First update is here. It's amazing how many Monthly Tickets I’ve received in just one day; thank you all so much. Today will only feature three chapters, but I’ll add bonus chapters after tomorrow’s three. If you still have Monthly Tickets, keep them coming!

O(∩_∩)O Haha~ The next day, as the first streaks of dawn appeared, the Sheng Huang Hall was already buzzing with activity. Nearly every disciple from the inner city of Lingyu City had gathered in the grand hall. Bursts of thunderous cheers erupted intermittently, seeming as if they might rip the roof off, the resulting waves of sound rippling outwards to echo throughout the entire inner city.

Within the inner city, this massive competition involving all disciples was held annually. During these contests, everyone was fiercely devoted to securing a high rank, as rank translated directly into points. Obtaining a respectable standing yielded far more points than months spent enduring the chilling currents within the Senluo Ancient Cave. The points awarded to the top rank of the inner city were especially enough to inspire intense envy among the multitude of inner city disciples.

Compared to previous years, this year’s competition was several times more intense. In the past, the results of the inner city trials only correlated with points, honor, and privileges within the inner city. However, this year’s outcome was directly tied to a quota for the "Yuhuo Youquan" (Prison Fire Nether Spring).

Although Lingyu City had not yet revealed any details about the "Yuhuo Youquan," nor explicitly stated that the top ten finishers of this competition would receive the ten available slots to enter it, the majority of Lingyu City's inner city disciples hailed from the various noble clans of the Tianling Continent. Matters such as the "Yuhuo Youquan" were simply impossible to keep secret from them. They were already perfectly clear on what the results of this competition implied.

Of course, it wasn't to say that those who failed to qualify at Lingyu City had lost all hope of entering the "Yuhuo Youquan." Across the entire Tianling Continent, it wasn't just spiritual master sacred grounds like Lingyu City, Moluo Sacred Mountain, or Tiandi Sect that possessed quotas; the imperial families and major clans of the various empires also held a certain number of spots.

For some inner city disciples, failing to break into the top ten at Lingyu City meant they could still utilize their family's allotted quota. However, doing so effectively meant one less spot for their clan, inevitably squeezing out other talented juniors within the family from the opportunity to enter the "Yuhuo Youquan."

Consequently, the moment today's competition began, regardless of the thoughts occupying the minds of the inner city disciples, almost all of them poured forth their utmost strength into the struggle. Within the four partitioned smaller arenas inside the Sheng Huang Hall, shouts, clamor, and the clash of spiritual energy resonated one after another, ceaselessly.

“Boom!”

Another challenger was struck squarely on the right flank by the sweeping blade of Bai Yuqing's broadsword. The man let out a sharp cry, flying out of the boundary line as if carried away by the clouds, crashing heavily onto the ground, groaning incessantly, unable to rise for a long time—clearly injured quite severely.

But this fellow was also to blame for being too insidious, actually using extremely unsavory tactics to provoke Bai Yuqing, hoping to make her lose her composure. In the end, not only did he fail in his goal, but he suffered such an outcome instead. Thus, regarding his fate, none of the surrounding inner city disciples watching felt any sympathy.

“Next!”

Bai Yuqing rested her sword on the ground, her fiery, exquisite form standing proudly erect. Her two cold gazes swept across the surroundings, and for a moment, no one dared to step forward to accept the challenge.

Seeing this scene, Nie Kong, standing among the outer crowds, couldn't help but smile slightly.

For this first round of the competition, those who made the top ten last year, like Lan Shang and Shan Xiong, were exempt from participation. The remaining inner city disciples competed under a challenge system. As long as someone entered a combat circle, any outer inner city disciple could issue a challenge. Only by achieving five consecutive victories could one advance to the second round.

While being challenged, participants were strictly forbidden from consuming any spiritual medicine to boost power or restore spiritual energy; they had to fight entirely relying on their own cultivation. If one won four matches consecutively but lost the fifth, they would regrettably be eliminated, and the victor would take their place to continue facing challenges; only after winning four more consecutive matches could they pass.

This first round was no different from a grueling wheel battle. Only those who could emerge victorious from such a grueling gauntlet could truly be considered the masters among the inner city disciples. Regarding this format, no one expressed much complaint. If one lacked strength far exceeding that of the average inner city disciple, even advancing to the second round would make it hard to pose a threat to excellent disciples like Lan Shang and Shan Xiong, who were at the ninth stage of the Spirit Transformation realm (Hua Ling Jiu Pin), let alone compete with them for those ten spots.

Nie Kong hadn't appeared for over half a year, and nearly every inner city disciple's cultivation had improved significantly. Miao Ge and Tai Ji had long since broken through to the Spirit Transformation realm, now both at the second stage (Hua Ling Er Pin), while Tai Hong was at the third stage (Hua Ling San Pin). Although Bai Yuqing’s cultivation was also only at the second stage of Spirit Transformation, her strength was astonishingly formidable.

Just like the current moment, after defeating a disciple who had already won three matches in a row, she then faced three more challenges in that same circle. For an ordinary inner city disciple, their spiritual energy would have been nearly depleted by now, yet her expression showed almost no change. Only a faint blush appeared on her still somewhat tender cheeks, which added a touch of cold elegance to her purity, making her even more alluring.

Bai Yuqing had already won four matches consecutively; only one more victory was needed to successfully enter the second round.

However, the surrounding inner city disciples seemed stunned by her powerful strength; a large number of experts at the sixth stage of Spirit Transformation and above actually dared not challenge a girl at the second stage of Spirit Transformation.

If no one issued a challenge within the next five minutes, Bai Yuqing would count as having won five consecutive matches and automatically advance to the second round.

