"Woo-hoo!"
"We won! We're first!"
Before Bu Qingwei's voice could even fade, a deafening cheer erupted from the Five Elements Dao Sect's team!
Extremely excited, Duan Xianxing was the first to jump up, giving Liu Qingyang a fierce high-five!
Uncontrollable smiles appeared on the faces of Jiang Yifan, Zhu Yinxi, and Mu Wenyan!
Even the usually silent Feng Weilan had a relieved curve at the corners of his mouth. Li Nanzhu's little face was flushed with excitement as she jumped up and down while hugging Feng Qingping!
They had done it! They really did it!
From starting at the bottom and being besieged to counterattacking all the way and finally reaching the top!
This was nothing short of a miracle!
However, their cheers were particularly piercing in the deathly silence that had fallen over the other areas of the high platform.
The disciples and elders of the other sects were all dumbfounded.
"Second place, Hehuan Sect."
Rong Yuying and the Hehuan Sect disciples were stunned for a moment before they too erupted into cheers of surprise!
They had actually taken second place!
This was an entirely unexpected joy!
"Third place, Water Moon Sect."
The Water Moon Sect disciples led by Chu Chenzhou looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief and confusion, which soon turned into ecstatic delight!
Third place! They had actually squeezed into the top three!
Looking at his excited junior brothers and sisters, and then at Liu Qingyang who was secretly winking at him from the crowd, Chu Chenzhou's mouth twitched with complex emotions.
Only then did the disciples of the self-proclaimed strong sects like the Sword Heart Sect, Tianyan Sect, and Mingguang Sect suddenly react, completely stupefied!
"What?! Five Elements Dao Sect is first?!"
"Hehuan Sect is second? Water Moon Sect is third?!"
"Are you kidding me?! What about us?!"
"How is this possible?!"
Core disciples like Cang Dongqing, Qi Yunze, Li Nanyi, and Huixin all looked up at the same time, their eyes fixed on the massive points light screen in the sky!
When they clearly saw the astronomical scores frozen on the screen, the entire high platform fell into a dead silence!
First place: Five Elements Dao Sect, 7,872 points
Second place: Hehuan Sect, 6,365 points
Third place: Water Moon Sect, 1,853 points
Fourth place: Sword Heart Sect, 735 points
Fifth place: Tianyan Sect, 698 points
Sixth place: Mingguang Sect, 529 points
...
"Seven... Seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-two points?!"
"Six thousand three hundred and sixty-five points?!"
"One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three points?!"
"Where... where the hell did these come from?!"
Li Nanyi was the first to jump out, pointing at the members of the Five Elements Dao Sect as he roared, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Five Elements Dao Sect! You must have used some despicable means to cheat! How many points are all the flags worth in total? Your points couldn't have come from a legitimate source!"
His words immediately drew agreement from many dissatisfied sects!
"That's right! Cheating!" a disciple from the Xuan Tian Sect added.
"These scores are completely unreasonable!" Huineng from the Mingguang Sect said indignantly.
"There must be a strict investigation! Cancel their results!"
"How could they be so many times higher than us? They must have used some underhanded methods!"
When Liu Qingyang heard this, his temper flared up instantly!
The Water Moon Sect's third-place ranking was entirely thanks to him "sacrificing" himself to help farm points. If the results were invalidated, wouldn't his hard work have been for nothing?
He immediately stuck his neck out and retorted, "Hey! You with the surname Li! Watch your mouth! Which eye of yours saw us cheating? Where's the evidence? Do you have any evidence, or are you just shouting nonsense? If you can't produce evidence, then this is slander!"
Duan Xianxing also chimed in immediately with a sarcastic tone, "Exactly! Just because you lack the ability to get high scores, you can't stand to see others doing well? What a bunch of sour grapes!"
"Who are you calling sour grapes!" Li Nanyi was fuming with rage.
"I'm calling whoever is panicking right now!" Liu Qingyang refused to back down.
The two sides immediately fell into a heated argument.
Cang Dongqing clenched her fists so hard her nails almost dug into her palms. She stared at the Sword Heart Sect's glaring "735" points on the screen and then at the Five Elements Dao Sect's absurdly high "7,872" points. Her chest heaved violently, her eyes full of unwillingness and disbelief!
Their Sword Heart Sect was anchored by Senior Brother Qi Yunze. They had played steadily all the way, eliminating several strong teams, and Cang Dongqing herself had brought back almost all the points from the Xuan Tian Sect team!
How... how could they not even make the top three? They were even suppressed by the Water Moon Sect?
How could she accept this!
Qi Yunze stood beside her, his expression equally grave and his brows furrowed. He clearly couldn't understand the source of these points either.
The disciples of the Tianyan Sect had even uglier expressions. Not a single person from their sect had been eliminated, yet they were ranked fifth. This result was hard for them to swallow.
Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control, Bu Qingwei finally spoke again. His voice carried the pressure of a Soul Transformation cultivator, instantly suppressing all the noise.
"Silence!"
The entire venue went quiet in an instant as all eyes focused on him.
Bu Qingwei's gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on Li Nanyi and the direction of the agitated groups. He said in a deep voice, "Upon investigation, the points obtained by the Five Elements Dao Sect, Hehuan Sect, and Water Moon Sect do not violate the established rules of the secret realm."
As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar broke out!
They didn't violate the rules? Then how did these astronomical points come about?
His tone changed, carrying a hint of helplessness and solemnity. "The abnormal points in this team battle were caused by... a previously unforeseen loophole in the secret realm rules themselves. Li Nanzhu, a disciple of the Five Elements Dao Sect, discovered this loophole and utilized it."
"This is a failure of oversight on the part of the Sect Competition's checkers; the rules indeed had a deficiency."
"A rule loophole?" The crowd was in shock!
"It really was a loophole?"
"What kind of loophole could farm thousands of points?"
However, before everyone could digest this information, Cang Dongqing took a sudden step forward. Her voice was somewhat raspy from suppressed anger. "Sect Leader Bu! Even if it was a rule loophole, is it... fair to the other sects who strictly followed the rules and fought hard, to let them take such a massive point lead by exploiting it?!"
These words echoed the sentiments of almost all the other sects that had been pushed out of the top ranks by the "point-farming trio"!
Indeed, if the rules set for the Sect Competition had a loophole, why should they have to bear the consequences?
"Fair?"
He repeated the word, his mouth curling into a faint, mocking smile. His gaze was as sharp as a blade as it pierced through Cang Dongqing and the others.
"Martial Nephew Cang, tell this old man, what is fairness?"
Before Cang Dongqing could answer, his voice suddenly rose.
"Is it fair only if the Sword Heart Sect takes first place by default because of its great strength?"
"Or is it fair only if things happen according to your expectations, by winning through the combat and killing that you are good at?"
A series of rhetorical questions, like heavy hammers, struck everyone's heart, silencing the agitated crowd.
He gave a cold snort, his gaze sweeping over the teams from the Sword Heart Sect and Tianyan Sect. "The struggle in the secret realm is inherently a comprehensive contest of strength, wisdom, luck, and even the understanding of rules!"
"The rule loophole was right there. Why did only the Five Elements Dao Sect, Hehuan Sect, and Water Moon Sect find it? Why could they utilize it while you could not?"
"Is it because Li Nanzhu is smarter than all of you? Is it because you didn't think of it? Or did you think of it but didn't dare to try? Or perhaps... you simply lacked the ability to spare your attention to think about the deeper possibilities of the rules amidst the intense competition?"
"To discover a loophole is wisdom! To dare to utilize a loophole is courage! To successfully utilize a loophole to achieve results is ability!"
Bu Qingwei's voice was like a Great Bell, ringing in everyone's heart.
"Rules are static, but people are dynamic! If you only know how to follow the rules blindly and do not know how to adapt or judge the situation, how will you face the even greater unknowns and variables of the cultivation world in the future? How will you deal with enemies who do not play by conventional rules? Today, they could win by finding a rule loophole; another day, when facing a desperate situation, they might be the ones to find a slim chance of survival! Is this not a form of strength?!"
"If one lacks ability, do not blame the uneven road!"
His words were forceful and resonant! Cang Dongqing and the others were left speechless, their faces turning pale and flushed by turns!
It was true; the loophole was right there. Why could others find and use it while they couldn't? Could they really blame the rules for being too 'cunning'?
"If you feel it is unfair, then in the second round of the team battle, use your wisdom and courage to find your own loopholes—or use absolute strength to crush all rules!"
"But this time—"
Bu Qingwei's eyes were like lightning as he swept over the scene, finally fixing on the glaring and undeniable points on the light screen. He announced loudly:
"The results will not be changed!"
"The final rankings and points for the team battle are as follows:
First place: Five Elements Dao Sect, 10 tournament points.
Second place: Hehuan Sect, 9 tournament points.
Third place: Water Moon Sect, 8 tournament points.
Fourth place: Sword Heart Sect, 7 tournament points.
Fifth place: Tianyan Sect, 6 tournament points.
Sixth place: Mingguang Sect, 5 tournament points.
Seventh place: Shenmu Sect, 4 tournament points.
Eighth place: Beast Taming Sect, 3 tournament points.
Ninth place: Wuji Sect, 2 tournament points.
Tenth place: Xuan Tian Sect, 1 tournament point."
"These results are final! They take effect immediately!"
As Bu Qingwei's voice fell, the rankings of the first round of the team battle were completely settled!
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