“You! Hmph, Ming Tian has exceptional talent. So what if the sect makes an exception for him? If you had his talent, they’d do the same for you,” Elder Jin said loudly.
“Talent, huh? Heh, I wonder what Elder Jin means by ‘talent.’ Back in the mortal world, Ming Tian’s cultivation was far above mine, yet now he’s surpassed by me. You say his talent is better than mine? Isn’t that laughable?” Ling Xiao sneered dismissively.
“Enough, both of you. Today’s competition isn’t about arguing,” the Supreme Sect Leader, Chang Yueli, also Moonlight Sect’s most revered elder, said with a cold smile. “Young man, my words aren’t wrong, are they?”
“Of course not, Supreme Sect Leader,” Ling Xiao replied, cupping his hands respectfully.
She was Lan Yuer’s master, and he had no desire to clash with her.
With Ling Xiao falling silent, Elder Jin, as a senior, couldn’t keep pressing the issue.
The competition continued smoothly.
Zhao Zhi barely won his match, with only one loss so far. His luck was holding, but the road ahead would be tough.
Dai Yuling also struggled to secure a victory, facing a formidable third-level Mortal Realm peak opponent. She managed to win thanks to her powerful martial soul.
She remained undefeated, having faced weaker opponents earlier.
But for both, the situation was growing dire. They could only hope to avoid three losses, or they’d be eliminated.
Shangguan Lei’s situation was similar—undefeated but under pressure.
Meanwhile, Bai Feifei, Cold Hao, Wu Yang, and Qin Wu won their matches with ease.
Especially Bai Feifei—her opponents all surrendered without a fight.
This wasn’t just because she was Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable’s adopted daughter or Chang Yueli’s disciple. Her first match had left an outer sect disciple crippled, so who would dare face her now?
Chang Yueli gave a grand excuse, saying Bai Feifei rarely sparred and didn’t know how to hold back, insisting it wasn’t intentional.
But Ling Xiao could tell—she’d done it on purpose!
He was starting to understand why Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable was so smug. Turning Master Baiyun’s daughter into such a ruthless woman must be a heavy blow to him.
After watching others’ matches for a while, it was Ling Xiao’s turn again. By chance, his opponent was the inner sect disciple at early sixth-level Mortal Realm who had just lost to Ming Tian.
Ling Xiao smiled, stepping onto the battle platform with a light, graceful movement, his footwork clearly mastered to perfection.
Among inner sect disciples, seventh- and sixth-level Mortal Realm cultivators were rare—fewer than ten in total. Encountering one was truly bad luck for Ling Xiao.
Compared to Zhao Zhi, Dai Yuling, and Shangguan Lei, his draw was notably worse.
Standing on the platform, Ling Xiao looked calmly at his opponent, cupping his hands. “Please, Senior Brother, enlighten me!”
“Hmph, you seem to look down on me. Just because I lost to Ming Tian doesn’t mean I’ll lose to you!” the inner sect disciple said coldly. “Ming Tian is a genius, but you’re not!”
His words were fierce, and his true essence was already gathering within.
“Oh, is that so? He’s a genius, and I’m not?” Ling Xiao grinned. “He beat you in one move. I won’t even need a move to defeat you!”
“Bullshit! Stop trying to scare me!”
The disciple didn’t believe Ling Xiao’s claim. He suddenly unleashed his full true essence, swinging a steel saber toward Ling Xiao.
*Mountain-Splitting Saber Art: Cleaving the Peaks!*
Ling Xiao stood still, unmoving.
The disciple grew suspicious. He didn’t think Ling Xiao was foolish enough to do nothing—there had to be a trick.
But what was it?
He didn’t know!
His saber technique was fully committed, impossible to retract. Gritting his teeth, he pressed forward, slashing down with unstoppable force.
“Fall!”
Ling Xiao smiled, softly uttering a single word.
As his voice fell, the disciple collapsed to the ground, as if something had seized him, unable to move.
“You! You! You’re using sorcery!” the disciple shouted in panic.
“Idiot, surrender already. That’s the battle platform’s array, not sorcery!” the Array Hall Master snapped.
She was astonished to discover that Ling Xiao had taken control of the array on his platform.
The array had a suppression effect, designed to restrain disciples who went berserk.
She hadn’t expected Ling Xiao to use it.
Did this count as a move?
It really didn’t!
Even Chang Yueli was stunned.
She wasn’t afraid of Ling Xiao’s strength—however strong, he couldn’t match her disciples, let alone her.
But for him to manipulate the platform’s array in such a short time was terrifying.
“I surrender!”
The disciple’s face flushed red, but he was helpless, unable to stand under the array’s pressure.
He had no choice but to concede.
Unfortunately, this was his third loss, meaning elimination.
His luck was abysmal, facing Bai Feifei, Ming Tian, and now Ling Xiao in succession.
He’d thought losing to Bai Feifei was expected and that he could handle Ming Tian and Ling Xiao, but each defeat was more humiliating than the last.
The crowd below erupted in shocked discussions.
Many were talking about Ling Xiao’s fearsome tactics.
“Fighting this guy, we’ll need to watch out for his arrays. They’re impossible to guard against!” Shen Tianlin reminded himself.
“Defeating an inner sect disciple without a single move—tricky, but impressive. If Ming Tian is a genius, this guy’s a cunning prodigy!” Sect Leader Chang Yueying nodded secretly.
“This kid hasn’t used a single technique so far. He’s defeated weaker opponents with basic attacks in one move, and now against a stronger foe, he switches to arrays. Is he deliberately hiding his martial skills?”
Even Bai Feifei, who had previously dismissed Ling Xiao, was now paying attention. “But if it were me, I wouldn’t fall for his tricks!”
Ling Xiao glanced at Bai Feifei, smiling inwardly. She was indeed formidable, but with the platform’s arrays, he wasn’t without options to deal with her!
His earlier use of the array was just practice.
The platform’s arrays had other functions.
More crucially, Half-Step Heavenly Venerables were maintaining the arrays.
In other words, he might even borrow their power to target Bai Feifei.
Even if his strength was inferior, victory wasn’t impossible.
After his trip to the Dragon Subduing Mountain Range, Ling Xiao increasingly realized the importance of tactics.
“Feifei, do you want to vent your father’s anger?” Chang Yueli asked Bai Feifei, who had returned to her side.
“Yes!” Bai Feifei nodded firmly.
