Chapter 1628 – Danger

Could it be that she really is satisfied with this martial son-in-law?

But that doesn’t match Yan Xuehen’s nature at all! Isn’t she supposed to be the type who tells all men to get lost? Just sparing his life alone should already be tremendous mercy. How could she possibly allow him to stay around her disciple?

What was even harder for him to understand was the expression in Yan Xuehen’s eyes. There almost seemed to be something different in her eyes when she looked at Zu An, an expression he had never seen before. He couldn't really understand what that look meant, but it made him a bit uncomfortable.

However, he quickly laughed at himself. What in the world am I thinking? I’m actually jealous of some young junior.

…

The cultivation rank test concluded shortly after. Some were happy, while others were not. There were well-known representative disciples, such as Wu Xiaofan; there were also dark horses that made a sudden appearance, such as Pei Mianman. People all wondered who would win, and who could get second place in their groups… They all tacitly agreed that the first place belonged to the representative disciples of the nine sects, but as for the other spots, they didn’t even dare to speculate.

When it was time to divide everyone into groups, the sects’ seniors gave their members a final speech before the competition began.

Guan Chouhai told Zhi Yin, “Wu Xiaofan and Wan Guiyi breaking through into the master rank is a bit unexpected, but you do not need to feel too discouraged. Cultivation rank does not represent your ultimate strength, which also depends on your battle skills, adaptability, mental state, and other such things. You are just one step away from master rank yourself, so the difference between you is not that significant. As long as you deal with the situation appropriately, you will still have a chance to win.”

“Thank you for your teachings, master!” Zhi Yin replied with a nod. Fighting spirit burned in his eyes once more.

He was Heavenly Sorrow Sect’s most outstanding disciple, after all. Even though he felt discouraged because of Chu Chuyan, love wasn’t his entire world. After being spurred by Wu Xiaofan and Wan Guiyi’s results, he had gradually awakened his pride again. Weren’t all his years of bitter cultivation precisely to shine in this great competition?

The lot drawing quickly concluded, and the Watchful Peak Master declared the official start to the great competition. The nine groups would start their competition at the same time.

The Righteous Sun Sect had already divided up the different areas of Golden Peak to set up competition stages. Fortunately, Golden Peak was extremely large, so it wasn’t too difficult to hold everyone. Every single elevated stage had formations put in place by Righteous Sun Sect’s peak masters and elders in order to prevent the disciples’ battles from damaging the place.

One after another, the disciples got on stage to compete according to the order in which they had drawn lots.

Meanwhile, Xie Daoyun returned to Zu An’s side and shook her head slightly. She hadn’t noticed any signs of killing formations when she looked around. She had been worried that perhaps it was because her own cultivation wasn’t high enough, and thus used a special method her teacher taught her. However, there was still no reaction.

Zu An told her with a smile, “That’s a good thing. You can just enjoy your vacation now, as well as this competition between the nine sects. Who knows, you might even be able to learn a bit through them.”

Xie Daoyun voiced her agreement and obediently stood at his side. Even though the Royal Academy’s teachers had abundant resources, she still lacked real fighting experience. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been in such a sorry state after leaving the capital and running into the Twin Dragon Mountains.

The competition soon began. Xie Daoyun had thought that the battles would be spectacular and brilliant, but they often ended with just a few moves.

When he saw her disappointed expression, Zu An explained with a smile, “Battles are often decided quickly when there’s a difference in strength. Those situations where both parties are completely evenly matched are a rare sight.”

“Ah, I see,” Xie Daoyun said, shivering. As she watched more closely, however, she gradually picked up more things. The two fighters tried to sound each other out at first, and then whenever there was a chance, they struck like lightning. She could sense that she was learning some things she hadn’t known before.

Meanwhile, Zu An’s attention was mainly on Pei Mianman. He didn’t really care if anyone else won or lost.

When Pei Mianman’s turn finally came, however, the audience all gasped in surprise. This woman was just too much for the eyes. Most importantly, not only were ‘they’ big, she also had such a beautiful face and charming smile. It was difficult for others not to have a good impression of her.

“Purity Temple, Yuan Kun. Please… Please exchange some pointers with me,” a young disciple said, cupping his hands toward her. His voice trembled a bit; it definitely wasn’t because of fear, however, but because he was too moved. After all, facing a beauty like this on the same stage meant that they couldn't help but make physical contact. If they managed to hit it off on stage and could become friends after, perhaps things would even be able to develop a stage further…

“Jadefall Palace’s Pei Mianman. I hope that senior brother will be lenient,” Pei Mianman said with a smile. When he saw her smile, Yuan Kun immediately felt dizzy.

“Miss Pei really is pretty, and her smile is so beautiful,” Xie Daoyun said. Even as a woman, she couldn't help but sigh in praise.

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. Big Manman was always like this, showing anyone a big smile. But if one really had any untoward thoughts about her, one would probably pay the price.

Sure enough, when Yuan Kun heard Pei Mianman ask him to be lenient, even though he continuously told himself to calm down, his heart began pounding so hard his soul felt as if it would leave his body. Even though her cultivation was high, his wasn’t that low either. Furthermore, he didn’t think a dainty-looking junior sister such as her could be that great at fighting. He thought of letting her make three moves first so she could sense his generosity, and they could also interact with each other longer. Then, in the end, he would look for an opportunity to defeat her so she could admire his strength…

However, as soon as that thought emerged, he sensed a black flame sweep toward him. He was horrified, and quickly raised his sword to defend himself. But who would have thought that the black flame would be so powerful, it burned his sword directly to ashes?

