Melee

Two Outer Sect Disciple referees flew above the mountaintop, looking down with an unobstructed view.

"The match begins!" a referee announced loudly.

At the sound, the four Menial Disciples on the western side, including Jiang Ping'an, immediately rode their swords toward the summit.

However, none of them, Jiang Ping'an included, dared fly high. Once airborne, they would be too sluggish to dodge; if attacked, they would become living targets. Thus, Jiang Ping'an flew only three chi above the ground, practically skimming the earth. The other three did the same.

Jiang Ping'an held a Spirit Talisman between the fingers of his left hand and carried a Spirit Source Crossbow in his right.

Since the Menial Disciples from the other sides were also flying cautiously close to the ground, the Spirit Source Crossbow would have difficulty hitting them, so Jiang Ping'an did not take the initiative to attack. Besides, once they began fighting each other, the other Menial Disciples might reach the summit first and seize the golden ball.

The Menial Disciples on either side of him also tacitly refrained from striking first.

After roughly five breaths, the four Menial Disciples from the west were the first to reach the somewhat level summit and saw the key object that would decide the melee's victor—the golden ball.

The golden ball was the size of a football and sat atop a wooden stake one Zhang tall, reflecting a golden gleam beneath the sunlight.

Jiang Ping'an swept it with his Spiritual Sense and discovered that the golden ball was actually a solid iron ball plated in gold. Such a large solid iron ball weighed seventy or eighty jin. Cultivators in the Spirit Aperture Realm could not seize it from midair; they had to take it by hand.

Jiang Ping'an was in no hurry to grab