The five-colored divine light surrounded Teng Qingshan, and Ji Ning’s Water-Fire Lotus Sword Formation collided with it, causing ripples in the five-colored divine light, but it couldn’t be shattered.

Ji Ning was not surprised, and he swung his sword.

The black sword radiance suddenly appeared like thunder, bursting forth with an abrupt and concentrated power in front of Teng Qingshan, completely shattering the five-colored divine light and thrusting towards his chest with full force!

“Boom!”

Teng Qingshan’s expression remained unchanged as he abandoned defense and covered his six fists with a gray-black aura, surging towards Ji Ning like a river of deathly aura.

Ji Ning’s expression changed, and he waved all five of his arms, laying down countless thorny sword radiance in front of him.

“Clang!”

A sound of metal clashing rang out as Ji Ning’s sword struck Teng Qingshan’s chest, leaving only a white mark in front of him.

“Boom!”

Teng Qingshan’s six fists tore through his sword defense in the blink of an eye.

“This defense is truly terrifying!” Ji Ning was secretly shocked.

The protective divine ability was truly extraordinary, as his previous sword strike didn’t break through the defense at all.

Seeing his sword defense being torn apart, Ji Ning immediately used the Windwing Escape Technique, retreating like a giant roc, but Teng Qingshan’s escape technique was obviously more adept, easily catching up and ruthlessly striking his chest with several fists!

“I must go all out!” Ji Ning’s heart sank, realizing that in terms of divine body defense and speed, he was no match for Teng Qingshan. But what he was most proud of was always the strongest attack of a Sword Immortal!

His six arms and the Realm of the Sword Dao immediately erupted with full force!

In an instant, six sword radiance appeared, and the sword qi was like silk. This strike didn’t seem powerful, but it was incredibly terrifying because his power was concentrated entirely within the sword radiance. These six swords attacked Teng Qingshan’s six fists with full force in retaliation!

“Swish!”

In the blink of an eye, blood spurted!

Teng Qingshan’s expression changed as the gauntlets on his six fists were completely shattered by this strike, and the residual force of the six swords even injured his fists, leaving a shallow scar oozing with blood.

But such minor injuries were insignificant to a divine body cultivator, and he quickly recovered.

“Truly worthy of a Sword Immortal, his attacking ability is truly terrifying!” Teng Qingshan was secretly amazed.

The sword radiance like silk was a realm that even a Loose Immortal of at least thirty thousand years could achieve in the Sword Dao. Many Heavenly Immortals couldn’t compare to him in terms of comprehension of the Dao.

As his cousin said, Ji Ning was indeed a natural-born Sword Immortal!

Ji Ning attacked again, and Teng Qingshan’s heart sank as he fused the Great Dao of Annihilation and the Great Dao of Life and Death, covering himself with endless gray-black aura, then struck with the strongest power he had unleashed so far.

“Boom!”

Under the intense collision, Teng Qingshan’s body shook violently, and he flew uncontrollably several miles away, his fists covered in bloody wounds, with the bone visible!

On the other side, Ji Ning retreated more than a hundred feet, and the tremendous recoil force also made blood trickle from the corners of his mouth.

Both of them were high-level divine body cultivators, and such minor injuries were easily repaired.

But obviously, Teng Qingshan was more seriously injured, and he had expended more divine power!

Teng Qingshan’s heart sank.

His attack power was far inferior to Ji Ning’s, and his defense was not enough to withstand Ji Ning’s attacks. As a result, his divine power consumption would only increase. If his divine power was exhausted, he would be finished!

Without saying a word, Teng Qingshan released the power of the internal Heaven and Earth, radiating it to cover the area where Ji Ning was. Ji Ning immediately felt a force sticking to him at all times, as if he were stuck in a quagmire.

“There’s only one chance!” Teng Qingshan took a deep breath and charged forward without hesitation, gathering the strongest move on his fists once again.

Ji Ning didn’t dare to be careless and once again unleashed the six strands of silk-like sword radiance!

