He'd rather run than be turned into a cannon fodder for the broken engagement.

Fu Xun took to the stage on the third day of the tournament, while Leng Huan watched from below. The Foundation Establishment stage arenas were mostly for newcomers; there were eight arenas in total, with the latter two being for Golden Core stage competitions. Among them were cultivators from the previous Immortal Alliance rankings who had advanced from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core.

The Golden Elixir Ranking is mostly comprised of veterans, but newcomers will challenge the ranking in the future.

Fu Xun's first opponent was a magic cultivator, but he won in just two rounds. The winner is the ten-round champion, so he still has nine more matches to play; the matches are quick and to the point.

It seemed like no one could last three moves against Fu Xun. Leng Huan was a little distracted, while his friend, the champion, seemed to be under no pressure at all.

The tenth time. This time it was also a sword cultivator. Fu Xun bowed and did not move. The other party took the initiative to attack. When the attack came, he moved with strange movements and drew his sword to slash diagonally at the opponent with great speed. The opponent barely managed to block it, which made people sweat.

On the stage, swords flashed and clashed with a clang. Dozens of moves passed in the blink of an eye, leaving Leng Huan, watching from below, dazzled.

It's not that this opponent is stronger than Fu Xun; she could tell that Fu Xun was playing conservatively, using up the opponent's items, and estimated that the time was right to end the battle.

"what!"

Leng Huan was distracted for a few seconds. Hearing the gasp from the onlookers, he looked up and saw Fu Xun's shoulder slashed, followed by a loud "bang"—

That opponent actually used a hidden weapon called "Thunderbolt Thunder," which Fu Xun could have dodged.

However, this place is close to the edge of the arena. If he dodges, his lightning bolts, like those of Leng Huan, will fly out and explode in the crowd!

The key was that Leng Huan was in that direction. After only a moment's hesitation, Fu Xun swung his heavy sword, his body meeting the opponent's blade head-on. At the cost of injury, he narrowly avoided a fatal blow, his Xuan Tie sword flashing back to deflect the Thunderclap, which he then tossed into the air and exploded!

In the competition, aside from not being able to use cheat-like items, such as the Golden Core Strike, regular hidden weapons are allowed. This person is also very clever; he only uses them when Fu Xun is close to the edge, and as long as Fu Xun falls off the stage, he loses.

"Cough!" Because the door was wide open, Fu Xun was hit squarely by the explosion, crashing to the floor and coughing, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

What the hell!

Thinking he was seriously injured, Leng Huan was startled and almost shouted those two words!

"Ah! This swordsman named Yin Xun is amazing! He's won nine matches. What a pity, he should have won this one. Those who bet on him are going to regret it... Wait! He can still fight??"

People around him were talking. Leng Huan looked nervously at the stage and saw Fu Xun slowly stand up, supporting himself with his sword. He did not say the word "admit defeat" and his opponent's prepared "I concede" was stuck in his throat.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, Fu Xun gripped his sword with both hands. He still had 40% of his spiritual power left. He had just had a minor accident, but it couldn't stop his determination to stand on the arena.

All spiritual power was poured into the sword. With a hum, the sword was raised with both hands and swung down. There was no spiritual light, only a warm current of air carrying killing intent. The sword energy was so wide that the exhausted opponent had no choice but to raise his sword to meet it. He couldn't even utter the words of surrender. Bang!

A figure flew out.

The surrounding crowd immediately retreated several steps under the sword energy, and the referee announced: "The champion, Yin Xun, wins!"

Leng Huan breathed a sigh of relief.

After finishing today's match, he won't be playing the next round for three days. Fu Xun stepped off the stage, and Leng Huan rushed forward, supporting his uninjured right arm, his brows furrowing: "How are you?"

Fu Xun shook his head: "It's nothing serious."

-

"Is this fellow Daoist injured?"

Leng Huan was helping Fu Xun leave the square when they encountered... two people as they reached the rockery.

Wang Chen and a beautiful fairy.

The one who asked the question was Fairy. Perhaps seeing the two of them supporting each other, Fu Xun had one hand on his chest and one arm hanging down with a bloody gash, and he was leaning "weakly" against Leng Huan.

This fairy was a medical cultivator from the Medicine King Hall of the Huanyue Immortal Sect. As a healer, she couldn't help but greet him upon seeing the situation. She was originally supposed to be assigned to the square to treat the wounded at any time, but Wang Chen tricked her away from the square, with the aim of avoiding her fateful encounter with the male protagonist.

