Chapter 23.2

He seemed to understand the meaning expressed in Tong Zhen’s eyes. Even someone as well-mannered as him wanted to roar loudly: Why are you the one feeling wronged?! Shouldn’t the person feeling wronged be me?!

Of course, Li Yanwei definitely would not actually roar that out. He could only swallow it down himself.

Li Yanwei could be considered someone ranked in the top one hundred. A newly promoted disciple could fight him evenly, and she was only at early Illumination stage. Naturally, this attracted countless gazes.

After pausing, Li Yanwei, under everyone’s eyes, gripped his long spear tightly and charged directly toward Tong Zhen opposite him once again.

Tong Zhen’s lightness skill was not good, and she had no speed to speak of, so naturally, dodging was impossible. She could only stretch out her hand and try to resist with her own strength.

Sure enough, what happened next was still no different from before. Li Yanwei still had no way to break through Tong Zhen’s defense, and naturally, he could not hurt her either.

At this moment, Li Yanwei was just preparing to draw back his spear and retreat one step, then use his strongest move, Explosive Spear, when he suddenly discovered that this time, Tong Zhen opposite him had actually grabbed the end of his long spear tightly, seemingly with no intention of letting go easily.

He could not help freezing slightly. After quickly ​bailiantales.com​reacting, Li Yanwei gripped the tail end of the long spear, preparing to use his own true essence to pull it back. But… the long spear in his hand did not move at all.

Li Yanwei, who felt that he could not even pull back his own weapon: “…”

However, the next moment made him want to slam his head into a wall and die. Li Yanwei suddenly felt the long spear in his hand being lifted by the person opposite him. Since he had not let go, he directly followed the spear and was lifted off the arena by Tong Zhen in one motion.

At this moment, the scene was this: Tong Zhen stood on the arena, holding the end of the long spear and lifting both the person and the spear up into the air, hanging them steadily overhead.

Li Yanwei: “…” Who am I? Where am I?

Fu Yan, who witnessed everything: “…”

All the spectators who had turned their gazes over: “…”

In an instant, aside from the fighting sounds coming from the other groups, everything fell silent. Almost everyone widened their eyes and stared at the arena on this side.

Although Fu Yan had witnessed Tong Zhen swinging a saber-toothed giant crocodile with one hand, [unauthorized copy]this scene still made her feel a small shock again.

Lifting an adult man was one thing, but the other party was someone whose cultivation was one stage higher than hers. That changed the nature of it completely. And she had even done it using the other party’s most familiar weapon.

After the silence passed, everyone in the surrounding spectator seats swiftly began discussing.

“My heavens, did I see that right? This junior sister used Li Yanwei’s long spear to lift him into the air.”

“This world is really too fantastical. This girl clearly looks silly and cute, but when she makes a move… it’s not quite what I imagined?”

“I’m starting to suspect whether I’m seeing things.”

“You’re not seeing things. This is real. And didn’t you all sense it? There wasn’t even the slightest spiritual power fluctuation around this little junior sister. This…”

“What? You mean she didn’t use true essence at all, and this was only… only relying on the strength of her physical body?”

“It seems… that’s right!”

“Mother of god, what kind of monstrous constitution is this? She might be the biggest dark horse in this ranking competition. I almost knelt down!”

“Suddenly, I kind of sympathize with Li Yanwei…”

“…”

While everyone was discussing because of her actions, Tong Zhen did not pay too much attention. She only wanted Li Yanwei to rest a little and not keep attacking her nonstop like before. She could barely keep up.

“I admit defeat!”

Just as Tong Zhen had finally gotten a little free time, she suddenly heard a voice from above her head in midair.

After saying that, the person directly let go of his long spear and steadily jumped down from above.

“Group Six, Match Five, Number Twenty-Two wins, gains one point!”

Only when the administrative elder’s voice sounded by her ear did Tong Zhen, who was still holding the long spear, slowly come back to herself. She immediately looked at Li Yanwei opposite her with a face full of confusion. “Eh, that’s not right. Isn’t the match not over yet? Why did you… why did you suddenly admit defeat?”

If he had not been able to tell that this girl was clearly truly missing a nerve, Li Yanwei might very well have been so enraged he dragged her down with him in mutual destruction.

But looking at the other party’s innocent expression, Li Yanwei felt that even if he got angry, it would be like punching cotton—completely useless. Forget it. Although he still had follow-up moves he had not used, today, it was indeed because his skill was inferior.

