"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Bishui, in the heat of battle, accidents can happen. If I offend you in any way, please do not take it to heart," Island Master Liu said with a grin, cupping his fists.

"Then I ask Island Master Liu to show mercy and not to be too harsh on me," Bi Shuirou replied with a curtsy, her voice gentle.

As she spoke, the flirtatious glimmer in her eyes, coupled with her soft voice, inevitably made her seem pitiable, a stark contrast to her demeanor when she had met Luo Wanshan earlier.

Naturally, this was not because she harbored any fondness for Island Master Liu; on the contrary, she knew that he and Luo Wanshan were cut from the same cloth and she truly despised them both from the bottom of her heart.

"Indeed a bewitching vixen, but too bad I'm not falling for this ploy..." Island Master Liu couldn't help but sigh internally.

He considered himself different from that idiot Luo Wanshan; he never wasted effort on women, therefore would never trip over one, let alone be chivalrous, but subconsciously, he had let down his guard a bit.

"Please," Island Master Liu said, gesturing with a lifted hand.

No sooner had he spoken than he acted, not waiting for Bi Shuirou to make the first move. He slapped his Spiritual Beast Bag at his waist and a streak of light flew out, instantly transforming into a fierce tiger enveloped in a blue glow.

This beast stood over three meters tall with bright fur that waved without a breeze, as if it was constantly amidst the waves, and its tail, covered with excessively long hair, undulated unpredictably like water grass.

Island Master Liu waved his hand, and the blue tiger dashed forward on four legs, rushing toward Bi Shuirou and stirring up a misty water fog. The heavy moisture surged along with it.

Approaching a distance of about three meters, its colossal paw crashed down with a sound of surging waves.

A mist condensed under the swipe of its paw, transforming into a wave crashing down with the force of breakers on Bi Shuirou.

Seeing this, Bi Shuirou swiftly raised her hand and a green light surged from her palm, forming an invisible barrier to block the oncoming wave.

With a "bang," water splashed everywhere.

The wave collapsed first, and the barrier rippled violently, nearly dissipating.

Right then, the enormous tiger's paw followed through with unrelenting pressure, shattering the screen of water, striking towards Bi Shuirou.

Bi Shuirou's expression remained unchanged, and there was even a flirtatious smile in her eyes as she moved ghostlike to the side, causing the tiger's paw to hit empty air.

At the same time, three streaks of black light shot from the sky, revealing three black spikes, aiming for the face of the blue tiger.

A blue light burst from the tiger's body, causing the black spikes to slow down as if stuck in mud as soon as they penetrated, their thrust significantly reduced.

Immediately after, the tiger retracted its huge paw and swept in front of itself, knocking away the black spikes.

Island Master Liu watched this scene from a distance, quietly speculating on Bi Shuirou's strength, feeling that she couldn't be so weak.

But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

Behind him in the void, ripples of water appeared, and within them surged a green glow; a Spirit Moth of no small stature compared to his Liulan Tiger materialized out of thin air.

The Spirit Moth spread its wings, fluttering slightly. The pattern on its left wing was brilliant, forming the face of a beautiful woman, while the pattern on its right wing was sinister, depicting a skull and bones.

With each flap of its wings, the images of the beauty and the skull interspersed, creating a bizarre and exotic sight.

"Not good!" Alarm bells rang immediately in Island Master Liu's mind.

He had no idea when Bi Shuirou managed to release her spirit beast.

Island Master Liu's expression grew solemn, and his gaze, after only a momentary pause on the intermingling wings, began to blur, his vision becoming hazy.

He instinctively wanted to recall his Liulan Tiger for protection, but then he noticed the fluttering of the Spirit Moth's wings slowing down, while the woman's face on it became increasingly lifelike.

In a trance, a figure of a woman clad in a water-blue robe stepped out from the wings and floated towards him with light steps.

"Master's wife..." Island Master Liu stiffened, murmuring.

She was the only woman he had ever truly loved. To have her, he had even gone so far as to betray and murder the master who had taught him for many years, yet all of it had been a play orchestrated by her.

She had deliberately seduced him into committing the unforgivable, then collaborated with others to hunt him until he was forced to flee overseas.

After many years, when her face reappeared before his eyes, Island Master Liu still could not resist falling into the illusion.

The spectators outside the Martial Arts Arena could not see the illusions, only seeing Island Master Liu standing still, while the odd Spirit Moth hovered in front of him, continuously fluttering its wings and scattering hallucinogenic light-green phosphor.

His Liulan Tiger was still following its master's orders, relentlessly pursuing Bi Shuirou, but it clearly began to lose the upper hand.

The observing crowd watched this unfold and felt that the outcome was already decided, but they were all somewhat surprised—Liulan Island seemed to have lost too easily.

"What a fool, to fall for an Illusion Technique so easily," Luo Wanshan cursed as he watched the scene unfold.

Meanwhile, Xi Ying approached Yuan Ming and asked, "What did you say to Bi Shuirou before she went into the arena? Could it be that you were instructing her on how to fight?"

"No, I just reminded her to be careful and watch out for Liulan Island's dirty tricks," Yuan Ming shook his head and said.

