Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improved Spirit Rice

Chapter 61 Three blows awaken the righteous spirit, Taoist priest, I am a scholar!

"After a short break, let's begin the second round of testing!" You Ruofeng's voice followed immediately after binding and putting away the booklet containing the recorded scores.

As a dazzling white light flashed from the ninety-nine-story tower at the very center of the Inquiry Platform, Zhao Cheng'an felt a blur before his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a primeval forest filled with damp miasma.

Ancient trees towered all around, blocking out the sun, with only beams of golden light scattering through the gaps in the leaves.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of wild animals.

Despite being suddenly in an unfamiliar environment, Zhao Chengan did not panic, as he had seen relevant descriptions in the handbook given to him by Shen Yanshan.

"This is the Demon-Slaying Tower, capable of conjuring up all sorts of realistic battle scenes."

Zhao Cheng'an looked around at the towering ancient trees and the damp soil beneath his feet, and muttered to himself, "Although it's said to be a projection, both the feel and the muddy smell in the air are incredibly real."

"It is said that one of the most powerful abilities of a Golden Core True Monarch is to transform the illusory into the real. Standing here, it is truly impossible to distinguish whether the scene before you is real or unreal."

The assessment has officially begun.

Soon, a dense rustling sound came from the silent forest.

The first wave of monsters to appear were Leaf-Eating Spiders.

These spiders are as big as millstones, and their entire bodies are a bright green that is exactly the same as the forest shrubs. Their eight legs are sharp like spears, and their abdomens have mimicking patterns that resemble dead leaves.

Relevant information instantly flashed through Zhao Cheng'an's mind.

"The Leaf-Eating Spider is a low-level wood-attribute demon beast, skilled in stealth and ambush. The most troublesome thing is that they can spew a wide-range green poisonous web. If their movements are restricted, they will be at a great disadvantage in this forest."

"However, it's quite simple to solve."

Zhao Cheng'an's eyes narrowed, and the Lingxu and Qingyan runes within his body instantly lit up.

He used his lightness technique, and his whole body lightly rose from the ground, instantly leaping into the air more than ten meters high.

At the same time, the bamboo bone sword in his hand spun in mid-air, flashing with green light, and the sword shadow split into three.

"go."

Zhao Cheng'an flicked his fingers, and two sharp sword shadows swept down, swiftly reaping the lives of the spiders below.

During the battle, Zhao Cheng'an also discovered that the two magical artifacts on his body had received a strange enhancement.

During the Dao Court's assessment, to ensure fairness, the quality of the magical artifacts used by cultivators is uniformly standardized by an array, but the unique characteristics of the artifacts themselves are still preserved. This allows him to use his Bamboo Bone Sword Grass and Black Iron Vine with ease.

The first wave of spiders was quickly wiped out.

Next, the second wave of monsters appeared: Fire Badgers.

This monster has thick skin and a natural talent for burrowing, and is best at burrowing into the soil to accumulate power before suddenly launching a violent charge.

"You need to be able to counterattack effectively the moment they launch their attack and reveal their weaknesses."

Zhao Cheng'an landed on the ground, calming his breathing.

If he were to encounter such an elusive monster normally, he would definitely be in a panic.

But the practical training Chen Heng had given him over the past few years played a crucial role at this moment.

Zhao Cheng'an took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He closed his eyes, released his spiritual senses, and carefully detected the vibrations in the ground.

As the ground slightly bulged, the Fire Badger burst out of the earth, rushing towards him with blazing flames.

Zhao Cheng'an suddenly opened his eyes, and the fire-attribute spiritual energy in his body erupted instantly as he used the Qi-raising technique to deal with the situation.

His figure left a trail of afterimages as he narrowly avoided a head-on collision. Just as the Fire Badger brushed past him, exposing its vital abdomen, Zhao Cheng'an flicked his wrist, and his longsword transformed into a streak of green light, piercing the monster's vitals with pinpoint accuracy.

The first, the second, the third...

The last Fire Badger fell beneath Zhao Cheng'an's sword. It was breathing heavily, and although it had exhausted some of its spiritual energy, its overall condition was still relatively good. Thanks to its rattan armor technique, even when it couldn't dodge in time, it didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Then the third wave of monsters appeared—the Bewitching Demon.

This is a spirit formed from converging vines, capable of releasing large amounts of hallucinogenic spores. If one is not careful, it can trap cultivators in layers of illusions, making it an extremely troublesome monster.

However, Zhao Cheng'an's spiritual sense was extraordinary, and with the continuous flow of clear spiritual energy from the Qi Returning Pattern within his body, he was minimally affected. He calmly dealt with the situation with a swift and decisive strike.

Meanwhile, Lin Tan and You Ruofeng, the proctors for this assessment, were standing outside the tower, observing the real-time process of the assessment.

A series of illusory array screens floated in front of them, displaying the situation in each examination room.

However, Lin Tan's gaze remained fixed on the screen where Zhao Cheng'an was.

You Ruofeng watched from the side, feeling a little curious as well.

In his opinion, Zhao Cheng'an's cultivation level was not particularly outstanding among the many geniuses, but Lin Tan, a titled cultivator, had given him a great deal of attention.

However, You Ruofeng soon got the answer to his question.

In the video, he could clearly see Zhao Cheng'an flexibly switching between three completely different techniques: the Lightness Technique, the Rattan Armor Technique, and the Grass Sword Technique. Each switch was seamless, demonstrating his composure in various perilous situations.

You Ruofeng's eyes widened little by little. "Senior Brother Lin, this...this is a Dao Weapon!?"

He subconsciously lowered his voice, his tone even carrying a hint of horror.

Lin Tan looked at the screen, shook her head slightly, and said gently.

"It's not exactly a true Dao weapon, but it already has a very clear prototype."

The so-called Dao soldiers are cultivators who are transformed into true weapons of war. This requires an extremely complex redesign of the true spirit runes within the body, along with corresponding specially crafted offensive and defensive magical artifacts.

Some even require further strengthening of the organ transplant bloodline, involving nineteen or twenty-one modification surgeries.

The Dao soldiers created in this way possess combat power far exceeding that of sword cultivators of the same level, and killing other cultivators of the same level who are not good at combat is as simple as killing chickens.

Previously, he shone brightly on the battlefield of annihilating Hunyuan Cave, killing the demonic cultivators until they cried for their parents.

As the saying goes, "Three blows awaken the righteous spirit; I, the Taoist priest, am a scholar!"

However, Dao soldiers have always been at the forefront of the Daoist court. Not to mention second-rate sects, even first-rate Daoist lineages are only qualified to participate in the research and development of some projects. Only the lofty Golden Core Daoist lineages are qualified to independently develop Dao soldiers.

You Ruofeng had only heard some rumors by chance, but he never expected to see the prototype of a Dao soldier here.

However, You Ruofeng immediately had a question.

Zhao Cheng'an was just an ordinary cultivator in the mid-stage of Qi Refining. He had neither a powerful Foundation Establishment family as his background nor did he come from a particularly prosperous cultivation holy land. How did he come into contact with such cutting-edge Daoist weapon theory?

"Could it be...?"

If you eliminate all impossible guesses, the remaining answer, no matter how absurd, may be the truth.

You Ruofeng's eyes widened as an unbelievable conjecture popped into his mind.