Chapter 1197: Chapter 1062: Zi Ran the Invader (Part 1) Having said that, Zi Ran walked to the front of the platform.
On full alert!
Her slightly hunched body now stood there utterly motionless, like a Cang Song. Those somewhat cloudy yet extremely resolute eyes were set straight ahead, yet her gaze did not truly alight on anything; only her heart, at this moment, had a clear destination—it stopped on the Vortex Dueling Platform.
Zi Ran had no intention of contesting victory or defeat, because she possessed no desire for such things. Having lived so long, she had long since seen through many things.
However, she wanted this world to witness the Vortex New Dao, and she wanted the Immortal Sect’s Vortex New Dao to become renowned throughout You Country.
Starting from this very moment!
Seeing Zi Ran’s unwavering demeanor, Lin Yehong hardened his heart. "Since that’s the case, Master Zi Ran, then I, Lin, shall seek your instruction."
As soon as he spoke, Lin Yehong said without holding anything back: "I, Lin, cultivate one of the Thousand Crafts Sect’s Ten Divine Arts—Small Thousand World. Over the years, the twenty-three Elders and seven Vice Palace Masters of our sect who have cultivated ’Small Thousand World’ have all become famous throughout the world through this Divine Art. My own ’Small Thousand World’ may only be at Great Success, yet it was enough for me to become first among the Four Vortex Divine Artisans on the Vortex Divine Artisan Ranking in the Primordial Yang Domain."
Lin Yehong’s words suddenly cut off, and then, like a tiger and like a dragon, he exploded into a roar!
"Let me see how your so-called Vortex New Dao is going to defeat me today!"
As his voice fell, Lin Yehong’s Meridian Gate shook with a bang, and an overwhelming surge of blood-colored Vein Qi erupted, sweeping across the entire Vortex Dueling Platform like a tide. Standing within it, Lin Yehong’s eyes also turned blood-red; if not for the complete absence of killing intent, no one would have believed this was merely a vortex duel.
With the eruption of the blood-colored tide, one hundred and twenty portions of Celestial Material and Earthly Treasure essences—pre-refined in advance by the City Lord’s Mansion to a purity of seventy percent—flew out from their containers, and then the blood-colored tide instantly grew complex, interwoven Blood Branches to tether them in place.
From afar, within the blood-colored tide, Blood Branches drew along the essences of Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures, like a towering tree reaching into the heavens!
The Blood Branches were the branches, and the multicolored essences of Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures were the fruits!
The next moment.
Lin Yehong extended a single finger and pointed toward one Blood Branch. The branch trembled, and the essence of the Celestial Material or Earthly Treasure upon it fell in response, landing with perfect accuracy into the Vortex Diagram. Then the second, the third, the fourth... trembled in succession.
In a mere ten breaths, a total of thirty-three Celestial Material and Earthly Treasure essences fell into the Vortex Diagram. Within the Vortex Diagram, they were like a group of strangers suddenly brought together—some irritably repelled one another, some eagerly fused, and some outright swallowed another type of Celestial Material essence in one bite...
Anything could happen, so the instant all this began, Lin Yehong condensed his Blood Qi into a serpent of flame, which dived headfirst into the Vortex Diagram. The moment the fire serpent entered, all the Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures rushed toward it as if they had seen a dear kin, flowing with its rotation within the Vortex Diagram and slowly fusing together.
One circuit, two circuits...
Only after the fire serpent roamed the Vortex Diagram for a full hundred circuits did Lin Yehong once more raise a finger and point toward a Blood Branch above his head.
At the same time, Zi Ran merely watched, making no move to act immediately.
But the low, amazed murmurs of Li Changhai, Qing Qian, and the others had already risen.
"So this is Small Thousand World? It truly is extraordinary!"
"Worthy indeed of being one of the Ten Divine Arts. In the time of just a quarter of an hour, the essences of thirty-three types of Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures have already fused so well. This is something an ordinary Four Vortex Divine Artisan would need an entire day to accomplish."
The two of them sighed in succession.
Yet there was one more thing they did not say aloud—that even after stepping into the Five Vortex Realm, they still could not fuse Celestial Material essences this quickly.
If those words came from their own mouths, it would more or less be dampening their own prestige and boosting the Thousand Crafts Sect’s momentum.
Just then, Luo Ye Guifeng also opened his mouth to speak. "Small Thousand World is the pinnacle of Vortex Dao technique, the peak path painstakingly researched over a thousand years by those who came before. At Minor Success, the fire serpent roams three thousand three hundred and thirty-three circuits; at Great Success, one thousand one hundred and eleven circuits; at Perfection, nine hundred and ninety-nine circuits, and the Vortex Map is thus formed—only then is it called a Divine Art! As for this so-called Vortex New Dao, aside from that Special Ability, does it possess any other truly impressive aspects?"
Those words were aimed squarely at Wen Ping!
Luo Ye Guifeng cast a distant gaze toward Wen Ping; beneath the calm of his eyes, killing intent surged.
But Wen Ping merely glanced at Luo Ye Guifeng and gave a helpless smile. "The era has already changed. Your struggle is nothing but futile. Even if your Thousand Crafts Sect wins this vortex duel, it cannot change the fact that your Vortex Dao has already been surpassed. Moreover, you will not win..."
Wen Ping spoke those last five words with utter calm, utter confidence, and utter certainty.
This scene, falling into the eyes of the crowd, stirred ripples of curiosity.
The ripples slowly spread, rising into waves!
Everyone was intensely curious as to why Wen Ping was so certain.
Clearly, the Vortex New Dao had only just emerged, while the original Vortex Dao had already been developing for several thousand years.
Luo Ye Guifeng responded with displeasure, his expression likewise filled with a firm conviction. "It seems you still don’t understand this world, nor do you understand our Thousand Crafts Sect."
The man of virtue is guiltless; the man who carries jade invites his own ruin.
This is an eternal truth that has never changed.
Setting that aside, the Thousand Crafts Sect represents the pinnacle of the Vortex Dao in Heaven-Gazing Gorge. For a Vortex New Dao that has only just stepped through the doors, to be thoroughly researched and dissected would not take long at all. It’s just like the Vortex Skills of Zeming Palace—our Thousand Crafts Sect knows them all like the back of our hand. The principle is the same.
Of course, such words could not be spoken here and now, because this sort of thing could only be done in the shadows, never openly declared.
Even if everyone knew full well that the Thousand Crafts Sect would act in this way!
"No, it’s you who doesn’t understand." Wen Ping replied with a hint of deeper meaning, then fixed his gaze back on the Vortex Dueling Platform, no longer paying any attention to Luo Ye Guifeng.
Luo Ye Guifeng let out a soft chuckle.
"What a truly naïve young man."
With that, he too ceased to concern himself with Wen Ping.
But Wen Ping’s naivety, he understood.
Because when he was young, he’d been the same.
He had even fantasized about conquering this world and becoming the strongest Vortex Divine Artisan.
But as time slowly passed, he finally understood that nothing was that simple.