Fighting

The elders, guest ministers, managers, and disciples of the Dragon Valley Sect quickly set up the fighting arena at the sect's sword training ground.

A protective shield was erected around the arena to ensure all attacks were contained within it. The arena itself was much larger than it appeared to the naked eye. Members of the Dragon Valley Sect and the Seven Peaks Sect remained outside the arena to watch the battle. Before the battle began, many elders and disciples from the Myriad Hall Sect and Hongyang Sect within Dragon Valley City also arrived to witness this rare clash between Golden Core cultivators.

In the Dream Heaven Small World, cultivators who reach the Nascent Soul stage must ascend to the Upper Realm. This also means that the highest cultivation level a cultivator can reach while still in the Dream Heaven Small World is the Golden Core stage. Cultivators who are not particularly talented, no matter how hard they try, can basically only remain at the Golden Core stage until their lifespan ends.

The Dream Heaven Minor World was originally a Great World that had fallen to its current state. If the number of cultivators continues to decline, it might one day be punished by the Heavenly Dao and completely degenerate into a secular world devoid of cultivators. Therefore, regardless of the selfish motives of the sects and cultivators in the Dream Heaven Minor World, many cultivators still hope for more cultivators to ascend to the Upper Realm, allowing the Dream Heaven Minor World to maintain its current level or even upgrade, bringing more spiritual energy in the future to benefit themselves and their families. Cultivators with good talent and high cultivation levels at a young age always receive more favor. Competitions among young Golden Core stage cultivators are particularly eye-catching.

Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi stood face to face in the arena. Lin Shi had changed into the blue and white robes of the Seven Peaks Sect, while Yan Hezhi wore the red and black robes of the Dragon Valley Sect's inner disciple.

Lin Shi was strikingly beautiful, tall and slender. She still wore her signature flying-sky hairstyle, but the ornaments on her head had been replaced with magical artifacts. Her beautiful face showed no sign of panic or worry, only a calm and serene expression. In her right hand, Lin Shi held her natal sword, the Demon-Slaying Sword, its blade gleaming faintly with a cold light.

Yan Hezhi was tall and imposing, almost a head taller than Lin Shi, with handsome features. He wore a black-gold jade crown, which bound all his hair. His face was long and narrow, with a pale, cool complexion. Beneath thick black eyebrows were a pair of aloof, phoenix-shaped eyes, slightly upturned at the corners. His pupils were light brown, revealing little emotion. Below his straight nose were thin lips that were habitually pursed. His robes were fitted and flowing, appearing both magnificent and subtly imbued with traces of magical formations. The edges of his outer robe were embroidered with elegant red bamboo leaf patterns, revealing glimpses of a silver inner garment beneath. A pure black jade belt hung at his waist, with jade pendants dangling from it. His sword was entirely black, seemingly without any patterns. The blade was wide and flat, gleaming with a cold light. The hilt was black and red, adorned with a black and red tassel.

Neither Lin Shi nor Yan Hezhi dared to underestimate their opponent. They carefully sized each other up and silently assessed each other's strength. Lin Shi, being a female cultivator, wielded a much lighter sword, while Yan Hezhi seemed to favor a power-based approach. Neither had ever sparred with the other in swordsmanship before, and neither knew the other's skill level.

"Lin Shi, a 33-year-old female cultivator at the Golden Core stage from the Seven Peaks Sect, versus Yan Hezhi, a 43-year-old male cultivator at the Golden Core stage from the Dragon Valley Sect. The duel officially begins!" Seeing that the arena was set up, the two combatants were ready, and the Dragon Valley Sect members and other spectators were all prepared, one of the elders from the Dragon Valley Sect responsible for maintaining the arena loudly announced the start of the duel.

As soon as the elder announced the start of the duel, Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi immediately launched their attacks at each other. Both were sword cultivators, but their physical cultivation was also quite good. Their swordsmanship, array crafting, and array setting were also unique. Both were diligent learners, and their cultivation advancements were all due to their own strength, not forcibly increased by elixirs.

Lin Shi has less combat experience, but she is intelligent, has excellent predictive abilities, and is extremely meticulous. Yan Hezhi is experienced in combat, intelligent, has strong judgment, and pays attention to detail. In every aspect, their cultivation and abilities are extremely evenly matched.

For a time, Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle. From the very first attack, their swordplay was full of tricky and unexpected moves. One would hold his sword horizontally to block a frontal attack, while the other would thrust diagonally, attempting a sneak attack. The two seemed like longtime friends or fellow disciples, their swordsmanship perfectly evenly matched. Their cultivation levels and strength were also quite similar, leading to increasingly intense and varied techniques. The audience below the arena watched intently, not daring to blink, focusing on every detail of their duel.

Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi fought from day to night, and then from night to day. Numerous illuminating stones were installed in the arena, making it as bright as day. When either of them sustained minor injuries or felt their spiritual energy depleted, they would pop a pill into their mouths and continue attacking each other as soon as the pill took effect. Once their pills were almost all gone, they could only rely on their strength to fight.

