Yao Yan’s gaze lingered on Lin Xiao for several moments before shifting away, passing over Li Renchou, and finally settling on Sheng Li.
“I challenge the third-ranked, Sheng Li,” Yao Yan declared loudly.
The crowd was slightly surprised. These youths from the four major chambers of commerce and eight major sects were indeed arrogant, targeting the top-ranked figures.
Under the crowd’s watchful eyes, Sheng Li and Yao Yan stepped onto the stone platform. After exchanging courtesies, they began their battle.
Yao Yan, with only the cultivation of a Second Martial Lord, did not use a weapon, but his fists, palms, and physical strength were exceptionally powerful.
He held his own against Sheng Li for a quarter of an hour, only falling after Sheng Li employed the Wordless Heavenly Book technique, summoning thirteen pages of the Heavenly Book.
The crowd couldn’t help but marvel at the strength of the eight major sects’ disciples. Even a secondary figure could contend with Sheng Li, ranked third.
If this was a secondary figure, how powerful would their top representative be?
After Yao Yan, it was Mai Shen from Cloud Artifact Tower’s turn to challenge.
Mai Shen did not choose to challenge the top three as the previous three had, instead selecting Huyan Ziru, ranked sixth.
However, Huyan Ziru was clearly no weakling. The two fought for nearly half an hour, and in the end, Mai Shen narrowly won, claiming the sixth position.
Huyan Ziru was pushed to seventh, and the subsequent rankings shifted back one position.
Xie Yun from the Evil Sect, originally ranked fifteenth, was squeezed out.
“One has been pushed out, three more to go,” Jian Wuqu thought, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Lin Xiao.
His ranking had shifted from twelfth to thirteenth. If three more were pushed into the rankings, he could start challenging.
“Next, Mo Li from the Demon Sect will challenge,” the referee’s clear voice rang out.
At these words, a black-robed youth leapt onto the stone platform, his calm gaze fixed on Lin Xiao as he said indifferently, “Lin Xiao, hand over the Prosperity Token.”
The crowd erupted in excitement. This disciple from the Demon Sect was so bold, challenging Lin Xiao, the first-ranked in the preliminary conference, right from the start?
Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed slightly as he responded, “If you want the Prosperity Token, let’s see if your fists are hard enough.”
With that, Lin Xiao also leapt onto the stone platform, facing Mo Li.
In truth, he had long wanted to give up the Prosperity Token.
The Prosperity Stone within the token had already been refined by him and replaced with another stone material.
The Prosperity Token was now essentially a useless piece of rock, keeping it would only bring trouble.
If not for the fear of being recognised on the spot, Lin Xiao would have handed over the Prosperity Token immediately.
“Wait a moment,” Sheng Qianyu’s voice suddenly interrupted just as the two were about to fight.
“This battle concerns the Prosperity Token, so I must offer a reminder,” Sheng Qianyu said loudly. “Whoever wins, the Prosperity Token will indeed belong to them. However, if the fight is to the death, no one may intervene, even outside the formation.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed slightly. Sheng Qianyu’s words seemed reasonable, as if reminding the other Martial Emperors.
But why did he feel a faint sense of malice?
Why did it seem like Sheng Qianyu was reminding Mo Li?
The Purple Emperor and others also frowned slightly. Whether intentional or not, Sheng Qianyu’s words served as a reminder to Mo Li.
They didn’t believe Mo Li had the strength to kill Lin Xiao.
However, if something unexpected happened, they certainly didn’t want to watch Lin Xiao be killed.
Of course, Sheng Qianyu’s words were not only directed at them and Lin Xiao; other Martial Emperors were also prohibited from intervening.
This also served as a deterrent to other youths.
In other words, anyone wishing to challenge Lin Xiao would need to carefully consider whether they could survive against him.
Otherwise, in a fight with Lin Xiao, even outside the formation, Lin Xiao could pursue and kill them.
Sheng Qianyu’s words also sparked excitement among many. A fight where life and death were unrestricted outside the formation heightened the intensity of the battle.
The combat would become even more thrilling.
“Lin Xiao, let’s see how you survive this final ranking conference,” Xing Emperor thought to himself.
The Duan Emperor and other forces with grudges against Lin Xiao all gleamed with cold light, wishing Mo Li would kill Lin Xiao on the spot.
However, Jian Wuqu’s eyes darkened as he thought, “Lin Xiao, I hope you don’t die at someone else’s hands too soon.”
He had refined the Sky-Breaking Dragon Pill to kill Lin Xiao himself. If Lin Xiao died, his efforts would be meaningless.
“I won’t kill you,” Mo Li suddenly said, surprising the crowd. “Your demonic cultivation is impressive. Perhaps you should consider cultivating our Demon Sect’s techniques.”
The crowd was stunned.
What did Mo Li mean? Consider cultivating the Demon Sect’s techniques? Was he signaling an intent to recruit Lin Xiao?
Hadn’t Mo Li just arrogantly demanded Lin Xiao’s Prosperity Token? Why the sudden change in attitude?
“Cultivating the Demon Sect’s techniques is clearly an attempt to recruit Lin Xiao. With Lin Xiao’s talent, he’s worth recruiting. This must be the intention of the Demon Sect’s Martial Emperor elder. Moreover, if they only take the Prosperity Token without killing him, it could be seen as helping Lin Xiao. But offering an olive branch now might be against the rules,” someone whispered.
At this, the Martial Emperors from other sects frowned.
By tradition, recruitment could only happen after the final ranking conference to avoid disrupting its rhythm.
Even if recruitment was intended, sects would at most subtly instruct their disciples to hold back or avoid targeting someone.
Offering an olive branch openly could affect other sects.
Of course, this was just one disciple speaking, and it was indirect, so there was no clear evidence of rule-breaking.
Even Lin Xiao was surprised by Mo Li’s words.
He hadn’t expected the Demon Sect to show interest in recruiting him.
However, he wasn’t convinced the Demon Sect genuinely wanted to recruit him.
It could be for his Nether Heavenly Demon Technique or the Nether Heavenly Demon Pillar.
Or perhaps Mo Li was merely feigning goodwill.
In any case, he wouldn’t easily choose the Demon Sect or trust Mo Li.
“During the conference, no one may recruit opponents in any way, or they will be disqualified,” the Prosperity Emperor’s angry voice rang out, sternly warning, “This is a warning. If anyone violates again, they will be disqualified immediately.”
Sheng Qianyu’s face looked grim.
Challenging the rules was a challenge to his authority.
Setting aside the rules, he wanted Lin Xiao dead. Yet Mo Li not only refrained from killing Lin Xiao but also tried to recruit him.
This also represented the Demon Sect’s stance.
If others developed the idea of recruiting Lin Xiao, allowing him to survive, it would deviate from his original intent in granting the Prosperity Token.
Mo Li quickly bowed to Sheng Qianyu and said, “I’m very sorry. As a junior who admires demonic cultivation, I was intrigued by Lin Xiao’s techniques and spoke out of turn. I had no intention of recruiting him.”
With that, he turned to Lin Xiao and said, “Lin Xiao, make your move. Let me see how powerful your demonic techniques are.”
“Heh, I wonder if you’re interested in evil cultivation techniques,” Lin Xiao sneered.
