Mo Qi hurriedly formed a hand seal, casting "World of Ice and Snow," and placed his hand on the ground.
The entire world rapidly plunged into midwinter.
Snowflakes the size of leaves began to fall, fluttering down like leaves. The cold air reverberated with their descent, as if countless snow knives were scraping back and forth through the air.
When the flying sword phantoms encountered the snowflakes, they first became fragmented with a booming sound, then turned into strips, and finally gradually dissipated.
The icy layer spread across the ground. Yuan Tan leaped into the air, pointed a finger, and his spiritual energy surged forth. The flying sword itself also swelled, emitting a red glow as it struck towards Mo Qi.
Mo Qi merely flicked his finger, and a silent arrow of energy shot out. A crisp "ding" sound was heard.
The flying sword developed a small hole, and then with a "whoosh," like a dam bursting, the entire flying sword instantly shattered, scattering into the air.
Mo Qi pushed forward, and the sky-filling snowflakes spun towards Yuan Tan, slicing like myriad tiny blades crisscrossing in all directions.
Yuan Tan was greatly alarmed and fled rapidly. However, the snowflakes covered the sky; how could he possibly evade them?
Just as he was about to be sliced into pieces, a figure flashed, and someone landed in the arena, blocking the snowflakes. Without the slightest hesitation, the person drew a circle in front of them, and a ripple appeared, filled with countless flying swords.
It was Ling Xu! Mo Qi recognized him immediately.
Ling Xu also seemed to recognize Mo Qi and appeared slightly surprised.
Ling Xu pointed his hand and said, "Go!"
The ripple surged forward violently. The myriad snowflakes instantly fell into the ripple, and the flying swords within the ripple clashed and shredded. A series of booming sounds ensued, followed by tranquility.
However, the ripple suddenly expanded, its speed undiminished, and continued to strike towards Mo Qi.
From a distance, Mo Qi felt his body about to be torn apart.
It was as if heavenly thunder was rolling forward with heavy steps.
Mo Qi was greatly alarmed and immediately erected an ice wall in front of himself.
At the same time, he enveloped himself in his protective divine light shield.
Even so, he felt far from comfortable!
At this moment, a figure flashed, and another person stood in front of Mo Qi. It was Lai Yaoshi.
"Palm Thunder!" Lai Yaoshi pushed his right palm forward. A red halo appeared in his palm, and a circular red light shot out, rapidly expanding in the air with a rumbling sound.
The next moment, as expected, it collided with the ripple. With a deafening roar, debris flew, sand and stones scattered, and sword light shattered.
Lai Yaoshi grabbed Mo Qi and swept him into the air. After the dust settled, they slowly descended.
Lai Yaoshi looked at Mo Qi anxiously, "Martial Uncle, are you alright?"
Mo Qi's heart was still pounding, but he maintained a nonchalant demeanor and waved his hand, "I'm fine, I'm fine."
The surrounding people were stunned. Wasn't that the Sect Master of the Divine Pill Sect? How could he call him Martial Uncle?
It was no wonder he was so arrogant; it turned out the Sect Master of the Divine Pill Sect called him Martial Uncle.
Ling Xu retracted his flying sword, also filled with surprise. He had only known that Mo Qi had a good relationship with the Divine Pill Sect, reportedly due to a female cultivator. But when did he become Lai Yaoshi's Martial Uncle?
Lai Yaoshi breathed a sigh of relief and glared at Ling Xu, "You intended to kill him! Why are you still holding onto the grudges from Mount Shura? It's not unusual for there to be casualties in the competition for Foundation Establishment on Mount Shura. Once you leave Mount Shura, you are to forget all grievances from the mountain; this is a rule passed down from ancient times! Don't you, the Divine Sword Sect, understand this rule?"
Ling Xu's old face flushed slightly, with a hint of apology. "I naturally understand the rules. I did not intend to harm him. I lost some control while saving my disciple. I hope Lai Yaoshi will forgive me."
Then, Ling Xu turned to Yuan Tan beside him and said, "Quickly apologize to Sect Master Mo."
There was an unyielding authority in Ling Xu's eyes. Yuan Tan obediently bowed to Mo Qi, remaining silent, and then left in a huff.
Mo Qi waved his hand, "He's still a child and doesn't understand things. He just needs more discipline."
Ling Xu chuckled, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, yes!"
Mo Qi pulled Lai Yaoshi along, "Little Lai, let's go."
Lai Yaoshi followed with a bitter expression.
The next day, the competition among the Four Great Sects officially commenced.
In the first round, through a draw, the Divine Pill Sect was pitted against the Divine Sword Sect, and the Divine Escape Sect against the Divine Mist Sect. The matches were two-on-two duels.
First, the participants drew lots. After the draw, Mo Qi sat beside Snow Girl in the Divine Pill Sect's camp. He felt extremely pleased as he felt the sharp gazes from all directions.
He also saw Lu Xiaoyue sitting in the opposing camp, occasionally glancing over. When Mo Qi looked, he found her looking at others. Strangely, another young girl in the opposing camp, with a beautiful face, always cast a playful glance at Mo Qi. He vaguely felt a trace of malevolence in her gaze, which surprised Mo Qi. He shifted his position, only to find the girl still looking at him with a half-smile. He returned to his original position, and the girl's gaze followed him.
