I drew a talisman to save the sun from its bleeding state.

Chapter 94 Why did you bother to master the Dragon Soaring Sword Technique if you had nothing better

Zhou Zheng gave a brief reply: "Please have a seat, everyone. Master Zhang, I'll skip the preliminary rounds and wait until they've decided on a winner before going up for a bit, okay?"

Zhang Xuanqing laughed heartily: "How could I let you go up for the audition? You can do whatever you want."

He had witnessed Zhou Zheng's strength firsthand. That day, Zhou Zheng unleashed a powerful attack on the demonic energy with a celestial artifact, even causing celestial phenomena. Letting such a genius play around like this was simply child's play.

Zhou Zheng was very satisfied, and then pulled Xiaoxue to take out her phone and start playing games together.

Seeing this, Zhang Xuanqing had no choice but to ask his disciples to bring a few more chairs, a table, and a parasol to protect these distinguished guests from the sun.

Soon, the Qi Refining Realm competition began. There weren't many participants, only around one hundred, who fought simultaneously in different areas of the competition venue.

Ye Keke and Tang Ying were very interested in this, and even asked for a telescope to watch with great enthusiasm.

Zhou Zheng had no interest in this. A bunch of newbies fighting was hardly interesting. Even if they were cultivators, if they weren't risking their lives, they were still newbies. Occasionally, he would glance up and find some pairings amusing—young people competing against each other. They were so gentle, it was almost like flirting; not a bit reckless, just plain boring.

Occasionally, there are a few that look interesting, but because their hands haven't been stained with blood, they're a bit weak and not deadly enough when you hit them.

Liu Zhen nudged Zhou Zheng: "Why aren't you looking?"

Zhou Zheng didn't even look up: "It's pointless, they're not even going all out."

Liu Zhen was amused: "You think this is about killing demons and fighting to the death? It's just a martial arts competition to determine who's better. Try your best to get first place later, and I'll give you some good stuff."

Zhou Zheng: "Thank you very much, but I don't need it for now. My cultivation speed is too fast. Even if a demon were to devour my inner thoughts, I would be dragged into an illusion in the blink of an eye. Especially recently, my blessings have been deducted a lot. If I speed up my cultivation any further, wouldn't that be the death of me?"

I didn't realize how good it was when I had good fortune, but I only felt it after I lost it. Without the weight of good fortune, demonic thoughts are more likely to arise, and I need to spend more time purifying my mind and improving my state of mind.

Zhou Zheng felt that the most frustrating thing was that he could clearly feel that the demonic thoughts did not originate from his own heart, but rather came from "external paths" or "the outside world." It was a kind of demonic thought that invaded from the outside in, trying to constantly distort his own concepts and mind.

Fortunately, since the invasion was from the outside in, Zhou Zheng was able to tell that it didn't affect his normal life.

I didn't realize anything when I wasn't cultivating the Tao, but once I started, I discovered that the risks involved were indeed beyond what ordinary people could bear. If you can't guard your mind, at best your cultivation will stagnate, at worst you'll stray into the demonic path, lose yourself, and have no way back. Some unlucky ones will even be killed by demonic thoughts.

After starting to do good deeds and accumulate merit, such as enlightening Ye Keke, Zhou Zheng noticed a slight change: he felt righteous energy pressing down on him, which could suppress demonic thoughts to a certain extent, preventing him from being torn apart too badly.

Liu Zhen asked curiously, "Then why don't you draw a calming talisman? Or can I give you some treasures to protect your mind?"

Zhou Zheng: "No, I want to improve through my own efforts."

Liu Zhen scratched his head. "Hiss... this is a bit tricky." The child is indeed not lacking in anything; he will ask for help when needed.

Liu Zhen had no choice but to steer the conversation back on track: "So, are you going to get first place or not? Getting first place would benefit both you and Lei's unit. It would increase our exposure and attract more people."

Zhou Zheng: "Just grab one while you're at it, it's no trouble at all."

Liu Zhen: "Okay, take it if you want."

Zhou Zheng had just finished a game, paused to think, and finally decided to put on a spectacular performance to build a good reputation for Lei Bu. As for his own reputation... when he was young, he longed to make a name for himself, but now at 28, he just wanted to live a peaceful life. Too much fame was just a tiring shackle.

