At the Wuji Sect's quarters, Mu Zeting finally woke up.
The first thing he did was touch his face, followed by a shrill wail: "My face!"
A physician nearby immediately held him down. "Senior Brother Mu, don't move! The medicine was just applied!"
"Duan Xianxing! I'm going to kill him!" Mu Zeting struggled to get up, but the sharp pain in his face forced him to gasp for air.
"Senior Brother..." A young disciple timidly handed him a copper mirror. "Do... do you want to see?"
Mu Zeting took the mirror and almost fainted again after just one glance.
In the reflection, his entire face was swollen like a proofing mantou. His eyes were reduced to mere slits, and his lips were as thick as sausages, making his original appearance completely unrecognizable.
"Ah—!" He smashed the mirror. "Where is my grandfather?!"
Mu Zeting grabbed the young disciple by the collar, his face contorted. "I've been beaten into this state, and he hasn't avenged me?!"
The young disciple turned pale with fear and stammered, "E-Elder Mu... he went to the Five Elements Dao Sect to demand an explanation..."
"And then?!" Mu Zeting tightened his grip, his knuckles turning white.
"And then..." The disciple swallowed hard. "Our sect leader suddenly appeared and... and talked him down..."
Mu Zeting's pupils shrank. "Talked him down? What do you mean?!"
"It's..." the disciple's voice grew smaller. "Elder Mu was originally going to teach that Duan Xianxing a lesson, but then Immortal Venerable Feng Yi suddenly appeared... and then... and then..."
"And then what?!" Mu Zeting roared, aggravating the wounds on his face and making him grimace in pain.
The disciple squeezed his eyes shut and blurted out everything in one breath: "And then Elder Mu was made to spit blood in a single move by Immortal Venerable Feng Yi, and it only ended because the sect leader stepped in to mediate!"
"Pfft—"
Mu Zeting sprayed a mouthful of blood, his vision went black, and he fainted directly.
"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!" The young disciple panicked. "Physician! Quickly, call the physician!"
The entire Wuji Sect quarters fell into chaos.
...
At the Five Elements Dao Sect's quarters, everyone was reviewing today's battles.
"That old dog Mu Changfeng actually dared to move against Little Senior Sister!" Duan Xianxing said indignantly. "If Master hadn't been there..."
"Even if Master wasn't there, he couldn't have hurt me." Li Nanzhu looked at Mu Wenyan with a smile. "Don't I still have Eldest Senior Brother here?"
Feng Qingping sneered. "The people of the Wuji Sect have always been shameless."
Feng Weilan, who was still recovering, lay on the bed. He listened quietly as the others chattered about everything that had happened today before suddenly speaking up.
"The quarterfinals are coming up soon. If you can't win, don't force it."
"Hey, you're quite wrong there!" Duan Xianxing immediately held his head high. "There's no such thing as 'can't win'! We must take first place!"
"What if..." Li Nanzhu drifted slowly in front of Duan Xianxing. "The two of us are matched against each other?"
"..."
"..."
"Little Senior Sister, can we not talk about such terrifying things?" Duan Xianxing looked like he was about to cry. This wasn't the time to fight for first place; if they really ran into each other, how bad would their luck have to be?
"Who knows if the Sword Heart Sect will pull some strings again?" Li Nanzhu shrugged.
This time, it was Zhu Yinxi who cleared their doubts.
"There's no need to worry about that. The rules for the sect competition state that after the top ten are decided, disciples from the same sect won't face each other unless it's the final round. If they really did pull something..."
"Then they would be incredibly stupid," Jiang Yifan finished the sentence.
Li Nanzhu nodded thoughtfully, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Then doesn't that mean at least one of us, me or Seventh Senior Brother, can make it into the top three?"
Zhu Yinxi smiled and rubbed her head. "Theoretically, yes. However..."
His tone shifted, and his expression turned serious. "The upcoming opponents are not simple. One is Feng Wuya, a direct disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. As for the one from the Tianyan Sect, we still haven't figured out his true depth..."
