It turns out, they were the main characters.

The male cultivators on the dueling platform couldn't help but laugh out loud; the answer was obvious.

Who wouldn't want a powerful, well-endowed, and slender Daoist partner?

Moreover, this Daoist partner is Bai Ruoxi.

Among her peers, the number of men pursuing Bai Ruoxi could stretch from inside the city to outside.

The laughter of the crowd sounded particularly grating to Gongsun Cheng's ears. He stared intently into Mu Zhian's eyes and said, word by word, "Mu Zhian."

“You’re getting impatient,” Mu Zhian sighed.

Compared to his father, Gongsun Cheng still lacks a bit of experience.

Gongsun Cheng's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he drew his sword and slashed at Mu Zhian.

Bai Ruoxi raised her hand and made a hand seal, and the bronze sword on her back shot out towards Gongsun Cheng.

Gongsun Cheng snorted coldly, and several faint halos appeared around his body.

This is the Gongsun family's martial arts technique, the Golden Bell Buddha Strength, which cannot be broken without refining one's spirit.

He raised his hand towards Mu Zhian's outstretched hand, a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Suddenly, a sound like a glass shattering on the ground could be heard.

When the bronze sword reached the aura of the Golden Bell Buddha's power, it shattered it almost instantly, as easily as puncturing a piece of paper.

boom!

The bronze sword unleashed a powerful gust of wind, causing Gongsun Cheng to spit out a mouthful of blood and fly backward, crashing heavily to the ground.

There was a deathly silence in front of the dueling platform, with the younger generation staring blankly at the elegant young lady of the Bai family standing on the platform.

He defeated Gongsun Cheng, a Qi Refining Stage 8 cultivator, with just one sword strike...?

The strength of this young lady of the Bai family is probably unmatched among those of the same level!

While everyone in the room looked on in astonishment, Mu Zhian remained calm.

Of course... it's all an act.

At this moment, Mu Zhian was also somewhat surprised, so much so that he couldn't help but take another look at Bai Ruoxi.

He knew Bai Ruoxi was strong now, but he didn't expect her to be this strong.

A cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining defeated a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining with a single sword strike...

He's increasingly convinced that Bai Ruoxi is the real protagonist.

Chapter 53 Sour, so sour as much as possible! 5.5K

With just one sword strike, he defeated Gongsun Cheng head-on!

Even though Mu Zhian already knew that Bai Ruoxi's current strength was extraordinary, he was still somewhat surprised.

He knew the bronze sword would greatly enhance Bai Ruoxi's abilities, but he didn't expect it to be this great.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

Two servants quickly stepped forward to Gongsun Cheng's side.

Gongsun Cheng clutched his chest and, with the help of two servants, struggled to sit up, but nearly stumbled and fell.

He felt the spiritual energy in his body churning chaotically, and he also noticed several gazes falling on him. He felt extremely ashamed and stared intently at the woman standing with her sword on her back.

"Miss Bai, the Bai family has only just begun to recover these past few days. Are you trying to reignite the conflict between the Bai family and the Gongsun family?!"

Bai Ruoxi frowned slightly, staring intently at Gongsun Cheng, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Gongsun Cheng said coldly, "This is originally a matter between me and Young Master Mu. If you step down now, I can pretend that this never happened."

With the return of Bai's father in the past two days, the Bai family seems to be showing signs of a counterattack. Gongsun Cheng's words were actually just a way to find a way to back down, and also to suppress the arrogance of the Bai family.

Seeing that Bai Ruoxi had fallen silent, Gongsun Cheng revealed a cold smile and was about to speak again.

At this moment, Mu Zhian suddenly laughed and said, "After being crushed in personal strength, you start to use your family to intimidate others?"

"Can you represent the entire Gongsun family?"

The Mu family only recently delegated power to Mu Zhian, and there are several Refining Spirit Realm elders in the clan who are in seclusion. If anything happens, those elders can come out and clean up the mess.

However, the Gongsun clan chief had a total of six children, and Gongsun Cheng was the fourth oldest. Competition within the clan was already fierce, so it was impossible for Gongsun Cheng to represent the entire Gongsun family.

In the end, he was just using someone else's power to intimidate people.

"If Uncle Gongsun finds out you're causing so much trouble outside, won't he break your legs?" Mu Zhian asked slowly.

Gongsun Xiong is probably just trying to keep a low profile and focus on recovering from his injury. If he knew that Gongsun Cheng had offended the eldest son of the Mu family, he would definitely give him a scolding when he got back.

Gongsun Cheng clearly understood this as well, and stared at Mu Zhian, saying, "Young Master Mu, do you dare to have a match with me?"

"I wouldn't dare," Mu Zhian said, shrugging.

"Actually, there's no point in having a competition. Your eighth-grade Qi Refining skill is mostly fake. Being defeated by a peer with a single sword strike really doesn't motivate me," Mu Zhian added.

At this point, he seemed to remember something important, and with a tap of his hand and a concerned tone, said, "By the way, I still have some healing medicine at home. I'll have someone send it to you in a couple of days."

Gongsun Cheng felt a sweet taste in his throat, and his blood was boiling.

"Young master, calm down. He's trying to provoke you. Getting angry now will only hurt your health," a servant whispered.

Gongsun Chengqiang suppressed his anger and said coldly, "I acknowledge Miss Bai's strength; she is probably unmatched among her peers. But what does that have to do with you? A useless young master at the third level of Qi Refining dares to point fingers at me?"

