Hum.
With a hum, Li Xuan closed his eyes, carefully digesting the competition rules that suddenly appeared in his mind.
A moment later, Li Xuan opened his eyes. Looking at the dense jungle in front of him, which was like a primeval forest, he fell into thought.
"I didn't expect the second round to be about fighting for the golden seal on this spirit path. According to the rules, only those ranked in the top three thousand can undergo the examination for the sacred sons of each peak and thus qualify for choosing a peak. However, judging by the previous number of people, it's going to be a bit tricky to get into the top three thousand."
Li Xuan shook his head slightly, his eyes slowly looking into the distance.
Li Xuan knew that although the current number of participants was less than half of the total, to achieve a ranking in the top three thousand among thirty to forty thousand people, a significant number of golden seals would be required. Moreover, the spiritual masters who passed the first round were all not weak in strength.
Among those people, even Li Xuan himself felt a sense of threat.
"Forget it, I'll go find brother Chu Yun first. The area of this spirit path must be vast, and I wonder how Chu Yun is doing now." As Li Xuan thought, his figure moved, and he instantly shot into the distance.
The moment Li Xuan moved forward, on the peak of Mount Cang, Elder Qing Xuan and the ten sacred sons were also watching the projection in the light screen, silently observing the performance of all the participants.
Time passed. After half an hour, Li Xuan suddenly stopped. In his perception, the spiritual energy fluctuations ahead were extremely chaotic, clearly indicating that a fight was taking place.
"Someone is fighting, they must have found a golden seal. I can go and see what this golden seal is." Li Xuan had intended to go around, but considering that he hadn't encountered a golden seal since entering this so-called spirit path, his heart stirred, and he immediately sneaked towards the direction he sensed.
About five hundred meters away from the combat zone, Li Xuan stopped. The two people fighting were already visible to the naked eye.
Li Xuan took a glance and saw that the strengths of the two were evenly matched, both at the initial stage of the Dao Integration Realm. And inside the trunk of a large tree beside them, there was a square token emitting golden light. Judging by its appearance, this square token was the golden seal to be contended for in this second round.
"These two people are evenly matched in strength. To determine a winner, the final result will likely be a mutual destruction." Li Xuan watched for a long time before retracting his gaze.
However, at this moment, Li Xuan's divine sense moved, and his gaze quickly shifted to the void on the other side. In that instant, Li Xuan suddenly felt a surge of spiritual energy, indicating that someone was hidden in the void, preparing to reap the benefits of others' labor.
"Interesting. I didn't expect that just this one golden seal would attract three beings at the Dao Integration Realm. However, their technique for hiding their aura is quite unusual. It almost deceived even my senses."
Li Xuan's divine consciousness moved, and he instantly sensed the strength of the spiritual master hidden in the void. He smiled slightly, glanced at the golden seal, and his figure quickly appeared in front of the two people who were fighting.
With Li Xuan's appearance, both combatants immediately retreated, looking at Li Xuan with vigilance. Seeing Li Xuan's calm gaze, they exchanged unwilling glances and, without a word, quickly fled into the distance.
Even the one hidden in the void retreated in an instant after Li Xuan showed himself.
"These guys actually ran away? But this first golden seal was obtained just like that." Li Xuan chuckled, shook his head, beckoned to the golden seal in the tree trunk, and instantly drew it into his hand.
Li Xuan looked at the golden seal in his hand, finding it no different from an ordinary token. The only difference was that there was a faint aura on the golden seal. After some research, Li Xuan pocketed the golden seal and continued forward.
"Young master, logically speaking, shouldn't the strength of those three be greater than yours? Why did they retreat without a fight as soon as you appeared?" The Heavenly Dao Brush asked with some confusion.
Li Xuan heard this and gave a wry smile, saying, "How would I know? Perhaps they didn't want to get entangled with me."
On the other side of the spirit path, in a canyon a thousand miles away from Li Xuan, vast golden light occupied half the sky.
