Li Nanzhu took a deep breath and walked toward the arena under the encouraging gazes of her senior brothers and sisters.
Suisui bounced on her shoulder to cheer her on, but at the edge of the arena, it obediently hopped down—this was their agreement; the little skeleton could not reveal its true strength.
Stepping onto the green jade arena, Li Nanzhu got a clear look at her opponent.
Zhao Yan of the Qingshan Sect was a square-faced youth holding a pair of bronze maces, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's.
"Li Nanzhu of the Five Elements Dao Sect?" he spoke in a gruff voice. "I heard your sect has been secluded for a thousand years. Today, I shall see what you're made of!"
Li Nanzhu did not reply. She only slowly drew her Fellow Daoist sword. The blade reflected the sunlight, emitting a faint blue glow.
"The match begins!"
Zhao Yan struck first, his double maces coming at her like a violent storm.
Li Nanzhu did not meet them head-on. Her toes tapped the ground as her figure rapidly retreated. Simultaneously, her left hand formed a seal, and a teal spiritual energy barrier expanded in front of her.
【Greenwood Longevity Sutra】!
The maces smashed against the barrier with a dull thud. Zhao Yan looked surprised—the strength of this barrier far exceeded that of an ordinary mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Li Nanzhu took the chance to open up some distance, her right hand swinging the Fellow Daoist sword in an arc.
She chose not to attack head-on, instead constantly shifting her position, sometimes using the Greenwood Longevity Sutra for defense, other times using the water-attribute spiritual energy of the Xuanze Two-Polarity Sutra to disrupt her opponent's footwork.
"Stop hiding!" Zhao Yan roared, swinging his maces even more fiercely. Yet every time it seemed he was about to hit her, Li Nanzhu would always evade at a subtle angle.
The spectators at the edge began to whisper:
"This female cultivator from the Five Elements Dao Sect is quite slippery..."
"She seems to be using three different types of spells?"
"That's impossible, right? How could someone with triple spiritual roots cultivate so fast?"
Li Nanzhu turned a deaf ear, concentrating entirely on observing Zhao Yan's moves.
After half a year of experience, her combat instincts were already quite sharp. Though this body cultivator possessed immense strength, his left shoulder was always half a beat slow when he turned...
After thirty moves, Zhao Yan was clearly growing frustrated.
He suddenly let out a loud shout as his maces glowed with an earthy yellow light—he was about to use a technique!
"Earth-Shattering Burst!"
The maces slammed heavily into the ground, causing the arena to shake violently. Li Nanzhu's figure swayed, and she nearly lost her balance!
Zhao Yan seized the opportunity, his right mace sweeping toward her waist!
In that critical moment, Li Nanzhu's left hand suddenly ignited with crimson fire.
【Kalpa Fire Dance Sutra】!
The fire transformed into a long whip, coiling around Zhao Yan's right wrist. Stung by the pain, his strength lessened slightly. Li Nanzhu took the chance to sidestep, her blade sliding along the mace to leave a bloody gash on Zhao Yan's left arm.
"Argh!" Zhao Yan roared, changing his left mace's sweep into a cleave. Li Nanzhu seemed unable to dodge in time, stumbling back toward the edge of the arena.
"Junior Sister!" Duan Xianxing cried out from the sidelines.
A flash of joy appeared in Zhao Yan's eyes as he strode forward to pursue her.
The moment he raised his maces high, Li Nanzhu suddenly revealed a smile that signaled her plan had succeeded.
"Turbid water qi!"
A pool of clear water suddenly appeared beneath Zhao Yan's feet and instantly froze into ice. Unable to stop his momentum, he slid forward.
Li Nanzhu leapt lightly, her toes tapping gently against his back—
Thump!
Zhao Yan slid straight out of the arena boundaries and fell heavily to the ground.
"Arena Eight, Li Nanzhu of the Five Elements Dao Sect wins!"
The sidelines fell silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous applause. No one expected this girl, who seemed to be at a disadvantage, to win through wit.
