Six Jiang Fusheng watched Guiying shift from an air of composed indulgence to one of dejection, like a stray dog. The change in his demeanor suggested he had been split into two distinct people—one who regarded him as an object of scrutiny, judging from a superior position, and another who, despite his determined pursuit, had his pride broken yet still forced himself to endure, appearing wretched and comical.
A single person shouldn't exhibit such polarized expressions.
"You..." Six Jiang Fusheng was about to speak when he saw Guiying emerge from his self-absorbed emotions. He looked up, meeting Six Jiang Fusheng's gaze directly.
His expression was solemn and serious. Though his complexion remained pale and sickly, a nascent pride, seemingly from nowhere, still lingered in his brows.
His dry, low voice grated like stones rubbing against ears: "Martial Uncle, this time... I have lost again."
He exhaled a long breath. Unwillingness, naturally, was still present.
But he knew he wouldn't lose every time.
He had learned one thing through the Master's example: if one's eyes only focused on the backs of others, neglecting self-awareness and diligent progress, they would forever lag behind.
He had received no proper education in his youth, nor had anyone taught him how to manage his confused and barren thoughts.
He had once believed that Six Jiang Fusheng and he were inherently different kinds of people, created with an unfair disparity.
He was the universally reviled "Guiying," with inferior spiritual cultivation talent, who had endured the scorn and humiliation of the world.
Six Jiang Fusheng, on the other hand, was lofty and esteemed. He was like his opposite; possessing the enviable and covetable Heavenly Spiritual Root, he was favored by the sect elders from the moment he joined. His starting point was already a destination he could never reach.
When he was trampled in the mud and treated like a dog, Six Jiang Fusheng was bathed in pure radiance, favored by all. When he desperately sought a sliver of hope for himself, Six Jiang Fusheng effortlessly gained the favor of the Immortal Sword, with no one to dispute or contend for it, as if all good and precious things should willingly yield and be offered into his hands.
Why?
At that time, Guiying could only ask, why Six Jiang Fusheng, why?!
Guiying admitted that he was jealous of him, deeply jealous.
But this time, on the "Newcomer Ranking" martial platform, it was as if a fog had been torn from his blinded eyes, revealing everything in its true, clear, and unadulterated form.
It turned out he had only ever seen what others had obtained and possessed, while consistently overlooking and failing to see what he himself had gained.
He had already obtained what he had always longed for.
It was a pity that he only understood this now.
He had been blinded by the prosperity of others, forgetting that his most earnest, initial desire was simply... hope.
A hope that would allow him to see the distance, a hope to pull him out of the mire, a hope to stop him from living so pitifully and ridiculously, a hope... that would allow him to live with dignity.
And before he had even realized it, that person had already given him what he wanted most.
This was why he could stand here with dignity, on the same footing as Six Jiang Fusheng, and even with a heart that burned with unextinguished fire despite his loss, his future was promising.
It was the Master...
It was she who had changed him, fulfilled him, and also made him.
Now, he was no longer jealous of Six Jiang Fusheng, because he was no longer the Guiying whose heart was filled only with solitude, darkness, and hatred. He could now bravely face the ugliest parts of his own heart and live in the sunlight.
It felt as if something was blocking his throat, yet his heart was incredibly light.
He told himself, and also wanted to tell her: "I don't want to be called Guiying anymore..."
He stiffly pulled at the corner of his mouth. He couldn't remember if he had ever smiled before, but after struggling for a long time, his facial muscles seemed unaccustomed to it.
"Martial Uncle..." In the direction of Six Jiang Fusheng, whom he was "looking" at, his gaze was devoid of any negative animosity from the first time he looked at him. That cold, perpetually unmelting, extremely solitary, world-weary extremism finally cleared like clouds parting to reveal the sun. His short, stiff, hard eyelids half-closed, his pale purple lips pressed together: "Please continue to guide me next time."
With that, he turned around decisively, his stride vigorous. His black robes fluttered like eagle's wings as he leaped off the martial platform.
As Guiying's abdominal bleeding ceased to flow profusely, the "Ghost Realm Formation" on the martial platform, deprived of its blood sacrifice, dispersed its crimson hue. The viscous scarlet liquid seeped into the ground.
All strange phenomena vanished, leaving only Six Jiang Fusheng standing alone on the martial platform in his snow-white robes and blue inner garments. After Guiying's defeat, Six Jiang Fusheng's martial platform rose another tier, currently looking down upon the other martial platforms.
The Da Yan Sect, observing the battle from afar, wore a kaleidoscope of expressions. Six Jiang Fusheng and Guiying belonged to the same sect, yet in their eyes, Guiying's status and importance could not compare to Six Jiang Fusheng's. However, the strength Guiying displayed also greatly surprised them.
