Chapter 203 Admit Defeat
At this moment, Lin Shiming was clearly stunned; the system notification was actually alerting him to a sneak attack by the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Yet, this was Jiuye City, home of the nine leaves of Bai Shan True Person's Jiuye Mountain, and also the second major base of the Spirit Beast Sect. A sneak attack by the Heavenly Demon Sect here was unimaginable.
If anyone else had told him this, he would never have believed it.
But now it was the system, the system's alert, which had never been wrong to date.
Lin Shiming didn't dare to gamble; rather than perishing here, he preferred not to need the opportunity for Dao Enlightenment.
He had the system's alert, which was far more powerful than Dao Enlightenment. There was no need to take risks for enlightenment, and moreover, the feeling of exposing all his abilities made him extremely anxious.
Lin Shiming took a deep breath; he looked around with his Divine Sense, still detecting nothing unusual. However, precisely because of this, he felt the situation was all the more terrifying.
He did not know whether the Purple Mansion Hermits were aware of it, nor did he know if the Golden Core True Persons were aware.
But at this moment, it was undoubtedly an unacceptable risk for him, even with the watchful eyes of a Purple Mansion Hermit.
Moreover, from another perspective, his actions this time were overly high-profile. As an ordinary Foundation Establishment family cultivator fighting against a later stage in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, he might become the target of many cultivators' envy, not to mention the treasures on him, which might even be coveted by a Purple Mansion cultivator.
In his hesitation, a full dozen Silver Needles shot towards him.
The Silver Needles were incredibly fast and carried the terrifying force of Ice Soul. Lin Shiming's Purple Gold Vine tried to block them but was frozen by the Ice Soul, severely checking its growth.
The twelve Silver Needles struck the Star Wood Shield, which, already weakened by bombardment from the Thunder Rhinoceros, started to dim immediately.
Another bolt of lightning struck down, blasting the Star Wood Shield apart, and at the same time, Lin Shiming violently spat out a mouthful of blood. The Spirit Shield was seriously damaged and would certainly require a Third-Rank Artifact Refiner for repairs afterwards.
The showdown in the sky of the four Sword Arrays was on the verge of collapsing. In the next moment, as the copper rings violently tumbled, the Sword Arrays disintegrated with a bang, reverting into individually flying Formation Swords.
As a result, the twelve Spirit Needles and five copper rings charged towards Lin Shiming like there was no one to stop them.
Lin Shiming tore off four Spirit Talismans, two of them Supreme Grade Defense Talismans, and two Superior Grade.
However, against Chen Yuan's two major moves, the four Spirit Shields were shattered one after another. In the next moment, Lin Shiming's body twisted dramatically; the twelve Spirit Needles originally aimed at his heart just barely missed and eventually pierced through his left arm, causing blood to flow profusely!
"True Yuan insufficient, I admit defeat!" Lin Shiming, his face filled with reluctance, clenched his fist and had to concede. Then he knelt on the ground, breathing heavily.
A burnt-out Intermediate Grade Spirit Stone appeared in his hand, and his remaining right arm furiously struck the ground.
He lost!
Lin Shiming was so close, yet in the end, he still lost.
Many were extremely disappointed; just a moment ago, Lin Shiming seemed to have gained the upper hand. That series of attacks were such that many late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators present on the field were not confident they could have withstood them.
Yet unexpectedly, Chen Yuan not only noticed Lin Shiming's sneak attack but also expertly controlled two sets of Supreme Grade Magic Artifacts, one set of Supreme Grade copper rings and another set of Supreme Grade Ice Soul Needles.
Together with the bombardment of thunder from the Thunder Rhinoceros, these drained all of Lin Shiming's True Yuan, granting Chen Yuan the victory.
Lin Xianzhi felt somewhat disheartened at this moment as well. It was so close; if Lin Shiming had also been in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he would not have lost.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
But alas, the Lin Family was ultimately just a Foundation Establishment family, one without the fate of receiving enlightenment.
While contemplating, Xie An also sighed, joining Lin Houyuan to help support Lin Shiming and take him back.
