Chapter 142: Surprised?

At this moment, the cultivators situated in the region between the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages suddenly sensed something was off.

Their opponents were wrong.

It wasn’t the usual kind of “wrong” where, during battles between high-level cultivators, they inadvertently drifted into the lower cultivation areas, causing the opponents there to be forcefully elevated in power.

Why did the enemy wielding a spear in front of me suddenly start spitting a ball of fire at me—aaahh!!

And why did the defensive, muscle-bound beast before me suddenly cast a seduction spell at me in the blink of an eye—aaahh!!

What’s more, when facing the strange opponent before me, my purification spell combined with my Thunderstrike Wooden Sword not only had no effect, but it actually made them shine with Jin Guang!

Is this right?

Does this make any sense??

In such a scenario, everyone could easily guess that someone nearby must have caused some special situation.

But what kind of situation would give our opponents extra abilities? No one could figure it out.

After all, each of their enemies had their own quirks, and none had shown any sign of being able to pass these on to others.

It couldn’t be that someone’s memory of their opponent included thousands of skills and abilities, throwing the entire combat mechanism of Battle Valley into chaos, right?

No matter how much everyone thought about it, they couldn’t understand, and were preparing to investigate further, when suddenly, the anomalies in their opponents vanished without warning.

The entire upheaval was as fleeting as a bloom of the night-blooming cereus.

Everyone was stunned.

Their confusion only grew deeper.

This sudden event only lasted half an hour. Could the constructed opponent already have been killed in such a short time?

No way.

Those capable of being at the border between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages were all faculty members of Pingnan Academy. They knew far more than the students.

The fastest recorded victory in Battle Valley so far was 58 hours.

That record hadn’t been broken in over a hundred years.

Maybe it was just that Battle Valley hadn’t been maintained for a long time, and a temporary bug occurred.

Many people had such thoughts pop up in their minds.

Others thought half an hour was too quick, while Li Yunxian was busy wiping away sweat.

For Li Yunxian, fighting for half an hour was completely unexpected.

It was her first time facing an opponent who didn’t know any offensive weapons or even attack spells, but had every other skill fully maxed out.

With so many tricks, Li Yunxian nearly lost.

In a way, it was a perfect reflection of the saying: “Only Li Yunxian herself can defeat Li Yunxian.”

When the Xiayun Sword pierced through the enemy’s vital point at last, Li Yunxian let out a long breath.

She watched as her opponent’s form dissipated, preparing to see what feedback Battle Valley would give her.

***

However……

Even after the figure before her completely vanished, Li Yunxian felt nothing.

Li Yunxian was puzzled.

She looked at herself, then at her surroundings in Battle Valley.

Li Yunxian: “?”

Whether it was the Blood Pool, the Heavenly Stairway, or the Immortal Waterfall, the feedback from their effects had always been very prompt. Why was Battle Valley so slow?

Li Yunxian waited in confusion for two minutes.

Still nothing… Could it be that a fabricated enemy didn’t count?

Li Yunxian was inwardly suspicious.

She felt that was unlikely.

If it didn’t count, then Battle Valley shouldn’t have been able to manifest the imagined opponent in the first place.

Li Yunxian decided to wait a little longer.

Sensing someone passing through the area, Li Yunxian moved to a concealed corner along the edge of Battle Valley.

Currently at the eighth level of Qi Refinement, showing up here would likely lead to all sorts of awkward questions.

It was much simpler to hide a bit.

Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

But once in the corner, Li Yunxian sensed something odd.

She glanced at the wall of Battle Valley beside her.

It seemed…to be shaking?

Li Yunxian stared fixedly, deep in thought.

This situation probably had nothing to do with her, right?

Recalling the anomalies she’d experienced in the Blood Pool and Heavenly Stairway.

Li Yunxian wordlessly reached out, gently placing her hand on the wall, and instantly, a surge of pure energy happily flowed through the wall into her body.

This was, in theory, the portion of the reward Li Yunxian should have received.

In no time, the few Qi Refinement level eight meridian points she’d been lacking were blasted open in one go.

Qi Refinement level nine.

This breakthrough didn’t stop.

Meridian after meridian was forced open by the energy, but Li Yunxian didn’t focus on that.

She followed the flow of energy, probing toward the core of Battle Valley’s operations.

Li Yunxian felt the energy within Battle Valley in turmoil.

It was as if something was being formed—only to collapse upon failure.

After learning about this world’s artifact forging from Li Tianying’s system, Li Yunxian quickly realized what was happening.

All those innate skills and Ninth Transformation Body Refining methods she’d used while molding her opponent had been indiscriminately turned into pure energy.

This energy was exactly like spiritual energy, but with even fewer side effects.

She could absorb it all at once, quickly boosting her cultivation level.

Applicable from Qi Refinement all the way up to the Tribulation Crossing stage.

The ingenuity of this concept and conversion design was beyond Li Yunxian’s comprehension—after all, it was a top-grade Heaven-tier artifact.

She only understood one thing.

The master who originally forged this artifact had planned to convert all abilities of foreign races into energy usable by the righteous path.

But… they overlooked Jin Guang of merit.

No one expected a good person of the righteous path would end up fighting an enemy bathed in Jin Guang of merit.

Even if such a person existed, no one would have enough Jin Guang of merit to form a solid body, let alone use it as a golden body.

Ordinary righteous cultivators were lucky to have a few wisps.

When people created enemies, they rarely remembered if the enemy had Jin Guang of merit.

So until now, truly, no one had ever molded Jin Guang of merit into an opponent in Battle Valley.

Even if there had been a tiny bug, a Heaven-tier artifact could self-repair.

But not this time.

Now that something made entirely of Jin Guang of merit had appeared, Battle Valley couldn’t just turn a blind eye.

Yet… being unable to ignore it didn’t mean it could handle it.

Jin Guang of merit, being something tied to the Heavenly Dao itself, could at best have its effects simulated by a Heaven-tier artifact. It couldn’t be truly recreated.

And so……

Within Li Yunxian’s perception, Battle Valley’s reward system was working hard, gathering energy, trying to forge Jin Guang of merit for her.

But it couldn’t. Thinking the balance was off, it dissolved and tried again.

Again it failed, mechanically insisting there was a balance issue, and once again it dissolved and tried again.

Over and over in an endless loop…bug…and in fact, it couldn’t simply be called a bug.

This section of Battle Valley, battered by surges of failed energy, seemed as if…

Li Yunxian looked at the spot where she’d just been standing.

Beneath that spot…

It was about to blow.

A serious question:

If you treat Battle Valley like a wishing well and create some bizarre thing that blows up Battle Valley, does that count as normal student usage?

Li Yunxian wore an expression halfway between laughter and tears.

She knew that now wasn’t the time to worry about responsibility.

What mattered was that Battle Valley absolutely must not be damaged.

It was an essential, foundational artifact for the future of all Shenzhou.

She had to save it.

Li Yunxian suspected her luck from that fortune-switching in Ji Law had all come back at once after a month of peace.

Clearly, she’d made it to the Tribulation Crossing stage in the cultivation world without ever breaking a Heaven-tier artifact.

But this Battle Valley just had to mess with her!

With this in mind, Li Yunxian quickly tossed out a series of artifacts, completely encircling the spot where she’d originally been standing.

She also set down a Yinshui Huan Zhen.

This would make passersby avoid the area.

Li Yunxian walked right in.

Looking down at the tiny cracks forming beneath her feet, a voice rose in Li Yunxian’s heart.

Teacher, your student hasn’t even graduated, and already she’s doing repairs on Heaven-tier artifacts.

Isn’t that a surprise?