On the arena stage, Du Gū Qīng Lí, having fought for so long, gradually found her footing.

Initially, she thought the people from Jīn Fēng Dǎo were incredibly strong.

Figures like Fāng Qǐ Hào, Duàn Níng, and Xiàng Guǎng, her current opponent, would be among the top, if not the very best, in the mortal world, capable of crushing ordinary opponents at their level.

Such individuals could be called Heavenly Talents; simply calling them “newcomers” wouldn’t do them justice.

Even Tiān Yáo Shèng Dì, with the best students in the world, only produced one Du Gū Qīng Lí, and two in the previous generation. Other sects would struggle to find even one, excluding Lù Xíng Zhōu and his disciples. Among the countless people, she had only seen Shěn Táng and Péi Chū Yùn possess such a level of skill. One represented the Dà Gān Imperial Family, the other represented Chà Nǚ Hé Huān, a powerful sect that had existed for ten thousand years. Neither were forces to be trifled with.

Even Lù Xíng Zhōu and his disciples had their foundations laid by the King of Hell; with an ordinary master, those two top talents might have been ruined.

As for the others ranked high on the newcomer list, they were truly just filling spots, only slightly better than average people, not even enough to withstand one attack from Yè Wú Fēng.

But how could an unknown sect like Jīn Fēng Dǎo have three such young individuals?

Du Gū Qīng Lí didn’t even need to pay attention to the murmurs of the audience outside to know that Jīn Fēng Dǎo was about to become famous.

Why were the immortal sects in the sea always envious and resentful of Tiān Yáo Shèng Dì? Because the people they recruited were mostly those left over after Tiān Yáo Shèng Dì made their selections. Over time, the strong sects grew stronger, and the weak grew weaker. Everyone had to rely on sheer luck to find good talents, and who could bear that?

The performance of Jīn Fēng Dǎo in this battle was sure to spread throughout the sea. Jīn Fēng Dǎo would instantly transform from an obscure, ordinary force into a renowned sect. Many people in the maritime nations would flock to Jīn Fēng Dǎo to seek immortality.

If Jīn Fēng Dǎo, in addition to its ability to teach disciples and its many ancient treasures, truly possessed a transcendent master, it wouldn’t be impossible for a new sacred land to rise in the sea.

Lù Xíng Zhōu was also contemplating this point.

If the ancient realm intended to use this as a fulcrum to establish a base in the mortal world… then participating in such a low-level competition made sense. For their strategy, it wasn’t low-level at all.

With this goal in mind, undermining the prestige of Tiān Yáo Shèng Dì, or even killing its promising talents, was not surprising.

Making a killing move in the first match was certainly not the strategy of Jīn Fēng Dǎo’s leading elder. Even if they intended to kill, it should have been done afterward. That Fāng Qǐ Hào was truly provoked by Ā Nuò, leading him to expose their overall murderous intent.

Besides their disciples, they must have also hidden means to deal with Yè Tīng Lán, at least to injure Yè Tīng Lán, to buy themselves time for development.

The cause and effect could roughly be strung together like this; logically, there shouldn’t be too many problems.

But the problem was, in the past, people from the ancient realm could only act surreptitiously. It was speculated that acting too openly would cause problems. Why, then, did they dare to openly establish a fulcrum this time?

Du Gū Qīng Lí, in the midst of battle, gradually found a few answers.

Some things could only be perceived through personal experience… Du Gū Qīng Lí always felt that her opponent shouldn’t have been this strong… It always seemed to be the result of intermittently using abilities that exceeded what a third-rank cultivator should possess.

Driving treasures like the Tiān Luó Sǎn and Dǎ Shén Biān was not something a third-rank cultivator could do smoothly. What kind of treasure suited what level? Otherwise, wouldn’t any disciple with a top-tier treasure run rampant in the world? A third-rank cultivator using such high-level treasures could generally only exert partial effects, but they seemed to achieve full effects, even if the power output was slightly insufficient.

This made it very difficult for Du Gū Qīng Lí to fight, but it felt wrong.

