"How dare you!"

Yuan Wei’s face was a mask of bluster, his shout betraying his inner cowardice.

Provoking a powerful enemy right before the Seven Peaks tournament was an extremely unwise move. Yuan Wei had only dared to stir up trouble because he was betting that Zhong Ming would swallow the grievance and back down for the sake of Longxi Peak’s bigger picture.

He was gambling on Zhong Ming being a "pushover." It was just like that saying from another life—it’s always the good guys who get a gun pointed at them.

Unfortunately for him, Zhong Ming was never the type to be pushed around.

Now, emulating a Sword Cultivator, he met all provocations with the most resolute and tyrannical response.

And this very attitude—treating Cuixiang Mountain as an opponent without a hint of hesitation—was what made Yuan Wei panic.

Even now, he still believed Cuixiang Mountain was stronger than Longxi Peak, but no matter how ’weak’ Longxi Peak was, it was still one of the Seven Peaks.

Rashly provoking such an enemy would definitely have a huge impact on their tournament results.

And Yuan Wei wasn’t even a core disciple of Cuixiang Mountain. If the peak’s performance worsened because of him, the senior apprentice-sisters, the elders, and the Peak Master would never let him off the hook.

Knowing he had caused a huge disaster, Yuan Wei’s gaze toward Zhong Ming grew ever more resentful.

People rarely reflect on their own mistakes. At this moment, he only resented Zhong Ming for not following his script:

’Damn you! Why couldn’t you just suck it up and consider the bigger picture!’

He was seething with resentment, about to spew another threat.

But before the harsh words could leave his mouth, a clear, crisp sound, like a drop of water, exploded beside his ear.

HUMMM!

This Dripping Water Clear Sound pierced straight into his Sea of Consciousness, reverberating through his Divine Soul and stirring up ripples.

This sudden turn of events made his consciousness blur for a moment.

And when he ’awoke’ again, he found that an invisible restraint had been lifted from his eyes, allowing him to see the world’s truth.

A truth that filled him with terror and dread.

BOOM!

Now, in his eyes, Zhong Ming was no longer unremarkable.

Boundless majesty emanated from him. A ferocious, terrifying, yet majestic dragon coiled above Zhong Ming’s head like a Dharma Guardian Divine General.

The moment the Vortex Dragon appeared, the world as he perceived it was completely transformed.

WHOOSH...

Wind assailed him from all directions. An endless gale swept up clouds as black as ink, instantly darkening the sky in his vision.

Wind and clouds intertwined, dark clouds pressing down on the city—this apocalyptic scene was already terrifying Yuan Wei. But what truly made his blood run cold was that as Zhong Ming’s gaze fell upon him, the Vortex Dragon coiling in the sky slowly turned its head and fixed its stare on him.

It even felt as if this entire corner of the world had transformed into a cage, pressing down on him.

CRACK... CRACK...

The infinite pressure made his body and soul tremble, and his teeth chattered audibly.

Right now, he desperately wanted to shake his head and roar that this was all fake, all an illusion, hoping to bolster his courage.

But he soon discovered... he couldn’t.

The gaze of the Dragon Flood Dragon and the pressure of the heavens made him feel as if he were being targeted by the fiercest of natural predators. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t move a muscle.

Finally, to his horror, he realized that fear had gripped his throat like a giant hand, forcing him to hold his breath involuntarily.

Even the beating of his heart was slowly, gradually, stopping.

...

His breathing stopped, his heart slowed. The lack of oxygen to his brain made his vision go dark, and the scene before his eyes grew even more terrifying and ghastly.

And this gave rise to a despairing thought.

’Am I going to die? ... Scared to death, literally?’

’How is this possible? How can he be this strong?’

Yuan Wei couldn’t believe it. Zhong Ming, however, had eyes full of indifference and ice.

Everything happening before him was, of course, Zhong Ming’s doing.

Zhong Ming hadn’t been idle these past few days.

Ever since obtaining the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon, Zhong Ming had been researching how to use it for things other than drawing his sword.

’When the Sword Seed erupts, that single strike beyond the limits is powerful, but it’s a desperate, life-risking move. I need to develop other uses for the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon.’

In the end, relying on the properties of the Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water and the marvels of the Clear Sound Spring Stone...

Zhong Ming had truly developed a special application. By using the principle of a water drop transmitting ripples, he could link an enemy’s Heart Soul to his own Sea of Consciousness. Then, he could use the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon to stun their Divine Soul, striking fear into their Heart Spirit.

Of course, this alone would only startle and terrify his enemies. Making them unable to breathe, making their hearts gradually stop—that wasn’t just the effect of the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon.

The killing blow that followed was related to the Spirit Stream Finger - Jie Technique.

Zhong Ming had said before that the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon had a miraculous effect on improving cultivation techniques. By attaching his consciousness to the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon, his understanding of water, of flowing, and of dragons would ascend to a higher realm.

