Belt?

Who would care about your belt at a time like this!

Clearly, compared to losing money, your disciple possessing such insanely powerful combat ability was more important!

Could we focus on the major issues that Central Region cultivators should care about, and pay attention to your disciple?

The many elders from other sects on the mountainside, hearing Fudao Shanren’s words, nearly choked with anger.

The various Kunwu elders had originally been sharpening their blades, just waiting for the sun to set today so they could drag people to find Qu Zhengfeng for a good fight. Who would have thought that the sun had barely risen and tilted slightly when things exploded below.

This time, it really exploded.

It was one thing for Yashan’s Senior Sister Jian Chou to face off against Tongling Pavilion’s new generation talent, but she directly kicked him off with one foot!

Kicking him off with one foot was one thing, but did you need to make such a huge commotion?

Even the distant Kunwu auxiliary peak nearly suffered, with an entire stretch of ground leveled!

Besides that, the unlucky cultivators on several other Heaven Connecting Platforms had automatically left their platforms to avoid being affected by the aftermath of Jian Chou’s kick, causing four platforms to merge together…

So…

“Ahem, Elder Fudao, what’s the situation with this Heaven Connecting Platform?”

On Kunwu’s side, Elder Gu Pingsheng, who was responsible for daily affairs, finally coughed and asked the question everyone was most curious about.

Fudao was still crying rivers of tears in his heart.

Hearing this question, he didn’t even turn his head back, only saying: “These were originally rules set for the formal levels. I just didn’t expect someone to break them first. Under normal circumstances…”

It wasn’t that one had to enter the Heaven Connecting Platform to challenge. If two Heaven Connecting Platform owners disagreed and fought, the loser would lose their platform, and the winner would gain the loser’s platform, combining them into a completely new one.

Moreover, each additional Heaven Connecting Platform would correspondingly rise thirty zhang in height.

If it reached the end of the third round, the final remaining people would basically be level with Kunwu’s Cloud Sea Plaza floating in the sky.

As Fudao Shanren said, the rules were broken, but it was just an accident.

Who could have thought there would be such an oddity as Jian Chou, who in this qualifying competition for entry spots, would directly eliminate three opponents with one kick, knocking them out and occupying four spots by herself!

This hatred was enormous.

Four spots merging into one meant that the original 120 spots might only become 117 in the end.

Three spots lost for nothing…

Really didn’t know if this Yashan Senior Sister would be cursed by many people after this gathering.

After Fudao Shanren’s explanation, everyone understood.

Gu Pingsheng had a stern, rigid face, a middle-aged man with somewhat graying beard, furrowed brows—he was the father of this gathering’s seventh-ranked hotshot, Gu Qingmei.

After hearing Fudao Shanren’s words and glancing below, he hesitated: “Since new rules have already emerged, shouldn’t we make adjustments?”

“Adjust what?”

These Kunwu idiots just knew how to cause trouble!

Fudao Shanren directly rolled his eyes, giving no face whatsoever.

“Anyway, these are the rules for the next level. If they want to kill the numbers down to below sixty now, it saves me from having to run the small gathering’s official first round. Play or don’t play—anyway, we won’t explain, and that’s that.”

No explanation meant letting the cultivators below guess for themselves.

As for what conclusions they reached, it all depended on the individual.

Hearing this, Gu Pingsheng immediately frowned, feeling that without establishing some new rules, this gathering would likely have problems right at the entry selection stage.

He instinctively wanted to suggest something to Fudao Shanren.

Unexpectedly, Fudao Shanren directly waved his hand, as if knowing he was about to speak, quite impatiently: “Are you in charge or am I in charge?!”

“…”

Fine, he could only keep quiet.

Gu Pingsheng was really suffocated but ultimately said nothing.

Above, a cold white light slid over, directly landing behind Fudao Shanren.

Wu Duan descended, directly bowing to Fudao Shanren: “Shanren, Master requests your presence.”

“…”

Hengxu Zhenren requested his presence?

Fudao Shanren cracked his neck, looking at Wu Duan with an almost murderous gaze, saying word by word: “I still need to watch the competition below, so I won’t go…”

“Master says there are important matters to discuss.”

With such a major incident happening below, even Wu Duan knew about it. How could Hengxu Zhenren not know?

