"Have you heard? It seems like there was quite a commotion at Talisman Peak yesterday. The entire peak was shaking for a long time!"

  "Yeah, I'm a disciple from Talisman Peak. It suddenly started shaking yesterday."

  "This morning, I saw the Peak Master of Talisman Peak with a particularly grim expression. Could it be that something went wrong with the peak's formation?"

  "Maybe, Elder Chen from the Internal Affairs Hall also looked a bit upset today. I bet fixing the formation is going to cost a lot of spirit stones."

  "Stop chatting, stop chatting, Direct Disciple Ye is about to go up to the stage..."

  The disciples were buzzing with gossip. However, as the third match of the day began, the atmosphere immediately became tense and quiet. Everyone looked towards the arena almost in unison.

  The arena was located in front of the main hall of the Green Cloud Sect. A group of elders sat high on the stage. The peak masters, and even the sect leader who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, were all present.

  This was the final day of the sect competition. The top 25 disciples would be decided today. The winner would receive a Foundation Establishment Pill personally awarded by the sect leader.

  "Wait, Ye Chen made it to the top 25? He's been in the sect for less than a year, and to achieve this is already impressive. Elder Chen, are you being too demanding?"

  The sect leader, whose eyes were almost too squinted to open and who appeared as frail as an old mortal man, squinted at the arena and asked Elder Chen in a low voice.

  Elder Chen's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected Ye Chen, with his third-grade spiritual root, to break through two levels in just one year. He hadn't anticipated that Ye Chen's combat strength would rise so dramatically. With a never-before-seen giant hand spell, Ye Chen had easily swept through all his opponents. Had he known this would happen, would he have even needed to report Ye Chen to the sect leader?

  Elder Chen had no personal grudge against Ye Chen. It was purely out of concern for the sect's interests and reputation. But now, his views on Ye Chen were beginning to change.

  As Ye Chen ascended the arena, Elder Chen couldn't help but twitch his lips. This Ye Chen had gone to report to Gu Yunyun, claiming that Kong Xiangli had bullied him. That was one thing, but he had also reported "him"—saying that he was present at the time and did nothing to stop it, standing by as Ye Chen was bullied. He even accused him of failing to fulfill his responsibilities as an elder.

  But at the time, Elder Chen had been observing, confirming that Kong Xiangli didn't dare make a move, and that was why he hadn't intervened.

  Last night, after Kong Xiangli was beaten, the Peak Master of Talisman Peak had come to apologize, sending dozens of high-grade talismans to Ye Chen for self-defense.

  Elder Chen had also been summoned by Gu Yunyun. Gritting his teeth, he apologized by giving Ye Chen a high-grade flying sword. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

  ...

  To the right of the Sect Leader, Gu Yunyun, dressed in a red robe, was casually reclining in her chair, her posture relaxed and laid-back. There was no sharpness or edge that one might expect from a swordsman. But judging by the curve of her lips, it was clear that Gu Yunyun was in a good mood.

  Ever since Ye Chen had given up the Five Elements Cave slot, Gu Yunyun had been ignoring her direct disciple, convinced that Ye Chen would undoubtedly embarrass himself in the Sect Competition. But what she didn't expect was that Ye Chen didn't embarrass himself at all—quite the opposite, in fact. He had brought her a pleasant surprise. Making it into the top 25 was far beyond her expectations. At this point, no matter how she looked at Ye Chen, he was pleasing to the eye.

  Yesterday, when Ye Chen came to report, he didn't stop for a second and went directly to every door to complain. If only Ye Chen's performance could be a little better, though. After all, Gu Yunyun had never been one to fall short of others. When she was a disciple, she never placed lower than second in the Sect competition.

  If Ye Chen could perform similarly, it wouldn't tarnish her reputation. But Gu Yunyun soon shook her head, knowing she was asking too much. Ye Chen's performance was already impressive. Even if he lost, it wouldn't be a problem, as long as it wasn't to a Magic Peak direct disciple. She and the Peak Master of Magic Peak were bitter enemies. Losing face in this way was something she simply couldn't accept.

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  And at that moment, the match was about to begin. As Ye Chen's opponent stepped forward, he couldn't help but notice that it was none other than Li Xiaoyao.

  Li Xiaoyao wore a calm smile on his face. While Ye Chen's giant hand was certainly terrifying, Li Xiaoyao had already devised a way to counter it. His swordsmanship had reached an exceptionally high level. Any giant hand could easily be sliced through with a single strike.

  Although this kind of sword technique was extremely taxing, Li Xiaoyao believed he could only use it three times at most. But that was enough. Ye Chen's giant hand would require even more energy to maintain, and with Ye Chen's current cultivation of just the eighth level of Qi Refining, without stepping into the Five Elements Cave, Li Xiaoyao believed Ye Chen could only strike one or two times before his energy was depleted.

