Chapter 186: Unprecedented Matters

Regarding Mu Peiling's suspicions, Yan Taibai was naturally well aware, and he was equally well aware of the situation Mu Peiling currently found herself in.

However, he did not intend to interfere; in any case, all he wanted now was the Mysterious Heaven Immortal Vine from the Righteous Alliance of Fengdu Kingdom and the Heavenly Luo Kingdom Six Demon Sects, and as for anything else, he did not wish to ask.

As for why he did not simply seize it by force, it was naturally because he did not wish to continue causing excessive slaughter.

It just so happened that he wanted to cultivate his character and resolve the baleful aura on his body, so he would indulge himself just this once.

After hearing Yan Taibai's words, Mu Peiling blinked and did not continue to say anything more, merely letting her gaze fall upon Han Li on the arena.

Facts proved that, just as Yan Taibai had said, Han Li won.

Not to mention the secular martial arts that Han Li was already proficient in, even the stacks of Talismans alone were not something an ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator could contend with.

It was perfectly normal for the Ancient Sword Sect disciple to be defeated.

"How about it, I wasn't wrong, was I!"

After Han Li won, Yan Taibai, his playful spirit aroused, revealed a look of smugness on his face and smiled at Mu Peiling.

"I suppose you're impressive."

To this, Mu Peiling rolled her eyes at Yan Taibai in annoyance and said nothing more.

"Next match, Luoyun Sect's Yan Yan versus Ancient Sword Sect's Meng Di!"

"What, why is it him?"

Hearing this name, Yan Taibai was startled and instinctively looked toward the Ancient Sword Sect.

At this moment, his opponent, Meng Di, had already ascended the arena by riding his sword.

This was a black-clad man with a tall, upright stature and an imposing aura like a rainbow; carrying a long black sword on his back, he gave off a sharp, piercing, and formidable air that one could not bear to look at directly.

In fact, this was indeed the case; this Meng Di not only possessed a Heavenly Spirit Root but was also one of the Three Great Sword Bodies, the Psychic Sword Body.

Among their batch of disciples from the three sects, his strength belonged to the top tier, the kind that was almost invincible.

Therefore, encountering him in his first match, Yan Taibai's luck was truly not very good.

"How could I encounter him."

Shaking his head, Yan Taibai also directly ascended the arena, standing far opposite him, facing one another.

"Will you concede voluntarily, or shall I strike to send you off the stage? If it is the latter, you might get injured."

The voice was cold and carried a hint of arrogance; this was the first sentence that Meng Di, this heaven-favored son of the Ancient Sword Sect, said to Yan Taibai.

The words were not bad, and they also carried the intention of a warning.

If it were any other Qi Refining Stage cultivator, nine times out of ten they would truly take the opportunity to step off the stage.

Even when everyone thought that Yan Taibai would voluntarily step down, Yan Taibai shook his head and said.

"Please, Senior, offer your guidance."

"What? Junior Sister Song, has he gone mad? To actually not step down and concede?"

Another Golden Core Stage Cultivator of the Luoyun Sect saw Yan Taibai act this way, and, greatly alarmed, spoke hurriedly.

After all, on the surface, Yan Taibai was still a disciple of White Phoenix Peak of the Luoyun Sect, and also one of the few male disciples. If calculated by name, Song Yu was truly Yan Taibai's master.

Although it was a bit of an inversion of the natural order!

"The younger sister believes in him."

Hearing this, Song Yu instead smiled faintly.

Yan Taibai's identity was known only to the two Nascent Soul cultivators of her Luoyun Sect, Cheng Tiankun and Lv Luo, to this day.

And Song Yu naturally chose to believe in Yan Taibai, even if it meant the possibility of exposing his identity.

There was no help for it; to make the dignified number one person of the Tiannan Cultivation World concede to a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, that would be worse than killing Yan Taibai.

Song Yu was very clear that such a thing could simply not happen, so naturally, she could only choose to accept it.

As for exposing his identity, with Yan Taibai's status, who would dare to think of it in relation to Yan Taibai.

Just as Song Yu's voice fell, Meng Di of the Ancient Sword Sect had already struck.

The black long sword on his back directly transformed into a brilliant sword light, slashing toward Yan Taibai without the slightest intention of holding back.

Facing such a sharp and terrifying attack, any other Qi Refining Stage cultivator would have long since been scared out of their wits, kneeling to surrender and concede.

But Yan Taibai merely smiled faintly, golden radiance surging from his entire body, forming a golden, ball-like protective barrier around him, upon which were mysterious golden runes.

"Clang!" A clear sound of metal clashing exploded.

"Golden Armor Light Body Talisman"! Seeing this scene, the other Golden Core Stage Cultivator of the Luoyun Sect, as well as the Golden Core Stage Cultivators, elders, and stewards of the Ancient Sword Sect and Baiqiao Academy, all had their expressions change and exclaimed.

"Your Luoyun Sect is truly willing to spend!"

