Ling Feng'er's thrown ribbon actually coiled towards Lin Yan's long sword like a whip.
"Hmph, utterly laughable."
Seeing Ling Feng'er's thrown ribbon, Lin Yan immediately sneered. The long sword in his hand was no ordinary treasure sword.
It was like the long sword used by the Six Harmonies, a magical artifact of no low grade.
But the grade of this magical artifact had reached the fourth grade, and it was the natal treasure sword that Lin Jianren, the peak master of Ling Jian Peak of the Misty Sect, had given to his son.
Since childhood, Lin Yan had been nurturing this long sword artifact.
As Lin Yan's cultivation improved, the connection between his natal artifact and himself grew stronger.
Seeing Ling Feng'er intending to deal with his natal artifact with just a simple ribbon, Lin Yan felt contemptuous from the bottom of his heart.
...
Clang!
A sound of metal hitting the ground rang out. Lin Yan's proudest natal artifact actually fell to the ground.
No matter how he urged the spiritual energy within his body, the natal artifact seemed to have lost its connection with him.
"What?"
Lin Yan was shocked. This was his natal artifact. It was precisely because he found Ling Feng'er difficult to deal with that he had summoned his natal artifact as soon as he entered the arena.
But before his natal artifact could even display its power, it was struck to the ground by that inconspicuous ribbon.
No matter how he urged it, it was useless.
"Rise, rise for me!"
Lin Yan's face twisted as he desperately urged the spiritual energy within his body.
"Stop wasting your energy."
Ling Feng'er, floating in the air, looked like a holy fairy, but in Lin Yan's eyes, she was like an unforgivable demon.
"You wretched woman, what did you do to my artifact? Why can't I sense its presence?"
Lin Yan hastily took out another long sword and pointed it at Ling Feng'er from afar.
"Noisy!"
Ling Feng'er waved her hand, and the ribbon in her hand directly dragged Lin Yan off the stage.
Wow!
Onlookers stared, dumbfounded. The battle between Ling Feng'er and Lin Yan ended faster than anyone had imagined.
It was even faster than Ling Feng'er's battle with Leng Feng.
For a moment, the entire scene was eerily silent.
...
"Saintess is mighty, Saintess lives forever, Saintess is invincible!"
"Saintess is mighty, Saintess lives forever, Saintess is invincible!"
"Saintess is mighty, Saintess lives forever, Saintess is invincible!"
After a brief silence, the disciples of the Flowing Sea Sect reacted, their cheers echoing throughout the competition grounds, each louder than the last.
The elders of the Flowing Sea Sect were all beaming with joy, their faces wearing expressions of righteous solemnity.
Ling Feng'er's performance had indeed not disappointed them, not only making the Flowing Sea Sect's reputation soar but also significantly boosting the confidence of the other disciples.
The elders seated around the sect leader, Liu Xun, cast looks of admiration towards him.
Only the sect leader had such courage to face the pressure from the Misty Sect and other smaller sects, and to overrule all objections to let the Saintess appear early.
This move not only boosted the morale of the Flowing Sea Sect's disciples but also dealt a significant blow to the morale of the other sects.
It was truly killing multiple birds with one stone!
Liu Xun was naturally smug. If it weren't for his quick thinking, how could he have stopped the Flowing Sea Sect's declining morale?
...
In the subsequent matches, the battles in the Golden Core stage arena were mostly between disciples of the Flowing Sea Sect and the Misty Sect.
Occasionally, a disciple from another small sect would luckily pass the first round and enter the second, but they were quickly defeated due to their lack of strength.
The Golden Core stage disciples from the Flowing Sea Sect and the Misty Sect had their own victories and defeats.
However, in total, more disciples of the Flowing Sea Sect emerged victorious than those from the Misty Sect.
This was naturally related to Ling Feng'er's appearance.
Ever since Ling Feng'er defeated two Misty Sect disciples in a row, the disciples of the Flowing Sea Sect had been like they were injected with chicken blood.
In contrast, the Misty Sect, although their cultivation was not significantly different, lacked the fighting spirit of the Flowing Sea Sect disciples.
With this shift in momentum, the disciples of the Flowing Sea Sect attacked without any reservations, while the disciples of the Misty Sect seemed to have some scruples.
The faces of Elder Tiandao and other elders of the Misty Sect were as dark as ink.
Those disciples who lost the matches dared not even look at the expressions of the elders.
...
"Next, the contestant for the Golden Core stage arena is Liu Yang of the Flowing Sea Sect versus Zhang Ergou of the Misty Sect."
Liu Yang, who had just defeated another Misty Sect disciple, stood on the arena, waiting for Zhang Ergou to come up.
Hearing Zhang Ergou's name being called, the disciples in the Misty Sect's viewing area suddenly became energetic.
Perhaps Zhang Ergou's previous consecutive victories against two mid-stage Golden Core disciples from the Flowing Sea Sect had given them a sense of inexplicable confidence.
It also filled the Misty Sect disciples with blind trust in Zhang Ergou.
"Ergou, do your best!"
Seeing Zhang Ergou stand up, Lin Yueru said softly.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister."
Zhang Ergou smiled at everyone and calmly walked towards the arena for the Golden Core stage cultivators.
Perhaps it was because he had been cultivating in the black iron ball for the past few days.
Zhang Ergou had forgotten that he had escaped from the Flowing Sea Sect's prison.
This time, he stepped onto the arena without changing his appearance, showing his true self.
Zhang Ergou walked towards the arena with confidence and composure, his faint smile infecting the Misty Sect disciples and giving them a strange sense of confidence.
The moment Zhang Ergou stepped onto the arena, someone in the Flowing Sea Sect's viewing area frowned.
"Why does this kid look so familiar?"
Lin Wenshen muttered to himself, then looked up at Zhang Ergou, feeling more and more familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
"Brother Lin, what are you muttering about?" an elder beside Lin Wenshen, whose cultivation was not much different from his, asked.
"Oh, nothing, it's just that this Zhang Ergou looks a bit familiar, as if I've seen him somewhere."
Lin Wenshen frowned, unable to recall where he had seen Zhang Ergou.
This was because after Zhang Ergou was captured by Uncle-Master Li Kongcai and imprisoned in the Flowing Sea Sect's jail, he was personally guarded.
Lin Wenshen didn't think in that direction at first.
But looking at the calm Zhang Ergou on the arena, the more he looked, the more familiar he felt. He had clearly seen him somewhere but couldn't recall it.
"How strange!" Lin Wenshen muttered again.
Shaking his head, unable to recall it, he didn't dwell on it any further and continued to watch the battle on the arena.
The two on the arena had already begun their fight.
Zhang Ergou was still using his unremarkable spear, and in an instant, he was fighting on par with the disciple from the Flowing Sea Sect named Liu Yang.
"By the way, Brother Lin, I heard there's some big movement in the sect recently. Has Uncle-Master Li revealed anything to you?"
As Lin Wenshen was intently watching the battle on the arena, the person beside him asked again.
Although his strength was not much different from Lin Wenshen's, the level of information he accessed was far from Lin Wenshen's.
Therefore, he usually obtained any insider information from Lin Wenshen, but it came at a price.
"Don't ask what you shouldn't," Lin Wenshen said with a stern face, and then his eyes widened.
"Uncle-Master Li..."