Chapter 564: 563. Chapter 558: Reputation Soars Like the Midday Sun

563. Chapter 558: Reputation Soars Like the Midday Sun

Yuan You, principal of the Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy, was surrounded by a circle of flatterers wherever he went.

The results of Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy's Contending Path Class were obvious even to a fool—securing an Immortal Emperor promotion slot was certain.

In the Great Dao Corridor, every Immortal Emperor promotion slot was precious beyond measure.

Since Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy had more than enough, they could naturally sell the extras to others.

Besides this, many Immortal Clans wanted to send their own disciples into Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy's Contending Path Class.

As popular as Yuan You were the relatives of the eight Contending Path Class disciples, each surrounded by a crowd just like him.

Especially Long Long Long Yizhun, patriarch of the Long Immortal Clan—he hadn't closed his mouth since arriving here.

Every time someone reminded him to go meet Long Xi Yue, he waved them off without hesitation:

"Xi Yue is now second in the Spell Competition; she needs time to rest and prepare for the finals."

In truth, he himself felt uneasy.

Long Xi Yue didn't know whether it was because he, as patriarch, had driven her away—when he went to see her, her class supervisor told him Xi Yue was in joint sword formation practice and had no time to see him.

No matter how much he longed to see Long Xi Yue, Long Long Long Yizhun could only set it aside for now.

He dared not offend this Long family scion he had once expelled.

While some rejoiced, others felt anxiety and regret.

The most regretful were those who had left the Contending Path Class—some had never even set foot in it.

When the probationary Dao Master Ding Huan ordered them to return to the Contending Path Class within two hours, they had treated it as a joke.

Now it was clear—it was indeed a joke, but theirs alone.

The dozen or so who had entered the Contending Path Class and then left were now filled with bitter regret.

They had been one step away from success, yet never took that final step.

Look at the eight who remained in the Contending Path Class—wasn't each one a prodigy?

The Dao Academy's Grand Competition wasn't just about bringing glory to Dao Masters and the Academy, nor merely about securing promotion rankings.

More importantly, it was about the cultivators' own gains.

Once a cultivator secured a promotion ranking, their personal gains multiplied.

Besides a pile of individual rewards, there was one top-tier prize: training in the Great Dao Mountain within the Great Dao Corridor.

Since the Great Dao Corridor's inception, every cultivator who had trained in the Great Dao Mountain had eventually achieved at least Immortal Emperor rank.

Hence, the Great Dao Mountain was also called the Immortal Emperor Mountain.

Of course, only the overall first-place finisher could enter the Great Dao Mountain.

Unfortunately, this first place did not include class first.

Sometimes a single class had a hundred students—if class first qualified, it was impossible for all hundred to train in the Great Dao Mountain.

Thus, only the individual and small-group competition champions could enter the Great Dao Mountain.

Xi Xi Yuan Clan.

Xi Xi Yuanhao, patriarch of the clan, stared at Xi Xi Yuan He kneeling before him—he longed to slap the useless wretch dead.

Being banished to the Contending Path Class was bad enough—but then she willingly gave up the final slot.

Otherwise, the Xi Xi Yuan Clan would now be a sought-after presence.

Xi Xi Yuanhao himself could have secured an Immortal Emperor promotion slot.

"You held out for ninety-nine steps—why did you quit on the last one?" Xi Xi Yuanhao suppressed his fury.

There was another thing he didn't say: Xi Xi Yuan He hadn't just quit—she had turned around and reported Ding Huan, accusing him of extorting disciple spirit crystals.

"Patriarch, I didn't know he was truly capable—he demanded spirit crystals from us and said he'd take as much as we had, so I naturally reported him…"

Xi Xi Yuan He regretted it a hundred times more than Xi Xi Yuanhao, but she could never admit her regret.

If given another chance—even if Ding Huan broke both her legs and demanded something even more unbearable—she would do it without hesitation.

"Slap!" Xi Xi Yuanhao finally lost control and struck Xi Xi Yuan He across the face:

"Wretch, Ding Huan is your Dao Master. The Great Dao Corridor values respect for teachers above all. Do you think reporting your teacher made you win?

Bai Chi, the moment you reported him, you lost utterly."

He knew this Xi Xi Yuan He far too well.

Xi Xi Yuan He was not some righteous zealot acting purely out of principle—she reported him for no other reason.

Ding Huan was unknown before; now that he was famous throughout the Great Dao Corridor, Xi Xi Yuan He's reputation was doomed to be ruined, dragging the Xi Xi Yuan Clan's standing down with her.

…

"The Sword Formation Competition is beginning."

On the Great Dao Corridor plaza, a massive sword formation staircase sloped directly into the void.

The Sword Formation Competition was a small-group event.

The Great Dao Corridor Dao Academy placed the Sword Formation Competition before the Dueling Competition for a reason.

Because in the Dueling Competition finals, some would seize the chance to ascend to Grand Yi Immortal and crush their opponents.

Once someone ascended to Grand Yi Immortal, they could no longer participate in any other matches at the Xuan Dao level, except in their own promotion match.

Many members of the small-group competition had also entered the individual Dueling Competition, so the Sword Formation Competition was scheduled before the Dueling finals.

To prevent anyone from losing eligibility for the small-group competition after ascending to Grand Yi Immortal.

"All eight cultivators from Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy's Contending Path Class entered the Sword Formation small-group competition."