The Golden Core Stage elder leading the Ancient Sword Sect said coldly; this "Golden Armor Light Body Talisman" was an Intermediate Talisman, something even Golden Core Stage Cultivators might not be willing to use, yet it was given directly to a Qi Refining Stage cultivator to use—the level of extravagance and wastefulness was truly enough to make one jealous.

"I have let you laugh, Senior Brother."

Hearing this, Song Yu smiled charmingly.

She naturally would not have any worries regarding Yan Taibai.

And Meng Di of the Ancient Sword Sect on the arena, seeing his Top-tier Magical Tool blocked, had his expression change slightly and sneered.

"You think that relying on a single Intermediate Talisman is enough to block me? You won't lose? Wishful thinking."

Before his voice had faded, his expression changed again, because another stack of Talismans had appeared in Yan Taibai's hand.

"If one isn't enough, a pile here should be enough, right!"

Yan Taibai said with a smile.

As for these Talismans, they were all drawn temporarily before he came, sufficient to deal with the vast majority of situations, naturally including this current one.

Therefore, Yan Taibai held a pile of Talismans and tossed them casually toward Meng Di of the Ancient Sword Sect.

"Clatter!"

"Boom—!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Red fireballs!

Silver-white lightning arcs!

Golden blades! White ice cones!

Five or six types of attack Talismans turned into a torrent, directly engulfing Meng Di of the Ancient Sword Sect entirely.

Crackle, pop!

Clatter, crash!...

This scene made the elders of the Ancient Sword Sect turn dark in the face; they wanted to intervene but found it inappropriate to do so, and could only watch the situation unfold, hoping that Meng Di would be alright.

In reality, it was not too serious; he was just tattered and disheveled, far beyond the point of being merely covered in dust and dirt, with almost no intact spots left on his body.

But he was lucky and did not suffer any heavy injuries, and was rescued directly from the arena by an Ancient Sword Sect elder.

"Luoyun Sect, Yan Yan wins!"

"What, he has so many Talismans, that's unfair!"

"Exactly, exactly, so many Talismans, even more than that Han Li from just now, how is this a competition!"

"That's right, how can one fight this!"

For a time, following Yan Taibai's victory, the participating disciples of the three sects discussed it heatedly, clearly frightened by the number of Talismans Yan Taibai possessed.

After all, there were simply too many; Meng Di of the Ancient Sword Sect actually had great fame among the three sects, and even he had been defeated. Not to mention the others. In such a situation, they naturally did not want to face Yan Taibai, who possessed so many Talismans.

However, their opinions were of no use at all and were completely ignored.

After all, possessing so many Talismans was also a kind of ability, so it was naturally impossible to forbid Yan Taibai from using them.

And with so many Talismans, it was already a foregone conclusion that Yan Taibai would take the top ten, or even first place.

"Junior Sister Song, what exactly is the background of this disciple under your sect, how could he possess so many Talismans?"

The Golden Core Stage Cultivator of the Ancient Sword Sect asked with a livid face.

After all, if it weren't for Yan Taibai, this Three Sects Sword Trial Competition would surely have been won by their Ancient Sword Sect again. But now, it seemed the title was about to change hands.

This had no small impact on the reputation of the Ancient Sword Sect, and furthermore, he suspected that Yan Taibai's identity was not as simple as a Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

"Naturally, I gave them to him for self-protection; he has a significant connection with me, and his aptitude is good, so I wanted him to help obtain the Dingling Pill for first place in the Three Sects Sword Trial Competition."

Upon hearing this, Song Yu found an excuse and said.

"So that's how it is."

Regarding this reason from Song Yu, the Golden Core Stage Cultivator of the Ancient Sword Sect did not believe it too much, yet he had no choice but to believe it.

In reality, if Song Yu truly needed a Dingling Pill, she would only need to wait until she reached the Golden Core Late Stage Great Perfection and ask the Luoyun Sect for one.

After all, the Luoyun Sect was the only one in the entire Tiannan Cultivation World capable of refining the Dingling Pill, which was also an important reason why the Luoyun Sect could remain one of the Yunmeng Three Sects while relying on only two Nascent Soul cultivators.

Being able to refine the Dingling Pill was an important reason.

As for Song Yu's reason, not only the Ancient Sword Sect but also the Baiqiao Academy did not quite believe it, yet they could not find a better one.

In short, they felt that the relationship between Song Yu and Yan Taibai was definitely extraordinary.

However, no matter what, they could never have imagined that Yan Taibai, the dignified number one person in the Tiannan Cultivation World, would be bored to such an extent as to disguise himself as a Luoyun Sect disciple to participate in the Three Sects Sword Trial Competition.

Such a thing, even if it were spread, no one would believe it.

But it did somewhat align with the strange and eccentric nature of most Nascent Soul cultivators.

In short, those who knew about this matter now were limited to Yan Taibai, Song Yu, and the two Nascent Soul cultivators of the Luoyun Sect, Cheng Tiankun and Lv Luo.

Even the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Ancient Sword Sect and the Baiqiao Academy were still unaware.

The next match was the turn of the competition between the Luoyun Sect and the Baiqiao Academy... In this way, the first round of the competition took a full two days to complete.

