Blind Spot
Chapter 317 - 296 Schemes 4 (Xie Tuoba Goudan, Alliance Hierarch)

Chapter 317: 296 Schemes 4 (Xie Tuoba Goudan, Alliance Hierarch)

Time passed.

After two consecutive peculiar forfeits from the opponents.

Li Chongnan won his third match with ease, defeating three seemingly injured but ostensibly formidable masters from other schools.

Ultimately, he stepped into the final three-way showdown.

May 3rd, morning.

The ultimate championship finals began.

Loud, thunderous music roared around like exploding thunder, incessantly.

Projection screens flickered into existence in the skies around the arena, playing various sponsorship ads.

Many spectators had arrived at the venue early to wait. A large crowd also gathered around the Martial Arts Hall to catch the excitement.

Although they couldn’t see the inner situation, feeling the atmosphere on-site also made it worthwhile for many who longed for the ultimate fighting championship.

"Hello to our audience and friends at the venue!"

The host Xiao Lei greeted everyone with excitement in his voice.

"I am so happy to welcome you all on this sunny day to the ultimate battle of the Extreme Martial Arts Tournament’s final showdown!"

He then proceeded to thank a slew of sponsors, the media for broadcasting, the various colleges supporting with guard equipment, and so on.

"Now, let’s take a look at the last three teams who will compete for the ultimate championship title, the strongest person on this planet!!"

A massive tidal wave of cheering erupted, and the heavy music increased in volume.

Clusters of fireworks rose into the sky around, bursting open.

"The first to enter is last season’s championship team, Yan Bagua Gate!!"

Accompanied by the music, three men from the Bagua Gate slowly walked out of the stadium corridor and into the waiting area.

All three wore loose, snow-white Taoist robes with traditional-style vertical buttons down the front, and the cuffs and pant legs tailored to fit snugly. They had the black and white pattern of the Bagua on their backs.

Among them, Chen Jiahan had a metallic mask on his face, half-black, half-white, completely obscuring his features.

"Next to enter the arena are the undefeated champions, the Secret Power Phenomenal Fist!"

Following Xiao Lei’s exclamation,

Another trio slowly made their entrance.

This trio appeared more normal.

A group of two men and one woman, all in uniform black outfits with red trim, fitted snugly. They wore protective gear at the joints.

Participants were allowed to wear minimal protective gear in the arena, but most people disliked it as it could interfere with reflexes and impact striking efficiency.

Yet, these three were an exception to the norm.

Moreover, the exposed parts of their skin were tattooed with strange patterns of symbols and characters.

Most extravagantly, all their hair was completely shaven off, revealing densely inked black characters on their bare scalps.

"Finally! The underdog team that struggled to reach the finals, Dragon Whisker Sect!!"

The last to enter were the three members of Dragon Whisker Sect, the team with the poorest record.

Li Chongnan, Zhuang Yijing, and Yu Yanxiao.

Zhuang Yijing and Yu Yanxiao ultimately chose not to drop out but to persevere to the end.

Li Chongnan, tall and stone-faced, walked at the forefront, drawing all eyes to him.

After entering the rest area,

The strongest from each of the three teams seemed to communicate telepathically, quickly locking onto each other.

Li Chongnan, Chen Jiahan, and the captain of Secret Power Phenomenal Fist, Xiang Bong.

As the three teams entered, the cheering around gradually quieted down.

The host began to introduce the competition format. It was simple, Dragon Whisker Sect would fight against Secret Power Phenomenal Fist, and the winner would face last season’s champions, Yan Bagua Gate.

Below the stage, Yu Long looked up at the stage with concern in his eyes.

"Actually, reaching this point, I’m already very satisfied. Going any further, wouldn’t it be a bit too cruel for them?"

"If they don’t even have the courage to challenge, then their potential for the future will also be stifled," Li Chengyi responded.

"But..." Yu Long hesitated, then glanced at Li Chengyi.