Seeing the eight from Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy's Contending Path Class gathered before the sword formation staircase, the onlookers grew even more excited.

Their earlier results had been so dazzling that no cultivator on the Great Dao Corridor plaza didn't recognize them.

"The Sword Formation requires ten people—we only have eight, so we're at a disadvantage," Zhuo Qi said, gazing at the staircase stretching into the clouds, uncertainly.

Ji Xing smiled confidently: "Relax, the sword formation our master taught us is undoubtedly a top-tier divine sword formation—I have a feeling our eight-person formation won't be worse than theirs with ten."

Having won continuously through the Dueling Contest so far, Ji Xing had developed immense confidence.

Moreover, as the eight of them practiced the formation together, he grew ever more aware of the power of the Fearless Sword Formation.

It was a feeling that the more familiar you became with it, the more powerful the Fearless Sword Formation seemed—and the more you realized how little you truly understood.

"Group stage begins. Contestant teams, enter the dueling arena." The group stage host's clear voice rang out.

Ji Xing and his seven companions stepped onto the sword formation steps without hesitation.

The group stage isn't just about sword formations—it also includes secret realms, breaking arrays, and more.

Yet the teams choosing sword formations are the most numerous, because sword formations best demonstrate the power of Dao and collective cooperation.

The moment Ji Xing and his team stepped onto the steps, sixteen immortal puppets lunged at them.

The weakest of these sixteen immortal puppets was already an Immortal of Late Xuan Realm.

Such overwhelming overall power could only be countered with array-based combined attacks.

Ji Xing controlled the offensive position of the Fearless Sword Formation; as his long sword transformed into a curtain of blades, the eight of them naturally shifted positions.

Defense and auxiliary attack roles were seamlessly assigned to Lin Zhenruo and Lei Zuocheng, with not the slightest awkwardness.

The duty of protecting Lin Zhenruo and Lei Zuocheng then passed to Qian Xunhaoyi and Long Xiyue…

It was as if a circle had formed: once the formation activated, each person had their own role, and these roles interlocked, mutually reinforcing one another.

In a single exchange, the puppets that had just surrounded the eight of them were now surrounded by Ji Xing's team.

"Crack!" As the first immortal puppet was torn apart by Zhuo Qi, the remaining puppets lost all threat.

When the eight of them slew all the immortal puppets and stepped onto the second tier, Li Yunmu couldn't believe it: "Was it really that simple?"

"Don't get distracted—there are Grand Yi Immortal puppets ahead." Ji Xing shouted a warning.

…

Seventh layer of Immortal King.

Waves of dense Immortal Qi were swept away by Ding Huan; the ground beneath and around him was already shrouded in thick Immortal Qi mist.

Ding Huan knew he had chosen correctly—this extreme cold region had no one to disturb him.

At this moment, he could not only continuously enhance his strength under the Great Cosmos Art, but even his physical body could be repeatedly refined by the Nirvana Technique.

Others training here might need to set up cold-resisting Immortal arrays, or risk having their bodies torn apart by the freezing cold.

But Ding Huan didn't need to—he only needed Ji Luo to set up a Hidden Spirit Divine Array, then wildly absorb Immortal Qi.

Even Ji Luo now looked at Ding Huan with envy as he trained.

He had never seen an Immortal King as powerful as Ding Huan.

If Ding Huan could grow further, he would surely not be weaker than those few individuals.

Thinking of Ding Huan's Three Thousand Great Dao paths, he might one day have to rely on Ding Huan to secure even a single place in the vast universe.

I must find a way to bind my own interests with Ding Huan's.

When Ding Huan ascended to the Eighth Layer of Immortal King, Xie Kuangren arrived at the Great Dao Corridor Plaza.

Xie Kuangren did not know where Ding Huan was.

But he didn't even need to ask—just by showing the portrait, nearly everyone knew who Ding Huan was.

Ding Huan was simply too famous.

Who didn't know now that Ding Huan was the probationary Dao Master of Yonghuang Divine Art Academy?

Countless people had gone to the academy's dean, Yuan You, just to secure a spot in Ding Huan's Dao Master class.

If you asked which class in the Great Dao Corridor's many Dao Art academies everyone most wanted to join,

It would surely be Yonghuang Divine Art Academy's trash class—the Zhengdao Class.

Before Xie Kuangren went to find Yuan You, who was currently being fawned over by a large crowd, his gaze was drawn to the sword formation competition.

On the sword formation steps, one team stood alone, having reached the final tier.

If they passed this final tier, they would claim first place.

The second-place team was at least four sword formation tiers behind the final tier.

This wasn't a competition—it was an overwhelming, cross-level crushing.

He didn't need to ask which academy the top-ranked sword formation team belonged to—the heated murmurs of the crowd gave him the answer.

It was Yonghuang Divine Art Academy's sword formation team, whose Dao Master was none other than the Ding Huan he sought.

Ding Huan, whose fame shone like the midday sun.

This team wasn't just skilled in sword formations—they had taken four of the top five spots in the Dueling Contest, two of the top three in Array Art, second place in Artifact Art, and first place in Rune Art…

Xie Kuangren drew in a sharp breath.

He had a quiet appearance, but his heart, like his name, was that of a madman.

If it were him, he could never have trained students like these.

Is Ding Huan really this powerful?