Black Sky Gold Spear

The spear was the same as always, perhaps sporting a brighter glow than before. Bai Hu stroked it and inspected the blade.

"You said that the blade was made by a meteorite, Master?"

"Yes, though I haven't identified the material even after many years of research"

Bai Hu made a hand seal and the spear rose in the air. It spun in the air and flames bloomed. Bai Hu raised a finger which was covered in a layer of qi and moved it in the air, almost as if he was writing on the air.

On the blade, a few words were slowly carved into the material. Now that it was bound to Bai Hu, even if he couldn't re-refine the whole thing, he could still carve a few words on it.

After an hour of this ordeal, Bai Hu exhaled and let the spear stab itself into the soft ground. On one side of the blade, he had written the words Black Sky Gold Spear.

Zhong Xian took another drink of his wine and stood, patting the dust off of him.

"I'll be going now. Once the competition is over, come see me"

Bai Hu watched his master's silhouette slowly fade into the darkness and soon stood up himself. He picked up the spear and lightly swung it through the air. The wind split apart and a distant tree was cut in half from top to bottom.

The sheer sharpness of the weapon shocked him. He hadn't put much force into that strike and was merely casually swinging. Perhaps if he really put in strength, very few people would survive the attack.

Then again, the spear was refined with the intention of purely serving the purpose of a spear and has no special functions, so it is not surprising that the weapon's sharpness and destructive power is so great.

However, his expression darkened when he saw that that simple swing had cost a sizable chunk of his qi. He raised the Black Sky Gold Spear above his head and swung the spear with all his might!

Boom!

"Shit!"

A massive explosion followed soon after Bai Hu swung his spear. When the dust settled, a deep 20 meter long ditch appeared and an exhausted and pale Bai Hu.

Plop!

He fell to the ground as he breathed heavily. That single strike had obliterated the surrounding trees and left a deep gnash in the earth, but also drained over half of his qi. If he hadn't pulled back that attack at the last moment, all of his qi would be gone and his cultivation would be harmed. In fact, that explosion would have killed or severely injured Bai Hu at the very least had he not reacted.

"It seems like I had greatly underestimated the power of this top grade magic treasure. As long as Shui Bing does not have any other trump cards then I just might be able to catch her off guard"

This was all wistful thinking as it would be difficult to imagine someone like Shui Bing who managed to establish her Foundation at a young age to not have some killer moves.

He sighed and took out a regular spirit stone to recover his lost energy. If he could advance his cultivation by a few stages then he would have a greater chance of victory, but the amount of qi required for each breakthrough is starting to grow. He estimated that it would take him another 2 months to break through to the seventh level and very likely a year to reach the eighth.

Unluckily for him, he didn't have that time and can only hope to use some short term methods. He took out several bottles from one of his spatial pouches once he had entered the secret cave abode and sat on the Mind Clearing Mat and wore the Mind Clearing Beads.

"Thankfully, I have plenty of drugs to make use of"

Inside the pill bottles were 10 qi elixir pills and 17 qi refining pills, along with another bottle containing several hundred drops of Azurelight Spirit Water. He then took out His remaining elemental spirit stones along with over 100 normal spirit stones.

The next day of the competition will happen in 3 days to allow the participants some time to recover and prepare. During this time, Bai Hu planned to consume pills like candy and absorb spirit stones like an addict.

A mouthful of pills, a gulp of the spirit water, and 2 handfuls of spirit stones. Bai Hu entered a meditative state that was purely focused on cultivation. This crazed state will likely not stop until he has consumed everything and will kill any that disturbed him. Heck, even if Zhong Xian tried to stop him he wouldn't budge an inch.

A massive vortex of qi churned inside Bai Hu's Dantian as the qi flooding in was rapidly being refined at a faster rate. That refined qi dispersed throughout the rest of his body and nourished it, making him stronger by the minute.

He naturally hasn't forgotten about the Basic Qi Nourishment Method that he had come across by chance but haven't decided to cultivate it yet. This was because it took a lot of time and energy to cultivate, both of which he didn't have at the moment.

…

After an unknown amount of time.

"Break!"

An extremely pure qi exploded out of a lone figure sitting in a cave. The surrounding qi became turbulent and was rapidly sucked in without pause.

This figure is Bai Hu, who sat in the secret abode consuming valuable pills and absorbing over 100 spirit stones over the course of 3 days, thereby reaching the seventh level and soon the peak of the seventh level. Now he was attempting a breakthrough into the eighth level of qi refinement right after gathering enough qi.

Suddenly, his expression changed and he quickly made a flurry of hand seals.

"Seal! Suppress!"

The surrounding turbulent qi instantly calmed down a great deal and soon simmered before completely dissipating.

He sighed, "I guess I need to stabilize my cultivation before breaking through to the eighth level"

He had naturally failed to break through to the eighth level. Without stabilizing, it is easy for the flow of qi to grow out of control, hence the reason why he had to suppress the qi or risk hurting his own cultivation.

He stretched his limbs and moved around before leaving the abode and calling a senior to bring him to Brightsky Peak.

"At least my qi reserves have grown by around 3 times. I can now use the Black Sky Gold Spear for a limited amount of time without being drained"

Whoosh!

He gave the senior a few spirit stones and stepped off, instantly attracting the attention of many who gathered at the competition stage.

Whispers quickly followed.

"Look! It's the dark horse!"

"Ahem!"

Everyone stood at attention and looked at Elder Gong standing on the stage.

"We'll begin right away as today will be different"

"I will be drawing lots from a box, picking 2 numbers just like before. This time however, some might have the opportunity to fight twice or even thrice"

Many people became worried and prayed that their luck wouldn't be so bad.

Meanwhile, Bai Hu…

"Surely that won't happen. No matter how unlucky one is, the chances of that happening are nigh impossible"

The elder reached his hand inside a jade box he brought out and took out 2 jade tiles, "First match, 314 and 013"

"Just my luck"

He jumped onto the platform and across him, a handsome young man with long brown hair greeted him.

"Zhong Han"

"Bai Hu"

Whoosh!

They immediately started fighting right away so as to not waste any time. Words are useless in a fight and most people know this.

Bai Hu made 2 hand seals at once, "Goldshine Cloak! Windsteel Armor!"

The winds converged and formed a light armor that carried a metallic shine around Bai Hu. THe Goldshine Cloak then covered the armor, forming a 2 layered defense that would be even more difficult to break.

His opponent was no slacker and also made a hand sign. He spat out a red scarf out of his mouth and flames covered parts of his body, forming a protective layer. Bai Hu eyed the red scarf with a bit of wariness as the spiritual energy it gave off signified that it was a magic treasure.

A few knowledgeable people in the crowd identified the treasure.

"That's Senior Zhong's low grade magic treasure! The Fire Silk Scarf!"

"Fire Silk Scarf huh?"

Bai Hu didn't know what the treasure can do but he could tell that it possessed some defensive capabilities at the very least. Taking the cautious route, he jumped back and launched blades of wind at Zhong Han.

He was unflustered however, even in the face of dozens of wind blades. He made a hand seal and poured his qi into the red scarf.

The scarf instantly expanded in size and moved to cover Zhong Han like a cocoon. The wind blades hit their target. BaI Hu's eyes constricted when he saw that the wind blades merely dented the cocoon, not cutting it despite their sharpness.

The silk unfurled to reveal a completely fine Zhong Han.

"I hope you have more cards to play, or this might end pretty soon"