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

Above the ruins, the wind howls and cranes cry.

Ye Wushang is gone.

He walked away with an air of nonchalance, his back straight, his purple and gold python robe fluttering in the wind, maintaining the last vestige of dignity as a holy son.

But Mo Chengyue, with his sharp eyes, clearly saw that the Holy Prince's right hand, hidden in his sleeve, was trembling wildly at a Parkinson's-like frequency.

"Tsk, so concerned with saving face that it's a recipe for suffering."

Holding his thermos, Mo Chengyue thought to himself, "That shot just now probably cracked the Holy Son's hand. This isn't a victory; it's a Pyrrhic one."

Huddled in a corner, he silently made a note in his notebook: [Ye Wushang won, but his defenses were breached. It's like using a nuclear bomb to kill a mosquito; the mosquito dies, but his own backyard is also flattened. A huge loss.]

at this time.

All eyes were once again focused on the man kneeling on one knee.

Xiao Fan.

He lost.

Logically, the loser should leave the stage dejectedly, or utter a few harsh words like "Don't underestimate a young man's potential."

But Xiao Fan did not.

He slowly stood up, his movements no longer unsteady, his back straight, like an unbreakable javelin.

He gently stroked the cracked spear in his hand, his eyes showing no sign of discouragement, but rather a chilling calm.

That look in his eyes...

Mo Chengyue felt a chill run down his spine after just one glance.

That was definitely not the look a defeated early-stage Core Formation disciple should have.

It was a kind of... indifference that came from ruling the world and looking down on all living beings.

It was as if this win or loss was nothing more than an insignificant game in his long life.

"I see."

Xiao Fan suddenly whispered something.

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly carried throughout the deathly silent arena.

"The so-called Core Formation is not about simply accumulating spiritual power, but about fusing one's own will with the rules of heaven and earth."

"In my past life... cough, I was too obsessed with overwhelming power, which made me fall short."

He was summarizing.

He actually started a live recap of the defeat in front of tens of thousands of people amidst the ruins!

Followed by.

The scene that Mo Chengyue feared most and found most absurd has happened.

boom--!!!

A visible vortex of spiritual energy formed above Xiao Fan's head without warning.

The surrounding spiritual energy, which had been raging and chaotic due to the great battle, now surged towards him obediently yet frantically, as if it were the subjects of a king.

Xiao Fan's wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The once-depleted dantian, like a long-awaited rain after a drought, roared with the sound of a surging river.

Click.

It was as if some kind of constraint within me had been broken.

Xiao Fan's aura began to soar like a rocket!

Early stage of Core Formation... Peak of early stage of Core Formation... Half-step into the middle stage!

In just three breaths.

He transformed from a severely wounded and dying loser into a god of war at full strength, or even a level higher!

"Although we lost the game."

Xiao Fan clenched his fist, feeling the power within his body that was several times more solid than before, and a wicked and arrogant smile appeared on his lips.

"But this trip was worthwhile."

He raised his head, took a deep look in the direction Ye Wushang had left, and didn't say anything about "the tides turn," but just smiled faintly and turned to leave.

That silhouette was even more dashing than the winner's.

The entire room fell silent.

After a long while, an even louder cry of surprise erupted.

"Holy crap?! A breakthrough at the last minute?!"

"What kind of comprehension is this? He maxed out his experience bar after just one fight?"

"I want to report this! This is absolutely cheating! I've cultivated for ten years without moving, and he leveled up after losing just one game?"

in the corner.

Mo Chengyue covered his face in anguish.

"really……"

"You can't defeat a man who has his own background music."

"If you knock him down, he'll just use the time he's lying on the ground to get some enlightenment."

"This is too complicated. The cultivation world is really too complicated."

……

Because the No. 3 arena has been completely destroyed, resembling the surface of the moon, and is no longer usable.

The elder referee, his face dark, stared at the repair bill, his beard trembling with heartache.

Finally, with a wave of his hand, he moved the remaining matches to ring number one.

This is an arena reinforced with millennia-old black iron, said to be unbreakable by anyone below the Nascent Soul stage.

