Chapter 1964

Time flew by, and several days passed.

The number of competing teams kept dwindling.

The giant beasts of the Divine Corpse Continent could not stop Xiao Feng's advance; they were quickly defeated, and the tournament entered the fifth round.

The fifth round was a 32-to-16 matchup, and the teams that could advance were all top-tier squads from the entire server.

And Xiao Feng's team this time ran into an old acquaintance!

— Xue Ningzhen of the Cangqing Realm!

It's also a coincidence that the Cangqing Realm and the Tianyu Wasteland, both powerful regions from the Jiuzhou Immortal Domain, met each other in the 128-to-64 showdown.

The two sides are old rivals; since the Immortal Domain era they have been constantly at odds, and their top figures, Xue Ningzhen and Li Jinglan, have fought countless times, being like fire and water.

Although later everyone became allies and joined the Human Grand Alliance initiated by Xiao Feng and Shen Chuo, there was still no interaction between them; they never helped each other.

After meeting in the 3v3 tournament, Xiao Feng thought Xue Ningzhen would lose.

Because her strength was somewhat inferior to Li Jinglan's.

Li Jinglan's personal strength could rank within the top 30 of the entire server; his inheritance of the Pangu Great Strength Divine Ability is extremely formidable, and even on paper his stats exceed Shen Chuo's.

But the result was that he lost, and his loss was rather suspicious.

At that time Xiao Feng happened to be watching the livestream with Old Zhang and the others, and he clearly saw the scene of Li Jinglan's defeat.

That scene could only be described as "eerie"!

Because he was inexplicably immobilized for a few seconds, unable to move, watching his teammates get killed helplessly, and then Xue Ningzhen took on three opponents alone and hacked him to death.

The players of the Tianyu Wasteland were almost dying of anger, and even rumors spread that Li Jinglan was throwing the match, deliberately letting Xue Ningzhen win.

Even Xiao Feng also so

Thought!

Because he knew Li Jinglan bore no ill will toward Xue Ningzhen, always acted only in self-defense, and for his own safety and the interests of his warzone, he had no choice but to engage.

And Xue Ningzhen, because the supreme Dao inheritance surpassing the Venerable Realm had been seized, she felt unwilling; added to years of friction, the more they fought the angrier she became, she was determined to kill Li Jinglan.

In other words, only Xue Ningzhen truly harbored hatred for Li Jinglan from the bottom of her heart; the latter actually did not want to fight.

It is even possible that over the course of repeated battles he developed strange feelings for this female Sword Cultivator, which is why he held back in this great battle.

Of course, this is merely Xiao Feng's speculation; the specifics remain unclear.

The fifth-round tournament has already begun; currently fighting are the water-civilization players from Dragon God Star's 1st Warzone and the robot players from Zu Jian Xing.

The top expert on Dragon God Star's side is "Old Ancestor, I've Come to Save You," a powerful giant crocodile.

The Zu Jian Xing side fields four teams, namely the Ultra-Dimensional Mecha Soldiers numbered 16 through 20, which includes Xiao Feng's good friend, Mecha Soldier 17.

The overall strength of these four teams is not exaggerated; reaching the top 64 is already about their limit, and they seem about to lose.

At this moment Xiao Feng received a message from Xue Ningzhen.

"Senior Brother Dao, the next match will be our showdown..."

Her tone was a bit gloomy.

Xiao Feng sensed her mood, thinking she was upset because she knew she would lose, and said: "Yeah, the schedule is like that, there's nothing we can do. I'll go easy on you, so you can lose gracefully."

Who would have thought Xue Ningzhen would reply: "No need for that, just perform normally; losing to Senior Brother Dao is normal, and I and my fellow Daoists have already made the mental preparations"

"

"Then why do you still seem a little unhappy?" Xiao Feng asked, puzzled.

Actually, he had already roughly guessed some of it in his heart.

Indeed, Xue Ningzhen said in a helpless and stifled tone: "It's not because of that damn thing; we were fighting fine when he suddenly held back and let me have a turn. Now everyone in our warzone is gossiping that there's something ambiguous between me and him! It's damned annoying—I wish I could beat his real body to death offline, how could such a thing happen! Really, really, really disgusting!"

"Uh... so you're saying he really threw the match?" Xiao Feng asked.

"Mm." Xue Ningzhen did not deny that.

Admitting this to others would be misunderstood, but not to Xiao Feng, because he had been to Yunchu Shan and knew her relationship with Li Jinglan.

"Why would he throw the match and lose to you? Could it be that he actually likes you?" Xiao Feng chuckled and teased.

"Impossible! He's just deliberately disgusting me, because he knows he's no match for you; even if he beat me, he'd still lose to you today, and his rank wouldn't be much higher. So he simply put on this act to drag me into rumors and abuse! Now people from both regions are talking about us, and the Tianyu Wasteland folks even say I seduced their big shot, calling me shameless. I don't even have the mood to cultivate anymore, it's so aggravating! Ahhh... really disgusting!!" Xue Ningzhen's tone sounded like she was fuming.

She is usually a cool and elegant Fairy Maiden; standing among a crowd, she is a goddess-level presence.

But now her mood cannot calm down at all; her mindset has been completely shattered.

Xiao Feng also felt helpless, never expecting Li Jinglan

That cold-hearted guy also plays mind games; this really does some damage to Xue Ningzhen's reputation.

Girls care more about face, and besides she is a high-ranking warzone leader.

If we let this slander spread unchecked, whenever the Cangqing Realm meets the Tianyu Wasteland, they will always be inferior.

"What should we do? How about I help you by also pretending to be immobilized for a few seconds, proving that Li Jinglan isn't throwing the match but truly can't beat you?" Xiao Feng suggested.

To dispel the rumors, the best way is to use facts to prove that battle was not a throw.

Li Jinglan being controlled for five seconds is the origin of the rumor.

As long as Xiao Feng is likewise controlled for five seconds, no one will say anything else.

Even if Li Jinglan goes to clarify, saying he held back, it cannot outweigh Xiao Feng's golden-brand effect; instead it would look lowly, expose his scheming, and make him despised.

"That's exactly what I think. Just, just..."

Xue Ningzhen had been waiting for Xiao Feng to say that, but at the same time she felt a bit guilty, saying: "Doing this, if it turns out badly, it might affect your reputation too. By then the rumors will only grow louder and harder to quell. Moreover, your being immobile for a few seconds also exposes you to great risk."

Xiao Feng laughed: "No way, my influence is enough to crush the rumors. By then all server players will know that Fairy Maiden Xue has a strong five-second control ability—even I can't block it, and everyone will fear you. As for the risk... just go ahead and fight with confidence; you can't break my defense, so feel free to throw all your big skills at me."

Only they themselves and a few others know the truth, and

Li Jinglan.

If Li Jinglan knew Xiao Feng was on Xue Ningzhen's side, he probably wouldn't continue toying with her.

"This..."

Xue Ningzhen thought for a moment, felt it made perfect sense, and said delightedly: "Then thank you, Brother Xiao Feng! Without your help, I really wouldn't know what to do."

"It's a small matter, not worth mentioning. Hurry up and enter the arena, get ready." Xiao Feng replied, then hung up the chat.

Xue Ningzhen, who was watching the battle from near the Cheng Zhu Fu of Drifting Cloud Lake City, let out a big sigh of relief, a pleased smile appeared on her face, and she thought to herself: "As expected, he's still the most reliable!"