Chapter 398: Ten thousand homes, understanding the way of the artistic conception |
At the same time, on the other side of the arena.
A burly man, as if sculpted from clay, sat cross-legged deep beneath the desert, carrying a gourd on his back. This was his favorite terrain, where he had the highest winning rate.
As a member of the human barbarian tribe, Luo Gang had lived in the desert since childhood and possessed a rare Heaven-grade Earth Spiritual Root. He could instantly master any earth-based spell, making him an unparalleled genius in the barbarian tribe, unseen in a thousand years.
Because of this, he was able to pass the pyramid trial and obtain the only trial token.
At this moment, the first Chosen of the Luo family, known for his fiery temperament, was trembling slightly, unsure if it was from fear or excitement.
"Four segments, one hundred and eight stars. I've never encountered such a high star count!"
"The opponent's strength is probably at the extreme of the Elemental Infant stage, just a step away from Divine Transformation!"
In Luo Gang's tribe, there was no concept of the Extreme Realm, but they could roughly gauge strength by the opponent's star count.
Generally speaking, one to ten stars indicated the early Elemental Infant stage.
Above twenty stars was the late Elemental Infant stage.
Luo Gang could reach thirty-seven stars, which was already the Great Perfection of the Elemental Infant stage, making him nearly unbeatable in the same realm.
One hundred and eight stars could only mean one thing: invincible in the same realm, winning every match, accumulating such a high star count.
Honestly, Luo Gang had no hope of winning.
But his purpose for coming to the rankings was to accumulate battle experience and improve himself. Winning or losing was not important to him.
No one who reached the Elemental Infant level would care about these things. Controlling the number of stars was just to find opponents of similar strength to better improve oneself.
"Three, two, one! Begin!"
As the voice fell.
Luo Gang clapped his palms, and the surging desert began to move, covering the ocean ahead, intending to drown the entire sea.
Going all out was a necessary respect for the strong!
"Divine Ability, Deserted Smoke!"
Luo Gang opened his eyes, and a terrifying aura of desolation swept forward from the center of the desert, engulfing the entire field.
When a spell is infused with the power of intent, it can be transformed into a Divine Ability, a power that only Elemental Infant cultivators can wield. Those below the Elemental Infant stage would die upon contact, as it was a completely different level of power.
Until now, he hadn't sensed the opponent's intent, making Luo Gang even more vigilant, his attacks more ruthless and decisive.
"Come on, let me see..."
Luo Gang was eagerly anticipating.
"You have won! Current rank: Four segments, thirty-eight stars!"
The victory prompt sounded, and Luo Gang had won.
"What?"
Luo Gang was stunned, a look of shock flashing in his eyes. He hadn't even seen the opponent's face, yet he won directly?
His signature Divine Ability wasn't even half completed, just a starting move, and the opponent crumbled like a crushed ant. Even an ordinary Elemental Infant stage cultivator shouldn't be so easily defeated, right?
Luo Gang thought for a long time before barely finding a suitable reason—the opponent probably had too many stars and couldn't find a match, so they intentionally dropped down.
...
Xu Hei lost.
He lost so cleanly and swiftly that he didn't even know who the opponent was or see their face before being crushed by that terrifying intent.
From the start of the battle to its end, it wasn't even a breath's time. Xu Hei felt no pain, just a blur before his physical body withered into a dry corpse.
"So this is the intent of the Elemental Infant stage, it's terrifying."
Experiencing the crushing force of intent firsthand might be the only gain he had.
Xu Hei sighed, realizing that using Mo Xuan's token for rankings was indeed asking for trouble.
Xu Hei also noticed that opponents in other modes matched his own cultivation level, all at the Core Formation stage. Only the ranking mode seemed to be bound to the token's owner.
"Miao Miao, can you let me face opponents of the same realm?" Xu Hei asked.
"You can deregister and start from three segments. Would you like to deregister?" Miao Miao's voice came.
Xu Hei hesitated slightly, feeling reluctant. After all, he now had the chance to spar with Elemental Infant cultivators, an opportunity countless Core Formation cultivators could only dream of.
Though the experience of being instantly killed wasn't pleasant, and he couldn't accumulate any battle experience.
"The only benefit of fighting Elemental Infant stage opponents is experiencing their intent."
"Hmm? Wait, intent?"
Xu Hei was pondering when suddenly his eyes lit up, widening in realization.
"I once asked Mo Xuan how to comprehend intent, and Mo Xuan gave me this token. Could it be... Mo Xuan's true intention was to let me challenge various experts and experience their intents?"
"Is this Elder Mo's true intention?"
Realizing this, Xu Hei's breathing quickened, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Only by walking the paths of many can one find their own path!
If one battle isn't enough, then two, three, a hundred. If he couldn't comprehend his own intent after battling a hundred Elemental Infant stage cultivators, then what difference would he have from a waste?
Xu Hei's gaze suddenly became resolute.
"Isn't it just getting beaten? It's anonymous anyway, so why not?"
Without hesitation, Xu Hei chose to rank again.
As before, in the ocean terrain, Xu Hei quickly got matched.
"Your opponent: Anonymous; Race: Human; Rank: Thirty-eight stars."
Seeing this information, Xu Hei was taken aback, a thought crossing his mind.
"Could it be the same person?" Xu Hei mused.
Moments later, when he saw the identical desert terrain, he was certain it was the same person who had instantly killed him last time, the mysterious cultivator he hadn't even seen.
This time, Xu Hei didn't hold back, rising from the sea to reveal his form.
"The battle will begin in ten breaths, please prepare! Ten, nine, eight..."
The voice sounded.
At the same time, Luo Gang in the desert also realized it was the same opponent as last time, with the opponent's race being a snake, as the information indicated.
Soon after, he saw a black snake rising from the sea.
"A puppet? A mid-stage Core Formation peak puppet, what is the opponent's intention?"
Though he didn't use Divine Sense, Luo Gang's rich experience allowed him to accurately determine the opponent's cultivation level at a glance.
"Hmm? No! This is... the main body?"
Luo Gang squinted, various thoughts running through his mind.
Soon, the countdown ended.
The light barrier between the two battlefields quickly disappeared, and this time, Luo Gang didn't immediately attack. Instead, he carefully observed the opponent's reaction. After confirming no harm, he emerged from the desert, coming to the forefront of the battlefield to face Xu Hei.
The difference between a living being and a machine is that a living being has intelligence and can communicate normally, not necessarily resorting to fighting.
"Kid, you must have taken your elder's token." Luo Gang said calmly.
"That's right, my master lent me the token to experience the intents of various strong individuals." Xu Hei replied sincerely.
Luo Gang's expression turned peculiar.
Ranking once required three thousand points, not free, and the opponent was so careless with the opportunity to fight, just to let a disciple comprehend intent.
This... he didn't know how to comment.
For a strong individual of this level, couldn't they just find some friends to help the disciple? Why waste points here?