Where had he learned such skills? And he had actually broken through to the Golden Core stage in this short period. If Six Jiang Fusheng was the unattainable bright moon, then his persistent pursuit could be considered a dazzling star worth observing.
Yet now, their two chosen elite disciples had engaged in "fratricide." With such cultivation and power, why wouldn't they seize more martial platforms? Were they foolish?
Elder Jiu Li and the several mountain masters were filled with anger at their lack of ambition.
Finally, Guiying’s defeat and voluntary departure from the martial platform caused their foreheads to throb. They were already exhausted from anger.
Wei Li took in all the ongoing battles, her dark hair entwining around her charming eyes, her rose-red lips curving upward.
This time, no one could stop him from entering the Dragon Island Secret Realm...
On the martial platform, Ru Lan and Lu Ziyin had also determined a winner.
Before Guiying conceded, Ru Lan had been defeated a moment earlier.
Lu Ziyin, that guy who feigned weakness, had hidden many tricks. Ru Lan lost because she underestimated him and because of her initial arrogance during the friendly combat. She actually had other choices, but she disdained to pick opponents she looked down on, and she also knew herself well enough not to pick opponents she couldn't defeat.
But who would have thought she would be defeated by a playboy she had always looked down upon in secret?
As his jade flute turned between his fingers, the music of the flute and bamboo painted a scene of gentle affection. Lu Ziyin, beneath his charming and amorous demeanor, possessed the heroic and dignified bearing that allowed the Lu Mansion of the South Sea to guard the boundary markers of the South Sea.
Ru Lan took a deep breath, and another deep breath. Finally, unable to contain her rage, she cursed, "Lu Ziyin, you damn coward, you're very good!"
If she hadn't just barely made it into the top ten, the very bottom of the top ten, she would have sworn an unending vendetta against him!
Although Lu Ziyin had the suspicion of deceitfully playing "weak," he had also taken her into account. He had waited until the one-armed, blind youth won a match. With this, two of the twelve contestants had been defeated, ensuring that Ru Lan, who had been clamoring to enter the top ten, would barely achieve her wish before he seriously defeated her.
The martial platforms were now gradually revealing their contenders. Six Jiang Fusheng had won two consecutive matches, closely followed by Cheng Hong, who had also won two consecutive matches. Lu Ziyin had won one match. As for the match between Dan Ya and Yan Tianjiao, the two opponents had yet to determine a victor.
The remaining disciples on the martial platforms were Six Jiang Fusheng, Cheng Hong, Dan Ya, Yan Tianjiao, and Lu Ziyin.
Those who had ascended to the second tier remained stable, while those on the first tier were closely pursuing. Lu Ziyin could not challenge those on the second tier; he had to wait for the outcome of the match between Dan Ya and Yan Tianjiao, which was currently at a stalemate with evenly matched forces.
Dan Ya.
When Lu Ziyin first heard this name, he didn't think much of it. It wasn't until he saw him face-to-face that familiarity dawned, and from a forgotten corner of his memory, a past event resurfaced.
So, it was him.
Dan Ya was merely his name; his full name should be Helian Dan Ya.
Speaking of his origins, it was a history steeped in blood and tears. If he hadn't encountered a father with a deranged mind and a family that couldn't distinguish right from wrong, he should have been as admired and talked about as the others on the Twenty-Eight Heavens.
Unfortunately, his fate was ill-fated. His mother was a female cultivator with mediocre talent, but due to her family background being a suitable match, she was betrothed to the Helian family. She married Helian Xiu but did not receive his affection. To solidify the alliance between the two families, his mother used a secret technique, sacrificing a significant portion of her lifespan to forcefully conceive. This offspring was Helian Dan Ya.
It was a pity that his mother's sacrifice of everything to conceive and give birth had not moved Helian Xiu in the slightest. He had even been furious, because Helian Xiu had long harbired affection for another, and the woman he loved had given him an illegitimate son.
He had intended to dissolve his Dao companion relationship with Helian Dan Ya's mother when the time was ripe, but unexpectedly, she had secretly given him a legitimate son. This meant that even if the illegitimate son returned to the Helian family, he could not logically inherit everything.
Due to Helian Xiu's long-term neglect and emotional abuse, coupled with the damage to her foundation from childbirth, Helian Dan Ya's mother passed away within a few years.
Upon her death, Helian Dan Ya effectively became an "orphan" because Helian Xiu had never shown him an iota of fatherly love.
Because he blocked the path of Helian Xiu's most beloved son, he was even treated as someone he utterly despised. He received no warmth in the Helian family, nor did anyone in the family extend a helping hand to him, all because he inherited his mother's mediocre spiritual cultivation talent.