Cultivating magic techniques from this state of understanding would greatly increase the efficiency of his practice.

And over these seven days, the main magic technique Zhong Ming cultivated was the Spirit Stream Finger - Jie Technique.

After several days of arduous cultivation, aided by Mind Reading and Heaven Rewards Diligence, Zhong Ming had "ground" this cultivation technique to the Fourth Realm.

[Spirit Stream Finger - Jie Technique, Fourth Realm Proficiency (327/42,000), Traits: ① Observing the Flow of Water, ② Bright Mirror Stilled Water - Ripples, ③ Blocking]

Blocking was very powerful. If this trait were used in the physical world, say, to strike a current of water, it could create the bizarre scene of "a sword cutting water, and the water staying cut."

Of course, this would require Zhong Ming to expend Magical Power. If his Magical Power ran out, the water would resume its flow.

The best way to apply this trait was to imbue Magical Power with it and then strike it into an enemy’s body.

At that point, the Magical Power carrying the [Blocking] trait would sever the enemy’s Circulation of the Celestial Orbit. Unable to circulate their Magical Power smoothly, the enemy’s strength would be drastically reduced.

Normally, this was the extent of the trait’s application—though it was already powerful enough.

But Zhong Ming, aside from the knowledge of Daoist Skills from this world, also possessed some scientific knowledge from his previous life.

Well, knowledge alone wouldn’t have been enough; Zhong Ming wasn’t a prodigy.

But who could argue with him having Heaven Rewards Diligence? When his Spirit Stream Finger - Jie Technique advanced, Zhong Ming had a minor epiphany.

And during that epiphany, the knowledge from his past life surged up in his mind and was integrated into his understanding.

’...The reason the human body can breathe, move, and receive information from the outside world... is all controlled by the nervous system...’

’...And the nervous system is divided into the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The former is the core for information processing and decision-making, while the latter is responsible for connecting the center to all the body’s organs and transmitting signals...’

’...And the human central nervous system is primarily composed of the brain...’

’The brain is the seat of the Divine Soul. Since I have Blocking, and I can use flowing ripples to stun an enemy’s Divine Soul... couldn’t I leverage this synergy? While their Divine Soul is stunned, could I block their central nervous system, preventing their brain from sending signals to the rest of their body?’

As it turned out, Zhong Ming had succeeded.

This combo involved numerous abilities: [Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon], [Spirit Stream Finger - Jie Technique - Blocking], [Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water]... The participation of so many abilities made its power utterly terrifying.

Against enemies with weak Divine Souls, he didn’t even need to do anything. A single glance was enough to intimidate their Divine Soul with the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon. Then, amid that intimidation, he could block their central nervous system, causing their bodily functions to cease in a state of terror and fear until they died.

More importantly, this move was an area-of-effect attack.

HUMMM...

As the ripples of the Dripping Water Clear Sound spread outward, one after another, the disciples of Cuixiang Mountain were pulled into the domain of [Gale and Torrential Rain].

Under the intimidation of the Vortex Dragon, their Divine Souls were stunned, and their central nervous systems were blocked.

This caused the Cuixiang Mountain disciples, one by one, to freeze on the spot as if struck by a Body-Fixing Technique.

And within a few breaths, the rigid Cuixiang Mountain Cultivators’ breathing stopped, and their heartbeats faded to almost nothing.

As their bodily functions ceased, their auras weakened rapidly.

This scene was, of course, noticed by the people nearby.

"That’s... Yuan Wei..."

"Bastard, what did you do—" HUMMM!

The moment the enraged shout began, Zhong Ming’s gaze shifted over. At the same time, the clear, ringing ripples reached the man’s ear, pulling his Divine Soul into Zhong Ming’s Sea of Consciousness to face the Vortex Dragon directly.

Unsurprisingly, he failed to withstand the Vortex Dragon’s intimidation and had his central nervous system blocked by Zhong Ming.

...

Just like that, there was one more person standing frozen on the scene.

And this made the people from Cuixiang Mountain even more terrified.

"A single glance? Are you kidding me!"

Zhong Ming was an A Class prodigy, after all. The people from Cuixiang Mountain could accept being defeated by him. The reason they had acted so aggressively before was that they believed they had strength in numbers, with people like Su Lingya and Lin Yuxuan backing them up.

This was why they hadn’t been afraid of Zhong Ming.

However, while they could accept being defeated, even being struck down by one of Zhong Ming’s sword strikes, they couldn’t accept this dream-like scene where a single glance could mow down their companions like wheat.

"How could you possibly do something like this!"

This scene wasn’t just incomprehensible to the Cuixiang Mountain disciples; Jiang Yue, Liu Wanyu, and even Xie Yuzhu, Xie Yushuang, and Yi Yunya, who had been following Zhong Ming all this time, were also completely bewildered.

"Senior Brother Zhong Ming... how did he get this strong?!"