Suddenly, he had a vague feeling that something was off about this man.

He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it just... felt different from a few days ago.

"By the way, Teacher." Li Chengyi continued. "Can I ask a question?"

"What is it?"

"Entering the Dragon Realm... it requires a Dragon Vein, right?"

"Yes..."

"To enter a Dragon Vein, you need a Dragon Vein access point, right?"

"That’s correct."

"So, about the Dragon Vein access points... what if I accidentally opened too many? Will that be a problem?"

Li Chengyi turned his head and looked seriously at Yu Long.

"???!!!" Yu Long blinked, not comprehending for a moment.

What does "opened too many" mean? Aren’t there supposed to be only nine Dragon Vein access points?

Wait... too many? Extra??!

"You... couldn’t possibly have...!?" Yu Long suddenly thought of a possibility.

His normally calm eyes widened almost to the point of splitting.

"Yes... You guessed right; when I was opening the Dragon Vein access points, I found many similar points and accidentally opened too many," Li Chengyi answered.

"...How many do you have now?" Yu Long felt he was struggling to keep up.

What exactly are Dragon Vein access points? They are inherent to a person, a fixed allotment.

A person naturally has at most nine, where would any extras come from?

Having more than nine might indicate faulty points!

"Thirty," Li Chengyi replied.

"Thirty!!?" Yu Long’s breathing halted. "You... opened them all!?"

"I’ve opened them all," Li Chengyi affirmed. Over the past few days, along with his disciples’ breakthroughs in the Holy Spirit Technique, he too had steadily made his own breakthroughs, now reaching the fifth segment.

His physique was once again strengthened.

The enhancement of his body was secondary; the key was that after the Sword of Wisdom, the Holy Spirit Technique had unlocked a new special ability—Ming Guang.

Ming Guang’s effect was different from Sword of Wisdom. It was like a campfire, radiating light around it.

However, unlike normal light, it wasn’t used for illumination but for radiating infection...

He turned the surroundings of the Brightness’s origin into a realm of mental darkness, activating the negative emotions of all living beings within a certain range and amplifying their evil desires.

As the saying goes, if everything around me is darkness, I will be made sufficiently bright.

This is the so-called Brightness.

As long as the surroundings are dark enough, even a common light bulb can become the sun.

This ability, combined with the Sword of Wiisdom, is an outstanding weapon for mass killing.

Li Chengyi had tested Li Chongnan’s range of Brightness, which was a huge sphere with a radius of one hundred meters.

Yet, he had not completely released it, so he did not know the exact range and strength.

Regardless, the boost and surprises he had received from the Seven Spirit Holy Technique were already quite formidable.

Coming back to his senses, Yu Long was stunned, as this was yet another time he felt his heart shake.

Ever since he started mentoring this unaffiliated disciple, his life had gone through earth-shattering changes.

"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere right now?" he asked in a low voice.

"No... it’s just that those thirty Dragon Veins are all connected now. Is this what you referred to as the Dragon Realm?" Li Chengyi asked.

"Probably not, when the Dragon Vein is formed, you would step into the Dragon Realm. The characteristics of entering the Dragon Realm are very clear, your body will undergo comprehensive redevelopment, and the density of your flesh and bones will increase significantly, at least three times more than before. Also, your body will spontaneously develop Dragon Whisker like energy needles to purify your essence blood, and you will be able to exert strength from any part of your body at will, thus breaking through the physical limits and no longer being restricted by innate structural limits."

Yu Long explained.

Li Chengyi thought for a moment and asked, "Is there any simpler and clearer intuitive identification mark?"

"Yes, in our Dragon Whisker Sect, once you enter the Dragon Realm, there will be a dark red line pattern emerging at the edge of each eye," Yu Long replied.

"A dark red line pattern?" Li Chengyi said thoughtfully. "Is it like this?"

He turned to look at Yu Long, the muscles at the corners of his eyes tensed, and his blood rapidly filled them. Soon, three dark red patterns appeared at one side of each eye, extending outward.

