Mythical Cultivation

"The competition begins!" As the referee's loud and clear voice rang out, the entire venue seemed to be ignited in an instant, and the atmosphere became tense and intense.

Wu Ming didn't dare to delay. Upon hearing this announcement, he immediately formed a seal with his hands and muttered something. A beam of white light shot out from his arms. It was the White Cloud Banner. The banner swelled in the wind, transforming into a massive cloud in the blink of an eye, completely enveloping Wu Ming.

Immediately afterwards, Wu Ming made another move, and a sword gleaming with dazzling golden light appeared in his hand. This sword, called the Golden Light Sword, was one of his most prized magical weapons. Holding the Golden Light Sword, Wu Ming rushed towards Zhao Wuji with lightning speed. At the same time, he swung the Golden Light Sword fiercely, unleashing his renowned Qingyun Sword Technique. Instantly, streams of incredibly sharp golden sword energy roared out, sweeping towards Zhao Wuji like a violent storm.

Faced with Wu Ming's ferocious attack, Zhao Wuji was equally cautious. He reacted almost instantly, quickly producing a simple, bell-shaped magical instrument. As it appeared, it emanated a layer of earthy-yellow light, enveloping Zhao Wuji. Then, Zhao Wuji, too, formed a hand seal and summoned his flying sword. The sword was a brilliant blue, as clear and transparent as autumn water. As Zhao Wuji activated his sword technique, the flying sword instantly transformed into nearly two hundred rays of blue sword light, charging forward with unstoppable force to meet Wu Ming's incoming golden sword beams.

For a moment, the sky was ablaze with golden and blue light, a truly spectacular spectacle. The hundreds of golden rays of light emanating from Wu Ming's Golden Light Sword collided fiercely with Zhao Wuji's nearly two hundred blue rays of light, emitting a series of deafening explosions. The swords of both sides intertwined and entangled, each clashing back and forth, neither yielding.

Initially, the golden sword beams were fewer in number, yet each one held immense power. They were able to barely hold off the blue sword beams, even reaching parity with them for a time. However, as time passed, the blue sword beams, leveraging their numerical superiority, gradually gained the upper hand. They pressed closer and closer, gradually shrinking the golden sword beams' space. Despite the golden sword beams' stubborn resistance, the situation was clearly turning against Wu Ming.

"This Wu Ming is really a hidden talent! How could an ordinary ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator withstand my full-strength attack? But this Wu Ming was able to fight back, which is really beyond my expectation. However, even so, this is the end of his strength." Zhao Wuji pondered to himself, his eyes fixed on Wu Ming in front of him.

It happened in a flash. The blue flying sword in Zhao Wuji's hand suddenly turned and rushed away like lightning in an instant, leaving a dazzling streak of electric light in the air and slashing straight towards Wu Ming.

Wu Ming's eyes widened, staring intently at the thundering blue sword light, a feeling of unease rising within him. He was well aware of the gap in strength between him and Zhao Wuji, especially in terms of True Essence, where he was clearly at a disadvantage. Facing such a fierce attack, it was clearly impossible to resist head-on.

So, Wu Ming made a prompt decision. On the one hand, he used the Qingyun Sword Technique to try to use sword moves to slightly slow down the speed of the blue sword light. On the other hand, he quickly used the Light Body Technique, his figure flashed, and he retreated rapidly, preparing to adopt a roundabout tactic and start a protracted war of attrition with Zhao Wuji.

Unfortunately, Wu Ming never expected that Zhao Wuji would not give him any breathing space. Just as he began to retreat, a blue lightning bolt suddenly appeared like a ghost, rushing towards him at an astonishing speed.

Wu Ming was horrified and hastily erected a thick earthen wall around him, hoping to temporarily block the blue lightning's attack. However, the blue lightning was too powerful, and the earthen wall shattered at the first impact. Immediately afterwards, the blue lightning pierced the cloud released by the White Cloud Banner without any hindrance, heading straight for Wu Ming's body.

In just less than two breaths, the originally thick clouds shrank rapidly under the impact of the blue lightning, and eventually turned into nothing, disappearing without a trace.

Fortunately, at that crucial moment, luck seemed to favor Wu Ming. These two brief breaths became the crucial opportunity to turn the tide of battle. Wu Ming's eyes and hands moved swiftly, muttering something to himself as he quickly formed hand seals. With a flash of brilliant light, a small, exquisite pagoda appeared out of thin air, instantly expanding to several feet in height. The pagoda exuded a mysterious and powerful aura, its body shimmering with a rainbow of light, like a peerless treasure revealed to the world. It was Wu Ming's top-grade defensive magical weapon—the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

In a flash, the moment the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower was summoned, Zhao Wuji's lightning-fast flying sword slammed into the tower. A resounding explosion echoed, sparks flew, and the entire space trembled. However, despite Zhao Wuji's incredible power, the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower's sturdy defenses prevented him from breaking through, ultimately being firmly blocked.

"That was a close call! Zhao Wuji's flying sword is actually a top-grade magical weapon. No wonder the attack is so sharp and fierce. I didn't expect that he would use a top-grade magical weapon to compete. Isn't he afraid of running out of true energy and losing the game? However, it seems that it is not easy to defeat him!" Wu Ming exclaimed in his heart.

You know, top-grade magical instruments are extremely rare and precious, and their owners are always exceptionally powerful or cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage. Although Wu Ming himself also possesses quite a few top-grade magical instruments, sometimes more than one, at his current lowly level of Qi Refining, each use of these instruments consumes a significant amount of his spiritual energy. After only five or six uses, his true essence is depleted, leaving him vulnerable to being slaughtered.

Therefore, he would not use them unless absolutely necessary, and he would usually only keep them as his last trump card. Moreover, even a master like Zhao Wuji, who had reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, could not use a high-grade magic weapon more than ten times in a row.

Looking back now, Wu Ming couldn't help but feel a surge of regret. In this life-or-death struggle, he had been too cautious and hesitant. Even at such a crucial moment, he still considered holding back his so-called trump card. This was truly foolish and ridiculous. Thinking of this, Wu Ming took a deep breath, gathered his composure, and decided to hold back no more, unleashing his full might to challenge Zhao Wuji.