I long to return home!

Lin Mubai also noticed Xu Tao's unusual behavior and asked in a low voice, "Tao'er, what's wrong?"

Xu Tao didn't hold anything back and told Lin Mubai about his relationship with Long Yu, because only Lin Mubai could protect Xue Wu right now.

After understanding the cause and effect, Lin Mubai's expression froze, his brows furrowed, and his fists clenched. Ninth level of Qi Refining? He then scanned Long Yu on the field with his divine sense: Ninth level, Great Perfection! This guy could probably hold his own against a tenth-level Qi Refining cultivator. And his physical strength is truly terrifying; it seems he's specially trained.

Seeing his two disciples step onto the competition stage, Yang Fan shouted again, "The selection begins!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Long Yu made a hand seal and said, "Blazing Sun Technique!" Instantly, his whole body burst into flames, and the temperature in the arena rose rapidly, with layers of heat waves faintly visible.

Tianyou suddenly felt as if he were in a sea of ​​fire. He immediately clasped his hands together, about to unleash his power, when Long Yu's figure appeared beside him in the blink of an eye. While Tianyou was still in shock, a fist carrying flames struck the latter's chest heavily. With a crack, his ribs broke, and Tianyou immediately lost consciousness, spitting blood as he flew out of the arena, creating a slight dent in the ground.

The brutal scene terrified everyone present. Lin Mubai was about to eliminate the scourge when he was forcefully stopped by someone standing nearby.

"This is murder!" A disciple who recognized Tianyou immediately ran to Tianyou's side and shouted at Long Yu on the stage.

What followed was a barrage of insults from the crowd.

Long Yu ignored him and turned to look at Xue Wu's location, his eyes full of contempt. At the same time, Xue Wu also noticed Long Yu's gaze and slowly raised his right hand to give him the middle finger in response.

Long Yu was taken aback. Although he didn't know the meaning of giving the middle finger, he could feel that the small middle finger was an insult to him. Although he was angry, he couldn't kill it right now. He snorted and walked off the stage.

Long Yu had no intention of participating in this inner disciple selection, but someone approached him and asked him to cripple a disciple named Xue Wu during the selection. He would receive 30 mid-grade spirit stones as a reward for his success.

The reward was generous, but Long Yu didn't want to get involved. However, the other party claimed to be Xu Tao's junior brother, and Long Yu hadn't forgotten the grudge from their crushing defeat years ago, so he gladly accepted the mission.

"The selection process continues!"

"Injuries during a competition are unavoidable and cannot be intervened... Take the injured person away for treatment immediately." Huang Jun spoke again without punishing Long Yu. From the expression on the latter's face when he teased Xue Wu earlier, he could tell that the two must have some grudges. It would be better to let him cripple Xue Wu so that he wouldn't have to put in the effort.

Shangguan Tou, standing beside Huang Jun, was secretly overjoyed. He was clearly the mastermind behind it all; based on Long Yu's performance, he knew that crippling a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator was more than enough...

Seeing that the matter had calmed down again, Yang Fan spoke up once more, saying, "Let the competition continue."

"Next match..."

When the next match began, Xu Tao secretly left the scene while everyone was not paying attention. He had to go find Long Yu now, and if necessary, he would beat him so badly that he could not participate in the match, even if he was punished by the sect rules.

Long Yu, who was resting, sensed Xu Tao's murderous intent and slowly walked out of the crowd into a grove of trees. In the grove, Xu Tao held a sharp sword and looked at him fiercely.

"Want to do it?"

"Looks like that kid is really important to you. Then I have to cripple him." With that, he unleashed the Dragon Feather Flaming Sun Technique, stomping the ground and instantly appearing behind Xu Tao. The move was so ruthless that the ground cracked as he stepped on it.

Xu Tao easily dodged the powerful punch imbued with flames with a swift movement, then swung his sword vertically down at Long Yu. The moment the blade touched Long Yu's body, it was repelled by a strange force, and cracks appeared on the blade.

Long Yu grinned and threw another punch, the sound of burning flames echoing in the air, as if cheering on his punch. Xu Tao was startled and quickly retreated several meters away. Long Yu's fiery fist slammed into a large, dense tree along the spot where Xu Tao had just been, and the entire tree burned to ashes at a visible speed, like a giant beast being devoured by flames.

"Long Yu!" Xu Tao shouted with a fierce look on his face. He originally only wanted to warn the other party, but it seems that he can only completely disable the latter's ability to compete.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and droplets of water, sparkling like pearls, emerged around him. He raised his sword and pointed it at Long Yu. With a flash of sword light, the water droplets merged together, forming a clear spring, which he swung towards Long Yu, meeting the sword's edge.

Long Yu knew that he would have a hard time withstanding this sword strike, after all, he was only at the ninth level of Qi Refining, while Xu Tao was already at the twelfth level. He stood quietly in place, his face peaceful, without any intention of resisting, like a still statue.

Xu Tao quickly noticed this strange behavior. He looked at Long Yu with surprise and doubt, but still swung his sword. Suddenly, a dragon's roar was heard, and a blood-red sword appeared in front of Long Yu. The shockwave from the sword blasted Xu Tao away, and the sword in his hand shattered into pieces, as if it had been torn apart by a powerful force.

Xu Tao fell to the ground, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He stared in horror at the sword that exuded a bloody aura. It was Shangguan Tou's sword, the spirit sword "Blood Dragon".

The "Blood Dragon" sword is 61 centimeters long, with a narrow and elongated blade, entirely blood-red in color. The hilt extends to both sides, adorned with blood-red dragon patterns, connecting to the blade, which has a single-peaked spine. The blade is incomparably sharp and smooth as a mirror. Sealed within the sword is a ferocious and extremely bloodthirsty mythical beast, the Blood Dragon.

"Shangguan Tou!" Xu Tao called out unwillingly.

Shangguan Tou reluctantly revealed himself, one foot on the hilt of his sword, looking contemptuously at Xu Tao, whom he had injured with a single blow, and said indifferently, "Xu Tao, you've got some nerve, injuring a disciple during the selection process." He then turned to Long Yu and said, "Go back first." If Long Yu didn't know someone had asked him to do something, he would have thought the person in front of him was there to right a wrong, but he wasn't stupid. With a little thought, he guessed that Shangguan Tou was the mastermind behind it all.

Although Long Yu was unwilling to teach Xu Tao a lesson personally, he still obediently left. He had a premonition that if he offended the person in front of him, he might die on the spot.

Seeing Long Yu leave, Xu Tao clutched his chest and forced himself to vomit blood onto the ground.

"I won't kill you. I'll make you watch your junior brother get crippled right before your eyes." Shangguan Tou sheathed his spirit sword and slowly left, leaving Xu Tao alone in the forest, bewildered.

He didn't hold back and told Xu Tao everything he was going to do, because he didn't need to keep up the act. Even if the news reached Lin Mubai's ears, it wouldn't stop anything.

At this moment, the first round has ended, and only 60 of the 100 disciples remain. They will compete for 30 inner disciples in this final competition. Most of them are at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and some are at the seventh level. Only Xue Wu and Long Yu are at the sixth and ninth levels of Qi Refining, and they are the favorites to advance in this selection.

Just as Yang Fan was about to shuffle the disciples' information again, Huang Jun's command came through his mind: "First match: Long Yu vs. Xue Wu!"