My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

"My name is Chu Ming, an inner disciple of Blade Echo Peak. Please enlighten me."

"My name is Ruan Chayan. I am a disciple of Elder Xu of Lingfeng. Please enlighten me."

Ruan Chayan looked at the imposing swordsman opposite her, then bowed and introduced herself.

Chu Ming twirled his sword and charged toward Ruan Chayan: "I know you. I've studied your moves. Ruan Chayan, watch out!"

"Is that so? Fellow Daoist Chu, since you put it that way, Huajiao and I will certainly do our best." Ruan Chayan was not at all inferior upon hearing this. With Luo Hanying's encouragement, she was now frighteningly confident.

Chu Ming strode forward, his long sword pointing directly at Ruan Chayan's face, the sword energy even severing a strand of her hair.

Ruan Chayan used the Chaotic Steps of the Moon, her footwork making her figure only a blur. Every time Chu Ming thought he had hit Ruan Chayan and tried to withdraw his sword, he found that it was just an illusion, and the next strike would land on the illusion.

She had only used the Moonlit Chaotic Steps in emergencies before. With so many opponents and endless techniques, she didn't believe that Chu Ming could easily break through her footwork, especially since the peppercorns were already numbing Chu Ming's senses.

After several missed attacks, Chu Ming knew that he was probably affected by the strange spirit beast. He simply used a ribbon to cover his eyes, which was his solution.

Those cultivators who had witnessed Ruan Chayan's competition knew that her spirit beasts could affect one's divine sense, but none of her previous opponents dared to attack without blindfolding themselves or relying on their divine sense.

Chu Ming's ingenious approach broadened Ruan Chayan's horizons, but...

Ruan Chayan chuckled softly. Huajiao, hidden under her skirt, hugged her calf and moved with her. No one had seen what it looked like when it attacked, so naturally no one knew that it used sound to affect the cultivator's judgment. Therefore, even if Chu Ming could locate the source of the sound, he would still be affected by Huajiao.

While Chu Ming defended with his sword to avoid being knocked off the stage by Ruan Chayan's spells and talismans, he pondered why the sounds filling his ears were so chaotic, and he couldn't discern the direction of Ruan Chayan's aura and spiritual energy flow at all.

"Burning wood to create fire, turning earth into gold. Donning armor and helmet, I forge my golden body!" Ruan Chayan chanted incantations, and her body was instantly enveloped in a layer of golden light. She channeled her spiritual power into her palms and flew towards Chu Ming's chest.

Chu Ming's ears caught the sound of a human body passing through the wind, but he wasn't sure if it was real or not. He anticipated that the other party would attack his front and raised his sword to block.

Ruan Chayan struck Chu Ming's sword spine with her palm. The force was so great that Chu Ming had to step back to deflect the force. He then used the force against Ruan Chayan, forcing her to do a backflip and create distance.

Chu Ming seized the opportunity and unleashed a sword strike while the opponent was still reacting after landing. Ruan Chayan instinctively used her magic weapon to block.

The sword energy struck the surface of the giant folding fan, entered the space inside the fan, and gradually dissipated.

Chu Ming concluded that Ruan Chayan's spirit beast probably affected not only her divine sense but also her hearing. He tore off the ribbon to block her hearing and once again drew his sword to approach Ruan Chayan.

Sure enough, even though there were still some interferences, we were able to confirm where Ruan Chayan's true form was.

Ruan Chayan didn't know why Chu Ming suddenly gave up blocking his vision. Sword cultivators are good at close combat, so Ruan Chayan didn't dare let him get close. She cast several high-level talismans and took two more hits before she could put her distance away again.

Ruan Chayan made hand seals with one hand and drew talismans with the other, but Chu Ming didn't give her a chance to make a move at all. The sharp sword energy rushed towards her!

Ruan Chayan was forced to use her magic weapon to defend herself again, and she was shocked to see Chu Ming appear in front of her in a flash.

"Sichuan pepper!" Ruan Chayan shouted, and the Sichuan pepper immediately emitted a high-frequency and rhythmic chirping, causing Chu Ming's movements to slow down abruptly.

