Without the slightest hesitation, Wen Xuan hoisted Gu Ningyun onto her back and dashed toward the exit of the arena area. "We can't let them have their way! Comrades, cover me!"
Jiang Yao and the other two immediately shielded Wen Xuan, carving out an escape route for her along the way.
Gu Ningyun, perched on Wen Xuan’s back, felt the wind whistling past her ears. Every so often, she caught the amused expressions of the martial uncles watching the spectacle, which felt quite novel to her.
In the spectator stands, the doll-faced senior sister Ke Xueqing and her friend also witnessed this scene.
"Back when we had our New Disciple Competition, you were also the only music cultivator. I didn't see nearly this many people trying to poach you," the friend remarked, resting her chin on Ke Xueqing’s shoulder with a teasing tone.
Ke Xueqing rolled her eyes at her and mimicked the rhythm of the comments she had just overheard. "Her talent and my talent... are not the same!
"Back then, I didn't even know how to play a healing melody."
"..." Her friend paused. "Fair point. I think the root cause lies with her.
"In all the generations of disciples at Music Peak, she’s the only one in recent years who could earn points by playing healing melodies in front of the Trial Tower.
"She’s also the only one who can win in the New Disciple Competition relying solely on the methods of a music cultivator."
"True. Normally, playing healing melodies consumes a lot of divine sense and spirit energy. The reserves of the Qi Refining stage simply aren't enough to heal more than a few people; it’s not cost-effective for earning points. Her healing melody is a bit different, though. Judging by the tune, it should be 《Zongjiao》."
"You mean the 《Zongjiao》 that only one predecessor in the entire history of Music Peak has ever learned, ten thousand years ago?"
"Yes. Moreover, she was clever enough to use a sleep-assisting melody paired with the speed of a wind spirit root to compete. It was very smart.
"Our music cultivation attack melodies only truly manifest their power after one has taken a life. When participating in the New Disciple Competition, everyone is still young. Most music cultivators, myself included back then, haven't killed anyone. Therefore, we can only rely on other means to compete."
At this point, she seemed to recall something amusing. "Speaking of which, when I first struggled to learn attack melodies, I went to consult Martial Aunt Kong. She told me it was because I hadn't killed anything yet, and I didn't quite understand it at the time."
Her friend said, "I suspect she was being subtle. She probably didn't want to be too explicit and disturb your state of mind—like, for instance, making you go out and kill someone just to play an attack melody."
"Exactly. I understood later that it’s better to let things happen naturally with attack melodies. The most critical thing for a music cultivator is their disposition; whether one follows the righteous path or the path of evil is determined in a single thought."
Meanwhile, back with Gu Ningyun.
Wen Xuan carried her all the way back to Ruiyu Pavilion before Gu Ningyun finally hopped down. "Wen Xuan, thanks to your quick reflexes just now. Otherwise, with so many people, I really wouldn't have known how to handle it."
"Heh, I only did it because I saw you looking a bit overwhelmed."
Wen Xuan had run the whole way with her on her back, yet she wasn't even winded. "Saving you from the fire—that’s what friends are for, right!"
Gu Ningyun straightened Wen Xuan’s collar, which she had rumpled while clinging on. "Totally! You’re a true sister!"
"There were so many people just now, and you were the only one they were after. It would have been awkward no matter who you agreed to."
Mu Chenze and the others had also returned to Ruiyu Pavilion. "It’s different now that we’ve taken you away. You belong to our Ruiyu Pavilion in the first place, so we have every right to do so. This way, you won't have any messy falling-outs with the other disciples of our batch just because things weren't handled well."
Hearing Mu Chenze’s explanation, Gu Ningyun couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up.
As expected of a child raised by a cultivation family; his social grace and interpersonal skills were truly impressive.
From then on, Gu Ningyun’s chat interface frequently received messages from fellow disciples. Most were asking about teaming up for experience-gathering or collaborating for the team competition.
Indeed, even though Gu Ningyun hadn't added them to her friend list, Xiaoyao disciples could find her through the sect directory and send her messages.
Normally, however, people would add each other as friends in person first to make an impression and show politeness. Otherwise, if you just sent a message blindly, who would even know who you were just by looking at a name?
Gu Ningyun politely replied to these messages from strangers, saying she wasn't sure yet.
Since the rules and point system for the team competition hadn't been announced, it was a bit too early to discuss collaboration. It was better to stick to the original plan.
As for going out of the sect for experience, she planned to consider that after the competition ended.
...
Following the battle between Jun Luo and Zhu Zijin, the five members of Ruiyu Pavilion didn't encounter any more evenly matched opponents in their remaining two advancement matches.
They successfully advanced into the top eighty-seven, with each person earning an additional one hundred and eighty points.
After the advancement matches concluded, the person in charge of the New Disciple Competition, Perfected Person Ye, announced the rules for the revival matches.
The participants for the revival matches were the six hundred and six disciples who had been eliminated during the advancement matches.
This round was the final opportunity the New Disciple Competition would offer them.
They would draw lots and engage in six consecutive duels to determine the thirteen winners. These thirteen would join the eighty-seven who had already advanced to form the final top one hundred.
In the revival matches, neither the winners nor the losers of individual matches would gain or lose points.
Only those who successfully became one of the thirteen winners after six duels would earn fifty points.
Even with ten arenas running simultaneously, this round of revival matches lasted for three days.
Perhaps because it was their last chance, everyone except for those like Zhu Zijin—who was powerful but simply unlucky enough to meet a peer and get eliminated—used every trump card they had.
As the saying goes in 《The Analects》, "When three people walk together, there is always something to learn from them."
Sitting in the spectator stands, the five members of Ruiyu Pavilion truly had their eyes opened and learned many combat techniques.
They paid particularly close attention to Zhu Zijin.
Most of the six hundred and six disciples in the revival matches were only at Qi Refining level three.
Zhu Zijin truly lived up to being a sword cultivator who could go toe-to-toe with Jun Luo. Although he drew a Qi Refining level four opponent in every single draw, he remained unstoppable and successfully made it into the top thirteen.
It was worth mentioning that due to the numbers, in the final round to narrow nineteen down to thirteen, there were seven bye spots. Those who drew them advanced directly, while the remaining twelve fought in pairs to decide the final six to advance.
Zhu Zijin... not only did he fail to draw a bye, but he also drew the strongest opponent out of the eighteen others.
Seeing this, Gu Ningyun finally gained a faint understanding of the "fortune" Mu Chenze had mentioned.
Once the top one hundred were decided, the third stage of the individual competition—the Ranking Matches—officially began.
"The Ranking Matches, formally known as the Interval Ranking Matches, consist of four rounds of duels.
"First Round: The one hundred disciples will duel in pairs by drawing lots. The losers will be ranked in the fifty-first to one hundredth range, and each will receive eighty points.
"Second Round: The fifty winners will duel in pairs. The losers will be ranked in the twenty-sixth to fiftieth range, and each will receive one hundred and twenty points.
"Third Round: Among the twenty-five winners, one person will receive a bye, while the rest duel in pairs. The losers will be ranked in the fourteenth to twenty-fifth range, and each will receive one hundred and sixty points.
"The final thirteen winners will be ranked in the top thirteen, and each will receive two hundred points."
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