Chapter 64

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Chapter 64

Because Xie Fuzhi mentioned Chuyou, and with focused eyes, Hong Hu also looked towards the match in the Nascent Soul area.

The competition venue is a regular hexagon, with three water screens covering half of it, while most viewers watched from the other half of the hexagon.

On the side facing the audience, the Golden Core Stage is in the center, the Foundation Establishment Stage is on the left, and the Nascent Soul Stage is on the right.

However, because there is a big difference in the number of people, the number of stages is different. There are too many cultivators competing at the Foundation Establishment Stage. The water screen changes every quarter of a quarter-hour, but there are still many cultivators who didn’t get a chance to appear in front of their friends and family and were directly eliminated.

The cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage have it much better; almost everyone can have a little square. Yun Chuyou’s luck is hard to say if it’s good or bad; she drew a later temporary number and was not chosen for the central spot. That screen only took up about the size of a hand, which looked even smaller from a distance.

Fortunately, everyone is a cultivator, and unless someone has eye troubles, they can see clearly even if the water screen is just the size of a hand, or even half that size.

When Hong Hu followed Xie Fuzhi’s gaze, Yun Chuyou had already finished her first match and started fighting her second opponent.

Because it was a battle scene, Hong Hu thought Yun Chuyou was still in her first match.

While the competition was ongoing, the information on the water screen was minimal, only stating who was fighting whom. Since the competitors switched positions, if the observer did not know the cultivators and the players had the same gender, they wouldn’t know which cultivator matched the person on the screen.

However, Hong Hu immediately recognized Yun Chuyou. Most female cultivators would choose the right time to take beauty pills, so regardless of whether they are fifty, five hundred, or five thousand years old, their appearance doesn’t show their true age. Therefore, Hong Hu also didn’t know how old the leader of Qingxu Sect was.

However, female cultivators at the primordial stage of Nascent Soul should not be more than five hundred years old.

When he competed years ago, there were more Nascent Soul cultivators; there were two thousand of them, and only two hundred advanced. He was also at the primordial stage of Nascent Soul, but he was eliminated in the first round.

More than nine hundred Nascent Soul individuals want to compete for the top spot. Even with the romantic filter in their eyes, they must look younger than they did before.

At the bottom of this small screen are the names of Yun Chuyou’s opponents: Yun Chuyou from Qingxu Sect battles Guanshan Yue from Tianheng Sect.

Hong Hu recognizes Yun Chuyou because of her opponent, Guanshan Yue.

Guanshan Yue is also a female cultivator. She is a knife practitioner, a direct disciple of Tianheng Sect, and this year she is three hundred years old, currently at the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Stage.

A three-hundred-year-old in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Stage can rank among the top twenty on the Genius List.

Hong Hu knows about Guanshan Yue not only because she is famous on the Genius List but also because, like him, she has Fire and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots.

Guanshan Yue’s Fire and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots must be very strong, and usually, cultivators with these roots study alchemy. However, Guanshan Yue is not a specialized Pill Cultivator; she focuses on the powerful path of knife cultivation.

She wields a very imposing red blade, and the knife’s name is simply "Domineering."

Although she is a female cultivator, Guanshan Yue is also a role model for their Fire and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots cultivators. She is stunningly beautiful, and her appearance gives off a fiery, spicy vibe.

Hong Hu shook his head: It seems that the friend of the Astral Projection Stage will be disappointed; this Yun Chuyou will surely lose to Guanshan Yue very soon.

Guanshan Yue’s swordsmanship is famously explosive, and ordinary female cultivators find it hard to compete with her. This Yun Chuyou seems to be a frail Pill Cultivator.

In this great competition among the hundred sects, Yun Chuyou is registered as a Pill Cultivator. She practices swordsmanship, but she is indeed stronger in alchemy and crafting.

The Pill Cultivator Association protects Pill Cultivators, and she is also worried that her master Xie Fuzhi is too weak, so she wants to add more to her identity.

As for why she is not a tool cultivator, although Alchemy Masters are also highly regarded, cultivators can rely on their own skills without needing a top Alchemy Master for their whole lives; a spirit tool is just a bonus.

However, as time goes on, cultivators absolutely cannot avoid using pills; common elixirs are of no use to powerful beings, while top-tier healing or longevity pills, as well as breakthrough pills, can only be successfully created by Pill Cultivator masters.

