All disciples of the Six Paths Halls had their eyes fixed on her, even as Li Ling entered the ring, and it had been this way for the past five minutes since she arrived and declared her identity as well as her position in this duel.

Li Ling also casually looked up and was forced to pause, because he was taken aback. From his position, he could see that the light of the sun that beamed down from the firmament had somehow narrowed into a single beam of radiance, as if that bloody fellow Heaven's Will itself had laid a pillar of day within the dark.

Upon that podium, beneath that pillar of light, she was seated.

She did not lounge decadently in the slightest despite being in a position that overlooked everyone, rather sitting with her back straight, her knees aligned, and her white-gloved hands resting upon her lap. A metallic ring made of gold hung behind her head like a gilt halo, and within its circumference, it was as if all uncleanliness in the world was pulverized into nothingness.

Unlike typical veils, she wore one that was more akin to a shroud that was tied into her dual matronly buns, forming an "Immaculate Veil" that billowed behind her like a miniature cape.

She wore the typical white and gold of the sect, though hers was more like a high-collared dress traced with golden lines, its hems sealed with golden thread, and a single tassel of emerald green at her sternum.

A slim yellow belt cinched the garment with meticulous neatness, leading the eye to the slit below her navel that promised movement without indulgence.

From her temples, silver hair fell while illuminated by the sun, caught beneath a resplendent circlet that shaped her aura of light into rays that bore down on the crowd.

Her eyes were the color of a river free of dirt, a beautiful blue that many craved but could never find. However, despite possessing beauty, they also held incomparable coldness and disdain for all living things, a clinical light flashing in them that weighed the worth and waste of the species before her.

At her right hand rested a sword whose guard formed a sun-wheel, its point angled down. When she glanced at Li Ling, the light itself seemed to tilt in deference, and the faint scent of ozone—akin to clean rain—pushed the ring area one step further from impurity.

"Proceed with introductions." She said, voice impassive and eyes fixated on Li Ling.

For that matter, Li Ling continued walking into the ring, where he saw Shen Taixu standing at his end with his arms folded behind his back, a confident and mocking sneer on his face as if he couldn't believe that Li Ling actually dared to come.

Li Ling glanced faintly at the woman seated at the top and decided to scan her to see who she really was.

｢Name: Shen Ziyan

Status: Healthy.

Age: 20/1200

Slaughter Points Value: 15,800

Cultivation Base: Nascent Soul mid-stage (23%) || Golden Body level 8 (97%)

Remarks: The Acting Matriarch of the Shen Clan and a woman born with a mutated light element spirit root, Shen Ziyan was hastily recruited into the Divine Deva Hall by its current True Inheritor, said to have even caught the eye of the Sect Master and the Old Ancestor due to her talent. Typically, you should not be able to scan her as she is in the Spirit Path while you are in the Qi Path, but a leeway is made possible due to your shared fate. However, there is one crucial thing that the Infinite Slaughter System will highlight about Shen Ziyan, and that is the fact that she shares the same fate trajectory as Bai Ruyi.｣

Li Ling stopped at his end of the stage, his eyes never leaving Shen Ziyan's form, not giving Shen Taixu the slightest bit of his attention. After he read the assessment from the Infinite Slaughter System, Li Ling narrowed his eyes and felt as if he had understood something.

In fact, he would be stupid not to understand—the Infinite Slaughter System had partially broken the rules to give him a hint with a "wink wink" at the end.

Possessing the same fate as Bai Ruyi, eh? Well, as he knew exactly what he planned to do with Bai Ruyi, this was directly giving him the answer to the problem question without the process, leaving it up to him to fill in the gaps.

'So I become a harem protagonist? Oh Andrew Han, how shameless of you.' Li Ling thought to himself with a chuckle.

Still, despite this, his actions did not change. He coldly turned to face the slightly annoyed Shen Taixu, who was unhappy that Li Ling dared to desecrate their Clan Matriarch with his filthy and unclean eyes, then spoke loudly.

"Who is this, and why was I not informed beforehand of such a presence?"

Shen Taixu reined in his anger and then smiled slightly. "You don't need to know. Your status is nothing compared to a noble Core Disciple."

Li Ling looked at him strangely and turned to walk off the stage without even looking back. This caused the faces of the six Hall Masters to change, especially Shen Taixu, while the crowd became amused.

Duels in demonic sects were one of the few places apart from trading where the rules were very strictly enforced. Just like habitation, just like trading, duels were one of the few places where demonic sects seemed even more righteous than righteous sects, because they knew that without a firm hand to press down, chaos would erupt.

Before we even get to the current duel, there was the pending matter of Shen Taixu performing a sneak attack on Li Ling during the previous meeting that spawned this duel in the first place. Normally, he should have been severely penalized for that, but because Li Ling deftly shifted it into a duel, it was put on hold.

As the sneak attack was light, meant only to punish Li Ling for perceived insubordination, the penalty for it wouldn't be much to one like Shen Taixu—likely a minor fine, which he was willing to pay; otherwise, he wouldn't have made the strike in the first place.

The problem came from the operation of this duel.

The Six Hall Masters wanted to use this duel to humble the young talents of the sect and make their control over the lower layer firmer, so they had not only advertised it to all parties within the lower layer but had also pulled strings behind the scenes to put things in their favor.

One example was the very referee of this match, Shen Ziyan, who sat upon her podium with her blue eyes never leaving Li Ling's form. Such a person should not be here, as the referee should be an unaffiliated party, not the literal niece of one of the duelists, who was also their clan matriarch due to superior talent.

This kind of thing was fine if no one spoke about it and the duel went underway, but with Li Ling questioning it, Shen Taixu wanted to play her off as a superior person who could not be questioned.

Who knew that Li Ling did not fear death and directly turned his back to a battle ordained by a Core Disciple? Yes, while she theoretically would be heavily penalized for killing him if she did, and lightly penalized for attacking him—once again, if she did—who was willing to bet on such a thing?

In the cultivation world, everyone was cunning, but some fools did exist. Even worse, with a sect full of demonic disciples who had flawed mentalities and powder-keg-like temperaments, who was willing to bet on another person's rationality?

But it seems Li Ling won the bet, because Shen Ziyan did not make a move, simply watching him go. Seeing this, Shen Taixu gritted his teeth and was about to speak when someone beat him to it.

"Path Lord Li, there is no need to be so hasty. Hall Master Shen's words were said to provoke you and weaken your mentality as he is your opponent and should not be reason for you to step out." Hall Master Tang Huo stood up and said with a shake of his head.

As his own Hall Master, it was difficult for Li Ling to legally ignore him, so he turned to Tang Huo with raised eyebrows. "Then will my esteemed Hall Master be able to answer my question? Without clarification, I have reason to believe that this match has been rigged and will not subject myself to such futility willingly."

Tang Huo's lips twitched. Obviously, it had been rigged, and if he announced her identity to Li Ling—which everyone here already knew—wouldn't he be directly admitting that they were trying to set him up? However, seeing how decisive Li Ling had been just now, it was evident that any further sophistry would not achieve their goal of misleading him.

As such, Tang Huo decided to attack from a different angle. "Path Lord Li, why don't we have a bet? Fight Hall Master Shen and win, and I will pay out 50,000 Blood Credits to you."

Indeed, upon hearing this, Li Ling's expression shifted slightly for the first time today.

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