Wenren Jiuxiao’s pupils turned pitch black, and he said with disappointment, “Yunhai, you really are a nuisance. The meal that was right in my mouth is now gone.”
Yunhai’s eyelids twitched. If it weren’t for the recent discovery of demon traces on the Jiuzhou Continent, they would never have agreed to let these monsters from the Youming Province come out!
Cooperating with these guys was even more dangerous than plotting with a tiger.
But the possibility of the demons making a comeback was an even bigger issue.
They had no choice but to cooperate with Youming Province.
The others were startled—did “the meal” refer to them?
Yunhai, however, just rolled his eyes at Wenren Jiuxiao a few times and signaled for everyone to draw lots.
The others tensed up and, almost involuntarily, looked at Wenren Jiuxiao. Youming Province seemed more dangerous than the other provinces, and they could only hope they wouldn’t draw it.
Diling Province and Haoling Province exchanged glances and, at the same time, reached out to grab a floating bamboo slip.
The others hesitated no longer and each took a slip as well, leaving only Wenren Jiuxiao motionless.
Wenren Jiuxiao looked at the leader of the Huoling Province team. “I heard that Huoling Province has several Core Formation disciples, and even produced a Word Spirit Master?”
The leader of Huoling Province’s gaze turned cold. The matter of the Word Spirit Master was strictly confidential—how did someone from Youming Province find out?
According to rumor, the appearance of a Word Spirit Master heralded chaos in the world.
So Huoling Province had kept this matter under tight wraps.
After all, a Word Spirit Master who hadn’t yet grown into their power could easily spark unrest.
“Where did Fellow Daoist Wenren hear this news?” Liu Zongyuan asked in return.
A flash of red passed through Wenren Jiuxiao’s eyes as he picked up the remaining slip. “Patriarch Liu’s reaction has already said everything.”
Yunhai narrowed his cold eyes and took out a bottle of medicinal liquid. “Each of you, drip a drop onto your slip. Provinces with matching slips can head down to arrange their matches. The first round of competition must be completed within one month.”
“Every match must be held in the Combat Spirit Arena. You have four groups total, which means each group only has seven days to complete their matches.”
“Additionally, competitions for alchemists, artifact refiners, beast tamers… will require you to prepare your own materials. Time is tight, so let’s not waste it on arguments here.”
Yunhai’s words effectively helped Liu Zongyuan out of a tight spot.
But when Liu Zongyuan saw that the symbol on his slip matched the one in Wenren Jiuxiao’s hand, his expression immediately turned sour.
Wenren Jiuxiao laughed eerily. “Patriarch Liu, now we can really have a good exchange. After all, I’m very interested in Word Spirit Masters.”
Liu Zongyuan collected himself, his gaze sharp—Wenren Jiuxiao had absolutely rigged the slips.
Yunhai met Liu Zongyuan’s eyes and shook his head at him—the slips could not be swapped.
Initially, Yunhai had wanted Youming Province to go up against Qingyun Province. He intended to use Wenren Jiuxiao to test Mo Jinghong.
But Yunhai hadn’t expected Wenren Jiuxiao to set his sights on Huoling Province instead.
Meanwhile, Xiao Qingfeng’s hand trembled as he held his slip—he had actually drawn Haoling Province by sheer luck. This was the second-ranked Haoling Province—how could they possibly win?
But then Xiao Qingfeng thought of the ten Lingyun Sect disciples participating in the competition, and a flicker of hope ignited in his heart—perhaps there was still a chance.
Haoling Province cast a few glances at Xiao Qingfeng, their brows filled with contempt.
Drawing Qingyun Province was, for Haoling Province, actually good news.
Chuanyun Province and Muyun Province looked at each other with their slips in hand, both seeing relief in the other’s eyes.
The leader of Tianxuan Province had a face full of mixed emotions. With luck like this, he might as well not have come at all!
Tianxuan Province ranked fifth, and going up against the number-one-ranked Diling Province was practically suicide!
Diling Province alone had over a dozen Core Formation participants—how could they possibly compare?
The eight leaders clutched their slips and returned to their respective provinces, each lost in their own thoughts.
When Rong Zhuofan saw Xiao Qingfeng return, he spoke up, “How did it go? Which province are we up against?”
“Haoling Province,” Xiao Qingfeng replied, his voice unusually quiet in front of Rong Zhuofan.
“What! Haoling Province?” Rong Zhuofan’s face turned grim.
When Feng Qingran heard the name Haoling Province, a flicker of light passed through her eyes. Su Yanran was in Haoling Province’s team—she just didn’t know what event Su Yanran would be competing in.
While Feng Qingran looked forward to the match against Haoling Province, the other disciples felt rather deflated.
One disciple said in panic, “We’re doomed. I observed that Haoling Province has nine Core Formation cultivators—four more than we do!”
“So what do we do? The first round is crucial. If we lose, only twenty of us can stay…”
“In the first round, each side only has three chances to battle, and anyone who participates in the first round can’t compete in the later rounds!”
At this moment, they seemed to understand why the rankings in the selection tournament had been so arbitrary.
It turned out that the matches here weren’t conducted according to the selection tournament rankings at all.
And what made it even more headache-inducing was that Qingyun Province’s opponent was Haoling Province.
If they didn’t send out their best disciples, Qingyun Province might very well lose in the first round.
But if they sent out their best disciples right away, what would they do for the later rounds?
Just as everyone was at a loss, a young disciple from Haoling Province walked over.
The disciple said arrogantly, “We’ve already discussed it on our side. The first round will be a sword cultivator duel, the second round alchemy, and the third round talismans. The matches will take place in seven days. Be prepared.”
“Also, here’s a few hints for you: our sword cultivator’s strength is at the late Core Formation stage, our alchemist is a third-rank, and our talisman master is second-rank.”
“We deliberately chose our three weakest members to fight you, all for your sake. Take care of yourselves.”
After delivering the message, the disciple turned and walked back, leaving no room for objection.
Xiao Qingfeng took a deep breath, fuming and wanting to march over and confront Haoling Province about this.