Because Pill Cultivators have a high status and are protected like alchemy cultivators, most Pill Cultivators are not very strong in combat; they rely completely on their cultivation level to overpower their opponents.

But Yun Chuyou only has the primordial stage of Nascent Soul; she cannot win, she absolutely cannot win.

Hong Hu shifted his gaze to the Nascent Soul disciple of his sect; that small square is not far from Yun Chuyou. He sighed with relief: thankfully, his disciple’s opponent has a lower cultivation level and is obviously weaker. The battle will soon be decided, and this match should be easy to win.

In a competition, luck is also very important. Luck has always been a part of strength, especially on the journey of cultivation. If you don’t have good luck and miss opportunities, hard work will not bring much reward. Those who are lucky achieve more with less effort.

"Good!" Sure enough, after watching patiently for a moment, the disciples of the Fire Stone Sect won. Now, they only need to win three more matches to be safe.

Winning five matches in a row guarantees a spot on the advancement list, but since there are over nine hundred competing for two hundred spots, you don’t need to win consecutively; you just need to win four matches without any losses to secure a place in the second round.

Winning the first match is definitely a bigger advantage than losing it.

Hong Hu’s eyes lit up with excitement. Out of curiosity, he glanced at Yun Chuyou’s small screen, and when he turned back, his eyes widened. Their match was indeed over, and the results were being announced on the water screen.

Yun Chuyou from Qingxu Sect wins!

This disciple from Qingxu Sect actually defeated Guanshan Yue! How did she manage to win just now?!

Hong Hu couldn’t help but look at Xie Fuzhi, who was dressed in a handsome red robe. His face wore a smile, but he did not look overly joyful. Clearly, he was in control of the situation all along.

Since it was expected, Xie Fuzhi, of course, would not smile too broadly.

Hong Hu was very curious and deeply regretted not watching Yun Chuyou’s little screen just now.

He thought about something Xie Fuzhi had said, that if only Yun Chuyou was competing, did she have a special spirit beast? And it just happened to counter Guanshan Yue, which was why she won by luck.

Hong Hu glanced at the leaderboard above the three water screens. The Hundred Sects Conference had a winning streak chart for each level, and after some time, the top two hundred names had been revealed, but the names kept changing.

The first place in the Foundation Establishment Stage is a cultivator named Ye Changfeng, who comes from the Tianyuan Sect. He is currently a disciple of the inner sect and has won ten matches in a short time, being a very aggressive sword cultivator.

The swordsmanship of Tianyuan Sect is indeed very strong, and this time the innate sword bone fell to Tianyuan Sect.

Among the Golden Core Stage cultivators, the one with the most wins has won six matches, but it is not one of the top seeds.

This is quite normal; according to the matching system, a higher-ranked cultivator might face someone of similar strength, or someone who relies solely on defense, which makes matches take longer.

Some people are lucky and always match with very weak opponents, especially those with high attack and low defense, making the matches end quickly.

The disciple with six consecutive wins is a cultivator from the Beast Control Sect named Song Rongrong, who is also one of the top ten talents. She is a female cultivator who may not be strong in combat but has an exceptional talent for controlling beasts, having tamed many demon beasts at a young age.

Each time she stepped onto the stage, she unleashed a demon beast. The dragon, said to have the bloodline of an ancient dragon tribe, let out a fierce roar and gracefully swung its tail, sending its opponent flying off the ring.

But Ye Xuanye was also strong; he had already won five matches and was in third place in the Golden Core realm. He was a powerful sword cultivator, so his battles ended quickly.

The second place in the Golden Core Stage was Song Mingzhu, a female cultivator with the surname Song. She had also won five matches and was currently in her sixth match. This girl was quite different, as she had incredible luck, facing some weak opponents and even ran into two fellow disciples who both surrendered without a fight.

After Song Mingzhu, there was a name Hong Hu didn’t recognize—Meng He. What surprised him wasn’t that he had never heard the name Meng He before, but the sect to which Meng He belonged—Qingxu Sect.

It was said that Qingxu Sect only had one half-disciple. Could it be that this Meng He was a half-person?

Hong Hu glanced at Xie Fuzhi with resentment, feeling that this powerful Astral Projection Stage expert was teasing him.

Meng He had won four matches, and since he was ranked higher, his image on the water screen was enlarged several times, making it easy to spot him.