At this time, he probably wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Fudao Shanren.

Wu Duan sighed inwardly.

Fudao Shanren really wanted to cry, feeling an impulse to immediately kneel on the ground and call Hengxu “grandpa.”

He tremblingly touched his waist.

Here was the treasury lock he had just won from Dragon Gate’s Pang Dian and his disciple. This good thing hadn’t even warmed up in his embrace!

This was truly cursed…

With an almost tragic posture, Fudao Shanren finally looked toward the mountain peak and said: “At worst, it’s just bargaining… What do I have to fear? Let’s go!”

Whoosh.

A streak of flowing light rapidly passed.

Fudao Shanren immediately disappeared.

Qu Zhengfeng stood in place, saying nothing.

Wu Duan stood in place but touched his chin and asked: “What does ‘bargaining’ mean?”

Yashan’s Senior Sister had damaged a large piece of Kunwu’s land, so by rights, compensation should indeed be paid.

However, Hengxu Zhenren didn’t seem like someone who would quibble over such trivial matters with Fudao Shanren.

It was probably about…

The Heaven-Flipping Seal.

Qu Zhengfeng smiled lightly, not answering Wu Duan’s question: “The literal meaning.”

He cast his gaze far, looking down below.

Compared to other Heaven Connecting Platforms, Jian Chou’s platform was a full ninety zhang higher and over twenty zhang wider, standing alone above everyone’s heads like a crane among chickens.

At this moment, Jian Chou stood on the Heaven Connecting Platform.

She seemed somewhat surprised by the platforms suddenly merging together automatically.

How could she not be surprised?

Actually, kicking and sending three people flying was something Jian Chou hadn’t expected.

The Heaven-Flipping Seal had always been one of Jian Chou’s strongest attacks, but her control over this strike was really poor.

The dao seal was too strong, making it correspondingly difficult for cultivators to control.

With only Foundation Establishment cultivation now, she could use this Heaven-Flipping Seal smoothly only by borrowing the advantages of her Heavenly Void Body. This probably wasn’t even the true power of the Heaven-Flipping Seal.

After using it several times before, this dao seal had been almost sealed away by Jian Chou as she constantly honed her other abilities.

She hadn’t expected that with her current peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, ready to step into the next realm at any time, using the Heaven-Flipping Seal again would obviously be another level more powerful.

She wondered—after she truly reached Golden Core, how many same-level cultivators could one Heaven-Flipping Seal take down?

Jian Chou blinked and slowly walked to the edge of the Heaven Connecting Platform, looking down.

In this instant, countless gazes from below converged, all falling on her.

Below were dense crowds of countless people, countless gazes.

Tongling Pavilion disciples parted the crowd, squeezing to the unconscious He Jiuyi’s side, anxiously forming a circle around him.

Xuanyang Sect cultivators also rushed over, helping up the unfortunate Fang Dachui. After much commotion, Fang Dachui finally slowly opened his eyes.

A white-bearded old man immediately wept with joy: “Dachui’s not dead! Dachui’s not dead!”

Not far away, two cultivators who had just escaped disaster and lost their Heaven Connecting Platforms now stared foolishly at those two unfortunate men, also showing expressions of lingering fear and “being able to keep our lives is extremely fortunate amid misfortune.”

…

Countless people were still discussing her previous strike.

“How could it be so strong?”

“What dao seal was that?”

“I’ve never heard of such a dao seal before!”

“Worthy of being Yashan…”

“Haha, looks like the legend of Yashan’s new generation Leg-Pulling Sect is real!”

“Besides sword-pulling, there’s also leg-pulling. Truly worthy of Yashan!”

“This works too?”

…

Too many people, too many voices, too many gazes.

Jian Chou scanned over them, also seeing the melon-eating youth Xiao Jin, seeing Nie Xiaowan who was suppressing excitement with a flushed face looking at her, seeing the silent Zhang Sui, the smiling Zhou Kuang, and also seeing a wretched stick-wielding figure in the crowd—it was actually Qian Que.

Of course, she also saw the Fengmo Sword Sect members, and Xia Houshe standing at the center of the crowd.

Even from such a distance, she seemed to feel the oppressive gloom from the bloody line carved down his forehead.

