The female lead thought she had a "proud and arrogant" character script.

The three large characters "肆拾肆" (Forty-Four) were prominently displayed on the wooden tag.

As all the wooden sticks were drawn, the names of the matched opponents immediately appeared on the magical artifact located in the middle of the square.

Luo Qingcheng looked up and saw the two large characters "Liu Ben" following his name.

Luo Qingcheng asked blankly, "Is there another senior brother named Liu Ben in the outer sect?"

"No."

The kind person answered immediately and looked at Luo Qingcheng with sympathy.

He clearly saw Luo Qingcheng's name on the magical artifact.

Liu Ben is recognized as the strongest among the outer disciples. Although it is unknown why he has never passed the inner sect assessment, his cultivation level is at least common knowledge.

Luo Qingcheng's cultivation level is also widely known.

Well, that's it, the competition hasn't even started yet and there's already a chorus of boos.

Even Hongdou, who was originally arguing with her, couldn't help but come to find Luo Qingcheng after hearing about it.

Hongdou, feeling a little awkward, pretended to be passing by and casually said, "Miss, it doesn't matter if you can't beat me, I'll set up a street stall to support you."

Luo Qingcheng asked, "What kind of street stall can you set up?"

She emphasized that she was not looking down on Hongdou, but Hongdou had only recently started learning the craft, so it was impossible for her to sell the big iron pot she had made at the Seeking Immortals Sect.

Hongdou was displeased. "Miss, are you looking down on me? I'm working with Young Master Li to sell pills, and business is booming!"

Luo Qingcheng felt that Hongdou was really going to be kidnapped by her half-brother.

She asked warily, "Red Bean, how many spirit stones have you earned?"

Hongdou sensed that Luo Qingcheng had ulterior motives regarding her spirit stones and became even more wary, saying, "Miss, I don't have a single one!"

Luo Qingcheng: "I don't believe it!"

Red Bean: "I won't listen!"

Hongdou slipped away, completely forgetting that she had just said she wanted to set up a street stall to support Luo Qingcheng.

Luo Qingcheng sighed, "A daughter is like a tree that cannot be kept at home once she grows up."

However, the tension in my heart dissipated a lot because of Hongdou's interruption.

She arrived at the 44th arena and happened to run into Senior Brother Liu.

Luo Qingcheng respected this senior brother who had reportedly been in the outer sect for decades.

After a cultivator reaches adulthood, their appearance will remain the same as when they reached the Foundation Establishment stage and will not grow any older. Senior Brother Liu looks to be in his thirties or forties, which means that he reached the Foundation Establishment stage relatively late and his talent is not considered particularly good.

But the accumulation of time and experience is incomparable to that of Luo Qingcheng, who has neither talent nor experience.

This is a tough battle.

The two went on stage and bowed to each other.

Because the outcome of the arena was so predictable, there were very few spectators, which ironically attracted the attention of the senior elder.

"Look, what a little girl!"

"Senior brother, I saw it. Please speak in Mandarin, I don't understand."

"Oh dear, what a poor kid, I wonder if he'll start crying later."

“A cultivator’s heart is naturally as firm as a rock. Senior brother, please speak in Mandarin, I don’t understand.”

The elder from Sichuan couldn't wait to take out his camera and start a live stream for the other elders.

Sword Master caught the mirror and with one sword stroke, chopped off the middle head of the three-headed demon wolf that was howling. The other two heads immediately shut up, allowing Sword Master to concentrate on watching the live stream.

After observing for a while, Luo Qingcheng realized that Senior Brother Liu's aura was unstable. He must have failed to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, but he had touched the barrier and was only half a step away from truly entering the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

This is a good thing for Luo Qingcheng.

If Senior Brother Liu has truly crossed the threshold of the late Foundation Establishment stage, then this match is indeed pointless.

But now, she still has a chance!

Neither of them liked to waste words. Luo Qingcheng drew his sword, quickly approached, and leaped forward, directly slashing at Senior Brother Liu's head.

This move isn't meant to deal damage; it's just a test.

Sure enough, Senior Brother Liu, who was very experienced in fighting enemies, only moved a few inches, and Luo Qingcheng's attack missed.

