The snow lotus's floral language ability doubled his comprehension, making improvements remarkably swift now.

The need for the snow lotus to help purify the malicious parts of his inner self also began to decrease.

He anticipated that in the near future, the vast majority of malice could be transformed into positive thoughts, thus becoming a part of the power within his primordial spirit.

Completely eliminating hidden dangers.

But in the process, Li Cheng颐 also keenly noticed that within the seven malices, there seemed to be a hidden, extremely special element that could not be transformed.

He wasn't surprised; if the seven malices were so easy to deal with, the Faceless Sword Sect, with so many talented masters over the years, wouldn't have been unable to solve them despite their exhaustive efforts.

But the road had to be walked step by step; at least he had made a good start.

At this moment, Huo Qingkong seemed to notice his gaze, and after finishing speaking, he turned his head slightly to look this way.

Li Cheng颐's gaze was different from that of the others.

Most of the others were filled with admiration, respect, and appreciation, but he was different.

In Li Cheng颐's gaze, there was more scrutiny and observation. The rest of the attitude was feigned.

At this time, separated by more than thirty meters, the two's gazes momentarily met.

Pausing for a second, Huo Qingkong smiled gently and nodded slightly towards Li Cheng颐, then shifted his gaze first and spoke softly with Zhao Yuan, one of the Four Small Swords, who was approaching.

Behind him also followed two beautiful maids from his mother's concubine, both accomplished martial arts experts responsible for serving his daily life.

In addition, most of the people surrounding him at this time were female disciples, making him extremely noticeable to the male disciples from afar.

"What's wrong? Envious?" Bai He teased in a low voice.

"Envious of what?" Li Cheng颐 was still thinking about other things.

"Most of the senior and junior sisters on the mountain are infatuated with Senior Brother. If he wants, he can freely become a dao partner with any fellow disciple," Bai He chuckled.

"Instead of thinking about these things, it's better to see what our opponents are like this time." Li Cheng颐 glanced at him speechlessly.

At this time, Elder Yun Ling had already begun preparing to take off.

Everyone boarded the back of the giant white crane.

Elder Yu Ling was taking the lead in offering blessings and farewells to everyone.

The so-called blessing was to sprinkle incense ash from the incense burner enshrined in the Faceless Temple lightly over everyone, as a sign of the ancestors' protection.

"The opponents are actually just those people." Bai He didn't know where he got a stack of yellow paper from, covered with densely recorded information.

There were portraits, data, and biographies; each contestant seemed to have information. It looked quite professional.

"What is this?" Qiu Chen asked from behind.

She had the best relationship with Bai He; the two often hung out together, and there seemed to be an implicit hint of becoming a couple.

"Information about the competition. This is for our Qingying group. There are a total of sixteen participants from the four sects. Do you know why the internal sect only mentions the Four Small Swords, not five? There's another reason, and that is because the maximum number of participants is limited to four," Bai He obviously had investigated thoroughly in advance.

"Not only is there information about other people, but there's also information about the four people from our sect."

"Is there any information about the Senior group?" Li Cheng颐 wasn't interested in these things. Anyway, no matter who the opponent was, he would eventually achieve victory.

On the contrary, he was more concerned about the opponents in the Senior group, Huo Qingkong's group. After confirming that Huo Qingkong was the Faceless Swordsman, his attention to him gradually increased.

Now it seemed that Huo Qingkong was still a very gentle person. To become a perverted monster like the Faceless Swordsman who might devour everyone in the sect, there must be a major turning point.

If he could discover this turning point, perhaps he could salvage and change the final outcome.

Li Cheng颐's current goal was to plan ahead, seeking a method of escape and investigating how to save the Faceless Sword Sect. He had to grasp both goals with both hands, and both had to be strong.

"The Senior group, ah, there is also. The strongest disciples from each of the four sects have actually had names spread. Ding Zou of the Qingmu Sword Sect's Red Glaze Sword is said to be a top genius who is no less than the Senior Brother. Previously, he also killed three Six-Imprint Demon Lords in a one-on-three fight. His strength is very formidable," Bai He said.

"Are there so many Demon Lords?" Li Cheng颐 felt strange. They were killing several Demon Lords at every turn; they were almost becoming a unit of measurement.

"The Outer Domain is full of countless Demon Lords, and the trouble isn't this, but that the Demon Lords can't be killed off completely. They can naturally regenerate and resurrect after a period of time, just like weeds. They must be cleared in sections. There are rumors that many of the Demon races in the Outer Domain have mixed in with the bloodline of the monsters of the Mysterious Sea, so they can exhibit such powerful immortality," Bai He understood a lot, explained the reasons eloquently.

"Will they resurrect? Will they still be the same after resurrection?" Qiu Chen quickly asked.

"No, they have different personalities. Anyway, those Demon races are very difficult to deal with now. Let's not talk about these. Let's talk about the opponents that Senior Brother needs to face. Ding Zou is one, and Yu Baiqing, the Cloud Hunting Lion of the Years Gate, is another. Yu Baiqing's strength may be a little weaker, but his physique is quite formidable, and the bloodline of the Cloud Hunting Lion is naturally nourished by clouds and haze, making his ability very targeted against Senior Brother.

The last one, the information on the Jade Balance Sect is the least. The leading Senior Sister, Chong Xinyao, has the title of the Rising Wind Sword. It is said that her destructive power is very astonishing when fighting enemies, but because she doesn't have many battle records and has dealt with weak opponents, we don't know exactly how strong she is."

"Don't we know their realm level?" Li Cheng颐 asked in surprise.

"What level?" Bai He also looked somewhat surprised.

"The number of primordial imprints..." Li Cheng颐 said as a matter of course.

