Gate of God

The purple shield continued to twirl above his head.

The green ray of light screeching through the air impacted the purple crystal shield squarely. Then, it exploded.

"Boom!"

The entire earth shook.

Countless green lightswords enveloped Xiang Tianying within instants.

Xiang Tianying’s expression changed. He would not have understood this power had he not experienced it himself.

Only now did he know why Tang Zhongming would be knocked out by a single attack. The tearing feeling was unbearable for him despite his protection.

His purple crystal armor began to crack under the attacks of the lightswords. It looked like it was about to shatter.

"God damn it!" Xiang Tianying bit his lip. Blood dripped from his lip as the purple light around him glowed even more radiantly. The shield also started spinning faster.

"Kaboom!"

Columns of dust shot skyward and the ground beneath Xiang Tianying gave way. He fell to the floor...

...

All of the other competitors were stunned by what they saw. They knew that Fang Zhengzhi’s Million Sword Illustration was powerful, but they didn’t expect it to be this powerful.

Before this, the Million Sword Illustration had been impacting the ground.

When it hit Tang Zhongming, none of them were able to see its effects.

However, they could all see how the Million Sword Illustration was torturing Xiang Tianying.

"Plonk!" Xiang Tianying’s legs trembled as he fell to his knees. He continued to sweat profusely as he panted.

Even though he managed to block this attack, he suffered significant injuries.

"It’s the Sun Shooting Bow, he definitely has the Sun Shooting Bow!" Xiang Tianying asserted. The Divine Constabulary’s Million Sword Illustration alone was unable to have such terrifying powers.

The only possibility was that Fang Zhengzhi was wielding the Sun Shooting Bow, one of the 10 greatest treasures of the Great Xia Dynasty. That was the only way the Million Sword Illustration could be augmented to this extent.

Each of the 10 greatest treasures were immensely powerful.

Ping Yang was only in the Star Conglomerate State. However, with the Blazing Qilin Spear, she could go up against Heavenly Reflection State cultivators. The reason why the Sun Shooting Bow was one of the 10 was because it would augment the power of the arrows it shot.

"Is it really the Sun Shooting Bow?"

"Why would Fang Zhengzhi have the Sun Shooting Bow?"

"How is that possible?"

All of them looked into the woods in disbelief. All of them knew that the Sun Shooting Bow was King Duan’s prized possession.

At this moment, yet another green ray of light shot through the air.

It screeched as it flew towards Xiang Tianying.

Xiang Tianying stared at the ray of light. He felt that he should dodge, but, could he dodge forever?

"Boom!"

The purple crystal armor on Xiang Tianying shattered and was carried away by the wind. At the same time, Xiang Tianying spat out a mouthful of blood. He was covered in bleeding wounds.

"I don’t believe it!" Xiang Tianying knelt in the crater, caked in dust. He kept punching the rocks as he roared.

Everyone knew what had just happened.

Xiang Tianying had lost.

He had lost convincingly.

No matter what, he would be ranked eighth on the Rising Dragon Roll. From this day on, Fang Zhengzhi had taken his place.

"Fang Zhengzhi defeated Xiang Tianying?!"

"Not only did he defeat Xiang Tianying, he defeated Tang Zhongming as well!"

"Isn’t that a little ridiculous?"

All of them looked at each other in disbelief.

Everything had happened too quickly.

Many of them had not even recovered fully.

Scissors paper stone, then the white light, then Tang Zhongming’s defeat, then Xiang Tianying’s cowardice...

And finally...

Xiang Tianying was defeated.

It felt like quite a few rounds. However, the entire episode did not even last three minutes.

No one had recovered from their shock.

Xiang Tianying and Tang Zhongming had a clear advantage going into the battle. However, Fang Zhengzhi had utterly defeated both of them.

More importantly, neither of them even managed to get close to Fang Zhengzhi.

Was such bullying necessary?

"Bong!"

Just as they were all sighing and shaking their heads, a figure jumped down from a tree. He held the Sun Shooting Bow in his hand as he chewed on a blade of grass.

"You’re not convinced huh? Okay then, I’ll give you a chance. You can take turns fighting me!" Fang Zhengzhi sauntered over to the kneeling Xiang Tianying.

"..." All of the spectators felt the world spinning around them.

How could someone be this shameless?

He had already utterly defeated them. Now he wanted them to take turns fighting him?

"Fang Zhengzhi, you’re a bully!" Xiang Tianying spat out a mouthful of blood. He was on the verge of losing his consciousness.

"I bullied you? Just now, as the seventh and eighth ranked on the Rising Dragon Roll, both of you wanted to fight me. Mind you, I was only ranked tenth. I didn’t complain then. All I asked for was for one of you to fight me instead. You rejected my proposal and wanted to take turns fighting me. Now I give you a chance to take turns fighting me, but you say I’m bullying you. Aish, I don’t understand what you are thinking..." Fang Zhengzhi said scornfully.

