"Senior Brother Xiao actually lost?"
A commotion immediately broke out in the spectator stands, with some sighing in pity.
"He clearly had the upper hand just now, how did he suddenly..."
"It seems that it's still too difficult for a new disciple to beat an older disciple."
There were also those who felt it was natural. As they were talking, their eyes were suddenly drawn back to the movement on the arena.
Fang Hanyu's Absolute Beginning Sword was entangled with Li Wuling's long sword. Amidst the flashing sword light, the youth's profile was taut, his jawline sharp as a knife, causing the female disciples below the stage to start screaming in low voices again.
"Junior Brother Fang is so cool!"
A female disciple from Qingyun Peak clutched her handkerchief, her eyes shining like stars.
"Junior Brother Fang, go for it!"
Several female cultivators from Danding Peak also nodded along: "Look at the way he holds his sword, it's so cool it makes my legs weak!"
Xiao Ruobai's mouth twitched when he heard this. He leaned on his Dragon Soul Halberd and shuffled back. When he passed Fang Hanyu's arena, he deliberately dragged his feet, the "bloodstain" on his shoulder glaring in the sunlight.
Having just conceded defeat and come down from the stage, he now looked like a defeated rooster, even the tip of his halberd drooping listlessly.
Fang Hanyu was exchanging moves with Li Wuling when he caught a glimpse of his senior brother's appearance from the corner of his eye, and his sword technique almost went astray.
He was instantly stunned—with his senior brother's strength, how could he lose?
As he was wondering, he saw Xiao Ruobai winking at him, his mouth twisted to one side, his brows knotted like a tied rope.
His left eye twitched three times, his right eye pulled twice, and he even pouted towards the bottom of the stage, looking like a precursor to a stroke.
Fang Hanyu was baffled: What's wrong with Senior Brother? Did his face cramp?
Seeing that he had no reaction, Xiao Ruobai was so angry he almost jumped, and quickly sent a voice transmission over.
"Keep a low profile! You just joined the sect and you're already forcing the older disciples to retreat step by step. Do you think Zizhu Peak isn't lively enough?"
Fang Hanyu then came back to his senses, remembering what his senior brother had taught him earlier: keep a low profile.
"Watch out!"
Li Wuling suddenly shouted loudly, his long sword slashing over with a green glow.
"Let you taste my newly practiced 'Qingyun Slash'!"
Fang Hanyu abruptly retracted his Primal Chaos Sword Qi.
He suddenly leaned back, as if swept by the sword wind, and stumbled back three steps, crashing right into the arena pillar.
"Wh-what a strong aura..."
He clutched his chest, a trace of blood "overflowing" from his throat, and said "weakly": "I... I can't catch it!"
Before his voice died away, he jumped off the stage, moving so fast as if he was afraid of being chased by the sword qi.
Xiao Ruobai stood below the stage with a dark face—this acting was too perfunctory, at least hold out for two more moves, right?
Li Wuling stood dumbfounded on the stage, the hand holding the sword stiff.
He looked down at his sword, then touched his chest, and suddenly realized.
So this move is so strong? We were fighting back and forth before, and as soon as this move was used, the opponent couldn't catch it?
"Senior Brother Li is mighty!"
The disciples of Qingyun Peak immediately cheered, the sound waves rising one after another.
Li Wuling was flattered by everyone's cheers and unconsciously puffed out his chest, walking off the arena in a daze amidst the applause, his footsteps even carrying a bit of smug weakness.
Xiao Ruobai nudged Fang Hanyu's arm and lowered his voice: "Next time act a bit more realistically, at least wait until he finishes his move."
Fang Hanyu replied expressionlessly: "Senior Brother, wipe your fake sweat clean first."
Phew—
A wave of sighs of relief sounded from the spectator stands, and many older disciples who had cultivated for many years patted their chests.
"He lost just like that? Weren't they fighting fine just now?"
"That blood... why does it look like he forced it out himself?"
"Fortunately he didn't advance, otherwise we older disciples who have cultivated for many years wouldn't have any face left."
"Exactly, it's already a miracle for someone who just joined the sect to reach the top sixteen. Pushing forward any further would be too outrageous."
"He finally lost. If he kept winning, the faces of us Core Condensation Realm cultivators would be crushed to pieces."
"I told you, no matter how godly Zizhu Peak is, they can't really let two newcomers beat up a group of older students."
