Xu Mu gave her a reassuring look. "Go on, just do your best."
Xu Ningbing took a deep breath, trying hard to keep herself calm. Finally, she walked briskly toward the arena.
Seeing the masked Xu Ningbing appear in the arena, the surrounding crowd immediately began to murmur in discussion.
Over the past few days, the conflict between this group of masked individuals and the Strength Faction Court had already spread far and wide.
The name of their sect had also become well-known to many: Righteous to the Point of Evil.
The upcoming battle not only drew cheers from the audience below but also piqued the interest of the big shots watching from the white clouds above.
"Righteous to the Point of Evil. What an interesting name. I'd like to see just who these people really are."
Jiang Zhenqi, the Sect Master of Kunlun Mountain, picked up his teacup and looked down with a smile.
"What's there to see? This Xu Ningbing is bound to lose. She's only at the early stage of the Divine Power realm, while Lin Bin is already at the mid-stage. Moreover, he's an outstanding talent of the Spirit Hall. There's no comparison," Ning Kai of the Strength Faction Court said expressionlessly.
He had been furious ever since he arrived at Kunlun Mountain—two battles, two defeats.
Especially since one of the defeated was the fourth senior brother of the Strength Faction Court's younger generation.
That was one of their figureheads, yet he was knocked down with a single punch. It was Ning Kai who lost face.
Wang Chi, the Sect Master of the Spirit Hall, knew Ning Kai's intentions very well. To put it bluntly, he was deliberately praising Lin Bin just to belittle the Righteous to the Point of Evil Sect.
However, as the Sect Master of the Spirit Hall, he naturally had to play along. "Hehe, Lin Bin is indeed a good kid, but I remember last time, he lost to a disciple of the Strength Faction Court."
Hearing this, Ning Kai felt a little better.
Down in the arena.
Lin Bin stood with his hands behind his back, staring unblinkingly at Xu Ningbing.
Someone like him, a named disciple from one of the Five Great Sects, was treated like a superstar among hidden families or ordinary sects.
He had seen many beautiful women, but the woman before him gave him a feeling he had never experienced with anyone else.
That terrifying lightning, coupled with her slender, athletic figure, made it obvious she trained year-round.
He revealed a faint smile. "Beauty, just surrender. I'm a man who cherishes the fairer sex. I don't like striking beautiful women."
"Cut the crap. I won't surrender!"
Xu Ningbing took a long, deep breath and pulled out a dagger, her eyes locked onto her opponent.
She possessed the skills to duel with experts. For instance, her regular sparring partners—Meng Wanyue, Dai Xingluo, and Tong Guoguo—were all stronger than her.
"Then I won't hold back. I'll destroy your mask first to see what you really look like."
Lin Bin grinned and immediately unleashed his power. Swaths of fiery light erupted across his body.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
These fireballs all hurtled toward Xu Ningbing.
Xu Ningbing immediately dodged, circling around Lin Bin. Now that she had entered combat, she actually calmed down.
Swish!
Suddenly, she leaped into the air, lunging at Lin Bin.
Seeing this, Lin Bin couldn't help but laugh out loud. He raised his palm toward Xu Ningbing in the air. "Flame Net!"
Whoosh!
A spinning net of fire flew out from his palm. At first, it was only slightly larger than his hand.
But as it left his hand, the flame net grew larger and larger until it reached five meters in diameter, completely enveloping Xu Ningbing.
Above the white clouds.
Ning Kai couldn't help but shake his head. "A lower-realm cultivator trying to attack mid-air is nothing but a sitting duck. This sect really isn't much."
But just as he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly widened.
He saw Xu Ningbing, who was about to be netted, suddenly step on the air itself, leaping several meters higher to dodge the Flame Net.
Lin Bin looked up at the figure in the air. Before he could react, he suddenly suffered a heavy blow to his back.
When he turned his head, he found that a dagger had been thrust into his waist from behind.
Xu Ningbing's breathing grew rapid. She had been learning combat since she was very young.
Whether it was training or actual combat, she had experienced countless bouts.
Previously, when accompanying Xu Mu to the Cui family, she had also taken action to teach people a lesson.
But this time was completely different. It was her first time plunging a dagger into someone's body.
Seeing the bright red blood flowing down, it would be a lie to say Xu Ningbing wasn't nervous.
To her, this was already tantamount to killing someone.
Lin Bin couldn't believe it. He immediately dodged away. As he evaded, his eyes darted back to the sky.
He found that the Xu Ningbing high up in the air still hadn't disappeared. With the distance between them so vast, it clearly wasn't an afterimage, but a cultivation technique.
"You bastard! You sneak attacked me!"
Lin Bin reached out to cover his waist, then looked at his palm, finding it slick with blood.
His eyes practically splitting with rage, he continuously hurled fireballs at Xu Ningbing.
Xu Ningbing dodged around him, her figure closing in once again.
Lin Bin whipped around and thrust out a palm. "Flame Net!"
Swish!
The flame net passed right through Xu Ningbing's body again, while her true self flashed behind him once more.
Slash!
The dagger thrust out again.
This time, Xu Ningbing showed no mercy. As she pulled out the dagger, she followed up with a high kick that landed squarely on Lin Bin's neck.
Bang!
With a loud thud, Lin Bin collapsed to the ground on the spot.
A few large words appeared high above.
Xu Ningbing wins.
The next moment, Lin Bin was teleported out of the arena.
Xu Ningbing put away her dagger and let out a long sigh of relief, then took the initiative to walk off the stage.
She felt that she had adapted to this, and in the next match, she would be able to perform even better.
The spectating crowd was absolutely shocked to see this scene.
As expected of experts in the Divine Power realm, the first match completely ignited the atmosphere.
An early-stage Divine Power cultivator had easily defeated a mid-stage one.
On the surface, Xu Ningbing might have seemed like the one struggling, because Lin Bin had been attacking constantly while she kept circling him, continuously dodging and not daring to meet him head-on.
But once the battle ended, they realized that from start to finish, Lin Bin hadn't touched Xu Ningbing even once.
Thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the audience stands.
Amidst their cheers, Xu Ningbing walked toward her seat.
Above the white clouds.
The expressions of the numerous experts varied.
If one had to say whose expression was the ugliest, it was undoubtedly Wang Chi's.
A dignified sect disciple had been defeated flawlessly by someone of a lower realm. The key point was that the opponent wasn't even from the Five Great Sects.
In his eyes, this was even more humiliating than what had happened to the Strength Faction Court.
Both of the Strength Faction Court's disciples had been defeated, but one had voluntarily let his opponent take the first punch.
And the other had fought someone of equal strength.
At least they had excuses for their defeats.
In his heart, Ning Kai was already blooming with laughter. Now, the Strength Faction Court wasn't the only one losing face.
But he still had to keep up appearances. "This woman was merely relying on her cultivation technique. That technique just now was at least Earth-grade."
"Indeed. First, she used the Earth-grade technique Cloud Step, and then she used a clone-type technique. Its grade shouldn't be low either," Dong Chengdao, the Sect Master of the Artifact Sect, said as he picked up his teacup.
"If I'm not mistaken, that should be the Cloud Sleeve Frost of the Yaoguang Palace." Pan Chenggong, the Sect Master of the Shennong Cauldron Sect, said softly, "Could they be from the Yaoguang Palace?"

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…

uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.

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.”

transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!