  Li Xiaoyao smiled faintly, speaking in a condescending tone, "Junior Brother Ye, in battle, swords and blades have no eyes. It's hard to control. If you feel threatened, remember to immediately crouch down and surrender, or else I'm afraid I won't be able to react in time and might accidentally hurt you."

  Ye Chen rolled his eyes, clearly uninterested in wasting time with the taunts. "You're not even worth wasting my breath on," he thought to himself.

  With that, Ye Chen's energy surged, and his hand quickly formed a spell. The Heaven-Destroying Hand technique gathered a massive, golden-purple hand above Li Xiaoyao, and it came crashing down with terrifying force. The audience gasped at the sheer power of the attack, eager to see how Li Xiaoyao would respond.

  Li Xiaoyao, however, just smirked. His spiritual power flowed into his sword, and with a swift motion, he unleashed a colossal sword strike, meeting Ye Chen's hand head-on.

  The two forces collided with a tremendous crash that shook the entire arena. The deafening sound reverberated across the disciple square.

  Looking up, the disciples could see that Ye Chen's enormous spiritual hand had been cleaved open by the sword strike and was slowly dissipating. The sword energy also vanished in the aftermath of the impact.

  "Impressive! As expected of Senior Brother Li, his sword technique is almost godlike!" one disciple murmured in awe.

  "That giant hand technique of Ye Chen's was indeed strong, but it consumed an enormous amount of energy. It seems like the victory is already decided; Senior Brother Li is clearly superior."

  "Ye Chen has only been in the sect for less than a year, and he's only at the eighth level of Qi Refining. It's not surprising that he couldn't win against Senior Brother Li."

  Disciples continued to murmur amongst themselves. Meanwhile, the elders watching the match nodded in approval.

  "Senior Brother Li's strike is already showing signs of being able to break any technique with a single sword strike. His talent in swordsmanship is indeed remarkable."

  "Indeed, if he wins first place this year and gets the Foundation Establishment Pill, Green Cloud Sect's strength will undoubtedly improve by a large margin."

  "Ye Chen's technique was powerful, but the consumption was too great. That one strike nearly exhausted all of his energy, leaving him with little chance of victory."

  The Magic Peak Master commented with a mocking tone, "I was hoping to have my disciple spar with Ancient Fellow Daoist's disciple to exchange techniques, but it seems like there won't be an opportunity for that now!"

  Gu Yunyun, sitting beside the Sect Leader, raised an eyebrow. She, too, had started to think that Ye Chen might not win this match. However, she was also a little more skeptical now, noticing the slight surprise in her expression.

  "Let's see what happens next," she thought, her eyes narrowing in anticipation.

  The entire arena fell into stunned silence. When Ye Chen's giant hand was shattered, his expression remained unchanged. But in the next instant, a new, even larger spiritual hand condensed in mid-air without hesitation, slamming down once again.

  Li Xiaoyao's face changed instantly. How could Ye Chen still summon such a technique? Before he had time to think, Li Xiaoyao quickly exerted all his energy, swinging his sword to unleash a massive sword energy to counter the attack.

  Boom...

  The two forces collided, both dissipating into the air. Li Xiaoyao exhaled in relief. Two giant palms—this must be Ye Chen's limit, right? Now, it was his turn to strike.

  But before Li Xiaoyao could even fully think that thought, his eyes widened in disbelief. Another giant hand formed above Ye Chen's head and came crashing down once more.

  Li Xiaoyao was speechless. Without wasting any more time, he once again summoned a massive sword energy to strike at the hand, desperate to break it. But this time, even the slightest sign of fatigue began to show on Li Xiaoyao's face.

  The consumption of breaking these giant hands with sword energy was enormous. He had already unleashed two powerful sword strikes, and now the third was pushing him to his limits. His spiritual energy was running dangerously low.

  Li Xiaoyao hoped that Ye Chen would finally collapse after this final strike. He couldn't possibly keep summoning these giant hands. But just as Li Xiaoyao prepared to strike at Ye Chen with his sword, he felt a weak fluctuation of spiritual energy above his head. His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked up.

  Yet again, another massive purple-golden spiritual hand appeared above him, descending rapidly.

  Li Xiaoyao's pupils contracted as he gazed at the incoming hand. The disbelief in his eyes was clear. He was a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator. He had just emerged from the Five Elements Cave. How could he lose to a mere eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator in a battle of endurance? How could this be possible?

  But it was too late for Li Xiaoyao to react. The giant hand moved too quickly. In the next instant, just like Kong Xiangbei, he was struck by the massive palm, sent flying through the air, crashing hard into the protective barrier of the arena.

  The audience exploded with shock.