Chapter 107 Kneel down. Don't get so close to me, your mother is watching.
Bai Ye held her ground on the stage for three days, fighting until her spiritual energy was almost completely depleted, before finally stepping down to rest, and being replaced by Li Shoumo.
As soon as she stepped off the stage, the cultivators from various states, who had been feeling stifled for days, rushed onto the arena, each one eager to fight, thinking they had avoided Bai Ye, that troublemaker, and found an easy target.
Unfortunately, they all miscalculated. This seemingly easy target was actually incredibly tough.
Li Shoumo stood in the center of the arena, holding a large seal in his palm. As the most legitimate heir of the Great Li Dynasty, he was empowered by the power of the Human Emperor. With the Human Emperor's Seal in hand, it would not be an exaggeration to say that his words were law.
"Kneel!" She parted her red lips slightly and uttered a single word.
The cultivator who had just leaped onto the arena suddenly collapsed to his knees in the center of the arena.
Before the man could struggle to his feet, a heavy hammer appeared in Li Shoumo's palm. She leaped forward and swung the hammer down at the cultivator!
With a crisp "crack," the sound of bones breaking was extremely clear. The cultivator only had time to let out a miserable scream before collapsing to the ground like a limp rag.
Li Shoumo's attacks were far more ruthless than Bai Ye's. Her face was cold and her eyes were calm. With each blow, someone's bones were shattered, and screams of agony echoed throughout the room.
The cultivators in the stands, who had been eager to make a move, gradually changed their expressions. They realized that the people from the Wilderness State seemed to be a real threat.
While Bai Ye was recovering from her meditation, Bai Shu ordered someone to pack a bunch of food from the restaurant. When Bai Ye woke up from her meditation, the group of them had already set up a banquet on the stands.
The other geniuses followed suit, ordering their men to order food from the restaurant and bring it back. The aroma of food immediately filled the battlefield in the sky.
Above the clouds, Jiao Jiao swallowed hard and said with envy, "Sister Zhong, I also want to go down and play with everyone. I haven't seen A Yu and the others for so long. I miss them so much."
Zhong Jiuli had wanted to go down for a long time. She and Jiaojiao were enjoying the cold wind in the sky, while that stinky tiger was having a great time.
She was surrounded by a group of older sisters and younger sisters, one pouring her wine, another feeding her meat, as if afraid she wouldn't have enough to eat and wouldn't have the strength to fight later.
The group ate, drank, chatted, and laughed. Occasionally, when they saw Li Shoumo defeat his opponent, they would clap and cheer happily. If you didn't know better, you would really think that they were there to watch a big show.
That's too arrogant! Zhong Jiuli was furious. Years had passed since they last met, and she had worried about him day and night. This heartless guy, however, didn't seem to miss her at all.
"Does Jiaojiao really want to go find Yezai?" Zhong Jiuli asked again to confirm.
Jiaojiao nodded vigorously, her little eyes sparkling as she looked at the lively crowd below. "I want to! I want to go eat, and I also want to play with Yezai and Xiaxia."
Zhong Jiuli seemed to have finally found a reason: it was Jiaojiao who wanted to go to find Bai Ye, not her; she was just accompanying Jiaojiao.
She nodded and said, "Okay, let's go find that jerk."
The moment she finished speaking, her body shimmered with spiritual light, transforming into the form of Huo Lan, and she descended from the sky with Jiao Jiao, landing beside Bai Ye.
Bai was engrossed in her meal when she suddenly noticed that everyone at the table was looking behind her. Following their gaze, she saw a familiar figure, and her eyes instantly filled with surprise and delight.
She jumped to her feet, reaching out with her two greasy hands to hug him. "Why are you here?"
Zhong Jiuli snorted softly, deliberately turning her face away, not wanting to look at her or let her hug her.
"Hey kid, I'm here too! I'm here too!" Jiao Jiao jumped up and down anxiously on Zhong Jiuli's shoulder, trying to make her presence known.
"Yeah, I saw it, I saw it." Bai grinned from ear to ear, grabbed Jiao Jiao and tossed her to Lin Xia. "Xia Xia, quickly feed your Jiao Jiao some meat. She must have come for all this food. Her mouth is watering."
Lin Xia caught Jiao Jiao quickly and held her in her hands, saying, "Okay, Da Bai."
With Jiaojiao's fuss gone, Bai leaned close to Zhong Jiuli's ear and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Why are you ignoring me? Are you angry?"
