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“Fellow Daoist, you overpraise us,” Ning Cheng said calmly. He glanced at the Beast Taming Sect disciple who had already crossed the valley and was beginning to draw lots. “This junior brother ranks about fifth among the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect in terms of overall strength.”

“Fifth?”

Many exchanged glances, their expressions growing serious.

This disciple was already so strong, and yet he was only ranked fifth. What kind of prowess must the first ranker possess?

“It seems the top spot in this competition will go to the Beast Taming Sect,” said Zheng Chuan of the Xuanyin Sect. Clad in black robes, he wore a sly smile as he glanced at Li Xun, who was sitting not far away, eyes closed in meditation.

“But I wonder why the disciples of the Profound Sun Sect have yet to make a move? Could it be that they lack the confidence to cross the valley?”

His words drew many eyes to the cliff opposite.

On the edge of the cliff, fifty disciples of the Profound Sun Sect stood together, showing no intention of crossing the valley yet.

“Maybe they’re trying to conserve their strength,” someone offered in an attempt to mediate.

“Heh.”

Zheng Chuan sneered. “They’ll have to cross the valley eventually. What’s the point of conserving strength now?”

“If you ask me, the Profound Sun Sect is probably just—”

“Be quiet.”

Before Zheng Chuan could finish, Li Xun opened his eyes and turned toward him. A flash of divine light shot forth, as sharp as a sword, tearing through the air with a piercing whistle.

“Hmm?”

Zheng Chuan’s expression changed drastically. He shot to his feet, shock filling his heart.

He couldn’t believe it—Li Xun dared to act against him here and now?

Did he forget that not far away, on another platform, sat the elders of various sects and the Northern King of the Great Zhou?

There was no time to think further. The divine light was already before him.

His hands glowed as he mustered all his cultivation to intercept the incoming light. Li Xun’s reputation preceded him—no one would dare underestimate even a casual strike from him.

Boom!

Zheng Chuan clenched his fist, but the expected violent clash didn’t happen.

The divine light dissipated the moment it touched him. Instead, his hand grasped at empty air, causing a dull explosion to echo in the void.

Was he… being played with?

Zheng Chuan quickly realized what had happened. His face alternated between green and white, evidence of his extreme anger.

No one would feel good about being toyed with, especially in front of peers and superiors.

To make matters worse, among the onlookers were a dozen young geniuses and the elders of various sects—not to mention the Northern King of the Great Zhou.

His earlier performance had likely been seen by everyone.

A mere glance from Li Xun had forced him to go all out. If it had been a genuine attack, it might have been excusable.

But the critical point was that it was merely a taunt. Zheng Chuan had failed to see through the illusion, stood up ready to fight, and made a fool of himself.

Now, the entire Xuanyin Sect was bound to become a laughing stock.

“Li Xun!”

Zheng Chuan ground out the name through clenched teeth.

He was angrier than Ning Cheng had been the day before. While Ning Cheng had only failed to restore his sect’s reputation, Zheng Chuan had been made a fool of—a monkey for others’ amusement.

Even the most even-tempered person would struggle to hold back their rage in his position.

“Oh? Are you looking for an opportunity to spar with me first?” Li Xun’s expression turned cold.

He wasn’t particularly interested in today’s competition.

With Ye Han participating, he knew the process might have twists and turns, but the outcome was already set in stone.

After all, when the protagonist is involved, is there ever any doubt about who will take first place?

So, Li Xun planned to quietly cultivate his Great Yan Divine Technique, sitting through the day as a mere formality. That would have been enough for him.

But what he didn’t expect was that while he sought peace in cultivation, others had different ideas.

Zheng Chuan’s repeated provocations couldn’t go unanswered. If Li Xun stayed silent, the name of the Profound Sun Sect would be completely trampled underfoot by Zheng Chuan.

“Hmph!”

Zheng Chuan snorted coldly, glancing briefly at Ning Cheng, who remained silent. Suppressing his anger, he said icily, “Li Xun, don’t be too arrogant!”

Unlike Ning Cheng, Zheng Chuan lacked the confidence to act decisively. His aim was only to gain some verbal advantage; as for truly taking action, that was out of the question.

His current cultivation was achieved through consuming countless pills. While he could easily suppress lower-level cultivators, he was worlds apart from a genius like Li Xun.

“Xuanyin Sect, nothing special,” Li Xun replied indifferently.

This simple statement drew the attention of every genius on the platform.

Li Xun hadn’t just directed his remark at Zheng Chuan—his words openly dismissed the entire Xuanyin Sect.

Sure enough, on another platform, a commotion began to stir.

Many turned to look, and as expected, they saw a scrawny elder from the Xuanyin Sect, face flushed with anger, glaring fiercely as if ready to devour someone.

This elder wasn’t just anyone—he was one of the Xuanyin Sect elders accompanying the sect on this journey.

“Li Xun, you’re bold… One day, you’ll pay the price!”

Zheng Chuan spat through gritted teeth, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, emitting a grinding sound that made others wince.

This time, however, he had learned his lesson. He refrained from speaking further and kept his thoughts to himself.

Time passed.

After an hour, the initial group of over 10,000 participants had been reduced to fewer than 3,000.

The first trial’s harshness exceeded many people’s expectations.

Several sects had lost nearly half of their members, leaving them stranded on the far side of the valley.

Only the Beast Taming Sect stood out—barely a handful of their disciples had failed to cross. For the other sects, this level of success was simply unimaginable.

The Profound Sun Sect was neither the best nor the worst, starting with fifty disciples and losing twenty along the way.

But it was Ye Han who caused a stir when he crossed the valley.

Why?

Because everyone who made it across was at the Spirit Meridian Realm, except for Ye Han.

He was the only one at the late-stage Qi Condensation Realm to reach the next round of trials.

While his achievement drew attention, many believed Ye Han’s journey would end there.

Every opponent from this point onward was at the Spirit Meridian Realm.

How could he compete?

Even if he managed to defeat one opponent by sheer luck, there was no way he could keep winning.

“Have they started drawing lots?” someone murmured softly.

Below, the remaining 3,000 participants had begun lining up to draw lots. Once their numbers were drawn, they started finding their designated arenas.

Before long, two figures stood on each of the 300 dueling platforms.

“Ye Han’s luck is terrible. His first opponent is a Xuanyin Sect disciple, and from the looks of it, their strength is at the mid-stage Spirit Meridian Realm.”

A core disciple from Yellow Maple Valley scanned the platforms. Spotting Ye Han, he couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.