The arena for the top one hundred was bustling with excitement, and the crowd gathered below was even larger than when she had fought Duan Rong the day before.
Li Yunxian was momentarily stunned.
Were all these people here to challenge the top one hundred?
With the Xuanwen Token in play, Li Yunxian had expected there would be many challengers for the top one hundred, but she hadn’t imagined so many would show up on the very first morning.
She took a moment to observe the crowd around her and quickly noticed that many in the audience didn’t seem interested in challenging at all.
Most of them were simply watching the experts battle, hoping to absorb some combat experience.
Judging by the crowd, only a handful of people in the very front were actually here to challenge.
With a few hundred people watching from below, Li Yunxian had initially thought that was a lot, but now, seeing only a few challengers, she felt that number was surprisingly small.
She reached out her hand again and grabbed a lucky bystander to ask a question.
When the person saw it was Li Yunxian, they also froze for a moment before answering honestly.
“It’s not like the Xuanwen Token is the only way to move up the rankings. The arena is definitely tougher—changes in the top one hundred don’t happen often, maybe only a little every few months.”
“There are still twenty days before the final cutoff for rankings. Even if you win and climb up now, you’ll be constantly challenged by others.”
“Most people find it annoying.”
“Actually, to be precise, normal people find it annoying.”
The man wasn’t sure if Li Yunxian counted as “normal,” so he chose a more diplomatic way of putting it.
“Right now, those who are eager to fight are all martial maniacs, people who really love brawling with others.”
Li Yunxian was surprised. “People can keep challenging you endlessly? There’s no limit?”
The man smiled bitterly. “You really don’t care about the arena at all, huh?”
“You just need to know that winning means you move up.” Li Yunxian’s knowledge was solid in many areas, but her way of thinking was still very direct, very much like a sword cultivator’s.
The man was speechless but, considering Li Yunxian’s skill level, he couldn’t say her understanding was wrong.
So he continued to explain: “Actually, only challengers within a hundred ranks require the person being challenged to accept at least one match every day—we cultivators can’t shy away from a fight.”
“Of course, if no one challenges you, then it doesn’t matter.”
“Challenges from people ranked too far below can be refused outright.”
“Many people enable the option to reject challenges from those beyond the hundred-rank difference to avoid harassment.”
“Also, when you challenge someone, if you win, you can keep challenging upward. If you lose, you can’t challenge anyone else that day, but you can accept challenges from others.”
The commentator was doing his best to recall the arena rules and explained each detail carefully.
Li Yunxian asked, “What about a higher-ranked person challenging a lower-ranked one? Is that allowed?”
The man’s eyes looked complicated as he regarded Li Yunxian.
He could hear a note of hopeful anticipation in her tone.
Still, he answered, “It’s allowed, but the lower-ranked person can set it to automatically reject any challenge from someone ranked higher.”
***
After hearing this, Li Yunxian pulled out her phone and checked her arena ranking.
- Li Yunxian, Qi Refining Third Layer
- Duan Rong, Qi Refining Eighth Layer
After defeating Duan Rong on the arena, she took over his original ranking, and Duan Rong had dropped one position.
She glanced at the challenge requests.
Not a single challenge message had come in.
Li Yunxian felt a pang of regret and couldn’t help but refresh the list to confirm it was really empty before sighing.
If Duan Rong didn’t step up his game, she’d have to fight her way up one hundred places, one by one.
She hoped Duan Rong would put in some effort and not be so inefficient.
The man explaining the rules saw Li Yunxian’s reaction and twitched his eyelids.
He too now regarded Li Yunxian as a martial maniac, expecting many challengers to come after her.
But no one challenging Li Yunxian was completely normal!
Anyone who knew how she had defeated Duan Rong wouldn’t casually send her a challenge.
Being ferocious like that was a common way to fend off challenge harassment.
He couldn’t help but emphasize to Li Yunxian an important arena rule: “In the arena, the fights must be limited to a warning. You can’t kill your opponent.”
“Ordinary external injuries are fine, but damaging the opponent’s cultivation foundation is strictly forbidden.”
Li Yunxian nodded. “I know that. Thanks for the reminder.”
Hearing her polite thanks, the commentator was pleasantly surprised.