"After I entered the back mountain, I got trapped and only got out a while ago. I wanted to go find you as soon as possible, but as soon as I arrived in Sanqing City, I encountered Li Chengfeng and the others being suppressed by cultivators from various states, which delayed me a bit. I really wanted to go find you as soon as possible."
"Please don't ignore me, okay?"
"I'm not angry," Zhong Jiuli said, her eyes lowered, her words contradicting her true feelings.
Bai tilted his head and leaned closer, carefully studying her expression. "Really? You're not just saying that, are you?"
"Of course, don't get so close to me, your mother is watching." Zhong Jiuli's ears turned slightly red, she glared at her, and pushed the fluffy head away.
"Okay, if you say you're not angry, then you're not angry."
She pulled Zhong Jiuli to sit down at the table and excitedly introduced them, "Do you remember them? They were my childhood playmates, Ayu, Dayue, and Ahua! Now they're all Golden Core cultivators, aren't they amazing?"
Her tone was full of pride, and the people she named blushed a little.
Zhong Jiuli smiled, her eyes flickered, and she nodded slightly to A Yu and the others, her voice gentle: "When we met back then, you were all very young, so you may not remember me, but we have indeed met before."
Ayu looked at Zhong Jiuli with some doubt. She felt that if she had ever seen such a beautiful older sister, she would never forget her.
In my memory, the young clan leader did bring back a beautiful older sister, but she didn't seem to look like this. However, it's possible that she was too young at the time and her memory was inaccurate.
After chatting with the others for a few moments, Zhong Jiuli turned to Bai Shu and nodded, saying, "Clan Chief Bai, how have you been lately?"
Bai Shu laughed heartily, "I'm fine. But you, senior, still look as dashing as ever."
While they were chatting and laughing, Li Shoumo in the center of the arena gradually showed signs of fatigue, and his attacks were no longer as fierce as before.
Seeing this, Li Chengfeng flew into the arena and took Li Shoumo's place. She swung her longsword and said loudly, "Li Chengfeng of the Heavenly Sword Sect, please enlighten me, fellow Daoist of Sword State."
This direct naming of names immediately drew a group of cultivators from Jianzhou who rushed to squeeze onto the arena.
The battle between sword cultivators was extremely fierce. The arena instantly transformed into a world crisscrossed with sword energy, and the sounds of metal clashing were incessant.
Bai, who was in the stands, had finished eating. She cleaned her paws and, while everyone was focused on watching the game, quietly pulled Zhong Jiuli to a secluded corner at the edge of the stands.
There was a pillar here that happened to be blocking the view, creating a secluded little world.
Bai also pulled her into his arms, rested his chin on Zhong Jiuli's shoulder, inhaled her familiar fragrance, and sighed contentedly.
Zhong Jiuli relaxed her body, pressing her cheek against Bai Ye's neck, gently rubbing against him, feeling their heartbeats gradually aligning, enjoying the intimacy after their long-awaited reunion.
“When I entered the city, I met an interesting waiter,” Bai whispered, his voice close to her slightly reddened earlobe. “She seemed to admire you quite a bit.”
The warm breath that followed the words made Zhong Jiuli's ears burn completely, and even her neck flushed a light red. She hummed softly and asked, "And then?"
"And then, she said you love Sanqing cake the most!" Bai also chuckled as she recounted the scene from that day. "I said, the person you love the most is me."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Jiuli turned her head and glared at her, "All you do is spout nonsense outside."
Bai hugged her even tighter. "Don't you want to know what she said?"
Without thinking, Zhong Jiuli said, "They must have given you a good scolding."
"You guessed right, haha." Bai laughed heartily. "What does this mean? It means that our Sect Leader Zhong is deeply loved by the people. Even the tea vendor on the street is devoted to you."
Zhong Jiuli ignored her teasing and patted Bai Ye's shoulder, signaling her to loosen her grip.
Bai understood, let go of her hand, and asked with her eyes, "What's wrong?"
"It's your turn. Li Chengfeng is about to give up," Zhong Jiuli reminded him.
Bai also turned his head to look at the arena and saw that amidst the crisscrossing sword lights, the Jianzhou cultivators' attacks were extremely fierce. Every sword strike left a clear sword mark on the arena, forcing Li Chengfeng to retreat step by step.
"I'll hug you after I'm done fighting." Bai said, then quickly pecked her on the corner of her lips. Before Zhong Jiuli could react, she had already leaped into the arena with a beaming smile, raising her sword to block the attack of the Jianzhou cultivator.
Seeing Bai also arrive, Li Chengfeng withdrew his sword and retreated. As he brushed past her, he left her with the words "It's up to you" before leaping onto the stands.