“Can you return my long spear to me?” Li Yanwei could only raise his eyes and say to her.

Tong Zhen froze. Only then did she realize that someone else’s weapon was still being held in her hand. She immediately hurriedly handed it over somewhat sheepishly. “Sorry, sorry. Your long spear.”

Li Yanwei reached out and took the long spear, then turned and left the arena without looking back, leaving behind Tong Zhen, who still somewhat did not understand how she had suddenly won.

Watching this match made Fu Yan feel the urge to hold her forehead. She really could not understand what kind of family could raise such a living treasure like Tong Zhen.

Fu Yan suddenly felt a little curious about Tong Zhen’s background.

The morning’s matches ended. Everyone seemed somewhat unsatisfied, but after only two hours of rest at noon, the afternoon matches once again kicked off.

Throughout the morning, Fu Yan had only gone up for one match. Bai Yueli at the side had not even gone up once. However, everyone was not anxious. After all, a single ranking competition usually took seven or eight days, and sometimes, lasting over ten days was common.

After returning from lunch, Fu Yan had just sat down and watched one match when she heard the administrative elder’s voice on the stage ring out again. “Group Eight, Match Eight: Number Sixteen against Number Forty-One!”

In the next moment, Fu Yan saw Bai Yueli on the right rise and slowly step onto the arena on the right. She was Number Sixteen.

“Ahhh! Senior Sister Bai is finally on stage! Who’s her opponent?”

“No way. I waited so long for Senior Sister Bai’s first match, but the other side is only a middle Illumination-stage disciple. Is there even any need to fight?”

“What’s the rush? The ranking competition only just started. Those with powerful strength definitely won’t run into each other so quickly.”

“That’s true. The beginning is just a warm-up. The finals are what will be worth watching.”

As all kinds of voices came from behind her, Fu Yan saw that the two people on the arena had already begun cupping their hands and saluting. However, just as the administrative elder’s “Begin” fell, the other party immediately raised his hand and signaled, “I admit defeat!”

Hearing this, the administrative elder was not surprised in the slightest. “Number Sixteen wins, gains one point!”

As soon as the words fell, the two people on the arena hurriedly stepped down again. This match could be said to have ended before it even began.

Although Fu Yan was a little surprised, she could understand it. After all, in a match where the difference in strength was so large, it was better to admit defeat directly and save one’s strength to deal with the later matches.

However, exchanging even a few moves with someone of Bai Yueli’s strength could instead allow a person to face their own ability more directly, thereby gaining better insight and improvement.

The competition continued heatedly. Not long after, Fu Yan went onto the arena again. However, this time, her opponent surprised her somewhat.

“Number Fifty-Two, Qin Xinrui. Please instruct me.”

Opposite her, Qin Xinrui stared tightly at Fu Yan and spoke word by word.

After not seeing her for a month, Qin Xinrui’s cultivation had actually broken through to middle Illumination stage.

Fu Yan had not expected Qin Xinrui to also be in Group Eight. She could not deny that she seemed to have paid no attention to this person all morning. Ever since she had defeated Qin Xinrui with one sword strike in that inner sect match last time, this seemed to be the second time Fu Yan had seen her.

As the match began, Qin Xinrui swiftly gripped her sword. The gaze she aimed at Fu Yan was also filled with hatred and jealousy.

After being directly knocked unconscious by Fu Yan that day, Qin Xinrui had been so angry she wanted to kill someone. Although she later understood that she had been used by Zhou Zhenlie, Fu Yan had made her suffer such great humiliation. Naturally, Qin Xinrui hated her deeply for it.

So over this past month, Qin Xinrui had cultivated painstakingly all along, only so she could defeat Fu Yan in front of everyone. Fortunately, Heaven did not disappoint those who worked hard. Before this ranking competition, she had finally broken through to middle Illumination stage.

In truth, Qin Xinrui did not believe Fu Yan was that powerful at all. It could also be said that she was unwilling to believe this fact. Even now, because of that life-and-death challenge with Zhou Zhenlie, Fu Yan had become famous throughout the inner sect.

Qin Xinrui still stubbornly believed it was only because Zhou Zhenlie had been seduced by Fu Yan and had been careless for a moment, which was why his boat had overturned in a ditch.