He was affected by the Sichuan peppercorns, his consciousness became somewhat blurred, and his mind went blank for a moment.

Ruan Chayan seized the opportunity to unleash her spirit sword and forcefully withstood three attacks.

The spirit sword hummed in her hand, her palm was numb and her wrist was painful. She gritted her teeth and decisively took advantage of Chu Ming's confusion and bewilderment to knock the sword out of his hand.

Once a swordsman's sword leaves his hand, it signifies his defeat.

This was a narrow victory.

The barrier above the arena opened, and without the influence of the peppercorns, Chu Ming regained his senses.

He waved his hand to recall his natal sword, held it in his arms and bowed: "You beast tamers are really hard to deal with, Fellow Daoist Ruan, I was arrogant before."

Ruan Chayan picked up the peppercorns that had crawled out from under her skirt and returned the greeting, saying, "Fellow Daoist Chu, there's no need to belittle yourself. If I hadn't used my cleverness, I wouldn't have been able to beat you."

"No, no, no, that's not cleverness."

Your spirit beast possesses such abilities, and you are able to utilize them in battle; this demonstrates your strength.

Chu Ming was broad-minded. Although he regretted that he had no chance to visit the Lanxi Secret Realm, he was still able to talk and laugh.

After exchanging a few polite words, the two left the arena, leaving their spots for others.

After dealing with several cultivators who were interested in her and her spirit beast, Ruan Chayan breathed a sigh of relief and left Yunzhong Square, intending to return to her cave for a good rest.

Aside from the first few matches, which she felt were inexplicable, she gradually found it difficult to win. Now that the competition is nearing its end, Ruan Chayan is under a lot of pressure.

Fortunately, after defeating Chu Ming, even if she lost the last two matches, she would still be able to enter the Lanxi Secret Realm. She was grateful that there were only a few Nascent Soul cultivators, otherwise she would have been pushed out long ago.

The current competitions are all about ranking. The top ten in each realm can receive rewards set by the sect leader and elders. Ruan Chayan knows she doesn't have much of a chance. Not to mention others, she can't even beat her senior brother Wen Chenrui. It's a rare moment of ease for her now.

Compared to Ruan Chayan, Luo Hanying's competition was much simpler. Although there were twice as many Golden Core cultivators as Nascent Soul cultivators, there were very few cultivators who could stop Luo Hanying from writing poems and setting up formations.

They all knew they had to interrupt Luo Hanying's poetry written with spiritual power, but even if they silenced her, as long as she still had the ability to move, the illusion could be completed instantly.

The arena competition did not allow injuries to fellow disciples, so no one dared to seriously injure Luo Hanying to prevent her from writing or reciting poetry. Moreover, Luo Hanying was not limited to this one fighting style, so her opponents could only watch helplessly as she obtained the spot to enter the Lanxi Secret Realm.

Luo Hanying's recent hard work has only involved explaining to the cultivators who are curious about what enlightenment she has gained, in addition to constantly recalling the poems and songs she once memorized, writing them down from memory, and explaining to them who the authors were and the meaning of these poems and songs.

The other cultivators didn't care much about poetry; they weren't interested. They only surrounded Luo Hanying to get acquainted with her and then exploit her friendship after she achieved something. But the Confucian cultivators treasured her like a precious gem.

They had long heard that there were many literary figures in the Central Plains, but since mortals only live for a hundred years, they could never associate with them.

Now that they have Luo Hanying, they can also learn about the extraordinary talents that have emerged in the Central Plains of China over the past thousand years.

After reciting the poems of Qu Yuan, Li Bai, Nalan Xingde, and others from memory, Luo Hanying would wipe away non-existent cold sweat from her forehead, secretly sighing that it was fortunate they were only focused on appreciating the poems and had all assumed that those people were all dead, otherwise her colossal lie would have been exposed long ago.

This stage of the arena competition tested the tacit understanding between Ruan Chayan and Huajiao, as well as Ruan Chayan's expertise in magic.

Luo Hanying's sudden enlightenment was largely due to watching others compete, and the benefits she received went without saying.