Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 276 - 66: Double Madness (Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch "Spring River Flower Moon Night" for the reward)"_1

Chapter 276: Chapter 66: Double Madness (Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch "Spring River Flower Moon Night" for the reward)"_1

"Heh--"

Ling Ao lay weakly on the ring floor, unable to move even as a few disciples from the Pill Furnace Hall carried him away.

The exhaustion brought on by the Burning Blood was intense, even the strong regenerative abilities of the dragonkin’s physical body took slow to recover. Even more so for his body, which was of a fragile human nature.

Old Man Sikong, leaning on his cane, came to his side and gently put a hand on his shoulder.

Ling Ao felt a warmth flow through his meridians, dispelling the immense weakness that pain shot through him all over. But he could still feel the weakness pervading his veins, and he would need to recover slowly by himself.

"Master..." he murmured, not willing to look up, "your disciple has failed your expectations."

"Silly child," Old Man Sikong patted his head and smiled, "making it into the top four is enough to satisfy me. You just feel like you’ve let down your own ambitions."

Ling Ao remained silent, hanging his head without speaking.

Old Man Sikong did not converse much with him, and let him leave in low spirits, while he returned to the viewing platform alone.

It’s not that he didn’t care about his disciple, but he knew his high-spirited disciple would feel even more downcast if he expressed too much concern after this defeat.

This was also a necessary test of temperament which he had to overcome by himself.

"Hey, your disciple is not bad, getting to the top four all alone. Why does he look so sad, did you scold him?" Empress Feng asked, sitting beside him on the viewing platform.

"I didn’t reprimand him," Old Man Sikong replied, "he just cannot accept the loss himself."

"Your disciple is still worse than mine," Empress Feng shook her head.

"Well, your disciple doesn’t seem to have much of a chance either," Old Man Sikong chuckled without getting upset.

"I’m not talking about winning or losing," Empress Feng replied, "believe it or not, even if he were to be crushed and lose, my disciple would still be all smiles after getting off the stage and won’t take it to heart."

Old Man Sikong blinked, thinking isn’t that just shameless? Why are you so proud of that?

Of course, as an experienced cultivator who had practiced for hundreds of years, he knew that such a quality symbolizes strength.

Who can be a perennial winner on the path of cultivation?

All strong cultivators of past and present possess a quality that resists being defeated by any failures.

He hoped Ling Ao could overcome this hurdle.

...

Ling Ao walked alone to a corner of the cliff outside the Tongtian Peak Square, sat down leaning against a stone, and looked up at the sky.

Why?

Is talent really unbeatable?

He went to Shu Mountain at a very young age and has been following Old Man Sikong since his childhood, whose evaluation was that his aptitude was above average. With a lifetime of hard work and a touch of opportunity, he might be able to touch the Great Dao.

But prodigies like Jiang Yuebai, since their childhood, have been laden with high expectations, destined to lead Shu Mountain in the future.

He didn’t accept that.

Why was he deemed inferior to others since the start of his life?

So he strove to cultivate and competed everywhere, aiming for those geniuses since the Body Refining Realm and pushed himself to their standards. He managed to keep up in the First Realm, but there was a gap at the Second Realm. By the time he reached the Third Realm, he was far behind and was no longer able to see their backs.

When he heard that Xu Ziyang had reached the Fifth Realm, he was still stuck at the peak of the Divine Consciousness Realm.

Actually, at his age, the peak of the Divine Consciousness Realm was not a weak cultivation. Like Shang Ziliang who was at this realm was considered excellent among Shu Mountain’s young disciples. And Lin Bei only reached this stage through a stroke of luck.

But Ling Ao was in pain.

Just like his name, he was full of pride, yet he had to endure the fact that he was always inferior to others.

Old Man Sikong also had tried to convince him many times that talent was predetermined, but even if innate talents fell behind in the path of cultivation, one could surpass them with hard work.

Ling Ao firmly believed it too.

He continued to cultivate arduously day after day, even though he was still unnoticed. Until the day when his Master successfully summoned a dragon for Shu Mountain.

Ling Ao felt his opportunity had arrived.

While talent is predestined, the Real Dragon was one of the things that could potentially change it.

Ling Ao didn’t believe in fate.

He was going to fight for it himself.

He was closest to the Guxuan Peak, where he found an ancient sacrificial ritual to the Real Dragon from ancient times in the old books. He performed this ritual daily, offering prayers to the Real Dragon.

