Chapter 40

The next day at noon.

The outer courtyard of the Tiansang Linggong welcomed its annual bustling scene, for today, the champion of the "Fengyun Zhenba" would be born.

Not only the disciples and elders of the outer courtyard came to watch, but even some inner courtyard disciples who had free time also came to take a look.

The audience's excitement was so high it seemed they were about to take off.

Some had come early in the morning to secure their seats. In front of them were some of the most famous figures in the Linggong.

Look to the left: the elder of the Lingshi Pavilion, the elder of the Lingyao Pavilion, the elder of the Lingbing Pavilion...

And some unknown figures, who usually only showed their heads but not their tails, like elders but not quite elders...

Now look to the right: the top 100, top 10, and top 5 of the Fengyun List...

Those who once dominated the arena with unmatched momentum were now sitting quietly, waiting for the competition to begin.

A female disciple, who had come the night before to secure her seat, now had a Chao Qingteng on her left and a Zhou Tiancan on her right.

She cupped her face and looked around, and immediately fainted from happiness.

The people around her were envious to the point of bulging eyes.

"Wow, she fainted! Quickly take her to get treated, I'll hold her seat for her."

"My goodness, who are these people? Du Shixiong, Ling Shijie... they are all in the top 10 of the Fengyun List!"

"Look quickly, that's... Su Qianqian from the inner courtyard?"

"Where, where?"

Everyone was instantly drawn by the exclamation. Su Qianqian from the inner courtyard was a legendary figure in Tiansang Linggong.

The strongest genius of the current Su family in Tiansang County, she broke through to the Xiantian realm at 13, achieved Xiantian sword intent at 14, wielded the 21st most famous sword on the continent, "Chengming Chengxue," and was a direct disciple of Xiao Qixiu from the Lingfa Pavilion...

Any one of these titles would make the world tremble, yet such a person was sitting right in front of them!

Su Qianqian was dressed in white, with a large snow-colored sword resting on her thighs. Her small feet dangled from the chair, and she seemed unfazed by the scene.

She looked around but ultimately pouted in disappointment, not finding the little beast brother she wanted to see.

"Pity, didn't see the senior sister from the inner courtyard. I heard she really likes Su Qianqian and is always by her side."

"Right, right. Rao Shijie is my goddess, not only is she beautiful and has a stunning figure, but her strength is unparalleled in the inner courtyard. It's a pity I couldn't see her in person, sigh!"

"Hey, I think I saw her during the group stage..."

"Come on, how could Senior Sister Rao have time to come to the outer courtyard? You must be dreaming!"

"I really saw her!"

"Tsk~"

The audience gathered in groups, pointing out the inner courtyard celebrities around them, whispering to each other.

For them, such a scene was rare in previous years.

It was only this year, with the outer courtyard's breakout, producing four Xiantian and one Xu Xiaoshou, that more people from the inner courtyard came to watch the competition.

"Damn, Zhang Xiong! One of the 33 in the inner courtyard, a living big shot!"

"The 33 in the inner courtyard? Where, where?!"

Everyone quickly looked around, following the direction of the speaker, and indeed saw a man with a commanding presence not far away.

Zhang Xiong was about 27 or 28, with a full beard, extremely masculine.

He was very tall, even when sitting, he was a head taller than ordinary people.

His attire was very simple, just a light-colored linen robe with a cloak.

But even so, under the sunlight, everyone could still see the impressive muscle contours hidden under his clothes.

"My goodness, he's so handsome, a real man!"

"Love it, love it!"

This inner courtyard celebrity was not sitting in the front row but in the middle, next to him was Liu Zhen, who had severely injured Xu Xiaoshou.

Liu Zhen was also very large, but sitting next to him, he had a strangely delicate appearance.

"Which one is Xu Xiaoshou, the one who killed A Chong?" Zhang Xiong asked.

"I'll look... " Liu Zhen replied respectfully, his eyes scanning the waiting areas, and finally shook his head, "He doesn't seem to be here yet."

"Ha, he's quite calm, saving his best for last, huh..."

Zhang Xiong chuckled, his tone devoid of any emotion, but the people around him clearly felt something was off.

A Chong...

Could this be a casual acquaintance?

"I heard that Boss Wen knows someone in the inner courtyard, could it be this Zhang Xiong?"

"Seems so, then Xu Xiaoshou is in trouble, he killed Wen Chong!"

"My goodness, I seem to see Xu Xiaoshou's end..."

Just one sentence stirred up a wave of discussion among the crowd, everyone lowering their voices to talk.

"But that can't be said, Zhang Xiong is one of the 33 in the inner courtyard, how could he possibly target an eighth-level Lingling cultivator? That would be beneath him."

"But being on his radar is no good either!"

"You're overthinking it. Even if Xu Xiaoshou wins the championship, with his cultivation, it's uncertain whether he can enter the inner courtyard."

"Moreover, with Mu Zixi in front and Senior Sister Mo behind, it would be good for him to make the top three."

"He has a Xiantian body!"

"So what if he has a Xiantian body? Does it have a future? Have you ever seen a Xiantian body, have you ever seen a Zongshi-level body?"

Everyone fell silent.

Above Xiantian is Zongshi, and Lingling still has a chance to reach the realm of founding a sect. As for the body...

That's too difficult!

Not to mention seeing one, they hadn't even heard of one!

On the judges' platform.

Xiao Qixiu drained his cup and flew onto the arena, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"The time has come, the semi-finals, begin!"

Lingyuan activated the array command, the light screen flowed, and the image froze, with two bright red names standing in the air.

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Mu Zixi!"

A loud roar, and the audience instantly erupted.

The semi-finals were a battle at the Xiantian level, exactly what everyone was looking forward to.

One of them had only been in the Linggong for a year and had already broken through to Xiantian, his talent rivaling that of inner courtyard's Su Qianqian;

The other, not to mention his Xiantian body, his defeat of Chao Qingteng yesterday further proved his strength that could challenge Xiantian!

The door to the waiting area opened, and Mu Zixi, dressed in light green, skipped onto the arena, seemingly without any worry about the upcoming battle.

Each step she took exuded youthful vitality, making everyone feel elated.

"Truly worthy of Senior Sister Mu, Xiantian... is so stable!"

Everyone looked to the other side, where Xu Xiaoshou's waiting area was.

Slam!

The door opened.

Two staff members came out, shrugging to indicate that Xu Xiaoshou was not there.

Everyone: "???"

"How can it be these two? Where's Xu Xiaoshou?"

"Damn, where did this guy go again!"

"At this critical moment, why does he always mess up? It's the semi-finals, can't he be more considerate..."

"Hey, where did Xu Xiaoshou go?"

The two staff members looked bewildered, you ask us, who do we ask?

They had been waiting in the waiting area all morning, but the contestant never showed up.

They had also sent people to Xu Xiaoshou's courtyard, but only found sword marks on the ground, no sign of him.

Where did Xu Xiaoshou go?

Xiao Qixiu's face darkened, and he was about to shout again.

Suddenly, the sword on his back trembled, and he turned his head to look at the sky.

Everyone in the audience also noticed and looked up.

A sword light came from afar, like a celestial sword descending, and on it was a figure with fluttering sleeves.

This transcendent and ethereal aura, this otherworldly demeanor...

Oh my, did I see a celestial?

No...

Everyone looked again, and their eyes bulged out.

What the...!

Xu Xiaoshou???