And also…

Lu Xiangleng.

By a mountain stream, several female cultivators from Baiyue Valley gathered together, led by Lu Xiangleng. Not many people approached their area, though some elegantly dressed cultivators wandered nearby, seemingly wanting to catch the beauty’s attention.

However, Lu Xiangleng’s gaze remained on Jian Chou from beginning to end.

The moment Jian Chou looked over, their gazes met directly.

“…”

For a moment, there was slight surprise.

With just this one glance, Lu Xiangleng knew that just as she still remembered Jian Chou, this Yashan Senior Sister should also remember her.

How many capable people were there in the world?

Someone who seemed unremarkable during a chance encounter might already be famous throughout the world.

The world was marvelous and interconnected.

A faint smile appeared on Lu Xiangleng’s pale face, seeming both polite and natural.

Not far from her, Baiyue Valley disciple Feng Li snapped shut her glowing “One Person Platform Notes” with a “crack,” extremely indignant.

“What is this Zhilin Sou thinking, putting Senior Sister Lu’s ranking down again! What does he mean!”

When they first arrived, Baiyue Valley’s medicine woman Lu Xiangleng ranked fifth, a hotshot among hotshots.

But after Lu Xiangleng appeared, her ranking began to plummet crazily.

Until last time, she dropped directly out of the top ten.

But just now, the manual was revised again. This time was even more exaggerated—Lu Xiangleng’s name couldn’t be found even in the top hundred!

“What’s wrong with this Lu Xiangleng?”

“Hehe, she’s not another Jiang Wenchao, is she?”

“Sigh, who knows…”

…

People standing close by were already starting to discuss.

Feng Li became red-eyed with anger, both anxious and heartbroken. She immediately looked over there, about to step forward and drive people away.

A slender, pale hand suddenly pressed over, resting on Feng Li’s shoulder.

Lu Xiangleng’s smiling voice sounded: “Why argue with them?”

They were just a bunch of irrelevant spectators.

Others’ words didn’t affect her actions, standing, life, or death.

Feng Li’s eyes were about to drop tears as she bit her lip.

“I just can’t stand hearing them say such things. It’s just annoying! Senior Sister Lu…”

She looked up with some grievance at Lu Xiangleng.

Lu Xiangleng slowly withdrew her hand.

A black qi condensed into a black line, like a sharp scorpion tail, piercing into her fingertip, just short of penetrating her entire slender, delicate finger.

Her wide sleeves quickly covered everything, concealing it all.

The ranking adjustment meant Zhilin Sou had seen through her current condition.

Weakness.

Even standing here, she felt strained.

She just hadn’t told Feng Li about her recent situation.

Feng Li kept her head down, her voice carrying suppressed sobs.

“When Senior Sister was glorious, everyone came to curry favor. Now wherever we go, people look at us strangely, as if we’ve become some kind of plague. Their eyes practically want to stick to us to see what happened to us…”

“…”

Wasn’t this just normal?

Lu Xiangleng’s gaze swept around, and quite a few people quickly withdrew their scrutinizing looks.

For a moment, she actually found it somewhat amusing.

She suddenly remembered the various doubts Jian Chou had faced recently, but…

Who cared?

Slowly curving into a serene smile, her dense eyelashes trembled, her dark pupils carrying an indescribable radiance.

“It’s precisely because of this that I am Lu Xiangleng, and they are not.”

“…Senior Sister Lu…”

Feng Li was stunned.

She looked up, not quite understanding this sentence, yet seeming to understand something.

But that feeling was too mysterious, too unclear.

She only felt that her senior sister at this moment was different from usual.

Lu Xiangleng took one last look at Jian Chou on the high platform, not explaining, only thinking: It’s also precisely because of this that Jian Chou is Jian Chou, and they are not.

She turned around, slowly walking out from the lively crowd toward the quiet periphery.

A frail figure, moving against the tide, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Jian Chou from above watched her figure, feeling a sense of otherworldly transcendence. Like gathering iris and angelica, wearing autumn orchids as ornaments, drinking morning dew from magnolia, dining on fallen chrysanthemum petals at evening—always sublime above the world.

Zhilin Sou had ranked her outside the top hundred, so—

Her poison was still unresolved?