Chapter 52: The Abandoned Young Master Long Aotian

"Thank you."

Wu Lingnan knocked her opponent off the ring with one blow, and then leisurely returned to her base camp. This was her last match of the day, and the huge gap in cultivation allowed her to win effortlessly.

She sat in Huaqing's territory, waiting for Pei Yichen's triumphant return, eating melon seeds and watching the multi-camera spirit screen broadcasting the scenes from all the arenas in real time.

That's right, Wu Lingnan finally chose to let Xiang Gucheng represent the Five Immortals Sect in the competition, while she and Pei Yichen represented Huaqing College. Ostensibly, it was to accompany her brother, but in reality, it was mainly because the old principal, Mr. Ye, gave her too much.

No, Wu Lingnan was just willing to bring honor to the school.

However, Wu Lingnan lightly touched the spiritual screen with his fingertips, and another group of people were replaced, with a thoughtful look on his face.

The order of the competition is quite interesting. The seeded personnel from the major sects and families have been intentionally staggered. However, Wu Lingnan can understand this approach.

It's said to be a fair draw, but in reality, there must be some shady manipulation. After all, if the seeded players all met in the initial elimination round, what would be the point of watching the quarterfinals and semifinals? What profit would Daotian Sect make? If the audience doesn't even watch the platform, where will the reward money come from?

The reason why the major sects and academies are eager to apply to be the organizers of the Tianbang Competition is not for charity. The fame and the countless invisible benefits that come with it are the reasons why various forces are flocking to it.

But this distribution model feels a bit too deliberate.

Wu Lingnan frowned slightly, unsure if she was being too sensitive. Generally speaking, the seeded players wouldn't be allowed to meet each other early, but the rest of the players weren't so particular. However, from her observation, there wasn't even a single match between two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. Was this... a deliberate attempt to screen out cultivators with higher cultivation?

Maybe it's just a coincidence...

"Nannan."

"Brother, you're back."

Wu Lingnan jumped off the chair and waved frantically at her brother. Bai Wanyan and Jingkong had to return to their families and sects. As for Zhuge Yu, he had agreed to stay in Huaqing with them at the beginning, but he was called over by people from the Zhuge family as soon as the competition started. No one knew why.

The first three days of competition were not difficult for the brother and sister who were considered to be the most advanced group in the whole field. Therefore, their competition was able to end early and they could go back to rest.

In the training room, Pei Yichen was meditating and practicing his skills. After a large cycle of practice was completed,

"Xiao Chenzi..."

After hesitating for a long time, Mr. Du finally called out.

Pei Yichen opened his eyes, and two flames, one purple and one blue, danced in his left and right pupils. As he finished his energy, the flames slowly faded. His expression was tinged with confusion, and he asked:

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Old Du emerged from the spirit ring, his brow furrowed in worry, as if he was very puzzled.

"Xiao Chenzi, I seem to have a vague impression of this Daotian Sect."

Pei Yichen was shocked: "Teacher, could it be that you were a member of the Daotian Sect before?"

Mr. Du slowly shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either. He sighed:

"Xiao Chenzi, since the day you woke me up, I have lost most of my previous memories, except for the alchemy skills. I don't even know who I was or what I did before." He even remembered only the word "Du" of his name.

Pei Yichen's eyebrows twitched, and he consoled Du Lao: "Teacher, no matter what happens, I will definitely help you rebuild your body and return to the great Dao."

Old Du stroked his beard and smiled bitterly. What he said before was just a way to motivate his disciples to make progress. How could he not know how rare and precious the materials used to reshape the body were? Some of them were so rare that no one had heard of them for thousands of years. This was why he wanted to persuade Pei Yichen not to fight for the Ten Thousand Year Soul-Condensing Grass.

Why would a dying person use such a precious thing and leave it to Xiao Chenzi? He will use it better in the future.

He has passed on all his alchemy skills. Pei Yichen has now embarked on the right track in martial arts and does not need any more guidance from him. With a disciple who treats him like his own son and is so filial to him, he can rest in peace even if his soul dies.

But seeing Pei Yichen's determination, Mr. Du was pleased and more determined not to drag his apprentice down.

For some reason, Old Du has been feeling quite frightened these days. For someone of his level of cultivation, this feeling is equivalent to a warning from heaven, and Old Du also has a vague sense of familiarity with the Daotian Sect.

All of this made Du Lao quite worried. He kept recalling the details in the spirit ring, hoping that he could remember more details, but it was all in vain. The most important point was why his soul appeared in an ordinary ancient ring in the attic of the Pei family after so many years.

As he thought about this, his brows furrowed more and more. Even though he was just a soul now, his brain was aching.

Just when he seemed to have an idea, suddenly, the black color between Du Lao's eyebrows flashed and disappeared, making Du Lao's previous self-questioning disappear silently in his mind.

Daotian Sect, secret room.

“…everything is ready.”

The old man who claimed to be the spirit of the Dragon and Phoenix Yin-Yang Cauldron asked in a hoarse voice. His hunched figure was half hidden in the darkness, appearing even darker.

Ge Hu stood below and replied respectfully, "Please rest assured, senior, everything is ready."

"Okay." The old man nodded slightly, a fierce light flashing in his sinister eyes. "If this succeeds, the path to immortality will be just around the corner!"

Ge Hu couldn't help but feel a little excited. This was becoming an immortal. Daotian Sect hadn't produced an immortal in ten thousand years. Now, he was the first one!