And within this golden light, Xi Chu Yun sat cross-legged, calmly looking at the man in the black robe in front of him. If Li Xuan were present, he would have noticed that Xi Chu Yun's breathing was somewhat rapid, indicating that he had already gone through a fierce battle.
As for the man in the black robe, he was also breathing with some exertion. At this moment, his eyes, looking at Xi Chu Yun, had a hint of frenzied bloodlust. However, perhaps due to the previous battle, the man in the black robe was now wary of Xi Chu Yun, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.
"If you can withstand my final move, I will no longer contend for this golden seal." After a moment, the man in the black robe's expression turned serious, with a trace of determination.
"Make your move," Xi Chu Yun said in a deep voice.
The man in the black robe said no more. His figure moved like a ghost, and wherever he passed, there were brief afterimages.
And each afterimage, in an instant, erupted with astonishing radiance, then quickly converged at a single point, suddenly becoming immensely vast.
"My move is called the Black Dragon Submerging the Abyss!"
An astonishing aura spread, and the voice of the man in the black robe echoed through the heavens and earth. From the dazzling radiance, a giant black dragon roared out and swept its tail down towards Xi Chu Yun.
Seeing the black dragon sweep its tail, Xi Chu Yun's expression also became slightly solemn. Then, Xi Chu Yun's golden light surged, and with his hands clasped together, his figure rapidly floated into mid-air.
"Immovable Wisdom King!"
As Xi Chu Yun's voice fell, his figure moved rapidly within the golden light, enveloped by golden halos, and instantly shot towards the black dragon that was sweeping its tail.
Boom!
Black light collided with golden light, and the huge shockwave caused the mountains below to tremble. The terrifying shockwave spread rapidly, causing the heavens and earth to change color.
In an instant, the light suddenly contracted. In the sky, Xi Chu Yun's figure was as steady as a rock in mid-air.
And the man in the black robe below had a hint of blood at the corner of his mouth. With a pale, tragic smile, he finally emitted a black light from his body and disappeared from the spot.
At this moment, Li Xuan, who had already collected a golden seal, suddenly felt something and stopped, looking into the distance with a solemn expression.
"Such a duel, it's likely he encountered a peak existence of the same level. In my memory, Xi Chu Yun has never unleashed his full power like this. It seems this spirit path of the second round indeed has many powerful individuals."
Li Xuan muttered to himself, looked into the distance again, then moved his body. The Carefree Steps under his feet circulated rapidly, and he instantly shot towards the place where Xi Chu Yun and the man in the black robe had fought.
Half an hour later, Li Xuan stopped and, looking at the canyon below, descended rapidly. Although the battle between Xi Chu Yun and the man in the black robe had ended, the aftereffects of the battle were still present. Li Xuan was naturally very familiar with Xi Chu Yun's aura.
"These guys are quite cautious." As Li Xuan appeared, several auras approaching from all directions also stopped. Li Xuan naturally sensed the fluctuations of these people's auras, and immediately drew his sword, the Sword Offering, and unleashed a sword strike.
Upon sensing the power of Li Xuan's sword strike, the people from various sides retreated rapidly.
Sensing the retreat of several auras, Li Xuan felt slightly relieved. Among these auras, even Li Xuan felt that some were incredibly powerful. What made Li Xuan even more uneasy was that, according to his senses, Xi Chu Yun's aura seemed a bit off.
Fortunately, the strength Li Xuan displayed caused everyone to choose to leave. With a thought, Li Xuan quickly set up a barrier, and with a subtle movement of his divine sense, he located Xi Chu Yun's aura.
"Someone could actually injure you?" Li Xuan said with some surprise as Xi Chu Yun, who was sitting cross-legged on a large rock, opened his eyes and looked at him.
Xi Chu Yun's body flashed with golden light, and his complexion improved considerably. He then nodded slightly.
"That person's strength is very formidable."