Cultivation: I have an omnipotent land

Chapter 45 Lack of Martial Morality

Although the wind blade had been weakened twice, it still managed to cut a deep, bone-revealing wound on Yan Shaoyu's body. Blood gushed from his shoulder to his abdomen. Even a cultivator would have to lie in bed for months to recover from such an injury, which was enough to meet Yan Yuxue's requirements.

Seeing that no one was controlling the beads scattered on the ground, Xiao Ming reached out and caught them in his hand.

"This bead is nice, I'll take it," Xiao Ming said, playing with the bead.

"You..." Yan Shaoyu was so angry that his face turned blood red and he almost fainted.

The others in the audience were not surprised at all. There had been several cases of killing on this stage, and even more cases of stealing magical artifacts. Not to mention Yan Yuxue's "open and aboveboard" act of destroying corpses and looting their belongings.

In Xiao Ming's view, since he had already seriously injured this kid, the matter of seizing the magic weapon was not a big deal. As long as he didn't kill him on the spot, which was an irreconcilable feud, then once he entered the sect, how would the Yan family dare to hold a grudge?

Yan Yuxue, watching from the sidelines, felt a mixture of joy and regret. She was right to have judged him, but it was a pity that Yan Shaoyu was lucky enough not to be cut in two by that blow.

Xiao Ming won smoothly, but the sudden and unexpected wind blade made some people wary and unwilling to go on stage easily. They wanted another person to test the young man's strength before deciding whether to go on stage or not.

Unexpectedly, a short man suddenly stood up. He was wearing a Taoist robe that was too big for him. He hopped and crawled onto the stage and respectfully handed over a token to ascend the steps.

The examiner pursed his lips upon seeing the person's cultivation level. Where did this junior come from, coming to join the fun at only the fifth level of Qi Refining?

The people in the audience shook their heads, marveling at how lucky this kid was. There were more cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining than those at the ninth level, and most people lost the courage to compete after watching a few matches. They never expected that someone would actually dare to go on stage.

Xiao Ming also suppressed a laugh and politely cupped his hands in greeting to the young man in the Taoist robe.

Please enlighten me!

The young man in the Taoist robe wasn't buying it at all. He pulled out a stack of talismans from his sleeve, activated them all, and threw them over.

Xiao Ming's smile froze instantly. He saw more than a dozen fireballs flying towards him, completely blocking his way and leaving him nowhere to hide.

Boom, boom, boom...

Amidst the smoke of the explosion, Xiao Ming, shielded and disheveled, cursed inwardly.

Damn it, this guy has no sportsmanship! Where did this weirdo come from?!

However, before he could even utter those words, he saw the Taoist-robed youth fumble in his sleeve and pull out a new talisman. This time, the hairs on Xiao Ming's back stood on end.

The opponent was using talismans, and there was no time to counter with spells. Driven to desperation, Xiao Ming simply slammed his palm against the shield, pouring in surging magical power. The bronze shield flew out like a cannonball.

The young man in the Taoist robe, who was about to activate the talisman, clearly had little experience in combat. He panicked as soon as he saw the bronze shield flying towards him. His hand moved a little too slowly, and he was knocked away by the shield. Some more talismans flew out from under his loose Taoist robe, making Xiao Ming's scalp tingle.

Luckily I had a shield artifact, otherwise I would have been blasted to smithereens in the first wave. Where did this rich kid come from, with so many talismans on his body?

"I'll take these talismans." Xiao Ming snorted and swept away all the talismans scattered on the ground with a wave of his hand. Then he realized that there were not only low-level talismans among them, but also a few mid-level talismans, which made Xiao Ming's heart skip a beat.

The young man in the Taoist robe didn't seem to care about the talisman; he just sighed in frustration and looked towards the arena next door.

At the same time, a chubby young man with white skin and wearing a Taoist robe appeared next door. He used talismans and took away two people in two consecutive talismans, which aroused a lot of discussion among the people below.

"Where did these two kids come from? They're throwing around talismans like they're free."

"That's definitely free. Didn't you recognize them? These two gentlemen are the precious sons of the owner of Baoguang Pavilion."

"So that's how it is. It seems that the money that old bastard usually makes from ripping off customers is all spent here. He really wants to use money to break down the gates of immortality."

The discussion among the people offstage naturally reached Xiao Ming's ears. Speechless, he could only concentrate fully on the next match.

"Is there anyone else who would like to come up and offer their advice?" Xiao Ming quickly put away the talisman to avoid frightening anyone.

"Let me have a go at you." A burly man with a thick beard stepped forward, his body radiating the spiritual energy of someone at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

This made Xiao Ming's expression serious; it seemed a tough battle was about to begin.

The burly man walked up to the examiner, presented the order to ascend the steps with both hands, and was about to walk to the center of the arena when the examiner opened his eyes and kicked him off the stage.

The burly, bearded man who rolled off the stage was stunned. It was the examiner who had kicked him, so he didn't dare to retaliate. He could only bow to the examiner with his head down and then respectfully ask.

"Examiner, why did you kick me off the stage?"

"Don't you have any self-awareness?" The examiner glanced at the bearded man with disdain.

"The rules clearly state that only those under the age of thirty are accepted. You are already thirty-five, yet you still dream of joining a sect and receiving a share of immortal food. What a pipe dream you have."

"I..." The burly man with the thick beard blushed and didn't know what to say.

The examiner pointed to the celestial ship in the sky, then looked at everyone below the stage, and said in a cold, warning tone, "Listen up, the sect's celestial ship is equipped with a bone-revealing mirror. Your bone age will be known immediately. If anyone dares to try to cheat again, the punishment will not be so simple."

"Examiner, I know I was wrong. I wonder if you could return this Ascension Token to me, since I didn't even participate in the competition," the burly man with the thick beard pleaded in a low voice. He had paid money to obtain this Ascension Token, and if he couldn't use it himself, he could find a way to trade it or keep it for a younger generation.

However, the examiner glared at the bearded man and snorted coldly, "Get lost!"

As the pressure from the Foundation Establishment expert descended, the burly man with the thick beard turned pale and hurriedly said he didn't want it anymore, scrambling and crawling away from the venue.

Having dealt with the troublemaker, the examiner glanced at the token in his hand, frowned slightly, and after a moment's thought, waved to Xiao Ming.

"Little one, you can go now. You've made it into the shortlist."

Xiao Ming: "..."

So... they made the shortlist?

The people in the audience were stunned, and then someone let out a wail, lamenting why they didn't have such good luck.

"Thank you, examiner." Faced with this unexpected surprise, Xiao Ming was not overwhelmed and quickly bowed and stepped off the stage.