"Once they reach five imprints, that is, after the foundational techniques of each sect are completed, they all begin to cultivate the core supreme techniques. After this point, it is unrealistic to judge strength solely based on primordial imprints," Bai He explained seriously.

At this time, the giant white crane also began to flap its wings, taking off into the sky and flying diagonally towards the distance.

Strangely, no matter how the white crane flapped its wings, it would not make everyone on its back feel any bumps.

"How your movement techniques, sword arts, strength, restriction methods, etc., are combined and matched to exert even greater power, these are things that need to be carefully considered. Below five imprints, whoever has more imprints, whoever has higher essence, is stronger, but after exceeding five imprints, it becomes another comparison."

"I see..." Li Cheng颐 looked enlightened.

He had never summarized it so clearly before. Hearing what Bai He had heard from who knows where, he suddenly felt that many things had become clear.

The giant white crane shook its wings, and below them were the rapidly passing mountains, rivers, and lands.

After flying for half a day, everyone had lunch in the sky, and then flew for more than two more hours in the afternoon before finally arriving at the Jade Balance Sect.

At this time, the sky was already faintly dark.

The land had already changed from towering mountains to small, rolling hills.

On a small hill, a group of magnificent and simple buildings, exuding a red glow, appeared in everyone's sight.

Most of these buildings had sharp eaves, and everywhere hung red lanterns with black characters written on them.

Looking from afar, the entire group of buildings was square, with layers nested inward.

In the innermost part was a small area of gray-white arenas.

The arenas were surrounded by circular walls composed of bright red flames, enclosing the central area in circles.

The giant white crane slowly lowered its altitude, and under the reception of a group of red-clothed female cultivators flying up below, it gently landed, standing on a cliff at the edge of this building complex.

Compared to the entire building complex, the huge white crane, after landing, was just a sesame seed, very small.

"I didn't expect that Faceless Sword Sect's Daoist Yun Ling would arrive first." Among the leading red-clothed women, a black-haired beauty with a golden ornament on her forehead, carrying a long sword, smiled at Yun Ling.

The long sword she was carrying was very peculiar; it was a long sword that was constantly burning with crimson flames.

Li Cheng颐 couldn't help but take a few more glances at it.

"That is the Jade Balance Sect's Life Flame Sword, lit with the fire of life. If the Life Flame doesn't extinguish, neither will the person." A special voice sounded from his side.

Li Cheng颐's heart tightened.

He actually couldn't sense anyone approaching!

He turned his head sharply, only to see Huo Qingkong, who was just in the crowd on the Senior side, had somehow already stood next to him.

"Senior Brother!!" Bai He exclaimed in a suppressed voice.

Obviously, he was a little excited because he could be in close proximity to Senior Brother.

Zhao Yuan's small face was flushed, even more excited.

Qiu Chen's expression was strange, her eyes looking at Li Cheng颐 for a while, and Huo Qingkong for a while, always giving off an indescribable feeling.

"Isn't this Life Flame Sword too dependent on innate birth? Those with strong innate lives, wouldn't this Life Flame Sword be the most powerful?" Li Cheng颐 remained calm. He could feel that Huo Qingkong was observing him.

Perhaps his frequent observations earlier had made the other party a little wary.

His attitude, which differed from that of the other disciples, seemed to have been noticed by this talented Senior Brother.

"That's right. The strongest in this year's competition is Chong Xinyao, who has a mysterious bloodline in her body. Her Life Flame Sword is naturally much stronger than others. It's just that this person has an arrogant temperament, is impulsive and easily angered, and doesn't distinguish between right and wrong due to the pampering of her elders. Therefore, she is destined to only become my stepping stone."

Huo Qingkong's words seemed gentle, but they faintly revealed a domineering air that placed him above all others in the world.

"Thank you for the explanation, Senior Brother." Li Cheng颐 thanked him.

"You're welcome. Speaking of which, among the people in our sect, apart from the elders and the sect leader, there are few whom I cannot see through, and you are the only one among the younger generation." Huo Qingkong was still very gentle to his own people.

"Senior Brother flatters me," Li Cheng颐 thanked him again.

"This time, the first place's Heavenly Silk Cocoon is mine. Will you join me?" Huo Qingkong moved his gaze to Li Cheng颐's face.

"Uh... I'll do my best," Li Cheng颐 said helplessly.

He could now clearly feel that he seemed to have really been targeted by the other party.

Thinking of this, he recalled the floral language he had just discovered a new use for in his mind.

'Floral Language: Good Luck +2.'

This time, he had not used it since returning last time. After such a long time, the effects had been stacked countless times.

Once used, he didn't know what the result would be.

He planned to keep it and use it together when he comprehended the Heavenly Shortcut Monument.

Maybe there would be some unexpected gains.

In addition, he had spent a lot of time looking for variations of the crape myrtle's floral energy, but he still had no harvest, only raising the floral energy from 0 to 43. He just couldn't find any more of the subsequent floral energy.

Li Cheng颐 planned to take advantage of this competition to take a stroll around the surrounding area to see if there were any new variations of the crape myrtle flower.

No one in this corner of the world liked to cultivate flowers, leading to many flowers not having many variations on a large scale. They were all naturally growing in the wild, unlike the large-scale planting on Earth and Moon.

*Chih.*

Suddenly, Li Cheng颐 felt a chill down his back, as if something was staring at him.

He turned his head slightly, but didn't find anything.

"Be careful, don't go out casually," Huo Qingkong whispered in admonishment from the side.

Obviously, he had also noticed something was amiss.

"Okay," Li Cheng颐 nodded solemnly on the surface.

But he didn't think that any threat could affect him and Senior Brother.

The strength of the two of them, in all likelihood, could not be judged solely by the number of imprints.

It's just that this competition didn't seem like it would be so peaceful.

(End of chapter)