Chapter 384: The Challenge Match

"Alright, alright! Stop yelling! I’ll come over right away, okay?" Rong Yitian helplessly rubbed his nose and pleaded. After being told this much, how could he refuse to go?

Elsewhere, because of the incident involving Yu Saixi, Gou Guangyue and Mao Yuru had been confined to the Gou Family’s secondary residence. Ironically, this allowed them to escape the disaster along with the servants who had also remained there.

At this moment, Gou Guangyue was furious because she could not participate in the competition. She vented her anger by beating and cursing the servants, leaving one maid covered in horrific whip marks. Just then, Mao Yuru hurried in. After waving for everyone to leave, she grabbed Gou Guangyue in panic. "Cousin, something terrible has happened. I heard... I heard..."

"What happened? Take your time and speak slowly." Gou Guangyue casually tossed the whip onto the table and suppressed her impatience as she let Mao Yuru hold onto her.

"Uuu... A friend of mine secretly came to tell me just now. Grandfather, along with the other elders and elite disciples, was killed by Xiao Shou’s grandfather after Xiao Shou used his position to bully him." Mao Yuru was truly panicking. The Gou Family was her last source of protection. Now that her maternal grandfather was gone, most of that protection had disappeared. How could she not be terrified?

She did not even know whether the Eternal Prosperity Sect would spare the two of them. For the sake of participating in the competition, almost everyone from the secondary residence had left. Now, aside from her and her cousin, there were only servants and guards below the Nascent Soul stage.

What use could such people possibly be?

Thinking of this, she nervously grabbed Gou Guangyue. "What if Xiao Shou wants to wipe us all out? Can we... can we escape?"

"Are you certain what you’re saying is true?" Gou Guangyue’s mind was thrown into chaos. She asked in disbelief while carefully observing Mao Yuru’s expression. At this moment, Mao Yuru was no longer even pretending to look pitiful.

Gou Guangyue was stunned for a moment before immediately standing up and using a secret technique to summon her hidden guards. She then sent them out to investigate the situation.

After some time, Gou Guangyue obtained more detailed information. While suppressing her grief, she decisively ordered her hidden guards to secretly escort her away. Unexpectedly, she left Mao Yuru, the guards, and all the servants behind. She then slipped away alone without making a sound.

...

Early the next morning, all the Eternal Prosperity Sect disciples had obtained positions to defend.

They gathered in the main hall at dawn.

Xiao Shou had meditated throughout the night and was somewhat worried, so he also sat in the seat of honor and listened as Fu Young arranged everyone’s defensive matches.

Once Fu Young finished making the arrangements, Xiao Shou knew that with Fu Young’s strength, there was really nothing to worry about. If anything, the people challenging him were the ones who should be worried.

Xiao Shou still could not help reminding him, "Young’er, don’t push yourself too hard either. I know that with your strength, no one can defeat you in a fair fight. However, cultivators have all kinds of underhanded methods, and it is impossible to guard against all of them. You must be careful."

"I understand, Master. You don’t need to go. It’s only ten consecutive challenges. There is no difficulty at all."

When it came to methods, how many people could possibly have more concealed methods than him?

Besides, they were nothing more than little tricks to amuse himself. He was not even interested in them. The only thing that could truly interest him was a battle against someone whose strength was on the same level as his. If that person were not his Master’s grandfather he really wanted to fight him.

Xiao Shou nodded. The challenge matches were being presided over by the Holy City elders, so cultivators at the level of sect masters and family heads did not need to attend personally.

If he went, he would have to use a disguise pill. More importantly, there was no real point in going. With his divine sense, he could simply extend his perception over a greater distance and clearly sense everything happening in the competition arenas. He could basically observe the entire competition from here.

After Fu Young led the disciples of the Eternal Prosperity Sect away, Xiao Shou continued watching the challenge matches.

The other disciples fought one battle after another, some easily and others with great difficulty. Yet the arena defended by Fu Young remained completely empty.

No one came to challenge him. It seemed yesterday’s battle had left them with a deep impression. But what could they do if nobody challenged him? Wasn’t it said that winning ten challenges would grant them a qualification for the second round? How was this supposed to be counted if nobody challenged him?

Clearly, the organizers had never anticipated such a loophole in the new rules of the Heaven Origin Grand Competition.

Someone had become so overwhelmingly powerful that nobody dared challenge him.

Others believed that everyone had simply been frightened by what happened the previous day and no longer dared provoke the disciples of the Eternal Prosperity Sect.

Of course, that explanation did not quite hold up.

For example, around the arena defended by the unlucky Cao Xue, challengers appeared one after another.

Fortunately, there was a period of recovery after each challenge.

Cao Xue was a formation cultivator, and his greatest strength lay in fighting while well rested and waiting for his opponents to exhaust themselves.

Under such circumstances, he could still hold on.

Seeing this situation, the elders presiding over the competition immediately gathered to discuss the matter.

Afterward, they consulted their superiors as well. The elders then announced another new rule in front of everyone.

If a person defending their arena received fewer than four challengers in a single day and remained undefeated in all four matches, they would automatically qualify for the second round.