The intensity of their sword intent was so strong that the audience below could feel a chilling aura. The most spectacular moment was when their sword energy materialized into small swords to attack each other, and after colliding, the small swords fell like rain. Their figures even transformed into terrifying sword energy with overwhelming power to attack each other.

The two fought for half a month, but neither could gain the upper hand in swordsmanship, so they chose to compete in other areas. Yan Hezhi was surprisingly skilled in music. He could play many different instruments, and by plucking the strings or blowing the flute, these instruments would become weapons to attack Lin Shi.

Lin Shi, on the other hand, possessed profound expertise in formations. She was also skilled in alchemy and weapon crafting, and her reserves of pills and magical artifacts were significantly greater than Yan Hezhi's. Faced with the methods of the sound cultivator, Lin Shi could only rely on formations to resist. Killing formations and combinations of killing and illusion formations were rapidly deployed in the arena, all aimed at attacking Yan Hezhi.

Many spectators at the competition venue sighed inwardly as they watched the fight, lamenting that effort was utterly insignificant compared to talent.

Beyond swordsmanship, Lin Shi's array-based attack methods and Yan Hezhi's sonic attack methods were far beyond the reach of most cultivators present, who would struggle to learn and master them even in one-on-one combat. Yet, Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi could apply them in countless variations, making them impossible to defend against. Their psychological warfare skills were also terrifyingly strong. Regardless of the odds of victory, as long as they had a fighting chance, they would never give up, never admit defeat, and never run away.

The spectators in the arena watched Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi fight for a whole month without a clear winner. As they fought, their cultivation levels progressed from the early to the middle stage of the Golden Core realm, only to slow down considerably in the later stages. If they could keep fighting and increasing their cultivation indefinitely, they might have fought until the end of time, until they ascended to the Upper Realm at the Nascent Soul stage.

As the twenty-second generation chief disciple of the Dragon Valley Sect, a top-tier sect, Yan Hezhi couldn't afford to lose. Lin Shi's victory or defeat was crucial to the preservation of her golden core, so she couldn't afford to lose either. Fortunately, there was still a possibility of a draw, so neither of them resorted to their final trump cards to fight to the death.

On the day that Lin Shi and Yan Hezhi had been fighting for a full month, the sect leader of the Dragon Valley Sect finally called a halt, declaring a draw and no victor. Their names, however, spread throughout the entire Dream Heaven Small World. Almost every cultivator in the Dream Heaven Small World made copies of their portraits and images to preserve them, lest they not recognize them and accidentally offend them, bringing trouble upon themselves.

When Lin Shi came down from the arena, everyone in her sect smiled happily at her and gave her a thumbs up.

On the day the competition ended, Lin Shi left the Dragon Valley Sect safely with her sect. She first buried Xu Xinghao, who had been reduced from a puppet to bones, and set up a better array to protect his tombstone from further damage. Afterwards, Lin Shi returned to the Seven Peaks Sect for a period of time, secluded herself for several months, consolidating her mid-Golden Core stage cultivation, refining more pills and array stones, and then set out to travel. Lin Shi needed to find more rare spiritual herbs and plants to refine high-level cultivation pills. At the same time, she needed more materials for array refining and artifact crafting. To successfully ascend to the Upper Realm after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, she also needed to find better materials to refine defensive magical artifacts to help her withstand the heavenly tribulations and lightning tribulations of the Nascent Soul stage.

Before Lin Shi left Seven Peaks Mountain, he overheard his elders and fellow disciples mentioning that Yan Hezhi of the Dragon Valley Sect had gone into seclusion for several months after their duel, and then went on a journey. However, the two did not encounter each other during their travels.

During her travels, Lin Shi accepted duel invitations from disciples of other major sects in Dragon Valley City who were of similar cultivation levels. She sparred with them individually, which further improved her cultivation. Afterward, she also arranged duels with cultivators from major sects in seven other major cities, including Crescent Moon City, Xuanwu City, Taiping City, and Immortal Island City. Each duel was packed with spectators.

Time flies. For cultivators, 55 years have passed in the blink of an eye. Lin Shi has turned 88. If she were still a mortal, she would most likely be dead at this age. At this time, Lin Shi's cultivation has reached the perfect Golden Core stage in various battles among cultivators of similar strength. She only needs an opportunity and a suitable chance to advance to the Nascent Soul stage and ascend to the Upper Realm.

Over the years, Lin Shi has traveled to almost every major city in the Dream Heaven Small World. She has slain countless evil cultivators, making her infamous. Evil cultivators tremble at the mere mention of her name and flee in terror.

More than half of Lin Shi's fellow disciples had already reached the Golden Core stage, but her cultivation was the closest to the Nascent Soul stage. The Seven Peaks Sect had expanded considerably in recent years, gaining many new disciples, including the next generation. The sect's membership had finally surpassed one hundred. However, Lin Shi did not recruit any disciples.