"The battle has ended"

The judge waved his hand and announced Xu Xiaoshou's victory in the first battle. As soon as he said this, he saw the lad anxiously rush out of the arena even faster than Di Xin'er had.

​​

The judge was confused. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Huh?"

Startled, Xu Xiaoshou turned back around. "I'm going to rest. Isn't there half an hour for candidates to rest and recover?"

Even though this was his first time attending the preliminaries, he had watched the event the last two years and was very familiar with the rules of the competition.

The judge was speechless. Out of all the competitions he'd presided over, he'd never had to deal with a candidate like this.

All of the other candidates would either confidently sit in the arena to rest or wave their hands to signal for their next opponent, yet this candidate wanted to run out of the arena?

He'd just witnessed this lad engage in a relatively normal battle, which was a rare sight, but now that his battle was over, he was showing his true colors.

"Why do you have to go out? Can't you rest here?" the judge asked.

"It's stuffy in here! This lousy place is enveloped by a barrier. There's nothing in here but you and hot air. Of course I have to go out."

Xu Xiaoshou felt that what he said was natural enough. However, he couldn't ignore the judge now that he'd said something. "Let's go out together," he said.

The judge was speechless. "I didn't mean that, darn it!" he thought.

Xiao Qixiu, who was standing in the air, had a smile on his face. He had also noticed Xu Xiaoshou.

More accurately, he had paid special attention to this lad not only because of Xu Xiaoshou's Innate-stage physical body, but, more importantly, because he wanted to observe Xu Xiaoshou's sword technique.

Anyone else might've been drawn to Xu Xiaoshou's unconventional words and actions, but not Xiao Qixiu, who had been drawn to his sword techniques and found that they weren't as simple as they appeared as he observed the battle from outside the arena.

"He's also learned the White Cloud Sword Technique?"

"Does that mean he was telling the truth yesterday?"

He and Elder Qiao hadn't managed to find the swordsman after leaving Xu Xiaoshou's yard.

The swordsman had just achieved the Acquired-stage Sword Will, so he shouldn't have been able to perfectly hide his aura. However, they hadn't been able to find him!

Could it be that Xu Xiaoshou was really that swordsman?

Xiao Qixiu felt that his guess was too ridiculous. Any other person wouldn't be able to hide their aura, but he thought Xu Xiaoshou was really able to fool a serious swordsman like himself right in front of his face?

There was no way!

He turned his gaze to the other arenas. As he'd expected, the other two competitors sent their opponents flying out of the respective arenas at the same time.

Xiao Qixiu took out a piece of paper and marked on it as he said, "Mo Mo, Zhao Qingteng, three consecutive victories."

Xu Xiaoshou heard him say this the moment he left the barrier and was shocked.

So fast? Did they even fight?

However, this was understandable. Only they could win so fast.

They had ranked first and second last year and were both cultivators at the Innate Stage!

He soon stopped caring about the announcement and scanned the spectator seats in hopes of finding Su Qianqian and her friend who had witnessed his battle the other day.

But he didn't find them.

The crowd was too large. A lot of people were passionately waving at him.

"Keep it up, Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Here, Xu Xiaoshou! I'm here!"

"Wooden sword, that wooden sword. Please pat me with it!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, I love you! Ahh, he's looking over! Ahh, I'm dead!"

Xu Xiaoshou gave up on his search. It was no big deal. He happily waved his hands and expressed his thanks, and Passive Points appeared on the notification panel in his mind.

"Got encouraged. Passive Points +89."

"Got praised. Passive Points +94."

"Got a love confession. Passive Points +66."

Love confession?

Xu Xiaoshou was startled. What had the system mixed up this time?

He felt that this group of people had become even more insane than before the battle. He didn't know what happened, but he felt like he'd heard the word "wooden sword."

Xu Xiaoshou pulled out his wooden sword and pointed it at the spectators.

"You want this?"

His calm, challenging tone coupled with his otherworldly appearance and his body, which was no longer scrawny after being enhanced by Strengthen, made the female disciples in the spectator seats go wild.

"Got a love confession. Passive Points +99."