Finally, as Helian Dan Ya was about to come of age, Helian Xiu could no longer tolerate him. In order to grandly welcome the son of the woman he loved and integrate him into the Helian family, Helian Xiu orchestrated his being thrown into the "Demonic Cave Well," left behind by the abyss barrier torn open by demons a thousand years ago. That place was a self-contained chaotic realm.
Inside roamed various bizarre creatures born from the interbreeding of human cultivators and demons, demons and demonic beasts, and even human cultivators and demonic beasts. They were inherently evil and twisted, with killing as their nature. Entering such a chaotic and lawless territory, everyone assumed Helian Dan Ya would be annihilated.
When the Helian family members first learned of this, they blamed Helian Xiu for his cruelty, questioning why he had to be so heartless towards Helian Dan Ya. But when they discovered that Helian Xiu's illegitimate son possessed a mutated ice spiritual root, they fell silent.
A legitimate son of the Helian family with mediocre talent versus an illegitimate son with superior talent and a mutated single spiritual root—the choice was obvious.
Therefore, Helian Dan Ya was not only abandoned by his biological father but also discarded by the Helian family as a useless pawn.
However, this insignificant pawn grew powerful due to hatred, and fueled by resentment, he crawled back from hell. When he reappeared before people, he was no longer the formerly mediocre Helian Dan Ya, but possessed the even rarer Earth Spiritual Root, surpassing the mutated single spiritual root. His former meekness, hidden prudence, tolerance, deference, and trepidation were all replaced by an extreme rebound.
He detested his father's heartlessness and lack of loyalty. Thus, when his father was at his happiest, personally welcoming the son of his beloved and his mother with great fanfare, inscribing him in the family registry and ancestral temple, and elevating him from a concubine's son to a legitimate heir, he infiltrated the Helian family, killed the person Helian Xiu loved, and that illegitimate son. He wanted Helian Xiu to suffer unbearable pain for the rest of his life, driven mad into a demon.
Following that, he forcefully rebelled against the Twenty-Eight Heavens, and since then, Helian Dan Ya has been missing for nearly twenty years.
Few people knew the truth of this matter, nor was it widely circulated among the various cultivation families and clans. The Helian family kept this vicious secret buried so deeply that everyone knew of Helian Xiu's actions of favoring concubines and neglecting his wife, but no one knew the extent of his madness in eliminating his son to secure his position.
Lu Ziyin came to know these details naturally because he was from the Lu Mansion of the South Sea. The Lu Mansion of the South Sea was one of the thirty-six sects, seventy-two clans, one mansion, and one cave. It was a behemoth that remained unshaken by the ebb and flow of power on the Twenty-Eight Heavens. In the cultivation world, there truly was nothing that the intelligence network of the Lu Mansion of the South Sea could not reach.
It was only recently, upon seeing the person in reality, that he learned Helian Dan Ya had abandoned his surname, given up the geographical advantages of cultivating on the Twenty-Eight Heavens, descended to the Eleven Heavens, and joined an obscure sect as a disciple.
Now that he had chosen to emerge from obscurity and participate prominently in the "Newcomer Ranking," did it signify that he had gained sufficient confidence to deal with the troubles left behind by the Helian family?
He watched Dan Ya and Yan Tianjiao spar. At this moment, they were like warriors standing amidst a forest of blades. Both possessed mature combat acuity, and their cultivation levels were nearly identical. Their fights were absolutely spectacular and ingenious, which was why this particular martial platform initially drew the most attention.
Dan Ya looked at Yan Tianjiao, whose face was as cold as frost and snow. At this moment, the youth was surrounded by swirling ice mist, his slender eyelashes and the depths of his brows tinged with white. His cold, stern eyes, his blood-red thin lips, made him appear like a handsome jade figure sculpted from ice and snow.
He had no particular feelings towards Yan Tianjiao initially. However, Yan Tianjiao possessed a mutated ice spiritual root, which inevitably reminded Dan Ya of someone he loathed to the point of nausea.
That person who had appeared before him, arrogantly trampled and humiliated him, and snatched everything away from him. That person was also the one whose spiritual root and bones he had ultimately extracted, and who had died by his hand.
Yan Tianjiao was undoubtedly a formidable opponent among his peers, and because Dan Ya was reminded of all the unpleasant memories, his attacks became somewhat more malicious and cunning, aimed at inflicting harm and drawing blood.
The sword in his hand continuously swung, unleashing flying white rainbow sword shadows. Streaks of white sword energy scattered with his movements, and dazzling light screens sliced through the ice frost crossbows deployed by the opponent, intercepting the rapidly approaching ice light and cold arrows.