"Shiming, it's okay, just an unfavorable draw of lots!"
"You're still young. There's always next time!"
Both of them comforted Lin Shiming. After all, he was only forty-two years old, quite young indeed, and could even participate in the next Jiuye Conference.
Moved by their kindness, Lin Shiming also transmitted his voice to them,
"Uncle Seven, my mantis has sent me a very dangerous signal. We should stay a bit further back!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Xianzhi's expression turned grave. He knew well that Lin Shiming's mantis had the ability to sense danger—he had realized this during several previous instances.
After saying a quick word to Xie An, the two of them moved towards the back of the spectator stands, striving to stay near the periphery of the beast-fighting arena.
Next, it was Ye Changyuan's turn to battle against another disciple from the Spirit Beast Sect, Huang Daoxuan. The Spirit Beast Sect, having secured a spot, were all beaming with joy, engaging in conversations, and in front of the Spirit Talisman Sect and Qingxuan Sect, they indeed displayed the magnanimity of a host, full of grace and ease.
As Lin Shiming settled in the spectator stands, he couldn't help but look around; first, he glanced at Zi Xuan Hermit, but noticing the latter was observing Ye Changyuan, he felt at ease.
Zi Xuan Hermit soon noticed Lin Shiming's gaze and turned his head, while Lin Shiming looked down, his face flushed with embarrassment.
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Of course, deep inside, he was hugely relieved at that moment.
Even though he missed the chance for Dao enlightenment, at least he was now able to withdraw from the Jiuye Dao Enlightenment Conference.
He couldn't help but look at the others, but he didn't discover anything unusual. Instead, he noticed that Chen Yuan was constantly sizing him up.
Clearly, he couldn't understand why Lin Shiming clearly catalyzed a very potent seed, yet in the end, his True Yuan was depleted, and his efforts fell short.
Lin Shiming didn't pay too much attention to Chen Yuan's curiosity, and instead, continued to watch the fight between Ye Changyuan and Huang Daoxuan.
Ye Changyuan was a sword cultivator, brimming with Sword Intent. Even the Sword Light Transformation Realm of his Uncle Seven, Lin Xianzhi, wasn't far off. The magic artifact in his hand was obviously a supreme grade magic sword, powerful and extraordinary, not much inferior to his Zilai Sword.
His sword cultivation skills caused his own Formation Sword technique to stir slightly. The seed of the Sword Dao within his heart seemed to be stimulated, itching for a breakthrough in battle.
Seeing this, Lin Shiming continued to suppress his True Yuan, until he finally felt better, and continued to survey the situation.
However, to everyone's surprise, Huang Daoxuan was actually a Foundation Establishment Perfection body cultivator. The three spirit beasts he summoned turned out to be a mere distraction, far less powerful than his body cultivation strength.
A Foundation Establishment Perfect body cultivator under sixty was an extremely rare existence among the Three Sects of the Zhao Kingdom. At that moment, not only the other sects, even the Spirit Beast Sect itself, was filled with doubts.
In the end, Ye Changyuan was just one move short, and was sent flying off the beast-fighting stage with one punch by Huang Daoxuan, sustaining severe injuries. If not for the timely intervention of San Ye Hermit, who deflected part of the power at the critical moment, Ye Changyuan would have been either dead or gravely injured.
With that, Huang Daoxuan and Chen Yuan secured the remaining two spots on the Jiuye Dao Enlightenment Stage, giving the Spirit Beast Sect a total of five places.
The outcome of the Jiuye Conference was beyond everyone's expectations.
The cultivators from the Qingxuan Sect and the Spirit Talisman Sect each had unpleased expressions, but fortunately, each sect still had two spots.
With the conference concluded, the nine individuals who ultimately won the Dao enlightenment spots walked together onto the high platform, where San Ye Hermit presented the enlightenment orders.
Only by having the enlightenment orders, refined by True Person Bai Shanmu, could one remain on the Dao Enlightenment Stage unharmed by the Bai Shanmu spirits.
However, at this moment, Huang Daoxuan, who had been looking down, suddenly turned his gaze towards Chen Yuan beside him.