However, Mo Chengyue expressed deep skepticism about this.

After all, the two next to take the stage are no pushovers either.

The second match of the semi-finals.

Chaoyun Peak, Ye Changfeng.

Lin Miaoyin, the Holy Maiden of the Hehuan Sect.

These two people standing on the stage were like two completely opposite styles.

Ye Changfeng was still dressed in white, his clothes as white as snow, holding the Tianyuan Sword in his hand, his expression as indifferent as a piece of thousand-year-old ice.

Even when facing the most beautiful woman in the Hehuan Sect, his eyes remained completely unmoved.

It was as if, in his eyes, the person standing in front of him was not a stunningly beautiful saintess, but a breathing piece of wood.

And Lin Miaoyin...

All I can say is that he truly deserves to be called a prodigy who cultivated "The Dance of the Heavenly Demons".

Today she wore a crimson rainbow-colored dress, barefoot, with two strings of silver bells tied around her ankles.

Holding a white jade pipa, her eyes sparkled with captivating charm.

The male disciples below the stage had already lost half their souls before the fight even began.

Their eyes were glazed over, drool dripping from their mouths, and they wished they could rush forward to shield the saintess from the sword.

"Senior Brother Ye."

Lin Miaoyin parted her red lips slightly, her voice as soft and sweet as a glutinous rice ball coated in honey, making one's bones melt.

"I am but a weak woman, I only know how to play music, I don't know anything about fighting and killing."

"Later... Senior brother, please go easy on me!"

As she spoke, she even gave Ye Changfeng a flirtatious wink.

That one glance sent a shiver down the spines of not only the animals below the stage, but even Mo Chengyue felt a flutter in his heart.

"Fairy!"

Mo Chengyue quickly recited the mental cultivation method of the Yin-Yang Virtue Harmony Scripture twice to stabilize his Dao heart.

"This isn't a martial arts contest; it's clearly a large-scale psychological attack!"

however.

Ye Changfeng, as the person involved, had only one reaction to this.

"Zheng—"

The Tianyuan Sword was drawn half an inch from its sheath, emitting a clear and melodious sword cry.

"Enough with the nonsense."

Ye Changfeng coldly uttered four words.

"Draw your sword."

Lin Miaoyin's smile froze for a moment.

The audience below the stage was also stunned.

Brother!

She's a saint! A stunning beauty!

Is it really okay for you to be so clueless about romance? You're destined to be single forever!

"Giggle giggle..."

Lin Miaoyin suddenly covered her mouth and chuckled, but the smile did not reach her eyes; instead, it was tinged with coldness.

"Senior Brother Ye truly possesses a clear and discerning sword mind, unmoved by external things."

"In that case, please have Senior Brother appreciate Miaoyin's piece, 'Heartbreak'."

Ding--

White jade fingers gently plucked the strings of the zither.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any dazzling light effects.

Only one invisible sound wave, like ripples on a calm lake, spread out instantly.

But wherever this "ripple" passes.

On the hard surface of the black iron arena, fine cracks appeared silently!

That's the destructive power generated when the frequency of sound waves reaches its extreme!

Even more terrifying.

The sound pierced through the protective spiritual energy and exploded in everyone's minds.

The disciples with weaker cultivation levels below the stage instantly turned pale, clutched their chests, and knelt on the ground, as if they had just experienced a life-or-death separation and were so heartbroken that they could not breathe.

"Full-screen mental attack with physical penetration?!"

Mo Chengyue quickly plugged his ears and activated the [Diamond Body Protection Talisman].

"This is the classic opening move for a mage against a warrior."

On the arena.

Ye Changfeng remained standing in the same spot.

Faced with the sonic waves powerful enough to shatter metal and stone, he simply raised the sword in his hand slowly.

There were no fancy moves.

It was just a simple, straight thrust.

"break."

puff--

It sounded like a piece of cloth being torn.

That invisible sound barrier was actually cleaved open by this sword!

The sword energy was like a rainbow, its momentum undiminished, aimed directly at Lin Miaoyin's brow.