Chapter 473: Caught with a Hooked Mouth?

Amidst the air warped by heat, as he watched Chi Jiuyu's figure dissolve and his personal panel's score rise, he finally let out a breath of relief.

Finally dropped—defeating an opponent at this stage really isn't easy.

These reckless sword sect fools are too much trouble; better avoid them in the future.

Thinking this, he slowly rose from the ground, first waving his hand to summon Chi Jiuyu's fallen storage ring.

Then he flung a bolt of thunderfire to erase any items that might lead others to trace him—wooden dummy fragments, paper scraps, and the like.

As for the storage ring he'd acquired, he did not open it, but instead sealed it inside a special jade box.

What if Chi Jiuyu left some nasty trap inside the storage ring?

The probability is small, but one must still guard against it.

Better safe than sorry!

Soon, he cleaned away every possible trace of risk, his movements extremely practiced—no doubt he'd rehearsed this countless times…

But the instant he erased all traces—

【Fifth Round Safe Zone Updated】

【Fifth Round Safe Zone now becomes the final round of the Bencixian Sect Competition】

【Rules revised as follows:】

【1. Precise coordinate display will change to once every 120 minutes, and will now simultaneously display name, sect affiliation, current ranking, and score】

【2. The safe zone will gradually shrink; real-time map available for viewing】

【3. Same-tier hunter attack mechanism canceled; contestants outside the safe zone will be immediately eliminated】

【4. Auxiliary module performance fully unleashed】

【5. Final ten surviving contestants will be ranked by survival time (10th: 0.5 points, 9th: 1 point, 8th: 1.5 points…）】

The moment he saw this announcement, a thought immediately flashed through his mind.

Ranking points?

Does this mean I can just farm points?!

emm…

But the safe zone will keep shrinking, and precise coordinate display intervals have been shortened to every 120 minutes.

The difficulty of hiding will only grow.

And that function displaying names and sect affiliations in sync—it's practically screaming "TARGET"!

Sigh~

It's truly hard being a cautious cultivator these days.

Thinking of this, he lifted his head and gazed into the distance.

This spot wasn't chosen randomly.

Because he anticipated he might not have eliminated Chi Jiuyu by the time of the fifth round update, he deliberately selected his battlefield within the fifth round's safe zone.

But now it was time to go.

First, skirt the edge of the safe zone to avoid the coordinate display window, then find a place to heal his wounds.

But just as he prepared to leave—

A voice suddenly sounded in his ear: "Not bad, not bad—you eliminated Chi Jiuyu so quickly."

The voice was eerily familiar, freezing him in place.

He looked up to see a figure stepping through empty air, appearing above the deep crater where he and Chi Jiuyu had fought!

With just one glance, he recognized the intruder.

"Chang Xiao… Senior Brother."

He forced out the name with immense difficulty.

Yes, the man was Chang Xiao—the one who provoked Wu Zhongfeng and Lin Changsheng into fighting, hoping to reap the benefits of their conflict.

Among all competitors in this contest, few could match him…

Chang Xiao shook his head slightly, clicking his tongue.

"Looks like Senior Brother Cheng Shen has been hiding quite a bit—I rushed here as fast as I could, yet still arrived too late."

Cheng Shen's expression turned grim.

As a cautious cultivator, he never imagined he'd be the one caught by a "yellow bird waiting behind."

He couldn't help glancing at the real-time ranking.

【Lin Changsheng (Xiang Jianzong), Rank 1, Score: 9】

【Chang Xiao (Taishang Dao Sect), Rank 2, Score: 8】

Lin Changsheng's name still glowed brightly, while Wu Zhongfeng's had dimmed.

The outcome was clearly decided.

"Senior Brother didn't defeat Lin Changsheng?" Cheng Shen asked, retreating cautiously.

Though he still had hidden tricks, facing Chang Xiao—who also mastered "caution"—he dared not trigger them lightly.

"Sigh~ Senior Brother was unlucky—someone rescued him," Chang Xiao sighed, then quickly smiled, "But luckily, on my way here, I picked up two more points—add yours, and I'll barely catch up to Old Lin."

Had I arrived sooner, I might have claimed Chi Jiuyu's points too.

Then I could've surpassed Old Lin!

What a pity…

"Are you ready, Junior Brother?" As he spoke, Chang Xiao's robes billowed, lightning flashes dancing around his body, "Senior Brother is ready."

Hum~!

Something strange suddenly appeared in the surrounding void; Cheng Shen felt his body grow heavy, his heart sinking with it.

This time, trouble is huge!

……

……

More than an hour later.

The entire desert had become a hellish wasteland.

Lava surged, heat waves rose in boiling clouds.

