A Life-or-Death Duel

The vast Qionghua Hall resembles the top floor of the Wenyuan Pavilion.

The group of Qionghua's high-ranking officials and the hundred or so core disciples of Qionghua remained deathly silent, while Bai Fan and the others standing by the field watched with eyes wide with rage.

The white-robed, languid man in the center of the arena, attracting attention, casually flicked his longsword, instantly splattering blood from the blade onto the ground.

Holding the sword,

The man casually glanced at the hundred or so core disciples of Qionghua beside the arena, his narrow, squinting eyes seeming to be smiling.

He slowly scanned the area, then chuckled and bowed respectfully to his Senior Brother Li, whose body was now severed from his body. He said with a light laugh:

"Brother Li, you flatter me."

"."

Such humiliation caused all the disciples in the arena to clench their fists, but the white-robed man turned and left without a care.

He walked straight toward Xu Yuan and Tianyan.

Oh no, to be precise, he was heading towards the gate of the Qionghua Hall.

The man's footsteps were very light, but in the quiet Qionghua Hall, they seemed to tread on everyone's hearts.

Upon reaching the palace gate of the Qionghua Hall,

When they passed by Xu Yuan and Tianyan,

The languidly dressed man suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"."

A cold wind gently caressed my robes; the air was silent.

Xu Yuan glanced at him calmly from the side.

The lazy man's squinting eyes were also glancing at him sideways.

Their eyes met, but their gazes remained calm.

The man didn't turn around, but simply spoke in a lazy voice:

"I've already killed the thief who stole the saplings. I don't know if Tianrui will go all out, but I'll go easy on him starting tomorrow. Don't be afraid to go on stage!"

See you tomorrow, everyone.

His voice, amplified by the Source Qi, clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

Having said that,

The man waved to the two inner disciple at the door as if giving an order, signaling them to open the main gate of the Qionghua Hall.

The two inner disciple at the palace gate stared intently at Shen Weixiu, the chief disciple of the Taiqing Dao Palace, their fists clenched tightly, anger spreading in their hearts.

However, after their eyes met, they instinctively avoided each other's squinty eyes, which seemed to be smiling at all times.

Gritting his teeth, he silently opened the front door for him.

Shen Weixiu chuckled, glanced at Xu Yuan and Tianyan standing at the side entrance, and then strode out through the main gate.

His figure disappeared into the clouds, leaving the crowd in the still deathly silent hall behind.

At this time,

The Heavenly Oversight Pavilion Holy Son named Tianrui also seemed to be preparing to leave.

He slowly descended the stairs, walking unhurriedly towards the open main entrance. As he approached Xu Yuan and Tianyan, the young man slowed his pace slightly.

Xu Yuan assumed that the other party had discovered Tianyan.

But when he met the other person's pale golden eyes, he realized that the other person wasn't paying attention to Tianyan at all, but was looking at him instead.

Instead of meeting his gaze calmly again, Xu Yuan felt like cursing under his breath.

These two are better than people.

Is he planning to have a life-or-death battle with him all by himself?

After a brief exchange of glances, Tianrui gently shook his head and turned to leave.

After the two left,

After a dozen or so breaths of silence before the main hall, an elderly woman in a brown palace dress slowly flew up and collected the remains of Senior Brother Li.

"You bastard!!"

After a low curse came from among the core disciples, the entire hall was filled with faint shouts and curses.

"That damned bastard! He relies on the Heavenly Oversight Pavilion and the Taiqing Dao Palace to suppress the Qionghua Sect because he thinks no one else is capable!"

"Seven life-or-death duels, and Shen Weixiu and Tianrui actually dare to fight two against seven?!"

"If Senior Sister Saintess hadn't perished, the duel wouldn't have escalated to this point!"

"Today's betting match was completely unexpected, a case of the prepared attack catching the unprepared. Senior Brother Li shouldn't have fallen for this provocation."

