A gust of wind swept by, and a ghostly figure appeared in everyone's sight. The girl was dressed in a black robe, her skin was somewhat pale, and her long black hair was only half-tied up with a peach wood hairpin. Her cold voice interrupted the group's discussion.

A fiery red bird perched on her shoulder, followed by Feng Yu and Lan Zhao, who had just left.

Jiang Ling and Jiang Xin looked over at the same time. Jiang Xin's face turned even paler. She had just followed Lan Zhao out but hadn't found him. It turned out... like Brother Yu, he had gone to look for her.

The two men who once stood behind her were now standing behind someone else, and Jiang Xin felt as if her heart was being cut with a knife.

Jiang Ling patted her shoulder, "Xin'er, remember what your brother just told you."

Jiang Xin remained silent, simply watching the group of people not far away. Her gaze fell on the fiery red bird on Ji Jiuying's shoulder. "Brother, is that the bird from the Wind and Cloud Secret Realm?"

"It seems so!"

Jiang Xin frowned: "How could she bring out the beasts from the Wind and Cloud Secret Realm?"

"Perhaps it was never a spirit beast from the secret realm to begin with."

Jiang Xin instantly understood. Thinking of its arrogant attitude in the secret realm, her face immediately darkened. Sure enough, people are annoying, and even her spirit beast is just as annoying!

When Instructor Leng and Leng Qingqing saw the person who came, they were so angry that they almost vomited blood. Why did she come back at this time? The spot was almost, almost went to Qingqing!

Upon seeing Ji Jiuying return, the Moon Goddess instantly forgot what Instructor Leng had said.

"Xi girl, it's just in time for you to come back. The Heavenly Ladder Tournament is about to begin."

"Thank you, Divine Lord Yuehua."

Huang Qiming quickly walked over to Ji Jiuying: "Girl, now that you're back, please take a seat. There are plenty of empty seats over there."

"Okay, thank you, mentor."

Ji Jiu returned to her seat, with Feng Yu and Lan Zhao sitting on either side of her. Ji Jiu's gaze, however, fell on the approaching Xuanjing in the distance.

Xuan Jing sat down naturally behind Ji Jiuying, and the people around him dispersed a little as soon as he arrived.

Feng Yu frowned and asked Ji Jiuying, "Are you injured?"

Upon hearing Feng Yu's words, Lan Zhao looked at Ji Jiuying and noticed that her face was rather pale. With another competition coming up soon, Lan Zhao couldn't help but feel worried.

"It's just a minor injury!" Ji Jiuying nodded. Deep in the wilderness, she had fought a level nine peak golden toad for two whole days and two nights. In order to catch up with the Heavenly Ladder Tournament, she was accidentally hit by the golden toad at the last moment and suffered some internal injuries.

After killing Jiang Jinchan, she rushed back without stopping and happened to run into Feng Yu, who was about to leave. When she learned that Feng Yu had risked being eliminated just to find her, she suddenly felt a little complicated.

She knew perfectly well that Feng Yu did this simply to repay her for saving his life. Another reason was that he had always suspected she was his second uncle's illegitimate daughter. Even if she wasn't, he could guess that she was related to the Feng family. If one day he found out that she was the person the Feng family had gone to great lengths to find, would he, like his father and other members of the Feng family, want to capture her and imprison her in the Feng family's forbidden area?

At this moment, Jiang Ling also came over with Jiang Xin.

"You're back!"

Jiang Ling sat down and smiled.

"I was just about to leave when I saw my cousin Lanxi," Feng Yu replied. He quickly noticed that something was wrong with Jiang Xin and assumed she was still upset about not getting a spot: "Xin'er, what's wrong? Are you still upset about not getting a spot?"

"No, no." Jiang Xin bit her lip, but dared not look over.

"That's good!"

Jiang Xin: ······

Lan Zhao seemed not to notice their arrival, his gaze fixed on the arena.

Ji Jiuying paid no attention to the expressions of the others. She seemed nonchalant, but in reality, she was circulating her spiritual energy to slowly heal the injuries in her body.

Although she was protected by dragon scales, the power of the golden toad was indeed formidable, and her internal organs suffered considerable damage.

At this moment, she clearly sensed a sinister gaze fixed on her from the crowd, as if she were being stared at by a venomous snake. Feng Yu, who was sitting next to her, also noticed it, and the two of them looked in the direction of the gaze.

Qi Feng of the Weapon Sect stared at the two of them with a sinister look, or more precisely, at the little phoenix on Ji Jiuying's shoulder, his eyes filled with killing intent.

"Mother, why do I suddenly feel cold?"

Little Phoenix shivered.

Ji Jiuying gently stroked the little phoenix's feathers.

“Cousin Lanxi, Xiaohuang’er ruined Qifeng’s plans in the forest. Now that he’s seen Xiaohuang’er with you, he definitely won’t let you off easily. Why don’t you let Xiaohuang’er come to me?” Feng Yu said with a worried expression.

How could she not understand Feng Yu's meaning? However, since she dared to let Xiao Huang'er appear openly, she wasn't afraid of his targeting! Ji Jiuying's lips curled up as she met Qi Feng's gaze, her eyes full of disdain.

"No need, I'll clash with him sooner or later!"

Feng Yu's eyes flickered slightly. Was she really that sure? Lan Zhao, however, was not surprised by her words. In fact, he felt that even his senior sister and second senior brother might not be her match.

Qi Feng narrowed his sinister eyes when he saw Ji Jiuying's sarcastic gaze.

"Who is the girl in the black dress next to Feng Yu?"

Qi Feng's lackey glanced at Ji Jiuying: "That's Lan Zhao's younger sister, I think her name is Lan Xi. She just joined the academy recently. Oh right, she also has a spot in the Array Sect's class competition this time!"

A freshman actually managed to get a spot in the ladder tournament; he must be quite capable.

That bird that ruined his plans turned out to be hers. Perfect! He'll definitely get his revenge on the Heavenly Ladder!

"Look, the Dean is out!"

A gasp rang out from the crowd, instantly igniting excitement. Feng Qingxue and Luo Beiyue were already inner disciples and no longer needed to compete for the Heavenly Ladder Ranking, so they would serve as referees for this Heavenly Ladder Tournament.

"This year's ranked ladder tournament is undoubtedly the most intense ranked ladder tournament ever!"

"That's right. After all, who wouldn't want to be the Dean's personal disciple? Besides, the Dean has had some geniuses among his students. Maybe I'll be next."

"Who do you think will get first place in this year's ranked ladder tournament?"

"Feng Yu, who was originally a disciple of the Pill Sect, now represents the Array Sect, while Yang Shuiling, the eldest disciple of the Pill Sect, has not yet emerged from seclusion. I'm afraid the Pill Sect has no chance!"

"Qi Feng of the Weapon Refining Sect and Wu Ji have a chance, after all, they both made it into the top five last year. Li Feier of the Talisman Sect is somewhat possible. I won't even mention the Array Sect, they're always at the bottom of the ladder every year. But the Beast Taming Sect is really something, they have the most people on the ladder. As for the Dean's personal disciple, the Beast Taming Sect is probably going to take him!"