Chapter 199

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Chapter 199: Tied for First Place

“The battle isn’t over yet!”

Xiong Li’s gruff voice rang out, instantly making Qian Bing’s face fall.

“This is bad,” Qian Bing sighed, then turned to the commentator and said, “Junior Sister Su, I admit—”

“Clang~~~”

From within the smoke, Xiong Li slammed his hammers together, the sound waves dispersing the mist around him.

At this point, Xiong Li’s heavy armor-style Spiritual Energy Armor was battered, but upon closer inspection, the damage was only superficial.

“Qian Bing, let’s keep fighting.”

Before Qian Bing could react, Xiong Li charged at him with incredible speed.

“If you surrender now, our feud will only deepen,” Xiong Li’s words made Qian Bing abandon any thought of giving up.

As the top disciple of the sect’s first-generation, Xiong Li’s threats carried weight. At worst, Qian Bing might end up with a broken leg.

The puppets in the duel arena reformed their battle formation and charged at Xiong Li.

Xiong Li’s Violent Energy True Form flared to life.

Five minutes later, Xiong Li had smashed all of Qian Bing’s puppets to pieces and slowly walked up to him.

He gave Qian Bing’s leg a light kick, sending a perfect arc through the air.

Qian Bing’s leg snapped, and the battle was over.

“Brother Xiong Li wins!” the commentator announced excitedly.

After the match, Xiong Li helped the limping Qian Bing walk off the field.

“I’ve got it out of my system now, but if you ever bombard me again, we’ll have to settle things for good,” Xiong Li said as he supported Qian Bing.

“Haha, no way. I won’t use a cannon on Brother Xiong again,” Qian Bing replied with a laugh.

“Good, just be more careful from now on,” Xiong Li said lightly.

Outside the arena, the second match began.

This time, it was a duel between two disciples from the Wanbao School, whom Xu Fan called the top-tier spenders.

As the match started, at least six different types of magical artifacts appeared in the duel arena—needles, ropes, spider webs, and traps among them.

The mix of direct attacks and sneaky tactics made for a thrilling spectacle.

“This is interesting, but they’re holding back. Maybe they’re afraid to go all out against fellow disciples,” Xu Fan remarked as he watched the duel below.

“I think they’re doing just fine. This level of skill is enough to get by in the cultivation world,” Xu Yuexian said with a smile, reminiscing about her own adventures in the cultivation world as she observed the two first-generation disciples’ tactics.

Though, she noted, the enemies she’d faced were far more ruthless than these two.

At that moment, one of the disciples below, caught off guard, became entangled in a thread as thin as a strand of hair.

And with that, the battle was over.

“Not bad. They’ve got a bit of my flair,” Xu Fan said with a grin.

“True, their methods do resemble Master’s,” Xu Yuexian replied, recalling Xu Fan’s rare moments of action.

After the battle ended, the third match began, featuring a disciple from the tower defense faction against one from the spells faction.

It was a dull fight, just attack and defense.

On the stage, Xu Fan started multitasking, diving into an underground exploration game set in the demon race.

In the underground space of the Wan Chong Mountain Range, Xu Fan took control of the type-one excavator puppet, exploring in the direction it felt drawn to.

“I wonder if there will be any surprises today,” Xu Fan thought to himself.

Exploring the underground of the Wan Chong Mountain Range had become Xu Fan’s daily mini-game and one of his favorite pastimes.

It felt like a lottery to him. So far, he had discovered two iron spirit ore veins, a small spirit stone vein, and the most exciting find yet—Titanium Spirit Ore.

Suddenly, the magical tool on the head of the type-one excavator puppet began to vibrate, and Xu Fan immediately perked up, sitting straighter.

When the detection tool vibrated, it meant there was spirit ore nearby.

Following the tool’s guidance, Xu Fan dug for hundreds of meters until the excavator puppet struck a translucent mid-grade spirit stone.

“Wow, a mid-grade spirit stone vein!” Xu Fan almost shouted in excitement.

“Grape, send the tool puppets over to collect the spirit stones,” Xu Fan instructed quietly.

“Understood.”

“This mid-grade spirit stone vein is a bit larger than expected. My artifact-level Spiritual Sword precious artifact satellite can finally start construction,” Xu Fan thought excitedly.

Originally, he thought it would take a few more years to gather enough spirit stones for the satellite.

But with this vein, he might just have enough now.

Xu Fan guided the type-one excavator puppet to dig around the mid-grade spirit stone vein.

After a full circle, he realized the vein was more extensive than he had anticipated.

“This means the sect’s third artifact can be activated.”

Just then, Xu Fan noticed someone calling him from the outside world. He handed control back to Grape and returned to reality.

“Master, this is the final match. You should really watch.”

“Xu Lingtai versus Xiong Li.”

“Who do you think will win?”

Xu Fan glanced at the match below and said, “A tie.”

“One can’t find the true form, and the other can’t break through the defense,” Xu Fan remarked casually.

The battle was visually stunning, but after a long time, neither side could land a decisive blow.

