novelraw Chapter 964
Chapter 964
The three beasts appearing together are incredibly powerful.
But Fu Shaoping only used one sword.
"Nine Swords of Moonlight - Moon Sets and Crows Cry".
The sword flashed like lightning, and with a single strike, it killed the weakest Ironback Wolf.
The old man of ten thousand beasts' expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly summoned back the other two demonic beasts.
"I give up," he said through gritted teeth.
Fu Shaoping sheathed his sword, his expression calm.
The second match is against Ice Heart Fairy.
Ice Heart Fairy, a Golden Core cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, is skilled in ice-based techniques. Her ice spells are incredibly powerful, capable of freezing opponents into ice sculptures.
But Fu Shaoping only used one sword.
"Nine Swords of Moonlight - Moon Shines Over the Great River".
The sword light surged like a tide, completely dissolving the Ice Heart Fairy's ice-based magic.
Ice Heart Fairy turned pale and admitted defeat.
The third match was against Zhao Wuji.
Zhao Wuji, a Golden Core cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, was skilled in formations. He laid out a net on the arena, attempting to trap Fu Shaoping.
But Fu Shaoping only used one sword.
"Nine Swords of Moonlight - Moon Shifts Flower Shadows"
The sword light was like a shadow, indistinguishable from reality, and directly pierced through Zhao Wuji's formation.
Zhao Wuji stood there, stunned, for a long time without moving.
"I lost," he said with a wry smile.
The fourth match was against Xue Sha Zi.
When Xue Shazi saw Fu Shaoping, his eyes were full of fear.
"I concede," he said directly.
The crowd was in an uproar.
Fu Shaoping remained calm and said nothing.
The fifth match was a duel where no trace remained between swords.
Jian Wuhen looked at him with a complicated expression.
"I concede defeat," he said slowly. "I already lost that battle. If we fight again, the result will be the same."
Fu Shaoping nodded without saying anything more.
In the following matches, his opponents either conceded defeat or were defeated by Fu Shaoping with a single sword strike.
Nine wins out of nine.
First place in the Golden Elixir Competition.
When the results were announced, the entire stadium erupted in deafening cheers!
"Fu Shaoping! Fu Shaoping! Fu Shaoping!"
Those who had doubted him before are now cheering for him!
Fu Shaoping stood calmly on the stage, accepting the cheers of the crowd.
But his gaze passed over the crowd and landed on the high platform in the distance.
There, Ye Zheng looked at him and smiled slightly.
Chapter 61: The Ancient Battlefield
After the Golden Core Competition concluded, the top ten contestants earned the qualification to enter the Ancient Battlefield.
The ancient battlefield, located 30,000 miles west of the Eastern Region, is a sealed, independent space. In ancient times, powerful human beings fought a decisive battle here against extraterrestrial demons, ultimately sealing the demons but perishing here themselves.
The battlefield holds countless opportunities: relics of ancient cultivators, lost cultivation techniques, rare spiritual herbs... but also countless dangers: remaining restrictions, mutated demonic beasts, and... the remnant souls of extraterrestrial demons.
Before entering the battlefield, representatives from various sects gathered to discuss the rules.
The rules are simple: once on the battlefield, everyone fights for themselves. You can team up or act alone. Any opportunities you obtain belong to you. But you must not kill each other—at least not openly.
Those who violate this rule will be disqualified and expelled from the Eastern Region.
Fu Shaoping listened to these rules with a calm expression.
He knew that these rules were only on the surface. Behind the scenes, the fierce competition between the major sects would not stop just because of a set of rules.
But he wasn't afraid.
Because he has the ability.
Chapter Sixty-Two: The Entrance
The entrance to the ancient battlefield is located in a wasteland west of the Eastern Region.
This place is shrouded in gray fog year-round, barren of vegetation, and rarely visited by humans. The air is filled with an ancient, weathered, and seemingly frozen-in-time battle atmosphere.
At the entrance stands a huge stone tablet. Several ancient characters are inscribed on it:
"On the ancient battlefield, those who enter bear the consequences of their own lives."
The top ten contestants from various sects are gathered in front of the stone tablet.
Fu Shaoping stood calmly in the crowd.
His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on a person in the distance.
leaf.
That person arrived sometime earlier. He stood outside the crowd, seemingly out of place in this world, yet undeniably present.
He seemed to sense Fu Shaoping's gaze, turned his head, and smiled slightly.
Fu Shaoping didn't speak, he just nodded slightly.
Ye nodded, then turned and disappeared into the gray mist.
Fu Shaoping withdrew his gaze and took a deep breath.
"Ancient battlefield... I've arrived."
Chapter Sixty-Three: Entering
With a command given, the top ten contestants simultaneously stepped into the portal.
After a dizzying spin, Fu Shaoping opened his eyes and found himself in a desolate land.
The sky was perpetually gray, devoid of sun, moon, and stars. The earth was uneven, riddled with massive cracks and deep craters, as if it had witnessed a fierce battle. The air was thick with the stench of blood and decay, along with a faint, almost imperceptible... aura of celestial demons.