Bai nodded, then slashed down with his sword, the blade carrying immense force. The swordsman opposite him staggered backward under the force, and before he could regain his footing, Bai struck again with his sword.
The sword energy surged, and the sword cultivator didn't even have time to parry before being blasted backward by the sword energy. If he hadn't blocked it with his sword at the last moment, he would probably have been cut in half at the waist.
Bai Ye lowered his sword tip slightly, resting it diagonally on the ground. He raised his eyes and swept them over the top few on the genius list, asking loudly, "Gentlemen, have you had enough of the show? If you don't step up now, I'll really think you're a bunch of cowards."
The geniuses whose gaze fell upon her stiffened, exchanging glances. In an instant, the young geniuses reached a tacit understanding: it was time to curb Bai Ye's arrogance.
If no one suppresses Bai Ye's brilliance, her momentum will only grow stronger. At that time, this year's Genius Battle will surely become her stage alone! And the other geniuses will only become stepping stones to highlight her.
"I'll go!" A cold shout came from the stands, and a male cultivator dressed in a black robe with eerie green eyes leaped into the air and landed in front of Bai Ye.
"Youzhou, Yuguimen, Guixuan."
Bai raised an eyebrow, his mind quickly flashing back to the booklet he had just read, and chuckled, "Fourth on the Genius Ranking? Finally, someone who can fight has arrived."
Gui Xuan's gaze was fixed on Bai Ye, and he smiled sinisterly: "You are quite good, qualified to become my ghost servant."
"Alright, enough with the nonsense." Bai waved his hand to interrupt the other party. "Let's just get down to business. All this fuss about racking your brains to spout threats is more tiring than actually fighting."
"As expected, arrogant." Gui Xuan shouted in a low voice, and a pitch-black soul banner appeared in his hand. The soul banner moved without wind, black mist surged, and countless twisted ghosts struggled to break free from the soul banner.
A chilling aura instantly enveloped the entire arena, sending shivers down the spines of even the spectators in the stands, raising goosebumps all over their bodies.
Bai Ye, who was in the center of the arena, was instantly surrounded by countless ferocious ghost shadows. Pale ghost claws and green-glowing eyes grabbed at her with gusts of cold wind.
"How creepy, I don't like it." Bai frowned and muttered, his voice filled with disdain.
For Bai Ye, who is afraid to watch horror movies alone, these menacing ghosts were indeed quite repulsive to her.
"I'd better just kill you quickly." Bai muttered, and the black heavy sword in his hand was instantly covered with a layer of dazzling golden flames.
The raging flames are extremely powerful and yang, like a melting sun, carrying the magnificent divine power to burn everything in the world.
She swung her sword horizontally, and the blade, imbued with the true fire of the sun, melted upon contact with the ghosts as easily as a hot knife through butter.
Bai Ye's swordplay was expansive and powerful; with each strike, a large number of ghostly figures vanished, seemingly effortlessly.
"I really underestimated you." Gui Xuan's voice seemed to be close to Bai Ye's back, or as if it came from all directions, with a terrifying echo.
"I'm growing to like you more and more. If I can refine you into a ghost servant, the top spot in this competition will surely be mine."
The moment the voice rang out, Bai spun around and swung his sword without hesitation. The heavy sword, imbued with the true fire of the sun, tore through the black mist, shattering only a twisted ghostly shadow.
"Strange, why can't I find him?" Bai muttered to herself. She had been using her Golden Eyes of Truth since earlier, trying to find Gui Xuan's true form in this ghostly realm.
Strangely, even though he could clearly sense that the other person was right beside him, he couldn't find Gui Xuan anywhere.
"You've even mastered the Golden Eyes of Illusion; no wonder you beat Zhang Daoquan so badly." Gui Xuan spoke again, this time from her left, as if someone was talking on her shoulder.
Without a second thought, Bai swung his sword backhand, the True Fire of the Sun dispelling the ghostly aura and briefly revealing a corner of the stands, but still failed to touch Gui Xuan in the slightest.
"This is a bit annoying." Bai Ye's voice revealed a hint of impatience. "How afraid of death are you guys? Why do you all cultivate these sneaky and secretive techniques?"
"Want to die faster? Then I'll grant your wish."
Countless ghostly voices rang out around the arena. In that instant, a strong sense of crisis swept over him. Bai relied entirely on his fighting instincts to twist his waist and block, and the heavy sword barely managed to block the back of his heart.
With a "sizzle," the sound of sharp claws scratching metal rang out, and the flying sparks illuminated the small area, as well as Gui Xuan's eerie green eyes.
Having missed his target, Gui Xuan's figure vanished into the black mist once more.
Bai Ye looked in the direction where Gui Xuan had disappeared, a flash of understanding appearing in her eyes. She sheathed her sword, and the next moment, a large golden star appeared in her palm. Without hesitation, she slapped the star onto her back.
"boom!"
The purest and most yang solar fire erupted instantly, like a miniature sun exploding on her body! The raging golden flames swept over her entire body.
If the spectators could see the scene in the arena, they would only assume that Bai had also been bewitched by the overwhelming ghostly energy and had begun to attack himself.
Until, a heart-wrenching scream rang out from behind.
Under the scorching heat of the true fire of the sun, Gui Xuan had no choice but to withdraw from Bai Ye's figure. His whole body was surrounded by inextinguishable golden flames, and streams of black energy surged from his body.
"How...how did you find me?" Gui Xuan's voice was full of disbelief.
Bai was too lazy to answer such a boring question. How was she supposed to answer? Should she say that she had seen it in a movie when she was a child and that's how she guessed it?
Even if you explain, the other person won't understand!
She flashed forward, her golden-flaming hand gripping Gui Xuan's throat, while her other hand lashed out with a punch.
Under the scorching heat of the sun's true fire, the ghostly energy surrounding Gui Xuan surged forth.
"Are you admitting defeat?" Bai asked calmly.
"How exactly did you find me?" Gui Xuan asked, struggling. His Ghost Realm had never failed him, and even Bai Ye's Golden Eyes of Truth had not been able to find him.
"Give up?" Bai threw another punch.
"Uh... how exactly did you find me?"
"Bang~ Are you giving up?"
“Uh…” Gui Xuan groaned. He was unwilling to give up. If no one could see through the Ghost Realm so easily, how could the Ghost Control Sect maintain its foothold in the Nine Provinces?
The spectators outside the arena were extremely anxious. The thick ghostly aura blocked their vision and senses. They could only hear the muffled booming sounds and faint wails coming from within the ghostly aura, but they could not see anything.
After a long time, the chilling ghostly aura finally began to dissipate.
Only then did everyone realize that the arrogant young master of the Ghost Gate, who had just been so cocky and boasted that he would turn Bai into a ghost servant, was now slumped on the ground like a piece of scrap paper that had been violently torn apart. His ghostly aura had almost completely dissipated, and his aura had weakened to the extreme.
It seems unlikely that he will recover anytime soon. His chances of participating in this year's talent competition are completely over.
The culprit, Bai, stood calmly in the center of the ring, idly swinging his wrists as if he were stretching and relaxing after exercising.
The gazes of all the geniuses fixed on Bai Ye had become much more serious. To be honest, everyone had essentially watched a lonely match, because they couldn't see anything at all.
Regardless of whether the fight was visible or not, Bai's ability to so easily defeat Gui Xuan, who was ranked fourth, was enough to prove her strength.
Is Gui Xuan weak? No, quite the opposite, Gui Xuan is terrifyingly strong. The methods of the Ghost Control Sect are extremely unpredictable, and no one who has ever fought against him has ever survived.
Bai is currently the only survivor, and he is the one who defeated Gui Xuan.
In the midst of this silence, the area where the cultivators of the Wilderness State resided erupted once again into a thunderous roar of cheers. They didn't care who their opponent was; all they needed to know was that Bai had defeated the fourth-ranked genius on the genius list.
Just then, an old man dressed in black robes rushed onto the arena with a ferocious expression: "Young man, your attack is so ruthless, I cannot let you live today!"
Before anyone could react to what was happening, they saw a withered, ghostly claw aimed straight for Bai Ye's throat.
Just as the ghostly claw was about to pierce Bai Ye's throat, a crimson feather slowly drifted down from the sky.
It is light and slow, like a real feather, drifting down in the wind.
The ghost claw was as fast as lightning, while the feathers drifted slowly in the wind. Logically speaking, the ghost claw would arrive first.
But that crimson feather seemed to influence time and space; despite its slow speed, it arrived in front of Bai Ye at the same time as the ghost claw.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded.
The feather easily pierced the ghostly claw, its momentum undiminished, and pinned the claw to the arena.
The old man from the Ghost Gate was dragged to the ground, kneeling in an extremely disheveled position, facing Bai Ye in the center of the arena.