"You..." Xiang Tianying stammered.

He wanted to say something but he swallowed his words. Fang Zhengzhi was right.

As the seventh and eighth ranked on the Rising Dragon Roll, it was quite shameless for them to combine forces against Fang Zhengzhi.

They really couldn’t blame Fang Zhengzhi for using such tactics to defeat them.

They had asked for it.

This was something that was undeniable.

Furthermore, all is fair in war. No matter how Fang Zhengzhi did it, a victory is a victory.

"Do you still want to fight? If not, I am in a rush. I still want to take first place!" Fang Zhengzhi waved the Sun Shooting Bow as he looked around.

All of the other competitors retreated in silence.

Xiang Tianying grit his teeth. He stood up and looked to the sky.

He was extremely confident before entering the city.

When he had heard about the competition, he had every confidence that he would come in first and bring honor to his family.

However, now he was going to lose to Fang Zhengzhi and his Mud Striped Horse.

How ironic.

If this was anyone else, he would have roared, "I will beat you in two years!"

However, he did not say that this time. If Fang Zhengzhi could win first place using a Mud Striped Horse, what else could he not do?

"I see that the quality of the horse is not the most important thing in this competition!" Xiang Tianying murmured to himself as he lost consciousness.

"Bong!"

Xiang Tianying fell face first into the ground.

...

Fang Zhengzhi did not waste anymore time. He had initially wanted to etch his name onto the recording tablet whilst everyone was still stunned.

However, he rejected that thought unequivocally. He would lose the initiative if he did that.

Firstly, he didn’t have the blood of the required beast, so he couldn’t write the name down.

Secondly, even if he could write his name down, he could not outrun Tang Zhongming and Xiang Tianying.

After all, both Xiang Tianying and Tang Zhongming were capable of stealing any two stallions.

If that happened, Fang Zhengzhi would not be able to do anything. He probably wouldn’t even be able to reach the finish line. Even if he did, he would have wasted much more time trying to get rid of Xiang Tianying and Tang Zhongming.

Fang Zhengzhi’s first arrow killed the beast. That gave him the blood he required. Then, he rushed over and recorded his name before galloping away.

No one stopped Fang Zhengzhi.

It did not matter if Fang Zhengzhi actually had the fourth recording tablet. They were just here to watch.

They planned to play this role out to the end.

"Run!" One of the competitors screamed and leapt onto his horse.

"I thought we agreed to run together... how can you leave me behind?" Yet another one replied furiously.

"What a bunch of liars. Can you all be a little more honest? We should watch and race together!"

All of the other competitors leapt on their stallions and chased after the first two.

Fang Zhengzhi was closer to the finish line.

However...

Fang Zhengzhi was riding the Mud Striped Horse. As long as they found the fourth recording tablet quickly, they still had a chance.

...

Everyone waited patiently at the finish line. Wen Dabao continued to pray in front of the tablet for a miracle.

"Stop praying, Fang Zhengzhi will never win!"

"Everyone is waiting for him at the first recording tablet. As long as he appears, he will be caught. What chance does he have?"

"Exactly, just forget about it and hand over the money. If you admit defeat now, we can still consider bringing you out next month."

The four others in the wager mocked Wen Dabao.

"Really?" Wen Dabao turned to look at them.

"Since when have we gone back on our word?"

"Then I want Hongyue, Qingzhu and Luliu as well as the little peach to accompany me. I also..." Wen Dabao’s eyes glimmered.

"Hang on, Wen Dabao, are you sure you have the stamina?"

"Why not? I have to do it even if I can’t. I need to make sure that I have enough enjoyment to last one month!" Wen Dabao smiled.

"Scram! You can hope for a miracle to happen then!"

"Miracle?" Wen Dabao was sullen. What miracle could there be. Everyone was blockading that area, including two high ranking individuals on the Rising Dragon Roll.

If Fang Zhengzhi won...

That would really be the biggest miracle ever.

Just as Wen Dabao was about to plead with the others, a name began to glow at the bottom of the first tablet.

It was a name...

A very simple name, but one which represented a miracle.

"Fang Zhengzhi!"

"Oh my god, it’s a miracle!" Wen Dabao’s grabbed his face in excitement. He felt like he had just been given a boost of energy.

He bounded to the tablet and kissed the name.

"Bong!"

Wen Dabao continued to dance.

"How... how is this possible?"

"Fang Zhengzhi... passed the first recording tablet?!"

"What? Fang Zhengzhi passed the first recording tablet? How is that possible? Didn’t someone say they were all waiting there for him?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

The jaws of all of the other spectators dropped when they saw Fang Zhengzhi’s name light up.

No one wanted to believe that this was happening.

But, it was.

The results tablet was linked to the recording tablet. There was no way this could be faked.

The uproar quickly reached the ears of the seated officials.

All of the officials stood up and craned their necks to see what the commotion was about.

At the lowest point of the first tablet, a name was written clearly.

Fang Zhengzhi!