Chapter 28

Although the ranking competition had been suspended for a day, the disciples on the main peak did not hurry away. When Fu Yan and Bai Yueli arrived outside the main hall, they discovered that quite a few disciples had already gathered there in twos and threes.

Of course, they were not worried about what would happen to Tong Zhen inside. They had only come over to join the excitement out of curiosity.

“Eh, Senior Sister Bai and Fu Yan are here too.”

Someone seemed to notice Bai Yueli and Fu Yan’s figures and could not help saying softly. Everyone turned to look over one after another.

“I remember Tong Zhen and Fu Yan seem to be quite close, right? Fu Yan is so powerful. Do you think she might also have some powerful spirit treasure on her?”

“Probably not… Spirit treasures aren’t cabbages. How could everyone have one?”

“But Tong Zhen has them, and two of them too!”

“…”

Fu Yan was already used to the gazes falling on her, so naturally, she did not care what others thought. She looked at Bai Yueli in front of her, not knowing what she intended to do.

Bai Yueli could be considered the chief eldest disciple of the Shuiling Sect, so naturally, she was qualified to enter the main hall. After signaling for Fu Yan to wait outside first, Bai Yueli directly walked in.

Fu Yan watched her departing back, her expression shifting slightly.

Time passed little by little. While waiting, Fu Yan even imagined the worst possible result in her mind, but there was still no movement from inside the main hall.

Just as everyone was unbearably curious, they suddenly sensed a terrifying power swiftly approaching the main peak. Fu Yan also froze slightly. As soon as she raised her eyes, she saw a brownish-green figure swiftly descend from the horizon. The person who arrived was a middle-aged man, and he stood steadily before the Shuiling Sect’s main hall.

His expression was hurried. He did not even glance at the crowd before directly barging into the main hall.

Only after he entered did that terrifying, intimidating power finally slowly disappear, and everyone at last had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief.

“My heavens, who was that person just now? Why did I feel like I was about to be oppressed until I couldn’t breathe just because he casually released a bit of his aura?”

“Me too. It was simply too terrifying. I felt like if he moved a finger at random, he could crush me. I’ve never felt anything like this before!”

“Could he be a Huaxu-stage expert?”

“That’s impossible, right? Aren’t there only those few Huaxu experts in our Northern Region? I’ve never heard of that person just now, unless he isn’t an expert from our Northern Region.”

“…”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent, because that was very likely the truth.

Fu Yan looked at the man’s back as he entered the main hall and also slowly came back [bailiantales.com]to herself. She had felt that terrifying sensation too. Was this the gap between her and a true expert?

It had to be said that the difference in strength truly made one feel as if they could never catch up. But she still firmly believed that one day, she would also become that strong.

However, as for this person’s identity, Fu Yan had roughly guessed something. Presumably, he should be someone from Tong Zhen’s family. Although she did not know how he had found this place, since someone from Tong Zhen’s family had come, then naturally, Tong Zhen would not be in any danger.

The Shuiling Sect was not capable enough to casually offend someone from an outer region.

Thinking of this, Fu Yan’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense this whole time, could finally settle. At the same time, she also understood that Tong Zhen probably would not continue staying here.

Sure enough, just as Fu Yan expected, very soon, an elder walked out from the main hall and spoke to disperse the people outside. The disciples did not dare defy him and could only turn and leave.

Fu Yan also turned and returned to her small wooden house.

Not long after she returned, Bai Yueli brought Tong Zhen into the courtyard from outside. Bai Yueli did not enter the house. She only watched as Tong Zhen smiled cheerfully and went inside.

“Fu Yan!” Tong Zhen called.

Fu Yan opened her eyes from meditation. Looking at Tong Zhen, who had run in, she smiled somewhat helplessly and said, “What’s wrong?”

Tong Zhen did not speak. Instead, she looked at Fu Yan and chuckled twice before directly saying, “I came to say goodbye to you. I’m going home.”

“Mm.” Fu Yan nodded.

Tong Zhen looked at her in confusion. “I thought you would ask me a bunch of questions. Aren’t you curious at all?”

Fu Yan had already guessed most of it, so what was there to be curious about?

“Forget it, forget it. None of that matters. You don’t know this, but once I’m caught and brought back this time, I definitely won’t have freedom again. It’ll be difficult if I want to come out in the future.” Tong Zhen waved her hand casually and said somewhat dejectedly.

