Reversing the Milky Way

After seeing Xuan Molin flee, the Golden-Winged Thunderbird also sensed the attack from behind. When it turned around, the huge phantom of the spirit sword, accompanied by violent wind pressure, was already in front of it. It had no time to dodge, so it could only spread its wings to protect itself, and then lightning surrounded its body to form a lightning shield in front of it.

Just as the phantom of the spirit sword collided with the lightning shield, a huge surge of spiritual energy spread for miles around. Then, the huge phantom of the spirit sword slowly forced the golden-winged thunderbird in the air downwards.

As Li Yunqi used his hand to control the spirit sword to press down, cracks slowly appeared in the lightning shield in front of the Golden-Winged Thunderbird.

Li Yunqi shouted, "Break!"

He then concentrated all his spiritual power in his hand, controlling the phantom of the spirit sword to press down on the earth below. The immense pressure caused the tip of the spirit sword to pierce through the lightning shield and directly into the body of the Golden-Winged Thunderbird.

Accompanied by the continuous mournful cries of the Golden-Winged Thunderbird, the spirit sword, carrying immense power, crashed into the forest below. Immediately afterwards, with a deafening roar that pierced the sky and shook the earth at the center of the explosion, a huge shockwave spread outwards at an astonishing speed, uprooting trees wherever it passed.

Even Xuan Molin, who was fleeing, was nearly overturned by the shockwave. After the aftershocks subsided, less than one-tenth of the trees within 300 meters of the explosion's epicenter remained, and trees beyond 300 meters all collapsed from the inside out.

In the large crater at the center, Li Yunqi slowly approached the corpse of the Golden-Winged Thunderbird on his sword. The Golden-Winged Thunderbird had already lost all vital signs. He then sighed and said, "Ah, it's finally over."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Rou's voice came from afar, "Senior brother! Senior brother!"

Tang Rou then came to Li Yunqi's side and whispered something in his ear. After listening, Li Yunqi's face changed drastically, and his expression became distorted.

He angrily exclaimed, "What!?"

In the Wuling Town competition, four groups of matches have already concluded. In the second group, Lü Qiuyue narrowly lost to Ye Xuan from Wuling Academy; in the third group, He Tangyue defeated Qiao Ruoyun from Nachuan Academy; and in the fourth group, Pan Li narrowly defeated Wang Zhengzuo from Nachuan Academy.

The fifth match is currently underway. As Xue Qianfu stands on the suspended stone platform and announces, "The fifth match will be between Hu Boyu of Renhui Academy and Zhao Bo of Wuling Academy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the text above the dueling arena changed to information about the two people. Bai Cheng frowned upon seeing the information.

'This Zhao Bo, it's only been a little over two months since I fought him, I didn't expect him to already be in the late stage of Body Refinement!' Before Bai Cheng could think any further, Zhao Bo and Hu Boyu had already stood on the stage, Zhao Bo still wearing a mask covering half of his face.

At this moment, Xue Qianfu approached the ring and asked Zhao Bo, "Zhao Bo, what's with the mask on your face?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Bo replied evasively, "I accidentally burned the right side of my face a few days ago, and since the injury hasn't healed, I'm covering it with a mask."

Hearing this, Xue Qianfu had no doubts, but for the sake of fairness, he said, "Zhao Bo, although there is no explicit requirement for contestants to wear masks during the competition, I still need you to take off your mask to confirm that you are the person in the competition. After all, there have been cases in previous competitions where someone replaced another contestant."

After speaking, Xue Qianfu slowly approached Zhao Bo, reaching out to remove Zhao Bo's mask. At this moment, Zhao Bo was clearly flustered, and his body involuntarily retreated.

Seeing this, Xue Qianfu became stern and said, "Zhao Bo, I'm warning you, violating the rules will result in disqualification from the competition."

After saying that, he tried to forcibly remove Zhao Bo's mask, but at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out, "Master Xue! It's just half a mask, and besides, he said he has an injury on his face. You're not going to take advantage of his shortcomings like this, are you?" The speaker was Zhu Mingxuan.

Upon hearing this, Xue Qianfu stopped what he was doing. Then, under everyone's gaze, Zhu Mingxuan continued, "Besides, he's from your Wuling Academy. Even though half his face is covered, you can't possibly not recognize your own student, can you?"

