"Xu Yuan wins!"
Upon hearing the referee announce the result, Xu Yuan put away his gun and turned to leave.
"Why? Since you're so strong, why didn't you save my grandfather?"
Fu Yunfeng knelt on the ground, his hands gripping the earth, his eyes bloodshot.
Xu Yuan turned around: "First of all, your reputation isn't big enough for people to know who your grandfather is just by hearing your name. Secondly, saving someone is a favor, don't treat not being saved as an enemy. If you want revenge, go find the person who killed your grandfather."
Fu Yunfeng: "My grandfather was the commander of the Tianwu Army. If you hadn't coveted the Tianwu Army, how could my grandfather have died?"
"I released Lian Yunyuan's battle unit without hesitation, why would I care about the Tianwu Army that was almost defeated by the enemy?"
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Xu Yuan now knew who his grandfather was: "If your grandfather is that old man from the Tianwu Army, then speaking of which, I even helped your grandfather avenge his death. You should be grateful to me."
Fu Yunfeng: "Do you think I'd believe your nonsense?"
"Believe it or not, it's up to you."
Xu Yuan guessed that Ouyang Jingxing might have told him something, but he wasn't going to suffer in silence and let others slander him. "The Tianwu Army isn't all dead yet. If you want to know the truth, go ask the Tianwu Army, won't you? Going around seeking revenge based on one side of the story will only make you look like a brainless fool."
Fu Yunfeng was stunned.
Could it be that Ouyang Jingxing really lied to him?
Impossible!
The Fu family and the Ouyang family are old friends!
What reason would he have to lie to me?
Although he was more inclined to believe Ouyang Jingxing, whom he had known since childhood, he couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Thinking that he had now broken through to the Grandmaster level, it was time for him to make a name for himself.
So he knelt down and turned to the emperor, requesting to be transferred to the front lines.
He was successfully granted the request and even received a reward from the emperor.
Hearing this, Xu Yuan's lips curled up slightly.
Since arriving in Xianjing, he had continued to follow the war situation.
Somewhat unexpectedly, there were constant reports of victories.
Almost every day, news of major victories was sent back to Xianjing.
This stirred the ambitions of many who longed to make a name for themselves.
Fu Yunfeng's proactive request to be transferred to the front lines after his words was somewhat expected. However,
whether Fu Yunfeng would receive credit or face a major setback remained to be seen.
Having fought the Haiqi Kingdom's army for so long, Xu Yuan knew exactly how strong they were.
Putting aside everything else, just this one point—an army entirely composed of cultivators—made it difficult for any army other than the Yunyuan War Department to contend with them.
Even the Imperial Guards, which Xu Yuan had initially commanded, were, in his view, significantly weaker than the Haiqi Kingdom's army.
And the Imperial Guards were already considered the elite of the Tianxuan Immortal Dynasty.
Xu Yuan guessed that the Tianxuan Immortal Dynasty's continued victories were due to the deployment of many high-level combatants, including those at the Foundation Establishment and even Core Formation stages.
After all, Haiqi Kingdom was a small place; even if everyone could cultivate Qi, nurturing Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators would be extremely difficult. Their
top-tier combat power was likely considerably weaker than that of the Tianxuan Immortal Dynasty.
The Haiqi Kingdom's army didn't possess the battle formations of the Yunyuan War Division. Against high-end combat power, sheer numbers were useless; they were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.
Given this, their repeated defeats were unsurprising. However,
judging from the Haiqi Kingdom army's ruthless and bloody city sacrifice, they didn't seem to intend to occupy the Tianxuan Immortal Dynasty's territory for long-term development.
Given their inability to defeat them, they should have withdrawn immediately after looting the occupied land.
But judging from the situation, they showed no intention of withdrawing.
They were merely tightening their defensive lines.
It was unclear what their true intentions were.
"Ji Baichang of the Ji family, early Foundation Establishment stage, challenges Champion Earl Xu Yuan."
