Bamboo Mound

At this moment, two more disciples emerged, leading the direct disciples of the Huayu Sect and the Qingyun Sect, with Ning Chang among them.

The disciples of Xuanshan Sect each had their own courtyards and had already returned home.

As for the elders, they all disappeared when they arrived with their disciples.

........

The group didn't walk very fast, and it took them about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to reach a corner. They even separated from the Huayu Sect's group halfway through their journey.

Although it is called a corner, it is actually a corner of the entire inner disciples' residence complex of the Xuanshan Sect. Apart from the five courtyards on the outermost edge, no other courtyards are built outside this area!

It was extremely peaceful, and there were no disciples living in the courtyards some distance further inward!

"You four distinguished guests may stay in any of these five courtyards. Your accommodations will be set here during the competition."

After saying that, the disciple who had led the way turned and left.

Just as Ning Chang and Wang Yan were looking around, Fang Nanyi had already spotted the courtyard in the far corner, and he quickly pulled Yue Mingyu over there.

"Xiaoyu, let's stay in that room together."

Because they hadn't been intimate with the elders all day, Fang Nanyi was already impatient.

Yue Mingyu blushed instantly, "Oh dear, Nan Yi, you're so naughty~"

But he did not resist and let Fang Nanyi pull him into the courtyard.

"Sigh, I hope they won't neglect their cultivation." Wang Yan sighed softly as the two left.

After greeting Ning Chang, he chose the courtyard on the other side of the five courtyards and walked towards it.

He knew he sometimes snored while sleeping, so he consciously kept his distance so as not to disturb Ning Chang and the others.

Looking around, Ning Chang had no choice but to walk into the courtyard in the very center, so that the impact on each other would be much smaller.

The courtyard was equally spacious, more than half the size of his own residence in the Qingyun Sect.

There was only a wooden stake in the corner, and a circular floor in the center of the courtyard with some cracks along the edges.

However, traces of cleaning can still be seen. There is only one fallen leaf in the yard, and judging from its color, it must have fallen not long ago.

He stretched and pushed open the door to go inside.

The interior decoration was equally simple; apart from the lamp, a table, two chairs, and a bed were almost all the items in the room.

There was a white quilt with gold trim and a blue-patterned brown cloth pillow on the bed.

It's summer now, but it's not too hot here. You can wear long sleeves without sweating, and you don't need a blanket at night.

However, after touching the bed board, Ning Chang decided that it would be better to put the thin blanket under her.

After making the bed, he picked up a chair and sat under the shade of a tree in the yard, staring blankly at the horizon.

As the sun sets, its golden hues paint the entire sky. A gentle breeze stirs the rustling leaves, startling a few birds into flight, chirping as they soar into the distance...

He no longer needs to think constantly all day long, letting meaningless information fill his brain.

There is no worry about survival, and no need to work endlessly just to make ends meet.

As time goes by, we pluck at the misty dawn, and watch the rain and dew as flowers bloom...

“But that would be so boring,” Ning Chang murmured.

In his opinion, in the cultivation world where technology has not been developed, the only ways to pass the time are seclusion and playing chess.

He just wants to go up there and see what's going on. If no one stops him, he'll go; if someone does, he'll kill them.

But the thought of the countless years that come with that height filled him with fear.

If he doesn't encounter enough interesting things on the road, he probably won't be able to resist the emptiness of endless years.

Unbeknownst to us, as the last rays of the setting sun dipped below the horizon, a crescent moon pierced the sky and hung on the edge of the heavens.

"The moon...why?"

Seeing that it was getting late, Ning Chang shook his head and sighed softly before getting up and going inside.

If nothing else goes wrong, he will probably be competing against his three other disciples on stage tomorrow.

Silent all night.

The next day, Ning Chang woke up just as dawn was breaking. He dozed off for a while before being woken up by his master's telepathic message.

As soon as they stepped outside, Wang Yan and the others also pushed open the courtyard gate and came out. The group then went to the stands and sat down to wait.

At this time, the participating disciples and the spectators from the Xuanshan Sect also arrived at the square one after another.

After waiting a while longer, around the end of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the host's voice rang out again.

"The ranking competition will now begin. Seventy-five disciples from the three sects, come up on stage to draw your numbers."

After everyone had received their numbers and returned to the waiting area, the host spoke again.

"Our disciples will go up on stage in pairs to draw numbers and determine their opponents. The two opponents will choose their own opponents."

Each person plays three matches, ranked according to the number of wins, with the bottom 25 eliminated.

Then, a disciple came to the host carrying two boxes.

He took two spirit stones from one of the boxes, marked them, and put them into the other box.

Before the host could even give an order, the two men walked out of the waiting area and, without prior arrangement, went to stone platform number six to begin their battle.

The disciple kept working with his hands, grabbing and marking as he went, while pairs of disciples kept going up to the stage to fight in the waiting area.

Time quickly passed to afternoon. From the beginning until now, numerous spiritual energy effects had been continuously displayed on the field, but Ning Chang had not seen any more disciples of the Huayu Sect using formations.

However, since everyone's style was fixed and it was always the same people fighting, Ning Chang quickly lost interest.

Just as Ning Chang was feeling a bit bored, her master's voice rang in her ears:

"Ning Chang, go and choose any fighting platform to stand on, and someone will come to challenge you soon."

"Finally, I can fight again. I was so bored," he thought to himself, then responded with a relieved "Oh."

He leaped up and jumped off the stands, observing the movements on the other two stands as he moved a few steps to the central battle platform, which was closest to the Qingyun Sect's stands.

To be honest, Ning Chang didn't like this kind of battle. Killing was fine, but he couldn't afford to inflict any serious injuries on his opponent. He would avoid it if possible, but if it was unavoidable, he would do it as soon as possible.

As soon as Ning Chang stepped onto the battle stage, he began to release his disguised spiritual energy, which slowly spread across the entire stage.

In this way, unless the opponent keeps their protective spiritual power active or cannot control their body to stop passively absorbing spiritual energy, they will inevitably be hit directly!

Even with protective spiritual energy activated, there will inevitably be a flow of spiritual energy with the outside world. At the same level, it is basically impossible for anyone to defend against Ning Chang's move!

After waiting for almost half a cup of tea's time, Ning Chang was already frowning and getting impatient when a woman gracefully flew over from the Huayu Sect's viewing platform!

The woman looked to be about the same age as Ning Chang, and was wearing a light yellow dress that was clearly a modified version of a sect disciple's uniform.

She had barely steadied herself when she half-covered her mouth, smiled, and a hint of cunning flashed in her eyes.

Seeing this, before she could even speak, Ning Chang knew that this woman was probably no ordinary person.