Chapter 163: A Chat With an Old Friend

The battle among the four gradually began to show signs of a victor.
Bai Hongtu’s Sword Dao was no weaker than the Sword Sovereign’s, and he was also well-versed in runes and formations. The Sword Sovereign, relying solely on his sword, found it hard to compete and started to fall behind.
Yu Yin had just broken through to the Tribulation Stage, her foundation still shallow. Even with the Nation’s Fortune supporting her, she couldn’t match an old Tribulation Stage like Li Er who had already survived an Immortal Ascension Tribulation.
In fact, the Ruyi Gourd, being an Immortal Artifact, naturally had power beyond the Tribulation Stage. Otherwise, when the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal was enlightening the Spiritual Treasure, the present Tribulation Stage cultivators would’ve had to step in to suppress them.
But Yu Yin didn’t want to use the Ruyi Gourd’s full power. Even if she defeated Li Er, she wouldn’t feel it was a true victory based on her own ability.
She’d rather not win at all.
Though both the Sword Sovereign and Yu Yin were at a disadvantage, it wasn’t a battle that could be decided quickly—Tribulation Stage fights were always long and drawn out.
Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin exchanged a glance and made a silent decision to retreat from the fight and regroup.
Eight small flags flew out from Bai Hongtu’s storage ring, forming an ancient grand formation above Li Er and the Sword Sovereign.
Yu Yin stepped forward, placing the Nation’s Fortune Chessboard below Li Er and the Sword Sovereign.
The formation and chessboard merged into one, isolating a portion of space. Countless runes appeared, their purpose unknown.
Li Er and the Sword Sovereign noticed that the flow of spiritual energy inside their bodies began to slow. Even releasing sword intent and Dharma Body became significantly harder—like mortals moving through water, resistance met them at every turn.
“What is this?” Li Er had never seen a move combining Nation’s Fortune with a formation.
“It was originally meant for Jiang Li. We wanted to see if we could win at least once in a hundred fights. Who would’ve thought we’d use it on you two first,” Bai Hongtu said.
Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin were both top contenders for Human Sovereign. Unfortunately, Jiang Li was too monstrously strong, leaving them without hope.
But they still wanted to defeat him just once. So, they came up with this method of combining Nation’s Fortune and a grand formation.
Plans never keep up with change. The two spent decades devising this plan, finally completing it—only for Jiang Li to grow rapidly, beating Outer World Demons like they were his grandsons. Even with this method, they had zero chance of winning, so it was shelved and never used.
This was their first time using it publicly.
As the grand formation and chessboard activated, the runes transformed into the images of Li Er and the Sword Sovereign, mimicking their techniques with little to no difference. When Li Er used his Dharma Body, the rune version did too. When the Sword Sovereign unleashed sword intent, so did the rune version.
What’s more, the rune clones moved smoothly, unrestrained by resistance!
Li Er found the rune clone copying his every move extremely annoying.
When Li Er stomped and shattered the starry river, the rune Li Er did the same.
When Li Er roared, shaking the universe, the rune Li Er roared just as loud.
When Li Er slapped himself hard—
The rune clone didn’t move at all.
“……”
Li Er could swear this spiteful rune clone had to be Bai Hongtu’s doing!
The Sword Sovereign and Li Er fought their rune counterparts, whose mimicry was near unbeatable. The two were struggling.
Punch a rune? It punched back. Slash with a sword? It slashed back.
Li Er let out a thunderous roar, his aura ancient and overwhelming. His clothes couldn’t withstand the pressure and ripped to shreds.
His towering Dharma Body burst through the formation and chessboard’s seal, impossibly tall—stars really did look like pebbles in its eyes.
That night, Li Er hadn’t been bragging!
Bai Hongtu and the Sword Sovereign both looked awkward—everyone else was bluffing, but he was telling the truth.
Li Er grinned wickedly, a massive hand stretching across the sky. Even the Nine Provinces Continent looked like a grain of sand to him.
