288: End of Chapter 288

Following Chen Lingqing defeating Lin Hao, there were only two people left in this Taihe Assembly.

One had a cultivation base of only Qi Condensation 7th Layer, but excelled in illusions.

The other was a Genius whose cultivation base reached the 8th Layer of Qi Refining, but whose strength was even greater than the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

It was truly hard to determine who would win and who would lose between the two.

Several days later, the two officially dueled.

In this battle, Chen Lingqing had a higher chance of winning, but Cai Lingyue opposite him was no simple opponent either.

As soon as they exchanged blows, Cai Lingyue did not dare to be careless, directly unleashing her Second Soul. Behind her, a pair of purple pupils slowly opened, and a powerful illusion instantly controlled Chen Lingqing.

In the eyes of all the watching Cultivators, Chen Lingqing's gaze was glazed, and he stood there motionless.

In Chen Lingqing's field of vision, it was as if he had arrived in a living Hell, with volcanic eruptions everywhere, the sky shrouded in a haze, and numerous chains crawling towards him from the ground, seemingly wishing to tear him to pieces.

Seeing Chen Lingqing standing there motionless without executing any defensive methods, the people of the Chen Family knew that if Cai Lingyue freed her hands to attack at this moment, Chen Lingqing would undoubtedly lose.

They also did not expect Chen Lingqing to be controlled so quickly, which spelled trouble.

As for the female Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Jiupo Sect, they did not show any emotional fluctuations because Cai Lingyue controlled Chen Lingqing, acting as if nothing mattered at all.

Or could it be that they deeply trusted Cai Lingyue's strength?

Fortunately, Cai Lingyue herself was unable to move either; once she exerted her Second Soul with all her might, her undivided attention could only maintain the Jiupo Art.

However, the Jiupo Art was not merely an illusion; as long as the opponent fell for the illusion, any attacks suffered within the illusion would also inflict damage upon their Divine Soul until the opponent could no longer endure it, because this Cultivation Technique itself primarily focused on attacking the Divine Soul.

The main reason Xu Xian was defeated earlier was that his Divine Soul was not strong, being far weaker than Cai Lingyue's. He was continuously attacked within the illusion, and he had no means to break the illusion.

In the end, his Divine Soul was severely damaged, and he lost because he could not hold on.

Chen Lingqing, however, was different. Not only was his cultivation base higher than Xu Xian's, but even the strength of his Divine Soul was incomparable to the other's.

He himself inherited Li Qingling's Divine Soul talent; perhaps it wasn't quite that of a Prodigy, but relying on Medicinal Pills like the yangshen pill, his Divine Soul had already reached the 1st Layer of Foundation Establishment.

Cai Lingyue could at most influence a 1st Layer Foundation Establishment Divine Soul, but could not defeat it. In other words, she could not defeat Chen Lingqing. She realized this, and Chen Lingqing realized it too. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for Chen Lingqing to break the other's illusion or for Cai Lingyue to run out of strength to maintain the illusion.

Chen Lingqing steadied his mind, quickly searching for flaws. Before long, he actually found one. He mobilized the Divine Soul within his body, flipped the Kui Shui Sword in his hand, and slashed out with a single sword stroke.

Boom!

The illusion cast by Cai Lingyue directly shattered. Looking at Chen Lingqing's eyes, which were no longer glazed, shock filled her heart.

"You actually broke my illusion so quickly."

"Your illusion is indeed formidable. If it were someone whose Divine Soul strength was merely at the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, they truly might have been slowly worn to death by you. What a pity, my Divine Soul is much stronger than that of the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining," Chen Lingqing said indifferently.

Hearing this, Cai Lingyue's gaze dimmed. As expected, even if a Qi Refining Cultivator cultivated two souls, it was still very difficult to deal with a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Unless her Divine Soul were even more powerful.

"I concede defeat," Cai Lingyue said.

Her strongest means were already useless, so continuing to fight would make it impossible to defeat the opponent. Moreover, the illusion lasting over a dozen breaths just now consumed a huge amount of energy for her, considering she had to control a 1st Layer Foundation Establishment Divine Soul.