Bai seemed to have just come to his senses when he looked at the old man in front of him, grinning his small white teeth, and said without any mercy, "Hmm? You're giving such a grand greeting right away? There's still some time before the New Year, this filial piety comes a bit too early, I didn't prepare any red envelopes!"
"You!!!" The old man's wrinkled face instantly turned purplish-red, veins bulged on his forehead, and black smoke was billowing from his body, making it look like he was about to turn evil at any moment.
He struggled desperately to get up, but the seemingly fragile feather was like a stabilizing force, pinning his hand and his entire body to the ground, rendering him unable to move.
"Why can't you people just behave yourselves?" Liu Xianyue's voice came from the battlefield in the sky.
Dressed in red, she descended from the sky like a burning flame. As she landed, the sole of her shoe happened to step on the old man's injured hand.
She leaned down slightly, looking down at the disheveled old man at her feet, her eyes devoid of any warmth: "Do you insist on breaking the rules because you think my words, Liu Xianyue, are insignificant, or do you simply not take the Sanqing Sect seriously?"
"Lord Liu! I did not mean to..." The old man, enduring the excruciating pain, hurriedly opened his mouth to explain.
Liu Xianyue waved her hand, interrupting him, "I know what you want to say. You want to say that you didn't do it on purpose, that you hurt your young master because of this little white-haired guy, and that you were so eager to protect him that you lost your temper and acted rashly, right?"
As she spoke, she walked slowly around the arena, her sharp gaze sweeping over every cultivator in the stands. After circling the arena once, she stopped again beside the old man.
"Then let me ask you, if the person who defeated Gui Xuan today was not this little white-haired guy who appeared out of nowhere, but Bai Qingji, the young master of the Bai family who is famous throughout the Nine Provinces."
"Do you still dare to jump onto the ring and kill without distinguishing right from wrong?"
She raised her voice, unleashing the full pressure of a high-level cultivator: "Answer me!"
The old man trembled, his lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
How could he possibly dare?
Unless someone's brain is slammed in a door, who would dare to provoke the Bai family?
The answer is obvious to everyone. Even if a rogue cultivator from a desolate state with no foundation is a genius, killing him is no big deal. Who would bother with a force like the Ghost Control Sect for the sake of a dead man?
In this land of Kyushu, countless young geniuses perish every year. Only those who truly grow up and stand at the pinnacle of cultivation are worthy of being looked up to by all.
As for those projects that fail midway, they will only become topics of conversation for others at the dinner table later on.
Liu Xianyue didn't need the old man's answer either. She snorted coldly and casually flicked her toe, kicking the man off the stage.
At the same time, her voice echoed throughout every corner of Sanqing City: "The Youzhou Yugui Sect has violated the rules of the arena, launched unauthorized attacks on the contestants fighting on the arena, and shown contempt for the laws of the Sanqing Sect. All members of the sect are hereby expelled from the Sky Battlefield as a warning to others."
As Liu Xianyue finished speaking, the cultivators of the Ghost Control Sect fell from the sky battlefield like dumplings being dropped into a pot, including the young master who had been beaten half to death.
At the Sword King Valley headquarters, the protector who had been reprimanded by Liu Xianyue looked up at this scene, a gloating smile slowly creeping onto his lips.
At the very least, it's not just the people of Sword King Valley who have become a laughingstock now.
On the battlefield in the sky, Liu Xianyue finished teaching her a lesson and once again drifted away, leaving Bai Ye alone standing in the center of the arena.
She looked around the stands and called out, "Nobody wants to fight?"
The stands were silent, the atmosphere slightly awkward. It wasn't that they didn't want to play, but rather that they had some concerns.
Go down to challenge him. If he loses, he will lose face. If he wins, the chances of winning are slim. Even Gui Xuan, who is ranked fourth, has no chance against Bai Ye. The top three on the genius list don't even bother to participate in this kind of arena competition.
"Xiaxia." Bai waved towards the stands. "Drop that roster down, I'll take attendance."
"Catch!" Lin Xia grabbed the booklet and threw it forcefully. The booklet, which contained information on the top 100 experts on this year's genius list, flew into the arena in full view of everyone.
For a moment, many of the geniuses on stage turned pale. The booklet that had once brought them glory now made them wish their names had never appeared on it.
Bai also took the booklet, casually flipped to a page, and read aloud, "Southern Xinjiang Prefecture, Duan Qing? So, friends from Southern Xinjiang Prefecture, shall we fight?"
"Fight! Of course we have to fight!" Ayu and the others immediately responded loudly from the stands, "Fight until they admit defeat."
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Author's Note: [Hugs][Hugs] I'll post more after the next chapter.
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