In the end.

After his persistent efforts, the Real Dragon granted him "Dragon Blood Body Tempering".

Dragon Blood Body Tempering is not bathing in dragon blood, but actually having a real dragon infuse a drop of its essence blood into his body. This drop of essence blood will boil and merge within his body, constantly refining his own bloodline, and rapidly increasing his physical strength.

In ancient times, real dragons used this method to reward and enhance their loyal dragon attendants. Now, Ling Ao had also received this opportunity, significantly bolstering his physical strength to a terrifying degree.

He felt that he had finally caught up with those geniuses and he was going to prove that he was absolutely not worse than them!

But not long after, something else happened.

That was when the White Dragon bestowed its core dragon scales to someone else – not just one, but to two individuals.

And those two individuals didn’t do anything, they didn’t beg the real dragon like he did, in fact, it was the real dragon who entreated them to accept the inheritance.

His master demanded that he keep this matter absolutely secret.

He was very puzzled.

Why could those two individuals get better things than him without doing anything?

If Dragon Blood Body Tempering is a method for real dragons to reward their servants, then the core dragon scale is the way real dragons bestow their inheritance. If compared to the Immortal Sect, one would be the servant, and the other would be the true disciple.

This was still the case when he didn’t know about the existence of the Dragon Ball. Similarly, obtaining the Dragon Ball would be like getting the position of the Sect Leader.

Of course, there aren’t any dragon attendants in this era, they’re just methods to enhance one’s strength.

But the enhancement from Dragon Blood Body Tempering is a one-time deal, it significantly boosts your physical capabilities in the short term, but the potential for future improvements aren’t great. However, that isn’t the case with the Dragon Scale Core, as long as you continue cultivating, the road ahead is incredibly vast.

You can even say that I’m worse than Chu Liang of the Silver Sword Peak, after all, he has a Top Grade Golden Core, but why am I worse than a fish?

Anger rose once again in Ling Ao’s heart. He began to rack his brains, looking for martial arts techniques... searching for divine artifacts of the Dragon Race... finding ways to increase strength, planning to step on all those geniuses at the Shu Mountain Peak Conference!

To prove that he’s not weaker than anyone!

Then Jiang Yuebai’s casual Immortal Law easily shattered his dreams.

Any discerning person could see that her entanglement with him was just her desire to hide her true strength. With her cultivation and the reserve of divine skills, it probably wouldn’t take much effort to beat him if she went all out.

She didn’t even pull out any magic artifact.

And all his hard preparations for so long were like a joke.

Is destiny really determined at birth?

Just as he was sighing in despair, a figure in a white robe suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Junior Brother Ling, it’s just a minor defeat, why are you so down?" The person who came asked with concern.

"How?" Ling Ao looked up and asked.

"I have an idea, so that you still have a chance to become the Chief Disciple of Shu Mountain. Are you interested?"

...

"Senior Brother Xu will definitely win!", "Senior Brother Xu will definitely win!", "Senior Brother Xu will definitely win!"

When Xu Ziyang took the stage, there were cheering shouts all around, like a tidal wave.

He was also dressed in a white robe, still as upright as a sword, handsome, with eyes shining like torches. His face was devoid of any expression, as hard as ice.

His popularity on Shu Mountain has always been second only to Jiang Yuebai. Considering Immortal Jiang’s appearance, it can be said that he gets the most recognition in terms of strength.

Most people feel that it would be a matter of course for him to become the Chief Disciple.

Moreover, his opponent was Chu Liang, who had hardly any supporters.

Only Lin Bei and their small group were shouting some other slogans on the sidelines, "Chu Liang, Chu Liang! Shu Mountain’s strongest!", "Chu Liang, Chu Liang! Handsome and dignified!"

But it was of no avail. Their voices were completely drowned out by the supporters of Xu Ziyang.

Some people even deliberately shouted something like "Chu Liang, Chu Liang, lunatic", trying to disrupt their rhythm and break their resistance.

In the midst of such overwhelming support, Chu Liang ascended the stage with a smile on his face.

Hearing the shouts from all directions, he suddenly raised his left hand, lifted his head, and held up a finger.

He put it to his lips!

It’s the same gesture again.

Be silent!

The whole crowd was in an uproar!

There was a brief silence indeed.

Ling Ao had just responded to the crowd like this and was then humiliated. Chu Liang dared to make the same gesture, which required even more courage than when Ling Ao did it.

It’s twice as bold!