"There's also a disciple from a small sect," Mu Wenyan added. "I observed his match yesterday; his moves are bizarre and his origins are unknown."
Everyone fell into a brief silence. Duan Xianxing suddenly slapped the table and stood up. "Regardless of who they are! If one comes, I'll beat one; if two come, I'll beat a pair!"
"Seventh Junior Brother is right." Jiang Yifan nodded. "When has our Five Elements Dao Sect ever been afraid of anyone?"
"If I recall correctly, Feng Wuya's contracted spirit beast is a tier 2 iron-feathered thunder eagle?"
"Correct." Mu Wenyan didn't even look up as he prepared pills. "Tomorrow, Seventh Junior Brother must be exceptionally careful. The thunder eagle is not only extremely fast but can also release lightning. Due to its rare attribute, its attack power is comparable to a tier 3 demonic beast."
Duan Xianxing stroked his sword hilt. "Perfect. Let's see whether his thunder eagle is more formidable or my thunder spiritual root is stronger."
Jiang Yifan added, "Feng Wuya is best at aerial combat. Seventh Junior Brother, try to avoid being drawn into the air by him."
Li Nanzhu found it a bit strange. "Isn't Feng Wuya a water spiritual root user? Why did he contract a thunder-attribute demonic beast?"
"Apparently, he felt that water-attribute techniques lacked power and insisted on the contract," Feng Qingping laughed. "His personality is quite similar to that Su Zhunshu you encountered before."
Feng Weilan leaned against the headboard. "As for the one from the Tianyan Sect... I always feel like he's hiding something."
"I feel the same," Zhu Yinxi agreed. "So far, he has only used basic spells to defeat his opponents."
Li Nanzhu thought for a moment. "Could he be like us..."
"A cultivator from another system disguised as a dharma cultivator?" Duan Xianxing chimed in. "Very likely!"
Suisui suddenly jumped down from Li Nanzhu's shoulder and tugged at Zhu Yinxi's sleeve with its bone claws.
"Someone is spying." A silver light flashed from Mu Wenyan's sleeve. A muffled groan and the sound of receding footsteps came from outside the window.
"People from the Sword Heart Sect." Zhu Yinxi wasn't surprised. "Everyone should rest. Tomorrow..."
Before he could finish, an explosion suddenly rang out from outside the quarters. Soaring flames turned the night sky red.
"That's... the Beast Taming Sect's quarters?" Duan Xianxing's expression changed.
The first match tomorrow was precisely him against the Beast Taming Sect's direct disciple, Feng Wuya!
...
The next morning, news of the attack on the Beast Taming Sect's quarters spread throughout the arena.
"Did you hear? The Beast Taming Sect's direct disciple, Feng Wuya, was severely injured!"
"It seems someone poisoned him..."
"The match will probably be postponed, right?"
To everyone's surprise, the Beast Taming Sect Leader, Qi Lingdong, personally announced that the match would proceed as scheduled.
"The disciples of our Beast Taming Sect do not fall so easily!"
When Duan Xianxing stepped onto the arena, Feng Wuya was already standing there. His face was pale, but his gaze was as sharp as a blade.
"Duan Xianxing of the Five Elements Dao Sect," Duan Xianxing greeted him solemnly.
Feng Wuya nodded slightly. "Feng Wuya of the Beast Taming Sect."
Looking at the other's pale complexion, Duan Xianxing hesitated before speaking. "Fellow Daoist Feng, is your condition really alright for a normal match...?"
Feng Wuya simply stared straight at Duan Xianxing. "If I withdrew, I would lose the chance to fight you. I only want to know what the difference is between a disciple raised by the Five Elements Dao Sect and one from our Beast Taming Sect!"
Duan Xianxing was taken aback, then he smiled, his eyes also igniting with battle intent. "Good! Since Fellow Daoist Feng is so persistent, I will not hold back either!"
"Let the match begin!"
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