Chapter 475

474. Chapter 469: You're Lucky

After Mingyu found Ding Huan, Ding Huan finally grew quiet; though many people watched him from the sidelines, no one came to seek him out anymore.

Several more days passed; Ding Huan's Array Duel had reached the seventh round, and the Rune Duel had passed its fourth round.

By the seventh round of the Array Duel, the competition could end at any moment.

Ding Huan packed up his tent; the number of eliminated contestants kept growing, and his turn came faster and faster.

Standing before Array Duel Platform Thirteen, Ding Huan waited for the information on his number token.

At that moment, Elder Elder Ming Mu's voice came floating over: "Old Six."

Ding Huan turned back, looking at Elder Elder Ming Mu with confusion.

Since his combat duel ended, Elder Elder Ming Mu had not sought him out again, and Ding Huan had not returned to the Xian Sect's encampment.

He was here participating in the Sect Ranking Tournament solely for the deal, not out of friendship.

"Elder Elder Ming Mu, what do you want with me?" Ding Huan asked.

Elder Ming Mu could only set up a suppression seal and whispered to Ding Huan: "You're about to enter your seventh round of Array Duel. If you face Fan Fan Ziling of the Yan Yue Xian Sect, could you…"

Ding Huan chuckled: "Elder Elder Ming Mu, is this your own idea, or the Yan Yue Xian Sect's?"

Elder Ming Mu could only say: "An elder of the Yan Yue Xian Sect hinted to me indirectly—I myself also think this way."

"We've already offended two of the three Eight-Star Xian Sects; if we offend the Yan Yue Xian Sect too, then…"

Ding Huan's number token had already signaled him to step onto the platform; he slapped Elder Elder Ming Mu: "You've got some insight, but not much. And your tone's weak—you're missing the point."

"Of course, if you can give me what I need, then your words might hold weight."

After saying this, Ding Huan landed directly on Platform Thirteen.

If Elder Elder Ming Mu could produce the Soul-Eating Realm Ring, Ding Huan would rather give up those Spirit Veins than continue dueling.

He knew Elder Elder Ming Mu couldn't produce it.

They were partners; since he couldn't deliver what Ding Huan needed, what was the point of all this nagging?

Elder Elder Ming Mu stared at Ding Huan, still unsure what he meant.

"So he really is a Yan Yue Xian Sect disciple?"

Ding Huan looked at the opponent standing across from him—wearing Yan Yue Xian Sect robes, his identity token clearly reading Fan Fan Ziling.

It wasn't surprising; as the duel progressed, fewer and fewer contestants remained.

By the seventh round, only about ten to twenty people were left on Platform Thirteen.

With so few contestants, the chance of facing each other was naturally very high.

"Fan Fan Ziling greets Senior Brother Liu Liu," Fan Fan Ziling said quickly, bowing respectfully—he dared not act superior before Ding Huan.

Ding Huan returned the greeting, then said: "Brother Fan, remember to tell your sect's elders: Dafanxian Sect has never targeted Yan Yue Xian Sect."

"How we relate in the future—whether we're friends or not—is entirely up to Yan Yue Xian Sect, not Dafanxian Sect. And Elder Elder Ming Mu speaks for no one but himself."

Ding Huan paused, then added one more sentence to defend Dafanxian Sect, taking full responsibility himself.

Fan Fan Ziling listened, bewildered; no matter the outcome of their duel, Dafanxian Sect and Yan Yue Xian Sect were worlds apart.

What grounds did Dafanxian Sect—past or future—have to even consider friendship with Yan Yue Xian Sect?

He thought this, but dared not say it aloud.

The challenge for this round: set up a Level Three Dao-Weave Sealing Array, judged by the platform's array evaluation.

Ding Huan raised his hand and tossed out array flags; Fan Fan Ziling, not daring to delay, quickly threw out his own.

After so many rounds of array duels, most array masters knew Ding Huan's array skills were no weakling's.

His victories always seemed narrow—perhaps because his array-setting was slow, or perhaps because he was hiding his true strength.

As an Eight-Star Xian Sect disciple, every duel Fan Fan Ziling fought was monitored and evaluated by specialists, with results later debated.

For instance: which Xian Sect opponent to face, and how to respond.

The conclusion was: Fan Fan Ziling had zero chance of defeating Ding Huan.

Fan Fan Ziling was a Level Four Xian Array Master—he refused to believe he could lose to a mere array master from Dafanxian Sect.

Not even in the Immortal Court were Level Four Xian Array Masters common.

So he resolved to defeat Ding Huan, to prove that while his temper was mild, it wasn't because he lacked power.

Fan Fan Ziling deployed his array flags one after another, setting the sealing array with maximum speed and highest quality.

As a Level Four Xian Array Master, and since all competitors were on Platform Thirteen, he had watched every one of Ding Huan's previous matches.

In Fan Fan Ziling's mind, Ding Huan was at most another Level Four Xian Array Master.

In the first six rounds, Ding Huan had truly hidden his array skill.

In fact, Ding Huan wasn't the only one hiding his level in those early rounds.

If he unleashed his full strength, he had a chance to beat Ding Huan.

In less than half a stick of incense, Fan Fan Ziling completed the sealing array.

