"Boom, boom, boom..." Slow, heavy drumbeats rang out once more. Nanhua Yue's voice rose, gentle yet desolate. "According to the rules of the challenge to bury the hatchet, disciples from the higher-ranked noble families shall enter first. The first round should be contested by disciples of first-rank noble families."
As she spoke, a thunderous boom sounded. Two exceptionally majestic phantom flying horses flew out from the General Dispatching Cauldron, each carrying a square command token upon its back. The horses landed before Nanhua Yue, snorting and beating their wings, lifelike in their divine splendor. Nanhua Yue raised her hand and took the two command tokens from their backs. The flying horses gave long neighs and vanished into the starry sky. Nanhua Yue lifted her left hand, Clear Sight Light flashing through her eyes, and smiled. "First round: Duanmu Qing of the Duanmu Family challenges..." Her gaze swept over the other token, and she read aloud, "Mo Jianli!"
"Mo Jianli? Who is Mo Jianli?" As soon as Nanhua Yue spoke the name, the disciples of the noble families were all stunned. Several Confucian cultivators around Xiao Hua discussed it heatedly. "How come I've never heard of a noble family surnamed Mo? Could it be that I'm simply ignorant and poorly informed?"
"It isn't that you're ignorant and poorly informed. This Mo Jianli is probably not a disciple of any noble family, which is why none of us know him! Besides, as far as I know, the higher-ranked noble families generally take the field first. If their opponent isn't from a noble family, they receive even greater priority! This is, after all, a challenge between noble families. If they don't flaunt the bearing of noble family disciples, how can that do?"
"This Mo Jianli is doomed," another person whispered. "It would have