The strange phenomena around Chang Xiao subsided; after swallowing a pill to replenish his magic power, not a single wound remained on his body.

He was already at full health facing a depleted opponent, let alone his raw strength far surpassing Cheng Sheng's…

If he still got hurt under these conditions, he might as well go smash his head against a tofu block.

Feeling his internal magic power gradually restore as the pill's potency took effect, he waved his hand and summoned two storage rings about to fall into the lava.

But like Cheng Sheng, he did not open them immediately; instead, he sealed them inside two specially crafted jade boxes, planning to study them before extracting the spiritual items inside.

【Real-time Rankings】

【Lin Changsheng (Xiang Jianzong), currently ranked first, points: 9】

【Chang Xiao (Tai Shang Dao Sect), currently ranked first, points: 9】

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Good! I've finally caught up with Old Lin!

He clasped his hands, storing the two jade boxes containing the storage rings, then flew off at once.

A new round of coordinates would appear soon—he had to find Lin Changsheng while he was still severely injured and eliminate him!

This would raise his chances of winning the Soul Transformation division from 93% to 96%!

But…

The person who saved him wasn't ordinary either; he didn't know who he was, but his escape speed was extraordinarily fast—he needed to be extra cautious…

With a thought, his entire figure vanished completely beyond the horizon.

……

……

At the highest point of the world, where the Xuan Xiang Tian Gui resided.

"Why did your top disciple apologize to you before being eliminated?" Master Mei Zu asked curiously.

Bie Xuening had no intention of answering her question.

Yet Master Mei Zu did not give up: "Could it be he knew you care about face, and feared that failing to secure a good rank would disappoint you, so he apologized?"

"…" Bie Xuening gave her a cold glance. "Shut up."

You talk too much!

"Oh."

Master Mei Zu fell silent.

If she kept going, she'd draw her sword and cut me—better keep the temperature down.

Xiang Yuanjun silently withdrew her gaze from the two and looked downward:

"Speaking of which, after the Sword Master's eldest disciple was eliminated, only one person remains in this new generation of Soul Transformation cultivators."

"And her overall strength among the remaining competitors is not weak," Xu Xing added. "In terms of developing her innate divine ability, she surpasses her brother."

The two were referring to Zhao Ruohan.

After all, from the start, she never rejected her innate divine ability, so her application across all aspects naturally surpassed Zhao Ruoming.

At this moment, using her innate divine ability—Wan Qing Yuan Mu Tai Shang Immortal Light to Awaken Spiritual Plants—she had successfully created an army of puppets.

Even ordinary puppets approached Soul Transformation level.

The puppets formed from those special spiritual plant seeds were even more astonishing, ranking among the strongest in Soul Transformation.

Thinking this, Xu Xing turned to look at Hong Zun, preparing to ask his opinion on his own daughter.

But he noticed Hong Zun was now watching a certain direction with a curious expression—

By a small river, a woman with a ponytail, wearing a purple long dress, had just lowered the severely injured and unconscious Lin Changsheng from her back.

She gently placed him against a large rock by the shore.

Perhaps sensing Xu Xing's gaze, she looked up: "Look, even the Void Return cultivators in this world are quite clever."

"I bet one spirit coin this kid won't hold out," Ba Zun suddenly said.

"I bet one spirit coin too—I feel this Xiang Jianzong youngster still has discipline," Dan Zu also said.

"You might as well ask Dao Brother or Hong Zun—you two are both quite skilled in this area," Qi Zun suddenly said from the corner, where he had been barely noticeable.

The Artifact Sovereign, who had been in the corner and hardly noticeable, suddenly spoke.

Xu Xing snapped his head toward him.

It's true Hong Zun is well-versed in this—but when did I become skilled in this?!

Comrade Hong Sovereign may understand this well enough, but when did I ever become skilled in these things?!

Don't you dare! I'll sue you for slander!

Everyone else, including Ning Ruo who was still debugging the Immortal Network, made the same reaction.

The others, including Ning Ruo, who was still debugging the Immortal Network, made the same gesture.

Silent until he speaks—and then he shocks everyone!

Well done!

Ba Zun and Dan Zu, who had been purely watching the show, especially Hong Zun, secretly rejoiced in their hearts.

The Hegemon and the Pill Ancestor, who were purely watching the show—especially the Venerable Hong, who was secretly gloating in his heart.

But seeing everyone's eyes turn toward him at once, even though the Artifact Venerable had cultivated for many years, he couldn't help but feel a little hollow inside.

In the end, he could only laugh dryly a few times: "A joke, just a little joke."

