Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 302 - 173: Obtaining Flowing Cloud Dew and Comprehending the Yin-Yang Profound Mechanism

Five quarter-hours had passed since the start of Riding the Clouds on Rishan.

Ye Fei was feeling immense pressure.

So far, he hadn’t seen a single Liuyun.

Time ticked by, second by second, meaning the remaining Liuyun up ahead were also dwindling.

But what made him even more anxious was that, based on experience from past competitions, his current position was already lagging behind Windwalker Wanderer up ahead by at least three Liuyun.

It made him sigh in spite of himself. ’Hezhou is truly full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.’

Ye Fei had originally thought that the combination of Talismans and Escape Techniques he had developed would allow him to shine in the competition.

At worst, he wouldn’t fall too far behind.

He never expected to be so thoroughly humbled today.

’At this point, any hope of fighting for first place is gone. The best I can do is see if I can grab one or two Liuyun and not leave empty-handed,’ he thought, turning his head to look to his right.

To Ye Fei’s right was another person dressed in white, riding on a round Jade Pendant.

It was none other than the current Chief Disciple of the Lingyuan Sect, Ning Haochen.

He had also been one of the top contenders to win, but now he could only rely on the power of his Magical Artifact to barely keep up with Ye Fei.

So far, he too had come up empty.

Ning Haochen was actually under even more psychological pressure than Ye Fei.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, he was the representative of the Lingyuan Sect’s younger generation.

From the moment he entered the competition, his performance was inextricably linked to the Lingyuan Sect.

If he failed to secure even a single Liuyun in this competition, not only would he be utterly disgraced, but the Lingyuan Sect would lose face along with him.

As the Chief Disciple, the Escape Techniques Ning Haochen cultivated were a top-tier inheritance of the Lingyuan Sect, and he had even received guidance from several Elders.

Aside from his lack of time spent training, which meant he had only reached the Mastery Realm, he was in no way inferior to others in any other aspect.

But he never would have imagined that Windwalker Wanderer, who hadn’t emerged from his fifty-year seclusion, would choose to participate in this year’s competition.

And upon his return, he had even demonstrated such a massive breakthrough.

It was likely that this competition would set a new historical record.

And when that happened, all of them would become nothing more than foils to accentuate Windwalker Wanderer’s glory.

However, Windwalker Wanderer up ahead wasn’t having as easy a time as they imagined.

Even though he hadn’t seen anyone overtake him from the start, he somehow hadn’t managed to catch a single Liuyun.

He was now filled with confusion, unable to figure out if something unexpected had occurred.

’Could it be that I was in seclusion for too long and flew in the wrong direction?’

’Or have the rules for Riding the Clouds on Rishan changed, and I just so happened to not get the notice?’

As for the second-tier Cultivators behind them, they weren’t thinking so deeply.

They were simply lamenting that there were too many experts this time. They would probably just be along for the ride again, with no idea when they might ever be able to fight for a Liuyun and secure a ranking.

「Another quarter hour passed.」

Windwalker Wanderer was still empty-handed.

Just as his self-doubt was growing, he saw a Sword Light up ahead, lazily making its way back toward him.

He focused his gaze and saw that it was Xiao Chen!

Although they had never met before, Windwalker Wanderer still recognized him as one of the contestants in this competition.

Before the race, he had heard from an old friend about the recently risen Cultivators like Xiao Chen and Ye Fei.

The problem was, how could Xiao Chen be ahead of him?

He hastily stopped and asked, "Xiao, where might you be heading?"

In his heart, Windwalker Wanderer already had a faint inkling of the answer.

But before he heard the answer with his own ears, he deliberately forced himself not to dwell on it.

"Ah, Tafeng," Xiao Chen said with a smile, cupping his hands. "I was fortunate to win. The competition is already over. You can head back now."

These light, casual words struck Windwalker Wanderer’s ears like a clap of thunder.

’The competition is already over!’

Ever since his first time competing sixty years ago, he had always been the one to say those words to others.

He never imagined that today he would be the one hearing them, only now realizing how jarring they sounded.

He had originally believed that after this seclusion, where he brought his Wind Escape Technique to the Mastery Realm, he would stand unrivaled in Hezhou and crush all other Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Who would have thought that on the second day out of seclusion, he would be the one getting crushed instead.

’A new generation comes to replace the old.’

In a daze, Windwalker Wanderer finally realized he was now an "old man" of over one hundred years.

The glory of his ten consecutive victories still felt fresh in his mind, but that was a memory from fifty years ago. Now was the era of the young.

"Congratulations, Xiao."

Before long, they ran into Ye Fei and Ning Haochen.

Upon learning that the cloud-chasing was over, both of them stared with wide eyes.

’So fast?’

Ye Fei felt a little numb inside. At the same time, a trace of bewilderment filled his eyes as he sized up Xiao Chen.

It was no exaggeration to say that his progress in all aspects of cultivation over the past year was equivalent to ten or even twenty years for anyone else.

Battle after battle with Demon Cultivators, one fortuitous encounter and opportunity after another.

These had allowed him to transform from a newcomer who had just entered Foundation Establishment into a renowned genius in Hezhou, capable of overpowering those at the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment.

However, if his own progress was a leap, then Xiao Chen’s was a meteoric rise.

Not only was Xiao Chen so strong that even he felt it was difficult to catch up, but he also always seemed to be one step ahead.

Ye Fei truly couldn’t figure out just how Xiao Chen cultivated.

But he secretly suspected that, besides having great comprehension, the other man also possessed some kind of extremely rare Dharma Body.

It wasn’t even out of the question that he possessed a legendary hidden Spirit Body.

Otherwise, it was truly difficult to explain how Xiao Chen could be so powerful.