Chapter 503: The Final Battle, Lu Chao Steps Up

「Meanwhile…」

A violent shudder ran through Qian Ya as she rushed to protect her Fourth Senior Brother. Qian Zeng also moved to shield him, the father and daughter forming a line, one in front and one behind.

Master Tian and Lu He joined them soon after.

The four of them formed a tight circle around him. At this moment, they couldn’t trust anyone else.

This development left Ren Tang with absolutely no opportunity to make a move. He could only cast another furtive glance at Feng Xianyin across the way.

Feng Xianyin saw this from a distance as well, and his expression turned utterly livid. ‘Now we’re in real trouble.’

Suddenly, Chi Xingxun spoke with a smile, “Brother Feng, I’m going to see Lord Xiao.”

With that, Chi Xingxun discreetly hurried up to the city wall and whispered a few words into the ear of Xiao Ru, who also looked displeased.

Xiao Ru frowned slightly and slowly turned her gaze toward the Qianjian Sect.

She gave a cold smile…

‘The Thunderbolt Sect is truly useless.’

‘But since I said the Qianjian Sect would not be allowed to protect the Four Moon Sect, I will absolutely not let them succeed.’

At this thought, Xiao Ru suddenly acted, facing the direction of the Qianjian Sect… HUMMM!

With a flick of her finger, a True Qi Wave condensed into a transparent needle and shot toward the tightly guarded Fourth Senior Brother.

The transparent needle was incredibly fast—so fast that not even Sect Leader Qian Zeng could react in time. With a SWISH, it slipped through a gap between the four protectors and pierced straight into the Qianjian Sect’s Fourth Senior Brother.

“Aaaargh…”

A pained cry erupted from the Fourth Senior Brother’s lips.

Everyone from the Qianjian Sect froze. The father-daughter pair, Qian Zeng and Qian Ya, whipped their heads around to look at their Fourth Senior Brother.

“Fourth Brother!”

They cried out in alarm and hurriedly began to examine him.

The diagnosis was…

Qian Ya swayed, speaking in a stunned daze, “His Heavenly Destiny Bone… it’s been pierced. How vicious! So unbelievably vicious!”

“Who did this?” Qian Zeng and the other Qianjian Sect Elders couldn’t help but roar in fury.

But an indifferent voice suddenly rang out, “Silence. Who gave you permission to raise such a ruckus?”

All eyes turned toward the source of the voice. The speaker was, of course, Xiao Ru on the city wall…

Qian Zeng and the others could only bite back their anger and fall silent. Then, one by one, they knelt heavily, their voices squeezed through clenched teeth. “Lord Xiao, our disciple was just ambushed. We implore you to uphold justice for us.”

As they spoke, the leaders of the Qianjian Sect raised their heads, their eyes filled with hope as they looked at Xiao Ru.

They didn’t know that the ambusher was Xiao Ru herself. How could she possibly deliver them justice?

Xiao Ru merely replied with an indifferent sneer, “Stop putting on such a pathetic little show. Don’t think the whole world is out to get you. Are you even worthy of being targeted? Now shut your mouths and continue the competition.”

With that, Xiao Ru icily withdrew her gaze. “Cause any more disturbances, and I’ll declare your sect the loser.”

The expressions of the Qianjian Sect members froze, their eyes turning bloodshot. To think she would accuse them of staging the whole thing.

An endless sense of grievance and indignation welled up in the hearts of the Qianjian Sect members.

Sect Leader Qian Zeng still wanted to say something…

But a hand pulled him back. He turned to see it was Lu Chao.

He asked blankly, “Young Master Lu, what are you doing…?”

Lu Chao cut him off softly. “It was Xiao Ru who crippled your Fourth Senior Brother. Can you really expect the culprit to deliver justice for you? Can you expect the Judge of this tournament to be fair?”

At these words, Qian Zeng froze, his jaw dropping. Qian Ya began to tremble violently.

Master Tian and the other Qianjian Sect Elders turned deathly pale. ‘If Xiao Ru was the one who did it,’ they thought, ‘then what damn hope do we have of getting justice?’