It was his fastest array setup ever—he focused entirely, mind and body absorbed in the array, his spiritual sense pushed to its limit.

When he looked up at Ding Huan, Ding Huan seemed to have finished too.

This made Fan Fan Ziling frown slightly; based on Ding Huan's previous array-setting style and pace, even if he'd hidden his true level, setting this Dao-Weave Sealing Array should have taken at least half a stick of incense.

Now Ding Huan had finished at the same time—this unsettled him.

Indeed, the platform's void displayed the scores.

No. 122: 83 points. No. 12091: 80 points.

The platform announced: "No. 122 wins."

Fan Fan Ziling stared at his score—80 points didn't surprise him. What angered him was that Ding Huan had only beaten him by three points.

Even a fool knew a three-point difference could never be intentional.

Daring to control a three-point margin could, if mishandled, cause you to lose outright.

To control such a margin, your opponent's formation must be utterly transparent to you.

You must know precisely where your opponent's formation excels and where it falters, so you can surpass them at one point.

But this is hardly realistic—during such formation duels, your spirit must remain sharply focused at every moment.

You barely have time to perfect flaws in your own formation; how could you possibly monitor your opponent's?

"You're incredibly lucky," Fan Ziling said, glancing at Ding Huan with envy.

Ding Huan wanted to say, "Luck is also a form of strength," but he held his tongue—for the Soul-Eating Ring.

In truth, he had intended to control it to just one point; he wasn't sure whether the scoring formation system had any margin of error—if it did, and he ended up losing by his own control, that would be disastrous.

Through this scoring, Ding Huan now knew the scoring formation was powerful, worthy of its rank as a Level Nine Immortal Formation.

"He won by three points—Old Six's formation skill is indeed strong, but not so strong that he can crush opponents instantly like in combat duels."

"That's hard to refute—if three points can be controlled, it's not strength, it's absurd."

Ming Mu, watching from below as Ding Huan defeated Fan Ziling without the slightest hesitation, sighed—he knew he could no longer interfere.

Ding Huan had gone berserk.

Just from seeing his Lei Jie, you should know—he's a Xie Kuangren.

He's consecutively defeated three Eight-Star Immortal Sects, making enemies of many.

After the seventh round, Ding Huan didn't even need to leave—he waited only a single incense stick's time before facing his eighth round.

In the eighth round, Ding Huan faced a disciple from a Six-Star Immortal Sect; his formation skill was clearly inferior to Fan Ziling's, and Ding Huan defeated him in half an incense stick's time.

To everyone's eyes, this result was perfectly normal.

Ding Huan hadn't left the arena when the final round of the formation duel arrived.

"Yin Shuang bows to Elder Brother Liu," came the soft voice of the contestant—another woman.

She was a female monk; her sect robes marked her as from Shuangyue Nunnery.

Ding Huan had seen Shuangyue Nunnery before—during the struggle for the True Spirit World at the Ancient Immortal Tower, there had been disciples from Shuangyue Nunnery.

But back then, Shuangyue Nunnery had not participated in the contest.

To be honest, a disciple from a Five-Star Immortal Sect reaching the ninth round of the formation duel was already a victory.

The arena's challenge: construct an unlimited-rank trapping and killing Immortal Formation; the one who exits with lesser injury wins.

"Sister Yin Shuang, begin setting up your formation."

Ding Huan spoke and pulled out his formation flags to begin—but he knew his fifth round of the talisman duel was imminent; he couldn't waste time here.

"Elder Brother Liu, I yield. I'm no match for you—hurry off to your talisman duel."

To Ding Huan's surprise, the young nun named Yin Shuang directly yielded, then leapt off the arena.

Though he knew he would win anyway, and her surrender would save him time, he still felt deeply grateful.

Yin Shuang knew he had entered the talisman duel—and knew he was about to face its fifth round.

With all nine rounds of the formation duel over, Ding Huan hurried from the formation arena to the talisman arena.

The formation arena's matches still had time left; he could afford to join the talisman duel's fifth round without delay.

As if sensing Ding Huan's strangeness, after the seventh round, the Qianlou Monk's spiritual sense never left him.

Ding Huan had no time to care about that fellow now.

"Again, first place in elimination—truly securing first place in all three events would make him the first in history."

"It still takes a bit of luck—if Yin Shuang hadn't yielded, Old Six wouldn't have made it to the talisman duel's fifth round in time."

……

Seeing Ding Huan win first place in the formation elimination again, a crowd murmured and surged toward the talisman arena.

They intended to continue watching Ding Huan's talisman duel.

They were right—no sooner had Ding Huan arrived at the talisman arena than his fifth round began.

Had Yin Shuang not yielded, his timing would have been extremely tight.

The opponent in the fifth round of the talisman duel was another disciple from a Seven-Star Immortal Sect.

For Ding Huan, facing disciples from Seven-Star or higher sects in elimination was exactly what he wanted—each one eliminated increased his chance of first place.

In the formation arena, he eliminated two disciples from sects above Level Seven. In the talisman arena, this was his second attempt to eliminate a disciple from a sect above Seven-Star.

(Comrade, good night—please support with monthly votes!)