Chapter 565: 564. Chapter 559: First in the Sword Array

564. Chapter 559: First in the Sword Array

While Xie Kuangren was still pondering, the Yonghuang Shen Tong Academy's sword array team shattered the final barrier of the immortal puppet array and reached the summit.

Although the other sword array teams were still battling up the sword array staircase, the rankings on the array screen had already been determined.

The array screen displayed only one rank—the first place, Yonghuang Shen Tong Academy's sword array team—followed by the names of the eight team members.

Yuan You's hands trembled with excitement.

This sword array competition had no elimination rounds or finals.

In the team competition, the sword array event was simply climbing the sword array staircase; now that Yonghuang Shen Tong Academy's team had secured first place, they were definitively first—no chance of being overturned.

Even if the other teams completed the climb, they would rank second and below in sequence.

First place meant one promotion slot to Immortal Emperor, three to Immortal Sovereign, and ten to Immortal King.

Xie Kuangren walked toward Yuan You.

"Greetings, Master Xie." Seeing Xie Kuangren approach, Yuan You and the other deans hurried to greet him.

Xie Kuangren was cold-tempered and rarely socialized with deans, Immortal Lords, or Alliance Masters.

Yet his name was the most renowned throughout the Dao Corridor.

Since Xie Kuangren single-handedly destroyed the Half-God Hall, no force in the Dao Corridor dared oppose the Immortal Surveillance Office.

This was also why no one dared casually offend the One Hundred Thousand Laws.

Xie Kuangren nodded: "I'd trouble you, Dean Yuan, to escort me to see your academy's Ding Huan Dao Shi."

Yuan You paused—he wasn't surprised that Xie Kuangren sought Ding Huan.

Ding Huan's level of Dao instruction would soon make him a target of fierce competition among all academies.

Ding Huan's first group of students had already secured first place in the team competition's sword array event.

Even if Ding Huan's other students earned no rankings, Ding Huan would still become a Four-Star Dao Shi.

A Dao Shi whose disciples earned an Immortal Emperor promotion slot in the Dao Law Academy Grand Competition.

If below Four-Star, they were promoted directly to Four-Star; if above Four-Star but below Seven-Star, they advanced one star.

"Master Xie, Ding Huan Dao Shi is not here—he left abruptly several months ago due to urgent matters." Yuan You hurried to say.

"Where did he go?" Xie Kuangren frowned.

Ding Huan's absence confirmed it.

The two Luo Tian Xian cultivators who were poisoned were attacked in the wilderness, according to their account, because they had assaulted a cultivator's secluded cave.

In other Immortal Realms, attacking someone's cave warranted death a thousand times over.

But here, in the Dao Corridor, the One Hundred Thousand Laws explicitly stated that cultivation in the wilderness granted no legal protection—anyone could attack.

And such attacks were justified.

"I don't know," Yuan You shook his head.

The Dao Corridor's One Hundred Thousand Laws did carry penalties for withholding information, but the offense was minor.

Even if he truly knew, he resented Xie Kuangren's attitude and had no intention of telling him.

Where did his Yonghuang Shen Tong Academy's Dao Shi need to report his movements to Xie Kuangren?

Ji Xing and the others were enthusiastically discussing their victory—they had secured first place, meaning each of them now had a chance to cultivate at Dao Mountain.

Just then, someone interrupted them.

"Does anyone know where Dao Shi Ding Huan went?"

The eight turned, bewildered, to find Dean Yuan You and a quiet young man standing behind them.

"Ji Xing, this is Master Xie of the Immortal Surveillance Office. Master Xie has some questions for you regarding a case—say whatever you know."

Yuan You spoke gently.

The Immortal Surveillance Office's Director?

Everyone grew grave and immediately bowed.

Xie Kuangren waved his hand: "I'm here only to ask about your Dao Shi, Ding Huan—do you know where he went?"

"No idea," Ji Xing shook his head immediately, without hesitation.

The others followed, all saying they didn't know.

Xie Kuangren's gaze settled on Ji Xing—clearly, even if Ji Xing knew, he wouldn't tell him.

Yet he sensed Ji Xing was not lying—he truly didn't know.

"Does anyone have a communication bead belonging to Dao Shi Ding Huan?" Xie Kuangren softened his tone.

No one answered.

After a long pause, Ji Xing said: "Dao Shi left in a hurry, as if something urgent had occurred—he left no communication bead."

One thing he didn't mention: although Ding Huan left no communication bead, he had left behind a teleportation array plate.

Xie Kuangren did not pressure the students—he turned and left.

He was certain Ding Huan would come here after the competition ended.

How could Ding Huan, who trained such extraordinary students, not come to claim his promotion slots?

After Xie Kuangren left, Ji Xing and the others lost their earlier excitement.

They knew exactly who Xie Kuangren was.

They knew the duties of the Immortal Surveillance Office.

Clearly, their Dao Shi had stirred up trouble—serious trouble—to draw the Director's personal inquiry.

They exchanged glances; after a long silence, Ji Xing said: "We cannot discuss matters concerning Dao Shi Ding Huan."

"Yes, we shouldn't discuss our own Dao Shi," Long Xiyue was the first to speak up loudly.

Though Xie Kuangren had said nothing outwardly, they all felt a quiet unease.

This unease was something they had been completely unable to perceive before. After cultivating the modified technique from Daoist Master Ding, this sixth sense had become much clearer.