After Ge Hu left, the old man could hardly suppress his thoughts. His dry hands touched the red gold body of the Yin-Yang Cauldron, and he couldn't help but tremble slightly.

He had been planning for this day for ten thousand years. If he succeeded, he would be able to...!

The obscure black air silently filled the entire secret room.

Bang——

Wu Lingnan dropped the long whip in her hand to the ground. Her spiritual energy was now almost gone. Looking at the handsome young man standing opposite her with a gun, she smiled.

"I lost."

She turned around and jumped off the stage, joining the audience in giving the loudest applause to the final winner of the Heavenly Ranking Conference.

The overwhelming cheers surged like a tide towards Pei Yichen who was standing in the center. Pei Yichen blinked and was stunned for a rare moment.

His gaze dropped, unconsciously sweeping across every face in the audience, familiar or unfamiliar. No matter what had happened before, or what their mood was at the moment, everyone applauded for the true strongest of this young generation.

Pei Yichen glanced at them one by one. He saw the former members of the Pei family and his former classmates on campus, but what impressed him more were the smiling faces of Wu Lingnan and others. All the things in the past were gone, and from now on, it was like a new life.

When the applause died down, Ge Hu, the leader of Daotian Sect and the host of this Heavenly Ranking Conference, emerged from the air and laughed loudly:

"Young friend Pei is truly a young hero. On behalf of Daotian Sect, this Sect Master would like to congratulate you on achieving the top spot on the Heavenly Ranking!"

"Senior, you are too kind."

Pei Yichen bowed and thanked him without being humble or arrogant.

Ge Hu smiled warmly. His voice was not loud, but it spread clearly to the ears of everyone present: "Then fellow Daoists, please allow this sect master to take this young friend to our sect's secret place to claim the first prize. We have prepared a banquet, please help yourself."

This process had been notified in advance, so all the monks present had no objection.

Pei Yichen followed Ge Hu to the door of a secret room and stopped. Ge Hu nodded and smiled:

"Friend Pei, inside this door is where our sect's treasures are hidden. The restrictions have been temporarily closed for you. You can take three treasures for yourself, please."

Pei Yichen's eyes moved, knowing that the ten thousand year old soul-condensing grass was here. Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and strode in.

The door closed with a sound. Ge Hu looked at the ancient door meaningfully. He could probably guess why the old spirit wanted Pei Yichen to come in. It was a pity for this young talent.

However, precisely because of this, Daotian Sect did not have to make a big fuss before. He turned around and teleported back to the venue, where he smiled and toasted with the powerful men from various forces.

Pei Yichen walked in the narrow and dark corridor. The further he went, the more he felt something was wrong. Is this really the Daotian Sect's secret treasure place?

He could not detect any spiritual light from the treasure within his consciousness. Even if the treasure was self-destructing, it shouldn't be like this. The feeling this place gave him was too weird.

"Teacher, what exactly is this place..."

Pei Yichen asked in a low voice, but what puzzled him was that Mr. Du did not respond to him.

He frowned, stopped, and called again: "Teacher..."

There was still no response, and Pei Yichen was becoming more and more anxious.

"It's no problem for me to be your teacher."

The familiar voice of Master Du rang in his ears, and Pei Yichen's brows relaxed. He asked, "Teacher, what happened just now?"

"Nothing, let's keep going forward. I think the Ten Thousand Year Soul-Condensing Grass is just ahead."

"Yes, teacher."

Pei Yichen continued to move forward, and finally, at the end of the corridor, a flickering light appeared.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and everything became clear. Pei Yichen stepped into the dark room and raised his head, but his pupils suddenly shrank.

What he saw was not the treasure room he had imagined. Instead, a tall and magnificent four-legged tripod stood majestically in the secret room. Next to the huge tripod, a skinny old man was waiting quietly.

“You, you are…!”

"Ge Hu, what do you mean?"

Wu Lingyue frowned and glared coldly, shouting sternly.

"Master Wu, I should be the one asking this question. On such a happy day, why are you so aggressive?" Ge Hu said hypocritically, looking completely innocent. The people around him also tried to persuade him to make peace.

"What a pretentious old scoundrel!"

Wu Lingyue swung her whip, stirring up a fierce gust of wind. She sneered, "You're still siding with this old bastard. You've been sold out and are still counting the money!"

"This Daotian Sect has been tightly trapped by a decisive killing formation. Why don't you ask what this old man is trying to do?"

Everyone was horrified. A powerful Yuanying stage cultivator flew up and wanted to leave this realm, but was shocked to find that even with his Yuanying power, he could not break the formation at all.

Immediately, everyone's expression changed, and someone asked harshly:

"Ge Hu, do you want to be an enemy of the entire Daxia? Just relying on your four Yuanying stage cultivators from the Daotian Sect..."

Four Yuanying stage people are a lot for a single sect, but if you look at all the forces in Daxia, that's all they have.

Ge Hu smiled slightly, put down his wine glass, and said leisurely: "As for me," he sneered, "I have already become a god, while you are still just a mere Nascent Soul!"

The aura of the Spirit Transformation Stage burst out, and he stood proudly in the air, looking down at everyone.

Everyone was astonished. Ge Hu had suddenly become a powerful being in the Spiritual Transformation Stage without anyone noticing!

Now, the situation is not good.

Wu Lingyue narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly, and her left hand slowly stroked the rough whip handle in her hand.

【Author’s words】

Come on, come on