That afternoon, Ye Chen arrived at the grand hall of Cangxing Martial Arts Academy.

Inside the hall, Yu Hui, Ouyang Xiaoling, and Qu Xiao were already there.

"Brother Ye!"

Fatty greeted him miserably.

Ye Chen glanced at Fatty and noticed he had lost weight, with many bruises on his face, clearly having been beaten frequently lately.

As for the bruises on his face, they were just superficial wounds. Fatty had plenty of pills to heal at any time, but Ye Chen could guess why Fatty hadn't healed himself, likely to feign misery and avoid further beatings.

Responding to Fatty, Ye Chen greeted Ouyang Xiaoling and Qu Xiao one by one.

Before long, another man walked into the hall.

This man was slim, with a somewhat sallow complexion and an expression that held a deep-seated bitterness. He carried a red-tasseled spear on his back.

Ouyang Xiaoling and Qu Xiao immediately greeted him.

"Senior Brother Sun."

Evidently, this was Sun Siming, who would be joining them to participate in the grand competition in Jiulong City.

Fatty sized up Sun Siming and then said with a smile, "I've long heard of your great name, Senior Brother Sun. Today I finally get to meet you; indeed, you live up to your reputation. I'm Yu Hui from the Star Pill Branch. I hope you will take care of us in the future."

Sun Siming nodded in response, and then his gaze turned to Ye Chen, "You must be Ye Chen."

"I am," Ye Chen replied.

Sun Siming withdrew his gaze from Ye Chen and said, "The grand competition is divided into individual and team events.

I don't care what you do in the individual event.

But in the team event, you all have to listen to me.

You might be unconvinced, so I'm giving you the chance to challenge me now.

If you lose, you follow my orders.

If I win, I make all the calls during the team event."

Yu Hui, Ouyang Xiaoling, and Qu Xiao all frowned.

Ye Chen, however, remained calm. Sun Siming had only recently broken through to the Mortal Transformation Realm, and his aura was still unstable. He was at the lowest level of Mortal Transformation, with combat abilities even inferior to the remnant Celestial Demon he had vanquished at the Sword Tomb a few days ago.

If they really fought,

Ye Chen could beat him.

Fatty said softly, "Senior Brother Sun, the team event requires cooperation, not a dictatorship. What do you think?"

Sun Siming's voice was cold, "The team event needs a backbone. None of you have experienced the grand competition, so you have no idea how brutal the team event can be. When chaos ensues, it's not about wanting to cooperate; if there's no unified direction, you'll lose utterly.

Since we are representing Cangxing Martial Arts Academy in the grand competition, we must bring glory to the academy!

Moreover,

it's the rule in every grand competition that after confirming the list, a core leader must be chosen.

Dean Ouyang gathered us here in the hall and hasn't appeared yet because of this very reason — only after we've settled the core leader will Dean Ouyang come.

So if any of you want to challenge me, feel free to do so now."

Fatty shrugged and said, "I can't win anyway, so it doesn't matter to me who the core leader is."

Although he was a Tier Four Earth Seal Spirit Master, dealing with ordinary Tier Five Spirit Masters or some peak Primordial Embryo Realm martial artists was not an issue, but he had no chance against someone in the Mortal Transformation Realm.

After saying this, Fatty winked at Ye Chen.

However, Ye Chen pretended not to notice.

Ye Chen actually didn't care who became the core leader.

While he was confident he could surpass Sun Siming, it wasn't necessary. Sun Siming had participated in the grand competition twice and was indeed more suitable due to his experience.

Ouyang Xiaoling shook her head and said, "Senior Brother Sun is already at Mortal Transformation level; I have no objections."

Qu Xiao also said, "If Senior Brother Sun wants to be the core leader, let him be."

Sun Siming's gaze once again turned to Ye Chen; he was the only one who had yet to express his stance.

Ye Chen was just about to speak.

But Sun Siming spoke first, "You have to compete with me!"

Ye Chen frowned, "Why?"

"You're outstanding, prouder than any of them, and impulsive. So I must make you truly concede, or else during the grand competition's team event, you'll be the most unstable factor. I don't want my plans disrupted because of you!" Sun Siming stated.

Ye Chen smiled and said, "Alright!"

He hadn't intended to contend with Sun Siming, but since Sun Siming had said so, he would compete with him!

Sun Siming turned and walked out of the hall.

Fatty immediately went up to Ye Chen and asked, "Brother Ye, are you confident?"

Ye Chen replied, "Only the competition will tell."

There's no point in saying there's confidence now; the results will soon be revealed anyway.

Qu Xiao also approached Ye Chen and whispered, "Ye Chen, don't blame Senior Brother Sun. Our Cangxing Martial Arts Academy ranked third in the Great Zhou Martial Academy because Senior Brother Sun and the others brought it back at the grand competition.

The last grand competition, Senior Brother Sun and the others could have beaten Feiyang Martial Arts Academy, but things went awry, and they narrowly lost... Cangxing Martial Arts Academy almost didn't retain third place; it was Senior Brother Sun who fought desperately to secure third, but it was also because of that battle that he was grievously injured and near death, taking over a year to recover."

Fatty also muttered, "That time Sun Siming has only himself to blame; he acted impulsively on his pride, or it wouldn't have turned out that way. That battle traumatized him, and now he's like this. If we make him the core leader of our team, it'll only complicate things!"

Ouyang Xiaoling glared at Fatty, "How dare you speak? Your Luofeng Martial Arts Academy tried with all its might to snatch the third place from us Cangxing Martial Arts Academy."

Fatty glared back at Ouyang Xiaoling, "In the grand competition, everyone fights with all they've got. Luofeng Martial Arts Academy competed fair and square!"

Ouyang Xiaoling had nothing to say.

Indeed, Luofeng Martial Arts Academy couldn't be blamed; that's just how the grand competition was.

At this moment, Ye Chen was already walking out of the hall.

Fatty, Ouyang Xiaoling, and Qu Xiao quickly followed.

Outside the grand hall, in the square, Sun Siming had already taken down the spear he wore on his back. The spearhead touched the ground as he gripped it upside down.

Ye Chen stood directly across from Sun Siming, his expression serene.

Sun Siming looked at Ye Chen, his expression cold, "Ye Chen, to ensure Cangxing Martial Arts Academy gets a good result in the grand competition, I will give it my all and not hold back. If you can't withstand it, admit defeat yourself!"

Ye Chen said flatly, "Please guide me."

As he finished speaking,

with a swish, the Celestial Mark Sword was unsheathed, and a sharp gleam poured out from the scabbard as a clear sword chime echoed throughout the heavens and earth!

Ye Chen's Invincible Sword Force simultaneously unfolded, heavy and vast like mountains, mighty and overwhelming like the high seas!

Fatty, Ouyang Xiaoling, and Qu Xiao, who stood by, all showed clear changes in their expressions.

Although their talents were quite remarkable, their perception of Ye Chen had completely changed since before.

Ye Chen was like his sword.

Once unsheathed, nothing seemed able to stop his invincible edge!

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