132. Baili Wins Without a Fight, Wuji Outwits Wangsun

As the second round of the tournament began, Xie Wuji noticed that Baili Qingyan was scheduled to compete on one of the first nine platforms.

The moment Baili Qingyan stepped onto the stage, the male disciples in the audience erupted!

"The Vine Man is here! Oh heavens, the excitement is about to begin!"

"Wow, it’s another beauty from Red Dust Valley! We’re in for a treat, ha-ha!"

"What a fantastic arrangement!"

Baili Qingyan remained expressionless, his gaze indifferent as he looked at his opponent. As it happened, this opponent was someone Xie Wuji knew—Haitang.

Haitang’s brows were furrowed, her pretty face taut. Gritting her teeth, she retorted, "Aside from Brother Xie, none of you disciples from Danxia Sect are good people!"

"You know Wuji?" Baili Qingyan asked slowly.

Haitang put her hands on her hips. "Of course! Brother Xie is gentle, considerate, and a fantastic cook; he’s truly a dragon among men. But you? You’re the worst! How could you use such a vulgar method to fight?"

"That is my Spirit Beast. Regardless of whether my opponent is male or female, I fight the same way." Baili Qingyan flicked his wrist, and a mass of vines emerged from his sleeves.

These vines appeared incredibly bizarre. Most chilling of all, the tips of the vines were rounded and coated in glistening sap.

Haitang felt her scalp tingle. Recalling the miserable state Zhang Nini had been in after her match—convulsing uncontrollably and crying out that she was "ascending to heaven"—Haitang immediately took two steps back. She had no desire to endure such a horrific ordeal.

"I... I surrender!" Haitang declared.

The announcement shocked the surrounding crowd, and the spectators began to clamor.

"No way! Such a beautiful girl, how could she just give up like that? Where is the justice in this world?"

"Good heavens, we finally see the Vine Man, and he wins without even fighting?"

While the battles on other platforms were intense, Baili Qingyan seemed to steal the spotlight from everything around him.

Elsewhere, Zou Yingjun was locked in an evenly matched fight with his opponent, a disciple of the Mountain-Crushing Sect skilled in the Mountain-Crushing Palm. The opponent was already covered in bloody punctures from their exchange, as Zou Yingjun had been using a blood-draining technique to fight back.

The man, now looking emaciated, gasped, "Are you a lunatic? You just keep sucking people's blood..."

"I suck because I want to! None of your business!" Zou Yingjun replied. He lunged forward again, his mouth morphing into a straw-like tube that pierced his opponent’s stomach, gulping down more blood.

The man was now skin and bones, sporting heavy dark circles under his eyes and looking as though he were on the verge of death. Yet, he remained tenacious, refusing to yield despite his wretched state.

Zou Yingjun retracted his mouth with a slurp. Despite his name—which meant "Handsome Zou"—he was anything but, and the name seemed to have no relation to his appearance.

The Mountain-Crushing disciple leaned on a short staff, trembling like an elderly man in his twilight years, barely able to stand.

"When I stepped onto this stage, I was a four-hundred-pound man," the opponent said weakly.

"No wonder you were so oily," Zou Yingjun remarked dryly.

Baili Qingyan, who had already secured his victory, could no longer watch. "Yingjun, send him off the stage. If you keep sucking, he’ll die and actually turn into a corpse!"

Reluctantly, Zou Yingjun blew a puff of air at the "corpse," causing the man to topple backward. Disciples from the Mountain-Crushing Sect rushed over, cursing Zou Yingjun and branding him a vampire.

After that match, the nickname "Vampire" stuck to Zou Yingjun. Of all the disciples, the ones people least wanted to encounter were Zou Yingjun and Baili Qingyan—both eccentric oddities of the Danxia Sect. Of course, Xie Wuji had yet to compete.

When Xie Wuji finally took the stage, he was accompanied by Dongmen Jianhao. Dongmen was as impressive as ever; facing a Golden Core stage disciple, he dominated effortlessly, defeating his opponent with bare hands without ever needing a weapon.

Xie Wuji’s opponent, however, was someone special: Zhao Wangsun, the third-ranked inner disciple of the Extreme Immortal Sect.