Ji Baichang then flew into the array flag, also issuing a challenge to Xu Yuan.
This caused quite a stir.
Some cheered.
Others criticized him for taking advantage of the situation.
Even Ji Baiwei was complaining to his father about his older brother.
Hearing this, Ji Baichang smiled bitterly to himself.
He had already made his statement; he couldn't pretend nothing had happened.
If I don't challenge Xu Yuan today, people in the industry will probably say that I was afraid of Xu Yuan and didn't dare to fight him, so I chose to run away.
That would only be more embarrassing.
The insults he was hearing were within his expectations, and he already had a plan.
"You just finished a match, you're quite exhausted. I won't take advantage of you. If you can withstand one of my attacks, I'll consider it a loss,"
he said coolly to Xu Yuan, who had stopped and turned around.
As soon as he finished speaking, the insults around him disappeared, replaced by many voices praising him.
He couldn't help but feel secretly pleased: I really am a genius!
Not only did I not avoid the arranged match, but I also avoided being defeated and humiliated by Xu Yuan.
Thinking this, he drew his longsword and unleashed a powerful Mirage Dragon Devouring Evil Slash.
After Xu Yuan easily blocked it, he gracefully conceded defeat: "Young friend Xu's strength is astonishing, I concede."
Out of respect for Ji Baiwei, Xu Yuan didn't make things difficult for him, and the two stopped there.
After that,
the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators didn't rush to participate.
Including Shi Wujian, who had previously volunteered to fight him,
Xu Yuan, as the referee, began to preside over the Qi Refining stage matches.
Due to the large number of participants, limited strength, restrictions imposed by the array flags, and the fact that some were concerned about their limited spiritual energy, while many others were merely going through the motions,
the competition lacked any real entertainment value. To save time, several matches were held simultaneously.
Wan Qianyu also participated, challenged by a woman at the same Qi Chain Level 4, but easily defeated her using a talisman given to her by Xu Yuan. After
all the Qi Chain Level cultivators had completed their rounds, Xuan Heng finally appeared after being personally called upon by his father.
Unable to challenge cultivators of lower cultivation levels, his options were limited.
He only had one elder brother and one younger sister, plus Shi Wujian and Xu Yuan.
He could challenge Fu Yunfeng and Ji Baichang,
but challenging the losers meant that winning wouldn't improve his ranking, and losing would plunge him to the bottom.
It was truly a thankless task. Therefore
, he focused his attention on the other four. He
immediately ruled out his elder brother and sister.
He also ruled out Xu Yuan, who had already fought two matches.
That leaves only…
"Brother Wujian, please!"
His unrestrained eyes held a hint of fervor.
When the match began, their styles contrasted sharply.
One was calm and composed, as if everything was under control.
The other was unrestrained, even frenzied, wielding a giant sword, seemingly intent on hacking Shi Wujian to pieces.
Unfortunately, despite his fierce attacks, his score was 0-5.
Not only did he fail to inflict any damage on Shi Wujian, but Shi Wujian also casually left five wounds on him.
"This guy's swordsmanship has improved again,"
Ji Baichang remarked, stroking his chin as he appeared beside Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan also recognized Shi Wujian's extraordinary swordsmanship, at least reaching the pinnacle.
His own spear technique, honed over the past month in the training ground, had also reached the pinnacle.
He hadn't defeated Fu Yunfeng in one move earlier, not to give Fu Yunfeng a chance to break through, but because he recognized Fu Yunfeng's impressive spear technique,
which was close to the pinnacle.
Such skill was rare.
Before coming to Xianjing, let alone mastering spear and sword techniques to a high level or even close to it, very few people had even scratched the surface.
Many cultivators weren't even very proficient in spells, let alone spear and sword techniques.
"By the way, do you know why Shi Wujian is known as the number one genius of Xianjing?"
Ji Baichang suddenly asked.