Previously, Fāng Qǐ Hào’s resistance to blows after being struck by Ā Nuò also couldn’t have been at the level of a third-rank Daoist cultivator. Even if Yè Tīng Lán at the third rank had taken that hit from Ā Nuò, he wouldn’t have been able to stand up. How could Fāng Qǐ Hào possess such ability?

So, Fāng Qǐ Hào likely temporarily unleashed something beyond his grade, similar to Yuán Mù Yú fighting Lù Xíng Zhōu, to withstand Ā Nuò.

Her current opponent, Xiàng Guǎng, gave Du Gū Qīng Lí the same feeling.

Whenever she thought he couldn’t block her sword, he strangely managed to block it in some unknown way.

His power certainly didn’t exceed his grade, but his control and use of power, and his understanding and analysis of her sword techniques, shouldn’t belong to a third-rank cultivator.

Either he had an ancient soul attached, explaining things to him, or this was simply a body taken over by another soul!

The latter possibility was greater. Explanations from an attached soul would always have delays; a body taken over by another soul would best exhibit this kind of performance.

It was highly likely that the souls of transcendent masters from the ancient realm were hidden within the third-rank bodies of these three individuals!

No wonder. Where did all these young geniuses and powerful cultivation techniques come from? It was all fake.

There were no powerful cultivation techniques in this world!

“Qiāng!” Du Gū Qīng Lí recalled her flying sword, which was locked in combat, and grasped the hilt in mid-air. Becoming one with her sword, she shot forth like lightning again.

Although sword cultivators always become one with their sword and streak across the sky like a rainbow, the intent behind each move is different. If one treats them all as the same move, they would suffer a great loss.

Xiàng Guǎng, on the opposite side, did not underestimate her. He brandished a mirror in his hand.

The mirror had been instrumental in deflecting Du Gū Qīng Lí’s sword energy countless times before.

The tip of the sword quickly struck the mirror surface, and the mirror dispersed a soft glow.

The next moment, the sharp sword intent suddenly changed. No longer was it extreme destruction, but an extreme coldness seeped from the sword tip. The soft glow blocked nothing, and the coldness directly permeated her spiritual platform.

Frost covered the sky, freezing the moon; her sea of souls condensed!

After breaking through to the third rank, Du Gū Qīng Lí used her Soul Slaying Sword for the first time.

In general combat, few people directly used soul techniques, because it was very dangerous. Once something went wrong, even Yè Tīng Lán and others responsible for intervening would not have time to react.

Moreover, if the opponent was a transcendent old monster, a clash of soul techniques would be suicidal.

But since the opponent was a body taken over by another soul, there must be a slight incompatibility between body and soul. Du Gū Qīng Lí did not attack, but rather froze, forcing out the opponent’s incompatible flaws, causing a misalignment of body and soul.

Sure enough, as the frost froze everything, the opponent’s body and soul could almost be seen splitting apart. The hand controlling the mirror even stopped.

“Such powerful ice chill, this is innate ice chill.” A soul voice directly echoed in her sea of consciousness: “This should not be something a human being possesses…”

Du Gū Qīng Lí remained silent. With a swift withdrawal and turn of her long sword, she bypassed the mirror and lunged towards the opponent’s chest.

As expected, the opponent’s body and soul were misaligned, making him unable to dodge, and the sword directly pierced him.

But the next moment, Du Gū Qīng Lí also let out a muffled groan.

The soft glow from the mirror fell upon her, and her sea of souls suddenly felt disturbed, as if many fragmented scenes flashed through her mind. The red eyes of the ice demon at the bottom of the ice layer, staring at her, reappeared in her mind.

The opponent’s treasure was clearly not just for physical resistance.

The ice sword pierced into the opponent’s chest, splashing blood. Du Gū Qīng Lí’s blue eyes reflected the blood, as if they were “stained,” beginning to turn red.

Yè Tīng Lán rose in horror, about to intervene.

Du Gū Qīng Lí let out a clear shout, withdrew her sword, and struck the mirror. In an instant, the mirror was covered in white frost, unable to emit any light.

Her red eyes receded, returning to icy blue.

