"Bei Xinghan! This grand competition is merely for exchange and sparring. Why did you deal such a heavy blow to my senior brother!"
Yun Ling'er knelt beside Ning Xiuzhu, attempting to use her divine sense to check his condition. However, the moment her divine sense entered Ning Xiuzhu's body, it was torn apart by sword qi.
She immediately understood what had happened. Pushing aside the disciples in front of her, she rushed to Bei Xinghan and shouted at him furiously.
Bei Xinghan did not even spare her a glance. He walked towards the Xuánqīng Sect with his sword on his back.
Yun Ling'er's eyes turned red. She yelled at his retreating figure, "You wait! Master… Xu Yi will not let you off!"
Xu Yi?
Bei Xinghan's heart stirred. He stopped and turned his head to look at Yun Ling'er.
Yun Ling'er sneered, "Xu Yi will definitely avenge Senior Brother Ning!"
Xu Yi? Senior Brother Ning?
Bei Xinghan pondered for a moment, understood their relationship, and then suddenly changed direction, walking towards Yun Ling'er.
Yun Ling'er subconsciously took a step back, then, as if to prove herself, she walked directly to Bei Xinghan, her neck stiffened, and said, "Bei Xinghan, what do you want? I'm not afraid of you, I… hey, where are you going!"
Bei Xinghan walked straight past Yun Ling'er. His target was Ning Xiuzhu.
"What else do you want to do?"
The disciples of the Xuánjī Sect all blocked Ning Xiuzhu, glaring at Bei Xinghan.
Bei Xinghan stopped and tossed the Frost Sword in his hand into the air.
*Hummm—*
A strange force emanated from the Frost Sword.
*Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!*
The sword qi within Ning Xiuzhu's body responded to the summons and broke free from his body, merging into the Frost Sword.
The Frost Sword descended from the air and returned to Bei Xinghan's hand.
Bei Xinghan turned and walked to Yun Ling'er's side, whispering, "I'll wait for her to come find me."
As soon as he finished speaking, he had already returned to the Xuánqīng Sect's team.
Yun Ling'er dazedly raised her hand to touch her stinging ear, realizing once again how dangerous this man was.
"Senior Sister Yun, the sword qi in Senior Brother Ning's body is gone!"
"She's here!"
Yun Ling'er glanced once more at Bei Xinghan's retreating figure and hurried towards Ning Xiuzhu.
...
As Xu Yi stepped off the arena, she expected to see a jubilant Pu Tao and the others. To her surprise, Pu Tao was nowhere to be seen, and the rest of the disciples were dejected and crestfallen.
"Yo, what's wrong? You're not happy even after winning money?"
Xu Yi teased with a smile.
"Martial Ancestor, you must avenge us!"
"That's right, that's right, that Bei Xinghan is too much!"
"Wuwuwu, Martial Ancestor!"
"..."
Over a dozen disciples cried out around Xu Yi, making her head ache.
"Stop! Stop! You all speak one by one!"
"It's like this..."
A disciple with a honest appearance sniffled and then explained the whole story in detail.
As for Elder Qingfeng, Yun Ling'er, and Pu Tao, they were currently accompanying Ning Xiuzhu to receive medical treatment.
Xu Yi understood, not expecting Ning Xiuzhu to have encountered him.
"Bei Xinghan removed all the sword qi from Ning Xiuzhu in the end?"
"Yes," the disciples replied with considerably softer voices.
They would not refute this point.
"Alright, I understand. Don't worry, I will try my best to avenge Ning Xiuzhu."
"Mhm!" The disciples responded happily, then immediately realized something was amiss.
With a moment's thought, they looked at Xu Yi in shock, questioning her with their eyes why she was boosting the enemy's morale and lowering their own.
Xu Yi shrugged, "It's not that I don't agree, but you don't know that Bei Xinghan isn't a person, he's a monster. I don't have absolute confidence in facing him, so you all need to be mentally prepared."