Before Xu Yuan could speak, he suddenly sensed a power he had never seen before emanating from Shi Wujian.
The outcome of the battle was decided in that instant.
The greatsword was deflected, the madness on Xuan Heng's face froze, and a longsword was held to his neck.
"Sword Intent?!"
Xuan Heng stared at Shi Wujian in shock. "You've comprehended Sword Intent?"
Shi Wujian sheathed his sword. "I've just touched the threshold."
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Xuan Heng looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Sigh! My loss is not unjust. It seems you're still number one this year."
With that, he directly unleashed his array flag.
Sword Intent is a power comparable to the rules of the Core Formation realm.
Once one comprehends Sword Intent, one can even use the sword path as a seed to break through to Core Formation. This allows one
to overcome the biggest obstacle to Core Formation in one fell swoop.
Of course,
the prerequisite is having enough resources to cultivate to Core Formation.
Shi Wujian comprehended Sword Intent while only at Foundation Establishment. How can he possibly win?
Xu Yuan also realized at this moment why Shi Wujian could become the number one genius in the Immortal Capital.
"Besides his fast cultivation speed, his most outstanding quality is his talent in swordsmanship,"
Ji Baichang sighed.
Seeing that Xu Yuan didn't seem frightened by Shi Wujian's comprehension of sword intent, he continued, "You probably don't know this, but he's actually from a branch of the Shi family. Before being groomed by the Shi family, he even exchanged his own spiritual power for spirit stones."
Xu Yuan was puzzled: "How can you exchange spiritual power for spirit stones?"
"It's simple! Some talismans and magical artifacts require storing spiritual power. He used his own spiritual power to help people nurture talismans or magical artifacts, and the other party would then give him spirit stones in return. For example, if he consumed one hundred spiritual power, the other party would give him eighty or fifty spirit stones, which he would then use for cultivation."
Ji Baichang's tone unconsciously carried a hint of admiration.
Xu Yuan listened thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, inside the array flags, the competition continued.
The only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator among the younger generation of the royal family, the Third Princess Xuan Yao, made her appearance. Everyone
thought she would challenge the only one yet to appear, the First Prince Xuan Yang, but unexpectedly...
"The person this princess is challenging is—the Champion Earl, Xu Yuan!"
As she loudly called out Xu Yuan's name, everyone looked at Xu Yuan in surprise.
He wondered when he had gotten involved with this proud third princess again.
Facing the astonished gazes of the crowd, Xu Yuan calmly re-entered the formation.
He stood before Xuan Yao, scrutinizing this princess he was meeting for the first time.
She wasn't wearing the attire befitting royalty, but rather a white and green Daoist robe with auspicious cloud patterns, its ribbons fluttering gently, giving her an ethereal and graceful air.
Judging by her attire alone, she didn't resemble a princess, but rather a disciple of the Tianxuan Sect.
Her face was no less beautiful than Murong Xue's, and she possessed an innate arrogance.
Her figure matched her aura perfectly—tall and well-endowed!
He glanced at the information panel:
[Name: Xuan Yao]
[Age: 32]
[Talent: Three Spiritual Roots] [
Favorability: 01] [
Appearance
: 91]
[Figure: 92] [Aura: 89]
[Holiness: 100]
[Total Score: 92.6]
Foundation Establishment with three spiritual roots…
truly rare.
As expected of royalty!
Despite having initiated the challenge, Xuan Yao showed no intention of engaging with Xu Yuan.
As soon as the competition began, she attacked Xu Yuan directly.
Having seemingly learned from Fu Yunfeng's mistake, she immediately created distance.
Then, with a talisman in her delicate fingers, she uttered a few words, and several vines flew out to entangle Xu Yuan.
And this was just the beginning.
Soon, talismans appeared in her hand one after another, transforming into offensive spells and attacking Xu Yuan.
This was the first time Xu Yuan had ever seen someone other than himself use this style.