Watching her retreating figure, the solemnity in Chen Lingqing's eyes never dissipated in the slightest.

He had been controlled for a full dozen breaths. If this hadn't been a spar, and if this female hadn't been without help, then during these dozen breaths, even if they couldn't suppress and kill him, they could have severely injured him.

Thinking of this, his mood was not very good.

As the referee announced the end of the duel, the ultimate winner of this Taihe Assembly was completely finalized.

Many people watched in a daze; they knew both parties were battling with their Divine Souls, but they themselves did not understand much about Divine Souls, so they could not judge what had happened.

"Brother Qingling, congratulations on becoming the strongest expert of this Taihe Assembly," Chen Lingqiong stepped forward and said with a smile.

Everyone else also offered their congratulations one after another.

"This time it was just good luck," Chen Lingqing said solemnly.

Everyone thought he was just being modest, but in reality, it was not so.

In this Taihe Assembly, a total of three people from the Chen Family entered the top sixteen, which meant the Chen Family could obtain three foundation establishment pills. However, among these foundation establishment pills, the Chen Family had also contributed some.

Therefore, it was actually just taking back the foundation establishment pills they had taken out earlier.

The current Taihe Assembly had long ceased to be a place for Foundation Establishment Cultivators to exchange pointers with each other; instead, it was a platform for the five Purple Mansion factions to test each other's strength.

Or rather, mutual testing between the Chen Family's side and the Giant Sword Sect's side.

However, after each Taihe Assembly ended, the five Purple Mansion factions would host a large-scale auction. Each auction would feature several foundation establishment pills and even more than a dozen portions of Foundation Establishment spiritual materials.

These were what the lower-tier Foundation Establishment Families and Qi Refining Families would contend for.

However, this auction would only start half a month later.

...

"This time, a total of three people from our Chen Family entered the top sixteen. It is truly a joyful occasion," Meng Ze said with a smile as he looked at the Qi Refining Cultivators under his command.

"Indeed! What do you all think after participating in this Taihe Assembly?" Chen Linglong spoke up at this moment.

"The enemies we faced were all very strong," among Chen Lingqing and the others, a young man directly stated.

He came from a Qi Refining Family in Qinghe County, with a cultivation base at the 4th Layer of Qi Refining. As the absolute top Genius within his Family, he was also one of the geniuses selected by the Qinghe Alliance to participate in the competition.

He originally thought that even if he wasn't strong, he wouldn't be too weak either. But the result was that there were hundreds of people whose cultivation surpassed his alone, out of just over a thousand people who signed up for the entire Taihe Assembly.

And for him, even if he wasn't at the very bottom, he was pretty close.

Not to mention nearly twenty people above the Qi Condensation 7th Layer, there were also nearly a hundred at the 6th Layer of Qi Refining, and over a hundred at the 5th Layer of Qi Refining.

And among those at the 4th Layer of Qi Refining, quite a few were stronger than him.

He was defeated by a Cultivator who was also at the 4th Layer of Qi Refining.

Hearing this, the rest of them also deeply empathized.

They were the strongest of their generation within Qinghe County, but placed in Taihe Prefecture, they were so ordinary. Although the Taihe Assembly always had Cultivators from other prefectures or within Cang Prefecture City participating, it was still enough to demonstrate their strength.

No wonder the Qinghe Alliance always let them come out to broaden their horizons.

If they hadn't broadened their horizons, it would always make them feel that they were already doing quite well nowadays.

Chen Linglong and Meng Ze enlightened them, seeing that the emotions of most of them were quite low.

"What is the purpose of our Cultivation? Some do it to outdo others, some for longevity, and some to protect their families. Each has their own objective."

"The reason the Qinghe Alliance lets you participate in the Taihe Assembly is not only to prevent you from becoming excessively arrogant, but more importantly, to allow you to find your own goal in Cultivation," Meng Ze continued.

Hearing this, the dozens of Qi Refining Cultivators below instantly perked up.