Chapter 1219: First Battle

After Han Li steadied himself, he swept his gaze around and noticed that most of the people Zhou Xianyang had previously mentioned as needing attention had appeared on the stage.

Among them were Luo Yuanshan of Qinghui Forest and Fairy Ziluo of Tianyou Lake, and naturally, Sikong Jian, who had personally participated despite his status as sect leader, was also present.

The audience below the stage disapproved of his behavior, even finding it shameful, and boos erupted around the square.

Seeing this, Sikong Jian smiled, snapped open his folding fan, and began to wave it gently, looking completely composed and unmoved.

However, despite their complaints, the crowd secretly admired his shamelessness, for the benefits of successfully obtaining a Bodhi Token were enough to make anyone envious.

From this perspective, Sikong Jian's gamble was not unwise.

"Sect Leader Zhou, if your sect's Fellow Daoist Chang could draw Sikong Jian, he must defeat him. That would bring Lone Sun Peak's prestige to rock bottom and avenge your long-standing grudge," Zhao Yuanlai said with a smile.

"Drawing lots is a matter of chance; how could it be so coincidental?" Zhou Xianyang nodded with a smile, but inwardly sneered, hoping Zhao Bolao would encounter Sikong Jian.

In fact, Sikong Jian's strength as a sect leader was already evident, and he had a notorious reputation for cunning, so naturally, everyone hoped to avoid fighting him.

"I have ninety-six marked number pills here. Each of you will choose one, and the number recorded on it will be your selection number. Then, through pairing, number one will fight number ninety-six, number two against number ninety-five, and so on. Is that clear?" the presiding elder said slowly.

"Clear," the participants responded in unison.

"Begin selecting numbers," the presiding elder said, tossing the pills casually.

Ninety-six gleaming beads flew into the air, scattered like stars, hovering above everyone's heads.

The participants raised their hands, and a bead fell like a meteor into each of their hands.

Han Li raised his hand to capture a bead, infused a wisp of immortal spiritual power into it, and the bead dimmed, revealing a number on its surface.

"Ninety-one..." Han Li murmured to himself.

The others also held their beads and saw their numbers.

Sikong Jian's number naturally became the focus of most people's attention, so they all turned their gazes toward him.

Seeing everyone looking at him, he didn't hide it and openly raised his bead, which bore the number "90."

"How could this be..." A lament came from the crowd.

Everyone turned to see a green-skinned man with a horn on his head and bulging cheeks, clutching a bead, looking at Sikong Jian with utter despair.

The others breathed a sigh of relief but secretly sympathized with the unlucky fellow.

"Ha, what a unlucky one. Fellow Daoist Chang, what's your number?" Zhao Bolao suddenly approached Han Li and asked with a smile.

Han Li raised his bead to show him.

After seeing the number, the latter's face stiffened, and he also raised his own bead.

Han Li frowned and saw that the bead bore the number "6," which corresponded to ninety-one.

"This really is... fate..." Zhao Bolao said with a wry smile.

He looked bitter and full of regret, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching, clearly unable to hide his true delight.

When he had transmitted his voice to Zhao Yuanlai earlier, they had both deemed "Chang Qi" a useless fool, so now that he had landed such a lucky break, he was naturally overjoyed.

"This... please go easy on me, Brother Bolao," Han Li said, his acting even better, with a hint of unease in his regret, deliberately lowering his voice.

"Fellow Daoist Chang, we're in the same boat..." Zhao Bolao said politely, though his confidence soared upon hearing this.

"Now that you have chosen your number pills, please have the first twelve and the last twelve numbers ascend to the twelve Earthly Branch martial platforms to begin the matches. The rest will wait and prepare," the presiding elder's voice rang out again.

Han Li and Zhao Bolao were among the first batch of participants to fight. According to the twelve Earthly Branches, they were assigned to the sixth platform, the Si Platform.

Sikong Jian's platform, the Wu Platform, was right next to them, separated by only a hundred zhang.

Amid the cheers of the onlookers, the first twenty-four combatants ascended the platforms.

Before Zhou Xianyang and Zhao Yuanlai could rejoice that Han Li and Zhao Bolao hadn't drawn Sikong Jian, they saw the two appear on the same platform.

"What a coincidence..." Zhao Yuanlai and Zhou Xianyang said almost simultaneously.

Both their tones held a hint of surprise and a touch of schadenfreude.

"Sect Leader Zhou, our two sects have always been close. Regardless of today's outcome, let's not harm our friendship," Zhao Yuanlai said with a chuckle, turning to Zhou Xianyang.

Zhao Yuanlai naturally believed victory was certain, paving the way for Zhao Bolao to defeat Han Li.