Although neither of them advanced, reaching this stage at such a young age meant no disciple dared to underestimate Zizhu Peak anymore.
With two genius disciples, once they grew up, they would be enough to support Zizhu Peak.
At this time, the female disciples' voices rang out again: "Is Junior Brother Fang okay? Do you need medicine?"
"Even if he lost, he's super handsome!"
Someone even took out a healing pill, wishing they could throw it directly onto the stage.
Fang Hanyu's ears burned from the commotion, and the hand covering his chest almost slipped.
Xiao Ruobai rolled his eyes at Fang Hanyu and turned to leave.
Just after taking two steps, he heard Li Wuling still laughing foolishly behind him: "So I'm actually this powerful..."
When the two passed the audience stands, it caused another wave of cheers from the female disciples.
Xiao Ruobai sighed: It seems that being handsome means people will buy it even if you lose. This world really judges by appearances.
On the stands, the peak masters took in the farce on the arenas, their expressions varying.
Gu Changge's gaze paused on the glaring "bloodstain" at the corner of Xiao Ruobai's mouth, then swept over the suspicious blush on Fang Hanyu's ears, and an imperceptible arc hooked the corner of his mouth.
These two brats, one acting hard, the other hiding stiffly, it was quite interesting.
Shi Wanshan stroked his beard and smiled: "These two brats still need to practice their acting."
He remembered being hung by the Spirit Binding Vine for half the night at Zizhu Peak last time, and looking at Xiao Ruobai's "sorry" back now, he suddenly felt that this master and disciples trio all had a bit of "wickedness" hidden in their bones.
Their acting could only fool the disciples; the peak masters on the stands had seen through it at a glance.
To be so strong so soon after joining the sect, the younger generation is truly formidable!
As the bronze bell in the center of the martial arts arena chimed for the third time, the third round of the competition came to an end.
After the smoke cleared, the list of those advancing was finalized amidst the loud reading of the referee—eight figures stood out and would compete for the top four spots tomorrow.
Qingyun Peak's Li Xuanfeng and Li Wuling both advanced; the former crushed his opponent with thunderous methods.
The latter passed easily relying on the "epiphany" of the Qingyun Slash, and was currently stroking his sword scabbard and smiling foolishly, clearly not yet recovered from the victory Fang Hanyu had "gifted" him.
Qingyue Peak's Lin Mochen and Shi Jingxian continued their strong momentum. One wielded a black iron axe fiercely, while the other took three punches from his opponent before turning defeat into victory, displaying the path of strength to the fullest.
Jianxiao Peak's Mu Chenyu's sword was like a dragon, Feiyun Peak's Yun Qingjue's movement techniques were ethereal, and Luoxia Peak's Su Qingyuan's water sleeve techniques were soft yet firm.
Zhenyue Peak's Lu Chenyu's defense was airtight. The eight people each showed their special abilities, drawing waves of cheers from the spectator stands.
And the most surprising thing was undoubtedly Danding Peak's Lin Xiaowan stopping at the third round.
When she faced Qingyue Peak's Lin Mochen, everyone thought it would be a protracted battle.
After all, Lin Xiaowan's poison techniques and healing arts were considered top-notch among the younger generation.
Who knew that Lin Mochen didn't play by the rules at all. From the start, he swung his black iron axe and smashed fiercely, forcibly breaking her poison mist array with brute force, forcing Lin Xiaowan to concede.
"How could this be?"
The spectator stands immediately filled with pity, especially those male disciples who secretly admired Lin Xiaowan, each beating their chests and stamping their feet.
Someone clutched a newly prepared healing pill with red eyes: "That brute Lin Mochen! Couldn't he be gentler to Senior Sister?"
Someone else sighed, "Ultimately, every profession has its specialty. Disciples of the Pill Cauldron Peak are indeed at a disadvantage when going up against pure strength-type opponents..."
The drafts I wrote earlier were all lost, so I had to rewrite everything from scratch. Please read this for now. The next chapter will be posted a bit later. Thank you everyone for your support!

ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!

his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…

s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!

to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”