"That’s it, yes, but why do you have three?" Yu Long asked in surprise.

"Maybe because I have more Dragon Veins?" Li Chengyi replied.

"Possible." Yu Long nodded thoughtfully.

The two turned their heads back to look at the stage. The competition for the championship was about to begin.

"Wait!!" Suddenly, Yu Long realized something.

He turned his head sharply, staring at Li Chengyi.

"You... you you you you!!" he exclaimed.

Pointing at the other’s eye corners, his face twisted, his eyes fierce.

"Dragon Realm!!! You... have you entered?"

"At first I wasn’t sure, it felt kind of light, so I thought maybe I hadn’t entered, and did it twice," said Li Chengyi. "The second time was a bit comfortable, but the effect wasn’t clear, so then I thought, just to be safe, I tried a third time."

"Look," he pointed to the corner of his eye, "is the color a bit light? I thought it might not have been successful, so I came to ask."

"...!!!?" Yu Long pointed at Li Chengyi, feeling a rush of blood to the crown of his head.

Heavens!!

At this moment, he just wanted to look up and scream, his whole body trembling.

That was the Dragon Realm!!

The ultimate realm he had been pursuing his entire life!!

And just like that... Li Chengyi effortlessly crossed over!?

Unfair!

Unfair!!!

Yu Long had no idea what to say; his life’s pursuits felt like a joke at this moment.

The gap between individuals, he only now realized, was even greater than that between man and pig...

"It’s starting. Look at the platform," Li Chengyi said, not minding his excitement, instead looking towards the stage.

He was very clear about Li Chongnan’s power, and after her breakthrough and acquiring the Brightness, her strength had once again been enhanced, significantly stronger than before.

Having reached this point, she was now qualified to receive focused resources from the Li Family and had been granted temporary access permissions.

There was little difference between the top three and first place.

That was why he had allowed her to continue competing, to accelerate Li Chongnan’s growth.

Recalling the old man Chen Zonghan and Hai Sha he had encountered before, there seemed to be a lot of trouble hidden in this competition.

Star Lake, Utopia, mixing into the current Yi Country—anyone could guess there must be a conspiracy.

With that thought, Li Chengyi’s gaze shifted towards the resting area of Yan Bagua Gate.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted.

Among a few people in the resting area, there was an old man with white hair down to his waist and a three-foot-long white beard sitting there.

The moment that man felt Li Chengyi’s gaze, he looked up in the same direction.

Chen Zonghan!!

Li Chengyi’s heart tightened.

This man actually dared to appear openly at the competition site!?

Wasn’t he afraid...

Wait a minute!

Suddenly, he noticed the gazes of several people around Chen Zonghan weren’t directed towards the platform, nor were they looking over here, but instead... they were looking at a silver airship with golden patterns floating in the distance.

Li Chengyi quickly followed their gaze and looked at the airship.

"Who does that airship belong to?" he asked quickly.

Yu Long was stunned and then responded.

"Don’t know, it wasn’t there before, it must have just arrived. Generally, airships with such exteriors belong to the Royal fleet, meant for the exclusive use of Imperial Family members."

Exclusive use of the Imperial Family!?

A flash crossed Li Chengyi’s mind, and he instantly looked back at the Bagua Gate’s side, just in time to see Chen Zonghan and others standing up.

"Are these people’s intentions... could it be...!?"

Li Chengyi realized in an instant, turned around, and rushed towards the guide.

Boom!!!

At the same time.

In the sky, the Royal airship’s side exploded in a burst of bright yellow flames.

The giant airship’s lights dimmed and went out, losing its power module, and it careened downward, crashing towards the fully packed spectator stands of the Martial Arts Hall.

Li Chengyi realized it was too late, turned, and charged straight for the stage.

He had to immediately take everyone from the Dragon Whisker Sect away to avoid being caught up in Star Lake and Utopia’s plot against the competition.