At the same time, Senior Brother Liu drew his sword and, without hesitation, slashed at Luo Qingcheng's neck while Luo Qingcheng was off balance after his attack missed.

Luo Qingcheng had anticipated this. He touched the ground with his toes, bent over, and did a backflip to avoid the attack, creating distance between them.

Her small face was serious, and she felt a sense of unease.

Before the competition, Luo Qingcheng had already inquired about the basic information of the popular seeded players.

Senior Brother Liu Ben possesses the four spiritual roots of metal, wood, fire, and earth, with earth being the most prevalent. Therefore, he primarily cultivates earth, resulting in high defense.

Since Luo Qingcheng began his studies, he has only learned the "Elementary Sword Techniques," while his senior brother Liu Ben has already mastered the advanced sword technique "Accumulated Earth and Accumulated Mountain."

Facing Senior Brother Liu, who was primarily focused on defense, Luo Qingcheng had already devised a strategy.

attack!

Only by attacking can we find a weakness!

Luo Qingcheng closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Seeing this, Senior Brother Liu no longer held back. He enveloped his body with a mixture of yellow spiritual energy and stared intently at Luo Qingcheng's movements.

When a lion fights a rabbit, he also uses all his strength.

Despite being known as a useless person without spiritual roots, Senior Brother Liu did not underestimate him.

Even though he was in seclusion, he had heard about the glorious deeds of the junior sister in front of him.

Luo Qingcheng opened his eyes, pushed off the ground with his toes, held his sword horizontally in front of his chest, and rushed towards Senior Brother Liu at an extraordinary speed.

The sword meant for parrying was used for offense?

Senior Brother Liu, not understanding why, subconsciously used an offensive sword technique he was not familiar with—Flowing Sun Piercing the Sun—based on the sword move.

"Flowing Sun Piercing the Sun" is not a sword technique from "Earth Accumulation Mountain Thunder," but rather an offensive sword technique that Senior Brother Liu specifically practiced to fill in the gaps in his knowledge.

Luo Qingcheng, who was clearly good at offense, switched to defense, while Liu Shixiong, who was good at defense, switched to offense.

This is Luo Qingcheng's tactic!

Experience is Liu's strength, but sometimes, subconscious reactions can lead to wrong choices.

Senior Brother Liu's defense has a flaw!

Luo Qingcheng twisted his wrist, and the sword blade that was originally horizontal in front of his chest pressed forward, not defending against Senior Brother Liu's sword blade, letting it pierce towards his left chest.

She bet that Senior Brother Liu's sword wouldn't be able to break through her defenses!

But her sword was aimed at Liu's neck.

This scene was like a replica of Luo Qingcheng's attack just now, except that just now Luo Qingcheng's neck was chopped, but now it was Luo Qingcheng chopping at Senior Brother Liu!

A few onlookers in the audience couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"They want to die together?!"

"Oh dear, what is this little girl up to!" The elder from Shu couldn't help but stand up, trying to prevent the tragedy from happening next.

Elder Shulin, standing nearby, stopped him, saying, "Senior brother, please wait."

Once that was done, it was too late to stop it.

Luo Qingcheng's sword stopped at Senior Brother Liu's neck, just one millimeter away from severing Senior Brother Liu's carotid artery, but was blocked by the earth elemental shield covering Senior Brother Liu's body.

However, Senior Brother Liu's sword tip pierced solidly into Luo Qingcheng's left chest.

The referee breathed a sigh of relief, just about to declare Senior Brother Liu the winner—

But then Senior Brother Liu sheathed his sword and said, "It's not over yet."

The crowd was in an uproar.

The referees were only inner disciples, so they couldn't figure out what was going on and could only look up to the two elders above for help.

The elder from Sichuan, with his protruding belly, said, "Hey, look, there's blood on the little girl's clothes."

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to Luo Qingcheng's chest.

Luo Qingcheng felt a bit speechless as a bunch of people stared at his chest.

Clearly, neither of them had managed to break through the other's defenses.

In the end, Elder Shulin announced, "The competition continues."

"By the way, senior brother, please speak Mandarin, I don't understand it."