Chapter Eighty-Nine: A Different Approach

Eleven people stood shoulder to shoulder upon the arena.

Seven or eight of the cultivators wore fierce, murderous expressions, their bodies still smeared with blood.

Su Yizhao lifted his head to the luminous screen; the names upon it had already grown sparse.

On the top line, the five favorites for the title remained unchanged, even in their order.

Suddenly, Su Yizhao noticed that Lu Yongxin beside him was breathing rather heavily.

A sidelong glance showed him staring fixedly at the screen.

Clearly, he was deeply displeased that his name had been placed last among the title favorites.

Su Yizhao, by contrast, did not care at all. He was perfectly calm.

Even if his name had been placed at the very end of the entire screen, he would have thought nothing of it.

After all, in the end, everything would be decided by strength.

He looked toward the middle-aged cultivator.

In the third round, surely he would not be given a bye again.

Then, all of a sudden, the middle-aged cultivator descended onto the arena and stood before them.

"For the third round, we will use a different method!"

As soon as the words fell, cultivators both on and off the platform began to murmur among themselves.

Every year at the grand competition, it had always been this way: the crowd could supervise and witness the proceedings, and at the same time see with their own eyes the cultivator they had wagered on seize first place. Such a spectacle was truly exhilarating.

Why change the method this year?

The middle-aged cultivator offered no explanation, waiting in silence.

After four or five breaths, the discussion gradually died away.

As the supervising cultivator stationed by the Heavenly Mystery Sect, his words largely represented the Heavenly Mystery Sect itself.

The largest sect on the entire continent, the very origin of all cultivators upon it.

Merely thinking of it was enough to inspire fear. Who would dare show disrespect?

Moreover, none could challenge the cultivation level he had revealed.

The middle-aged cultivator swept his gaze across the platform below. "Whether dead or defeated, any name that vanishes from this screen will be counted as eliminated. The Heavenly Mystery Sect has always been fair. You need not worry."

Below the platform, Han Anning glanced sidelong at Gou Jiancheng and asked in a low voice, "Did you know about this?"

Gou Jiancheng looked toward the platform and slowly shook his head.

Han Anning's expression gradually turned ugly.

In Back Mountain City, Gou Jiancheng was unquestionably a top figure, whether in status, standing, or strength.

And yet now, even he did not know?

On the arena, the middle-aged cultivator said to Su Yizhao and the others, "My name is Ouyang Xuan. In Back Mountain City, you may count as promising young talents."

Everyone's breathing involuntarily tightened.

"But with this level of strength, let alone in Vast City, even in Yellow Dragon Prefecture City, it amounts to nothing."

Ouyang Xuan's face remained expressionless.

"As the supervising cultivator for Back Mountain City, in these past twenty years, there have been only a handful who rose from the competition to Yellow Dragon Prefecture City, and not a single one who became an elite disciple of the Heavenly Mystery Sect."

Up and down the platform, hundreds of thousands of cultivators listened in silence.

This time, not a trace of discussion arose.

After all, this was the truth.

Ouyang Xuan continued, "In every duel, there should be some improvement. Only after constant accumulation can there be a sudden burst of power. But your strength is uneven, and your opponents are too weak to serve any real purpose."

Su Yizhao and the others grew solemn.

"Follow me. I will take you to find a true fight to the death."

Having spoken, Ouyang Xuan turned and flew into the sky.

Su Yizhao and the others did not dare hesitate. They rose at once and followed closely behind.

Below, Gou Jiancheng seemed to catch something in those words, and his entire body shook.

Han Anning asked in a low voice, "What is it?"

Gou Jiancheng said, "A true fight to the death."

Han Anning suddenly recalled something, and his expression darkened further.

In the sky, Ouyang Xuan did not fly quickly.

Su Yizhao trailed behind the others, his spiritual sense sweeping repeatedly across the surroundings.

They passed through Back Mountain City and headed toward the outskirts.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ouyang Xuan stopped, and the others gathered around.

Pointing downward, Ouyang Xuan said, "There is an estate below. Go down and kill every cultivator inside."

Everyone froze at once.

Kill every cultivator?

Without cause?

Su Yizhao's heart stirred, and he asked, "Senior, do these cultivators have committed crimes?"

As an enforcement disciple, he naturally understood many unspoken rules.

Whether guilty or not was not the key point; what mattered was that there had to be guilt on the surface.

Ouyang Xuan replied, "They have already betrayed the human cultivators. They deserve death. Go. I will record your merits here. The top three will determine the final result of this competition."

A chill flashed in Su Yizhao's eyes.

Demonic cultivators.

Everyone in that estate had already been bought by demonic cultivators.

Suddenly, a figure moved, and Lu Yongxin was the first to rush toward the estate.

Seeing this, the other cultivators no longer hesitated and all descended in turn.

Su Yizhao did not dare think further and plunged down instantly as well.

"Which fellow daoist is this?"

Within the estate, cultivators had already noticed their landing and cried out.

In answer, a thousand streaks of sword light descended upon them.

"Poof! Poof...!"

Four or five cultivators struck together; before the man in the estate could even react, he had already been torn into minced flesh.

The estate was vast, and figures flew out from all directions.

In an instant, the two sides were entangled in vicious slaughter.

Since Su Yizhao knew these were either demonic cultivators or cultivators bought by them, he showed no mercy either.

He summoned eight flying swords and softly intoned, "Heavenly Sword Art."

At once, the eight flying swords transformed into myriad rays of golden light and shot toward the cultivators erupting from all around.

With the flying swords paving the way, he clasped his hands behind his back and walked through the air at an unhurried pace, as though strolling in a garden.

"Poof! Poof...!"

Golden light filled the sky. In the span of a breath, four or five charging cultivators had already turned into a rain of flesh and blood.

The cultivators flying out from the estate were not of high cultivation, at most only at the early stage of the Six Spirits Realm.

As for the eleven of them, they were the cream of the crop in all of Back Mountain City. How could those cultivators possibly be their match?

In a little over ten breaths, the estate had returned to stillness.

The eleven landed inside the estate, each of them full of killing intent.

Huang Qizheng swept his gaze over the others and said, "This is not a true fight to the death."

Kong Buming lowered his head to study the talisman in his hand and added, "So the senior is not referring to these people."

"Find them." Lu Yongxin was terse, his words few and sharp. Before his last syllable had faded, he had already rushed into the main courtyard.

Su Yizhao and the others did not hesitate either. They scattered in all directions and charged toward the various courtyards.

Su Yizhao burst into the courtyard on the left, and everything within it came fully into view.

He withdrew his spiritual sense and searched inch by inch.

The eight flying swords became eight streaks of golden light, whirling rapidly between the fingers of his right hand.

Suddenly, one streak of gold shot toward the corner of a wall.

With a soft sound, the golden light pierced through the wall.

The wall was hollow.

Su Yizhao swept his right hand across it, and seven rays of golden light shot out.

The wall was instantly riddled like a honeycomb.

He shook his head. Though hollow, it was only a small concealed cabinet.

The eight streaks of golden light flew back, and his spiritual sense continued its search.

Just then, a shout came from outside: "Here!"

Su Yizhao's figure flashed, and he vanished from the spot in an instant.

Following the sound, he found Lu Yongxin standing by a pool, his face somewhat unsightly.

After a breath, all the cultivators had arrived.

Lu Yongxin pointed at the pool.

The others swept their spiritual sense into it, and their expressions changed drastically at once.

It was indeed a pool, but their spiritual sense could sink only a little more than three meters before rebounding back.

"There really is something strange here!" Kong Buming grabbed a handful of talismans in both hands...