Xin Hongyi.
She was a genius known throughout the academy.
She came from the Fire Xin Clan, one of the Southern Region's three great secret clans.
And the secret clans were shrouded in profound mystery.
No one in the entire Southern Region knew the true depth of their foundations.
Yet no one dared provoke them, because everyone who had once held a grudge against the secret clans had been slaughtered to the last...
And now, Xin Hongyi had fallen to Ye Qiubai.
Ye Qiubai, by contrast, held his wooden sword, his white robes stirring in the breeze. He looked utterly calm and composed, as though he had suffered no damage whatsoever.
A crushing defeat!
Xin Hongyi's face was pale.
Even when she had drawn her Profound Rank sword and used the secret method, Sacrifice Blood to the Sword, that single sword strike from Ye Qiubai had suppressed her outright.
This meant the gap between their strengths was immense.
Like an unbridgeable chasm!
Xin Hongyi gave a bitter laugh. Now she understood the gap between herself and Ye Qiubai. No wonder Lu Changsheng had chosen him instead of her.
"I lost."
She staggered to her feet and cupped her fists. "But I will surpass you. I'll keep coming back to challenge you."
Seeing the stubborn look in Xin Hongyi's eyes, Ye Qiubai smiled and nodded. "Anytime."
The Sword Hall elder sat back down, his gaze complicated. "This young man's future is boundless..."
Qin Tiannan looked at Lu Changsheng and smiled. "What, aren't you going to celebrate?"
Lu Changsheng said, "Why should I?"
With that, he rested his head on his hands, a small leaf dangling from his mouth, looking perfectly at ease.
"Hehe, you brat, you just love putting on an act. Deep down, you're delighted to see the disciple you took in doing you proud, aren't you?"
Huh?
What act am I putting on?
Lu Changsheng's face was full of helplessness. He wished Ye Qiubai wouldn't steal so much of the limelight. If the Cottage's doorstep became as crowded as a marketplace, with everyone wanting to become his disciple, how was he supposed to teach them?
He hadn't even figured out his own cultivation yet.
If he taught them something wrong, wouldn't he be the one left carrying the blame?
No.
I'll have to tell that brat Qiubai to keep a lower profile afterward...
The academy disciples below all wore astonished expressions.
He had won so easily even against a secret clan prodigy like Xin Hongyi.
Just how powerful was he really?
The Cottage.
That name had already begun spreading throughout the academy.
Watching this, Ye Yan's face turned ashen, his fingers clenched tightly.
Even if he had faced that sword strike just now, there was no way he could have emerged unscathed!
He had even sensed something exceedingly dangerous within it!
One had to remember that Ye Yan was in the Purple Mansion Realm!
Only after the Golden Core came the Purple Mansion.
Despite the gap of an entire major realm, he had felt that way!
Moreover, Ye Qiubai clearly hadn't used his full strength. If he unleashed everything, could Ye Yan truly withstand that sword strike?
The answer was already plain on Ye Yan's terrified face.
Ye Qiubai...
He had truly returned!
And he shone even brighter!
Nearby, Huo Qingming smiled at the sight. "Well, it won't be so boring anymore."
"What, are you going up to challenge Ye Qiubai?"
Beside him, Lin Ce, the man holding a feather fan, smiled. "That would be bullying the weak with your strength. Where's your martial honor?"
Huo Qingming glanced at Ye Yan beside him and said helplessly, "Can't help it. I owe the Ye Lineage's grand elder a favor."
Then Huo Qingming changed the subject, turning toward Lin Ce with a grin. "Lin Ce, this time I'm definitely going to break that formation of yours that's as hard as a tortoise shell!"
Lin Ce smiled and waved his feather fan. "We'll see."
Clearly, neither of them took Ye Qiubai seriously. After all, the gap in their cultivation realms was there for all to see.
It was only natural that they paid little heed to Ye Qiubai, who was merely at the peak of the Golden Core Realm.
Ye Yan hurriedly asked from beside them, "Brother Huo, why not act now?"
Huo Qingming shot him a contemptuous glance and said somewhat impatiently, "I'll make my move in a bit."
Meanwhile, on the platform.
Ye Qiubai stood with his sword, and for a time, no one dared step up to test his skills.
People had now leaped onto the other five platforms, however, and begun competing for them!
Watching from the side, Lu Changsheng said with satisfaction, "Mm-hmm, just like that. It's best if no one challenges him. That way, he can stay out of the limelight a little."
Qin Tiannan: "..."
The elders: "..."
But Ye Qiubai thought otherwise.
Why isn't anyone else coming up?
Could they all have been intimidated?
That won't do!
I have to make the Cottage more famous. Only then can I get a few more junior brothers and sisters. Otherwise, Master will make me cook again...
At that thought, Ye Qiubai smiled faintly and called out, "What, is there no one left? Is this all the disciples of the other halls are capable of?"
Lu Changsheng was instantly dumbfounded.
Qin Tiannan and the elders couldn't help chuckling.
The disciples below flew into a rage at those words!
"Is everyone from the Cottage this arrogant?"
"I'll test your skills!"
With that, a man wielding a great axe leaped up.
"He's at half-step Purple Mansion, from the Martial Hall!"
The man holding the great axe said fiercely, "My half-step Purple Mansion cultivation already gives me an advantage. You can strike first."
Ye Qiubai raised an eyebrow but said nothing. His body vanished from where he stood.
He became a streak of sword light, shooting forward!
The man's expression changed drastically. Disregarding what he had just said, he swung his great axe down viciously from above!
It was as though he meant to cleave Mount Tai apart!
Ye Qiubai's expression remained unchanged as his wooden sword suddenly slashed out.
It collided with the great axe, so vastly different in size!
Boom!
A tremendous crash rang out across the platform!
Along with that crash, the great axe fell!
Under the man's terrified gaze, Ye Qiubai closed in, wooden sword in hand!
His sword came to rest against the man's neck. One fraction farther, and it could kill him!
"I... I lost."
Ye Qiubai withdrew his sword.
"He can still crush opponents above his level...?"
"Are the Cottage's disciples really this terrifying?"
"I'm afraid it'll take a Purple Mansion Realm disciple to knock Ye Qiubai off the platform..."
But after an early Purple Mansion Realm disciple stepped onto the platform next.
Only then did they understand just how terrifying Ye Qiubai's strength was.
He no longer strolled through the fight as leisurely as before, defeating his opponent in a single strike.
But once he unleashed the first strike of the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon, that Purple Mansion Realm disciple could no longer withstand him!
Watching this, Ye Yan clenched his hands, veins bulging.
He was now at early Purple Mansion himself, yet when he saw someone of comparable strength fall to Ye Qiubai so easily.
Panic inevitably began to rise within him.
"Ye Qiubai! Today, you must be snuffed out right here!"
"Brother Huo, can you make your move now?"
Ye Yan turned to look at Huo Qingming, who stood beside him with his arms folded.
Huo Qingming looked displeased, but this time he nodded. "The people of the Cottage have indeed become a little too arrogant."
With that, he stamped hard against the ground, his bulging muscles instantly unleashing astonishing power!
He landed heavily before Ye Qiubai!
"That's..."
"Huo Qingming of the Martial Hall, at the middle stage of the Violet Palace Realm!"
"It looks like Ye Qiubai's winning streak ends here..."