History's Number 1 Founder

In response to Xiao Budian's suggestion, Zhu Yi smiled but did not say anything. Every single member of the Great Qin Empire too remained silent.

"Comrade Shi, please," Zhu Yi clamped his fists together and made a slight bow to Shi Xingyun, before advancing slowly towards the Hidden Dragon Gorge.

Shi Xingyun's gaze flitted between Xiao Budian and him. Suddenly, his face broke into a smile. Shaking his head, he said, "For this round, I acknowledge defeat."

With these words, the audience was shocked.

While everyone knew that Zhu Yi was indeed powerful, but with Shi Xingyun's powers everyone knew that he did stand a chance against him. For him to admit defeat so quickly was indeed shocking.

What was harder for everyone to accept was the fact that Shi Xingyun's admission of defeat was tantamount to sending Zhu Yi into the finals. His competitor in the finals, however, would then be Xiao Budian. Like the Foundation Establishment stage round, the Celestial Sect of Wonders was sure to win the championship here.

Regardless whether Xiao Budian or Zhu Yi won, the championship was a guarantee for the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Once again, the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders turned the Spiritual Conference into an internal sparring contest. What made this more awkward than the Foundation Establishment stage round was the fact that only two disciples of the Celestial Sect took part, and both progressed to the finals. The other competitors were all soundly defeated.

However, everyone saw the trick here. After Xiao Budian showed of his true powers, the situation became extremely precarious for Shi Xingyun.

Even if she used up all of her powers and defeated Zhu Yi (with a bit of luck), she would hardly be able to battle against Xiao Budian in her exhausted state. There was no chance of victory for her and the victory would still belong to Xiao Budian and the Celestial Sect of Wonders.

Defeating Zhu Yi and the myth of the Celestial Sect of Wonders' claims to invincibility would indeed be something glorious. In the context of this Spiritual Conference, such an achievement would be comparable to the title of champion.

However, the problem was that Zhu Yi would definitely not be defeated so easily.

While it was difficult for others to gauge, Shi Xingyun was very clear about her chances as she knew about the extent of her brother's, Prince Chong Yun, abilities.

The battle between Prince Chong Yun and Xiao Yan in the battle of Xingyun Peak was indeed controversial.

In terms of results, Prince Chong Yun lost a Nascent Soul stage magic item. A disastrous result indeed.

However, Xiao Yan himself had expended all of his powers after he unveiled his power of the primordial fires. He was akin to an oil lamp that had run out of fuel.

In his frustration, Prince Chong Yun had used his magic treasure, the Evil Shadow Sword. While he did lose his calm, it also gave Lin Feng the chance to deliver the Flaming Dragon Celestial Armor. With the protection of the Flaming Dragon Celestial Armor, Xiao Yan's powers were fully recharged and he could resume his battle.

Had Prince Chong Yun not used his Evil Shadow Sword, Xiao Yan would have been unable to suffer another blow from him.

Even so, for the early Aurous Core stage, Xiao Yan to battle against Prince Chong Yun, who was considered the top Nascent Soul stage cultivator out there, and achieve such a result was indeed something that he could be proud of.

Shi Xingyun was unable to determine whether Xiao Yan or Zhu Yi was stronger, but from observing the differences in powers between Xiao Budian and Zhu Yi she managed to get a rough idea.

During the battle against Prince Chong Yun, Xiao Yan was only in his early Aurous Core stage. Now, Zhu Yi was already in the mid-Aurous Core stage.

While Shi Xingyun appeared courteous and polite, she too had pride in herself. She would not debase her unnecessarily. She was clear that while she did stand a chance against Zhu Yi, battling against him may reveal her biggest secret.

Under the condition that she did not reveal her greatest secret, she was likely to lose in a battle against Zhu Yi. As for Zhu Yi, he would require a lot of effort to overcome her.

"This is a battle with such a small chance of victory. Furthermore, no life is at stake here. It is not worth my effort to fight here."

Facing Shi Shaoqian's query, Shi Xingyun explained, "Here, I wish to witness a battle between the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders."

With respect to Shi Xingyun's decision, Prince Anliang, Shi Zongyue, was unable to refuse it outright. However, Shi Zongyue understood Shi Xingyun very clearly. While Shi Xingyun's explanation could placate Shi Shaoqian, it was unable to satisfy him.

Shi Zongyue's gaze turned towards Shi Xingyun. Shi Xingyun smiled and then shook her head.

With a heavy heart, Shi Zongyue sighed and said slowly, "The Great Qin Empire decides to forfeit this round."

The audience was silent for a moment, and then a ruckus ensued.

At this moment, the finalists for this round had been decided. Both were disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, Zhu Yi and Xiao Budian. They would be fighting for the title of champion in this Conference.

At this point, everyone appeared numb, just like Mu Jihai and Song Qingyuan initially. When there appeared to be a slight hope of catching up, resentment and envy would foster as others sought to overtake them.

However, when the disparity in terms of abilities became too big to surmount, there would no longer be envy nor jealousy. Instead, respect and admiration would ensue.

Since the commencement of the Spiritual Conference, the disciples under Lin Feng continually changed people's impressions of them. The bold claim that "the disciples of the Celestial Sect are first amongst equals" was deeply engraved in their mind. No one doubted that statement anymore.

In reality, it was because anyone who ever doubted that statement was beaten to a pulp by Xiao Budian, Wang Lin and company.

Everyone looked at Xiao Budian and company with mixed and complicated emotions.