Among them, the strength of the sword cultivators of the Ancient Sword Sect was truly not just empty talk.

Except for Yan Taibai, Han Li, Mu Peiling, and another two, Sun Huo and Du Dong, the other disciples of the Luoyun Sect who encountered the Ancient Sword Sect were clearly at a disadvantage and were defeated one after another.

The appearance of this situation finally made the Golden Core Stage Cultivator of the Ancient Sword Sect beam with joy, feeling as if he had vented his pent-up frustration.

Fortunately, the several Golden Core cultivators of the Baiqiao Academy and the red-robed elder of the Luoyun Sect had long anticipated this, so although they felt their faces were not looking very good, they were at least able to keep it from showing and pretended not to mind.

Judging solely by their demeanor, they seemed far superior to the short old man.

The final result also greatly shocked the high-level Golden Core Stage cultivators of the three sects.

The Luoyun Sect accounted for a full half of the people.

Yan Taibai, Sun Huo, and Mu Peiling occupied the top three of the three sects, while Han Li and Du Dong took ninth and tenth respectively.

The Ancient Sword Sect had three, and the Baiqiao Academy had only two at worst, making the face of the Baiqiao Academy elder look extremely unpleasant.

Yet there was nothing he could do, and he could only envy the Luoyun Sect for having a good vent of frustration this time.

In reality, among the five from the Luoyun Sect, only Mu Peiling and Sun Huo were true Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators; as for Yan Taibai, Han Li, and Du Dong, none of them were.

At dusk, in the middle of Yunmeng Mountain, there was a nameless valley leaning against the mountains.

This valley was not only remote but also filled with overcast mist all year round, making it impossible to see one's own fingers, and most importantly, the mist was full of poisonous snakes, scorpions, and other venomous creatures.

As for the quantity, it was simply countless, though no one would have nothing better to do than to come down and check the situation.

But this valley was not completely empty; on the contrary, this valley held hidden mysteries, and as for the place of mystery, it was a nondescript pile of rubble in the valley.

On this day, white light flickered over the pile of rubble, and subsequently, two figures appeared out of thin air there.

One of these two was in grey clothes and robes with a ferocious face, while the other was in green robes with a jade belt, looking refined and elegant.

"Eh, Brother Bai of the Ancient Sword Sect, Fellow Daoist Yu of the Luoyun Sect, I didn't expect it to be you two who came this time. It looks like the Sword Trial Competition has already ended."

Suddenly, a man's voice rang out from within the pile of rubble.

The voice was slightly hoarse and lazy, as if he hadn't woken up yet.

"Today is Brother Yue's turn on duty! The Sword Trial Competition has indeed ended, so we came to see how the Clear Spirit Water of the Holy Land is prepared. If it is ready, we will have those ten disciples teleported over directly. To avoid any impropriety or accidents."

The cultivator surnamed Bai from the Ancient Sword Sect smiled without the slightest hint of anything unusual.

As for the old man in gray robes to the side, he remained expressionless and did not say a word.

"What other accidents could there be? With as many as three Golden Core Stage cultivators like us here, what could a group of Qi Refining Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators possibly accomplish?"

The man said, not caring in the slightest.

"That may be so, but one must still be careful, no?"

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivator surnamed Bai shook his head and said.

"By the way, how is the situation with this Trial Sword Grand Competition? Were there any accidents?"

The man asked again.

Clearly, he was quite curious about this matter.

Hearing this, the Ancient Sword Sect's cultivator surnamed Bai and the Luoyun Sect's cultivator surnamed Yu exchanged a glance.

"What? It seems something unexpected really did happen?"

"Indeed, compared to the past, this Trial Sword Grand Competition truly had a significant accident; even now, I find it inconceivable."

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivator surnamed Bai nodded, his expression grave as he spoke.

"Oh! Tell me in detail, let me hear it. To be able to make Brother Bai feel it is inconceivable, I am quite curious now."

The man asked impatiently, feeling startled.

"Do you know which sect obtained the most spots in the top ten this time?"

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivator surnamed Bai said with a strange expression.

"Brother Bai, don't tell me it was Fellow Daoist Yu's Luoyun Sect?"

Hearing this, the man hesitated and thought for a moment, saying with uncertainty.

"Fellow Daoist guessed correctly, it is indeed the Luoyun Sect. Moreover, the top three in this Trial Sword Grand Competition were all disciples of the Luoyun Sect, especially the first place, who was merely a Qi Refining Stage cultivator."

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivator surnamed Bai smiled bitterly and spoke in a tone of disbelief.

"What? Qi Refining Stage? That's impossible? Absolutely impossible."

The man was shocked; he was truly shocked!

After all, in his memory, such a thing had never occurred before.

After all, the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators of the other two sects were not just sitting idly by; how could they let a Qi Refining Stage cultivator from the Luoyun Sect take first place?

In the past, this was something that had never happened at all.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't want to believe it either, but the facts are just so."

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivator surnamed Bai said, his face full of bitterness. (End of this chapter)