This method certainly did not violate the rules; reaching a level where no one dared to challenge was, in itself, a display of immense capability. Moreover, trying to game the system by waiting for automatic victories was futile. There were only a few hundred inner city disciples in total; although they couldn't claim to know each other inside and out, they had some understanding of one another. If a person of mediocre strength stood in the combat circle, plenty of others would undoubtedly want to kick them out.

“I’ll come!”

A loud shout rang out. Nie Kong turned his gaze in the direction of the sound and saw a male disciple whose physique was comparable to Shan Xiong’s stride confidently into the combat circle, announcing his name: “Luo Tong!”

As he spoke, this fellow conjured a fiery spiritual energy element into a long staff, about two meters in length, and brought it crashing down towards Bai Yuqing.

Wherever the staff passed, a scorching aura exploded outwards, its power proving extremely astonishing, showing that this inner city disciple named Luo Tong possessed quite impressive cultivation.

“Clang!”

Bai Yuqing’s expression remained unchanged, but the broadsword in her hand suddenly sprang up from the ground like a taut spring, the tip of the sword shooting out like lightning towards the fiery red staff. In an instant, a chilling aura radiated from the sword tip, cooling the rather scorching combat circle in a breath.

The crowd secretly felt thrilled upon seeing this.

Judging by the situation, Luo Tong and Bai Yuqing were surely heading for an intense battle. If Bai Yuqing won, that would be that. But if Luo Tong were to win, he would undoubtedly be severely depleted, which would present an excellent opportunity for someone to swoop in and reap the rewards. Thus, everyone stared unblinkingly at the movements of the two combatants.

However, to everyone’s great surprise, just as their weapons were about to clash violently, Luo Tong suddenly vanished without a trace. His figure deftly sidestepped, allowing Bai Yuqing’s sword strike to pierce empty air. When Bai Yuqing turned to face him, Luo Tong had once again swiftly condensed a spiritual weapon, adopting a posture ready for a fierce confrontation with her. When Bai Yuqing moved to counter, he repeated the previous maneuver once more.

After three such occurrences, the crowd finally grasped Luo Tong’s strategy. The spiritual weapon he conjured was merely superficial; even forming it a hundred times wouldn't consume much spiritual energy, whereas every counterattack from Bai Yuqing represented a significant expenditure.

With this imbalance—one side barely spending while the other exhausted itself—the battle would inevitably lean towards Luo Tong.

What surprised the crowd even more was that Luo Tong’s speed was astonishingly quick, completely incongruous with his stout physique. Even the inner city disciples who were quite familiar with Luo Tong showed some surprise; before today, they had absolutely no idea he possessed such an advantage in speed.

“This fellow is underestimating Sister Bai too much,” Nie Kong shook his head and chuckled, ceasing to watch this match.

In his eyes, the outcome of this bout was already sealed: Bai Yuqing would win and advance to the second round, while that self-proclaimed clever Luo Tong would meet a rather pathetic elimination. If simple petty tricks like this could overcome Bai Yuqing, she wouldn't have been unbeatable among those at the Spirit Fusion (Rong Ling) realm more than half a year ago!

Since Bai Yuqing’s victory was a foregone conclusion, it was time for Nie Kong to make his move.

Among those he was familiar with, Miao Ge was the princess of the Ice and Snow Kingdom, while Tai Ji and Tai Hong were both of imperial descent from the Shatuo Empire. They held little interest in the "Yuhuo Youquan." As for the others like Ru Jie, their cultivation made breaking into the top ten hopeless; they were competing here simply to accumulate a few more points.

Calculating this, only Bai Yuqing and Nie Kong were genuinely fervent about the "Yuhuo Youquan." Nie Kong was motivated by Hua Mei, while Bai Yuqing’s objective was much simpler: she was a pure cultivation fanatic, a battle maniac, and she wouldn't pass up any chance to enhance her cultivation.

Inside the Sheng Huang Hall, aside from Bai Yuqing’s combat circle, the matches in the other three arenas were also proceeding fiercely. This round of the inner city competition had been underway for nearly an hour, and several disciples had already achieved five consecutive victories to enter the second round. However, many others were still observing from the sidelines, waiting for the right moment to enter the fray.

Nie Kong, however, had no such thoughts. Excluding the previous top ten contenders like Lan Shang and Shan Xiong, disciples with a cultivation level like his—the ninth stage of Spirit Transformation—were rare among the remaining inner city members.

As for those who had surpassed the Spirit Control (Yu Ling) realm, there were none.

According to Lingyu City's rules, inner city disciples whose cultivation reached the Spirit Control realm were presented with two choices: either leave Lingyu City or truly join Lingyu City, becoming full disciples of the city. This latter group would receive direct tutelage from Heavenly Spirit experts, and in the future, it was highly possible for them to become one of the Six Hall Masters of Lingyu City, or even the City Lord, just like Meng Feiyang and Gu Changgong in the past.

“Ah!” A drawn-out, modulating scream suddenly echoed through the Sheng Huang Hall. It was that Luo Tong, who kept playing his deceptive tricks, who ultimately failed to escape the fate of being swatted away by Bai Yuqing. With a resounding thud, he flew high into the air with his chest tucked in, instantly falling back to the ground like a toad—pa—landing with a smack.

That comical posture drew a burst of booming laughter from the surrounding spectators. Nie Kong couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle himself. He watched as Bai Yuqing shouldered her broadsword and walked out of the combat circle, then shifted his attention back to the arena directly in front of him. At that moment, the two figures who had been fiercely locked in struggle suddenly separated—