Seeing him shifting restlessly, Snow Girl couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing? Why are you always moving around?"
"Don't you feel like a girl over there is constantly looking at me?" Mo Qi glanced at Snow Girl, wanting to resolve his confusion through her.
Snow Girl rolled her eyes at him. "Don't flatter yourself. Do you think all women fall in love with you at first sight and would marry no one but you upon seeing you?"
Mo Qi smiled, "Sometimes I do have that feeling. Is it just my imagination?"
Snow Girl rolled her eyes again.
At this moment, the male cultivators from all directions saw Mo Qi and Snow Girl talking and laughing, and a surge of jealousy, hatred, and heartache washed over them. They wished they could devour Mo Qi alive.
The matches between the Divine Pill Sect and the Divine Sword Sect proceeded with three duels simultaneously. The matches between the Divine Mist Sect and the Divine Escape Sect also proceeded with three duels simultaneously.
Mo Qi watched several matches, which gave him a clearer understanding of the overall skill level of the Four Great Sects. The sect leaders, elders, and peak masters of the Four Great Sects were generally at the Nascent Soul stage. However, a small number of younger, more outstanding cultivators were at the Core Formation stage, and the sects had appointed them as chief seats or peak masters to cultivate them.
Those participating in the competition were at least at the late Foundation Establishment stage.
There were also those at the Core Formation stage. A few chief seats or peak masters were at the Core Formation stage, and among the disciples, there were a few at the early Core Formation stage, but very few.
In other words, the overall cultivation level was concentrated in the late Foundation Establishment stage. Someone like Leng Xiao, who was at the middle Foundation Establishment stage, was there to be at the bottom.
As he thought of Leng Xiao, news arrived from the arena that Leng Xiao had been eliminated. It turned out the child was too arrogant. The Deputy Sect Master of the Lingxiao Sect was present, but he didn't report to him and returned to his sect on his own.
Mo Qi could only sigh, "Children these days are becoming more and more impolite."
While Mo Qi was worrying if he would encounter Lu Xiaoyue, Lu Xiaoyue had already entered the arena. Mo Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he was afraid of her. Rather, because their grievances were too deep, he was worried that he might vent all his emotions on the stage and accidentally kill her.
However, he soon realized his worries were somewhat unnecessary.
On Stage One, Lu Xiaoyue was fighting against Bu Xiaoman, a male disciple of the Divine Pill Sect.
Bu Xiaoman of the Divine Pill Sect summoned his flying sword, which then manifested several sword lights, carrying wind and momentum, accompanied by rumbling sounds, as it struck towards Lu Xiaoyue.
Lu Xiaoyue formed a hand seal, casting "Extreme Wind!" An invisible dark shadow, resembling wind but clearly with threads within, made the wind visible and its power palpable. The dark shadow, like a ferocious beast baring its fangs and claws, opened its massive maw, emitting a deafening roar and a bloody aura as it lunged at the opponent. As soon as the two divine abilities touched, a series of "ding ding ding" sounds erupted. The threads pierced and tore through the opponent's sword shadows.
Simultaneously, the overall torrent of wind swept forward, engulfing the torn remnants of the sword shadows in an instant. Then, like a tidal wave, it struck towards Bu Xiaoman. Bu Xiaoman hurriedly activated his protective techniques and leaped to dodge, but he was still caught by the torrent, flung out of the arena, and fell to the ground, unable to get up for a long time. The medical staff rushed forward, checked his injuries, and seeing that he was not seriously harmed, carried him away.
Master Zhang in the spectator area stroked his beard and nodded continuously.
So powerful! Mo Qi suddenly became nervous and unconsciously popped a handful of pills into his mouth. He tended to eat pills whenever he got nervous.
He had been knocked into the water by this move back then. At that time, Lu Xiaoyue was only using her spiritual energy unconsciously. Now, under the guidance of a master and through her own diligent efforts, she had perfected this move to its utmost sharpness.
Moreover, judging by her cultivation, she must already be at the early Core Formation stage.
The more Mo Qi thought about it, the more nervous he became, and he ate another handful of spirit pills.
At this moment, the female cultivator who had been staring at Mo Qi also entered the arena. When entering the arena, the referee would call out each contestant's name, so Mo Qi finally learned her name: Shi Siyao!
If everyone was surprised by Lu Xiaoyue's performance earlier, then everyone was shocked by Shi Siyao's performance!
Her opponent was another male disciple of the Divine Pill Sect, who used a disc-shaped magical artifact to cast five-colored mist towards Shi Siyao. Shi Siyao didn't make any visible gestures; she simply raised her palm and pushed forward. The disc-shaped magical artifact and the mist divine abilities were all sent back. Fortunately, the Divine Pill Sect disciple was quick to dodge, otherwise, he would have been annihilated on the spot. Even so, he was heavily injured, collapsed on the ground, and was carried away.
The audience was stunned! Even Master Zhang looked shocked. The Four Great Sects basically recruited disciples with extraordinary talent. It wasn't strange for one or two disciples to suddenly erupt with power, but Shi Siyao always gave him an unfathomable feeling.
Moreover, sometimes, she would unconsciously exude a demonic charm. When he tried to capture it with his mind, he could find nothing; she was just a mortal body. Seeing Shi Siyao win so easily, he didn't know whether to be happy or worried.