Chapter 56

What else could inspire Gu Xuyao's will to live besides the poem from his parents? The answer is very simple: it is Bai Xing who put him in this situation!

Though this tattered cloth does not represent Bai Xing, when it was placed on Gu Xuyao's face, and his faint consciousness showed, it was as if it were a mask of iron!

Bai Xing's iron mask!

Seeing this iron mask, the unextinguished anger in Gu Xuyao's heart erupted completely, and his will to live reached its limit!

"Boom!"

Primordial energy was wildly consumed by Gu Xuyao, and waves of energy spread in all directions. This change left all the cultivators present in shock; they never would have thought that a tattered cloth could turn the tide for a cultivator on the brink of failure!

However, despite their surprise, they still instinctively took a step back when they felt the power of the energy waves.

Sure enough, not long after, the primordial energy gathered on Gu Xuyao's body finally erupted, producing a deafening roar. The blinding beam of primordial energy temporarily deprived almost all the cultivators present of their vision!

But this explosion only produced light; the surrounding luxurious Daoist chambers suffered little damage, with only many leaves falling and dancing in the air.

As the light gradually dissipated and the wind subsided, the crowd's vision returned to normal. When they looked again, the half-dead Gu Xuyao who had been floating in the air had disappeared.

However, there was one person sitting alone on a wooden stool, his black hair flying, his white Daoist robe reduced to half, and his muscular body covered in scars, but without any wounds!

This person held a hexagonal stone in his hand, his lips gradually curling upward, and he slowly applied more force, causing cracks to gradually appear on the fragile hexagonal stone.

And he spoke.

"Jiuyuan Wet Forest." Gu Xuyao muttered, then suddenly applied more force, completely crushing the hexagonal stone. "I'm coming..." His voice was cold, filled with hatred. If not for those who knew Gu Xuyao, they would surely think he was a cold-blooded and heartless person.

Gu Xuyao's words made all the cultivators present shiver, but soon, the discomfort of being watched reappeared. He knew that the cultivator who had been watching him was still doing so.

Frowning, Gu Xuyao threw away the remnants of the hexagonal stone, stomped his foot, and stood up from the stool.

A fearless aura emanated from Gu Xuyao, countering the malicious gaze.

At this moment, the sun rose, and the third round of the Blue Supervisor Hall's competition was about to begin.

Gu Xuyao's aura made many of the cultivators present feel uneasy, as they had not experienced what he had. However, they soon realized that the third round of the competition was about to start, so they dispersed to make their final preparations.

But as they dispersed, two different gazes were cast upon Gu Xuyao. Of course, with his current cultivation, Gu Xuyao could not detect them, as these gazes contained no malice, but rather emotions that others could not understand.

"Big Brother Gu, you actually survived! That's great!" The others had left, but the Taiheng Sect members remained, their gazes toward Gu Xuyao somewhat complex, except for Zibi and Li Shuisheng.

Smiling, Gu Xuyao patted Li Shuisheng's shoulder and noticed that Ling Sanshi was looking at him.

"Master." Gu Xuyao stepped forward and bowed.

Ling Sanshi nodded slightly and used his mind to probe Gu Xuyao. "Root Birth Realm, extreme breakthrough, very good. I didn't expect you to fail through normal means but succeed under such harsh conditions. It seems that sometimes, one must not leave any way out for oneself."

Gu Xuyao remained silent, maintaining his bowing posture.

Seeing this, Ling Sanshi glanced at his disciples behind him and said, "Let's go," then led the way toward the Blood Arena.

No one heard, but while Ling Sanshi was speaking to Gu Xuyao, he also transmitted a message to his mind, a message that left Gu Xuyao puzzled and unable to respond to Ling Sanshi's praise.

As before, the third round of the competition was still held in the Blood Arena, with Enlightenment True Man floating in the air, speaking words that were not particularly relevant.

Gu Xuyao said nothing, silently raising his head. Although it was just dawn, the high-hanging sun was unusually blinding, but he still faced the sunlight, trying hard to see clearly, to see what the person standing at the top of the Blood Arena looked like.

"That is the most powerful person in the Blue Supervisor Hall..." But no matter how hard he tried, the sunlight always prevented him from seeing the person's face clearly; all he could see was a shadow in the strong backlight.

The commotion drew Gu Xuyao's attention back. He vaguely heard Enlightenment True Man about to announce the new rules for the third round of the competition.

"Everyone, please be quiet. This is the regulation set by the Hall Master, and it will not change no matter what you say." Enlightenment True Man glanced at the crowd below, and the murmurs gradually subsided. "The new rule for the third round of this competition is that all cultivators will be randomly placed after entering the Jiuyuan Wet Forest. This means that before you find your fellow sect members, you will fight individually!"

