Su Yang's sudden resurgence completely changed the atmosphere of the arena.
The pressure that had been weighing upon him only moments ago had vanished, his breathing had stabilized, his weakened muscles had once again filled with explosive strength, and the True Essence circulating through his body was so dense that even the surrounding spiritual energy seemed to tremble beneath its presence.
The Su family could no longer contain their excitement.
"Good!"
"Young Master Su has recovered!"
"That poison couldn't suppress him!"
Several Su family elders clenched their fists, their faces flushed with excitement as they watched Su Yang standing firmly in the arena.
This was going far better than they had dared to hope.
The Liu family, however, looked as though they had swallowed bitter medicine, while the disciples of the Jade Sword Palace were even more furious, their gazes fixed upon Su Yang as if they wished they could personally step into the arena and crush him beneath their feet.
Unfortunately, they couldn't.
The Five-Year Appointment had attracted too many eyes, and with the Yamen Constable personally overseeing the battle, any obvious interference would be equivalent to openly challenging the authority of the prefectural government.
Han Yu could only fight himself.
And even that was becoming uncertain.
While the attention of the entire arena remained focused upon Su Yang and his two opponents, far above the city, hidden within the vastness of the clouds, Lin Sheng stood facing another person.
The surrounding air was strangely quiet.
There was no wind.
No thunder.
Even the spiritual energy seemed reluctant to move.
Lin Sheng's expression gradually became serious.
Across from him stood a woman dressed in an elegant flowing robe, her silver-white hair cascading down her back like moonlight spilling across a snowy mountain, each strand reflecting the faint radiance of the sky, while the sleeves of her robe fluttered gently despite the complete absence of wind, giving her an otherworldly appearance.
Her features were beautiful but carried an indescribable dignity, the kind that came from standing at the peak of power for a very long time, her eyes calm and deep as she looked directly at Lin Sheng.
She was the Empress Dowager.
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed.
The invisible confrontation between them had already begun.
Their perceptions had collided.
His mental perception spread outward like an immense invisible tide, while her divine sense descended with greater precision, cutting through the void like countless invisible threads.
Lin Sheng could clearly feel it.
Her divine sense was stronger than his mental perception.
Not by an overwhelming amount, but enough that he could tell the difference.
So this is a Daoist Master.
He had already investigated the Daoist cultivation system extensively.
Unlike martial artists, who gradually transformed their physique and origin through martial cultivation, Daoist Masters followed a path centered around the refinement of the spirit.
Their first realm was Gathering Thoughts.
At that stage, the practitioner had to spend enormous amounts of time meditating, practicing Daoist techniques, drawing mortal talismans, painting, and performing various seemingly mundane activities that were actually methods of concentrating the scattered mind.
The objective was simple, yet extremely difficult, eliminate scattered thoughts and gather the mind into a single point.
As the mind became increasingly concentrated, the spirit naturally strengthened.
Then came Leaving Aperture.
At this stage, the practitioner's spiritual sense underwent a qualitative transformation, becoming far more powerful and precise than that of an ordinary Qi Refining immortal cultivator.
The practitioner opened the first major aperture, the Baihui Acupoint, allowing their spirit to interact with the outside world at an entirely different level.
Rank 1 talisman creation became possible at this stage, and the more talented practitioners could even begin forming divine sense toward the peak of the realm.
Then came Object Control.
This was the realm where Daoist techniques became truly frightening.
A practitioner could already move objects through spiritual sense during Leaving Aperture, but Object Control represented a qualitative leap, their telekinetic strength becoming powerful enough to manipulate objects as easily as someone using their physical body.
More importantly, their divine sense could directly manipulate the spiritual energy of the world.
They could activate talismans and formations without personally circulating their internal spiritual Qi.
That was one of the reasons Daoist Masters were so troublesome.
Their techniques didn't always require them to fight directly.
After Object Control came the Niwan Palace Realm.
The Niwan Palace was similar to the Purple Palace cultivated by immortal practitioners, and its overall strength was comparable to the Golden Core Realm.