Teng Qingshan’s eyes were calm as he didn’t dodge, rushing into Ji Ning’s presence against the silk-like sword radiance, leaving countless red bloodstains on his body like a spider web, instantly covering him in numerous wounds and flowing with blood.

But Teng Qingshan didn’t care. The moment he arrived in front of Ji Ning, his two arms grabbed onto his shoulders like pincers, and four fists rained down on his head like a downpour!

Ji Ning’s expression changed, immediately understanding Teng Qingshan’s tactic. He used four arms to wield his sword to intercept, while the other two arms released the sword, grabbing Teng Qingshan’s arms and exerting force.

“Hmm?” Teng Qingshan’s eyes widened suddenly.

He exerted the full strength of his arms, even using the force transmission method passed down by his cousin, but Ji Ning’s arm strength far exceeded his own, easily prying open his arms with a single effort.

“Boom!”

At the same time, dozens of flying swords appeared from the sky, forming a small Thousand Sword Formation, smashing into Teng Qingshan’s face and sending him flying.

Seeing Teng Qingshan being sent flying, Ji Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief, then once again approached him in close combat, using the sword formation to interfere with him. Although the power of the internal Heaven and Earth had slowed his speed, the force of his sword strikes remained undiminished, and under the interference of the sword formation, Teng Qingshan’s speed also decreased, bringing the two back to an even playing field.

In the Heavenly Radiance Hall.

“What a pity,” Bodhisattva Zhi Shi sighed deeply, full of regret.

“If this wasn’t a competition, Teng Qingshan wouldn’t lose.”

“This Ji Ning has a very powerful divine ability that enhances his physical strength, and it’s that divine ability that has caused Teng Qingshan to be overwhelmed in terms of attack.”

Lu Dongbin, Emperor Hao, and Emperor Xia nodded one after another.

Those with keen eyes could see that the outcome of this decisive battle had been determined.

In the continuous exchange of blows, Ji Ning used the Three-Foot Sword’s Seventh Move of the Star-Seizing Hand to repeatedly injure Teng Qingshan, and Teng Qingshan’s divine power consumption grew more and more, but his fists couldn’t touch Ji Ning.

Under the continuous cycle of injury and recovery, half an hour had passed in this battle.

Teng Qingshan was once again blasted away, covered in sword wounds like silk.

Feeling the dwindling divine power within him, he let out a bitter smile.

“I’ve lost.”Ji Ning halted his advance, his expression solemn.

“If it weren’t for the competition, you wouldn’t have lost.”

“Unfortunately, this is the competition.”

Teng Qingshan shook his head.

“I’m not a sore loser; you truly won this battle!”

Teng Qingshan indeed lost unjustly.

His escape technique was faster than Ji Ning’s, and he could have relied on his speed to engage in hit-and-run tactics, which would have left Ji Ning unable to do anything to him. However, that would mean that no victor could be determined between them.

But this was a competition, and moreover, one that countless Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals were watching at the Immortal Fate Gathering! He couldn’t resort to such third-rate tactics; a decisive outcome was necessary.

Thus, he tried time and again to confront Ji Ning head-on, but unfortunately, the gap in their offensive capabilities was not small.

This ultimately led to the outcome.

If this weren’t a competition, Teng Qingshan wouldn’t have lost, and Ji Ning wouldn’t have won.

“Qingshan has cultivated for a hundred years in the Bright Moon Mountain and River Painting, and he has only just barely caught up to Ji Ning’s pace,” Xu Zong sighed inwardly.

And there was another very important factor: destiny. Ji Ning was the disciple of the Three Lifetimes Daoist, carrying the Water Mansion with him, his destiny was incredibly high, even the Heavenly Dao would favor him, while Teng Qingshan, coming from a minor world, was essentially a nobody in the great world, someone who would not draw any attention, with virtually no destiny to speak of, except for the support from Xu Zong.

As Teng Qingshan conceded, the Immortal Fate Gathering officially came to an end.

