“You’re not arrogant at all!” Li Ling said casually with a laugh.
Zhang Xiaofan has now passed the most difficult Foundation Establishment stage. His progress has been so rapid that even Lu Xueqi is probably inferior to him. In the entire Qingyun Sect, the only one who can surpass him is himself, who also cultivates dual techniques with him and has obtained the "Heavenly Book".
At this moment, Du Bishu, who was next to Zhang Xiaofan, stepped forward and said, "Speaking of which, now that you've won, my next opponent is me. Junior brother, please go easy on me. Although my dice are disliked by Master, they are still decent magic weapons. Please don't break them!"
"Hehe, you're exaggerating, senior brother!"
Li Ling found it amusing. He had rarely even heard of cultivators using dice as magical weapons. This Du Bishu was truly a remarkable person.
At this moment, a clear and melodious voice came from the side: "Yes, look at what you're saying, senior brother, how can you have no backbone at all!"
"Senior Sister?!" Zhang Xiaofan turned around in surprise, and sure enough, a beautiful figure in red was standing not far behind them with a smile.
Tian Ling'er glanced at Zhang Xiaofan, then turned to Song Daren, and chuckled, "I've been with Senior Sister Wen these past few days, and I've noticed she's really angry at someone, yet she hasn't gone to see her at all..."
"This, this..." Song Daren stammered, suddenly panicked.
"Haha..." Zeng Shushu and the others burst into laughter.
Only Zhang Xiaofan watched Tian Ling'er's red figure and murmured, "Senior Sister, it's been several days since we last met..."
This idiot is starting to get the hang of things!
...
The next day, Li Ling, full of energy, arrived early to prepare. Today was the round of sixteen to eight, and the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament was already more than halfway through!
This time, all eight arenas are fully occupied! There's no need for a second round.
However, there were many more people watching Li Ling's match at this time, after all, Li Ling had defeated Qi Hao, who was almost considered the number one, and was now a strong favorite to win the championship.
At this moment, Li Ling stood on the arena, and his opponent was Du Bishu, who was still grinning at this time.
"Hehe, junior brother, I'm definitely no match for you in this contest. Unfortunately, if I admit defeat right away, my master will definitely kill me, so you must go easy on me later!"
Li Ling was also somewhat helpless at this moment. You already said it yesterday, and now you're saying it again on the stage in front of so many people. How could Tian Buyi not know? How could he not be furious? Is he really the comedic relief?
Du Bishu was only at the fourth level of the Jade Purity Realm. He had only gotten this far by luck. This time, he met Li Ling. Even though Li Ling showed mercy, the difference in strength was too great. In no time, before the Dragon Slayer Sword was even drawn, Du Bishu was knocked off the stage!
However, Li Ling showed mercy, and this guy didn't even suffer a minor injury.
Falling off the stage, Du Bishu had a carefree and cheerful expression, showing no sign of disappointment at losing the match. He patted Li Ling on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Junior brother is really kind. He showed mercy when he said he would! He didn't even hurt a hair on my head."
"Great, I love having such a loyal friend like you! Next time you come to my Great Bamboo Peak, I'll prepare a huge feast to treat you!"
Du Bishu's joyful appearance made Li Ling secretly ponder that if he had a choice, many interesting things might have happened if he had become Tian Buyi's apprentice. (The remaining text appears to be unrelated and likely refers to a different topic.)
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Chapter 345: Martial Arts Competition or Flirting?
Now, only eight people remain in the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament.
Surprisingly, Dazhu Peak had two people left, taking up a quarter of the spots.
Zhang Xiaofan and Tian Ling'er's outstanding performance made Tian Buyi so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. This was an unprecedented achievement since he took charge of Dazhu Peak.
In his good mood, Tian Buyi did not scold Song Daren and Du Bishu for their defeat. Instead, he gently comforted them, which made the two of them feel flattered!
The quarterfinals will be held tomorrow, which gives the winning disciples time to recover.
Tian Buyi was pulling Zhang Xiaofan and Tian Ling'er aside, giving them earnest advice and instructions on how to be extremely careful in tomorrow's competition, and that at the very least, one of them should make it into the top four.
The quarterfinals on the second day were a foregone conclusion. Lu Xueqi continued to dominate, her Tianya Sword's sharpness unstoppable. Even against Tian Ling'er, another genius and beautiful girl, there was no difference.
Zhang Xiaofan continued his good luck, taking advantage of his senior brother's situation. Today, his opponent, Chang Jian, was so badly injured from his previous defeat with Song Daren that he couldn't even get out of bed. Thus, Zhang entered the semi-finals effortlessly.
Zeng Shushu, who had met everyone before, also made it smoothly into the top four. Apart from Qi Hao being replaced by Li Ling, there was no difference in the others.
However, contrary to the original plot, Li Ling's opponent this time is Lu Xueqi.
Upon hearing the announcement of the competition order on stage: "Tomorrow's competition will feature Li Ling from Dragon Head Peak against Lu Xueqi from Little Bamboo Peak! Zhang Xiaofan from Great Bamboo Peak will face Zeng Shushu from Wind Return Peak!"
Li Ling was somewhat taken aback, sensing that Shui Yue was looking at him with rather unfriendly eyes, while Cang Song was stroking his beard and chuckling, looking quite smug! The other leaders of the various factions were also looking at him with smiles on their faces. Now Li Ling knew who was behind this.
Li Ling thought to himself, "Was my action that obvious?"
But he forgot that he had been hanging out outside every night chatting with girls these past few days, and since they were both in the spotlight, how could they not be noticed?
As a result, everyone now thinks that the two of them have somehow gotten together, and Shuiyue sees Li Ling as a thorn in her side. So, with Cangsong, Daoxuan and others' little bit of wicked humor, the plot has changed.
That night, Li Ling surprisingly did not encounter Lu Xueqi. The next day, just as dawn broke, a series of bells and cauldrons rang out. Of the eight central arenas, only the two largest arenas remained. The opponents had all taken their places on the arenas, and the crowd below was still packed with spectators.
Li Ling looked at the beautiful Lu Xueqi with a calm expression and smiled, "Junior Sister Lu, I didn't expect that we would be the two of us as opponents this time."
Lu Xueqi, Li Ling's opponent, looked serious and said earnestly, "Senior Brother Li, although I admire your cultivation, I will definitely do my best. I hope you will give me more guidance!"
As the competition began, facing Li Ling, Lu Xueqi's pretty face remained expressionless, her eyes as still as a deep well. Her precious sword, 'Tianya,' was slowly drawn from its sheath, with bursts of blue light surging across its blade.
Facing a formidable enemy like Li Ling, Lu Xueqi showed no sign of underestimating him, and even planned to go all out from the very beginning.
Lu Xueqi released her hand indifferently. Tianya floated up slowly into the air with her. The sword body flashed with a blue light, so bright that it even blocked the sunlight. She looked like a goddess descending from the heavens in the blue light.
But the next moment, the blue light suddenly shone brightly again, crashing down on the arena below, with dense blue sword light leaving no gaps.
Knowing full well that Li Ling's cultivation was superior to hers, Lu Xueqi went all out from the start, showing no intention of holding back. Ten thousand feet of blue light shot down like dense raindrops.
"Boom boom boom!!"