If I stay in the Hehuan Sect, I'll live off the pampered daughters of the Heavenly Pride Sect.

Finish work.

Mo Chengyue rubbed his cheeks, which were stiff from smiling.

That "Best Actor" performance just now burned more calories than a real fight.

Especially that last look of "unwillingness".

He felt he could easily compete for the "Oscars of the cultivation world" for Best Newcomer.

"Time to go home, no more involution."

Mo Chengyue hummed an unknown tune, and like a slippery fish, he quickly slipped out of the noisy crowd from the Foundation Establishment stage.

Since the KPI has been met.

The following time was a happy period of paid slacking off.

However, he was not in a hurry to return to Qingquan Peak to lie down and die.

Instead, by some strange twist of fate, he stumbled into the "low-level" match next door—the Qi Refining stage competition area.

Don't ask.

Asking questions is to examine the future talents of the sect.

It's definitely not because I want to see a certain senior sister who "deleted her account and started over" stomp on noobs.

The arena for Qi Refining stage players is much more lively than that for Foundation Establishment stage players.

After all, the barrier to entry is low, there are many people, and therefore many scandals.

"Place your bet now! Place your bet now!"

"The next match is that 'fallen genius,' Xiao Qinghan! Odds are 1 to 10! Give it a shot, and you might just win big!"

Mo Chengyue had just found a corner to squat down, and hadn't even had time to take out the melon seeds from his storage bag.

I was drawn in by the shouts from the side.

Several outer disciples were gathered around a betting pool, spitting as they talked.

"Pshaw, a genius? That's ancient history!"

A disciple with a pockmarked face curled his lip in disdain.

"I heard that in order to rebuild some ancient technique, she completely destroyed her Foundation Establishment cultivation! Now she's just a weakling in the early Qi Refining stage!"

"Tsk tsk, what a fool."

Another fat disciple shook his head, his tone full of schadenfreude.

"Instead of focusing on her Foundation Establishment cultivation, she had to cripple herself. Now look what's happened. I heard she barely won in the previous rounds, but now that she's facing 'Mad Dog' Li Tie, she's probably going to be brought back to square one."

"What a pity about that face... If it gets damaged, how will he ever be able to face the Hehuan Sect again?"

Hearing all the foul language around him.

Mo Chengyue made no comment.

He simply took out a handful of spirit stones from his pocket without placing any bets.

A game where you're guaranteed to win has such low odds that it's not interesting.

He prefers to see this group of "know-it-alls" get their faces swollen from being slapped later.

"A bunch of bronze players are questioning why a master player would uninstall their equipment."

Mo Chengyue silently complained in his heart.

"That's called a system reinstallation, optimizing the underlying code. You guys don't know anything about that."

Just then.

A commotion arose.

"Look! Xiao Qinghan is on stage!"

Mo Chengyue looked up.

On the noisy, chaotic, and demonic arena, a jarring color suddenly appeared.

If you ignore the Hehuan Sect disciples around you who are dressed in flashy clothes and showing off their arms and legs.

You might even think that she is a holy maiden from some righteous sect descended to earth.

Xiao Qinghan wore a simple blue dress with no elaborate embroidery on the hem.

He just stood there, simply.

His posture was as upright as a pine tree, his back straight, like an ancient sword yet to be drawn.

Her face was still somewhat pale, with a chilling air about her after recovering from a serious illness.

But those phoenix eyes were as calm as a bottomless pool of cold water.

There was no fear, no excitement, not even a trace of extraneous emotion.

It was as if she wasn't standing on a ring where fate would be decided.

It's actually their own backyard.

"This art style..."

Mo Chengyue stroked his chin, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.

"It's like they forcibly inserted a 4K high-definition CG into a screen full of 'mosaics'."

In the Hehuan Sect, a place teeming with demons and monsters, filled with hormones and the stench of blood.

Xiao Qinghan's presence was so clean and serene that it seemed somewhat out of place.

Yet it was so dazzling that it was impossible to look away.

"Hehehe, Senior Sister Xiao."

Across the ring, a burly man, shirtless and with muscles bulging like rocks, was holding a spiked club and grinning lewdly.

It was Li Tie, nicknamed "Mad Dog".

He has reached the peak of the Qi Refining stage, and although he has not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he possesses astonishing brute strength, and it is said that he can tear apart tigers and leopards alive.