Li Yunxian was much more courteous than he had expected.
She didn’t seem like the kind of person people imagined.
As Li Yunxian continued toward the arena, others gathered around him in small groups.
“Hey man, what did Li Yunxian want to talk to you about?”
He glanced at Li Yunxian’s figure and answered straightforwardly.
Among those asking, some became animated.
“I told you, if Li Yunxian would drop everything for a few calls to come face off with a Qi Refining Eighth Layer, then she definitely isn’t like Duan Rong!”
“You can’t judge by just the result—you have to see the process!”
“The result is that Duan Rong deserves it anyway!”
Everyone chattered excitedly, whether familiar or strangers, sharing gossip.
Duan Rong had been arrogant and overbearing for a long time, riding on the fact that his father was a Nascent Soul.
The crowd’s back-and-forth banter seemed endless and lively.
Suddenly, everyone felt a chilling aura sweep over them, and the chatter ceased immediately.
They all looked up toward the source of the cold presence and met Yu Juanshu’s gaze.
Everyone thought:
The dog of the Du family has arrived.
They subtly sneered and then nonchalantly dispersed.
Watching Yu Juanshu also head toward the deeper part of the top one hundred arena, only a few lingering people resumed whispering.
“He’s here to find Li Yunxian, right?”
“The news must have traveled fast, showing up right behind her like that.”
“Hmph, definitely a lackey trying to win favor with his master.”
Li Yunxian paid no attention to the commotion behind her.
Though her divine sense was present, with so many people coming and going, she simply couldn’t be bothered.
She focused completely on the ongoing match in the arena.
Currently, number 132 was challenging number 97, and Li Yunxian’s eyes gleamed with interest.
There was technique, strategy, and raw power on display.
After entering the Blood Pool, Li Yunxian had undergone a tempering that could be compared to the Foundation Establishment stage in terms of physical strength.
On the arena, these two fighters were just ordinary.
A Great Completion of Qi Refinement cultivator’s spiritual power was almost comparable to the middle Foundation Establishment level.
These two fighters could probably easily handle the Foundation Establishment Beasts they had faced during the Ba Shi Incident.
Everyone around the top hundred had that level of strength, but no one knew how powerful the number one on the arena leaderboard really was.
Could they already be able to have Qi Refining cultivators fight Golden Core True Persons?
Foundation Establishment and Golden Core were on completely different levels…
Li Yunxian had lived for thousands of years and had never actually seen a Qi Refining stage cultivator fight against a Golden Core.
Of course, someone like her, who had restarted their cultivation, was a different matter.
But thinking carefully, if she could do it, perhaps others could as well.
Just because something hadn’t been seen didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
Normally, even in the constantly warring world of cultivation, there was no need for a Qi Refining stage cultivator to fight a Golden Core True Person one-on-one.
Such geniuses were rare and slow to develop; their elders were still alive.
And when these geniuses did emerge, they usually advanced to Golden Core or Nascent Soul in the blink of an eye.
Rarely did anyone accomplish such feats while still in the Qi Refining stage.
Most marveled at Golden Core versus Nascent Soul battles.
When they had discussed the Xuanwen Secret Realm in the conference room before, it was said that it involved capturing Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stage aliens.
But recently, Li Yunxian had heard rumors that Golden Core beasts or Hunters might also appear.
It seemed her suggestion to let the top one hundred in the arena participate had caused the academy’s higher-ups to raise the difficulty in the Secret Realm as well.
Li Yunxian mulled over this as she watched the match, only returning her full attention after the challenger narrowly lost.
When she refocused, she realized someone had appeared beside her, their attention clearly not on the arena, but on her.
Li Yunxian turned to look.
It was a man with somewhat ordinary features, dressed in a suit that allowed ease of movement, his expression cold and indifferent.
When Li Yunxian finally noticed him, he spoke: “I am Yu Juanshu.”
Li Yunxian waited for him to continue, but after a few seconds, no more words came.
Looking into Yu Juanshu’s cold, indifferent eyes, Li Yunxian was puzzled, finding it hard to understand what he meant.
“Oh… hello?” she finally replied hesitantly and politely.
Yu Juanshu: “…”
Yu Juanshu: “?”
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