As a result, they waited until 3 p.m. before the top ten winners were selected from the hundred or so people to receive their awards. Many of the steps in the process were purely for showing off family background and publicity, rather than for people who came to participate in a competition.

Seeing Zhou Zheng's expression, Zhang Xuanqing lowered his voice and leaned closer to explain, "Master Zhou, this is actually equivalent to official publicity, and they can make a lot of money from it."

Seeing that Zhou Zheng was getting impatient, Zhang Xuanqing even reluctantly cut back on many steps to avoid the big shot getting really upset and leaving.

It's a pity that those precious spirit stones are gone.

Zhou Zheng felt relieved and shifted his position while sitting: "Alright, are there any other activities after the awards ceremony? If so, I'll leave and come back when everything's finished. This event has been a bit of a waste of my time." As expected, everything ends in failure; there's nothing he can do.

I've been waiting all day. If I had this much free time, wouldn't it be better for me to stay home and cultivate? Why am I wasting my life coming here?

Zhang Xuanqing chuckled dryly: "No, no, Junior Brother, go down and talk to them. Postpone the awards ceremony and let Master Zhou go up and have some fun."

Xuan Yizi hurriedly ran down to communicate with people and rearrange the process.

Liu Zhen crossed his arms and said, "Don't be impatient. Haste makes waste. You just need to give them some pointers or beat them to a pulp to get them to do good deeds. That will quickly boost your good fortune."

Zhou Zheng sighed, hoping he could break even next, otherwise spending the whole morning and noon playing games would be too boring.

Soon, the steps were arranged, and with the assistance of the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, the site was merged into one large area, and the best barrier formations and protective formations were raised.

Zhang Xuanqing clipped a microphone to Zhou Zheng's collar, indicating that everyone could hear him now.

Zhou Zheng crossed his legs, looking boredly at the ten geniuses standing below the stage: "I came here with high expectations, but your performance has disappointed me. If this is all you've got to be called geniuses, then the future of our cultivation world is doomed."

The Sword Sect genius immediately lost his temper: "Don't think I won't curse you just because you gave me a talisman! Come down here and fight me if you dare!"

The Sword Sect genius is the first place winner of this competition. He shone brightly with his swordsmanship talent and solid skills. His cultivation level is also at the late stage of Qi Refining. He is a promising young man and it is obvious that he will inherit the Sword Sect and become a swordsmanship grandmaster in the future.

Zhou Zheng looked at this arrogant genius and felt bored. He smiled and simply stepped down from the judges' platform and went to the arena.

She raised her chin and asked, "Just you?"

The swordsman's genius drew his White Rainbow Sword: "I alone am enough to pin you to the ground and beat you to a pulp! Don't think you can be arrogant just because you have some talent. Everyone here is a genius at some point!"

Zhou Zhengming understood, walked to the edge of the field, took off his shoes and socks and threw them down, so as not to damage them when he stepped on them later.

He turned around and saw that the other nine geniuses had already left the arena, giving up their spots to the Sword Sect genius and himself. He smiled.

Zhou Zheng stretched his limbs, took off his coat and put it into his storage ring, then clenched his fist: "Is this a contest of skill or a fight to the death? What I mean is you can hit me all you want, but I'll have to hold back so I don't kill you."

The Sword Sect genius laughed loudly: "You're so arrogant! Do you believe I can kill you with one sword strike?"

Sword cultivators are virtually invincible among their peers. I'm a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, what the hell am I afraid of?

Zhou Zheng remained silent, his hand forming a sword-finger gesture to release the true meaning of the Soaring Dragon. A ten-meter-long blue dragon appeared out of thin air and soared into the sky, circling in mid-air. Its majestic dragon head stared at the Sword Sect genius who was swallowing hard.

The Sword Sect genius, "Gulu," swallowed hard. "Dude, why did you max out the Soaring Dragon Sword Technique if you had nothing better to do? By the way, what's your name again, big brother?"

Zhou Zheng: "My name is Zhou Zheng. I'm not interested in your name. Shall we continue?"