"Have you discovered something?" Xi Ying asked with a furrowed brow.

Her attention had been on the Fusang Divine Tree in the distance until now, and she did not pay much attention to the side of Liulan Island, after all, those fellows were simply not worth her attention, not worth caring about.

"It's nothing, just noticed that Luo Wanshan was walking a bit too closely with him and thought to remind him." Yuan Ming shook his head and said.

As they were speaking, Bi Shuirou on the Martial Arts Arena had already knocked over the Liulan Tiger and was soaring towards the Island Master Liu, who had fallen into an illusion.

Approaching within ten steps, Bi Shuirou gathered mana in both hands and suddenly thrust out her palms forward.

Total of two cyan light waves surged out like raging waves, directly aiming for the back of Island Master Liu.

Just as it was about to hit, a surge of blood-colored light welled up in the eyes of Island Master Liu, who unexpectedly broke free from the control of the Illusion Technique and twisted his body to deliver a palm strike towards the back.

As he struck out with his palm, a dark green Seal, wrapped in surging aqua-blue mana, was hurled towards Bi Shuirou.

The dark green Seal grew larger in the aqua-blue light, and by the time it reached the middle between the two, it had already swelled to the size of a bucket, scattering the mass of cyan light and pressing back against Bi Shuirou.

At the same moment, the Liulan Tiger, who had been knocked down, also launched a sneak attack on Bi Shuirou from behind under the control of Island Master Liu.

As Bi Shuirou was about to face defeat, caught in a pincer attack and in a losing position, a smile appeared on her face, and her figure dissipated like a bubble.

The next instant, from the wings of the Illusion Spirit Moth that flapped, a figure separated from the symbol of the white bone skull—it was the real body of Bi Shuirou, rushing swiftly towards Island Master Liu, who was wholeheartedly attacking the illusion.

By the time the latter sensed something was wrong, it was already too late. He could only turn around in a hurry, confronting Bi Shuirou with a palm strike.

The moment their palms collided, a tremendous force erupted, sending Island Master Liu flying, his back colliding with the oncoming Liulan Tiger, and the two of them tumbled out defeated.

Amidst the cheers and jeers of the crowd, Bi Shuirou performed a courtesy bow and soared back to the plaza.

Island Master Liu, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, also returned to his spot somewhat miserably.

Luo Wanshan, seeing his condition, couldn't help but feel contempt and said, "Defeated rather too quickly..."

Island Master Liu sneered, and without saying anything more, casually tossed back the black bottle.

The moment Luo Wanshan caught it, he realized something was off, quickly opened it to check, and discovered it was empty. His face first stiffened, then he delightedly said, "Brother Liu, did it work?"

"Cut the nonsense, when will I get my payment?" Island Master Liu couldn't be bothered to talk much.

"Give me two days. Once it's verified, I will surely satisfy you," Luo Wanshan said joyfully.

On the other side, seeing Bi Shuirou's victorious return, Xi Ying glanced over the plaza and said to Yuan Ming, "Let's not watch anymore, this is utterly dull."

Yuan Ming thought for a moment, considering there was no chance to observe the next round's opponents since each island could not repeat the same representatives for the three rounds of competition, and indeed, watching further seemed pointless. He nodded in agreement.

"If you two are leaving, I'd like to watch a little longer," Bi Shuirou said.

She wanted to take this opportunity to observe the strength changes of the various islands, unlike Yuan Ming and Xi Ying.

"Very well, we shall take our leave first," Yuan Ming stood up to bid farewell and was about to leave with Xi Ying.

Just then, the next match had also begun.

At the sight of the person on the stage, Yuan Ming was momentarily stunned, then a smile appeared on his face, and he sat back down, pulling Xi Ying with him.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Xi Ying asked in surprise.

"Let's watch one more match," Yuan Ming said with a smile.

Xi Ying followed his gaze to the Martial Arts Arena, where she saw a white-haired old woman standing opposite a young man. The former wasn't anything special, but the latter seemed somewhat familiar, though she couldn't quite recall where she had seen him.

Yuan Ming, of course, saw clearly that the young man representing Blood Bird's Nest Island was none other than Wulu.

"This guy has some nerve, not even bothering to change his appearance to participate in the competition?" Yuan Ming thought to himself.

After a moment's contemplation, it dawned on him that this time, it wasn't a clan mission or, as previously, infiltration into Blood Bird's Nest Island to steal a Cultivation Secret Manual. He was likely aiming for the Immortal Fruit.

Therefore, Wulu did not need to disguise himself excessively.

Wulu's opponent was also a cultivator from one of the Second-class Islands, vastly weaker than him. They hadn't exchanged more than a few blows before he was struck down unconscious with a heavy blow from Wulu.

Watching Wulu leave the stage, Yuan Ming did not go to recognize him but instead left with Xi Ying, returning to their dwelling.

The first day of the competition lasted until the evening before it finally concluded.

After returning from the venue, Bi Shuirou went straight to Yuan Ming and Xi Ying.

Xi Ying, seeing the faint joy in Bi Shuirou's eyes, immediately guessed the reason and said with a smile, "Could it be that tomorrow's combat roster has come out?"

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