After that came Yin Soul and Yang Spirit.
Lin Sheng's eyes flickered.
It's essentially another form of cultivation that emphasizes the spirit instead of the physique.
The two paths were different, yet strangely similar.
Martial artists refined their bodies.
Immortal cultivators refined their cultivation and gradually transformed their origin.
Daoist Masters refined their minds, spirits, and souls.
The more Lin Sheng understood the system, the more interesting he found it.
The major Daoist factions were equally fascinating.
The Mingyuan Division was responsible for dealing with Yin ghosts, rogue Daoists, and various supernatural disturbances, while the Incense Fire Cult pursued a far more dangerous path, seeking to release countless Yin entities into the physical world.
But above them all stood the most powerful Daoist faction he had discovered.
The Grandmist Dao Temple.
Rumors claimed that the Temple possessed an ancient Temple Leader who had already reached the Yang Spirit Realm.
A realm equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm.
And the woman before him...
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed slightly.
Yin Soul.
Her strength was equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator, yet her divine sense was considerably stronger than what most Golden Core cultivators could possess.
That alone made Daoist Masters troublesome opponents.
Their greatest advantage was not necessarily their direct combat strength.
It was their talismans.
Rank 1, Rank 2, Rank 3.
And even Rank 4 talismans.
A Yin Soul Daoist Master could utilize Rank 4 talismans, and with enough preparation, the number of techniques they could unleash was enough to make even a powerful martial artist cautious.
Neither of them spoke.
They simply stood within the void, their perceptions constantly probing one another, each trying to understand the other's strength without exposing too much.
The Empress Dowager was equally cautious.
From her perspective, the man standing before her was strange.
No.
Calling him strange wasn't enough.
He was like a demonic beast that had taken human form.
Although Lin Sheng had deliberately suppressed his Qi-Blood, the residual pressure surrounding his body was still astonishingly dense, causing the void around him to faintly distort as though the space itself was struggling to withstand his physical existence.
The Empress Dowager's eyes narrowed.
His physique...
She could sense it.
A terrifying physical foundation.
A body that had clearly undergone an extraordinary transformation.
Grandmaster.
The conclusion appeared almost immediately in her mind.
He was an external Grandmaster.
Her expression became solemn.
External Grandmasters were exceptionally rare.
Even among Grandmasters, internal cultivation was the overwhelmingly dominant path, because external cultivation demanded enormous resources, immense endurance, and an extraordinary physique just to survive the early stages, while advancing to the Grandmaster Realm required a foundation that was even more ridiculous.
An external Grandmaster was therefore considerably rarer than an internal Grandmaster.
And usually...
They were terrifying in close combat.
The Empress Dowager's gaze moved across Lin Sheng's body.
Could he possess an Innate Bloodline Ability?
That was another terrifying possibility.
Once a martial artist reached the Grandmaster level, their Origin underwent an extraordinary transformation, and some powerful practitioners could awaken abilities hidden within their bloodline.
Those abilities could vary tremendously.
Some could strengthen the body.
Some could manipulate the elements.
Some could produce extraordinary defensive abilities.
Others could possess effects that even Daoist techniques found difficult to counter.
The Empress Dowager had never expected to encounter an external Grandmaster here.
Lin Sheng, meanwhile, was thinking about something completely different.
Her divine sense is stronger than my mental perception.
He narrowed his eyes.
This woman was undoubtedly powerful.
Yet he wasn't afraid.
He could still feel the enormous power sleeping within his Rank 4 Golden Body, and after refining Kun Earth, his understanding of Qian Heaven had also begun to change.
His foundation was unlike ordinary Grandmasters.
Neither of them knew that.
For now, they simply watched one another.
The Empress Dowager finally spoke.
"Your Excellency appears rather interested in me."
Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow.
"You're the one probing me."
The corners of her lips lifted slightly.
"Then perhaps we are even."
Lin Sheng laughed softly.
"Fair enough."