“Heh, big and slow, useless.” Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin didn’t see this as a threat. In this world, size didn’t equate to strength. If that were the case, the Buddhist Sect wouldn’t chase after the Sixteen-Foot Golden Body.
The four resumed their chaotic clash, with a momentum that could shatter galaxies—especially Li Er, whose destructive power was overwhelming. A mere twist of his body caused countless stars to collapse.
“Sigh, guess I’ll have to clean up again,” Jiang Li muttered. At this rate, it wasn’t just the battle—cultivators across the Nine Provinces were going to develop PTSD.
Ji Zhi was still taking heart-calming pills and side-eyeing Jiang Li, thinking: If not for you, would this mess even exist?
Jiang Li rose and flew to the battlefield.
The four were clearly caught up in the excitement and didn’t stop when they saw him.
Jiang Li flew straight through the Dharma Body’s defenses, grabbed Li Er’s ankle, and slammed him down hard.
The defense, which Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin together couldn’t even crack, was easily pierced by Jiang Li.
The Sword Sovereign’s sword energy roared like a river, shaking the galaxy—but Jiang Li broke his sword intent with a punch, stepped on him, and threw him onto Li Er.
“Wait, I’m done fighting,” Bai Hongtu realized and quickly shouted.
“Too late,” Jiang Li said coldly.
Tens of thousands of runes blocked Bai Hongtu’s front—even an Immortal would take time to break through. But Jiang Li didn’t bother. He went into a phased state, invisible and intangible, passing right through the runes and grabbing Bai Hongtu by the throat.
Bai Hongtu was stunned, recognizing Jiang Li’s move—it was one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spells, “True Form Without Shadow.” Once mastered, one existed in neither here nor there: visible but untouchable.
“When did you learn that?!”
Jiang Li didn’t answer—he just threw him onto the Sword Sovereign.
“I’ll go myself,” Yu Yin jumped onto Bai Hongtu.
Jiang Li had originally planned to toss Yu Yin too, but she reacted quickly and got into place on her own.
No way Jiang Li would pick her up just to throw her again.
“I’ve told you all before—watch your image, watch your image. Stay at the Nascent Soul Stage. Look at yourselves now. Do you look like Nascent Soul cultivators?”
“I picked you to participate in the tournament to give Ji Zhi face, to support Great Zhou’s events, not to stir up trouble.”
“Just look at you. What kind of example are you setting? Do you even have the bearing of Tribulation Stage cultivators?”
The four thought: When did you ever say that? But seeing Ji Zhi’s expressionless face, they chose to keep quiet and accept their medals like obedient children.
Ji Zhi sneered inwardly: “Didn’t come to stir up trouble,” yeah right—I totally believe you.
He silently resolved to train hard and one day go back five hundred years to beat shameless Jiang Li into the dirt.
“And look at all those stars in the sky. How many are left now?” Jiang Li asked, heartbroken.
“Three hundred sixty-three,” Li Er answered honestly.
“Starting today, you will restore every last one. You don’t come back to the Nine Provinces until they’re all back.”
Jiang Li had been at the Tribulation Stage—he knew their capabilities. Even crushed stars could be pieced back together. It wasn’t impossible, just time-consuming.
“Oh,” the four agreed dutifully.
“But before heading into space, I want to catch up with an old friend,” Bai Hongtu said.
“I want to catch up with an old friend too.”
“Same here.”
“Ditto.”
“Go and come back quickly.”
The four cracked their knuckles and walked toward Tianming Daoist, cold smiles on their faces…
“Don’t come any closer!”
“Flippant attitude, huh?!”
“Shameless tricks, huh?!”
“Outdated style, huh?!”
“Naïve and foolish, huh?!”
A while later, the four soared toward space, refreshed and in high spirits, cleaning up the aftermath.
“Tianming Daoist, are you selling that corpse? Our Corpse-Driving Sect pays top dollar.”
“From now on, your sect pays 50% more for intel.”
Tianming Daoist swallowed the Great Revitalization Pill he’d long prepared—good as new.