Chapter 76

Chapter 74: Contradictory Feelings

The martial arts competition on the stage was not particularly exciting, and there were no especially powerful outer disciples.

A strong member of the Six Paths Squad, seeing Tuoba Ye watching with great interest, couldn't help but mock him: "What a bumpkin, what's so interesting about such a competition?"

"Right, if Brother Tian went up, he would definitely sweep those people away," another strong member said.

Brother Tian, whose real name was Luo Xiaotian, was a Nine-Star Innate Martial God. In the Six Paths Squad, he wasn't among the strongest, but his strength was considerable, ranking him as a relatively powerful Nine-Star Innate Martial God, surpassing Leng Yidao.

Although he didn't have the strength to compete for the top ten, he was quite stable in the top hundred, unless he encountered some particularly strong opponents.

Especially in the preliminary rounds, if he was eliminated, he wouldn't have a ranking. If he could enter the top hundred, even if he was eliminated, he could still participate in the ranking.

Tuoba Ye pretended not to hear and carefully watched the competition. There were ten competition stages, and his eyes couldn't keep up.

However, these people's martial arts skills were indeed not very good, not as refined as the War Dragon Dominant Blade.

Cultivation sects usually don't focus on martial arts training; they mainly aim to enhance their yuan energy cultivation and strive to become Qi Condensation Realm experts as soon as possible.

Once they become Qi Condensation Realm experts, they can activate spirit weapons and learn other attack methods.

If they use cultivation techniques, martial arts skills are generally not enough.

Of course, if they are Body Cultivation experts, they still focus on martial arts, and usually don't use spells.

These outer disciples, without any Body Cultivation experts, naturally have poor martial arts skills. Even if some of them practice high-grade martial arts, their cultivation is not up to par.

No one wants to waste too much time on martial arts training because they all want to become Qi Condensation Realm experts as soon as possible.

Only by becoming a Qi Condensation Realm expert can they learn spells, and their combat power will skyrocket.

After watching for a while, Tuoba Ye felt there was nothing worth watching and began to close his eyes and rest.

As for Luo Xiaotian, he was completely ignored.

Luo Xiaotian, seeing that Tuoba Ye didn't even acknowledge him, felt even more depressed. He had some status in the Six Paths Squad, and even the captain treated him very well. He never expected to be despised by a newly admitted outer disciple.

"Tuoba Ye, if I encounter you, I will definitely eliminate you, so you won't even make it to the top hundred, let alone the championship."

Tuoba Ye smiled: "I look forward to it. If we meet in the first round, I'll make you lose in the first round."

He didn't want to compete, but he wasn't that easy to bully. If someone called him out by name, he couldn't just stay silent; that would make him seem too cowardly.

"I also look forward to it!" Luo Xiaotian said.

Tuoba Ye didn't say more; the results would be seen on the competition stage. Being good at talking was useless.

Lei Ting had been paying attention to Tuoba Ye all along, but she couldn't figure out his personality.

Lei Ting not only liked to play pranks but also enjoyed reading people's minds and was quite good at it.

But she still couldn't figure out Tuoba Ye's character.

"If you really meet, why don't we place a bet? Of course, if you don't meet, the bet is off," Lei Ting said, hoping for some chaos.

Luo Xiaotian glanced at Tuoba Ye and said coldly, "I'm afraid some people won't dare."

"Haha, there's nothing I, Tuoba Ye, won't dare. If I lose, the Tiger-Slaying Blade is yours," Tuoba Ye laughed.

"Good! If I lose, the first-grade spirit weapon, Flowing Cloud Sword, in my hand is yours," Luo Xiaotian was full of confidence.

Both spirit weapons were first-grade, with similar value, making them suitable as a bet.

Lei Ting smiled: "I'll be the witness, I hope you don't go back on your word."

Bi Yuntian said: "Right, with so many witnesses, no one can go back on their word."

Tuoba Ye smiled: "Don't worry, I will definitely keep my word."

After a while, the competition stages gradually determined their winners.

Tuoba Ye's jade token sounded an alert, coincidentally, Luo Xiaotian's jade token also sounded.

Tuoba Ye looked and saw a few words on the jade token: 'Stage 3 Competition.'

It was clear that it was Tuoba Ye's turn to compete, and he was to enter Stage 3.

Luo Xiaotian was also scheduled to compete this round, giving him a one in ten chance of meeting Tuoba Ye.

Many people hoped they would meet, especially Lei Ting, who wanted to see a good show.

Seeing Luo Xiaotian walk out, Tuoba Ye also strode out.

When Luo Xiaotian entered Stage 3, Tuoba Ye immediately smiled: "It seems this competition will have an unexpected bonus!"

Seeing Tuoba Ye also enter Stage 3, Luo Xiaotian smiled: "Tuoba Ye, it looks like the Tiger-Slaying Blade in your hand will soon change hands."

"Is that so? Your Flowing Cloud Sword is also good, it can exchange for a lot of yuan energy pills," Tuoba Ye said calmly.

The audience below began to discuss.

"Who would have thought, Tuoba Ye's first opponent is Luo Xiaotian. It looks like we'll have an exciting competition to watch."

"Tuoba Ye boasted about winning the championship, but his path to victory won't be easy."

"Roxiao Tian! Victory! Roxiao Tian! Victory!..." Luo Xiaotian was a veteran, and many people cheered for him.

