Over the next few days, Zhu Yinxi and the other two went out for their matches, while Mu Wenyan took Duan Xianxing to wander around.
Li Nanzhu was perhaps the only idle one. She simply stayed in her room to continue her cultivation. Suisui lay to the side, its soul fire flickering quietly.
During this time, she managed to further refine her usage of the Wanxiang Brush by another level.
Knock, knock, knock.
A soft knocking sounded at the door.
"Little Junior Sister, are you in?" It was Zhu Yinxi's voice.
Li Nanzhu finished her work and opened the door. "Second Senior Brother?"
Seeing her come out, Zhu Yinxi spoke. "The promotion list is out. Do you want to go take a look?"
In front of the bulletin board by the martial arts arena, disciples from various sects had already gathered. Li Nanzhu squeezed to the front and looked up at the massive list.
"As expected..." Li Nanzhu said softly. "The direct disciples of the other sects have all been promoted."
Zhu Yinxi nodded. "And the groupings are very clever; their people won't encounter us before the finals." As they were speaking, they suddenly heard a commotion. They saw Duan Xianxing walking over with a swagger, followed by two Sword Heart Sect disciples.
"Seventh Senior Brother?" Li Nanzhu feigned surprise. "Why are you..."
Duan Xianxing winked at her. "Sect Leader Zhao asked me to move around the Sword Heart Sect more to experience their cultivation environment." He intentionally raised his voice. "The Sword Pavilion of the Sword Heart Sect is truly impressive!"
Li Nanzhu understood the hint and pretended to be upset. "Seventh Senior Brother, you... are you going to betray the sect?"
"Don't talk nonsense, Little Junior Sister!" Duan Xianxing waved his hands quickly. "I'm just... just looking around..."
The two Sword Heart Sect disciples exchanged glances, satisfied smiles appearing on their faces.
As night fell, the Five Elements Dao Sect's base was brightly lit.
"Seventh Junior Brother did well," Mu Wenyan praised. "Zhao Wufeng completely believes that his loyalty is wavering."
Feng Qingping sneered. "Those two tagalongs are still guarding outside."
Zhu Yinxi nodded. "The Sword Heart Sect won't let down their guard so easily."
Jiang Yifan suddenly spoke up. "The Sword-Locking Jade. It's confirmed."
Everyone was startled. Li Nanzhu quickly asked, "Fourth Senior Brother, you saw the Sword-Locking Jade?"
Jiang Yifan nodded. "Pei Ji has one, and so does Qu Chen."
"Perhaps Seventh Senior Brother shouldn't go out for the next few days," Li Nanzhu frowned. "After all, we can't be sure if they've tampered with the Sword-Locking Jade. If Seventh Senior Brother actually gets hurt..."
"Little Junior Sister is right." Feng Qingping shared the same opinion. "Why don't we just say you're cultivating to prepare for the team battle?"
"No."
Duan Xianxing suddenly looked up and gazed seriously at everyone.
"If we dodge it this time, can we dodge it the next? We know about it this time, but will we be so lucky next time?"
"Trust me." Duan Xianxing gave a confident smile. "Even without the Natural Sword Physique, it doesn't stop me from being a genius!"
When he said this, everyone present burst into laughter.
"Fine, then we'll go with Seventh Junior Brother's idea. Do whatever you want to do; we will always have your back." Mu Wenyan patted Duan Xianxing's shoulder.
"The Five Elements Dao Sect will always be your strongest support," Jiang Yifan said solemnly.
"Oh, please!" Duan Xianxing suddenly shouted. "Alright, stop it. Why are you being so sentimental?" As he spoke, he quickly snatched the spirit fruits from the table, tucked them into his robe, and scurried back to his room, leaving everyone behind with faces full of amusement and exasperation.
But they all tacitly chose not to call out Duan Xianxing's shyness.
"Alright, let's talk about something else." Mu Wenyan clapped his hands to draw their attention back. "According to the current schedule, it shouldn't be hard for the three of you to make it into the top twenty-five, right?"
The three of them nodded. With their strength, as long as they didn't run into other direct disciples, it was quite easy to win against other sects' Golden Core stage cultivators.
"After the top twenty-five, it's best to keep some trump cards hidden," Mu Wenyan said deeply. "Based on our current points, we don't necessarily have to fight for first place. Our points are enough for us to enter the team battle. Safety is the priority."
"In that case..." Feng Qingping's fingertip tapped on the table. "I will forfeit during the promotion match for the top twenty-five."
"I can try to strive for the top ten."
Given Jiang Yifan's mid-stage Golden Core strength, if he didn't rely on magic tools, stopping at the top ten was indeed the best choice.
"No," Li Nanzhu shook her head. "Fourth Senior Brother, you must at least reach the top five."
Hearing this, everyone was a bit surprised, but they waited to hear Li Nanzhu's opinion.
"We want the points, and we want the rankings too." Li Nanzhu smiled slightly. "Isn't it just about hiding your true strength? Fourth Senior Brother, this time you can just smash them with magic tools. After all, you're a refinery master; what's wrong with having a few extra magic tools?"
Jiang Yifan was stunned for a moment before realizing. Because he hadn't used magic tools in his recent battles and had won through his own strength, he had overlooked the fact that he was competing as a refinery master.
"That's true." Zhu Yinxi took a sip of tea. "As for me..."
"The first place for the Golden Core stage depends on you, Second Senior Brother!"
Without Li Nanzhu saying anything more, all eyes immediately focused on Zhu Yinxi. As the only cultivator at the Golden Core Great Perfection in the sect, if they wanted to hide their strength, he was the only one who could fight for first place.
"Rest assured." Zhu Yinxi nodded slightly.
But Li Nanzhu felt as if there was another sentence he hadn't said. She silently added it in her mind.
'I have plenty of strength and means.'
Thinking of this, she hugged Suisui tightly, trying hard to keep her expression from changing. Since coming to this world, she felt like her sense of humor had been strangely lowered.
In her past life, during interviews, she could remain expressionless even after seeing countless hilarious things. Now, just because of one sentence, she nearly lost her composure.
'It seems I need to strengthen my expression management.'
She thought to herself.
"Actually..." Duan Xianxing poked his head out from his room again at some point.
"As long as Second Senior Brother plays any tune he wants, won't first place be a piece of cake?"
Everyone: "..."
Zhu Yinxi: "..."
Attacking the opponent's ears with Second Senior Brother's flute music? Winning because it sounds so terrible the opponent forfeits...
The eyes of several people instinctively drifted toward Zhu Yinxi's jade flute, likely considering the possibility of this plan.
Seeing the subtle looks from everyone, Zhu Yinxi's gaze toward Duan Xianxing instantly became dangerous.
"Seventh Junior Brother..."
But just as he spoke, Duan Xianxing seemed to sense something. He bolted back into his room, slammed the door, and shouted.
"Second Senior Brother, I'm going to sleep! See you tomorrow!"
Zhu Yinxi: "..."
He took a deep breath, telling himself repeatedly that this was his own junior brother—if he beat him to death, he'd be gone.
Mu Wenyan patted his shoulder at this moment, looking at him with a complex expression.
"Actually... Seventh Junior Brother isn't wrong."
Zhu Yinxi: "..."
"I'm going to sleep too." With that, he walked back to his room expressionlessly.
Li Nanzhu: "So... did Second Senior Brother agree?"
Boom!
A thunderous door slam was their response.
It seemed Second Senior Brother didn't quite approve of the suggestion.
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