After a good while, seeing that the crowd was no longer looking at him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Phew~

Normally they all deliberately overlooked him, yet now they were all looking at him together — it really was a bit hard to get used to…

…………

The Grand Competition continued.

By this final round's safe-zone update, the area had already shrunk to the three major orthodox sects' strongholds in the Profound Phase Realm, and the border regions between them.

Moreover, the area was still continuously shrinking toward the direction of the Heavenly Spirit Sect.

The remaining contestants were therefore rapidly decreasing.

Among the three timelines, the main timeline's Soul Transformation group still had twenty-eight people, and the first timeline branch's Nascent Soul group had thirty-four.

The most exaggerated was the second timeline branch's Jin Dan group…

Only fourteen people remained.

Only four more needed to be eliminated before ranking points would be settled — one could only say it lived up to being the group that was "battle-thrilling" from start to finish.

Meanwhile.

Main timeline, edge of the safe zone.

Lin Changsheng only felt the gurgling sound of flowing water constantly by his ears.

'What happened?'

That was the only thought left in his mind.

'Right, it was Old Chang… that scheming Old Chang, taking advantage of my heavy injuries…'

Gradually, he finally recalled everything that had happened before, and his consciousness recovered from its muddled state to clarity.

Every part of his body ached, his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, but he still forced them open with great difficulty.

The sudden brightness that burst into his eyes was somewhat dazzling, causing him to instinctively close them again.

But very soon, he felt a coolness on his forehead, as if something soft had pressed against it.

A charming, lively voice then sounded by his ear: "You're awake, it's fine, it's fine, open your eyes, I've blocked it for you."

Hmm?

Although still somewhat bewildered, he ultimately followed the voice's instruction.

Sure enough, when he opened his eyes this time, it wasn't as blinding as before.

What came into view was not the audience seats he'd expected, but an incomparably beautiful face with skin whiter than snow, a row of sparkling pearly white teeth, and a ponytail draped over her shoulder, looking extremely lively and spirited.

Only slightly less than that Wu Zhongfeng…

Such a thought rose in his mind.

But very soon, Lin Changsheng suppressed the thought and asked somewhat uncertainly: "You… was it Miss who stepped in and saved me?"

"Yep!" She playfully blinked, "You have to remember your life-saving grace, okay?"

"That is only natural, I would never do such an ungrateful thing." Lin Changsheng said solemnly.

However, the woman who heard this burst out laughing: "You're really interesting, it was just a joke, why so serious?"

"Oh right! We've been chatting so long and I still don't know your name — I'm called Sheng Qingqing, and you?"

"Lin Changsheng."

He wasn't a practitioner of the Dog-Turtle path; his sword cultivation was upright and proper, so naturally he wouldn't use a fake name.

"Lin Changsheng…" Sheng Qingqing softly repeated it, then smiled and said, "Longevity isn't easy to come by."

"But with the sword in hand, one can pluck the fruit of longevity." Lin Changsheng said earnestly.

"But you look like you almost got beaten to death." Sheng Qingqing said with a half-smile.

"…" Lin Changsheng was a bit embarrassed, "I fell into a trap this time."

Old Chang really is a schemer!

"By the way, Miss, why did you step in to save me?"

Someone who could save him from Old Chang's hands was definitely no simple matter!

"What you actually want to ask is how I managed to save you, right?" Sheng Qingqing saw straight through his thoughts.

Hearing this, Lin Changsheng grew even more embarrassed: "Uh…"

"But there's nothing I can't say." Sheng Qingqing reached out to help him up, picked up a porcelain bowl beside her, and gently fed him the water from it. "I used to be at Return-to-Void, but later I was schemed against and set up, and I dropped down from the Return-to-Void realm."

"I also saw you looking all dumb and clueless, your situation quite similar to mine back then — otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to save you."

Schemed against, and dropped down from the Return-to-Void realm?

emm……

But considering the strangeness of this world, it really did seem possible!

Soon, Sheng Qingqing set down the porcelain bowl in her hand:

"Alright! Next I'll find you a safe place to recuperate."

Just as Lin Changsheng was about to open his mouth to thank her again, he saw her take out a small notebook from her bosom and begin writing and drawing in it.

After finishing, she showed it to him: "Remember, you owe me twelve first-grade spiritual opportunities."

"Uh…"

"At least ten, can't go any lower!" Sheng Qingqing said, puffing up with determination.

Seeing her act like this, Lin Changsheng couldn't help but smile: "Twelve it is, I won't let you lose out."

After saying this, he noticed Sheng Qingqing looking at him strangely: "You're really weird — knowingly stepping into a trap is one thing, but you actually took the initiative to add more spiritual items, did getting beaten make you stupid?" (End of Chapter)