Fu Yan slowly stood up. “Isn’t that because your strength isn’t enough? They’re worried about you too. Your talent is already very high. After you go back, cultivate properly and don’t waste it.”

“Of course.” Tong Zhen tilted her head, seeming to enjoy Fu Yan’s praise very much. At the end, she added, “Next time we meet, I’ll definitely be even stronger than you. When the time comes, let’s have a proper fight!”

Fu Yan nodded and answered, “All right.”

Before leaving, Tong Zhen did not forget to wave at Fu Yan and Bai Yueli in the courtyard. “If you ever come to Zhongdu in the future, remember to come to the Tong family and find me to play!”

After saying that, Tong Zhen and the middle-aged man who had appeared on the main peak earlier turned and left the Shuiling Sect.

On the way back, Tong Zhen still looked somewhat aggrieved as she looked at the person beside her and cautiously asked, “Uncle Wu, can we not go back?”

Wu Qiming sighed and said helplessly, “My little ancestor, do you know how furious the family head was when you secretly ran away this time?”

As soon as those words fell, Tong Zhen immediately continued ​bailiantales.com​sulking. “Who told him to inexplicably arrange a marriage for me? I don’t even know who the other party is. I don’t want to get married.”

This time, it was Wu Qiming’s turn to be confused. “Who said that?”

“I overheard it,” Tong Zhen said confidently.

“…”

“This marriage was arranged when Madam was still alive.” Wu Qiming naturally knew a little about these old matters, so he could only explain. “The family head only wanted you to go meet them. If you really don’t like them, with how much the family head dotes on you, could he really force you?”

“Who knows?” Tong Zhen still felt wronged.

“Right,” Tong Zhen seemed to suddenly think of something again. She could not help raising her eyes to look at the person beside her and said, “I made a friend here. Her name is Fu Yan. I feel like her sword technique is very powerful, and she’s extremely talented. It’s just that the resources in this Northern Region are too poor. I don’t know if she’ll have the chance to come to Zhongdu.”

Wu Qiming had only casually glanced at those two from afar just now, so he did not know who Tong Zhen was talking about. But if it was a matter of talent, one was a pure-yin body, and the other had ordinary aptitude. So he automatically assumed Tong Zhen was referring to the one with the pure-yin body.

“I didn’t expect to encounter a pure-yin body here.” When Wu Qiming saw Bai Yueli, he was also slightly surprised. However, naturally, he did not care too much. “But although pure-yin bodies are rare, aside from making early-stage cultivation twice as effective with half the effort, it actually isn’t that useful in the later stages. Moreover… it might even bring her enormous disaster.”

“What?” Tong Zhen did not quite understand.

Wu Qiming did not explain further and instead changed the topic. “But, little ancestor, how did you end up running to the Northern Region? No wonder the family head’s Thousand-Li Mirror couldn’t find your aura.”

Speaking of this, Tong Zhen immediately became a little smug. “Of course. I’m not stupid. If I didn’t run somewhere remote, wouldn’t I have been easily caught and brought back by you all? If I hadn’t been careless [unauthorized copy]this time, you definitely still wouldn’t have found me!”

Wu Qiming: “…”

“Do you know how dangerous it is outside? You only just stepped onto the path of cultivation. Any random person could kill you.” Wu Qiming was also somewhat frightened. After all, Tong Zhen before him had only just opened her qi sea and stepped into the Illumination stage not long ago.

Hearing this, Tong Zhen hurriedly reached out and covered her ears. “I know, I know. I’ve already heard you say this eight hundred times, Uncle Wu. My ears are about to grow calluses. Aren’t I perfectly fine? Besides, even the elite disciples in that sect just now couldn’t beat me.”

Wu Qiming: “Why don’t you compare yourself to those geniuses in Zhongdu?”

“No. They’re too abnormal!”

…

Watching Tong Zhen leave, Fu Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Although she did not know Tong Zhen’s true identity, presumably, she did not need to worry about her.

“She is from a Zhongdu family.” Bai Yueli at the side seemed to see something and could not help speaking. She had been in the main hall just now, so naturally, she knew.

Fu Yan nodded. “I could guess that.”

“She is only fourteen this year, yet she already has her current cultivation.” This was the gap.

After saying this, neither of them spoke. Fu Yan raised her eyes and looked over. Their gazes met in the air, and she suddenly understood. [stolen content]What Bai Yueli pursued was the same as what she pursued. It would definitely not be limited to the small Shuiling Sect or even this vast Minbei Region.