"Wonderful!" Even Feng Weilan let out a rare look of approval.
Duan Xianxing rushed onto the arena excitedly. "Junior Sister, that was amazing! That combination of water and fire was brilliant!"
Li Nanzhu wiped the sweat from her brow, but her smile was somewhat heavy. "This Zhao Yan... he was unusually strong."
It wasn't that Li Nanzhu was weak; with her long experience and sparring sessions with her senior brothers and sisters, her strength was already nearly at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Furthermore, because of her triple spiritual roots, she could store more spiritual energy. Yet, facing Zhao Yan, who was also at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, she had struggled this much. This in itself was abnormal.
Hearing her words, the others also looked toward the other arenas.
In other matches between mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, the opponents were clearly much weaker. For instance, the cultivator who won on Arena Eleven was full of openings in his moves yet easily defeated his opponent.
"It is indeed suspicious." Mu Wenyan approached the sidelines at some point. "I have observed all the arenas. The opponents our Five Elements Dao Sect is set to encounter in the next rounds are generally one minor realm stronger than those on other stages."
"Someone rigged it?" Jiang Yifan's gaze turned cold.
Feng Qingping quickly scanned the surroundings. "Let's leave here first before discussing this."
But Mu Wenyan motioned for everyone to look up. "Look over there."
On the high platform, the Sect Master of the Sword Heart Sect was talking in low voices with several elders.
One of them pointed at the scores on the light screen with a grave expression—all three members of the Five Elements Dao Sect had won, and their points were quietly climbing.
"They didn't expect us to win," Zhu Yinxi sneered. "And they certainly didn't expect us to win so beautifully."
Back at the rest area, Feng Qingping set up a soundproofing barrier.
After everyone compiled their information, they confirmed a fact: the Sword Heart Sect had indeed rigged the draw, specifically arranging powerful enemies for them.
"It's more than that." Zhu Yinxi unfolded a list. "Based on intelligence provided by the Hehuan Sect and news bought from Tingfeng Pavilion, I checked the backgrounds of all our opponents. Zhao Yan is a direct disciple of the Qingshan Sect. In Seventh Junior Brother's group, one of the opponents is a master of the spear among the younger generation, and Sixth Junior Brother's previous opponent was also among the strongest in the Foundation Establishment stage."
Li Nanzhu sucked in a breath of cold air.
This wasn't just a normal competition; they clearly wanted to suppress the Five Elements Dao Sect entirely.
"Fortunately, we won all our matches in the first round," Mu Wenyan said calmly. "The opponents they arrange next will only get stronger."
As the first round of the competition continued, the atmosphere in the martial arts arena grew increasingly tense.
Due to the large number of participants, the first round for the Foundation Establishment stage would last for a full fifteen days.
During this time, aside from the competing Li Nanzhu, Duan Xianxing, and Feng Weilan, the others from the Five Elements Dao Sect took turns visiting the various arenas to collect information.
"Eldest Senior Brother, look at that female cultivator with twin blades." Zhu Yinxi pointed to Arena Twelve. "Her movement technique is very special; it seems to incorporate illusions."
Mu Wenyan nodded slightly, his bell swaying gently as he recorded the opponent's moves. Jiang Yifan focused on recording the magic tools used by various contestants, while Feng Qingping kept an eye on cultivators who might be hiding their strength.
Suisui was not idle either. The little skeleton's soul fire could sensitively perceive spiritual energy fluctuations, often discovering details that were difficult for human cultivators to detect.
It carved this information onto special jade slips with its bone claws, which Li Nanzhu then organized into books.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, but on the afternoon of the second day, an unexpected visitor disrupted their plans.
"Why are you sneaking around the Five Elements Dao Sect's encampment?" Feng Weilan's face was icy. Had this not been Sword Heart Sect territory, he would have likely slit the person's throat with a single strike.
"I'm not a bad person!"
Rate on N.U.