Hearing this, Xue Qianfu slowly clenched his outstretched hand and withdrew it. Then he reluctantly said, "Elder Zhu is right."

He then took control of the floating platform, left the fighting arena, and announced, "Now, the match begins!"

Xue Qianfu went up to check because although Zhao Bo was a student of his school, he had not come to the school since the news of his fight with that person named Bai Cheng broke. Although Zhao Bo could indeed be identified by looking at half of his face, he only suggested it for the sake of the competition's rigor. After all, Zhao Bo was only at the mid-stage of the Body Refinement Realm two months ago, and his aptitude was relatively ordinary; otherwise, he wouldn't have only been at the mid-stage of the Body Refinement Realm at the age of twenty.

However, with Zhu Mingxuan's intervention, he keenly sensed that Zhao Bo might have some secrets with Zhu Mingxuan. Not only him, but many of the cultivators present also noticed that Zhu Mingxuan was intentionally favoring Zhao Bo, and Bai Cheng also keenly discovered this. With Xue Qianfu's announcement of "The match begins," Hu Boyu immediately launched an attack on Zhao Bo.

Hu Boyu: "I heard that you were making a scene in front of our Renhui Academy two months ago. It was a real pity that we couldn't teach you a lesson at the school gate. Now it's the perfect time to knock your arrogance down and let you know that you shouldn't be so arrogant!"

As he spoke, Hu Boyu's fists rained down like raindrops, while Zhao Bo merely adopted a defensive stance and did not retaliate.

After hearing what Hu Boyu said, he muttered to himself, "If you can't be so arrogant, then just don't be a human being."

His voice was so soft that even Hu Boyu, who had been launching attacks, didn't hear it. The cultivators present also failed to notice. Although a cultivator in the early Qi Condensation Realm has a spiritual sense radius of 500 meters, not to mention that most of those present were in the mid-Qi Condensation Realm or higher, the arena was surrounded by an array. Therefore, even if they wanted to use their spiritual sense to probe, they couldn't penetrate the array. They could only rely on their eyes and ears, just like ordinary people.

However, Mo Yan and Zhu Mingxuan, who were in the VIP seats, were different because they had already reached the Opening Meridian Realm, and their spiritual senses were strong enough to pass through this high-level Yellow Rank array, the Spirit Trapping Array.

At this moment, Mo Yan, who was in the VIP seat, also glanced at Zhu Mingxuan beside him with a strange look. He tried to understand the meaning of what Zhao Bo had just said. In fact, as an outer sect elder of the Cangxuan Sect, he knew some rumors. For example, the Chihun Sect had a kind of pill that could give people who did not have the physique for cultivation the physique for cultivation. However, taking too much of it might cause people to become demons. But he had only heard about it and had never seen it himself.

Cultivators like them who have reached the Opening Meridian Realm generally do not come to the town to take on disciples. Mo Yan was able to come this time entirely because he heard that someone had spread the story that a girl under the age of sixteen had fought two Qi Condensation Realm cultivators in Xue Fu Restaurant. It seemed a bit absurd, but adhering to the principle of not missing out, he still came to see for himself. What if it was true?

Then, he looked at Zhu Mingxuan beside him. 'But the old ghost's appearance here is probably related to Zhao Bo in front of us.' Thinking of this, his gaze once again focused on Zhao Bo on the arena.

At this moment, Zhao Bo was using his arms to shield his mask as Hu Boyu attacked him from all sides. Even so, he only managed to retreat a few steps.

After a dozen or so moves, Hu Boyu's expression grew increasingly serious. Then he saw Zhao Bo's lips curl into a slight, sinister smile. Hu Boyu was immediately startled, quickly stopping his attack. With a powerful leap, he jumped more than twenty meters away, creating distance between them.

"What's going on? I'm a late-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivator, and the feeling when I hit him seems a bit strange." Before Hu Boyu could think further, he saw Zhao Bo slowly lower his arm that was protecting him.

"You're done? If this is all you've got, it won't cure my sin of arrogance."

Hearing this, Hu Boyu's expression grew even more grave. 'What's going on!? Even Lei Che from the first round couldn't completely avoid an attack from a late-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivator. The blows just now felt like they hit some kind of armor. Could it be that Zhao Bo is wearing some kind of protective gear?'

