Chapter 3503: Martial Aunt (20)

With the defensive formation acting as a buffer, Ye Heyu only coughed up a bit of blood and was not seriously injured. He climbed to his feet, wiped the blood from his mouth, and cupped his hands.

“I lost,” he said before walking back toward Ning Shu.

“Brother, are you alright?” Ye Meiyu asked him hurriedly.

Ye Heyu shook his head. When Ye Meiyu moved to confront Yi Youxuan in a rage, Ye Heyu pulled her back. “What are you doing? It is inevitable to have accidents on the arena. Besides, she already beat so many other senior brothers and sisters before me.”

Everyone who faced Yi Youxuan met the same end.

Yi Youxuan had not expected Ye Heyu to be the one who sustained the lightest injuries among her opponents. She guessed that Jiang Xueci had stuffed this disciple with all sorts of protective treasures.

“Master, I lost,” Ye Heyu reported.

Ning Shu replied casually, “It is fine. When facing Yi Youxuan, even your master is someone to be soundly beaten.”

Ye Heyu: …

The subsequent matches held essentially no suspense. Yi Youxuan cut through the competition and secured first place without any doubt.

Ning Shu sent a telepathic message to the stony-faced sect leader. “Sect Leader, do not let Yi Youxuan enter the hidden realm. She was the one who took Jianzhan Peak last time. This person has inherited the legacy of an ancient Divine Dao sect. If she seizes control of the hidden realm, the very foundation of our Zisha Island will be ruined.”

The sect leader composed himself and glanced at Ning Shu. He sent a message back. “Has this been thoroughly investigated?”

“She definitely took Jianzhan Peak. It is best not to send her into the hidden realm,” Ning Shu insisted.

If Yi Youxuan obtained the core jade token of the hidden realm, the realm would become hers.

Although the hidden realm nominally belonged to Zisha Island, the sect did not truly control it. At most, they allowed disciples to enter when the barrier was weak to search for natural treasures.

A person couldn’t stay lucky forever, but they could always rebound after hitting rock bottom. Yi Youxuan was bound to face setbacks eventually, yet she never seemed to stay down for long.

The sect leader remained skeptical, so Ning Shu sent another message. “Sect Leader, please believe me. Yi Youxuan is not cultivating the techniques of Zisha Island. Not a single one of her moves belongs to us, and she possesses many divine artifacts.”

The sect leader frowned, deep in thought. “Then why did she come to Zisha Island?”

“Perhaps she saw that our island was remote and isolated at sea, and we can provide her a safe place to grow,” Ning Shu suggested.

There had to be a transition period. No matter how powerful her cheat was, Yi Youxuan still needed to grow and cultivate. Without sufficient power, she could neither hold nor drive her divine artifacts.

The sect leader watched Yi Youxuan closely and realized she truly had not used a single technique from Zisha Island. His expression soured.

Once the first place was officially decided, the sect leader smiled. “Excellent. The top fifty disciples may enter the hidden realm to cultivate. What you bring back will depend on your own luck.”

“The first-place winner is rewarded with a magic tool. You may choose any one you like from the forge,” the sect leader said, showing no outward sign of his internal doubts about Yi Youxuan.

“Thank you, Sect Leader.” Although she did not care for a common magic tool, the sect leader’s presence made Yi Youxuan feel somewhat oppressed. However, she was confident that given enough time, she would soundly defeat him.

The sect leader had lived for hundreds of years. He could easily detect her disdain, especially since Yi Youxuan was not the type to hide her emotions.

The sect leader: …

This disciple was truly defiant!

Would she bring disaster upon the sect?

The sect leader’s heart hammered with an ill omen. He suspected that Jiang Xueci from Lanzhu Peak had influenced him with her suggestions, leading him to see Yi Youxuan as a star of ill omen.

The sect competition ended quickly. Yi Youxuan had kicked everyone out of the ring, bringing the event to a premature close.

Looking back on the competition, there was only Yi Youxuan, Yi Youxuan, and Yi Youxuan. There were no other impressions left at all.

One had to pity the disciples who had been reduced to mere background scenery.

Once the disciples had dispersed, the sect leader sent a message to Qi Cheng, asking him to bring Yi Youxuan to the main hall.

The sect leader deliberated for a moment before speaking. “Regarding this trip to the hidden realm, your disciple should not go.”

Qi Cheng frowned. “Why?”

“As compensation, the sect will provide other rewards. Natural treasures or whatever else you require,” the sect leader said.

Yi Youxuan’s face immediately darkened. “I am the first-place winner. On what grounds am I barred from entry? This is completely unfair.”

The fact that she and her master had been summoned only to be told she could not go felt like a joke.

Various thoughts raced through Yi Youxuan’s mind. She felt she was being targeted.

In all of Zisha Island, only that woman from Lanzhu Peak held a grudge against her. It had to be her doing. She must’ve seized chance to get revenge.

The sect leader felt a bit annoyed that a junior would challenge him so bluntly, asking ‘why’ with such attitude. While he was slightly miffed, as an elder, he felt he should maintain a certain level of poise in front of a junior.

“Your strength is already very high, so you have no real need for the hidden realm. Although your spot has been removed, you will still receive everything you deserve,” the sect leader said in a reasonable tone. If someone this strong stayed at Zisha Island, she would eventually become a pillar of the sect.

Qi Cheng asked, “Sect Leader, why is it that only my disciple cannot enter? There must be a reason.”

“You do not need to worry about that. This was the wish of the grand elder.”

The Sect Leader could not find a valid reason, so he blamed it on the sect’s grand elder, who was perpetually in secluded meditation.

Qi Cheng frowned. “The grand elder? Why would he take notice of my disciple, and why would he forbid her from entering? Sect Leader, this is an injustice. My disciple won first place.”

It was all very bizarre.

Yi Youxuan also suspected this was just an excuse the sect leader had invented to keep her out of the hidden realm.

She asked sarcastically, “Then who is taking my place? I hope it is not a disciple from Lanzhu Peak.”

She assumed that woman had pulled her down just to pave the way for her own students.

“Not a single disciple from Lanzhu Peak made it into the top fifty,” the sect leader said coldly. Since when did a junior have the right to point fingers at the sect’s internal affairs?

She showed no respect for her seniors. He had watched Jiang Xueci of Lanzhu Peak grow up, and it was infuriating to see a fellow elder treated with such disdain by a junior.

It felt as though one of his own was being bullied by an outsider who was not loyal to the sect.

“The barrier is unstable this year. Your strength is too great, so your entry might cause issues,” the sect leader said, while simultaneously scanning Yi Youxuan’s equipment.

What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Her clothes were clearly a magic tool with immense defensive capabilities, and even her shoes were artifacts with significant spiritual fluctuations.

He was now half-convinced that this disciple was something special and might truly have inherited a Divine Dao sect.

“All these explanations are just excuses to keep me out of the hidden realm. This is unfair treatment,” Yi Youxuan said. She believed the sect leader was abusing his power to get revenge for Jiang Xueci by making things difficult for her.

It was the old classic of ‘striking the young and provoking the old.’1A common trope in cultivation novels where a protagonist beats a junior member of a group, only for the group’s elders to appear and demand vengeance.

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