Bai Yueli did not remain in Fu Yan’s courtyard for long and soon turned to go back to cultivate. But Fu Yan suddenly called out to stop her. “Senior Sister!”

Bai Yueli paused slightly and turned sideways to look back, somewhat puzzled as she looked at Fu Yan.

She saw Fu Yan walk straight forward and reach into her robes, as if taking something out. Then Fu Yan held it out before Bai Yueli.

Bai Yueli looked at her in confusion, but she could tell that Fu Yan seemed to have something to give her. After freezing for a moment, she still stretched out her palm and slowly placed it beneath Fu Yan’s hand.

The person before her suddenly smiled. Her bright smile beneath the sunlight was somewhat intoxicating. In the instant Bai Yueli fell into a daze, she heard Fu Yan’s voice sound beside her ear. “Tomorrow is the final day of the ranking competition. Consider this my congratulations to Senior Sister for once again winning first place in our inner sect.”

As the words fell, Fu Yan released her hand. A soft, smooth, cool sensation instantly came from Bai Yueli’s palm. She lowered her eyes and saw a translucent jade-colored sword tassel lying quietly in her hand.

In truth, this red sword tassel was something Fu Yan had prepared for herself. After all, she had made a sheath for her Linglong Sword, and adding a sword tassel would have been perfect.

But just now, when she looked at Bai Yueli, she had suddenly felt the urge to give it to her. After all, Bai Yueli had also helped her a great deal all this time. Since the thought had arisen, Fu Yan naturally did not hesitate at all and directly took out the sword tassel.

Everyone knew that tomorrow’s highlight in the finals would be the match between Bai Yueli and Yu Heng fighting for first place. Fu Yan believed that the person before her would win.

“Thank you.” Bai Yueli accepted the red sword tassel. Only after quite a while did she raise her eyes to look at Fu Yan before her and thank her aloud.

After Bai Yueli left, Fu Yan did not delay either. She quickly returned to her room again and continued ​stolen content​cultivating her movement technique. She felt that she was already close to breaking through the first level. All that remained was a matter of time.

A day passed in a flash.

The final round of the Shuiling Sect inner sect ranking competition once again opened its curtain.

Although everyone was still somewhat unable to forget the gap Tong Zhen had shown yesterday, it did not affect everyone’s excitement in the slightest.

In Fu Yan’s first match, she faced someone who had ranked fifty-second in the previous competition.

The higher the ranking, the stronger the opponent. Fu Yan also exhausted all her strength before finally luckily defeating her opponent and successfully entering the next round.

Judging by the current situation, Fu Yan had already entered the top fifty of this ranking competition. The remaining opponents were almost all uniformly at the peak of late Illumination stage. Just looking at them made one’s head ache.

“Next match, Fu Yan against Xia Ningsheng!”

After resting for about half an hour since the previous match, Fu Yan went on stage once again. This time, her opponent was Xia Ningsheng, ranked thirty-fifth.

On the vast arena, Fu Yan held her sword and looked at Xia Ningsheng opposite her. The other party was also a sword cultivator. His sword technique was impressive, and his strength was at the peak of late Illumination. Fu Yan felt that her chance of winning was less than twenty percent.

But no matter what, she still had to fight properly. She could not leave any regrets in the competition.

Thinking of this, after the two saluted each read the original at bailiantales.comother, Fu Yan directly gripped her broken Linglong Sword tightly and swiftly attacked.

Her attack surged forward with unstoppable momentum, but Xia Ningsheng raised his sword to block it. In an instant, enormous sparks burst between their two swords, and a fierce, ear-piercing sound spread through the entire arena.

The heat made the crowd secretly click their tongues in amazement.

“Although this Fu Yan is this year’s biggest dark horse, I really didn’t expect her to actually make it all the way here.”

“Indeed. I thought she could probably get a rank around fifty or sixty. Now, no matter if she wins or loses, she’s already in the top fifty.”

“This match should be very difficult. After all, her opponent is Xia Ningsheng, ranked thirty-fifth.”

“True, but we can’t be too absolute. What if she still has some enormous trump card left? Didn’t that happen several times before?”

“…That’s probably unlikely. I feel like she has already brought out all her strength.”

…

Fu Yan had already brought out all her strength in the previous match. Right now, the only thing she could really use was the second form of Illusionless Sword. But if she wanted to deal with Xia Ningsheng, it was still far from enough.