———Unexpected!

Damn plot!

Wang Chen looked at Fu Xun and felt like he wanted to beat his chest and stamp his feet in frustration.

Upon hearing this, Leng Huan exchanged a glance with Fu Xun, who quickly refused, "No need! I didn't..."

"Oh dear, this fellow Daoist is a healer, then let him take a look." Leng Huan ignored him and nodded to the fairy with a smile: "Thank you for your trouble."

Wang Chen didn't want the healer to come into contact with the male protagonist either, so he called out, "Han Yan..."

Shen Hanyan glanced at Wang Chen with her beautiful eyes, raised her slender finger and gently shushed him.

Fu Xun was held by Leng Huan and unable to move. Shen Hanyan took his pulse, paused for a moment, glanced at Fu Xun and Leng Huan, and nodded: "...Fellow Daoist has some internal injuries. He just needs to rest and recuperate."

After saying that, he took out a white bottle and a red bottle and handed them to Leng Huan: "Take two pills of internal injury medicine, clean the wound, sprinkle some medicine powder on it and bandage it. We have some things to do, so we'll be leaving now."

Wang Chen nodded slightly to Leng Huan and followed Shen Hanyan away.

Fu Xun glanced at the medicine bottle in Leng Huan's hand, pursed his lips and said nothing, still weakly letting Leng Huan support him.

"Tsk, you still say you're fine? The fairy said you have to take your medicine!" Leng Huan muttered to himself all the way back to Ruyi Pavilion.

Fu Xun calmly replied, "Yes, I'll be fine after a few days of rest. The competition in three days won't be delayed."

That healer is quite clever.

-

"Ouch, doesn't it really hurt? If it goes any deeper, we'll see the bone."

In the backyard corridor, Leng Huan finished cleaning the wound and sprinkled some medicine powder on it. The wound was about the length of a palm, and it took half a bottle of medicine powder to fill it. Seeing that he was not moving at all and did not even breathe, Leng Huan felt a surge of malice and poked the side of his wound with her finger. Fu Xun cooperated and let out a "howl". Leng Huan was satisfied.

"You think you're immune to pain? Don't push yourself next time. Fight if you can win, run if you can't. Why did you have to try and stab someone in the back of the sword..."

Fu Xun listened quietly, his head slightly lowered, looking obedient. Leng Huan stood there wrapping the gauze around him. As he leaned over, strands of hair slipped down his shoulders, releasing a faint fragrance.

Leng Huan put away the medicine bottle, picked up another white bottle, poured out a pill, glanced at it—it was pitch black—and handed it to Fu Xun: "Take this and you won't get sick."

Fu Xun hummed in agreement, picked up the pill, and the moment he tasted it, it was so sweet it almost made his teeth ache. His expression changed.

Leng Huan asked in confusion, "Is it very bitter?" As he spoke, he took out a few candied fruits from his ring. "Then you can eat these after you finish eating them, and they won't be bitter anymore."

Although good medicine tastes bitter, it's really hard to swallow! Leng Huan deeply agrees and always carries candied fruit and dried fruit with him.

"..."

Fu Xun swallowed the sugar pill directly, snatched the candied fruit and stuffed it into her mouth, "Thank you, Huan-ge, I won't eat it."

Leng Huan puffed out his cheeks and chewed a few times: "...Why didn't you say so earlier?"

-

Leng Huan's competition is in two days, but before that, she has another thing to do—

Meet with Wang Chen.

On a dark and windy night, Leng Huan, dressed in neat black clothes, his face covered with a black cloth and draped with a concealment artifact, silently left Ruyi Pavilion and headed straight for the back mountain.

"Young Miss, the person you requested has been captured."

"Thank you for your help."

Hidden behind a large tree, a guest elder of the Leng family, also dressed in black and at the late Golden Core stage, cupped his hands towards Leng Huan and said, "Mission complete, I'll be leaving now." This was the Huanyue Immortal Sect; being discovered would be a huge problem. After saying this, the guest elder disappeared from the spot.

Only a human-shaped burlap sack remained.

Leng Huan squatted down and tore open the sack. Inside was indeed Wang Chen. He was still unconscious, though he didn't know what method the guest cultivator had used.

After finding out about Wang Chen's deeds over the past few days, Leng Huan asked a guest cultivator for help to tie him up.

Hehehehehehehe...

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