The All-Peak Grand Competition Begins

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

Streaks of light could be seen everywhere among the mountains of the Qingxuan Sect, all from disciples who had gotten up early to watch the All-Peak Tournament.

Some rode on flying swords, some navigated clouds, and others rode spirit beasts.

They traveled in groups of three or five, talking and laughing, creating a bustling and lively atmosphere.

Ye Shu also woke up early. After changing into a clean disciple uniform, he walked out of the courtyard. Lin Qingxue had already finished washing up and had been waiting outside for quite a while.

"Let's go. This lady will condescend to drive the cloud for you today."

Stepping on an auspicious cloud, Lin Qingxue reached out her hand to him.

Ye Shu took her hand, stepped onto the auspicious cloud, and smiled, "Then I must apologize for inconveniencing the eldest miss."

"As long as you know."

Lin Qingxue snorted and urged the auspicious cloud to take off.

Meanwhile, at Zixiao Peak.

As one of the main characters of the All-Peak Tournament plotline, Su Xiao was not very happy at the moment.

Because he found out that his stupid system had gone crazy.

Just last night, it claimed that the host had completed a villain plotline and distributed system rewards.

Then came a bunch of things he had never even heard of.

Various sword arts and divine abilities had all leveled up by more than just one tier, reaching the Traceless Great Perfection stage.

At least at the Golden Core stage, there was no more room for advancement.

Su Xiao seriously suspected that if the All-Peak Tournament didn't restrict cultivation to the Golden Core stage, this dog-shit system would probably have elevated him to the Nascent Soul stage before stopping.

If it were a normal person, they would definitely be overjoyed.

But the problem was, Su Xiao wasn't normal!

He was destined to lose, so what the hell was the point of all these flashy upgrades?

It was just like making gay men use condoms.

Purely taking off pants to fart—wasn't this completely unnecessary?

"Stupid system!"

After giving the middle finger to the empty void, Su Xiao cursed and grumbled as he walked down Zixiao Peak and flew toward Qingxuan Peak.

As for why he didn't go with Mu Yunxi?

It was better to have as little contact as possible with the male lead's woman.

............

An hour later.

The two, riding the auspicious cloud, leisurely arrived at Qingxuan Peak.

Today looked completely different from the last time they were here.

In the center was a slightly lower mountain peak surrounded by several taller ones. At the same time, many hundred-zhang-wide spectator platforms floated in the air. The central peak was designated for the tournament, while the others were for spectating.

These newly formed peaks had been created out of thin air by immense magical power, so the vegetation on the peaks had all grown into the shape of chairs, saving the craftsmen from doing manual labor.

The peaks were already bustling with people coming and going.

This tournament was a grand event held once every ten years in the Qingxuan Sect. It was intended to let the inner disciples spar with each other, find their flaws, and improve. At the same time, it served as a form of motivation, as the resource allocation for each peak over the next ten years would be determined based on the tournament rankings.

Therefore, every peak naturally attached great importance to it.

Ye Shu and Lin Qingxue arrived gracefully on their auspicious cloud. The moment they appeared, they attracted the attention of most people.

The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, looking just like a pair of immortal lovers.

"Damn, isn't that Lin Qingxue from Zixiao Peak? Who is the man next to her?"

"You don't even know that? That's Ye Shu, the one who caused a huge scene at the disciple acceptance ceremony and accused the Peak Master of Cangjian Peak of being an undercover demonic cultivator."

"So it's him?"

"But I remember that Ye Shu completely fell out with Zixiao Peak at the ceremony, right? Why is he with Lin Qingxue?"

"Bro, are you from Mars? Lin Qingxue fell out with Zixiao Peak a long time ago, all for this guy named Ye Shu. They live on Sunset Mountain now, and rumor has it they've been cohabiting for three months!"

"Holy crap, there's even a little story of betraying one's peak for love."

The whispers of the surrounding disciples surged like the tide, but Lin Qingxue quite enjoyed it. She raised her chin and held Ye Shu's hand like a white swan declaring her sovereignty.

That's right, let everyone know.

The heartless man was her property. This way, no blind fools would come and try to snatch him away!

From the peak masters' seating area, Mu Yunxi stared coldly in their direction.

"Traitor."

She turned her head to look at Su Xiao in the waiting area, silently gripping the long sword in her hand, and secretly swore in her heart, "Xiao'er, even if we have to sink this martial arts arena, your master will help you win. You are the true child of destiny. That shameless little thief is unworthy!"

..........