As an impatient and strength-loving cultivator, Hong Hu admired Meng He’s appearance. Look at this tall, strong figure, those beautifully toned muscles, and that wild, handsome face.

He glanced at the Foundation Establishment Stage rankings; he didn’t see Qingxu Sect’s name in the top two hundred, but in the Golden Core Stage, there were three disciples. One was Meng He, who was in the late Golden Core stage and had won four matches, currently ranked tenth. The other was Yu Jiu, also in the late Golden Core stage, who had also won four matches and was ranked fifteenth.

One is the early stage of the Golden Core Stage, named Zhong Wei. This one is a bit weaker, having only won two matches. It was just ranked two hundred, but then quickly lost its place to a new name.

However, these three disciples all look very nice. Yu Jiu’s face is a bit pale, but he has an elegant presence. The girl named Zhong Wei is even more striking and graceful. Seeing her like this, she should be able to make the top one hundred in the spiritual world beauty list.

Hong Hu stroked his big beard and said, "Are the disciples of Qingxu Sect chosen based on their looks? They all look quite handsome."

He took a quick glance at the Nascent Soul Stage rankings and was surprised to see Yun Chuyou’s name. She had already won two matches and was currently in tenth place. The first and second places both had three wins, but the first was at the late stage of the Nascent Soul Stage and fully perfected, while the second was at the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Stage. Currently, Yun Chuyou is the only one with the primordial stage of Nascent Soul in the top ten.

The water curtain is played live and cannot be replayed. If someone recorded it with a Camera Stone, that would be different. But Hong Hu is very poor and cannot afford to use a Camera Stone just for this.

Out of strong curiosity, and also because of Xie Fuzhi’s words, "My Chuyou can win first place," this time Hong Hu decided to ignore his own sect’s disciples for a moment. He told the eliminated disciples, "You all keep an eye on your senior brother’s water curtain and shout for me at a crucial moment!"

His eyes, as big as a bull’s, were wide open. He decided to focus on watching Yun Chuyou, very curious about what she could do.

Yun Chuyou had won two matches in a row, and perhaps because she was temporarily ranked tenth, this time she faced a late-stage Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

Earlier, with Guanshan Yue, she could feel a strong pressure from Guanshan Yue’s aura. Guanshan Yue’s sword had already cultivated a sword spirit, and her whole presence was quite domineering.

Unlike the body cultivator who focuses on defense, Guanshan Yue is even smaller in size, holding a large sword that creates a big contrast.

Before the opponent could strike, she made Guanshan Yue surrender on her own, but Yun Chuyou would never give up without fighting. Guanshan Yue, being a female cultivator, had no thoughts of mercy and immediately lifted her big sword to attack Yun Chuyou as soon as the match began.

Of course, she aimed for Yun Chuyou’s body, not her head.

Yun Chuyou stood still without dodging and threw out her alchemical furnace; indeed, she was a registered Pill Cultivator, so having an alchemical furnace is quite normal.

The sword Guanshan Yue used was indeed a mighty blade that could cut through iron like mud, but Yun Chuyou’s alchemical furnace was a Divine Artifact gifted to her by Xie Fuzhi.

There are no more than a handful of Divine Artifact-level alchemical furnaces in the entire spiritual world. It is extremely powerful and cannot even coexist in the same space as lower-grade Pill Furnaces. When Yun Chuyou received this Pill Furnace, the ones in her storage bag exploded all at once, and she hurriedly sent the other Pill Furnaces to the sect’s storage to avoid losing more.

A domineering divine-level alchemical furnace with a spirit is still stronger than the overwhelming Guanshan Yue.

The materials of the alchemical furnace are made from a god-level crafting furnace, giving it extremely strong defense. Guanshan Yue’s sword was still quite young, and when it struck the alchemical furnace, her powerful sword technique only created a shower of sparks, leaving no marks at all.

Guanshan Yue was struck unconscious by the suddenly appearing alchemical furnace, and thus she was eliminated from the match.

Some Grand Pill Masters watching the match felt dizzy, "This is a god-level alchemical furnace! She actually used it to hit people! What a waste, truly a waste!"

In the first round of the great battle, regardless of winning or losing, the participants can have a maximum rest time of half an hour to take medicine and recover their spiritual power.

If a contestant feels good, they can choose to start the next round immediately. However, during this time, resting contestants cannot watch the matches of other disciples.