Some core disciples were cursing angrily, while others were cautiously watching the expressions of their sect elders. Xu Yuan, on the other hand, stood quietly at the entrance, observing everything before him.

The disciples' angry shouts and curses lasted for about ten breaths before the white-haired and bearded Qionghua Sect suddenly let out a sigh.

"Alright, the True Disciple stays; everyone else may leave."

His voice sounded slightly tired.

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and subconsciously glanced at Bai Fan's direction.

He and Tianyan were just the core members; Bai Fan and the others were the True Disciple.

As for why, it's because each spot in the True Disciple represents a huge expenditure of resources, and the vast majority of them are monopolized by the upper echelons of Qionghua. It's extremely difficult for an orphan like Jing He to get a spot.

Of course, this doesn't mean that these spoiled brats lack ability.

The vast Qionghua Sect has only sixteen True Disciple, half of whom are third-rank experts under the age of thirty.

Jing He should be able to advance to the level of True Disciple this year, but unfortunately he isn't yet.

Bai Fan seemed to notice Xu Yuan's gaze. He opened his mouth, but said nothing. He shook his head at Xu Yuan and silently walked into the Qionghua Hall.

The tragic death of Senior Brother Li was a huge shock to them.

mansion,

Sunlight streamed into the room through the window, creating a serene and tranquil atmosphere, accompanied by a hint of sandalwood incense.

Xu Yuan lay back on the soft bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the pure white bed curtains, and suddenly spoke:

"Your Heavenly Oversight Pavilion always had such a grand presence? Ha! A third-rank Holy Son could sit on equal footing with a Saint."

Tianyan held a porcelain cup in his two small hands, sitting quietly at the red sandalwood table, drinking tea. Upon hearing this, he simply said softly:

"The Crown Prince of the Great Yan Dynasty receives the same treatment when he goes to other sects."

Xu Yuan grinned upon hearing this, rolled over and sat up in bed, looking into Tianyan's golden eyes, and asked in a low voice:

"Why didn't the Heavenly Oversight Pavilion Holy Son react to you?"

The golden eyes that Tianyan gained from cultivating the Yantian Art were too conspicuous. Even if Tianrui couldn't sense Tianyan's Heavenly Yantian Art, he should have taken a second look. However, Tianyan didn't even bother to glance at Tianyan's golden pupils.

Tianyan, holding his teacup, rolled his eyes at him:

"How would I know? It's most likely related to Yuchu's identity. I just secretly activated the Heavenly Word Mantra, but he didn't react."

"Is that so? It must be that the Charm God Tree Spirit altered the consciousness of these people, so that no information related to you will attract their attention."

Xu Yuan analyzed in a low voice, but his eyes narrowed slightly halfway through his sentence:

"What were you trying to do by using the Yantian Art just now?"

Does the Yantian Art allow for family recognition?

Tianyan's answer was very straightforward:

"If this generation's Heavenly Oversight Pavilion Holy Son can recognize my Yantian Art, we can use the Heavenly Oversight Pavilion's power to forcibly seize the Enchanting Charm God Cherry Tree sapling. If not, then I can openly use the Yantian Art later."

Xu Yuan remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said:

Are you so sure he'll help you?

Tianyan shook his head:

"Uncertain, but worth a try. If Tianrui reacts, it will be exposed sooner or later."

Xu Yuan sighed.

Bai Fan and the others had seen Tianyan Yantian Art before, so if Tianrui were to make a move, they would definitely recognize him.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan grinned;

"Are all the holy sons and daughters of your Heavenly Oversight Pavilion surnamed Tian? This generation seems to be named Tianrui, is he related to you by blood?"

Tianyan glanced at him sideways, his voice cold and clear:

"You still have the mind to talk about this even at a time like this?"

Xu Yuan shrugged indifferently:

Life goes on, and mindset is very important.

With that, Xu Yuan lay back down on the bed, his voice full of helplessness:

"Those two seem to have their eyes on me. Tsk, they're really sick."