He looked around and found no one else.
"Random teleportation." He understood.
He took out a map and checked the directions.
The ancient battlefield is divided into three layers: the outer perimeter, the inner perimeter, and the core.
The outer area is relatively safe and suitable for cultivators in the early stages of the Golden Core realm.
The inner area is fraught with danger and is suitable for cultivators in the late Golden Core stage.
The core area is said to be inhabited by the remnant soul of a Nascent Soul level demon, as well as the true legacy left behind by an ancient powerful being.
Fu Shaoping's target is the core area.
He put away the map and began to move towards the inner perimeter.
Chapter Sixty-Four: The Outskirts
The outer areas are relatively calm.
Fu Shaoping traveled for three days and only encountered a few demonic beasts at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, which he easily killed.
He also discovered some medicinal herbs, most of which were a hundred years old. Although they were precious, they were no longer of much importance to him.
On the fourth day, he came across a ruin.
It was a half-collapsed stone hall, inside which lay a skeleton. On the skeleton's finger was a storage ring.
Fu Shaoping stepped forward, buried the skeleton, and then took off his ring.
Upon probing with divine sense, the ring was found to be empty, containing only a jade slip.
The jade slip contains a lost sword technique called "Tiangang Sword Art".
Fu Shaoping glanced through it and found that although this sword technique was not as exquisite as the Nine Swords of Moonlight, one of its moves, "Heavenly Gang Demon-Slaying," had a special effect in restraining Heavenly Demons.
"Perhaps it will come in handy." He put the jade slip into his pocket and continued on his way.
Chapter Sixty-Five: The Inner Enclosure
On the seventh day, Fu Shaoping entered the inner perimeter area.
The scene inside is completely different from that outside.
Occasionally, crimson lightning would strike the sky. On the ground lay enormous skeletons—some belonging to demonic beasts, others to humans. The air was thick with the stench of blood, and a chilling killing intent permeated the atmosphere.
Fu Shaoping focused his senses and quickly locked onto a direction.
There, a faint, almost imperceptible, contractual fluctuation could be felt.
Unlike any contract he had sensed on pages four and five, that fluctuation was both familiar and strange, as if... it had some inexplicable connection with him.
"That's the direction." He took a deep breath and sped off in the direction from which the fluctuations were coming.
Chapter Sixty-Six: The Heavenly Demon
On the tenth day, Fu Shaoping encountered his first Heavenly Demon in a valley. It was a Heavenly Demon at the late Golden Core stage, enormous in size, entirely black, and surrounded by thick black mist. Its eyes were blood red, filled with bloodlust and madness.
“Humans…food…” it uttered in a hoarse voice, lunging at Fu Shaoping.
Fu Shaoping drew his sword, and the Moonlit Sword was unsheathed!
"Nine Swords of Moonlight - Moon Sets and Crows Cry!"
The sword flashed like lightning, slashing down on the Heavenly Demon!
"Ow—!"
The demon let out a scream as a deep wound was slashed open by the sword light. Black mist, like blood, gushed from the wound.
But it didn't die; instead, it pounced on Fu Shaoping even more frantically!
Fu Shaoping frowned slightly.
The Nine Swords of Moonlight seem to be less effective against demons than against cultivators.
He recalled the phrase "Heavenly Gang Breaks Demons" from the jade slip, and a thought struck him.
He sheathed his sword, formed hand seals, and activated the Heavenly Gang Demon-Slaying Technique!
A golden sword light shot out from his palm, striking the Heavenly Demon squarely in the head!
"boom!"
The demon's head exploded, and its massive body crashed to the ground.
Fu Shaoping stopped, slightly out of breath.
"The Heavenly Gang Demon-Slaying Technique...it really works."
He walked to the corpse of the Heavenly Demon and found a black crystal core inside. The crystal core contained a dense amount of demonic energy.
"The magic core... might be useful." He put the crystal core into his storage bag and continued on his way.
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Ruins
On the fifteenth day, Fu Shaoping discovered a huge palace on a mountain peak.
The palace was entirely black, towering a hundred feet high, and exuded an imposing aura. The palace doors were tightly shut, covered with intricate contractual runes.
Fu Shaoping walked to the palace gate and gently touched it.
The runes on the palace gate suddenly lit up, and an ancient, profound thought entered his mind:
"You who come after me, your ability to reach this point proves that you possess a talent for contracts. I am an ancient contract cultivator who has devoted my life to studying the way of contracts and have left behind three trials. If you can pass them, you will inherit my mantle."
"The first test: the test of one's character and temperament."
As soon as he finished speaking, the palace doors slowly opened.
Behind the door was endless darkness.
Fu Shaoping took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Chapter Sixty-Eight: An Examination of Character
Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in the darkness.
The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually coalescing into a human figure.
It was a kind-faced middle-aged woman, dressed in coarse cloth, smiling at him.