"Senior brothers, senior sisters…" a pleasant voice broke the silence among them.

Everyone turned and saw a woman of extraordinary beauty.

"Junior Sister Mu, hello." Zhuo Qi hurried to reply, his face slightly flushed.

The newcomer was Mu Wuwei, the only cultivator-student to advance into the top five in this sparring competition. Not only that, her ranking was also one place higher than Zhuo Qi's.

Mu Wuwei was also the number one prodigy of the Western Ruins Dao Academy.

One could say that if Daoist Master Ding Huan had not appeared out of nowhere and taught eight freaks,

the current first place in the sparring competition would still be Mu Wuwei.

The Western Ruins Dao Academy was the foremost academy of the Grand Dao Corridor, always ranking first.

In the past, even if these people weren't banished to the Strife Dao Class, they wouldn't have qualified to speak with Mu Wuwei.

Let alone Mu Wuwei taking the initiative to come find them and talk.

Beyond her title as the number one prodigy, Mu Wuwei was also the most beautiful woman in all the Grand Dao Corridor academies.

Among so many academies in the Grand Dao Corridor, Mu Wuwei was the most beautiful one, no question.

Zhuo Qi had already been ranked fifth before the sparring finals this time, yet facing Mu Wuwei he still couldn't help feeling inferior.

"Junior Sister Mu, is there something you need?" Long Xiyue sensed Zhuo Qi's discomfort and took the initiative to ask.

She was different from the rest.

Though her Long Clan Immortal Faction's status couldn't compare to the Mu Clan, it still counted as one of the mid-tier immortal clans.

All along, she too had lived under the envious gazes of others, so she didn't have much of a psychological disadvantage before Mu Wuwei.

Mu Wuwei's face reddened slightly: "I've come to look for Big Brother Ding."

Big Brother Ding?

Seeing Ji Xing and the others exchanged glances.

They and Mu Wuwei were all cultivator-students, and they were still in the middle of the competition.

Ding Huan was their Daoist Master, yet this woman called their Daoist Master Big Brother Ding—was she trying to take advantage of them?

Seeing Ji Xing's face darkened:

"Mu Wuwei, Daoist Master Ding isn't here. Also, don't think about taking advantage of us—these kinds of childish tricks won't make us hold back even half a step on the sparring platform."

On the sparring platform, the only one who could contend with them was this Mu Wuwei.

Lin Zhenruo was perceptive; she had also heard of Mu Wuwei and knew she wasn't such a childish person.

She hesitated, then asked: "Mu Wuwei, could it be that your Mu family wants to betroth you to Daoist Master Ding…"

Although she didn't finish her sentence, everyone understood her meaning—she truly couldn't think of any other possibility.

Mu Wuwei was the number one of the Western Ruins Dao Academy; she wouldn't come inquire about Daoist Master Ding at a time like this for no reason.

Mu Wuwei nodded: "Yes, so I wanted to ask where Big Brother Ding is. After this grand competition, I want to meet Big Brother Ding."

After the initial awkwardness, Mu Wuwei also returned to normal.

There was nothing to hide about this matter—it concerned her own lifelong happiness.

She had seen Ding Huan's portrait; he was handsome, and she was quite satisfied.

Now Ding Huan's several disciples had completely proven Ding Huan's ability through their strength.

Even a Bai Chi would know how high Ding Huan could reach in the Grand Dao Corridor in the future.

The Mu Clan wanted to draw Ding Huan over; they could only offer the pearl of the Mu Clan Immortal Faction—that was Mu Wuwei.

This wasn't the first time the Mu Clan had done such a thing; every time they handled it with ease.

In any case, the Mu Clan produced beauties.

The clan head of the Mu Clan Immortal Faction had naturally discussed this with Mu Wuwei, so before the sparring finals even began, Mu Wuwei came ahead of time to inquire about Ding Huan.

If Ding Huan came, meeting him in person would be best.

If Ding Huan wasn't here, as long as she knew where Ding Huan had gone, after this grand competition she would go find Ding Huan.

When everyone was at a loss for how to answer Mu Wuwei, Immortal Lord Zhu Qi's timely voice rang out:

"The group-stage competition is fully concluded. Now we will present the rewards for first place in the group stage. All participating cultivator-students of the group stage, please proceed to the competition platform to receive your awards."

The distribution of prizes at the Grand Dao Corridor Dao Academy sparring was different from other competitions.

Each event's rewards were distributed as soon as that event's rankings came out; they would absolutely not be held until the entire grand competition ended.

"Let's go, we'll go receive the sword formation group-stage rewards." Seeing Ji Xing waved his hand, and the eight of them rushed out.

No one paid Mu Wuwei any attention.

Mu Wuwei could only follow along. She had also participated in the group stage, though not in the sword formation.

When Seeing Ji Xing and the others arrived, the award-presenting platform had long been set up.

Those who could go up to receive awards were the top three of each group.

The sword formation team from the Eternal Wasteland Divine Power Academy, as the first place in the sword formation competition, stood in the very front row.

Not only Yuan You, but all the high-level members of the Eternal Wasteland Divine Power Academy watched Seeing Ji Xing and the others with excitement.

The Eternal Wasteland Divine Power Academy winning first place in the sword formation group stage meant gaining one Immortal Emperor advancement slot, three Immortal Venerable slots, and ten Immortal King advancement slots.

Yuan You had already figured out how to handle this Immortal Emperor advancement slot.

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