The two looked at each other in silence.
Finally, Yu Qingyao spoke to break the silence. “Can you stop staring at me like that? It’s disgusting.”
Bai Zhiqiu’s beautiful, large eyes crinkled into crescents as she laughed. “Oh, come now! I’m just trying to express my gratitude!”
“You bet on me to win?” The moment Yu Qingyao heard those words, she knew exactly what Bai Zhiqiu had done.
“Oh! Fellow Daoist Yu has a good head on her shoulders! You guessed it in one!”
‘Tch. Little Yan, don’t you think the two of them are quite similar?’
Wu Yan stood to the side, watching the scene unfold while Wu Yan (Inner)’s complaints rang in her mind.
‘One is a firecracker, the other is thick-skinned. Unlike this venerable one, who is naturally beautiful and exceptionally brilliant.’
As Wu Yan (Inner) spoke, she almost couldn’t resist the urge to find a mirror to admire herself. In truth, she was quite similar to the two women she was mocking.
“Senior Sister.”
Hearing Yu Qingyao call her name, Wu Yan immediately snapped back to reality.
“What is it, Qingyao?”
“How was my performance?”
For some reason, when Yu Qingyao asked this, Wu Yan felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It was like a little puppy that had just helped its master and was now wagging its tail, tongue out, desperate for praise.
“Very impressive. Whether it was the control of your spiritual power, the execution of your techniques, or other aspects, you’ve made significant progress compared to our time in the Secret Realm.”
Wu Yan was never stingy with her praise, especially when it could provide positive reinforcement. Besides, based on Yu Qingyao’s performance, she wasn’t exaggerating.
Yu Qingyao was clearly pleased by the compliment.
Sitting behind them, Xia Lingshuang, who had been watching the interaction between the three, also spoke up with a rare word of praise.
“Well said. Qingyao’s progress is indeed very significant.”
At this point in her previous life, Yu Qingyao had been nothing more than a sect disciple who had just stepped into the Foundation Establishment Stage with zero combat experience. She hadn’t expected that after experiencing so much in this life, Yu Qingyao would not only reach Foundation Establishment Peak but also achieve such great strides in combat. This was quite gratifying to her.
“Zhiqiu, come back!”
Not far from the Piaomiao Sect’s preparation area, an elder called out to Bai Zhiqiu across the distance.
“I have to go.” Bai Zhiqiu skipped away, not forgetting to turn back and shout at Wu Yan. “I’ll come see you again after I advance!”
“You should just stop bothering my Senior Sister!” Yu Qingyao immediately fired back.
Since there were very few contestants left, the matches for the Foundation Establishment Group ended at midday.
Among the seven who successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, one was a disciple from a second-rate sect who had received a bye, while the other five were all disciples from the Five Great Sects. Each sect had successfully sent one representative through.
In the afternoon, the knockout matches for the Golden Core Group officially began.
The first match was a heavyweight bout: Bai Zhiqiu versus Xue Rong, the Grand Disciple of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain.
Bai Zhiqiu continued her usual style in this battle, defeating her opponent with effortless ease.
As for the opponent Wu Yan encountered, things were a bit more dramatic.
“Greetings, Fellow Daoist Wu.”
The opponent’s face was completely hidden behind a thin veil, with only her eyes exposed. Those eyes appeared cold and clear, yet they seemed to draw one’s attention at every moment.
The person was none other than the Eldest Senior Sister of Queyue Palace, Xiao Lengyue, who had defeated Zhao Wuji the previous day.
“Please advise me.”
Wu Yan drew her sword, pointing it directly at Xiao Lengyue.
Since the opponent’s primary methods were mental attacks and illusions, as long as Wu Yan could close the distance, she would have a chance to end the fight in a single blow.
In an instant, a cold glint of light pointed toward the space between Xiao Lengyue’s eyebrows.
A flash of surprise crossed Xiao Lengyue’s calm eyes.
‘So fast!’
Her figure retreated rapidly while the moon disk beneath her feet spun. Moonlight Essence manifested out of thin air, parrying Wu Yan’s strike.
