Chapter 376: The Gou Family Makes Its Move

"Looking at him, then looking at myself, I suddenly feel ashamed to keep living."

"What a cute child! When I get married, I want to have one too."

"Hey, look at that sword cultivator over there. Isn’t that Gou Yuheng from the Gou Family?"

It seemed there was no need to worry about this side either.

Xiao Shou silently withdrew his divine sense and continued observing the battles taking place on the Golden Core and Foundation Building platforms. He was not worried about An Yu. After all, An Yu was the third person to cultivate the specialized cultivation technique he had created.

Her spiritual energy reserves were already several times greater than those of ordinary Foundation Building cultivators. On top of that, she had learned the first and second forms of the sword technique Xiao Shou had created, along with various secret techniques and spells.

The Ninety Nine Four Symbols Mixed Origin Art was certainly not something to be underestimated.

Sure enough, Xiao Shou saw that An Yu was already dominating the Foundation Building competition platform, sweeping through her opponents with no one capable of stopping her.

Rong Yitian, as Nangong Si’s senior disciple’s granddisciple, also possessed a fighting style very similar to Nangong Si’s and was not holding An Yu back in the slightest.

As for Lin Ziyang, although he was a herbivorous demonic beast, a transformed demonic beast was still a transformed demonic beast. His combat strength was equally formidable.

Inside the Golden Core competition arena, Cao Xue was spectacularly unlucky. His misfortune even affected everyone around him. For example, when he cast a Fire Dragon Technique, the fire dragon suddenly exploded for no apparent reason. The resulting blast left him and all the surrounding attackers covered in soot and dust.

Several opponents who were just as unlucky as Cao Xue were knocked around by the explosion, causing their Spirit Cave Keys to fall to the ground.

"Hahaha! These belong to me. Senior Brother Cao, thank you for looking after me!" Gou Jin said happily as he quickly snatched up the keys. "Don’t worry. As long as you don’t get knocked out of the arena, I’ll save one for you at the end."

Cao Xue, whose hair was now a complete mess, was speechless. "...Thank you so much."

Meanwhile, Xu Kaiwen, the transformed demon wolf, understood perfectly well that one should strike while the iron was hot.

While Cao Xue was still speaking, he had already kicked several opponents who had been blasted away out of the arena and casually seized their Spirit Cave Keys.

Without stopping for even a moment, he continued pouncing toward the surrounding opponents. It looked almost like a wolf charging into a flock of sheep.

Not bad. This teamwork is actually quite effective. Cao Xue’s terrible luck can be put to good use like this. I’ll praise them when we return.

Xiao Shou maintained his stiff expression as he listened to the Nine Great Sect Masters around him offering praise and compliments, some sincere and some perhaps not. So, he forced the corners of his mouth upward and said, "Everyone is too kind. They still have a long way to go."

"He says that as if his strength is greater than all of them. He’s merely a medical cultivator." One of the Gou Family elders in the second row quietly muttered this.

Another elder secretly transmitted his voice to the Gou Family Patriarch. "Patriarch, should we test his strength? Even if he has powerful people backing him, our Gou Family isn’t without connections in the Upper Realm. According to the rules, those people from above cannot directly interfere with matters concerning us in the Lower Realm."

"I already have a plan. We’ll discuss it after the competition." The Gou Family Patriarch seemed to have thought of something. His expression was no longer gloomy. He calmly sat in his seat and waited for the competition to end.

The chaotic battle lasted from noon until the sun began to set. Most of the cultivators had fought desperately, covered in blood, while a smaller number had remained relatively relaxed throughout the battle.

One after another, they flew out of the competition platforms and landed beneath the Nine Dragons Platform.

Sect Master Lu Wuchen then announced that the four hundred remaining participants would have to defend their positions the following day. They would need to win ten consecutive challenges to retain both their Spirit Cave Keys and their qualification for the second round three days later. Anyone who failed would lose both.

After Lu Wuchen finished speaking, he was just about to announce the end of the first day and dismiss everyone when the Gou Family Patriarch suddenly stepped forward.

He cupped his hands toward Lu Wuchen and said, "Wait, Sect Master Lu. I have something to say."

"Patriarch Gou, what would you like to say?" As the leader of such a powerful sect, Lu Wuchen immediately saw through the Gou Family Patriarch’s intentions.

Although he looked down on what the man was trying to do, he could not abandon the dignity expected of the Holy Sword Sect. Besides, the Gou Family Patriarch technically had the right to speak. Still, choosing to speak up at this moment was foolish.

That person from above was watching from nearby, yet he still dared to step forward and offend his grandson.

What an idiot.

Although Lu Wuchen cursed inwardly, he could only patiently ask him to continue. After all, the Gou Family Patriarch was still one of the two great family heads. It was said that when the Mao Family was destroyed, the Gou Family and Rong Family had each swallowed half of the Mao Family’s assets. As a result, only two great families remained in Azure Origin City.

Perhaps the Mao Family’s downfall had been orchestrated by the Gou and Rong Families together.

High above, Tushan Qing had been drinking wine in boredom. When he saw what was happening, his eyes immediately lit up. "Hehe. Looks like things are about to get interesting. I wonder how my precious baby will handle this."