Chapter 26: The Challenge Round

Lu Yan’er’s match began. Lin Yaoyao wasn’t worried about her.

Lu Yan’er came from a deep family foundation, and her parents doted on her. When they found out she was competing, her father gave her a golden-thread armor for protection and also handed over the family treasure, the Spirit-Binding Rope.

The Spirit-Binding Rope was said to be able to lock the spiritual energy of any cultivator below the Deity Transformation stage.

Once spiritual energy was trapped, techniques couldn’t be used, and they could only rely on physical moves. The threat dropped dramatically.

Just in case, Lin Yaoyao also gave Lu Yan’er a Body-Fixing Talisman. With that support, Lu Yan’er was practically guaranteed to win the match.

As soon as Lu Yan’er stepped onto the stage, she used the Spirit-Binding Rope to lock down her opponent’s spiritual power. Her opponent was Fang Qing, an earth-element cultivator who had always disliked Lu Yan’er’s spoiled young lady behavior.

Now Fang Qing was trapped, unable to use her spiritual power. After trading a palm strike with Lu Yan’er, she found herself frozen for no apparent reason.

The only part of her that could still move was her mouth.

“Lu Yan’er, you used a magic tool. Shameless!”

“What’s wrong with using a magic tool? Who said magic tools aren’t allowed in a match? When you encounter devils or demon beasts in real combat, even great cultivators use magic tools.”

“If my magic tool met a true expert, they could break free. But you’re stuck, which only proves you’re weak.”

Lu Yan’er spoke with great confidence, repeating the argument Lin Yaoyao had taught her word for word.

The disciples below thought it made sense. The rules indeed didn’t say magic tools were forbidden.

“Before the match, Dean Li said anything except demonic arts was allowed. So magic tools are naturally fine too!”

Lin Yaoyao nodded approvingly from below the stage. ‘Apt pupil.’

With someone backing her up, Lu Yan’er grew even more confident. She lashed Fang Qing with the Spirit-Binding Rope and asked if she would surrender.

At first Fang Qing struggled and refused to yield. After a few lashes, she hung her head and conceded.

Lu Yan’er won the match with ease and entered the top ten.

She had once been second to last. Now she was in the top ten. Lu Yan’er had never dared to dream of this.

“Yaoyao, I won! I won!”

Lu Yan’er hugged Lin Yaoyao, jumping up and down like a child.

“You’re amazing! You’re amazing!”

People like Lu Yan’er had the luck to be born into a good family. With their clan’s protection, they won right at the starting line. That itself was an advantage.

In this round of arena matches, Lin Yaoyao, Lin Feiyuan, Lu Yan’er, and Gu Mingchun all made it into the top ten.

Next came the challenge round. Those who lost in the arena matches could challenge anyone in the top ten.

The disciples had given their all in the arena matches. Many were injured and couldn’t participate in the challenges.

Besides, they had already lost once, so their momentum and confidence were low. Not many people chose to issue challenges.

Three people stepped forward to challenge. Two of them challenged Lin Yaoyao.

“Yaoyao, what do these people mean? Why are they all challenging you?”

Lin Feiyuan felt indignant on his sister’s behalf. Lin Yaoyao didn’t care.

“It’s fine, Third Brother.”

They were treating Lin Yaoyao as a pushover.

The original owner of this body was a famous airhead beauty. She had no spiritual root and poor talent, and had only gotten into Tiandu Academy through family connections. In previous academy assessments, Lin Yaoyao had ranked dead last.

Even though she had beaten Ye Xinlian in the arena match, Lin Yaoyao hadn’t shown any real strength.

Everyone thought Ye Xinlian had made a momentary mistake, letting Lin Yaoyao slip through. They saw it as a fluke win by someone who got lucky.

They believed defeating the former last-place Lin Yaoyao would be easy.

One challenger was Yuan Shufang, a metal-element cultivator and Ye Xinlian’s senior martial brother. He was probably also an admirer of Ye Xinlian.

