"So what if it's the Eastern Wilderness Academy? This is the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty."
A domineering and angry voice rang out, and a long, purple dragon appeared behind the man. Five true acupoints of purple light flowed around the man's body, and as he waved his folding fan, bursts of purple electricity flashed.
"Six-Star Martial Spirit, Purple-Scaled Lightning Dragon!"
"It seems my fifth brother has clashed with the people from the Eastern Wilderness Academy."
Seeing that some people in the crowd had already started to make their moves, Xia Yue's voice rang out leisurely.
Qin Xin looked at Xia Ming's martial spirit not far away and felt that it was somewhat similar to Xia Qi's. However, Xia Qi's martial spirit was obviously stronger. Moreover, Xia Ming was only at the fifth level of the Aperture Opening Realm, while Xia Qi had already reached the seventh level of the Aperture Opening Realm.
"boom!"
The battle has already begun.
Qin Xin was also very familiar with the person Xia Ming was facing; it was Jiang Xinghai.
At this moment, Jiang Xinghai, with a light touch of one hand, caused the five true acupoints around his body to suddenly flow with true energy. It looked somewhat unrestrained, and his whole person had a sense of Taoist immortality, which was very different from his usual appearance. The surging true energy also had a bit of a fierce aura.
A brown longsword seemed to fall from the starry sky, leaving a trail in the air before hovering in mid-air in front of Jiang Xinghai. The moment he grasped the hilt, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"Six-Star Martial Spirit, Heavenly Star Sword!"
"Jiang Xuechang seems to have a better chance of winning."
Xia Yue had great confidence in Jiang Xinghai. Among the students in the outer academy of Donghuang Academy, those who could be ranked on the Hidden Dragon List were all extremely talented. Moreover, Jiang Xinghai had been able to occupy the top ten of the Hidden Dragon List for many years, and his strength was even stronger than that of ordinary martial artists at the fifth level of the Opening Acupoint Realm.
The longsword and the purple dragon only clashed tentatively, neither revealing their true strength.
Upon discovering that Xia Yue and the others had arrived, Xia Ming did not continue to linger and quickly retreated into the group.
As Qin Xin approached, he discovered that only Jiang Xinghai and Sanjie were present at the Eastern Wilderness Academy. Shi Shan and Lin Jinglei were nowhere to be found, and Ba Dao, who had always been by the Fifth Prince's side, was also absent.
"Where are Shi Shan and Lin Jinglei?" Xia Yue asked.
"Shishan and Badao were fighting over a shield artifact, and we don't know where they went. As for Lin Jinglei, he took the artifact that the three of us got together and ran away."
Sanjie said somewhat angrily, expressing his dissatisfaction with Lin Jinglei's decision to abandon his teammates and take away the spiritual artifact that the three of them had obtained together.
Upon seeing Zhan Qingqi's arrival, Jiang Xinghai's imposing aura vanished instantly, and he approached her with some concern.
"Qingqi, it's good that you're alright. I was so worried about you. If it weren't for this Fifth Prince bothering me, I would have gone to find you long ago." Jiang Xinghai stared at Zhan Qingqi nervously and kept explaining.
"I'm nobody to you, just take care of yourself!" Zhan Qingqi replied coldly.
Seeing this, Qin Xin shook his head, feeling a strange pang of sympathy for Jiang Xinghai. But then again, it was clear that Zhan Qingqi had rejected him, and it was Jiang Xinghai who was just relentlessly pursuing her, which only made the girl feel disgusted.
However, just as Qin Xin arrived, several members of the Ruan clan whispered a few words to Xia Ming.
"Fifth Prince, this is the one who stole our magical artifacts!"
Those members of the Ruan clan pointed directly at Qin Xin, who had obtained a spiritual weapon in the main hall of the weapon-refining pool, and said sternly.
"You must be Qin Xin. Hand over the magical artifact you obtained."
Xia Ming, as if he had planned this with the others, arrogantly stared at Qin Xin standing behind the three women. In his eyes, Qin Xin was merely a martial artist who hadn't even reached the Opening Acupoint Realm, and would surely offer up his spiritual weapon directly.
"Oh? Take it away?" Qin Xin sneered. "You are all martial artists at the Qi Opening Realm. How could I possibly take it away from you?"
"Stop making excuses! We saw that magical artifact first and were going to present it to the Fifth Prince, but you managed to snatch it away!"
Those members of the Ruan clan, seemingly with reason and evidence, pointed directly at Qin Xin and spoke.
"How interesting. Just because you see it doesn't mean it's yours," Qin Xin said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Fifth Brother, that's going a bit too far."
Xia Yue could easily see through Xia Ming's thoughts; he was merely making excuses to try and take the spiritual weapon from Qin Xin. So she directly retorted, "I also have a spiritual weapon that I obtained in the Refining Pool Hall. Could it also belong to Fifth Brother?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Ming's face showed displeasure, as if he was somewhat wary of Xia Yue.
"Little sister, what are you saying? How could Fifth Brother steal your things?"
Xia Ming abruptly changed his tone, his expression shifting faster than a woman's, though his gaze towards Qin Xin carried a hint of coldness.
"Let's go, let's enter the Luoshen Palace."
Xia Yue ignored Xia Ming and instead led the group from the Eastern Wilderness Academy, along with Luo Lingyan, into the Luo Shen Palace.
Just after the figures disappeared, Xia Ming murmured something.
"Hmph, once you join the Ruan clan, you'll be nothing but my plaything!"
A cold glint flashed in Xia Ming's eyes as he stared intently at the three women's backs, a lewd smile on his face, and he followed them inside.
~~~~~~
The environment inside the Luoshen Palace is completely different from the outside world. It does not seem to have become dilapidated due to the passage of time, but rather reveals a trace of the vicissitudes of time.
A long set of bluestone steps appears to float in mid-air, giving it a mysterious feel. There are a hundred steps in total, and at the very top of the steps, one can vaguely see an ancient palace floating in the void.
Around the ancient hall stood human-shaped statues, each with an aura that seemed to pierce the clouds. Qin Xin only glanced at them before feeling his blood surge.
"Those statues should be the former leaders of the Luoshen Sect. There will be some martial arts will remaining on them. Don't look at them for too long, or it will hurt your mind!" Xia Yue reminded her.
Qin Xin and the others quickly looked away, but when Qin Xin glanced forward and saw Luo Lingyan, whose delicate face was faintly visible as the palace breeze blew and her veil fluttered, he couldn't help but be a little surprised.
At this moment, Luo Lingyan was examining the statues, seemingly unaffected by their martial arts will. Her clear eyes revealed a look of joy, as if she had gained something from these statues.
"Since the founding of the Luoshen Sect, only three disciples have been able to climb over the hundred steps. These people are all individuals whose talents are unparalleled in the Tianxuan Continent."
As Xia Yue spoke, she felt a sense of longing, but her eyes also held a hint of resentment. This resentment might stem from her being born into an imperial family, where she was often powerless to change her own destiny.
The group was getting restless and wanted to see how many steps they could climb on the bluestone steps.
"I'll give it a try first!"
Without any hesitation, Sanjie stepped onto the blue stone steps as soon as he finished speaking.
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