"Of course," Zhou Xianyang replied with a smile.

Even if Han Li were impersonating his junior brother, let alone the real Chang Qi, he had confidence in his junior brother.

On the circular stone platform, the few seated in the center were not very concerned about the fights on the martial platforms, chatting among themselves. They had naturally isolated a small space around them, so even those sitting nearby could not hear their conversation, and others dared not eavesdrop.

"Fairy Fengtian, I've heard that there have been disturbances across the True Immortal Realm lately. Not only is the Reincarnation Palace restless, but even the Gray Realm is stirring. What's going on?" Pure Jun True Man asked.

"In the North Cold Immortal Domain, the Qingmang Immortal Domain, and the Black Mountain Immortal Domain, traces of Gray Realm creatures have appeared, but they are just minor skirmishes, nothing significant," Fairy Fengtian replied with a sneer.

Upon hearing this, Pure Jun True Man frowned. If the Heavenly Court maintained such an attitude, that itself was a big problem.

"Didn't the Heavenly Court make arrangements in the Gray Realm before? Has something changed there?" Pure Jun True Man asked.

"Indeed, changes have occurred in the Gray Realm. The previously neutral Black Rope Domain has begun to ally with the Reincarnation Domain, and the Nine Nether Domain, under pressure, has cut ties with our Heavenly Court. In short, it seems they have unified their stance and are launching a large-scale invasion of the Immortal Realm," Fairy Fengtian said, a hint of hesitation on her face before transmitting her words.

Although Pure Jun True Man had already received some news, he was still somewhat surprised to hear it directly from Fairy Fengtian.

Many years ago, the old ancestor had analyzed the future situation of the Immortal Domains, and now it seemed to be gradually coming true.

As the two were conversing, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the square. The presiding elder, seeing that all twelve Earthly Branch martial platforms had combatants, announced the start of the matches.

"Forgive me, Brother Bolao," Han Li said on the Si Platform, cupping his hand in salute to Zhao Bolao.

"Fellow Daoist Chang, just make your move," Zhao Bolao returned the salute with a smile.

With that, he waved his hand, and a white light screen materialized, expanding to envelop the entire platform.

On the light screen, crystalline light flickered, and faint patterns of six-petal snowflakes densely appeared, quite beautiful.

"Brother Bolao's ice-attribute law power is truly profound. I am impressed," Han Li said with a smile.

"I've heard that Fellow Daoist Chang excels in body cultivation. Today, I'd like to test your skills," Zhao Bolao said politely but acted without hesitation.

He waved both hands, and blue cold air rose from the ground around them. The void echoed with cracking freezing sounds as a layer of blue ice crystals spread instantly, covering the entire platform.

Han Li stomped heavily on the ground, and a white blast of energy expanded from his foot, shattering the surging blue ice crystals into powder.

Seeing this, Zhao Bolao smirked and summoned his hands. The cold air on the ground intensified, and ice spikes rose layer by layer, thrusting into the sky like spears.

Han Li's hundreds of acupoints lit up around his body, and he leaped into the air in an instant.

Immediately after, a blur appeared behind him as Zhao Bolao followed closely.

He held a blue spear and thrust it straight at Han Li's back.

With Han Li's speed, dodging would have been easy, but since he was participating under the identity of Chang Qi, displaying unusual speed would only invite suspicion.

So he simply lowered his shoulder, dropped his body, and stood on the tips of two ice spikes, allowing the blue spear to strike his shoulder.

Seeing Han Li avoid the vital point, Zhao Bolao felt a slight regret and surged his immortal spiritual power wildly.

The runes at the tip of the blue spear brightened, and an extreme cold seeped out. The spear tip blazed with blue light, emitting a burst of blue ice flames that froze half of Han Li's shoulder and his entire arm.

"Fellow Daoist Chang, my apologies," Zhao Bolao said, unable to suppress his smile.

He shook his spear, and a powerful force penetrated, shattering the newly formed ice crystals.

Han Li felt a numbness in his arm as the blue ice crystals turned into pale blue powder and dissipated into the void.

"How is that possible?"

The moment Zhao Bolao saw that Han Li's arm had not vanished with the ice crystals, his expression turned extremely ugly.

"Brother Bolao, perhaps you don't understand us body cultivators. The physique is the foundation. This bit of extreme cold is really insufficient. You'd better not hold back," Han Li said with a gentle smile.

With that, the acupoints on his arm lit up, and he punched toward Zhao Bolao.

Imitating Chang Qi's technique, he exerted force from his bones, and his arm was enveloped in white light, as if bathed in starlight.