"Even though you're useless now, as long as you're willing to call me 'good brother'..."

Li Tie stuck out his scarlet tongue, licked his lips, and let his eyes wander freely over the blue figure.

"Brother, I'll go easy on you later, okay?"

A burst of laughter and whistles erupted from the audience.

Xiao Qinghan did not speak.

She didn't even glance at Li Tie.

He simply raised the longsword in his hand slowly.

It was a very ordinary fine steel sword, sold at the sect's wholesale price of ten spirit stones.

But the moment she gripped the hilt of the sword.

Mo Chengyue keenly sensed that the surrounding air seemed to have cooled down a bit.

"It's gaining momentum."

Mo Chengyue narrowed his eyes, stopped complaining, and focused on looking at that aloof figure.

"start!"

With the referee's whistle.

Li Tie sneered, completely disregarding this "early stage Qi Refining" trash.

"You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences! Lie down right now!"

boom!

He pushed off the ground with both feet, like a wild boar out of control, carrying a fierce wind, and swung his hundreds-of-pounds-weight spiked club down on his head!

This strike was powerful and heavy.

The air was compressed, producing a whooshing, popping sound.

The audience below the stage seemed to have already seen the gruesome sight of that frail figure being smashed into a pulp, and some even closed their eyes in unbearable pain.

however.

The expected loud noise did not come.

Just as the spiked club was about to fall.

Xiao Qinghan moved.

There were no cool special effects, no deafening roars.

She simply took a small step to the left.

Take a stroll.

It felt as natural as strolling on plum blossom stakes.

That powerful blow, delivered with brute force, slid past her sleeve without even touching a corner of her clothing.

"What?!"

Li Tie missed his target, lost his balance, and staggered forward a few steps.

Before he could even regain his footing...

A sword light, as clear as autumn water, has already appeared.

That's a move from the basic sword techniques—"Star Point".

Simple, direct, and boring.

Even a novice disciple can perform a few basic moves.

But in Xiao Qinghan's hands.

This sword strike, however, seemed to be imbued with some peculiar rhythm.

fast.

quasi.

ruthless.

"puff!"

A soft sound.

The longsword pierced Li Tie's wrist joint with perfect precision, and then flicked it slightly.

"ah--!!"

Li Tie let out a pig-like scream, and the spiked club in his hand slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground with a thud.

But it's not over yet.

Xiao Qinghan twisted her wrist and slashed horizontally with the sword.

Using the force of Li Tie's forward charge, the spine of the sword struck heavily on the back of his knee.

What's this called?

This is called the leverage principle.

Even a strong man weighing several hundred pounds can be sent flying like a spinning top if he finds the right fulcrum.

"Bang!"

Li Tie's knees buckled, and he uncontrollably knelt down.

Moreover, he knelt down in front of Xiao Qinghan.

The posture was perfect, and the sincerity was evident.

The entire room fell silent.

Those disciples who were just shouting "good-for-nothing" and "little loser" now had their mouths agape, their chins almost hitting their feet.

That's... that's it?

No spiritual energy clash?

No magic weapon flying around randomly?

With just two simple moves, a Qi Refining Perfection Body Cultivator was forced to kneel before someone.

"How is this possible?!"

The pockmarked disciple's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"She clearly only has the spiritual energy fluctuations of the early Qi Refining stage! This doesn't make sense!"

Only Mo Chengyue, sitting in the corner, gently spat out a piece of melon seed shell.

His eyes held a hint of appreciation that only an expert could understand.

"The layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the details."

He shook his head, a playful smile curving his lips.

"You think she's on the first level, but she's actually in the atmosphere."

Although Xiao Qinghan's cultivation level has dropped, her total spiritual power is not as high as before.

But her spiritual awareness, combat experience, and micro-management control over power.

It's still at the Core Formation stage or even the Nascent Soul stage level!

This is like a professional player of Honor of Kings creating a smurf account in the Bronze rank.

Even if you have the initial hero in your hand, without any rune bonuses.

With just his positioning and awareness, he could make these newbies, who only knew how to tap wherever the lights were lit, feel their scalps tingle.

"This is not called cultivating immortality."

Mo Chengyue made his own assessment in his mind.

"That's called a dimensional reduction attack."

On the arena.

Xiao Qinghan did not press her advantage, nor did she utter a single unnecessary word.