Yun Chuyou felt fine and did not choose to rest. After finishing the second match, she directly started the third round.

The third round is in the late stage of the Nascent Soul Stage. The opponent immediately set up an illusion on the stage.

Yun Chuyou’s mind paused for a moment due to the illusion, but when she regained her senses, the opponent’s attack was already aimed directly at her face.

However, this attack did not succeed in knocking down Yun Chuyou, nor did it eliminate her. A golden light flashed around Yun Chuyou; it was her defensive magical tool in action.

Indeed, this defensive tool is not high-level or top-grade, but is a divine-grade item. In addition to defense, it also has a counterattack feature.

The attacker ended up hurting themselves with their own attack. Fortunately, this master skilled in illusions also practiced alchemy, so they quickly used a healing pill and managed to avoid being eliminated in a messy situation.

"This young friend Yun seems to be wearing a lot of treasures. Which noble family of cultivators does she belong to? I’ve never heard of her before."

People who know value noticed Yun Chuyou’s good items: the hairpin and hair ties, her clothes, the bracelet on her hand, the pendant around her neck, and her shoes… all of them are fine things, just elegantly crafted, not as flashy as some magical items.

Players like her, who invest heavily, are indeed hard to defeat for ordinary people. It’s not that other cultivators lack skill; it’s mainly because Yun Chuyou has never revealed herself before and only has the primordial stage of Nascent Soul cultivation. Many were not prepared to face her and unexpectedly lost.

Besides the excessively wealthy disciples from those renowned families, even they wouldn’t dare to play like this at first; good items should be used wisely.

"If she is so well-equipped, she may be weak in strength. If someone can break through her defenses and fight her up close, they should be able to win."

The audience analyzed the situation thoroughly, but those who had seen Yun Chuyou compete before said in a thoughtful tone, "The first one she faced was a body cultivator, who is quite skilled too. Fighting at close range shouldn’t be a weakness for her."

"I wonder what this young friend’s background is? Is the Qingxu Sect perhaps some hidden sect…"

In this grand competition of a hundred sects, the leader of Tianyuan Sect personally led the team. Because of Xie Fuzhi, he paid more attention to Qingxu Sect. Hearing his friends and rivals discussing, he showed a very subtle expression: he knew everything but kept silent.

Yun Chuyou couldn’t hear the discussions around her; she focused entirely on her opponent. Under the watchful eyes of so many cultivators, she wasn’t shy about showing her wealth.

She is the leader of the Qingxu Sect. The most important purpose of this Hundred Sects Conference is to recruit talented individuals and increase the reputation of the Qingxu Sect. It is essential to showcase the wealth of the Qingxu Sect properly.

Besides, the Qingxu Sect has plenty of resources now, can maintain the protective array, and has the ancient great monster, the Phoenix, overseeing them. She is not worried about the schemes of those deceitful sects against the Qingxu Sect. She is not afraid of middle-sized sects attacking; let alone those small sects.

The third nascent soul cultivator was worn down by Yun Chuyou’s defensive magic tool. She smoothly won her next two matches, achieving five consecutive victories and earning a ticket to the second round.

"There are no particularly outstanding geniuses among the Nascent Soul Stage disciples; the focus is still on the few disciples at the Golden Core Stage."

Hong Hu’s favorite disciple won four out of seven matches and also made it to the final two hundred.

He should have felt happy, but after watching Yun Chuyou’s matches, the leader of the Fire Stone Sect felt sour inside.

As the leader of a lesser sect and also at the Nascent Soul Stage, how can there be such a huge difference between people?

Could he leave the Fire Stone Sect and go to Qingxu Sect? With his middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, he should be able to become a guest elder. His demands are not high; just a little bit of what Yun Chuyou has would be enough.

High-level pills, high-level magic tools, he doesn’t need too many, just one month—or no, even a year’s worth would be enough… He is really easily satisfied.

On the first day of the competition, although it was very lively, most of the matches were a bit lacking in excitement for the casual spectators because of the pairing system. Only a few cultivators were able to gain insights from the battle screens.

Today, the Qingxu Sect had fewer contestants. Although some attentive people had noticed it, it was not particularly impressive.

However, if they were familiar with the list of all the contestants, they would discover that the Qingxu Sect had a total of just four participants: three Golden Core and one Nascent Soul, including Yun Chuyou, the sect leader. All four participants advanced after winning every match.