Thinking of the days she sparred with Bei Xinghan at the Xuánqīng Sect made Xu Yi's body ache all over.
She had summarized on the Liúguāng Ship that her win rate against Bei Xinghan was sixty-forty.
Originally, after she broke through to the late stage of Chūqiào, this win rate should have become eighty-twenty.
However, Bei Xinghan had also broken through subsequently, so the win rate had returned to sixty-forty. This meant that if she was even slightly careless, Bei Xinghan would be the winner.
Therefore, she couldn't guarantee anything in this competition.
The disciples were a little disappointed but immediately cheered up and began to encourage Xu Yi.
"Senior Brother Lu is back."
A sharp-eyed disciple spotted Lu Zaiye and immediately called out loudly.
The other disciples understood and stepped forward to offer comfort.
"Senior Brother Lu, reaching the third round is already very impressive."
"That's right, don't be discouraged."
"Senior Brother Lu, keep it up!"
The more Lu Zaiye listened, the more his brow furrowed, and his expression became increasingly serious.
Seeing this, the disciples lowered their voices, but their gazes of concern remained.
"Who told you I lost?" Lu Zaiye asked coldly.
"Ah?" The disciples exchanged bewildered glances.
Finally, the disciple with the honest appearance stepped forward and said softly, "Your opponent today was a disciple in the late stage of Chūqiào from the Dàqì Sect."
Lu Zaiye was only in the early stage of Chūqiào, and by all accounts, he had no chance of winning. Furthermore, with Ning Xiuzhu's injury earlier, they had no time to pay attention to Lu Zaiye's situation, so they had subconsciously assumed Lu Zaiye had also lost.
Lu Zaiye: ...
Although he had suppressed his cultivation, he was not so incompetent that he couldn't even deal with an ordinary late-stage Chūqiào cultivator.
"Lu Zaiye, you won too?" Xu Yi asked with surprise.
"Mm," Lu Zaiye nodded silently.
He didn't mention that he had won easily; such a small achievement was not worth boasting about.
"Haha, not bad. Then, this time, two of our Xuánjī Sect disciples will enter the top ten."
With Ning Xiuzhu's unexpected elimination, Xu Yi had thought that only she would enter the top ten for the Xuánjī Sect this time.
Now, with the addition of Lu Zaiye, it was a pleasant surprise.
Every time before the Grand Sect Competition, the top ten participants would receive special rewards. This time, the reward was a year of training in the Legacy Realm of the Wànfó Sect.
The Legacy Realm of the Wànfó Sect was significantly different from the common Legacy Realms found on the Jiǔzhōu Continent. It preserved the ruins from over a thousand years ago to the greatest extent, and countless rare treasures and exotic beasts resided there.
Entering the realm would greatly enhance one's cultivation, so every sect was striving to secure a place this time.
Xu Yi and Lu Zaiye worked together with great synergy, and they had already begun to look forward to this journey to the secret realm.
"The top ten disciples of the Chūqiào stage competition have been decided. The ranking matches will commence shortly. Winners from the third round of matches, please come forward for the draw."
Xu Yi and Lu Zaiye exchanged a glance and walked towards the arena together.
Xu Yi scanned the surroundings and found many familiar faces gathered in front of the arena: Bei Xinghan and Fēng Qīngyáng from the Xuánqīng Sect, Xióng Zhuàngzhuàng from the Yùshòu Sect, and the Buddha Son Hóng Jǐng from the Wànfó Sect.
When those individuals noticed Xu Yi's gaze, they either nodded in response or offered a smile.
The fighting spirit radiating from them was unconcealed, causing Xu Yi's heart to race and her blood to surge.
"This ranking match adopts a points system, meaning you will have to face every opponent present."
"Today, there will be five matches, and five more tomorrow. There will be no rest time in between, testing your endurance and strength. Are you ready?" the elder from the Wànfó Sect asked loudly.
"Yes!"