Chapter 319: Chapter 183: Fighting All the Dongs

Although Yang Jing knew the conflict between the three Dong factions ran deep, he hadn’t expected it to reach this point. They were actually sitting by, watching an outsider slaughter their own kin, and even seemed to be looking forward to it.

One had to remember that Dong Xiji was the grandson of the Dong Kingdom’s Sovereign, not just some nobody.

Yang Jing didn’t know the full story, so he couldn’t understand why Dong Xiji hated the Pan City Dong Family with such passion. Still, he wasn’t surprised. Even among mortals, blood brothers would fight to the death over a small fortune. After tens of thousands of years, the bonds of kinship between the various Dong Family branches had likely worn thin.

Dong Xiji had come prepared. He listed all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Pan City Dong Family who excelled in Magical Combat and had proven track records. He explained to Yang Jing in great detail what techniques each of them specialized in and what powerful Spiritual Artifacts or Magical Treasures they possessed.

Adhering to the principle that even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, Yang Jing committed every piece of this intelligence to memory.

After all, the Nine Heavens World was home to a sea of stars’ worth of strange and esoteric Magic, and it was always possible someone possessed a technique that could counter him.

Knowing that Yang Jing had Magical Combat the next day—and that it might even be a gauntlet of consecutive battles—Dong Xiji didn’t dare disturb him for long. He didn’t stay for much longer before preparing to leave.

"Speaking of which, I’m a little surprised that bastard Dong Xixian didn’t show up to join the fun."

The moment Dong Xixian was mentioned, Dong Xiji found it hard to maintain the dignified air of a Noble Family scion. He had once been challenged to a duel by Dong Xixian. By borrowing the power of a Golden Core Demon King, Dong Xixian had used immense Magical Power to brute-force his way through Dong Xiji’s Flying Sword, close the distance, and defeat him.

Such a humiliating defeat, especially in front of so many disciples from the three Dong factions, had left Dong Xiji with a deep-seated grudge against Dong Xixian.

Yang Jing raised an eyebrow, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.

’Could it be because Dong Xixian is too ashamed to show his face after being defeated by Iron Head?’

He pushed the thought aside and sat cross-legged on the Meditation Cushion, silently regulating his breathing.

That night, quite a few people spied on Yang Jing from the shadows. Only upon seeing that he was protected by Zuoqiu Feng, a cultivator at the Golden Core Realm, did they refrain from acting rashly.

Zuoqiu Feng’s expression was grim.

"It seems many people aren’t playing fair. They want to use underhanded means to sabotage you before tomorrow’s contest."

"They’re just despicable schemers. Nothing to be afraid of," Yang Jing said dismissively.

If someone could defeat him in tomorrow’s contest, they could instantly seize the reputation Yang Jing had built at the White Dragon Academy over the past few days, and also win the favor of the Pan City Dong Family.

With such great benefits at stake, it was only natural that some would try to use sneaky tricks beforehand.

However, while Yang Jing could understand their motives, he had no intention of forgiving them. He had already memorized the auras of those individuals.

They had tried their best to conceal themselves, but how could they possibly hide from Yang Jing, who possessed both the Grotto Dark Dharma Eye and Bright Qi Talent?

The next day, the area around the Magic Battle Platform was packed to the brim. Not only had every teacher and student from the White Dragon Academy come, but some other powerful individuals had also entered the academy to watch the battle.

Many people wanted to see with their own eyes this genius from the Five Elements True Spirit Sect, the one who had made a great name for himself in the Northern Domain and defeated all challengers at the White Dragon Academy.

Yang Jing sensed the presence of seven Golden Core Cultivators alone.

Because the Dragon Transformation Pool contest was just an unspoken rule agreed upon privately by the White Dragon Academy’s students, it couldn’t be made an official event.

Therefore, neither the head of the White Dragon Academy nor the Dean made an appearance.

Yang Jing walked directly onto the Magic Battle Platform and waited for a challenger to come forward.

Most of the challengers were disciples from the Pan City Dong Family and the True Spirit Lineage of the Dong Family. They had already decided on their fighting order.

A towering, powerfully built man soared into the air with his Dragon Beast and landed on the Magic Battle Platform.

"So you’re Yang Jing! My Dong Family was kind enough to issue a Dragon Transformation Order and lend you the Dragon Transformation Pool, yet you dare to monopolize it! To think that in trying to befriend a genius, my Dong Family would accidentally stumble upon an ungrateful wolf like you!"

The first Cultivator to take the stage knew his mission wasn’t to defeat Yang Jing, but to do everything in his power to provoke him and drain his Magical Power.

Yang Jing stared at him with his jet-black eyes. This time, unlike during the previous Dragon Transformation Pool contest, he didn’t say much. The crowd of spectators wasn’t limited to students of the White Dragon Academy; it was a complicated mix of people. The more he said, the more likely he was to misspeak.

"Are you done talking?"

The large man looked into his eyes and, for some reason, felt a flicker of fear.

"You shameless bastard, you..."

He was about to say more, but a sharp Sword Light was already screaming toward him.

During the Dragon Transformation Pool contest ten days ago, Yang Jing had already displayed incredibly sharp Swordsmanship. Naturally, these Cultivators would not be completely unprepared. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The large man summoned a giant shield the size of a door panel, slammed it into the ground, and a turbid yellow Defensive Spirit Light completely enveloped him.

The giant shield took root the moment it landed, binding itself tightly to the surface of the Magic Battle Platform.

The man used the Great Cave Spirit Scripture to borrow Magical Power from his Spirit-Contracted Dragon Beast, causing the already thick Defensive Spirit Light to shine even brighter. He hid directly behind the Spiritual Light, continuously spewing all sorts of vile curses, trying to enrage Yang Jing and bait him into attacking to wear down his Magical Power.