Now that she also had middle Illumination-stage cultivation, Qin Xinrui refused to believe it. There was an entire stage between them. Just how powerful could Fu Yan be?

This time, Qin Xinrui forced herself not to be too anxious. So she did not swiftly launch an attack as she usually would. Instead, she held her sword and stared tightly at Fu Yan, wanting to see through her moves.

At this moment, Fu Yan naturally did not think as much as Qin Xinrui. After all, in her eyes, the outcome of this battle had long been decided.

Since the other party did not attack first, Fu Yan was too lazy to drag things out too long. She directly held the broken Linglong Sword, stepped with Wind Shadow Steps, and swiftly rushed before Qin Xinrui.

After all, Qin Xinrui was already at middle Illumination stage. Although her strength was not great, she still had basic reactions. She swiftly flipped aside to dodge, then bent backward and thrust out with a sword.

Fu Yan did not care. She directly leapt up, and one toe landed steadily on the tip of Qin Xinrui’s sword.

Qin Xinrui instantly felt humiliated. Thinking that Fu Yan did not take her seriously at all, she immediately lost almost all reason. She directly erupted with all her true essence, full of anger as she flicked her sword upward. Then her whole body jumped above Fu Yan.

“Fu Yan, let’s see how you dodge now! Go die!” She almost roared through gritted teeth. Her hand also quickly rotated, and in an instant, she used her strongest Ten Zong Sword.

Fu Yan looked at the ten incoming sword blades [unauthorized copy]before her. Their momentum was fierce, showing just how much their owner hated her. She could not help sighing.

Originally, she had thought Qin Xinrui was only someone whose eyes had been blinded by Zhou Zhenlie. Now, it seemed the other party was actually someone who would seek revenge for the smallest grievance.

Facing someone who wholeheartedly wanted to kill her, Fu Yan finally no longer held back. She held the broken Linglong Sword and swung straight toward the ten Zong Sword blades before her.

In the next moment, the newly formed sword blades were swiftly crushed out of existence by Fu Yan’s powerful sword qi. In an instant, they vanished into nothing. Qin Xinrui directly ahead was also struck by this fierce blow. Her whole body spat out a mouthful of blood in midair and flew straight out of the vast arena.

In one move, the outcome was decided.

“Number Thirty-Seven, Fu Yan wins, gains one point!”

This time, Qin Xinrui, who had been knocked flying, did not faint. She clutched her chest and struggled with great difficulty to climb up from the ground. After hearing the administrative elder’s voice fall, she immediately looked as if she had gone mad.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, “No… impossible! How could this be? Your cultivation is clearly lower than mine. How could I lose? Ahhh!! It can’t be! I don’t believe it… You… You must have cheated. That’s right, you definitely cheated! Hurry and investigate her! She cheated!!”

Everyone: “…” Had this person gone insane?

The administrative elder on the stage finally glanced at Qin Xinrui and furrowed his brows almost imperceptibly. Very quickly, he signaled for the disciples at the side to take her completely away from the arena.

Fu Yan did not say anything more. She knew that Qin Xinrui had no chance anymore. It was not because Qin Xinrui had cursed loudly, nor because she had dared question the administrative elder’s insight.

It was because her Dao heart had been destroyed…

For any cultivator, a firm and unwavering Dao heart was the most important thing. Once one’s Dao heart was destroyed, this life was also destroyed.

“Wait, who was that person just now? How could she be such a sore loser? Wasn’t it just one match?”

“This matter has to start from a month ago. Forget it, it’s not that big of a deal anyway. In any case, her Dao heart is already destroyed. Even if she had heaven-reaching ability, it would be useless.”

“Fortunately, my Dao heart has always been very stable. Nothing has ever been able to strike my Dao heart!”

“…”

Qin Xinrui’s matter seemed to be only a small interlude. Aside from people asking a few curious questions just now, it quickly passed. The competition continued again.

In the afternoon, Fu Yan went up for three matches, and all of them were won smoothly. Bai Yueli at the side was drawn for four matches, but in those four matches, she did not make a move even once.

It had practically become a rule. Any disciple who encountered Bai Yueli could not help taking the initiative to admit defeat. This could not be blamed on them. Who told Bai Yueli to be the inner sect’s number one, while her opponents were all outside the top two hundred? Naturally, they had no thoughts of fighting.

Just like that, the first day of the ranking competition passed amid lively and passionate excitement.

That night, in the inner sect dining hall.