"Got a love confession. Passive Points +164."

"Got a love confession. Passive Points +323."

"Got cursed. Passive Points +2."

F***!

These people must be mad.

Xu Xiaoshou covered his ears and was nearly scared back into the barrier.

"Calm down. I can win out!" he thought.

"I have to resist this wave of Passive Points. I can do it!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, time is up!"

The judge's angelic voice finally saved him. Xu Xiaoshou quickly scurried back into the barrier, and his surroundings became peaceful again.

The screen shimmered, then stopped. The judge shouted the name of his next opponent.

"Liu Zhen!"

Liu Zhen, who was covering his ears on the Chuyun Platform, was dumbfounded. This…

Zhou Zuo walked over from the side. He had already admitted defeat two consecutive times, so he was elated when he saw this scene.

"Do your best, Senior Liu. Shed your heavy burden. You can teach him a lesson for Boss Wen while you're at it. That lad is finished. To think that he dared to tease Senior Di."

Liu Zhen silently walked into the arena.

"So it's you!" Xu Xiaoshou chuckled.

"Enemies often encounter each other. That's great. You're a pugilist, right?

"I love fighting pugilists…" he said as he looked at Liu Zhen's silent expression. His heart suddenly thumped. Did this person also want to admit defeat?

"Giving up before the battle is a great disrespect to your opponent. Running away without battling…"

Liu Zhen's expression darkened, and he interrupted Xu Xiaoshou. "I don't intend to admit defeat."

"That's good, that's good!

"You're a real man! Great!"

Liu Zhen was speechless.

He kept having the feeling that Xu Xiaoshou was putting on an act all to hide his true strength. Reality proved that he'd fooled everyone.

Xu Xiaoshou was no longer Level Five when he'd come out of his seclusion. The boastful words he'd threatened people with were true.

How else could he have risen to the peak of Level Six in such a short time?

Others might not be able to notice his Innate-stage physical body, but Liu Zhen could! He couldn't hide it from him!

Also, his sword technique just now…

Also…

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the notification panel, terrified.

"Got doubted. Passive Points +1."

"Got doubted. Passive Points +1."

"Got doubted. Passive Points +1."

"..."

The constant updates in the notification panel instantly confused him.

"What's going on?" he thought.

The judge?

Liu Zhen?

That's impossible…

Could there be a fourth person in this barrier?

Xu Xiaoshou's pupils dilated. "This is broad daylight! Don't scare me!" he thought.

"Judge, I suspect that something evil has infiltrated the barrier! Hurry and search for it!" Xu Xiaoshou cried loudly.

The judge slapped a hand to his forehead. "It's over," he thought. "This person is acting up again. He only stopped for a little while."

Xu Xiaoshou almost cried and laughed at the same time. The notification panel hadn't stopped updating, but he couldn't reveal the fact that he had something like the notification panel to the judge.

"It's true. You have to believe me!"

"There's definitely a fourth person in here… No, it might not be a person!" Xu Xiaoshou pounced forward.

The judge's expression darkened. "Get into position, candidate. Don't come and hug my leg. Please head back and rest!"

"Please! Head! Back!"

Liu Zhen sighed deeply.

"He's still putting on an act!"

"Do you really think I'm an ordinary man who can't see through you?"

He shook his hands, his gaze landing on the black bag of sand on his forearm. "This guy is something else. It looks like I'll have to reveal some of my true powers!"

Boom, boom!

He released all of the black bags of sand on his arms, legs, and abdomen, and they fell down on the ground, causing it to cave in slightly.

Liu Zhen's cultivation level aura constantly climbed: Level Seven, Level Eight, Level Nine…

Level Ten!

The peak of Spiritual Cultivation!

The judge and Xu Xiaoshou looked over at the same time, both dumbfounded. Had this person just been pretending to be weak?

Liu Zhen smiled coldly when he saw the shock in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes.

"Xu Xiaoshou, stop pretending. I'll use my full powers to defeat you!"

"Your methods are useless against me!"

"What's going on?" Xu Xiaoshou thought, confused. "What's he talking about?"