Meanwhile, Xiàng Guǎng’s chest spurted blood, and he stumbled backward, collapsing incredulously onto the ground, no longer able to move.

“The outcome has been decided. Qīng Lí wins.” Yè Tīng Lán dropped the announcement, swiftly swept onto the stage, and embraced his disciple.

“Master.” Du Gū Qīng Lí smiled: “I have feet, no need to carry me like him.”

“What time is it to still be talking about this? Your eyes turned red!” Yè Tīng Lán urgently examined his disciple’s body, but was stunned to find that nothing had happened, not even an injury.

Du Gū Qīng Lí said: “I’m really fine.”

Yè Tīng Lán was silent for a moment: “Do you have murderous intent, or hostility? How has your temper changed?”

Du Gū Qīng Lí was also silent for a moment: “If you keep holding me like this, my temper might not be very good.”

Yè Tīng Lán let go.

Du Gū Qīng Lí plummeted straight to the ground.

Before landing, she spun in mid-air, stood firmly, smiled slightly, and cupped her hands: “I did not disgrace my mission.”

Without explanation, she believed her master had already seen the details of the battle.

Indeed, Yè Tīng Lán nodded: “A body taken over by another soul… I wouldn’t have known without fighting myself. No wonder Xíng Zhōu said he wanted to fight; did he have this suspicion before?”

“Yes,” Lù Xíng Zhōu walked over from the stage and whispered, “They must know they’ve been exposed now, and their secret operations will definitely intensify. Do the people you sent to investigate have any feedback?”

As early as his conversation with Yuán Mù Yú, Yè Tīng Lán had already dispatched elders to secretly investigate, but so far, they only shook their heads: “None.”

“There are many people here. If they want to build a real-world fulcrum, they won’t immediately incur the wrath of everyone. Therefore, the possibility of them setting up here is not very high,” Lù Xíng Zhōu said decisively, “If there are problems, they will arise when we return.”

Du Gū Qīng Lí said: “But we have many people with us. Besides Master, there are several first-rank elders.”

Lù Xíng Zhōu shook his head: “Because we brought a large number of disciples to watch, we are hesitant to act, as injuring even one would be a loss. And the other party might not be a single group of people… Gù Zhàn Tíng’s people are probably not here, but I suspect there might be demons outside. The first thing Sir needs to do now is to find a way to quietly transfer the disciples.”

Yè Tīng Lán whispered, “With everyone watching, if all the disciples suddenly leave, it will definitely raise suspicions. How can we do it quietly?”

“It’s not just us who need to move…” Lù Xíng Zhōu looked in the direction of Nù Jiāo Dǎo; Yuán Mù Yú was not there.

“Whatever she went to do, we’ll protect her allies first,” Lù Xíng Zhōu whispered a few words to Ā Nuò.

Ā Nuò excitedly ran towards Nù Jiāo Dǎo’s position and said to the young girl she had tricked so badly earlier: “Sister, sister, my master says that the sparring match between our two families was too interfered with by various factors and lost its original intent. Master says we fought early, and now others will fight, and your loser’s bracket won’t start for a long time. He asks if you’re willing to go somewhere else and have a private match.”

The young girl was overjoyed: “Really? Can we?”

As she spoke, she glanced at the leading elder, her eyes full of pleading.

The elderly leading elder was speechless. What kind of children’s game was this?

But on second thought, the King of Hell and this child’s “master,” that aura earlier…

Moreover, the King of Hell was not present now, having just had a private conversation with that person.

The old man’s mind raced. He stroked his beard and said, “It is my wish. Dozens of *li* to the east, there is another small island, with pleasant scenery, perfect for sparring.”

Ā Nuò said: “Then why don’t all the disciples go? They can spar in pairs, and we won’t need three main players and two substitutes. How great would that be?”

The old man looked at Yè Tīng Lán in astonishment. Yè Tīng Lán smiled slightly: “Disciple interactions, I have no objection.”

What the hell kind of “disciple interactions”? You are Tiān Yáo Shèng Dì, and we are the Demonic Path!