Amidst the dazzling spells, Xiong Li stood firm like a giant bell, his Bronze Battle Body unshaken. He had given up searching for Xu Lingtai’s true form and was now testing his patience.

Watching Xiong Li hold his ground, Xu Yuexian thought about the opponents her brother had faced in the past. They probably felt the same way Xiong Li did now.

“Lingtai has already mastered about 80% of his father’s skills. The rest is just a matter of cultivation.”

“In less than 500 years, Lingtai will surpass his brother,” Xu Fan said with pride.

“I think 300 years will be enough,” Xu Yuexian replied.

“Do you really have so little faith in your brother?” Xu Fan asked with a smile.

"I care about my nephew Lingtai."

Three hours later, Xu Fan called an end to the dull battle.

"It’s a tie; Xu Lingtai and Xiong Li both take first place," Xu Fan’s voice echoed across the entire Satellite Island.

Eleven auspicious clouds rose above Satellite Island, lifting the top ten disciples into the air, where they formed a line.

Then, a lotus flower bloomed in front of each disciple, with the flower buds containing space rings that held their prizes.

"As a reward for being in the top ten, I will customize a set of spells for each of you."

"Alright, the Sect Competition is over."

"I am very pleased with the progress of the first-generation disciples; I hope you will continue to work hard and set a good example for the younger generation."

With that, the Hidden Spirit Sect’s first Sect Competition concluded.

"This kind of Sect Competition lacks real challenge; fighting only among ourselves doesn’t show our true capabilities."

"For the second Sect Competition, I will personally design it to ensure it is lively and interesting."

Xu Fan’s words earned him an eye-roll from Xu Yuexian.

As soon as the Sect Competition ended, Xu Fan planned to handle his usual tasks and then head to the underground space to help his two overworked clones.

However, before he could make a move, Su Rantian called out to him.

In a cool pavilion atop the main peak, Xu Fan sat across from Su Rantian.

"Elder Xu, I accepted your earlier proposal; from now on, I will be a visiting elder of the Hidden Spirit Sect," Su Rantian said.

"Welcome, Senior Su, to the Hidden Spirit Sect. I believe that in the near future, you will be proud of it," Xu Fan replied with a smile.

"You know the reason I joined your sect; I’m curious about your thoughts on this," Su Rantian asked with a hint of significance.

What do I think? You’ve already made your move; what else can I think?

"Love is a natural human desire; just follow the path and see where it leads," Xu Fan said with a smile. If it weren’t for your wealth and strength, I might have put on a bit of Senior Xingci’s pretentiousness.

Hearing Xu Fan’s words, Su Rantian was first taken aback and then felt relieved; as a master craftsman, Xu Fan held a slightly higher status in the cultivation world than she did.

"Alright, I understand Elder Xu’s meaning."

Once they finished speaking, they parted ways.

As she was leaving, Su Rantian held a Space-type Spiritual Treasure in her hand; inside was a Sea Ship that could sail across the Endless Sea. This was her intended gift to the Hidden Spirit Sect as she officially joined, contributing to the sect.

Originally set to present the item, Su Rantian reconsidered after hearing Xu Fan’s neutral response.

At this moment, Xu Fan remained unaware of what he had missed and was still indecisive about whether to work in the underground space.

"Go on; it has been a long time since you’ve personally crafted treasures."

After sending a message to Qiu Ziyuan with some instructions, Xu Fan headed towards the underground space.

In the underground space, Xu Fan took over the position of the second clone in the artifact crafting room.

Just as the second clone felt a sense of relief, Xu Fan lightly said, "Go refine pills at Spirit Pill Peak."

"Craft a few master-level spirit pills so you don’t get rusty by taking too long off," Xu Fan said while controlling the spirit fire, addressing the second clone.

While I work, you can’t just sit idle—dream on.

"I…"

The second clone felt overwhelmed.

"Can you not act like a decent person?"

"To craft this artifact-level shield, the first clone and I haven’t rested in over half a month," the second clone said.

"Don’t talk back; just go do your work," Xu Fan said indifferently as he began refining the Titanium Spirit Ore.

The second clone glanced at Xu Fan, who was unwilling to respond, and left helplessly.

What the main body says still stands; if I really erase my intelligence, I won’t be able to enjoy such interesting novels and Anime anymore.

Watching the second clone depart quietly, Xu Fan felt that the initial work had been completed.

"You really act like a capitalist," the first clone said to Xu Fan.

"Remove the ‘really,’" Xu Fan replied.

The two clones, who initially desired nothing in this world, had all become Anime and novel fans—helplessly addicted, a result of Xu Fan’s relentless pressure on them.

"Hehe."

At this point, the refining of the first Titanium Giant Shield was already halfway done; now it was a matter of slowly shaping it.

"Refining an artifact at the Golden Core Stage is still somewhat challenging," the first clone remarked.

"What can we do? It will take over 240 more years to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage."

"Right now, we still face the danger of confronting the Core Formation stage beast race."

"Life always seems to develop in unexpected directions."