Tianyan Yanshuang, holding his teacup, suddenly chuckled and said with a smile:

"Since you inherited such a high level of cultivation, you'll probably break through to the second rank in another year or two, so naturally we have to pay more attention to you."

Xu Yuan grinned; "But I thought the sect leader was planning to send me up as a fodder, but he only called in True Disciple. At least that old man has some conscience."

"Consumable padding knife?" Tianyan looked puzzled.

"It's two against seven now, so to win, we need to beat one of the opponents on average for every three of us. Neither Shen Weixiu nor Tianrui are easy to deal with. The first person to go up was clearly just probing."

Tianyan shook his head:

"Boring."

"Of course a genius like you would find it boring, since one person is enough."

With that, Xu Yuan chuckled and said, "Let's head over early tomorrow. I feel like we need to step in for this bet."

"Us?" Tianyan asked with amusement.

"Cough."

Xu Yuan coughed lightly, ignoring her, and continued speaking to himself:

"Judging from what Shen Weixiu earlier, it seems that Senior Brother Li stole the Charm God Cherry Tree. Whether it's true or not, his and Tianrui's purpose in coming here should be for the Charm God Cherry Tree sapling. If these two take the Charm God Cherry Tree back to the Heavenly Oversight Pavilion or the Taiqing Dao Palace, we really won't be able to get close to the sapling."

Xu Yuan chuckled upon hearing this.

"In that case, we must give our all in that duel."

Xu Yuan asked:

"Are you confident you can defeat that Heavenly Oversight Pavilion Holy Son?"

Tianyan's beautiful eyes curved into a smile, and she said in a relaxed voice:

"Hit me however you like."

Xu Yuan was surprised. "Oh? So confident? He's a Holy Son, after all."

Tianyan blinked her beautiful, deep golden eyes and smiled, "Don't you think that person's Heavenly Pupil are very faint?"

"What's the meaning?"

"It means he hasn't mastered the Yantian Art yet."

Tianyan waved his hand, then a slight smile appeared on his lips, "The Yantian Art can comprehend a total of nine 'Dao', divided into two categories: Heaven and Earth. Tianrui most likely comprehended one of the five Earth-level Daos."

"Huh?" Xu Yuan's eyes lit up with interest. "Equal to Heaven and Earth?"

Tianyan stopped talking and just stared at him with her beautiful eyes curved in a smile.

Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and took a deep breath:

"I think if you don't want to finish speaking, you don't have to next time."

Tianyan hummed softly, "I like to say half of what I mean, so what?"

Xu Yuan sighed, then asked:

"What about Shen Weixiu?"

Tianyan spoke in a very relaxed manner:

"I haven't seen him go all out, but it shouldn't be difficult."

"Can you take on two opponents at once?" Xu Yuan then asked.

"."

Tianyan did not answer immediately this time. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head.

"That's a bit difficult."

Xu Yuan frowned. "You, a dignified second-grade Origin Beginning, can't even handle two third-grade cultivators in a tag-team battle with equal cultivation?"

Tianyan slammed the teacup he was holding onto the red sandalwood table and said in a clear voice:

"Xu Changtian, I am currently suffering from the Charm God Flower poison and need to focus on suppressing it. If I am not careful, I will suffer a backlash."

"Then what should we do?"

"Didn't you say you'd also intervene?"

"Hehe."

A day passed quickly.

In the afternoon, news came from the Qionghua Main Peak that the sect leader and the Great Elder would be hosting a banquet for two "distinguished guests," Tianrui and Shen Weixiu, at the Jinghua Hall that evening.

Xu Yuan and Tianyan, as core disciples, also went.

The banquet was grand, with dancers gracefully moving their sleeves and the food being delicious and rich. Amidst the clinking of glasses, Shen Weixiu, dressed in a white robe, returned home completely drunk.

The next day at 9:00 AM,

The Qionhua Bell tolled three times as scheduled.

Then,

Bai Fan is dead.

The second update will be later, before midnight.