After the two people on stage exchanged three or four moves, they swiftly pulled apart. Fu Yan also had no time to care about the sweat on her forehead. She felt that she could not drag this out any longer. The other party’s true essence was thicker than hers, and she could not outlast him in consumption.

Thinking of this, Fu Yan no longer hesitated. She directly [stolen content]raised her sword and charged again. The surrounding air quickly began to flow violently, as if countless sword blades were rushing from all directions.

Yes, Fu Yan was preparing to decide victory or defeat with Xia Ningsheng in one move. So she directly used her most powerful sword move, the second form of Illusionless Sword, Phantom Form!

Xia Ningsheng opposite her did not dare be careless either. He also swiftly moved. His sharp face seemed to be plated with a layer of golden light, dazzlingly bright.

“Golden Slash!”

Xia Ningsheng shouted softly and directly swept his sword across the surroundings. Dazzling light immediately exploded. Fu Yan only felt her sword move beginning to face collapse. She could only inject true essence again and pour out the last of her strength.

The instant the two met sword against sword, a huge true essence vortex appeared on the vast arena, as if it wanted to suck people into another space. It was especially frightening.

When everyone reacted again, they saw Fu Yan on the far right already supporting herself with one hand on the Linglong Sword, her body swaying slightly, as if she might fall at any moment.

On the other side, Xia Ningsheng stood there unharmed.

Fu Yan smiled bitterly, then looked toward the administrative elder, indicating that she no longer had the ability to fight. The latter understood and directly stepped forward, facing the crowd as he called out.

“Xia Ningsheng wins!”

As soon as the words fell, Xia Ningsheng across from her walked over. He glanced at Fu Yan and asked, “Are you all right?”

Fu Yan shook her head and said, “I’m fine.”

“Don’t be sad. Your strength is already extremely impressive. I believe that if our cultivation levels were the same, it would be hard to say who would win,” Xia Ningsheng said sincerely.

Fu Yan smiled. After taking a moment to recover, she finally felt she could stand up. She raised her eyes to look at him and said, “Thank you.”

Very soon, the two of them walked down from the stage.

After that, Fu Yan lost another match, which meant she had already been eliminated. According to the overall matches at this point, her ranking was basically stable—exactly forty-seventh.

Overall, Fu Yan was fairly satisfied.

As time passed, the top ten list of this ranking competition quickly came out. They were Bai Yueli, Yu Heng, Chen Jun…

In the afternoon, it would be the round-robin battle among the ten of them, eliminating each other one by one. The final winner would be this year’s first place among the inner disciples.

Because Fu Yan’s attention had been focused on her own matches all morning, she had not paid attention to Bai Yueli’s matches. So after lunch, she arrived at the competition arena early, preparing to properly observe the matches between the top ten.

The matches between the top ten had always been the most exciting part, and they were also the moment everyone looked forward to the most. The entire spectator area was already extremely lively.

“Ahhh!! It’s finally the final moment. No, I’m too excited!!”

“Me too. I didn’t even eat lunch. I’ve been sitting here waiting the [stolen content]whole time. Just thinking about it makes my heart surge. When will I be able to stand there too?”

“Hahaha, go back and sleep. In dreams, you can have everything.”

“Hey, are you asking for a beating?”

…

After Fu Yan found a place to sit, she waited for the matches to begin.

They did not make everyone wait too long. Very soon, an administrative elder went onto the stage and announced that the final round had officially begun.

The first match was Yu Heng against Lin Zihao.

This was last year’s second and third place. Starting off with such an explosive match naturally drew everyone’s attention. Fu Yan also watched while carefully analyzing the battle situation.

After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, there was finally a winner on stage. Unsurprisingly, Yu Heng still held a slight advantage.

After two more matches passed, Fu Yan finally heard a familiar name.

“Next match, Bai Yueli against Liu Xu!”

As soon as the administrative elder’s voice fell, Fu Yan saw Bai Yueli’s figure slowly walk toward the arena. Suddenly, stolen contenta flash of red entered her eyes.

When Fu Yan saw the red sword tassel on the Yueyao Sword, for some reason, the corners of her lips lifted slightly without warning. Even the bad mood from losing two matches was swept away along with it.

The afternoon sunlight fell lightly over every corner of the arena, warm and wonderfully comfortable.

Today’s sunlight was just right, Fu Yan thought.