Yang Bin and the others also cheered for Tuoba Ye, but their voices were quickly drowned out by the crowd. There were too few of them, and even the Six Paths Squad alone outnumbered them.

Tuoba Ye didn't pay attention to this; he looked at the referee.

The referee on Stage 3 was an old man with very strong power. Tuoba Ye couldn't even discern his cultivation level.

The old man clearly had no interest in Tuoba Ye or Luo Xiaotian, just glanced at them and said coldly, "Are you both ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

The old man nodded: "The competition begins!"

Luo Xiaotian knew that Tuoba Ye had once defeated Leng Yidao, so he didn't dare to be careless. He took the initiative and used his ultimate move.

"Flowing Cloud Sword Technique!"

The Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, when executed, was graceful and swift, like flowing clouds, winning by speed.

"Brother Tian is really strong, his sword technique is getting faster, even the sword shadow is hard to see."

"Brother Tian is indeed strong, the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique is invincible, with few rivals."

The strong members of the Six Paths Squad boasted loudly, intentionally letting the members of the Divine Demon Squad hear.

Hearing this, Yang Bin and the others were somewhat worried about Tuoba Ye.

Shu Haiyang said: "The captain is very strong, even Leng Yidao couldn't match him, he should be able to defeat him, right?"

His tone was no longer as confident. After all, Luo Xiaotian was not an ordinary person; he was a strong member of the Six Paths Squad.

The Six Paths Squad was the strongest squad in the Dan Ding Sect, even the Ten Absolute Squad was slightly inferior. The strong members of the Six Paths Squad were naturally not simple, with formidable strength.

Moreover, Shu Haiyang and the others had collected information on some of the stronger outer disciples, and Luo Xiaotian was one of them, a hot candidate for the top twenty.

Furthermore, Luo Xiaotian had ranked sixteenth in the competition at the end of last year. This year, with more strong competitors, some who were not very noticeable last year had emerged, making Luo Xiaotian's predicted ranking not enter the top ten.

Tuoba Ye's first opponent being so strong naturally made Yang Bin and the others somewhat anxious.

"The captain will definitely win, we have to believe in the captain," Yang Bin still chose to trust Tuoba Ye.

On the competition stage, Tuoba Ye saw the flaws in Luo Xiaotian's sword technique and really wanted to defeat him in one move.

However, he didn't do that because he still planned to win the Flowing Cloud Sword and place more bets on the side.

If he performed too strongly, he might not get any bets in his future competitions, or the odds would be very low.

If the odds were too low, Tuoba Ye wouldn't bother betting.

Therefore, he was more restrained, hiding his strength. When he met Jue Wuxing and Bi Yuntian, the odds would be high, making it worth betting.

With this in mind, Tuoba Ye didn't rush to attack. He kept dodging, appearing somewhat flustered.

Luo Xiaotian's Flowing Cloud Sword Technique was very fast, and Tuoba Ye's dodging was very flustered. Outsiders couldn't see the problem.

However, Tuoba Ye's actions made Yang Bin and the others worried, fearing he would be eliminated.

On the other hand, the members of the Six Paths Squad were extremely excited, constantly cheering for Luo Xiaotian and mocking the Divine Demon Squad, making them very uncomfortable.

"What's going on with this Tuoba Ye? He could easily defeat Leng Yidao and is also good at speed. He shouldn't be so flustered!" Lei Ting was very puzzled.

Not just Lei Ting, Leng Yidao was even more depressed: "Why is Tuoba Ye so weak? He defeated me with one move, and now he's so flustered, doesn't that prove I'm far inferior to Luo Xiaotian?"

Leng Yidao's strength was indeed not as good as Luo Xiaotian's, but the gap wasn't that big.

Now, with this comparison, the gap between Leng Yidao and Luo Xiaotian seemed much larger, making him very uncomfortable.

To be honest, he was very conflicted. On one hand, he hoped Tuoba Ye would lose because Tuoba Ye had defeated him before, and he didn't want Tuoba Ye to win.

On the other hand, he hoped Tuoba Ye would be stronger, ideally defeating Luo Xiaotian in one move, so he wouldn't feel so embarrassed, at least with Luo Xiaotian as a foil.

Lu Junfeng noticed Leng Yidao's unusual expression and asked, "Brother Leng Yidao, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just find it strange. Why is Tuoba Ye so weak? Has his strength declined?" Leng Yidao said.

Lu Junfeng sneered: "Tuoba Ye is our enemy, isn't it better if he loses?"

"Of course, I hope he loses, but I didn't expect him to be so weak," Leng Yidao said.

He wouldn't reveal his true thoughts, as that would make him look down upon.

Yuan Yangning suddenly spoke: "Tuoba Ye won't lose so easily. He's probably looking for the best opportunity to attack and then defeat Luo Xiaotian in one move."

"Captain is right. Tuoba Ye is not simple. So far, he hasn't attacked, just kept dodging," Lu Junfeng said.

Yuan Yangning thought for a moment and said, "Lu Junfeng, Leng Yidao, don't go looking for trouble with Tuoba Ye in the future. You're not his match. This kid is not simple, it's a pity he can't join our Divine Slaying Squad."

Seeing Tuoba Ye so young with such strength, Yuan Yangning regarded him even more highly. However, since Tuoba Ye had founded the Divine Demon Squad, he couldn't join the Divine Slaying Squad.