At this moment, Gu Xu was standing on the other side of the ring, quietly observing everything around him.
He also saw his opponent's code name - "Linghu" on the side wall of the ring.
"Look at this code name, there might be a very cunning guy on the other side," Gu Xu secretly said in his heart, "I must not be careless."
In the "Realm of Taoism", the opponent's face and figure are shrouded in fog, just like a mosaic. It is difficult to see the appearance clearly, and even the gender is difficult to distinguish.
Because the members of the "Shenji Camp" include both princes and nobles as well as ordinary people.
The three saints who created the "Realm of Discussing the Tao" all felt that things like status might make young monks feel restrained and scrupulous during the competition.
Only by putting aside identity and treating opponents as monsters can every young man let go of himself and show his true strength.
Of course, if someone wants to blow up their identity, the saints have nothing to do with it.
Afterwards, Gu Xu walked to the steps next to the ring and began to choose weapons for himself.
His eyes only glanced at the yellow talisman at random, and then quickly moved away.
In today's competition, he did not intend to use the talisman and seal technique.
Although he really wanted to win, he was also very greedy for the rewards from the Exorcist Department Headquarters.
But he understood that the most fundamental significance of the "Realm of Taoism" was to help him improve his actual combat skills and increase his probability of survival when encountering ghosts in the future.
It is a rare opportunity to compete with monks of the same realm.
He cannot put the cart before the horse.
So, he bent down and picked up dozens of handleless flying knives that were shaped like willow leaves and as thin as paper from the ground.
Because these blades were too sharp, he deliberately wrapped his hands with true energy to avoid being scratched by them.
His actions naturally fell into the eyes of Shangguan Jin on the opposite side.
"Who in this Shenji camp uses flying knives? Why can't I remember?" Shangguan Jin frowned slightly and thought to himself.
As a fifth-grade doctor in the Exorcism Department, she had accompanied the head of the department to examine most of the preparatory members of the "Shenji Battalion" - but in her impression, there were no second-level monks who used throwing knives among these people.
This made Shangguan Jin feel a little unhappy.
In battle, she likes the feeling of being in control.
She likes to get to know every potential opponent and collect information about them; she likes to study every tiny habit of her opponents during the battle and look for flaws; she likes to calculate the opponent's trajectory and predict what their next step will be. Take action...
Almost every monk who has fought against Guan Jin has complained invariably: "I feel like I have become a puppet in the hands of this woman. She can always predict every move I make."
But now, an unpredictable variable appeared in front of Shangguan Jin.
She doesn't like change.
Fortunately, her opponent is only at the second level of cultivation, and his combat experience and skills should be far inferior to hers.
Even if the other party can really come up with some unexpected skills, she feels that she should be able to deal with it easily.
Thinking of this, she walked onto the ring with a smile on her face and did not choose any weapon.
"This opponent... seems very confident!" Gu Xu commented in his mind and followed him onto the ring.
The sound of drums sounded in the endless darkness.
The atmosphere in the "Realm of Taoism" suddenly became passionate.
Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin saluted each other, announcing that the competition had officially begun.
But the moment the two of them stood up straight again, Gu Xu suddenly felt a strong chill coming from behind.
This is a dangerous warning from his divine consciousness!
Since practicing "Solar Eclipse", Gu Xu's spiritual power has become unprecedentedly powerful. It can not only be used in attacks, but can also sense nearby hostility.
He dodged sideways without thinking.
At this moment, Shangguan Jin's figure appeared like a ghost where Gu Xu had just been.
In her hand she held a green dagger made of condensed true energy.
The green smoke is lingering, and the sharp edge is compelling.
Gu Xu knew that if his reaction was just a little slower, he would be stabbed in the heart from behind by the dagger, declaring the competition failed.
"The guy across from me really doesn't have martial ethics. He starts a sneak attack as soon as he comes up," Gu Xu secretly complained in his heart, "No wonder the codename is Vixen."
Shangguan Jin was also quite surprised by Gu Xu's reaction just now.
The movement technique she used just now is called "Meteor Walking on the Moon"——
It was created by Luo Chuan, the head of the Exorcism Department, and is recognized as one of the most mysterious and unpredictable movements in the Daqi Dynasty.
There is a poem that goes: "The shooting stars penetrate the sparse trees, and the moon moves retrogradely through the clouds."
With this movement technique, she can come and go invisible within a certain range, like a shooting star passing through the woods or the moon passing through the clouds, making it difficult to predict where she will appear next second.
But she didn't expect that the other party would predict her fatal blow and dodge it in time.
A mere second-level monk can actually crack the "Meteor Walking on the Moon"?
No one would believe this!
"Maybe this is just a coincidence." Shangguan Jin secretly guessed.
But she did not underestimate the enemy because of this. Instead, she became more vigilant. She had obviously regarded the young monk codenamed "Suzaku" as an opponent worthy of facing up to.
…………
Gu Xu also took action.
With a thought in his mind, the blades in his hand, as thin as cicada wings, were wrapped in true energy and flew towards Shangguan Jin.
Like fallen leaves rolling in the rustling autumn wind, and like raindrops falling to the ground from the sky.
This scene seems quite poetic.
But Shangguan Jin could see how dangerous it was.
On the one hand, those paper-like handleless flying knives are too sharp - as long as they touch it lightly, they will scratch the skin and cut the flesh, and blood will flow out in an instant.
On the other hand, Shangguan Jin was deeply shocked by his opponent's majestic spiritual power and meticulous control of his true energy.
Controlling objects through space is indeed a basic operation for practitioners.
But most monks can only control an object of small mass - such as using their minds to steal coins from other people's pockets, or controlling marbles to hit sparrows on a tree.
The monk opposite was able to control dozens of blades to dance in the air at the same time. He could not only turn corners, but also change the speed of flight. It was incredible to Shangguan Jin.
"This person's spiritual power should be close to the level of the fourth realm!" She narrowed her eyes and commented silently in her mind, "Our Shenji Camp is really a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger!"
But she wasn't afraid.
Although there are many flying blades, there are patterns to follow.
As long as there are rules and regulations, there is a possibility of cracking it.
In the following period of time, Shangguan Jin kept using "Meteor Walking on the Moon" to walk calmly among the rain of knives in the sky.
Those handleless flying knives always scraped against her skin with little risk, but could not cause any substantial damage to her.
In Shangguan Jin's field of vision, these flying blades all turned into thousands of numbers - these numbers described the blade's mass, length, width, thickness, flight speed, etc.
With these numbers, she can instantly calculate the blade's subsequent flight path and use her body skills to dodge in advance.
This is the magical power she gained when she broke through to the third realm - "Heavenly Calculation".
Although using third-level magical powers to deal with second-level monks is a bit unethical...
But this "realm of discussing the Tao" only requires her to proclaim her true essence, and does not restrict her from using magical powers. She uses "heaven's calculation" to predict the opponent's attack, which is not against the rules.
Shangguan Jin has always been a person who does whatever it takes to achieve his goals.
She never pays attention to morality and never cares about other people's opinions.
She is good at exploiting loopholes in the rules, and does not mind using tactics such as "sneak attacks" that are considered despicable, nor is she averse to using nice words to please those in power.
Perhaps because of this, she was able to rise step by step from a humble background and become a popular person next to the head of the exorcism department.
…………
Note:
(1) "Meeting stars penetrate the sparse trees, and the moon moves retrograde through the clouds." - "Sushan Temple" by Jia Dao of the Tang Dynasty
