Path of Alchemy Mastery-Chapter 348 - 349 Fire Phoenix

As soon as the rules were announced, Mu Can nodded secretly, indeed just as he had thought: Limit the strength and then only allow the use of secret manuals obtained from the Scripture Pavilion. Only by doing so could the utmost fairness be ensured, which completely matched Xu Liang’s earlier predictions.

Glancing at Xu Liang, both noticed the expression in each other’s eyes, and they smiled at each other, sharing an understanding.

"The duel begins."

As soon as the words fell, a glow appeared beneath the feet of Mu Can and Xu Liang, and in the next moment, both appeared in a huge dueling ground. However, this was only half the area; the semi-circular duel arena was divided into two parts by a huge wall, and Mu Can and his group were on one half.

"Have you noticed that the creator of Tongshen Mountain has reached a very high level in the research of space arrays?" Xu Liang said cautiously, surveying the surroundings.

Mu Can agreed with this point. After entering Tongshen Mountain, he had already noticed this—from the continuous stone stairs, the Sumeru mustard seed stones, to the Scripture Pavilion, and finally the space within the secret manuals, not to mention the current dueling ground, all clearly showed this fact. Mu Can was even certain that there must be many such dueling grounds on Tongshen Mountain, with many battles occurring simultaneously.

"I’ll take the front and you watch my back, and remember not to use any other cultivation techniques. This space is a bit tricky, don’t get disqualified by breaking the rules." Mu Can’s attention was always on the wall dividing the dueling ground; he knew that when this wall disappeared, it would definitely mark the start of combat.

"Mhm." Xu Liang nodded, aware that now the two of them were a unit, fighting together—it was definitely a good choice to have Mu Can, with his strength, take the lead.

"Be careful, though the space has limited your cultivation, there are two things it cannot limit." Xu Liang spoke up as a reminder.

Tongshen Mountain, magical as it was, could not limit two things about a person; one of which was physical fitness—a Martial Saint’s physical fitness was twice that of a Martial Arts Sect master, meaning faster speed, greater endurance, and even stronger close combat abilities. The other thing Tongshen Mountain could not restrict was a person’s combat consciousness.

Cultivation techniques are important, but combat experience is even more crucial. In the history of the Mortal World, there have been countless instances of battles transcending levels where cultivators who solely focused on cultivation without combat experience faced those who daily tread the line between life and death. Even if the former’s strength was greater, they could still be instantly overwhelmed.

This is also why students from the Immortal Ancient Academy periodically go out for practical training—to prevent them from becoming cultivation fools who only focus on cultivation.

"I understand." Mu Can looked up at Xu Liang, a smart man who instantly grasped Xu Liang’s meaning.

Mu Can believed this was a loophole deliberately left by the space, with the sole purpose still being fairness.

If strength imbalance caused suppression in combat power, using strength limitation to avoid it provides fairness for those with lesser power. Conversely, leaving some advantages for the extraordinarily powerful ensures a kind of fairness for those with higher abilities.

It’s simple—I meticulously and painstakingly cultivate and yet, I start on the same starting line as those less skilled than myself here; this in itself is a matter of fairness. Thinking here, Mu Can truly came to an understanding of Tongshen Mountain.

He also speculated about the creator of Tongshen Mountain.

Firstly, the creator of Tongshen Mountain must have regarded it as a hope for revitalizing the Mortal World—this could be seen from the fact that cultivators who entered Tongshen Mountain hadn’t suffered injuries or deaths.

Secondly, this creator of Tongshen Mountain must be someone who constantly considered fairness. This could be seen from the elaborate design of the second challenge—neither favoring the powerful nor discriminating against the less powerful, striving to ensure relative fairness. Absolute fairness doesn’t exist, but such relative fairness is already invaluable to many.

Now, if there were a Martial Saint at the peak who could withstand the immense pressure, successfully overcome their own heart, and acquire a manual, comprehending a powerful cultivation technique, then defeating Mu Can would be a very plausible possibility. But such a scenario, if it occurred outside, would simply be impossible.

Amidst a thunderous roar, the wall dividing the dueling ground began to rise slowly, soaring towards the sky, revealing two cultivators on the opposite side.

In that instant, all four eyes locked onto each other, directly focusing on their opponents. There were no old grudges forgotten with a smile, nor was there a sharing of drinks in joy; the opponents launched an attack, aiming to catch them off guard.

A giant Fire Phoenix hurtled towards Mu Can’s face, emitting a crisp cry as it swooped in, its appearance rivaling the Fire Element magic unleashed by Mu Can after absorbing the Fire Dragon Ball with his Mystic Dragon Nine Revolutions technique.

Mu Can could even clearly see each feather of the Fire Phoenix soaring toward him, its eyes like exquisite rubies slowly filling with anger, as if it sought to burn him to ashes.

The first move upon meeting, was such a powerful technique.

The other person, in the moment the Fire Phoenix appeared, created a huge tornado right in front of him, which then followed the Fire Phoenix and hurled itself towards Mu Can.

When the Fire Phoenix met the wild wind, it instantly grew against the wind, its size and momentum surged dramatically. If previously the attack was at the peak of a Martial Arts Sect, with the enhancement of the wild wind, the Fire Phoenix was now strong enough to harm a Martial Saint.

To encounter such a killer move right at the start, and Mu Can keenly sensed something from this attack—the two opponents were likely not simple. Although these two martial skills were limited in attack power when used alone, combined together, they could unleash an effect greater than the sum of their separate impacts.

Panic was clearly written on Xu Liang’s face; being physically present, he might not have expected such a formidable attack at the moment of their encounter.

Seeing Xu Liang’s expression, the two opponents exchanged a smile, staring steadfastly at the Fire Phoenix in the sky. This move, which they had developed, was their strongest attack.

Wind borrowed the force of the fire, and fire boosted the power of the wind. They believed that caught off-guard, no one could withstand this move.