"Yao Xi wins!"

  "Li Xiaoyao wins!"

  "Kong Xiangbei wins!"

  "Lin Feng wins!"

  "…"

  Cultivator battles were usually quite numerous. Especially now, with the competition still being in the 100-to-50 round. The level difference among the disciples was large. Naturally, the matches were decided quickly.

  Before long, it was Ye Chen's turn. As soon as Ye Chen stepped onto the stage, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. There weren't many elders present today. Important figures like the Sect Master and Peak Masters didn't attend. They valued their time and would only come on the final day to watch the final matches.

  However, Ye Chen had made quite a name for himself. He was known as the most useless direct disciple, and also as the passionate simp. This made everyone curious—just how strong was Ye Chen really? If he couldn't even make it into the top 100-to-50 round, that would truly be humiliating.

  On the stage, Elder Chen shook his head. Before the competition started, he had already spoken to the Sect Master about expelling Ye Chen. The Sect Master had said they would judge based on Ye Chen's performance. But given Ye Chen's track record, it was highly unlikely he would even make it to the final day of the competition.

  So, expelling him had become almost certain. Unless Ye Chen somehow made it into the top ten. But how could that be possible?

  Meanwhile, Li Xiaoyao and the others, who held a grudge against Ye Chen, were watching with cold eyes. They were all waiting for Ye Chen, the most useless direct disciple, to be eliminated by some nameless outer disciple in the first match. That would definitely make Ye Chen the laughingstock of the entire sect. And so, under the watchful eyes of countless spectators, the competition officially began.

  Ye Tian didn't hold back. He immediately raised his hand, and within an instant, dozens of ice blades appeared behind him, shooting toward Ye Chen with a resounding roar. The initial strike was fast, and the ice blades were thin, sharp, and incredibly fast.

  The most impressive thing was that there were ten ice blades fired at once, and their activation speed was astonishingly quick. It was clear that Ye Tian had a solid grasp of the Ice Blade technique.

  Some of the disciples even thought to themselves with malicious intent, "Ye Chen can't possibly block this move, can he?"

  But right before everyone's eyes, Ye Chen casually raised a finger. A half-circular golden barrier appeared at his fingertip and effortlessly blocked all of the ice blades. The crowd immediately erupted in astonishment.

  Ye Tian, hearing the uproar, froze for a moment. "It's just my Ice Blade technique being blocked, isn't it? Why is everyone so surprised? How useless must my cousin be to get such low expectations from the crowd?"

  But before Ye Tian could process this, he suddenly felt a gust of wind beside him. When he turned around, he was horrified to see a giant palm appear beside him, seemingly out of nowhere.

  "What kind of spell is this? When did it appear? How did it make no sound at all?"

  Ye Tian didn't have time to dodge. He hastily activated a defensive spell, hoping to withstand the attack. But the moment the defense shield touched the giant palm, it exploded instantly.

  The giant palm slapped Ye Tian without any delay, sending him flying like a fly, crashing heavily against the barrier at the edge of the arena. His body was in agony, and he couldn't get up. The arena fell into an eerie silence. All those waiting to see Ye Chen's humiliation now looked on in stunned disbelief.

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  "Ye Chen won already?"

  "What kind of spell was that?"

  "I've never seen anything like it before."

  Most surprisingly, when Ye Chen cast the spell, the flow of spirit Qi in the air revealed something even more shocking—Ye Chen was also at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

  When did Ye Chen break through? Wasn't Ye Chen supposed to be a third-grade spiritual root? How many pills must he have consumed to break through twice in a year?

  The crowd was left confused and astounded. Some even started to suspect—"Could this be a fixed match?"

  After Ye Chen came down from the arena, the news of the "simp direct disciple" defeating his opponent and advancing to the next round spread quickly.

  However, it was accompanied by rumors of a fixed match. Some disciples confidently confirmed that Ye Tian and Ye Chen were cousins, both disciples of the Ye family from Green Cloud City. Others mentioned that they had seen the two whispering to each other before the match started.

