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*****
On the sixth day of the Luotian Grand Tournament, the final match—George versus Zhang Chulan—took place.
As George had expected, Zhang Chulan, who cared nothing about winning or losing and was only there to uncover the truth from the old Celestial Master, surrendered as soon as he stepped onto the stage.
Thus, George claimed first place in the Luotian Grand Tournament, while Zhang Chulan, as runner-up, gained the right to inherit the Celestial Master's title.
On the seventh day, George obtained the Tongtian Record from Lu Jin, acquiring a second of the Eight Great Arcane Techniques.
That afternoon, many of the contestants and spectators began to leave the mountain and return home.
Among them were Liu Xingyang and Huang Ming from Baiyun Temple.
"It's a good idea to stay with Tianxia Society for a few days. If you need any help, feel free to contact us."
"Don't worry. I'm completely safe. Once I'm back, I'll come find you."
George waved goodbye to the two of them.
To put Liu Xingyang and Huang Ming at ease, he had told them directly that he had joined Tianxia Society.
This wasn't exactly a lie. He had indeed entered into a cooperative relationship with them.
"Brother Jin, we've received word that many top fighters from the Wang family are gathering at the base of Longhu Mountain from all over. Looks like they're planning to make a move against you.
My father wants to know—should we send experts to assist you?"
After Liu Xingyang and Huang Ming had left, Feng Xingtong approached slowly.
George waved his hand dismissively.
"No need. You all head down the mountain and leave directly. Don't worry about me. Once you hear tomorrow that they've been killed, go all-in on taking over their assets."
To him, the Wang family was barely stronger than ants.
"Still, Brother Jin, please be careful,"
Feng Xingtong nodded, a hint of concern in his eyes.
He still found it hard to believe that Jin Baobao could defeat so many of the Wang family's top fighters alone—especially their leader, Wang Ai.
But since his father and Jin Baobao had already come to an agreement, he had no choice but to follow orders.
That night, George floated invisibly in the air, watching a group of Quanxing cultivators rummaging through his dormitory. A slight smile appeared on his face.
"The real show is about to begin."
"Damn it. He's not hiding in the dorm, and we have no idea where he went."
Outside the dormitory, a Quanxing cultivator holding a broken banner shook his head.
Yuan Tao spat on the ground.
"Damn it. Even though we're following the sect leader's plan, we should still gain something. You useless fools can't even keep track of one person!"
"Senior, that guy is strange. We clearly saw him enter the dorm, but the next second, he just vanished,"
another Quanxing cultivator replied helplessly.
Just then, a white-haired old man emerged from the forest behind them, followed by a few young people.
"Yuan Tao, you little rat. So you've been after the Tongtian Record all along. Why didn't you just come to me directly? Sneaking around like this—isn't that a bit shameless?"
It was Lu Jin of the Lu family, one of the Ten Elders, accompanied by his granddaughter and several contestants friendly with the Lu family.
"Elder Lu, how many years has it been? My father misses you dearly in the afterlife!"
Upon seeing Lu Jin, Yuan Tao's face twisted with resentment. His father had been killed by Lu Jin.
"I'm in no rush. I'll join him eventually. But before that, I might as well send a few more Quanxing scoundrels down to keep him company!"
With a wave of his hand, Lu Jin's forces clashed directly with Yuan Tao's.
At the same time, battles erupted all over Longhu Mountain. Quanxing was launching a full-scale assault.
"Threefold Reversal of Life—interesting."
Hovering invisibly above, George made no move to help. Quanxing's assault was expected, and Longhu Mountain, the Lu family, and Na Duotong had long prepared their countermeasures. So far, things were under control.
What truly caught his interest was the technique Lu Jin displayed during the battle—Threefold Reversal of Life.
From Yuan Tao and Tian Jinzhong's memories, George had learned that this was the signature technique of the now-destroyed Xuanmen San Yi Sect.
Their philosophy held that a person is born with innate qi that forms their limbs and body.
Though this is the natural order, death is inevitable. Therefore, the goal was to reverse one's physical form back into innate qi in pursuit of a sliver of immortality.
This technique allows the body to be refined into energy and then converted back, enabling fluid transformation between matter and energy.
Not only does this massively enhance physical power, but it also allows rapid healing through this transformation. At its peak, it could even grant a form of immortality.
George himself already possessed potent regenerative abilities, thanks to the Wood Dragon's vitality and the Despair Virus. Even severed limbs could grow back.
If he could also incorporate the Threefold Reversal of Life, his recovery would be even stronger.
In the future, with further research, he might reach a point where, as long as his soul remained intact, his body could regenerate completely in mere moments.
Naturally, this technique intrigued him greatly.
Truth be told, the power ceiling in this world wasn't very high. Most Daoist arts didn't have particularly strong destructive force—some even weaker than advanced technology.
However, many of the techniques were extremely beneficial when it came to strengthening the body, soul, and mindset.
Still, no matter how good a technique is, mastering multiple techniques from different schools is far from easy.
Baiyun Temple's techniques, Longhu Mountain's teachings, and San Yi Sect's legacy—all of these schools had passed down their methods for generations.
But just obtaining these techniques doesn't mean one can practice them all simultaneously or merge their strengths.
Many techniques require different meridians and internal energy paths, which naturally conflict with one another.
Otherwise, someone would've already combined all major techniques into one supreme path.
Wanting to project your soul, cultivate both life and essence with Golden Light, and instantly heal from injuries like a god—it's pure fantasy.
Only a true immortal, someone who had mastered the essence of Daoist cultivation, might be able to unify all those strengths into one superior method.
George was no such immortal. He simply had access to some of Li Xuan's memories, and even Li Xuan, for all his reading of Daoist texts, had only average cultivation talent.
Maybe with ten or twenty years of research, he might be able to pull it off.
Fortunately, while George couldn't merge the techniques himself, he could exploit a bug using his clones.
His clone abilities were cumulative.
What does this mean?
It means that if each clone practices a different technique, their effects stack through him, achieving the same unified result.
For example, if his main body cultivates Longhu Mountain's techniques, his local clone practices Baiyun Temple's methods, and his Harry Potter clone trains in San Yi Sect's skills—
Then the effects of Golden Light, Soul Projection, and Threefold Reversal of Life can all be gained by every clone.
"Zhang Zhiwei has been lured away. The one guarding Tian Jinzhong—Rongshan—was also tricked away. That Gong Qing really has some acting chops."
Seeing the old Celestial Master rush to save Lu Jin, who had gone berserk under pressure from the Four Zhang maniacs, and realizing that even Rongshan had been deceived by Gong Qing, George couldn't help but nod approvingly.
As acting sect master of Quanxing, Gong Qing wasn't all that powerful—only slightly stronger than Zhang Lingyu, and not even on par with Yuan Tao.
But his mind was sharp, and his acting impeccable. He'd fooled everyone.
(End of Chapter)