for fights, and he has gone down the path of physical training. All his life he believed the amount of muscle was equivalent to the strength of the cultivator.

"Gaining people's love by doing outrageous things," youth leader Ling Chen scorned. He pushed away from the collateral siblings that crowded him and marched toward Ling Xian.

The youth leader of the clan, Ling Chen, was the number one cultivator in last year's combat competition, and the bearer of the title "19-year-old genius cultivator". Due to all the attention people gave him, he was a hot topic among the younger siblings. When he moved, everyone subconsciously cleared out a path for him. Everyone stared at the youth leader, unable to predict what he would do next.

Ling Chen walked beside Ling Xian and asked, "Are you Ling clan's laughing stock? The one who cannot practice Taoism? Ling Xian?"

Ling Xian glared at him. "The person you described is the old me."

"All the same. I heard you saw the flaw in the Tidal Sword Technique?" Ling Chen's gaze was arrogant as if he was an Immortal who controlled everything. Waves of prudence naturally poured out of him as he looked down on Ling Xian.

The powerful look he gave everyone was nauseating.

"That's right." Ling Xian frowned. His cockiness made him very uncomfortable. He knew then Ling Chen came to talk to him purely to start a fight.

Ling Chen's face filled with disdain. "A handicap could break down my clan's divine technique, what a joke."

Ling Xian chuckled softly. He was far too lazy to debate about this kind of meaningless stuff.

His nonchalant laughter pushed Ling Chen over the edge. As a youth leader, he has always been respected, especially around those his age. Most people saw him as a role model, how dare the boy before him dismiss him in this manner?

"You ignorant waste." Ling Chen's face darkened as he laughed coldly. "Ling Bai's way of using the Tidal Sword Technique was not perfected enough. You being able to see through it was nothing impressive. In a few moments, I will show you the true Tidal Sword Technique. I will prove to everyone that the rumor of you seeing through the Tidal Sword Technique was nothing but a joke."

Lightly laughing, Ling Xian casually answered, "sure, I'll wait for you."

"Good, very good," Ling Chen said in contempt. "I am certain that we will meet in the battle ring. When that time comes, I will make sure you understand the fact that a handicap will always be a handicap. Even if you can practice Taoism now, in my eyes, you will always be nothing."