This completely changed the nature of the competition!

This was a naked death game!

The cultivators below grumbled, and the sect leaders understood what this change meant, all looking up to where the Hall Master was.

However, there was no movement from above, indicating that the Hall Master did not care about others' thoughts. What he said and the rules he set could not be disobeyed!

"The third round of the competition begins now!" Seeing that the Hall Master had not spoken, Enlightenment True Man immediately understood and announced the start of the third round.

At this moment, the Blood Arena had already transformed, just like in the second round, into a vast black curtain.

However, no cultivators stepped into it. The empty black curtain, like a black hole of death, was deep and boundless.

The Hall Master of the Blue Supervisor Hall frowned slightly at this, raising his head to look at Enlightenment True Man.

Receiving the Hall Master's message, Enlightenment True Man nodded slightly.

"There are many changes in this competition, and the prizes have also changed. The Hall Master has specially taken out a rare fourth-grade magical treasure as the reward for the first place."

Upon hearing this, the crowd below immediately fell silent.

A rare fourth-grade magical treasure, what an exciting number. A rare-grade magical treasure alone was enough to make people drool, let alone a fourth-grade one.

As the saying goes, where there is a great reward, there will be brave men. After throwing out a rare fourth-grade magical treasure, someone indeed moved.

"The Mountain Collapse Sect, it's a cultivator from the Mountain Collapse Sect..."

The Mountain Collapse Sect cultivators were easily recognizable.

"The Concealed Water Sect, a cultivator from the Concealed Water Sect has also moved!"

Soon, other sects also began to move, as the teleportation array only existed for half an hour. If they missed it, they could not enter again.

At this moment, the other sects could not afford to hesitate. If no one entered, they could still argue that the rules were too strict. But now that some sects had already entered, not entering would be a sign of disrespect to the Blue Supervisor Hall.

"Big Brother Gu, are you really going to enter..." Li Shuisheng knew what Gu Xuyao was thinking; he had clearly seen Bai Xing enter.

Gu Xuyao turned around, smiled at Li Shuisheng, and patted his shoulder without saying a word, then walked forward without hesitation.

"Gu Xuyao." At this moment, Ling Sanshi called him. "Did you hear what I said just now?"

Gu Xuyao stopped but did not turn around. Just like before, he transmitted a message to Ling Sanshi's mind, then took large steps into the Jiuyuan Wet Forest.

"Master, we..." Yang Xi swallowed, according to his thoughts, he absolutely did not want to enter.

Ling Sanshi looked up at Enlightenment True Man and then scanned the crowd. "This time, I do not force you to participate. Those who want to enter can choose to do so."

The Taiheng Sect already had one person enter, which meant they had participated in the third round of the competition, and that was a sufficient explanation.

Since Ling Sanshi had said this, no other cultivators would participate.

"Senior Brother Yifeng, I cannot let Gu... Gu..." Zibi wanted to enter, but Yifeng held her tightly.

Yixia saw the commotion and frowned.

"I want to enter." Just when everyone thought no one else would enter to face certain death, Yulin stood up.

"Yulin, you must think carefully..." Yang Xi and Yuwang were good friends, and he could not watch Yuwang's younger brother go to his death.

"Senior Brother Yang Xi, I have thought very clearly. My brother died to save me, and I cannot disgrace him. If I retreat before the Jiuyuan Wet Forest, I will never be able to hold my head up high in the future!" Yulin was usually a bit mischievous, but his nature was not bad. If Gu Xuyao were here, he would certainly look at him differently.

"Moreover, the higher one's cultivation is, the better it is to act in the Jiuyuan Wet Forest. We are not competing for any ranking. I just need to protect myself and make good use of the magical treasures I can find, and I might be able to survive." The Jiuyuan Wet Forest was filled with scattered magical treasures that cultivators could use freely, but the quality of these magical treasures was very poor, and they would break after a few uses. However, they were sufficient for self-protection.

Yang Xi nodded silently and watched Yulin enter the array.

"Are you still seniors? It is already a disgrace that two juniors entered before us, and now you are still indifferent?" Tian Li's face was pale, clearly the month had not been enough for him to recover.

"Tian Li, don't be rash..." Liu Changxing knew his temper and tried to dissuade him, but Tian Li shook off his hand.

"Nonsense! I would rather die than live in such a wretched way!" With that, Tian Li's figure flashed, and he entered the array.

Yixia saw this and glanced at Ling Sanshi, who was standing beside her, his face stern.

He said nothing, just waiting for the array to disappear. After the three of them, no one else entered.

The half-hour was almost over, and the array was about to disappear.

Ling Sanshi's frown finally eased as the array slowly faded. He took a deep breath, just about to say something, when Yixia suddenly flashed and entered the Jiuyuan Wet Forest before he could react!