Volume One: The Dawn of Immortality Chapter Eleven: Challenging the Dragon and Tiger Rankings

Dragon and Tiger Rankings Rules:

The first tier consists of ranks one to fifty.
The second tier comprises ranks fifty-one to two hundred.
The third tier includes ranks two hundred and one to six hundred.
All others fall into the fourth tier.

Currently, Zhou Yue is ranked over two thousand three hundred, but he aims to break into the third tier by the end of the month. However, there are only five challenge opportunities each month, so none can be wasted, and opponents cannot refuse a challenge. Yet, each person may only accept ten challenges per month.

Zhou Yue decided to warm up by picking an opponent around rank seven hundred, to test the true might of his Invincible Body-Tempering Technique.

"Elder, I wish to challenge Fan Tao, ranked seven hundred and thirteen," Zhou Yue announced to the elder overseeing the Dragon and Tiger Rankings.

Fan Tao, an outer disciple of the Hundred Arts Sect, held the seven hundred and thirteenth position and was at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

"Very well! Fan Tao, come and answer the challenge!" The elder used a communication jade slip to summon Fan Tao.

Half a stick of incense later—

"So, is this the kid challenging me? He seems to have just reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining!" Fan Tao remarked.

"Enough talk, just get in there!" the elder replied impatiently. Truth be told, the elder was quite busy each day, especially since the establishment of both the Dragon and Tiger and the Rising Stars Rankings.

"All right."

"Zhou Yue, is it? You think you can challenge me when you're only ranked in the two thousands?" Fan Tao sneered.

"You'll see for yourself," Zhou Yue responded, striving to keep his excitement in check. His master had always taught him: the calmer the heart, the more efficient the cultivation. Zhou Yue was determined not to let Fan Tao's words disturb his state of mind.

"Begin!" At the elder’s command, Fan Tao lunged forward, aiming to finish the duel in a single, decisive move.

"Vajra Palm!"

Yet Zhou Yue stood his ground, showing not the slightest intention to evade.

"Could he be planning to take this attack head-on? Is this kid insane?" Fan Tao was stunned.

The Vajra Palm, fierce and unyielding, possessed the power to split mountains; it could punch through stone walls ten meters thick. Even though a cultivator's body was a hundred times stronger than an ordinary person's, it was still reckless to take this blow head-on!

"It's over—once this palm is released, it can't be taken back. What's done is done! The elder will surely scold me for this, especially since the challenger is only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and he's Elder Chu's disciple!" Fan Tao muttered anxiously.

With a resounding crash, the Vajra Palm struck Zhou Yue squarely.

Zhou Yue withstood the blow without flinching, utterly unharmed. He couldn't help but marvel at the strength of the Invincible Body-Tempering Technique.

"Ah! Amazing!" Zhou Yue shouted.

"Splendid... truly splendid!" He could no longer suppress his excitement.

"What!" Fan Tao cried in disbelief. "He actually withstood my attack?"

"What kind of technique is this kid cultivating? His body is unbelievably resilient!" the onlooking disciples began to murmur.

"My turn!" Zhou Yue leapt into the air, descending from ten meters above, and delivered a palm strike to the panicked Fan Tao.

With a sickening thud, Fan Tao was sent flying over ten meters, blood spurting from his mouth before he crashed to the ground, incapacitated.

"Zhou Yue, why did you strike so harshly?" the elder scolded.

"Uh... I have no idea why he was so weak—I just used an ordinary palm strike!" Zhou Yue replied.

Hearing this, Fan Tao spat another mouthful of blood. He had expected to be scolded himself, but instead, the elder berated his opponent. Worse, Zhou Yue claimed it was only an ordinary strike. Considering Zhou Yue was only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, while he was at the fifth, the irony made Fan Tao almost want to laugh despite his injuries.

"The Invincible Body-Tempering Technique truly is formidable," Zhou Yue thought to himself in awe.

It seemed his current strength was enough to contend with disciples at the sixth layer of Qi Refining. Next, he would try challenging someone within the top two hundred.

Each tier of the Dragon and Tiger Rankings offered different cultivation resources. Naturally, the higher one climbed, the better. Rumor had it that the fiercer the actual combat, the greater the personal benefit; one’s cultivation would become more solid, and their foundation more stable.

Returning to his cave residence in the Blessed Land of Langhuan, Zhou Yue resumed his training, awaiting the dawn of a new day.

At daybreak, Zhou Yue rose early.

He carefully studied the rankings and finally selected a disciple ranked one hundred and ninety-first: Cai Kun.

"Cai Kun, come and answer the challenge," the elder managing the rankings announced that day.

"What? My opponent is only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining?" Cai Kun was surprised.

In the cultivation world, each advancement in Qi Refining was a chasm apart—an overwhelming gap that sheer strength could not bridge. Zhou Yue was two entire stages below him, making Cai Kun’s astonishment understandable.

"Cai, be careful," another disciple who had heard of Zhou Yue’s exploits warned. "Yesterday, he crippled Fan Tao, who was at the fifth layer, with a single palm. His strength may not be beneath yours."

"Fan Tao was merely at the fifth layer—how could he compare to my sixth? I have nothing to fear," Cai Kun dismissed the warning, confident in his victory.

"Begin!"

"Shadowless Sword!"

Cai Kun unleashed dozens of sword energies, each one resonating with the surrounding world, augmenting their power. Every arc of sword energy was as formidable as yesterday’s Vajra Palm.

Yet Zhou Yue dodged left and right, not a single sword energy touching him.

"How can he evade all of them?" Cai Kun was astonished; not one of his dozens of sword strikes had landed.

"Then try this!"

With that, Cai Kun soared several dozen meters into the air.

"Shadowless Sword! Myriad Swords Return!" Cai Kun cried.

Dozens of swords around him transformed into tens of thousands of sword shadows, falling like a torrential rain—except each shadow moved at three times the speed of sound.

Dodging was impossible. The only choice was to endure it head-on, Zhou Yue thought.

Hundreds of sword energies struck Zhou Yue, but thanks to his Invincible Body-Tempering Technique, he sustained only minor superficial wounds. The power of this technique far exceeded the Vajra Palm; this was clearly a spell many times more advanced.

Indeed, Cai Kun had only obtained this technique during his second venture into the Sutra Depository, reaching more than thirty percent of the way inside.

"What? He withstood it?" Cai Kun was incredulous. Dodging the previous move was one thing, but to simply endure this one—when each sword shadow was as powerful as the Vajra Palm, and hundreds had struck—was beyond belief.

"My turn."

Just as before, Zhou Yue leapt over ten meters into the air and struck Cai Kun, who hovered just above the ground, knocking him down.

A cloud of dust billowed where Cai Kun fell, his figure obscured for a long moment.

Did I win? Was I too heavy-handed? I only used seventy percent of my strength this time, Zhou Yue thought.

As the dust slowly settled, Cai Kun’s figure was gradually revealed.

"Well done, boy. You’ve earned the right to see my ultimate technique," Cai Kun said, wiping the blood from his mouth. It seemed this time, Cai Kun was truly prepared to go all out.