: Yuan Dasheng vs. Meng Chong (Third Match)

July 31, 2024, Author: Gu Zhenren

: Yuan Dasheng vs. Meng Chong (Third Match)

Lava Immortal Palace.

This was Meng Chong's first time entering the preparation room.

The five-sided stone pillar ranking list was very conspicuous, especially since it was slowly rotating.

Meng Chong spotted the stone pillar at a glance.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit had been keeping an eye on him. Seeing Meng Chong enter the preparation room, its half-closed eyelids widened slightly due to excitement.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit's condition was very poor.

Previously, the Lava Immortal Palace had resisted the swarm attack of the Scarlet Flame Demonic Beasts, and the situation had once been quite dangerous.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit personally intervened, entering the Dao Master's puppet mechanism to take control. After a hard-fought battle, it managed to turn the tide and ultimately killed that Golden Core-level Fire Fusion Demon Ape.

Its spiritual energy was greatly depleted.

Mainly because it was completely incompatible with the Dao Master's mechanical creation.

Even now, many Scarlet Flame Demonic Beasts were still besieging the Lava Immortal Palace. The Longyuan Fire Spirit had to organize the mechanical creations to build a defensive line, arrange various repairs, and also oversee the trials for the Qi Refining stage disciples.

Such a complex and massive workload was a long-term, continuous drain on its spiritual energy.

Even so, seeing Meng Chong approach the ranking list, it couldn't help but feel excited and transmitted a crucial message.

In an instant, a whip of flames condensed and began lashing it!

The Longyuan Fire Spirit retracted its head, dragon claws, and other parts into its turtle shell, enduring the pain.

Meng Chong, reminded and invigorated, finally realized this was the preparation room with little danger.

He lowered his guard slightly and walked up to the five-sided stone pillar ranking list.

Following the Longyuan Fire Spirit's prompt, Meng Chong first touched the stone pillar and obtained the trial disciple's mark.

Then, he looked up to observe the ranking list.

Qi Refining Ranking, Essence Refining Ranking, Spirit Refining Ranking, Progress Ranking, and Speedrun Ranking.

Among the five rankings, he was in second place on the Qi Refining, Progress, and Speedrun Rankings. His name was absent from the Essence Refining and Spirit Refining Rankings.

Meng Chong felt indignant. Since childhood, he had always strived to be first.

He had immortal aptitude, was a genius among geniuses, and was meant to stand above others, a figure occupying the summit.

How could he settle for second place?!

But when Meng Chong saw the name in first place, he understood.

The top spot on all five rankings bore the same title—Entry Standard.

"Does surpassing this standard mean one can be accepted as a disciple of the Lava Immortal Palace?"

"Three Sects Ascendant truly lives up to being a Void Refining level powerhouse. Each trial stage is extremely difficult, and the entry standard is also set so high."

"Excellent!"

"This only fuels my desire to challenge it even more."

"Also, being on the ranking list comes with rewards. That's really great."

"Hahaha!"

Meng Chong's fighting spirit surged. After studying the preparation room for a while, he pushed open the door and entered Room Four.

Main Hall of the Lava Immortal Palace.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit, hiding in its shell, trembled with each lash of the fire whip and rolled its eyes in frustration at Meng Chong.

It had already reminded him, specifically telling Meng Chong he was in "second place"! But Meng Chong didn't think much of it and even laughed heartily, "Hahaha!"

This made the Longyuan Fire Spirit feel like it was about to vomit blood.

It had done everything it could, but Meng Chong simply couldn't sense anything unusual about the situation.

Well!

It had endured this whipping for nothing.

Second Trial Stage.

After Meng Chong left, Ning Zhuo quickly climbed out of the mechanical trap.

He first went to the first door, used the My Buddha Demonic Heart Seal to push it open a crack, and peeked into Room One.

Confirming no one was coming, he closed the door and then summoned the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng.

Things were different now.

With more and more participants, it was already very inconvenient for Ning Zhuo himself to enter and exit the Lava Immortal Palace, let alone summon the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng.

The trend was obvious.

In the future, the risk of Ning Zhuo summoning the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, would only increase.

A transmission circle appeared, bringing Yuan Dasheng to the puppet Ning Zhuo's side.

"Your subordinate pays respects to my Lord!" The Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, knelt on one knee before Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo was very interested in Yuan Dasheng's performance at the Zhiling stage, but now was not the right time to study it in detail.

"The Golden Blood War Ape's mechanical body is much inferior to the Tree Martial Combat Ape's."

"But it is the only thing recognized by the Lava Immortal Palace that can freely enter and exit the palace."

"Just for this reason alone, the Golden Blood War Ape has extremely high value and is irreplaceable."

Ning Zhuo led Yuan Dasheng through the second trial stage to the second door.

To prevent Meng Chong from still being in Room Three, the puppet Ning Zhuo stayed behind while letting Yuan Dasheng push the door open and scout the situation.

They found Room Three in complete disarray, with the practice puppets reduced to piles of broken scraps scattered on the floor.

"Just as I thought." Ning Zhuo felt no surprise when he saw this scene after pushing the door open.

He had anticipated it earlier.

Every time Meng Chong was thwarted or hindered, when he returned, he would inevitably make huge strides in strength.

"This is immortal aptitude, and also destiny!"

Ning Zhuo sighed with emotion, then led Yuan Dasheng through Room Three to the third door.

Again, the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, pushed the door open first.

Meng Chong was not found.

