I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

The day of the centennial competition finally arrived amidst everyone's anticipation.

As dawn broke over the horizon, the Hehuan Sect's main square was already packed with people. A dense mass of disciples poured in from all the peaks and halls; some chatted quietly in small groups, some stood alone with their swords in hand, and some stood on the stone steps, tiptoeing to peer inside. Dozens of enormous spirit banners floated above the square, their surfaces adorned with intricate array patterns that fluttered in the morning breeze.

When Li Hanshan arrived at the square, Ye Shuanghua was waiting for him by the stone railing on the east side. Dressed in a silver-white outfit, her long hair tied in a high ponytail, and the Jinghong Sword hanging at her waist, she appeared less aloof than usual, but possessed a sharper, more decisive edge. She handed him a jade scroll: "These are the competition rules. Read them carefully."

Li Hanshan took the jade slip, probed it with his divine sense, and quickly browsed through it. This century-long competition adopted a combination of a points system and an elimination system—the first few rounds used a points system, where each person had to win matches against other participants to accumulate points; those with the highest points would advance to the elimination rounds. Cultivators at the first level of the Nascent Soul stage could still suppress their cultivation to participate in the Nascent Soul stage, and in the semi-finals, they would have the opportunity to ambush Nascent Soul stage participants, but they would not participate in the Nascent Soul stage rankings. The entire competition lasted for one month.

"During the qualifying rounds, try to conserve your strength as much as possible," Ye Shuanghua said in a low voice. "There's no need to reveal your full strength in the early stages. Winning is enough; you don't need to win spectacularly. The real masters are all in the later stages, especially the knockout rounds. That's when the true test will be revealed."

Li Hanshan nodded and put the jade slip away. His gaze swept over the disciples who were arriving one after another in the square. Luo Lie stood in the distance, his crimson spiritual energy faintly visible around him, talking to several fellow disciples; Wang Hao leaned against a stone pillar, his moon-white robe fluttering gently in the wind; and on a high platform further away in the square, a silver-gray figure stood with his hands behind his back, his face effeminate, his aura like a bottomless pool of stagnant water, it was Xuan Yinzi.

In the competitions of the past few days, Li Hanshan won quite easily. In the first round, he faced a disciple in the late Nascent Soul stage, forcing him off the stage with a fireball; in the second round, he faced a rogue cultivator in the peak Nascent Soul stage, suppressing him within three moves; in the third and fourth rounds, he also won with overwhelming force. In each match, he precisely controlled his strength, maintaining the output of his Pure Yang Fire at just the right level, without displaying any overly dazzling abilities.

Before long, Li Hanshan achieved a ten-game winning streak, a record that put him at the top of the leaderboard.

"That old man won again." Chang Sheng stood in the corner of the square, his tone gloomy.

Chen Jie stood beside him, also gazing at the purple-gold figure on the stage, his expression indifferent. Hearing the words "won again," a cold glint appeared at the corner of his mouth: "What's the rush? The real battles are yet to come. Once the points matches end and the knockout rounds begin, the real masters will make their move. Even if he doesn't reveal his trump cards, he might not make it to the end."

Chang Sheng was taken aback for a moment: "What does Senior Brother Chen mean...?"

"This century-long competition is packed with experts. Xuan Yinzi will be making a move, and Luo Lie and Wang Hao are also here." Chen Jie's eyes narrowed slightly. "No matter how strong he is on his own, he can't withstand a series of attacks, let alone the fact that there will be Nascent Soul cultivators blocking his way."

Upon hearing this, Chang Sheng's face lit up with a smile again: "Senior Brother Chen is right. Even if he can defeat cultivators of the same level at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, he will only lose when facing a Deity Transformation cultivator."

Chen Jie stopped speaking, but his gaze remained fixed on the purple-gold figure on the arena, and the coldness at the corner of his mouth never dissipated.

On the other side of the square, Luo Lie stood with his arms crossed, looking at Li Hanshan's ten-game winning streak on the leaderboard, his expression unchanged.

He's won ten straight games!

During the points-based competition, dealing with the ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators within the sect was no challenge at all.

Wang Hao, standing to the side, did not respond. He simply leaned against the stone pillar, his gaze fixed on Li Hanshan's figure on the arena, his eyes gleaming with intense fighting spirit.

He lost last time, but this time he's determined to get his revenge.

On the other side, Xuan Yinzi sat in a large red sedan chair, surrounded by several alluring female cultivators. His hands roamed over their bodies, while his gaze remained fixed on Li Hanshan. A glint of silver light flashed briefly in the depths of his pupils before disappearing. "Peak Nascent Soul stage, Pure Yang Sacred Body..." His voice was very soft, almost inaudible to himself, "Interesting."