“Junior Sister Lin, do you dare to have a fair match with me?”

This was a jab implying Lin Yaoyao had used trickery to bully Ye Xinlian. As her senior brother, he naturally wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.

Yuan Shufang was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, no weakling. Unfortunately, in the arena match, his last opponent was an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, so he lost.

The other challenger was Zhou Linyu, a fire-element cultivator, tall and thin. His name sounded somewhat familiar.

“What’s his relationship with Zhou Linyue?”

Lu Yan’er leaned in and whispered, “They’re brothers!”

No wonder. He wanted to avenge his future sister-in-law.

By defeating one Ye Xinlian, Lin Yaoyao had offended a whole group of her supporters. Even her future brother-in-law was standing up for her. That Ye Xinlian really had some skill at playing the innocent.

“Miss Lin, I challenge you too!”

Lin Yaoyao cupped her fists in return and agreed to both matches.

‘Hmph, they think I’m a soft persimmon? I’ll smash every one of them into rotten persimmons, bloodied and bruised, so they learn their lesson.’

“Senior Brother Yuan, Senior Brother Zhou, are you going to come one at a time, or both together?”

Both together? Lin Feiyuan couldn’t believe his ears. His sister was crazy!

Yuan Shufang snorted with a laugh and glanced at Zhou Linyu.

‘This was a great chance to make Junior Sister Ye think highly of him. He couldn’t let anyone else get involved.’

“Junior Sister Lin, you’ve got a big mouth. But according to the challenge rules, it has to be one-on-one.”

Zhou Linyu cut in, “Then I’ll go first!”

Yuan Shufang wasn’t about to yield such a good opportunity.

“I spoke first, so I go first.”

The two didn’t fight Lin Yaoyao. Instead, they started arguing with each other.

“I’m fine with anything! You two seniors decide!”

Lin Yaoyao didn’t care. Let them sort it out. These days people actually fought over who got to be beaten up.

In the end, Elder Hong stepped in and arranged the order. Yuan Shufang would fight Lin Yaoyao first.

“Junior Sister Lin, I’ll let you have three moves first, so no one says I’m bullying you.”

Yuan Shufang looked completely confident. He was at the eighth level of Qi Refining. Why would he fear a brainless beauty with no spiritual root?

Lin Yaoyao had actually been wanting to test the power of the Freezing Palm. This was the perfect chance to practice on Yuan Shufang.

“Senior Brother Yuan, no need for that. As your junior sister, I must show respect. If I can’t defeat you within ten moves, I’ll concede the match.”

Defeat Yuan Shufang within ten moves?

Elder Hong’s eyes widened. The disciples these days were getting more arrogant by the minute.

Yuan Shufang hadn’t expected Lin Yaoyao to be even more arrogant than him.

The disciples below buzzed with discussion, wondering if Lin Yaoyao knew she couldn’t beat Yuan Shufang and was trying to save face by deliberately giving herself an out.

“Senior Brother Yuan will definitely win!”

“If Lin Yaoyao can beat Senior Brother Yuan within ten moves, I’ll call her my granny and be her grandson!”

Lin Feiyuan was about to go tear the speaker’s mouth apart. Lu Yan’er quickly stopped him.

Before going on stage, Lin Yaoyao had specifically told them not to forcefully stand up for her no matter what happened.

“Third Brother Lin, we need to believe in Yaoyao! She will definitely win!”

Lin Feiyuan held himself back in the end, but shouted, “You bastards just wait! My sister will definitely win!”

Everyone laughed, treating it as a joke.

On the high platform, Lin Xuanzhong’s heart tightened again. He had been worried about his son earlier, and now he was fretting over his daughter.

As the dignified head of the Lin family, he had fought through a hundred battles. Even on the demon domain battlefield, he had never felt the slightest anxiety. Yet now, watching his children on the stage, he was restless and uneasy.

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