While retreating, Xiao Lengyue did not forget to activate her technique. Within nine breaths, four identical Xiao Lengyues appeared on the stage, attacking Wu Yan simultaneously.
Wu Yan’s gaze was piercing as her Divine Sense blanketed the entire arena.
“Piaomiao Sword Arts — Water Sever.”
She opened with a killing move. The sword chi she swung transformed into a thin line, accurately slashing toward the real body hidden among the illusions.
“How is this possible?” Xiao Lengyue couldn’t help but cry out in shock.
Her Mirror Flower, Water Moon Technique was practiced to perfection; even the elders within her sect couldn’t distinguish between her real and false bodies in such a short time. How could her opponent identify her so quickly?
To Wu Yan, these tricks were nothing more than child’s play.
Ever since Wu Yan took control of the body, everything she dealt with—the Soul-Nourishing Jade, the Sutra of Calming the Heart, the Soul Shaping Grass, and even the Soul Governance Art—was closely related to the soul and Divine Sense.
Although her cultivation was currently only at the Mid Golden Core stage, the strength of her Divine Sense far exceeded that. Even if her Soul Origin was somewhat incomplete, her soul’s strength continued to grow after practicing the Soul Governance Art.
Therefore, seeing through Xiao Lengyue’s Mirror Flower, Water Moon Technique was an easy task.
“Soul Fixing Technique!” Xiao Lengyue struck again.
However, Wu Yan only felt as if her soul had been lightly tickled by a feather.
Seeing that Wu Yan only paused for a brief moment after being hit before charging again, Xiao Lengyue felt her worldview being challenged.
How could her attack have no effect at all?
Based on her opponent’s Mid Golden Core soul strength, it should have been impossible to resist her Soul Fixing Technique! Where exactly did this Wu Yan from the Piaomiao Sect come from?
“Huh? Why does it feel like Fairy Xiao’s attacks aren’t doing anything to that Wu Yan?” a young man in the audience asked in confusion, holding up a support sign for Xiao Lengyue.
“Uh… maybe Fairy Xiao isn’t using her full strength yet?” His companion, who was around the same age and wore a headband with Xiao Lengyue’s name on it, looked equally puzzled.
“Fairy Xiao, keep going!”
“Use your ultimate move on her, if only for the sake of your fans!”
Following the lead of those two, more and more people in the audience joined the cheering section for Xiao Lengyue. The momentum was so grand that the cheers could be faintly heard even inside the soundproofing formation on the stage.
‘This woman has such a large following? Where did all these fans come from?’
Wu Yan (Inner) stared at the audience with wide eyes. She had never enjoyed such treatment. Even in her previous life when she was revered as the Supreme Being of the Demonic Path, the only ones who cheered for her were those brainless monsters from the Void Beyond the Heavens.
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it! This venerable one knew that Queyue Palace was no different from the Hehuan Sect! They’re all just seductive vixens!’
‘Little Yan, you must take her down!’
Under Wu Yan’s direction, Wu Nian had completely transformed into wind blades, surrounding Xiao Lengyue.
Xiao Lengyue tried every offensive method in her arsenal, but unfortunately, most of her attacks were mental ones, which were completely ineffective against Wu Yan.
Forced into a corner, she could only convert her spiritual power into Moonlight Essence to protect herself and block Wu Yan’s strikes.
Even with the Moonlight Essence protecting her, Wu Yan’s attacks were clearly superior. The density of the moonlight around her was dissipating at a rate visible to the naked eye.
“It’s over. If this keeps up, Fairy Xiao is really going to lose.”
“No way… it feels like Fairy Xiao still has some fuel left?”
Clink—
A crisp sound echoed across the stage.
The Moonlight Essence shield around Xiao Lengyue shattered. Wu Yan’s longsword was about to slash into her.
At that moment, a strange jade stone appeared in Xiao Lengyue’s hand. Simultaneously, a jade pattern identical to the one on the stone emerged in the pupil of her left eye.
“Heart-Inquiry Formation!“