Landing on the mountain peak, Ye Shu immediately spotted the group from the Xuantian Sword Lineage in the corner. Chu Jinghong, Lu Shouzhuo, Qingli, and the newly admitted disciples had all come.

"Junior Brother Ye!"

As soon as he saw Ye Shu, Chu Jinghong raised his hand to greet him. The new disciples behind him also cupped their hands together and said loudly:

"We are here to support Senior Brother Ye!"

"Everyone is here. Where is Eldest Senior Brother?"

Leading Lin Qingxue forward, Ye Shu looked around but didn't see Jian Wuhen's figure, feeling a bit confused.

"Eldest Senior Brother... sigh..."

Hearing this, Chu Jinghong sighed helplessly, patted Ye Shu's shoulder, and said sorrowfully, "Little Junior Brother, Eldest Senior Brother was taken away by a demoness."

"Taken, taken away?" Ye Shu was stunned.

How could he be taken away by a demoness out of nowhere?

"Yes." Chu Jinghong wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes. "That demoness relied on her vast amount of spirit stones to forcefully imprison Eldest Senior Brother by her side. I secretly went to see him."

"That night was dark and windy..."

Fear still lingered in Chu Jinghong's eyes.

"I heard screams occasionally coming from the courtyard, as well as Eldest Senior Brother begging for mercy..."

"That demoness beat Eldest Senior Brother until he fell to his knees."

"She actually forced him to call her mommy!"

Ye Shu's mouth twitched. He subconsciously glanced at Lin Qingxue beside him and saw that her face was flushed red and her palms were sweating. Knowing that this girl was getting bad ideas in her head again, he quickly stopped Chu Jinghong from continuing.

"Um, Senior Brother Chu, let's talk about Eldest Senior Brother's matter later."

He pointed to the many disciples behind him. "Everyone is still here. It ruins Eldest Senior Brother's reputation."

"Ah? Oh, oh, oh."

Chu Jinghong finally realized and patted his shoulder. "Little Junior Brother, fight without worry. Your senior brothers have your back. If anyone beats you,"

"We'll put a sack over their head in the middle of the night!"

"It's good to have Senior Brother's word... Huh?!"

Ye Shu nodded, then suddenly stared at Chu Jinghong in surprise, looking completely dumbfounded.

What was this guy talking about?

Were the people of the Xuantian Sword Lineage all this fierce?

Right at this moment.

Swish!

A black-robed figure was seen striking against the light, arriving in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he landed on the tournament arena, stomping and shattering the floor tiles beneath his feet with a thunderous shout.

"Ye Shu of the Xuantian Sword Lineage! Come and fight!"

Carrying a long sword on his back and with eyes burning like torches, Su Xiao looked around and pointed at Ye Shu, shouting.

As stones flew in all directions, everyone in the arena was collectively startled.

"Whose young master is this, acting so arrogantly?"

"Don't you know? That's the Eldest Senior Brother of Zixiao Peak. Their peak targeted the Xuantian Sword Lineage at the last disciple acceptance ceremony, and as a result, two of their female disciples were punished with solitary confinement by the Sect Master. Now it seems he plans to use the All-Peak Tournament as an excuse to cause trouble for this guy named Ye Shu."

"Damn, one is the Chief Disciple of Zixiao Peak."

"And the other is a legendary genius who shook the Eastern Wasteland but fell in his early years. Who exactly will win?"

"I'm so looking forward to it, I can't wait!"

"To be able to see such a duel between experts, I'm actually so excited that I'm pitching a tent!"

Listening to the surrounding voices, Su Xiao closed his eyes in triumph.

This is it!

This is exactly it!

A villain needs to be the center of attention! They need to be arrogant, take the most brutal beatings, and suffer the most humiliating defeats!

However, just as he was marveling at his own acting skills.

Smack—

A discipline ruler struck the top of his head.

Su Xiao snapped his head around, only to see a white-bearded elder standing right behind him, his face dark with rage.

"This is the Inter-Peak Tournament! Do you think you can just fight whoever you want?"

"Get your ass back to the waiting area, and hand over five hundred spirit stones for arena repair fees while you're at it, or your qualification to compete will be revoked!"

Su Xiao's face instantly fell.

"Elder, I..."

"Scram!"

"Alrighty, I'm scramming right now."

Su Xiao immediately dropped his arrogant attitude and scurried obediently back to the waiting area.

Only then did the elder's expression soften a little.

"I announce!"

"The Inter-Peak Tournament officially begins!"

"First match! Ye Shu of the Profound Heaven Sword Lineage, versus Su Xiao, Head Disciple of Purple Cloud Peak!"