Tong Zhen sat opposite Fu Yan. While gnawing on a spirit meat trotter, she rambled on and complained about today’s ranking competition. “Fu Yan, I actually won three matches in a row today. Even I didn’t expect it. Their cultivation was clearly quite a bit higher than mine, but for some reason, they still lost.”

Although these words sounded somewhat like humble bragging, Fu Yan knew that Tong Zhen was sincerely complaining and had no other thoughts. After pausing, she asked, “Then before this, have you fought people one or two stages higher than you?”

“Of course!” Tong Zhen did not quite understand, but still answered honestly. “When I was at home, among those from my clan whose cultivation was one stage higher than mine, whenever I sparred with them, I had absolutely no ability to fight back.”

“Fu Yan, you don’t know this, but at home, I had the worst talent. They all talked about me behind my back.” As she spoke, Tong Zhen continued eating a large bite of spirit meat trotter in great grievance.

Fu Yan: “…”

As the birthplace of the male lead, the Minbei Region’s setting in the book was that it was the poorest region in the entire Tongxuan Continent. After all, the Huaxu-stage experts in the entire Northern Region could probably be counted on one hand.

So after hearing Tong Zhen’s words, Fu Yan could guess that this girl’s background definitely was not from a family in the Minbei Region. However, she did not ask in detail. After all, this was someone else’s privacy.

Although she did not know why Tong Zhen had appeared here, facing her confusion, Fu Yan could only explain, “There’s nothing strange about it. Strength still depends on the person. You don’t need to think too much. If you can win, then win.”

Hearing this, Tong Zhen nodded somewhat hazily. Because of the spirit meat in her mouth, her reply was a little muffled.

“Let’s go. Once you’re done eating, go back early and rest. The ranking competition will continue tomorrow.” Fu Yan put down her bowl and chopsticks, then slowly said this.

Tong Zhen nodded. After eating the last bite, she followed unauthorized copy Fu Yan out of the dining hall. Then the two of them returned to their respective wooden houses.

Not knowing whether she would face a top-fifty disciple tomorrow, Fu Yan knew her strength was still far from enough. She needed to improve her cultivation as quickly as possible. So after returning to her wooden house, she did not rest either and quickly began seated cultivation again.

The second day was another day of fierce battles.

Until the fifth day of the ranking competition, which was also the final day of the preliminary round. As usual, the sun showed itself early, and clear, melodious bell chimes once again rang out from the vast main peak.

Fu Yan still sat in the same spot as at the beginning. At this moment, the arena had already begun today’s first match. After a night of rest, everyone in the entire venue was once again especially energetic.

Near noon, the administrative elder on the stage once again steadily read out the numbers for the drawn match.

“Group Eight, next match: Number Sixteen against Number Thirty-Seven!”

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding spectator seats suddenly grew lively. Many disciples began discussing in surprise.

“What? This is Fu Yan against Eldest Senior Sister Bai Yueli, ​stolen content​right? If I remember the numbers correctly!”

“That’s right, that’s right. Look, the two of them are already walking toward the arena. This is rather unexpected. This year’s dark horse against Senior Sister Bai—there’s a good show to watch!”

“It’s undeniable that Fu Yan is indeed a dark horse this year. Up until now, she hasn’t lost once and has maintained a winning streak the whole time. But now that she has run into Senior Sister Bai, her winning streak has reached its end.”

“True. I was originally quite optimistic about Junior Sister Fu Yan, but after encountering Senior Sister Bai, she can only consider herself unlucky. Do you think she’ll admit defeat directly like the previous contestants?”

“I don’t think so. Although I don’t know much about this Junior Sister Fu Yan, from the previous matches, it isn’t hard to see that she shouldn’t be someone who gives up easily.”

“Why are you thinking so much? Aren’t they already on stage? Whether they fight or not, just watch.”

“…”

Fu Yan suddenly discovered that she and Bai Yueli truly did seem to have some fate between them. On the final day of the preliminaries, they had really run into each other.

“The match begins!”

The administrative elder’s voice sounded by her ear. Fu Yan looked at Bai Yueli across from her and suddenly smiled. As if by some unknown tacit understanding, she heard her own voice and Bai Yueli’s voice ring out at the same time on the arena.

“Number Thirty-Seven…”

“Number Sixteen…”

“Fu Yan…”

“Bai Yueli…”

“Please instruct me.”

“Please instruct me.”