Below the platform, Dong Xiji saw this and simply shook his head.

’He has some cunning, I’ll give him that. But to think he can block Fellow Daoist Yang with just a High-level Defensive Spiritual Artifact... he’s severely underestimating him.’

He had personally witnessed Yang Jing destroy an entire Array all by himself.

Even with borrowed Magical Power from a Dragon Beast, how could one man’s strength compare to the Power of an Array that drew upon a Spirit Vein?

BOOM!

The verdant Wood Element Sword Light smashed into the Spiritual Light, instantly producing a resonant boom like a great bell.

The Defensive Spirit Light trembled slightly, and the large man felt a humming vibration transmitted through the giant shield in his hands.

"How can a mere Flying Sword possess such astonishing Power!"

He was aghast.

This terrifying Giant Power reminded the man of his time in the Zhenhai Army, when he had used his giant shield to withstand the charge of colossal Sea Beasts.

Yang Jing didn’t stop. A mass of One-Element Heavy Water, condensed from Magical Power, materialized beside him. The next moment, it transformed into a roaring, swirling Water Dragon.

The large man didn’t recognize that the Water Dragon was formed from One-Element Heavy Water. Seeing Yang Jing attack him with a Water Technique, he was secretly delighted.

To counter the Sea Beasts of the ocean, his Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact was of the Earth Element, the perfect counter to Water Element Magic.

The next instant, with a thunderous CRASH, the turbid yellow Defensive Spirit Light shattered as easily as an eggshell. The Water Dragon slammed into the giant shield, and the force of the impact sent the shield, along with the large man and his Dragon Beast behind it, flying like a cannonball.

They flew for several dozen yards.

It was a kind-hearted Golden Core Cultivator. Unable to bear seeing a Dong Family disciple get injured, he used his Magical Power to catch him.

The giant man’s hands hung limply at his sides, the bones in his arms completely shattered. As for the giant shield, the Spiritual Artifact he valued most, it shattered into a pile of fragments the moment it touched the ground.

A wave of sharp intakes of breath swept through the crowd.

The spectators couldn’t quite believe it. Yang Jing had shattered a High-level Tier giant shield Spiritual Artifact with a single sword strike.

If the shield hadn’t absorbed most of the impact, the man and his Dragon Beast would have been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.

"This kid has Refined One-Element Heavy Water. But even with One-Element Heavy Water, simply Binding Water into a Sword shouldn’t produce such astonishing power, right?"

The Golden Core Cultivator who had caught the large man levitated a fragment of the shield from the ground. He discovered that while the Water Dragon Sword was sharp and had left a sword mark on the shield, what had truly destroyed it was the overwhelming, crushing pressure.

Yang Jing didn’t disperse the Water Dragon Magical Sword. Instead, he controlled it to circle his body.

"Next."

Below the stage, the numerous Dong Family disciples looked at each other in dismay. In terms of defensive Power alone, the man who had just been knocked off was ranked in the middle tier among them. To be blasted off the Magic Battle Platform in a single strike was truly demoralizing.

The next Dong Family disciple steeled himself and leaped onto the Magic Battle Platform. The Water Dragon Magical Sword merely charged once, shattering his Defensive Spirit Light and sweeping both him and his Dragon Beast off the platform.

Several more Dong Family disciples jumped onto the platform in succession, using all sorts of techniques, but they were all swept off the Magic Battle Platform by the Water Dragon Magical Sword with a single charge and sweep, utterly powerless to resist.

The crowd of Cultivators watching the Magical Combat grew smaller and smaller.

Many of those easily defeated by Yang Jing were prominent figures among their peers, individuals of outstanding Power. Yet they had never imagined that when facing Yang Jing directly, they would be as helpless as infants.

They were all from the same clan, connected by blood. Some students of the White Dragon Academy even began to sob.

"Did he use this kind of technique that day?"

A large man completely encased in Armor, looking like an iron puppet, stood beside Dong Jianzhi and asked with some curiosity.

"N-no."

A bitter expression crossed Dong Jianzhi’s face. He had never imagined that the Yang Jing who had swept through the White Dragon Academy that day had actually been holding back.

"Tell them all to stop. They’re defeated in a single blow, not draining Yang Jing’s Magical Power at all. They are only tarnishing the Dong Family’s reputation for nothing."

The large man said in a deep, booming voice:

"This man must have been invited by the Yicheng Dong Family and the Quwo Dong Family specifically to crush the morale of our True Spirit Lineage."

As the armored man spoke, he released his Dragon Beast from his Beast Taming Bag. It was an extremely muscular Dragon Horse, standing a full eight feet tall at the shoulder, with the head of a dragon, the body of a horse, and covered in golden scales.

Its head was identical to that of a True Dragon, and its face was ferocious. Sparks continuously spewed from its mouth and nostrils.

Its sheer Magical Power and vital energy forced Dong Jianzhi to take two steps back.

"Monopolizing the entire Dragon Transformation Pool was just a ploy to lure out us disciples of the True Spirit Lineage and crush our fighting spirit."

Although almost all Dong Family disciples raised a Dragon Beast, the ones competing for usage rights in the Dragon Transformation Pool contest were mostly disciples from the True Spirit Lineage who cultivated the Great Cave Spirit Scripture.

The armored man had heard that the original form of Yang Jing’s Dragon Beast was a white dog, with almost no trace of a dragon about it. Letting a white dog occupy the entire Dragon Transformation Pool—if that wasn’t a deliberate humiliation of their True Spirit Lineage, what was?

The Dragon Horse reared up on its hind legs, letting out a long neigh and baring a mouthful of fangs. The armored man took out an Iron Spear, mounted the Dragon Horse, and pointed the spear toward Yang Jing.

"Yang Jing, I will be your opponent!"