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At this moment, Qiaoqiao's jade slip revealed her opponent for the third round. When the words "Ning Xuan" appeared, the disciples below the stage stirred up a commotion once again.

Ning Xuan, isn't that the young master of the Xuantian Sect?! And he's also the favorite to win this sect competition.

As is widely known, among the disciples of the four sects, two are not on the Azure Cloud Ranking: one is Liu Yu of the Glazed Sea, and the other is Ning Xuan.

Because these two rarely make a move and don't usually spar with other disciples, their strength has always been a mystery. This competition is their first time participating, and many people want to take this opportunity to witness their abilities.

However, given their status as heirs to a sect, these two must be quite powerful.

It seems Qiaoqiao is going to lose this time.

Surely the young master of the Xuantian Sect can't be involved in some scandal too, right?

The disciples pondered, "That's just too... too exciting! To witness the Xuan Tian Sect's young master's scandal in public is thrilling!" Unfortunately, the competition doesn't start until tomorrow. The disciples, looking unsatisfied, unanimously decided that they wouldn't go anywhere else tomorrow but would come to watch the competition and get a good spot to watch the drama unfold.

As the sun set, a golden glow shone on the martial arts arena. The competition had ended, and the disciples gradually dispersed. The disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sect all rushed over to pay their respects to Immortal Venerable Wanghan. No one expected the Immortal Venerable to suddenly appear on the martial arts arena. The elders praised Qiaoqiao highly, and the Immortal Venerable even showed a more amiable expression when he saw him.

The elder was overjoyed. He had actually received special treatment from the Immortal Venerable! Didn't this mean that the Immortal Venerable was very satisfied with him, and that he would rise to prominence upon returning to the sect?

If Shen Ji can perform normally this time, the Flowing Cloud Sect might actually achieve good results.

Just as he was pondering this, he saw two disciples helping Shen Ji over, and the elder hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

The disciple looked at him with pity.

Senior Brother Shen had just defeated the third-ranked opponent on the Azure Cloud Ranking and then drew the fifth-ranked opponent. These two used all their trump Law Treasure against Senior Brother, which finally exhausted his Spiritual Qi and almost caused him to collapse. Fortunately, he won both matches. But when he saw his next opponent—the second-ranked opponent on the Azure Cloud Ranking — Shen Ji felt a little dizzy.

It looks like tomorrow will be another tough battle.

Looking again at his junior sister, who had won two games in a row and was radiant with energy, Shen Ji thought to himself after hearing how she won: Is this the junior sister's luck? It's terrifying!

He hadn't forgotten that when he first met Ning Xuan, his junior sister had said he was pregnant, and that tomorrow's competition was bound to be very exciting.

After paying their respects to the Immortal Venerable, the disciples went to rest. Qiaoqiao clutched her stomach and said she was hungry. Xiao Tingyu suggested going to a nearby restaurant for a meal. "Hui Tian Lou is the Xiao Household family's restaurant. The chef there is especially good at making spicy and sour duck gizzards and braised duck legs in tea oil. The taste is superb. Why don't we all go and try it?"

Qiaoqiao's eyes lit up.

Wen Zhi and Fu Fengyuan nodded, indicating that they were very interested.

The decision was made, but the group exchanged hesitant glances, unsure whether to invite their master. At the Immortal Venerable Wanghan, there was no need for food and drink, and besides, their master disliked noise; surely he wouldn't go to a place like a restaurant?

While she was still hesitating, Qiaoqiao had already taken action.

"Master, shall we go eat duck together?"

Wen Zhi: She actually asked!

As expected of Qiaoqiao, she actually dared to ask directly!

However, Master will definitely not agree.

I remember that year, Immortal Venerable Qionghua invited my master to the Heavenly Treasures Banquet. Only ten people in the entire Cultivation World were invited, and my master refused without hesitation, citing "too much noise" as the reason.

The Immortal looked down at Qiaoqiao, whose eyes shone with anticipation, making it impossible for her to refuse. She replied softly, "Alright."

Qiaoqiao cheered softly, "Yay!"

Wen Zhi found it unbelievable that her master had actually agreed so easily?!

Qiaoqiao winked at her—saying that her master was very easy to talk to!

Wen Zhi:...

Is the legendary, aloof, and unapproachable master of the Flowing Cloud Sect, who is said to be as cold and distant as the moon in the sky, actually easy to talk to?

She must be imagining things.

She glanced back again. All around her was a bustling crowd. The white-robed immortal looked down at his little disciple, a hint of tenderness in his usually cold eyes.

That was an expression Wen Zhi had never seen on her master before.

She suddenly realized—her master clearly only treated her junior sister this way, didn't he?

"Isn't this Fellow Daoist Shen?" A familiar voice pulled Wen Zhi back to reality. Looking up, she saw an acquaintance blocking her path, his tone as sarcastic as ever, "How come you look so exhausted after only two matches?"

With a flick of his golden folding fan, the young master of the Ning Xuan, Ningxuan, shone a dazzling light. "I think you shouldn't call yourself Shen Ji anymore. How about changing your name to Shen Xu?"

The underlings burst into laughter.

Shen Ji frowned.

He'd heard similar things countless times during previous sect competitions and didn't want to waste his breath arguing with him. Qiaoqiao squeezed forward, "Then why don't you stop calling yourself Ning Xuan and change your name to Ning Chou, okay?"

puff.

Fu Fengyuan burst out laughing.

Ning Xuan's expression froze, and she looked Qiaoqiao up and down. "It's you."

Qiaoqiao nodded proudly—it was indeed her, the one who would stand in for her senior brother during arguments!

Shen Ji glanced at her with some gratitude.

The henchman beside him said, "Young Master, she is your opponent in the next round."

"Oh?" Ning Xuan raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence."

He closed his folding fan and summoned the large wolf crouching beside him—today, the young master hadn't brought the white tiger with him, but instead had a majestic gray wolf, more than half a man's height. He patted the wolf's large head and narrowed his eyes. "Go and greet Fellow Daoist Qiao."

The wolf slowly got up and walked to Qiaoqiao, looking quite harmless. However, Ning Xuan's underlings all knew that this was the most ferocious of all the spirit beasts around their young master. Once, a disciple who didn't know the situation tried to get close and had his head bitten off on the spot.