Mu Zhian was not angry at all. Instead, he showed a gentle and refined smile and said, "I may not be able to beat Ruoxi, but you, an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator, were also severely injured by a sword. Tell me, what is the difference between you and me, a third-level Qi Refining cultivator?"

"Since we're all going to be beaten into a bunch of homeless dogs anyway, I might as well go too."

Gongsun Cheng's anger flared up in an instant, and an undisguised murderous aura burst forth from his body as he stared intently into Mu Zhi'an's eyes.

"Besides..."

Mu Zhian seemed oblivious to Gongsun Cheng's gaze, slightly turning his head to look at the elegant beauty beside him. Under the wide eyes of everyone, he gently took Bai Ruoxi's soft hand.

"Ruoxi and I don't have any deep-seated hatred, right?" Mu Zhian turned his head to look at her and smiled.

Countless gazes unconsciously fell on Bai Ruoxi. She merely lowered her eyes slightly, a faint blush spreading across her face, but she did not push Mu Zhian's hand away or strike him with a sword as people had hoped.

Amidst countless envious glances, she simply let Mu Zhi'an hold her hand, buried her face, and softly murmured "Mmm."

In that instant, everyone in front of the arena became restless, itching to take the lead and kicking Mu Zhi'an aside.

Although it was already clear that the relationship between the two was not so simple, it was still hard to accept when Mu Zhian held Bai Ruoxi's small hand so openly. It even gave Gongsun Cheng the same thought—to teach this young master of the Mu family a lesson.

However, when they saw the girl beside him and remembered her identity, they all calmed down, though they were filled with mixed emotions.

"Both of them are at the Qi Refining Realm, yet she broke Gongsun Cheng's Golden Bell Buddha Force with just one sword... Miss Bai is probably already invincible among her peers."

"Her technique is somewhat strange and shouldn't be reused... but if she can wield that bronze sword a few times in a single battle, who can stop her?"

"Alas, although the Bai family has declined in fortune, they will likely achieve considerable success in the future if they rely solely on Bai Ruoxi."

"I wonder who will be able to win the heart of a woman like her in the future," someone murmured softly.

"Just look at who's holding her hand now, and you'll know."

These words made all the male cultivators present lose their composure, resulting in a long silence in the room.

"Why do I suddenly feel like Mu Zhian is so annoying?" Someone suddenly whispered, expressing everyone's thoughts.

"It's not that he deserves a beating, it's that he just seems so annoying when he's around Miss Bai... I really want to punch his handsome face to pieces."

"Why don't you give it a try?"

"Try what? Why don't you go?" the man immediately retorted with a cold snort.

Bai Ruoxi's strength today was enough to make her fellow cultivators wary. Although they knew that the bronze sword behind her could not be reused, no one knew how many times she could wield it in a battle.

Besides, attacking the eldest son of the Mu family in Tianxuan City—doesn't that mean he wants to die?

Gongsun Cheng was simply too impulsive, and he dared to act so recklessly because he knew the Mu family wouldn't dare launch a large-scale attack on the Gongsun family.

I never expected that this recklessness would come at such a high price.

If word gets out that 'the Gongsun family's number one genius was defeated by Bai Ruoxi with a single sword strike,' Gongsun Cheng will never be able to hold his head high in Tianxuan City again.

Even if he were to join the Liangyi Sect in the future, it would still be a disgrace for him for the rest of his life.

The two servants of the Gongsun family knew they wouldn't get anything out of it today, so they helped Gongsun Cheng leave.

"By the way, Young Master Gongsun."

Watching the young genius from the Gongsun family about to leave, Mu Zhian seemed to remember something important and suddenly said, "I think instead of meddlesome other people's business, we should go home and visit them more often."

Gongsun Cheng stopped, turned to stare at Mu Zhian, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is... it doesn't matter how strong you and I are individually, what matters is the base," Mu Zhian said with a smile.

Your house is almost gone, and you're still thinking about having a 1v1 match with me? What are you thinking?

Looking at Mu Zhian's smile, for some reason, Gongsun Cheng suddenly had a bad feeling.

After Gongsun Cheng, supported by servants, struggled to leave, Mu Zhi'an withdrew his gaze, turned to the crowd, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:

"I'm sorry you all laughed at what happened today. Ruoxi and I came here today just to watch the younger generation compete, so we won't take up any more of your time."

Everyone returned the gesture with a bow, which was considered a polite way of handling the situation.

Since the eldest son of the Mu family has given them so much face, they naturally won't give him any attitude.

After all, not everyone is like Gongsun Cheng and Ye Yu, who are at odds with Mu Zhian.

Although seeing Bai Ruoxi beside him did make me a little jealous...

The group's sparring continued, and the audience below the stage were still talking about what had just happened.

Ye Yu, who was once admired for his amazing talent, suddenly seemed to fade into obscurity and be forgotten.

People stopped focusing on Ye Yu's victory over a Qi Refining cultivator with his peak Refining Essence strength and began discussing Bai Ruoxi and Mu Zhian.

After all, compared to a genius beauty like Bai Ruoxi, Ye Yu's talent seemed somewhat lackluster.

Add to that a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining and a spoiled brat at the third level of Qi Refining together... and the other party is Bai Ruoxi, that alone is enough to cause a lot of discussion.

Mu Zhian took Bai Ruoxi's hand and led her to a nearby stone bench where they sat down. The usually aloof beauty appeared shy and charming at this moment, but this shyness was only shown to Mu Zhian.

Sunlight gently falls on the ground, and horse-drawn carriages occasionally pass by on the distant streets, where ancient-style buildings stand.