Bamboo Mound

As soon as the host finished speaking, Ye Xingyun, whose face was covered in blood, disappeared from the stage and was taken back to the stands by his master to heal his wounds.

The host then returned to the battle stage and said, "Ning Chang, you can put away the formation now."

"Well, please let the elder handle this."

As for this pool of spiritual energy, not to mention that Ning Chang doesn't have much space in his meridians to hold it, the rich wood attribute it contains alone can "pollute" his spiritual energy disguise combat technique, thus requiring him to expend all his spiritual energy to purify it.

"Oh? You won't take it back?"

"Pretty much," Ning Chang said, pursing his lips.

The host then fell silent, raising his hand to gather the array and spiritual light into a single mass, which floated towards the Huayu Sect's viewing platform.

"Now you have one opponent left. You can choose to challenge him or wait for him to challenge you. If you surrender to him directly, he will become the number one among the four of you."

Similarly, if neither of you chooses to challenge the other, and he also doesn't challenge the two disciples of the Huayu Sect, then he will have no ranking, and you will directly become the number one disciple this time.

"Now, do you choose to continue the challenge? If so, the other party will have no choice but to accept." After asking the question, the host remained silent, waiting for Ning Chang's answer.

In fact, Ning Chang felt much better after swinging the stick twice with all his might.

And to be honest, given the quality of Huayu Sect, he no longer wanted to continue fighting. At this stage, his opponents simply couldn't counter his Qingyun Step and Five Elements Trapping Dragon Formation.

Moreover, the remaining person was probably a disciple of the Xuanshan Sect. The Xuanshan Sect mainly cultivates strength, so in the worst case, they would be unable to defeat each other, and Ning Chang would not be able to break through the defense, while the other party would not be able to touch him.

Just as he was pondering, another figure came onto the stage and stood there waiting for Ning Chang.

After thinking it over, Ning Chang decided to leave it at that for now and see how the disciple would choose.

"I....."

Just as I looked up to answer the host, I noticed a figure waiting to the side.

The man was dressed in Xuanshan Sect attire. Judging from his face, he was only about the same age as Ning Chang, but his physique was burly and powerful, even surpassing Wang Yan's!

Seeing Ning Chang regain his senses, he quickly clasped his hands and said, "I have watched Brother Ning Chang's battle twice, and I am also impressed by his own skill!"

"With Brother Ning Chang's speed and formation alone, you can easily defeat me. There's no need for us to fight anymore."

Upon learning that his opponent had conceded defeat without even challenging him, Ning Chang breathed a sigh of relief. "That's all right now."

He then replied, "Brother Dao, there's no need to belittle yourself. Everyone has their strengths. Besides, we've only just embarked on the path of immortality, and the future improvement of our strength is still unknown."

Upon hearing this, a hint of appreciation flashed in the host's eyes. "This child has a good mindset."

The Xuanshan Sect disciple looked enlightened, and in a daze, he gained some insight. Coming to his senses, he laughed a few times.

"well said!"

"I came up here today because I saw that Brother Ning Chang has an extraordinary bearing and wish to make his acquaintance. I wonder if Brother Ning Chang would be willing?"

"Making friends... is alright, but with my memory, I'm afraid I won't recognize them after a while." With that thought, he agreed with the man's statement.

"Of course, but I don't know your name yet?"

"Oh, my name is Niu Hanshan. If Brother Ning Chang ever needs anything in the future, I, Niu, will certainly do my best to help."

Upon seeing Ning Chang's agreement, Niu Hanshan was overjoyed.

"Brother Niu, you flatter me. If you need any thugs in the future, feel free to come to me."

After exchanging polite greetings, the two remained silent for a moment, each falling into an awkward silence.

Ning Chang was not fond of talking, and Niu Hanshan also had nothing to say, so the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Seeing that the two had finished talking, the host asked, "Have you two finished discussing?"

"If there are no objections from either side, I will announce Ning Chang as the first in this competition. As for Niu Hanshan, he will need to fight against two disciples from Huayu Sect before the end of the competition to determine his specific ranking."

"However, if no match is played before the end of the competition due to subjective reasons, Niu Hanshan will be ranked fourth by default."

After saying that, he fell silent, his gaze shifting between Ning and Chang, awaiting their reply.

Ning Chang also turned his gaze to Niu Hanshan, waiting for him to confirm his choice.

Niu Hanshan, who had already made up his mind before going on stage, answered without hesitation after reflecting on the host's words:

"I surrender."

"Alright." After receiving confirmation from Niu Hanshan, the host responded and announced to the entire square:

"Ning Chang, a direct disciple of the Qingyun Sect, wins against Niu Hanshan, a direct disciple of the Xuanshan Sect!"

"The winner of the Three Sects Grand Competition for direct disciples has been determined: Ning Chang, a disciple of the Qingyun Sect!"

Before the words were even finished, the Xuanshan Sect disciples watching from the stands were all stunned.

"what happened?"

"Why did Senior Brother Niu's performance end before he even got a chance to fight?"

"Could it be that Senior Brother Niu has admitted defeat? That's impossible! During the sect's grand competition, Senior Brother Niu defeated Zhao Yi from the inner sect, who was three levels higher than him!"

"This Ning Chang doesn't seem very strong; all he does is hide."

"Bai Ke'er from the Huayu Sect surrendered immediately after just one fall and was taken away without moving again. Ye Xingyun was the same; he built the formation but left it unused. Surrounded by a bunch of bamboo leaves, he was knocked down after taking two blows. Their acting was too fake, wasn't it?"

"Yes, this is clearly telling us there's something fishy going on, and they're even putting on such a perfunctory performance!"

"Brother, you'd better keep your voice down. Too much talk leads to trouble. No matter how well he acts, he's still the elders' disciple. Be careful the elders don't hear you!"

"But their acting was quite convincing after they fell down, especially Bai Ke'er."

"Wait, is it real or fake?"

Soon, the noisy stands quieted down again, and everyone decided to discuss the matter privately later.

After the host finished announcing to the audience, he turned to the two of them and said:

"Now, you two can go back to your respective stands."

After saying that, he flashed back to where he was.

The two had nothing to say to each other, clasped their hands in a fist salute, and went their separate ways.

Back in the stands, they were first greeted with congratulations from Wang Yan and the other two, followed by their master's praise.

With a higher level of understanding, one can see all the details clearly, not to mention that he already knows Ning Chang has the ability to send spiritual energy into other people's bodies.

However, after this battle, he realized that Ning Chang was already capable of such a feat!

Directly control the spiritual power within the opponent's body, and directly seize control of the spiritual power!

Fortunately, he only has these methods at the moment. He has already used all his methods in this sparring match. After the grand competition, once he receives the "Sharpening Edge" that he promised and strengthens each of those bamboo leaves, he will probably be completely invincible in the same realm!

Moreover, he also discovered that Ning Chang's spiritual energy reserves far exceeded those of others in the same realm, so he was not worried that Ning Chang would be unable to supply the spiritual energy required by "Seeing the Edge".