He was greatly alarmed and quickly used all sorts of cultivation skills and methods to get rid of the black flames. No matter what he did, though, the black flame just wouldn’t leave him. Feeling helpless, he could only tear off his sleeves and leap off the stage. Only then did the black flames retreat.

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Pei Mianman cupped her hands and said with a smile, “Senior brother let me win.”

Yuan Kun’s expression was a bit awkward. He looked as if he wanted to cry, but couldn't. Previously, he had felt that her smile was bright and beautiful. Now, he only felt that it was a little scary.

He actually hadn’t brought out too many of his trump cards, and yet he had already been forced off the stage before even touching the corners of her clothes. How could he say anything in front of the crowd? He cupped his hands and left in a sorry state.

Many spectators were in an uproar. They hadn’t expected this delicate and pretty flower to be so formidable! Furthermore, it was clear that she had a lot of fighting experience. Now, none of them were willing to judge her by her appearance anymore.

“Miss Pei is so amazing,” Xie Daoyun said, her little mouth hanging wide open.

Zu An was also a bit surprised. Big Manman’s cultivation had increased by a considerable amount! It seemed that Jadefall Palace wasn’t known as a large and powerful sect for nothing. They had quite the resources backing them.

Meanwhile, Qiu Honglei said with a sigh, “I heard about her amazing talent when I was back in Brightmoon City. Now that we’ve met, she doesn’t seem to be worse than me.”

“She is indeed no worse than you. She’s still hiding her strength,” Yun Jianyue said, feeling a headache coming on. “Why are all of the women at that brat’s side such monsters?”

Qiu Honglei said proudly, “My Ah Zu is just that amazing.”

Yun Jianyue was speechless. Sigh, this stupid disciple of mine. Is that something you should be feeling happy over?

…

Meanwhile, Yan Xuehen’s eyes also narrowed. She naturally noticed that something was different. She was a bit worried. The Devil Sect’s Qiu Honglei was already a formidable opponent. She hadn’t expected Pei Mianman to also be so powerful.

A hint of surprise flickered through Wang Wuxie’s eyes as well. Soon after, however, his expression turned pensive. Either way, this female disciple wasn’t in the same group as Wu Xiaofan, which meant he had a good show to enjoy now.

Nothing too interesting happened in the matches afterward, but there were still some small dark horses. Even though their cultivation ranks were lower, they still won against opponents at higher ranks. However, it was only a single rank at most. Trying to challenge anything more than that was practically impossible for them.

When it was time for the seeded players to come out, their opponents all had ugly expressions. Most of them chose to concede on their own. At any other time, perhaps some strong fighters would muster the courage to fight it out. Even if they lost, the experience of fighting would be invaluable. However, in this competition, apart from the top scorer of each group making it in for certain, the next eight would still have to take part in a cruel elimination tournament.

Not only would they have to obtain as many victories within their groups as possible to ensure that they could enter that tournament, they also had to prepare for the elimination round itself. Furthermore, the battles would all take place in the span of a few days. If they exhausted too much strength while fighting against the representative disciples, there would be a high chance of it costing them later on in the knockout competition.

However, that didn’t mean no one wanted to give it a try. For example, Peng Wuyan had an opponent. Perhaps because Emptiness Isle had always been in the last place among the nine sects and Peng Wuyan’s reputation wasn’t that high, her opponent decided to give it a try.  After all, as long as he could win against this weak-looking representative disciple, he would be able to make it out of the group stage and wouldn’t even have to join the bitter elimination tournament.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel. He was quickly beaten off the stage by Peng Wuyan, and his injuries were quite severe. It was obvious that he couldn't continue fighting for a while, thus losing any chances of making a comeback.

This ugly woman really is vicious!

The surrounding disciples’ eyes were full of fear as they looked at the woman on the stage.

Zu An understood why she would be so ruthless here; it was clearly to serve a warning to the others. Otherwise, they would think that she was easy to bully and come to challenge her one after another. Even if she could defeat them, she would end up wasting a lot of strength. That would definitely cost her later on when she had to face the other representative disciples, so it was better to just get it over with now. As for the seriously wounded disciple, he deserved it. As he had been willing to make the gamble, he should have been prepared for the consequences.

However, the wounded disciple’s sect didn’t think of it that way. Someone from Mount Luofu called the fight into question, protesting, “This Lady Peng was too vicious, and that clearly goes against the competition’s rules. She ought to have her participation qualification revoked!”

Yun Jianyue had felt really refreshed after seeing her precious disciple deal with a daoist sect’s elite so easily. When she heard that, she couldn't help but erupt into fury, retorting, “Disgraceful! His skills were too weak; what does it have to do with my disciple?!”

The elder from Mount Luofu, Elder Xu, couldn't just sit still any longer after being lectured that way and retorted, “Previously, Sect Master Wang told us that the fights needed to be carried out within certain parameters. Your disciple clearly could have won easily, and yet she decided to be so merciless and crippled our disciple to the point that he cannot participate in the competition anymore. That clearly goes against the rules and she should be punished.”

On the stage, Qiu Honglei felt a bit alarmed. She did come from the Devil Sect, after all, and had instinctively used this person as an example for the others. She hadn’t expected the daoist sects to have so many rules! If this really got out of hand and her identity got exposed, she would be in danger.