Chapter 258 Tao Zi Enters the Stage
After his junior brothers and sisters left, Tao Zi called out softly, "Little Fox."
"What's wrong?"
She said solemnly, "Something's wrong recently. Don't go out and keep an eye on your cousin."
"I get it. You humans just have too many things to do." The little fox wagged its tail in disgust.
Li Xiu looked at her silently. She smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know anything. It's just my intuition."
He shrugged and said calmly: "After knowing you for so long, I have learned to be calm."
She put the little fox in his arms and asked him to leave: "I need to rest now. See you tomorrow morning."
Li Xiu looked at the closed door and asked the little fox in her arms: "Do you believe it?"
It glanced at him and said, "No one would believe that."
He seemed to understand something and said, "But if we don't believe it, will we become ghosts?"
"Good awareness. Can I go to your room? I need to rest."
Li Xiu carried it to her room and said, "It sleeps all day long."
"What do you know?"
Listening to the quarrel outside the door fading away, Tao Zi took out a mirror and reminded Liu Yue to be cautious in his recent actions.
She received a reply soon. Tao Zi pondered for a moment and sent her another message: Pay attention to your subordinates.
Liu Yue's reply was slower than last time: Spy?
Tao Zi sighed. She initially suspected that these things were related to those fake demons, but she had not yet confirmed it. Not being well-informed was a headache.
After talking with Liu Yue, she put away the mirror, took out the two necklaces and the little puppet, stared at them for a long time, and then put them back.
Early the next morning, before daybreak, everyone got up.
Tao Zi smiled and said, "Let's go."
"Wait for me." Mo Yu's voice sounded behind them, "I want to go and see too."
After arriving at the competition venue, Tao Zi gave Zhao Xue a few words of advice before heading towards the preparation area.
The Sword Sect member looked at the storage ring and bracelet on her hand and reminded her, "Physical cultivation has fewer restrictions, but it's not without them. Fellow Daoist, please be cautious."
Tao Zi smiled and said, "Thanks for the reminder."
She stood on the competition stage, took out her weapon first and carried it on her shoulder.
It was visible to the naked eye that the fellow Taoist opposite was stunned for a moment, and faint laughter could be heard from the audience.
Tao Zi stood there indifferently, looked up at the person opposite her, and said, "You don't have a weapon?"
The Taoist friend on the opposite side said with a chuckle: "To deal with a girl like you, I don't need weapons, so that others won't accuse me of bullying."
She raised the corners of her mouth and said, "Please."
Before the fight even started, the opposing physical cultivator continued to grumble, "I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you're a girl, there's nothing you can't do. But you insist on being a physical cultivator? That's not right, girl. I advise you to surrender now. I can't bring myself to deal with a little woman like you who loves pink hammers!"
There was a burst of laughter from the audience, and someone even jokingly said, "Little sister, hurry up and admit defeat. If you get hurt, it will be too late."
A cold voice interrupted their teasing: "Don't you see what kind of stage this is? A cultivator in the Flesh Refining Stage dares to be so presumptuous. Who do you think you are?"
There was a sudden silence below. Tao Zi glanced over and saw that it was Xu Zhiruo. He smiled at her politely.
Tao Zi smiled back.
They didn't know that female physical cultivators were indeed rare to come across, but once they saw one, it could cost them half their lives.
The bell rang, and the moment the sound died away, the person on the other side took out an iron rod and hit him, without any of the contempt he had shown in his previous laughter.
Tao Zi was not surprised and smashed it with the hammer.
With the idea of a quick victory, she grabbed the iron rod and the hammer went straight to his stomach.
The monk didn't expect that she could take the stick. His face changed and he wanted to take the stick back and take the blow head-on.
After a few rounds, he fell to the ground.
This competition was extremely boring, without any of the excitement of the competitions nearby, but it left the physical trainees in the audience silent.
Using one's body as a shield is something that most physical cultivators would do. If it were them, they would probably end up like this.
The man held his stomach, his face turned pale, and he wanted to stand up, but he couldn't move, so he had to admit defeat.
The physical cultivators below the stage burst into cheers. In the world of immortal cultivation, strength is respected, and physical cultivators even more so advocate absolute force. No matter whether they are male or female, as long as they can win the fight, they are good physical cultivators.
Tao Zi handed him the iron rod. He took it and was silent for a long time before saying, "I'll fight you again when I have time. This time I was negligent."
She responded decisively: "Okay."
The Sword Sect members stepped forward to help him down, and the medical practitioners nearby helped with the treatment.
Tao Zi jumped off the competition stage, and Xu Zhiruo's tone became more respectful: "Senior, I was offended before."
She said gently, "Are you talking about Xixiu? That's all in the past."
He followed her hesitantly and actually gave up watching the subsequent competition.
Tao Zi had no choice but to stop and turn around to look: "What's wrong?"
He hesitated again and again, then shook his head and said, "It's okay, senior."
Looking at his leaving back, Tao Zi felt more and more strange, but still rushed towards Zhao Xue.
Xu Zhiruo turned around and glanced at Tao Zi who was leaving, with confusion in his eyes. When she took action just now, he always felt a sense of familiarity, as if... as if he saw the person who instructed the disciples of the Punishment Hall many years ago.
He shuddered and immediately retracted the thought. This was impossible, absolutely impossible.
That person is dead.
Xu Zhiruo's expression darkened, and the words that Senior Brother He had said to him during their chat came back to his ears.
"In this whole world, there is only one person who is cultivating true physical cultivators. None of the other sects pay attention to us."
"Alas, although she was wrong, where is the path for us physical cultivators?"
"Don't believe it? Take a closer look when you participate in the competition. Aren't there many strong ones among those unconventional physical cultivators? The ability of the physical cultivators in the Punishment Hall to kill enemies across levels is not something that comes out of nowhere."
"Zhiruo, Senior Brother is really confused. Are we destined to serve others in this life? But we are clearly here to practice cultivation."
Xu Zhiruo looked at the physical cultivators in front of him. They all had scars on their bodies. Almost all of them were independent cultivators. Except for the Minglan Sect's Punishment Hall, there were few sects that accepted them.
But now, even the execution hall has become an unknown.
"Brother Xu, what are you thinking about? Why are you so sad?" A new friend came forward and joked.
He suppressed his emotions and smiled: "No, I was just thinking about the competition just now."
"You mean the pink hammer? She's incredibly strong, she was able to catch that blow. I've fought that guy before, and I couldn't catch it."
Xu Zhiruo smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, it's very strong."
He watched them talking and laughing, but Senior Brother He's words kept ringing in his ears.
"Zhiruo, we physical cultivators are no different from others. We can't become immortals, so all we can pursue is strength. But we can't even walk this path well. Look at those unconventional physical cultivators, who is willing to embark on this path?"
"You said, if that person is still alive..."
Xu Zhiruo was suddenly horrified and didn't dare to think about it anymore.
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