However, when they looked at Lin Feng, their gaze was filled with respect, even the group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

It was precisely that young man before them, with the neutral expression, clad in purple robes who created the Celestial Sect of Wonders, whose ascendancy was akin to the rising sun.

Till now, excluding Wang Lin's forfeit in the final Foundation Establishment stage round, the Celestial Sect of Wonders had only lost once. The one loser was Yang Qing, who lost to his senior, Yue Hongyan. Other than that, the Celestial Sect had not tasted defeat.

In the end, the only person who could defeat a disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonder was another disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.

Next, another disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders would face defeat. But for the crowd, what was shocking was that regardless who was defeated, the winner would still be a disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.

"Looking at this scene now, the winner should be Zhu Yi, right?" Zhao Yan of the Sword of Radiance Sect sighed slightly. "While Shi Tianhao is strong, but his mastery is only at the early Aurous Core stage whereas Zhu Yi is already in the mid-Aurous Core stage. While he had just reached that stage, it appeared that he is already at his peak."

Tao Yaoyao nodded, "You're right. The disciples of the Celestial Sect will experience a startling improvement with every increment in terms of mastery. Zhu Yi, with his mid-Aurous Core stage mastery, has a decisive edge over Shi Tianhao, who is in his early Aurous Core stage."

The audience began to discuss in earnest again. They were all interested as to who was the stronger disciple from the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Most people hedged their bets on Zhu Yi.

When they were both in the early Aurous Core stages, no one could tell who was the stronger one. Now that Zhu Yi had advanced to the mid-Aurous Core stage, his chances of victory appeared to have increased greatly.

While everyone was discussing intensely, Xiao Budian looked at Zhu Yi and smiled.

When others caught sight of his smile, a chill crept through their flesh.

Zhu Yi arched his eyebrows and said, "Little Junior, going from the mid-Aurous Core stage to the late-Aurous Core Stage is already very difficult. Now, are you seeking to skip the mid-Aurous Core stage? Once you encounter the Tribulations of the Yin Wind, it would not be easy."

Xiao Budian smiled and said, "I fully understand where Second Senior is coming from, but I insist on doing it my way."

Lin Feng said gently, "Just do it then, I'll take care of the rest." With that, a sliver of purple gas flew out from Lin Feng's fingertips and enveloped Xiao Budian.

Shi Zongyue, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man and the other Immortal Soul stage elders looked at the scene with their eyebrows arched high in incredulity. "Master Lin, are you..."

Without needing an explanation from Lin Feng, they saw Xiao Budian sit cross-legged in the middle of the purple gas as an infinite amount of spiritual energy was absorbed into his body.

Xiao Budian's Nine-Holed Aurous Core within him inhaled and exhaled. Then, a streak of azure gas flew out from within the Aurous Core.

A blaze of Yin Fire burned from the bottom of his feet and the covered his entire body.

The Tribution of the Yin Fire!

The entire crowd fell silent immediately as they stared, open-mouthed, at Xiao Budian. "This person wanted to go through the Tribulation of the Yin Fire and advance into the mid-Aurous Core stage right here right now?"

Countless amount of people were filled with mixed emotions. For many Aurous Core stage cultivators, they were highly wary and even deathly terrified of the Tribulation of the Yin Fire. However, for a disciple of the Celestial Sect, it appeared to be nothing.

For Zhu Yi, one could say that he surpassed his bottleneck after his battle with Jiao Junchen. However, Xiao Budian appeared to treat his entire matter as if it was nothing.

It was as if he had almost forgotten about it and only remembered it today, and hence he decided to settle it ASAP.

Otherwise, it appeared as if Xiao Budian was only doing it now because he needed the extra power.

It was almost as if Xiao Budian viewed ascending into the mid-Aurous Core stage not as something that he could or could not do, but rather something that depended on whether he wanted or not to do.

At this moment, every single Aurous Core stage cultivator, even some Nascent Soul stage elders, appeared to be in tears.

Since when was it so easy to go through the Tribulation of the Yin Fire? Had I been doing it wrong all this time?

Looking at this scene, Lin Feng smiled and thought, "Perhaps only Xiao Budian could pull this off."

Xiao Budian's Nine-Holed Aurous Core had been practising exhaling and inhaling spiritual energy all this while. Hence it knew how to slowly release the impurities within it. Hence, the Tribulation of the Yin Fire was to him something very easy. The only reason he did not choose to go through it sooner was because he wanted to reinforce his foundation.

Because for Xiao Budian, the truly difficult test was the Tribulation of the Yin Wind that he needed to undergo as he moved on from the mid-Aurous Core stage to the late-Aurous Core stage. Hence, he needed to be adequately prepared for that.

However, very few people knew about that. Outsiders knew almost nothing. All they saw was Xiao Budian easily going through the Tribulation of the Yin Fire.

Following Zhu Yi, Xiao Budian too ascended to the mid-Aurous Core stage. In one step, he crossed a barrier that countless other cultivators had failed to do so.

As for Shi Zongyue and the other Immortal Soul stage elders, their expression was solemn as they fixated their gaze on him. They were not shocked that Xiao Budian ascended so easily as they had seen numerous talented individuals in their thousands of years of experience. Hence, they were relatively calm.

Instead, what piqued their interest was the fact after Xiao Budian ascended to the mid-Aurous Core stage, he, like Zhu Yi, was able to easily gather spiritual energy from around him and craft the symbol of the Eight Trigrams.