"Ping'er..."
Fu Shaoping's heart skipped a beat.
This is his mother from his first life.
"Ping'er, how have you been all these years?" The mother's voice was as gentle as ever.
Fu Shaoping looked at her calmly.
“You are not my mother,” he said calmly.
The figure stiffened slightly, then began to twist and transform into another form.
That was my master in my second life, the white-haired old woman Yunhe.
"Shaoping, your master has been waiting for you for a long time." Yunhe smiled kindly.
Fu Shaoping shook his head again.
The figure shifted again.
The third incarnation of Zhou Yuanqing, the fourth incarnation of Fu Qingshan, Master Yuehua, Senior Sister Yuehua... one familiar face after another appeared, only to be recognized by Fu Shaoping in turn.
In the end, all the illusions vanished.
In the darkness, that weathered voice rang out once more:
"You have not a single obsession in your heart?"
Fu Shaoping said calmly, "Yes. But my obsession is not in the past, but in the future."
After a moment of silence in the darkness, the voice rang out again:
“What a wonderful ‘not in the past, but in the future’! First step, through.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine: A Test of Combat Strength
The second test is a "test of combat strength".
In a vast, empty space, three figures appeared.
Each figure exuded the aura of a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Defeat them to pass."
Three figures simultaneously lunged at Fu Shaoping!
Fu Shaoping drew his sword, and the Moonlit Sword was unsheathed!
"Nine Swords of Moonlight - Moon Rises Over the Eastern Mountain!"
The sword light was like the moon, gentle and lingering, forcing the figure at the front to retreat!
"Nine Swords of Moonlight - Moon Shines Over the Great River!"
The sword light surged like a tide, endless and continuous, trapping the second figure!
"Nine Swords of Moonlight: Moon Shifts Flower Shadows!"
The sword light was like a shadow, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion, thus preventing the third figure from getting close!
Three people and one shadow fought fiercely in the void!
Fifty moves, one hundred moves, two hundred moves...
Fu Shaoping gradually realized that these three figures were using the ancient method of contracts. Their attack methods were different from any contracts he had seen in his previous lives; they were more ancient and more bizarre.
But that's exactly what he needs.
He fought while simultaneously observing, learning, and contemplating.
After three hundred moves, he finally found a weakness.
"Nine Swords of Moonlight, Ninth Form - Returning to the Roots When the Moon Sets!"
The sword light, as gentle and serene as the moon, enveloped the three figures simultaneously!
The three figures froze slightly before turning into specks of light and disappearing.
In the darkness, the voice rang out again:
"Extremely high comprehension, able to comprehend the ancient contract principles during battle. Second level, passed."
Chapter Seventy: The Choice of Succession
The third aspect is "the choice of succession".
Nine gates of light appeared in front of Fu Shaoping.
Behind each gate of light, a faint glow flickered.
"Behind the nine gates lie nine different inheritances. From one to nine, the difficulty and the completeness of the inheritance increase accordingly. The ninth gate has remained unpassed for ten thousand years. Which one will you choose?"
Fu Shaoping looked at the nine gates of light and suddenly smiled.
This scene is all too familiar.
On page four, he chose the ninth door.
On page five, he still chose the ninth door.
"I choose the ninth door."
The voice was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter:
"Good! Good! You've got guts! Go in!"
Fu Shaoping stepped into the ninth gate.
Chapter 71 The Heavenly Contract
Behind the door was a grand hall.
In the center of the main hall, a phantom figure sat cross-legged.
It was an old man with white hair, a gaunt face, and slightly closed eyes, surrounded by countless contract runes. His aura was unfathomable, and even though he was just a remnant soul, Fu Shaoping felt a faint pressure.
"The latecomer, you've finally arrived." The old man opened his eyes and his gaze fell on Fu Shaoping.
Fu Shaoping bowed and said, "Greetings, senior."
The old man looked at him, a strange glint in his eyes.
“You… carry the aura of reincarnation,” he said slowly. “You have lived more than one lifetime.”
Fu Shaoping did not deny it.
The old man was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
"Good! Good! No wonder you made it this far." He stood up and walked to Fu Shaoping. "I am Tianqizi, an ancient contract cultivator. I have devoted my life to studying the Dao of Contracts and have finally gained some understanding. Unfortunately, the Dao of Heaven is unpredictable, and I too could not escape my fate. Before I die, I leave behind this remnant soul to await a destined person."
He looked at Fu Shaoping with deep eyes.
"Since you are burdened with the cycle of reincarnation and have come here, you are the successor I am destined to be."
He raised his hand, and a ray of light drifted toward Fu Shaoping, disappearing into his brow.
In an instant, countless pieces of information flooded into my mind!
That was a more complete and profound inheritance of contracts than the *Heavenly Contract Essentials*—the *Great Dao of Heavenly Contract*. It not only contained methods for using contract runes, but also ultimate reflections on the Dao of Contracts, even touching upon the true method of "proving the Dao through contracts." (End of Chapter)