Ji Ning won both battles and took first place.

Teng Qingshan, with one win and one loss, became second.

Mu Chuan, with two losses, ended up third.

With the conclusion of the gathering, the Black-Robed Xia Emperor stepped forward, allowing the three to enter the Great Xia Treasure Vault to choose a divine ability secret technique. He himself sent his second avatar, a White-Robed Second Spirit, tearing through the void, heading to the abode of his master, the Red Bright Dao Ancestor.

The Black-Robed Xia Emperor stood in the void, his consciousness connected with the Second Spirit.

“The master has made a decision.”

A moment later, the Xia Emperor opened his eyes, revealing a hint of surprise, then lowered his head to look at the three standing in the plaza.

Ji Ning, Teng Qingshan, and Mu Chuan all began to breathe rapidly. The Dao Ancestor’s selection of disciples was unpredictable; it could be Ji Ning, or Teng Qingshan, even Mu Chuan, who had lost both battles, was a possibility.

Each of them wanted to gain the favor of the Dao Ancestor. Mu Chuan and Ji Ning aside, Teng Qingshan was especially eager.

Atop the Heavenly Brilliance Hall, Xu Zong also craned his neck, curious to see who the Red Bright Dao Ancestor would choose after Teng Qingshan’s unexpected entry.

Lv Dongbin and the others were also very curious, all ears.

“The disciple chosen by the master is… Real Person Mu Chuan.”

The Xia Emperor descended from mid-air, landing in front of Real Person Mu Chuan, nodding to him with a smile.

“Congratulations, Junior Brother Mu Chuan.”

“Me? The Dao Ancestor really chose me?”

Real Person Mu Chuan was first stunned, then burst into overjoyed laughter.

Having lost both battles, he thought his chances of being chosen were the lowest, yet to his surprise, he was actually selected by the Dao Ancestor. Happiness came so suddenly, he wasn’t even prepared.

Ji Ning and Teng Qingshan were also momentarily stunned.

Teng Qingshan was okay; he hadn’t felt he had much hope to begin with, but Ji Ning was dumbfounded. He had won both battles, yet he wasn’t chosen by the Dao Ancestor?

“You two need not be disappointed. The master has promised to send a Pure Yang True Immortal to take you both as disciples,” the Xia Emperor said, turning to Ji Ning and Teng Qingshan, offering consolation.

Pure Yang True Immortal… that would do.

Teng Qingshan nodded inwardly; a Pure Yang True Immortal was sufficient to rescue his wife from the cycle of reincarnation. Even if he couldn’t become a disciple of the Dao Ancestor, becoming a disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal was not bad.

Ji Ning was helpless but could only nod in agreement.

Atop the Heavenly Brilliance Hall, Xu Zong secretly curled his lip. Pure what Yang True what Immortal! Ji Ning would definitely be favored by the teacher, but for Teng Qingshan to enter the tutelage of a True Immortal was a pure waste! It seemed he would have to find some senior brothers to see who would be willing to take his cousin as a disciple.

“Xia Emperor, since your master doesn’t want him, how about letting this Teng Qingshan join my master?”

Suddenly, a Heavenly Immortal stood up outside the Heavenly Brilliance Hall and flew to the plaza amidst the astonished gazes of the immortals, looking at the Xia Emperor with a smile.

The Heavenly Immortal had a fairy sword wrapped around his waist and a wine gourd in his hand, dressed in a white robe, with long hair flowing freely, his demeanor carefree and unrestrained.

“May I ask who your master is?”

The Xia Emperor was slightly taken aback, looking at the Heavenly Immortal somewhat strangely. To snatch someone in public, do you not regard our Great Xia world highly, or do you not regard my master, the Red Bright Dao Ancestor, highly?

“Forgive me, I am Li Bai, self-styled as the Poetic Sword Immortal, and my master is indeed your ancestor, one of the Five Emperors of the human race—Emperor Xia Yu!” the white-robed Heavenly Immortal said with a smile.