  There were even friends of Ye Tian who claimed that Ye Tian had told them personally that he had intentionally lost to Ye Chen for the sake of the family and asked them not to spread the word. When even the people involved had admitted it, it became hard for anyone to deny.

  Many understood why Ye Chen would engage in a fixed match. After all, Ye Chen was a direct disciple, and if he lost in the first round, it would be incredibly embarrassing.

  Ye Tian, on the other hand, was just a regular disciple. For the long-term benefit of the family, he had sacrificed himself and lost to Ye Chen, which seemed perfectly reasonable.

  A number of disciples who had already been eliminated gathered to watch. They were curious to see just how badly Ye Chen would be beaten by his opponent in the next round, the 50-to-25 elimination.

  ...

  Ye Chen was, of course, aware of the rumors circulating. But since these were just baseless claims with no real benefit, Ye Chen didn't care much about them.

  However, while he didn't care about his reputation, Ye Chen would never go out of his way to pretend to be weak. When there was something to gain, he would definitely reveal his strength. But the fact that Ye Tian had used the situation to spread rumors and elevate himself still irked Ye Chen.

  "If I had known, I wouldn't have gone easy on you just now. You'd better watch out, kid."

  As Ye Chen casually chatted with Yao Xi, time quickly passed, and the afternoon arrived. The afternoon marked the 50-to-25 elimination round. When Ye Chen saw the name of his opponent, he immediately raised an eyebrow.

  "Kong Xiangbei!"

  The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. However, Ye Chen didn't dwell on it. After all, to him, it didn't matter who the opponent was!

  Soon enough, it was time for Ye Chen to take the stage. His match was noticeably more lively than the others. At least a thousand people had gathered to watch.

  Ye Chen had truly become one of the top figures in Green Cloud Sect. When he finally saw his opponent's appearance, Ye Chen furrowed his brow.

  The opponent was a man with a thick neck and large ears. And the most important thing? The opponent had sent him a voice transmission.

  "Direct Disciple Ye, are you finally ready to settle the score for stealing the woman I had my eye on?"

  "Stole your woman?"

  Ye Chen appeared confused. It wasn't that Ye Chen wanted to claim he hadn't done it. It was just that he had no idea who this so-called "woman" was. Could he be talking about one of Yao Xi's suitors?

  Seeing Ye Chen's puzzled expression made Kong Xiangbei even angrier.

  "You stole my woman and you still look confused?"

  This clearly meant that Ye Chen didn't even see him as a threat. He didn't even recognize him.

  "This is too much! I have been stuck at the peak of the eighth level of Qi Refining for so long..."

  He had his sights set on Sun Ruoxin's body, planning to use her as a furnace to break through. Originally, with the Green Cloud Sect disciple spot and the pressure from his father's position as an elder, it would've been easy to manipulate Sun Ruoxin and her father.

  But then, that idiot Ye Chen, the simp, had to give the Green Cloud Token to Sun Ruoxin, ruining everything. Now his cultivation was still stuck, and he couldn't find a way to break through.

  In the cultivation world, stealing a woman wasn't usually a mortal enemy. But blocking someone's path to advancement? That was unforgivable. What infuriated Kong Xiangbei the most was that Ye Chen didn't even realize what he had done.

  "Simp, you deserve to die! Ye Chen, today I'll beat you half to death! And as for Sun Ruoxin, does she think just because she's become a Green Cloud Sect disciple, I can't do anything to her? What's meant to be mine will always be mine! You, a useless piece of trash who'll never break through to Foundation Establishment, just wait and see how I'll deal with you in the future!"

  Kong Xiangbei was a smart person, so all of these words were through voice transmission.

  Upon hearing this, Ye Chen understood exactly who his opponent was.

  "This is Elder Kong's son!"

  To be honest, Ye Chen didn't have much interest in Sun Ruoxin anymore. Her "multiples" were inadequate, and her long legs were the only thing that stood out. Whether or not he pursued her really didn't matter much. But since Kong Xiangbei wanted her so badly...

  Now, Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement.