"Shameless!"
Upon hearing this voice, Zhang Ergou had only one thought.
The Liuhai Sect was truly without shame, to even come up with such a scheme.
Clearly, they would go to any lengths to deplete the strength of other sects' disciples.
Not just Zhang Ergou; many disciples' faces turned grim upon hearing those words, each muttering to themselves as if cursing something.
However, the elders of the Liuhai Sect paid no mind to their emotions.
This was a brilliant method they had devised after a day and night of discussion, its sole purpose being to weaken the strength of their greatest rival, the Piaomiao Sect.
With Lin Yichen and a few others simultaneously breaking through to the early Golden Core stage, the Piaomiao Sect's apparent strength significantly surpassed that of the Liuhai Sect.
And this was the final opening of the secret realm. For the next hundred years of the sect's development, the Liuhai Sect's sect master, Liu Xun, was willing to bear the infamy to ensure the Liuhai Sect achieved a superior outcome compared to other sects after this secret realm opened.
Their greatest opponent was naturally the Piaomiao Sect, whose strength was comparable.
As for other smaller sects, even after another hundred years, Liu Xun was confident they would not necessarily catch up to the Liuhai Sect.
Therefore, Liu Xun did not take other sects seriously; the true intention was naturally to target the Piaomiao Sect.
"Damn it, Liu Xun is doing this solely to target us, the Piaomiao Sect."
An elder beside Elder Tiandao gritted his teeth, clearly recognizing the Liuhai Sect's intentions.
But the Liuhai Sect had employed an open ploy this time, and even if they saw through it, it was of no use. To enter the secret realm, the victorious disciples from the finals had to participate in the ranking matches.
They could not voluntarily concede, a truly ruthless move.
Elder Tiandao remained silent, merely casting his gaze towards the area where the elders of the Liuhai Sect were situated. Liu Xun, on the Liuhai Sect's side, seemed to sense this.
Meeting Elder Tiandao's gaze, their eyes met in mid-air, and the atmosphere shifted.
The entire venue suddenly fell silent.
Liu Xun and Elder Tiandao simply stared at each other, not using their divine sense, just looking at each other calmly.
However, those with keen minds recognized this as a silent contest between two sect leaders.
The previously noisy venue was now hushed, with everyone looking up with strange expressions at these two most powerful figures present.
On the surface, both Liu Xun and Elder Tiandao presented themselves as being at the late Nascent Soul stage, but their true strength was known only to themselves.
Even so, their cultivation and strength were the strongest present.
After approximately the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, Liu Xun withdrew his gaze and let out a hearty laugh, thus ending this peculiar confrontation. Su Dan Novels.
"This old man, he's gotten stronger again!" Although Liu Xun laughed heartily in the end, it was to mask his embarrassment.
Indeed, in his contest with Elder Tiandao, he had been at a disadvantage, something he had not expected.
He had cultivated desperately over the past few decades, now long past the late Nascent Soul stage, yet he was still no match for Elder Tiandao.
From that brief glance, he truly felt the power of Elder Tiandao.
If they were to truly fight, he didn't believe he had a sure chance of victory.
The last time he saw Elder Tiandao was decades ago. At that time, Elder Tiandao was still an elder of the Piaomiao Sect, and Liu Xun had just become the sect master of the Liuhai Sect.
The then arrogant Liu Xun was naturally overconfident and quickly suffered a loss at Elder Tiandao's hands.
From then on, Liu Xun learned his lesson and became more low-key. Over the years, the Liuhai Sect had grown stronger under his leadership.
Now, encountering Elder Tiandao again, Liu Xun naturally hoped to regain his lost dignity.
But he was disappointed...
After the inexplicable contest between the two concluded, the competition venue resumed its clamor.
"Alas, Ergou, is there some secret between Elder Tiandao and that Liuhai Sect leader?"
Xiao Qingyu said with a mischievous whisper.
"Yeah, look at the loving gaze they exchanged, staring at each other for a whole stick of incense. My eyes are watering."
Wang Teng and Xiao Qingyu chimed in, whispering and teasing the two sect leaders.
"Hush, don't speak nonsense, be careful of eavesdroppers." Lin Yichen cautiously glanced around, and finding no one paying attention to them, he relaxed.
"What are you afraid of? They can do that, and we can't even talk about it."
Xiao Qingyu muttered indifferently.
"Heh heh, I heard that Elder Tiandao has very sharp ears. Don't let him really hear you."
Zhang Ergou chuckled mischievously, teasing them.
"Really?" Wang Teng and Xiao Qingyu were immediately startled.
Gossiping about someone was one thing, but if the person themselves heard it, it would be a big trouble.
After all, Elder Tiandao was not someone they could afford to offend.
"Ha, you're scared now, weren't you unconcerned just a moment ago?"
Zhang Ergou continued to tease his two rascally friends.
"Zhang Ergou, you tricked us!" Seeing Zhang Ergou's expression change, the two looked up and saw Elder Tiandao sitting upright at the high platform, realizing they had been tricked by Zhang Ergou.
...
Next up was the ranking match. All the disciples who had emerged victorious from the finals rose from their seats.
They walked towards the massive arena in the center of the venue.
The first match of the ranking competition was a free-for-all, with the top ten remaining on the stage being the top ten in this ranking match.
Then, these ten disciples would duel one by one, and based on their actual combat strength, the final top three would be determined.
"When we get on stage, let's try to stay together, don't split up. When they've worn each other down, then we'll make our move."
Before stepping onto the stage, Zhang Ergou said to Lin Yichen and the others as they walked.
Lin Yichen and the others naturally agreed with Zhang Ergou's proposal. Such free-for-all battles were the most draining, and if they didn't unite, they would inevitably face enemies from all sides.
Not only would they lose quickly, but they might also sustain serious injuries.
And there were quite a few people who shared the same sentiment as Zhang Ergou and his companions. When everyone stepped onto the stage, they formed small teams of three or five, distributed in various corners of the arena.
Furthermore, Zhang Ergou noticed that the disciples of the Liuhai Sect were the most united, perhaps having received instructions from their elders before taking the stage.
This was why they formed a team, with over twenty disciples of the Liuhai Sect standing together, forming the largest force on the stage.
Clearly, the Liuhai Sect intended to deal with the disciples of other sects first, and then engage in internal duels.
"Zhang Ergou, let's stick together." The disciples of the Piaomiao Sect, seeing the formation of the Liuhai Sect members, frowned one after another.
"Alright." Zhang Ergou agreed immediately, happy to do so. Besides the six of them, the other disciples of the Piaomiao Sect were all at the middle Golden Core stage.
If they fought individually, they would surely be defeated one by one by the Liuhai Sect members, but if they united, that might not be the case.