After a brief moment of shock, Lingyu's eyes instantly welled up with tears.
Without hesitation, she rushed to Bai Ying and hugged her tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, Bai Ying would disappear again.
"Thank goodness! You're alive! You didn't die... Waaaaah..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. In that moment, all her worries, sorrow, and grievances were released along with those tears.
The Lingyin Sect disciples around them also gathered around, their eyes filled with surprise and excitement, their faces beaming with the joy of surviving a calamity.
Bai Ying was clearly taken aback when Ling Yu hugged her, and she was momentarily stunned.
Actually, she wasn't familiar with the cultivators of the Lingyin Sect...
It seems that after being ruthlessly abandoned by her fellow disciples in her previous life, she quietly closed her heart off completely.
From then on, she adopted a cold and indifferent attitude towards everyone, and unless absolutely necessary, she never wanted to have too much interaction with anyone.
However, there are always some people in the world who are like the warm sun in winter, able to bring her an indescribable warmth for no reason.
All the fellow disciples of the Lingxiao Sect, the sect leader, the master, and the people of the Lingyin Sect standing before us were all in the same boat.
They care about themselves wholeheartedly and without reservation.
Even though I haven't given much of a response...
After a brief moment of distraction, Bai Ying felt a warm current flowing through her heart. She couldn't help but smile, gently raising her hand to hug Ling Yu back.
At this moment, the group from Lingyin Sect were all filled with grievances, and they immediately started talking, telling Bai Ying about their recent situation.
Especially those rumors circulating everywhere about Bai Ying, one of them said indignantly, "You have no idea, these people are absolutely despicable! I don't know where those rumors came from, but now they're everywhere, it's driving me crazy!"
Another person quickly chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, it's no use arguing with those people, they just won't listen."
Bai Ying listened quietly, her expression calm, and nodded gently to them. Then, her gaze slowly turned to Bai Di, who was standing on the stage, and she said in a steady tone, "I understand."
Seeing Bai Ying looking in the direction of Bai Di, the people from Lingyin Sect said excitedly, "Bai Ying, hurry up! As long as you go up and put your hand on the testing stone, you will definitely get first place."
"That's right, that's right! Hurry up and go up there, show them who's the number one among the younger generation!"
These people were incredibly excited. They had just been thinking that if Bai Ying were here, the first place in this competition would be a foregone conclusion.
Others may not know, but they have witnessed Bai Ying's amazing feat firsthand.
The group of people on the stage at this moment are vastly inferior to Bai Ying.
As long as Bai Ying is willing to go on stage, first place will be a sure thing.
But the people around them looked at them as if they were a bunch of lunatics, their eyes full of mockery and disdain.
"Just by placing your hand on the testing stone, you can get first place? Isn't that wishful thinking? So what if she didn't die? Isn't there always a rumor that Bai Ying got her reputation through those kinds of connections?"
Among the crowd, someone couldn't help but voice a question, their tone laced with sarcasm.
Upon hearing this, Bai Ying slowly turned her head and glanced at the person.
However, that single glance made the skeptic feel as if his heart was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, almost stopping its beating. His mouth instantly shut shut.
For some reason, an indescribable sense of oppression surged from the seemingly frail girl in front of me.
A single glance from her sent shivers down his spine. It was as if, under her gaze, he was as fragile as an ant, and she could crush him to dust with the slightest thought.
He couldn't understand why he felt such intense fear when facing a young girl. He had never experienced this feeling, not even when facing powerful cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage.
On the stage, all the capable people had already gone up, but no one had been able to shake Bai Di's leading position.
At this moment, Bai Di stood steadily on the high platform, his white clothes fluttering wildly in the wind, making him look both aloof and dazzling.
The gazes of the crowd below the stage were a mixture of admiration, envy, and jealousy, and a variety of complex emotions filled the air.
However, despite the large crowd below the stage, no one had the courage or ability to go up and take the challenge.
It seems that Bai Di's victory in first place is a foregone conclusion, as if it were a done deal and could not be changed.
The sect leader of Xingyao Sect stood aside, witnessing all of this, his eyes gleaming with even greater pleasure.
As he watched one monk after another attempt to surpass the White Flute fail and return empty-handed, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up, and his smile became more and more obvious.
As time passed, all the cultivators considered to have a chance to surpass Bai Di had finished their matches. Faced with Bai Di's overwhelming power, no one dared to step forward. The Star Radiance Sect Master cleared his throat and finally spoke: "Is anyone else going to come up? If not, I will announce..."
Before he could finish speaking, an impatient man in the audience couldn't contain himself and shouted, "There's no one left! Just announce it already, Bai Di is the first one!"
That shout seemed to ignite a fuse, and a chorus of agreement immediately erupted from below the stage: "Yes! All those top performers have already competed, and they're all below Bai Di, aren't they? How could anyone possibly surpass her? Just announce it already!" The shouts of the crowd rose and fell, converging into a cacophony of noise.
The sect leader of Xingyao Sect listened to these words, his eyes almost overflowing with smugness, and his face was filled with the pride of a victor.
In contrast, the sect leaders of the other sects looked extremely grim.
Although Xingyao Sect is quite good in Lingchuan Continent, it is not a top sect. In the past, its ranking in such test activities has always been in the middle.
But who could have imagined that this year, thanks to a white flute, he would leap to the top of the list? How could this not make the other sects feel resentful?
Elders from some of the top sects, seeing their disciples being defeated one after another, couldn't help but shout angrily at the disciples below the stage: "Is there really no one else? Have all the people from our sect gone up? Who else hasn't gone up yet? Go and try!"
However, the only response they received was silence from the disciples below the stage. All the powerful senior brothers and sisters had already gone up to compete and been defeated; those remaining were all of low cultivation level. Going up would only be self-humiliating, making them the laughingstock at the bottom—what was the point?
Everyone felt helpless; the facts were clear: no one could rival Bai Di.
Seeing this, the Star Radiance Sect Master's smile grew even brighter. He spoke again: "Since no one else is coming up, then I shall announce that the winner of this competition is..."
Although the audience was filled with resentment, they could only watch helplessly as he called out that person's name.
However, at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out:
"Who said there's no one here?"
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