Hu Boyu thought this way because it was already winter, and most of the contestants were wearing long clothes. Although there would be people checking before the competition, judging from Zhu Mingxuan's sudden actions just now, there was no guarantee that they would favor Zhao Bo.

At this moment, Zhao Bo walked calmly toward Hu Boyu, while Hu Boyu's mind was racing. If Zhao Bo wasn't wearing any protective gear, then the only possibility was that his physical body had reached the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm. As soon as this thought came to mind, Hu Boyu broke out in a cold sweat.

'Could it be that Zhao Bo has really reached the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm? But wasn't he only at the Middle Stage of the Body Refinement Realm two months ago?'

Zhao Bo looked at Hu Boyu, who was staring at him without moving, and immediately retorted sarcastically, "What's wrong? Why aren't you attacking? Come and hit me!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crowd began to jeer. Shouts of "Attack!" and "Go for it!" echoed from the crowd.

The cultivators in the VIP seats remained silent upon seeing this. Mo Yan, meanwhile, used his divine sense to examine Zhao Bo, but found no trace of spiritual energy circulating on him. He muttered to himself, 'Could this person have exceptional talent in body refinement? Has he already reached the Great Perfection of Body Refinement at such a young age? I really don't understand what Zhu Mingxuan saw in him?'

After hearing the encouragement from those around him, Hu Boyu on the arena asked Zhao Bo, "Have you already reached the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Bo smiled faintly: "Hehe, don't talk nonsense. It's clearly because your late-stage Body Refinement Realm is mixed with water that you can't hurt me!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Boyu retorted sarcastically, "Really? I wonder who challenged a student who hadn't even begun body cultivation at the entrance of Renhui Academy, and then had that person defeated a month later? Isn't that right, Zhao Bo?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Bo's emotions exploded like a powder keg. His eyes turned bloodshot, his face contorted, and his entire body trembled slightly. Even without Hu Boyu's name, he knew who he was.

Then Zhao Bo said angrily, "No, you're not allowed to mention him in front of me!!"

After he finished speaking, his aura suddenly surged, and a faint red malevolent energy could be seen slowly seeping out from his clothes. Then he kicked out and leaped into the air, pouncing towards Hu Boyu. Even the hard Qinggang stone ground was deeply imprinted with his footprint.

Everyone gasped in surprise at the sight. Man Chong, sitting in the VIP section, blurted out, "This person has probably already reached the Great Perfection of Body Refinement. What's the point of this competition?"

At this moment, Liu Yuntian also had a solemn expression. After all, the rules clearly stated that the contestants could not exceed the late stage of Body Refinement. However, what he did not notice was that a compass hanging at his waist was now faintly flashing.

On the arena, Zhao Bo had already aimed his foot at Hu Boyu in mid-air, launching an attack. Hu Boyu immediately dodged. With a dull thud, a small crater appeared where Hu Boyu had stood, and even the surrounding stone slabs cracked. Hu Boyu gasped in shock. This was Qinggang stone, which even a person at the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm would find difficult to break, and which ordinary swords couldn't penetrate. Unexpectedly, Zhao Bo had broken it with a single blow.

Seeing this, the cultivators in the VIP seats exchanged bewildered glances. Guo Yanyang muttered under his breath, "This...this is probably against the rules!"

At this moment, a gentle female voice came from beside him: "Fellow Daoist Guo, please don't be impatient. After all, neither of them has spoken yet." The speaker was named Lian Rong, from the Jade Spring Sect.

Upon hearing this, Guo Yanyang also looked in Mo Yan's direction. Mo Yan looked bewildered. Just a moment ago, he seemed to have sensed a faint surge of spiritual energy emanating from Zhao Bo's body, which quickly disappeared. Even though he had seen so many cultivation physiques, he couldn't identify which cultivation physique that spiritual energy belonged to, but it felt strangely familiar.

On the stage, Hu Boyu had just regained his footing when he saw Zhao Bo rushing towards him like a madman, his speed catching him completely off guard.

Before he could react, Zhao Bo had already rushed in front of him and punched Hu Boyu in the chest. Hu Boyu immediately felt his chest heaving, his breathing becoming labored, and then he tumbled backward like a cannonball, crashing into the magic circle at the edge of the arena. The edge of the magic circle only rippled slightly before disappearing. Afterward, Hu Boyu lay motionless on the ground like a lump of mud.