This was, plain and simple, the referee cheating. How could they possibly win against that?

“How can this be happening? We… we should fight her!” Lu He was also swaying, utterly shaken by how badly they were being bullied.

But aside from bitter smiles, no one from the Qianjian Sect made a move.

Xiao Ru was from the Biyue Lineage of the Green Bone Palace. In other words, a disciple of the Green Bone Palace. Even if they had concrete proof, would they dare to oppose her?

And they certainly wouldn’t dare in a situation like this, where they had no proof whatsoever.

Nearby, Ren Tang spoke in a caustic tone, “Miracle of the Nether Spring, you can’t just spout nonsense. Don’t bring the calamity of annihilation down on our Qianjian Sect.”

As he spoke, he was inwardly thrilled to his core, practically exploding with glee.

‘I don’t know if Xiao Ru really did it herself, or if what Lu Chao said is true.’

‘But one thing’s for sure: the Qianjian Sect is guaranteed to lose. And seeing that miserable, bitter smile on Qian Ya’s face… it feels so damn good. That’s what you get for looking down on me, for slapping me in the face over some damn country bumpkin.’

Lu Chao simply gave Ren Tang a cool glance, shrugged, and said nothing.

In fact, he had seen Xiao Ru flick her finger. But even if he hadn’t, he would have guessed what happened. He had seen Chi Xingxun go up to the city wall, and he had seen Chi Xingxun sneering in his direction.

Suddenly, a Qianjian Sect Elder spoke up. “Let’s put that aside for now. What do we do? There’s still one match left, and Fourth Brother can’t go on. Do we have any other disciples of the right age who can fight?”

At his words, the dejected crowd froze as a cold wind howled past.

Of course, they had people who could defeat the Thunderbolt Sect’s final disciple, but most of them were over the age limit.

This disciple competition had an age restriction, and their remaining disciples who met the age requirement weren’t strong enough to win.

Master Tian’s voice trembled slightly. “Their last opponent is the Third Senior Brother of the Thunderbolt Sect, a man named Yu Hui. He’s at the Creation Realm Fifth Layer. I’m afraid no one in our Qianjian Sect can defeat him.”

Everyone’s gaze fell upon their young Sixth Junior Sister, then shifted to the other, even younger disciples…

There was no one. Absolutely no one.

The ranked disciples in the Qianjian Sect were all from the Inner Sect. The rest belonged to the Outer Sect.

The Outer Sect disciples were either too old, their cultivation realms were too weak, the grade of their Heavenly Destiny Bone was too low, or their combat aptitude was simply average.

Suddenly… CRASH!

On the temporary stage, the Seventh Senior Brother had just slammed his opponent to the ground.

Qian Ya looked up and couldn’t help but shout, “Seventh Senior Brother, hold on! Don’t win yet!”

‘We have to get Seventh Senior Brother to stall. We have to think of something!’

Just then, Lu Chao’s voice sounded softly, “If you have no other choice, then give me a set of Qianjian Sect robes.”

Hm?

Every member of the Qianjian Sect, Ren Tang included, snapped their gazes toward Lu Chao.

The next moment, Ren Tang reacted, and his expression sank.

“Kid, you think a weakling who just reached the Creation Realm, a piece of trash who crawled out of who-knows-where, is worthy of representing our Qianjian Sect in battle?”

“Things are chaotic enough as it is. Get lost.”

His words were incredibly rude and laced with deep contempt. It was clear that no matter what Lu Chao said, he would be displeased.

But Qian Ya suddenly said, “Second Senior Brother, take off your robes. Give them to Young Master Lu.”

What?

It wasn’t just Ren Tang. Even Qian Zeng and the Qianjian Sect Elders stared wide-eyed. Qian Ya actually intended to let Lu Chao fight. ‘But he’s only at the Creation First Layer! It’s impossible for him to win.’

“Ya’er, we can’t be reckless out of desperation! We’ll find another disciple,” an Elder said quickly.

But Master Tian said firmly, “No. Let Young Master Lu go.”