But Ning Zhuo wasn't in a hurry to enter. Instead, he had the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, retrieve the surveillance mechanical components from the corner.

After checking them, Ning Zhuo learned the key information through Yuan Dasheng. He now knew the entire process of Meng Chong's activities here.

First, the ranking stone pillar, then interacting with various mechanical platforms and tools, and finally, Meng Chong left and entered the next stage.

"Meng Chong obtained the trial disciple's mark... Strange, he seemed to already know the detailed steps here. He didn't attempt anything; he just succeeded directly."

Ning Zhuo passed by the stone pillar ranking list.

Now, the ranking list once again had two names.

The last time, it was Yuan Dasheng who made the list.

But after Yuan Dasheng was schemed against and ultimately became Ning Zhuo's mechanical creation, the ranking list had only Ning Zhuo's name for a time.

Ning Zhuo had given considerable thought to what name to change it to.

First, he couldn't use the name of someone else in the immortal city. If the City Lord's Manor or the other three major forces mobilized their full power, they could easily arrest that person. After verification, they would determine the truth, concluding that the names on the ranking list could be changed or that someone was cheating. This would be extremely disadvantageous for Ning Zhuo.

Second, he couldn't use the name of a deceased person either.

Because Yuan Dasheng had fallen off the list.

This proved that deceased competitors would be removed.

If Ning Zhuo's name remained on the list permanently, the flaw would be far too obvious.

"Names of the living and the dead won't work, so I'll have to get creative." That's what Ning Zhuo thought at the time.

Finally, he changed the name to "Entry Standard."

Doing so had many advantages.

The first was to conceal his identity as a competitor.

The second was to correspond with and mutually "corroborate" the trial disciple marks.

In Ning Zhuo's personal judgment, since he had managed to figure out the trial disciple mark, others would likely do the same.

At that time, each trial disciple mark would serve as the best endorsement of trust for Ning Zhuo.

The third advantage was that it could account for future changes in his own ranking.

If the "Entry Standard" was surpassed by others in the future, they would think—"I've met the standard, I've reached the requirement to become an entry-level disciple."

And if the "Entry Standard" surpassed others, what others would think was—Oh, so the entry standard is flexible. Just like many clan assessments that only reward the top ten. The Lava Immortal Palace's entry standard also changes based on the trial disciples' situations.

Ning Zhuo walked past the stone pillar ranking list.

Again, the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, pushed the door open and entered Room Four first.

Through the surveillance components, Ning Zhuo saw that after Meng Chong entered the room, he paused slightly, then successively cast spells, obtaining the mechanical components corresponding to each spell.

Ning Zhuo: "Strange! Here, Meng Chong also seemed to be already informed. There was no process of exploration; he directly found the answer."

Ning Zhuo led Yuan Dasheng forward at an accelerated pace.

Meng Chong was not in the room beyond the fifth door either.

The surveillance components showed Meng Chong's潇洒 (carefree and easy) movements when he cleared the stage.

Ning Zhuo examined carefully and confirmed once again that Meng Chong had made significant progress—he could now apply his immortal aptitude to his spells!

This made Ning Zhuo increasingly solemn.

Room Six.

Meng Chong laughed heartily: "Now this is getting interesting. Galloping Thunder Rush!"

He shouted, his figure moving like lightning, dodging the coverage attacks of several spells.

He used his immortal aptitude again, this time applying it to the Embrace Ice Technique and the Single Burst of Qi.

The Embrace Ice Technique and the Single Burst of Qi merged, forming a straight line of freezing air that swiftly hit a spell puppet amidst the flashing electric lights.

The spell puppet was instantly frozen.

Meng Chong created an opening and took the chance to break through the encirclement of the spell puppets.

However, just as he was about to feel pleased, the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, suddenly appeared!

"Ah, it's you!!" Meng Chong was ecstatic to see his prey.

The Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, bathed in flames, charged forward to engage Meng Chong in close combat.

Meng Chong showed no fear; instead, he was excited: "Last time I was burned to death by the flames. That won't happen this time; I have spells to protect me."

Meng Chong cast the Embrace Ice Technique and the Single Burst of Qi, combined with the Qi Release Ring, enveloping his surroundings with dense freezing air.

With the freezing air neutralizing the flames, Meng Chong was no longer afraid of being burned to death.

But the next moment, the Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng's palm struck Meng Chong's chest.

Spell—Five Elements Chaos Qi Technique!

This was the reward after clearing the Three Daoist Gates, claimed by Ning Zhuo, and now used in实战 (actual combat) for the first time against Meng Chong.

As for the effect... It was excellent!

In an instant, the spiritual energy within Meng Chong's body became completely chaotic, turning from orderly into a tangled mess.

"I..." Meng Chong's body was immobilized, while also suffering the backlash from the interrupted spells like the Embrace Ice Technique.

The Golden Blood War Ape, Dasheng, followed up, gently plucking off Meng Chong's puppet head.

Then, with a squeeze of its hand, it instantly crushed the puppet head.

Meng Chong could only return his soul outside the palace, back to his own physical body, filled with intense unwillingness.

Inside the City Lord's Manor.

He abruptly opened his eyes, still难以置信 (unable to believe it): "What kind of spell was that? It seemed to specifically counter the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art?"

"I lost again!"

"It's fine. This time my gains were enormous."

Meng Chong felt strong anticipation for his next entry into the palace, his fighting spirit soaring.

"Right, I should send the latest information to Fei Si and Grandpa, so they can help me think if there's a faster way to clear the stages."

(End of )