The Tournament Begins

"Holy crap! Holy crap! We're going to be late!" Mu Zhongxi leaped out of bed.

Ye Qiao rubbed her eyes sleepily, not fully awake yet.

Ming Xuan stepped forward and hauled Ye Qiao, who was sitting on the bed dazed, to her feet. He urged, "Junior Sister, hurry! The secret realm is about to open. If we delay any longer, we won't make it!"

Ye Qiao's eyes snapped wide open. She asked in a panic, "What? Where are Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother?"

Xue Yu, who was busy smoothing out his robes nearby, replied casually, "No idea. They've probably already arrived."

Ye Qiao dared not waste another second. She and Mu Zhongxi each grabbed a Senior Brother and hurriedly flew toward the venue on their swords.

As soon as the group arrived at the tournament grounds, waves of cheers and shouts echoed through the air.

"Qin Huai is so handsome!"

"Ye Qinghan will take first place for the Wenjian Sect! Go, Wenjian Sect!"

"Song Hansheng, I love you!"

Hearing the relentless cheering, the corner of Ye Qiao's mouth twitched slightly. She turned to Xue Yu and asked, "Does our sect have fans too?"

Xue Yu didn't catch it at first. "Junior Sister, what did you say?"

Ye Qiao repeated loudly, "I asked, is there anyone who likes you guys?"

Xue Yu thought about it and replied, "Of course. The Personal Disciples of every major sect have their share of followers."

"As for our Changming Sect, your Fourth Senior Brother is the most popular, with countless male and female admirers. Next is Ming Xuan, who has quite a few female cultivators who like him."

Ye Qiao couldn't help but sigh in admiration. As expected, no matter where you went, looks reigned supreme.

...

At the elders' seats, Elder Zhao turned to Qin Fanfan and asked with a frown, "Why aren't Ye Qiao and the others here yet?"

Pin Fanfan was taken aback. "Didn't you go wake them up?"

Elder Zhao fell silent for a moment before sighing helplessly. "Before Ye Qiao arrived, these kids were all incredibly hardworking. Most of them didn't even sleep."

Hearing this, Qin Fanfan silently added, "And now, Ye Qiao is here."

The two exchanged a glance and fell into a collective silence.

Good grief. On the very first day of the secret realm tournament, they were already embarrassing their own sect.

The spectator stands were packed with cultivators. Suddenly, someone shouted, "Look! It's the Personal Disciples of the Changming Sect!"

Instantly, the gaze of every cultivator in the venue locked onto the four of them.

"It's already this late, and they're only just arriving."

"Are they late?"

Meanwhile, Ye Qiao and the others had been rushing too fast. Seeing that they were about to reach the venue, they scrambled to brake.

But they were going too fast to control their momentum, and Ming Xuan, who was right beside them, was flung violently through the air!

Before Xue Yu and Mu Zhongxi could react, they lost their balance as well and tumbled off their swords one after another!

Sitting not far away in the Changming Sect's section, Luo Qingyu and Zhou Xingyun watched this humiliating spectacle, and both fell silent.

The same thought flashed through both of their minds: How embarrassing.

What should I do if I don't want to admit I'm from the Changming Sect right now? Asking for a friend, urgent!

...

Ye Qiao scrambled up from the ground, rubbing her waist. She looked around in confusion and asked, "Why is everyone staring at us? Do we have words written on our faces?"

Mu Zhongxi replied with a straight face, "Maybe it's because we're just too handsome."

Upon hearing this, they reacted as follows:

Ming Xuan: "..."

Xue Yu: "..."

Staring with dead-fish eyes at this group of junior brothers and sisters who had managed to embarrass themselves in front of the entire world, Zhou Xingyun finally lost his patience. "You idiots, you went the wrong way. This is the Yueqing Sect's section!"

Upon hearing this, the group froze on the spot. Silence was golden.

...

Xue Yu and Ming Xuan felt their faces burning with sheer embarrassment. They couldn't help but raise their hands to cover their faces.

The cultivators in the spectator stands erupted into chatter.

"Where did the Changming Sect find these clowns?"

"I heard the Junior Sister they recruited this year is an outer sect disciple with a mid-grade Spiritual Root."

"Has the Changming Sect gone mad this year?"

"Ye Qiao!"

A familiar voice rang out.

Ye Qiao turned her head and saw Duan Hengdao of the Chengfeng Sect.

"Ye Qiao, long time no see!"

Ye Qiao sized up the sect uniform Duan Hengdao was wearing and asked in confusion, "Did you guys get new sect uniforms?"

Duan Hengdao patted his chest and said proudly, "You bet! Senior Brother Luo recommended this set to us. I must say, wearing this is way more pleasing to the eye than our original baby-poop yellow uniforms!"

Ye Qiao silently gave him a thumbs-up. "Classy."

...

Qin Huai: "Junior Brother!"

Hearing his Senior Brother calling him, Duan Hengdao quickly said to Ye Qiao, "Ye Qiao, see you in the secret realm! My Senior Brother is calling me."

Ye Qiao nodded.

Just then, Luo Qingyu strolled over and said with a smile, "Junior Sister, you guys really opened my eyes today."

Not feeling embarrassed in the slightest, Ye Qiao waved her hand cheekily. "Oh, Fourth Senior Brother, keep it down, keep it down!"

Luo Qingyu: "..."

Fine, whatever floats your boat.

...

With the opening of the Void Secret Realm, the disciples of the five major sects entered one after another.

The first round of the tournament had officially begun.