Although, under the suppression of the array flags, these talismans might not necessarily cause him any harm,
Xu Yuan still pretended to dodge and block.
After playing with this princess for a while, he finally "laboriously" closed in and won the competition.
"Since you've defeated this princess, go defeat Shi Wujian and take first place!"
After saying this, Xuan Yao tossed her hair and stepped out from behind the array flags.
The last remaining prince, Xuan Yang, challenged Shi Wujian.
For a time, the two fought evenly, neither gaining the upper hand.
However, after thirty rounds,
Xuan Yang voluntarily conceded defeat, citing Shi Wujian's previous encounter with his younger brother.
After that, it was time for the Qi Refining stage competition again.
The second round, the third round…
the competition didn't end until late afternoon, with the rankings largely fixed.
Seeing that Ouyang Bai, with whom he had a past grudge, was currently ranked ninth,
and knowing that getting him to sell her the Mind-Concentrating Grass wouldn't be easy,
Xu Yuan telepathically instructed Wan Qianyu to challenge Ouyang Bai.
Wan Qianyu's eyes widened instantly.
"He's a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator! Can I beat him?"
Although Xu Yuan had warned her beforehand, saying he was eyeing the ninth-place reward and wanted her to challenge him, and had even given her a bunch of pills and talismans,
she still felt uncertain when it came to actually going.
"Don't worry, with the pills and talismans I gave you, there won't be any problems,"
Xu Yuan reassured her.
The talismans he gave Wan Qianyu were all high-quality talismans with minimal spiritual energy consumption.
Each one could sell for tens or even hundreds of spirit stones.
As for that Concentrating Spirit Grass, it could only be sold for a few hundred or a thousand spirit stones at most.
With only one percent of Ouyang Bai's own spiritual energy, he definitely couldn't beat Wan Qianyu, who was protected by talismans.
If he wanted to win, he would have to spend money on talismans regardless of the cost.
Such an unprofitable deal was something few people could afford.
Encouraged by Xu Yuan, Wan Qianyu finally stepped forward.
"Wan Qianyu of the Wan family, Qi Chain Level 4, challenges Ouyang Bai of the Ouyang family."
As soon as she finished speaking, all eyes turned to her.
Many drowsy people immediately perked up.
After all, such a challenge that crossed several minor realms was not common nowadays.
This was the first time it had happened this year.
Many people began to speculate about what Ouyang Bai had done to offend this young girl.
This young girl's challenge to Ouyang Bai in such a setting piqued everyone's interest. They
wondered if she would complain to the emperor if she lost. Ouyang Bai, however, was not pleased. Being challenged by a mere fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator was dishonorable, even if he won. Losing… impossible! He began to ponder how he had offended Wan Qianyu. He couldn't figure it out. If Wan Qianyu had challenged Ji Baixiao, he would have understood. He entered the arena. "You are no match for me, admit defeat!" Ouyang Bai declared confidently. Wan Qianyu coldly replied, "Please enlighten me." As the match began, she immediately affixed a top-tier first-level defensive talisman to herself. Then, following the example of the Third Princess, she began applying talismans to Ouyang Bai. Ouyang Bai's expression instantly changed, his earlier confidence vanishing. He dodged several attacks in a disheveled manner, nearly exhausting one percent of his spiritual power, finally gaining a chance to get close. However, upon making a move, he discovered that Wan Qianyu still possessed a top-tier first-order defensive talisman. Without hesitation, he decisively conceded defeat. "I concede!" But Wan Qianyu's attack was even faster than his surrender. Before he could shout "I concede," Wan Qianyu had already unleashed a lightning-fire talisman upon him. Having exhausted all his spiritual power, he could only watch helplessly as the fire dragon grew larger and larger before his eyes. Fortunately, Ji Baichang, who was in charge of the match, intervened in time, allowing him to escape unscathed. "Wan Qianyu wins!"