Zhao Wangsun wielded a massive blade the size of a door. Standing three meters tall and built like a bear, he wore black armor, clearly favoring brute strength.

Seeing Xie Wuji, Zhao Wangsun laughed. "So, it’s you. You may have performed a great service by saving us all before, but I am your opponent now. I advise you to surrender!"

The audience, mostly locals from the Li Kingdom, was very familiar with Zhao Wangsun.

"The kid is up against Zhao Wangsun? He’s known as the human catapult—his strength is infinite!"

"Zhao Wangsun is as strong as a bear; that boy is in for a rough time!"

"I don't know about that. Maybe the kid has some hidden tricks up his sleeve?"

Xie Wuji didn't dare underestimate him, though the Danxia Sect members were already debating.

Ji Liancheng leaned back in his chair, his expression solemn. "If we're talking pure strength, Zhao Wangsun is second to none. Legend has it he can lift the heaviest Dragon-Breaking Stone and bend an iron plow with his bare hands. With such peerless strength, I fear Wuji might be at a disadvantage..."

"Let’s just watch. I believe in Wuji; that boy always manages to surprise us," said Yang Hongliu, who was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, brimming with confidence.

Xie Wuji picked his ear and said to Zhao Wangsun, "If I were you, I’d surrender immediately. You are no match for me."

"Ha-ha-ha!" Zhao Wangsun roared with laughter. "The little guy has a sense of humor. But jokes are just jokes. It is impossible for you to defeat me. Please, make your move!"

In truth, Xie Wuji was panicking internally. He thought to himself, *He’s an expert in the Nascent Soul stage; if I really clash with him, isn't that like an egg hitting a rock?*

*Should I reveal my trump card and use the Thirty-Six Small Sword Formation?*

As Xie Wuji hesitated, he didn't realize that Zhao Wangsun was also feeling uncertain. Zhao Wangsun clearly remembered how Xie Wuji had ventured into the lion's den alone at the Tongtian Tower to disable the Anti-Flight Formation. Even his master hadn't been able to find the formation's core, yet Xie Wuji had broken it in under an hour. Such ability was perhaps unprecedented in history! In Zhao Wangsun’s mind, he had already placed Xie Wuji on the same level as the mighty Li Qianjun.

The battle began. Sweat trickled down Xie Wuji’s forehead; the atmosphere was incredibly tense.

"Go to hell!" Zhao Wangsun bellowed, charging forward with his giant sword.

"Wait!" Xie Wuji held up a hand.

Zhao Wangsun stopped abruptly, secretly startled. *Is he planning to go all out from the start?* As the third senior brother of the Extreme Immortal Sect, if he lost on this stage, his reputation would plummet. He grew more wary, not wanting to reveal any openings.

"Are... are you trying to leave your last words? Don't worry, I won't take your life; after all, you are everyone's savior," Zhao Wangsun said.

Xie Wuji squinted, tilting his head as he looked him up and down. "Something is wrong with you. I don't fight sick people."

"You're the one with a problem! Your whole family has a problem!" Zhao Wangsun cursed. But then, he paused. *Could he have spotted my hidden ailment?* During a past trial, his left femur had been crushed by a bear demon. Although the wound had healed, the bone had ached chronically ever since.

"What do you mean, something is wrong with me?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Why bother asking?" Xie Wuji thought, *Good, he’s hooked.*

"How could you possibly know?" Zhao Wangsun stared at him with suspicion. It was true he had a hidden ailment, but for Xie Wuji to see it at a glance—he realized this man was not simple.

Xie Wuji laughed. "Heh, exactly. I am an alchemist from the Danxia Sect, so perhaps I can help you. We’ve met by chance; I wouldn't stand by and watch you die!"

"Wait, are you saying I’m going to die?" Zhao Wangsun’s face went pale. He now believed Xie Wuji implicitly, because not even Li Wudi knew about his injury.

"I suspect your luck in love isn't very good. If this illness progresses, it might affect your ability to carry on your family line. Of course, don't worry for now—we're on stage, the others are far enough away that they can't hear us," Xie Wuji said.

"What?!" Zhao Wangsun was horrified. The left femur was located quite close to a man’s most vital area. Could this injury have caused some kind of deterioration in that regard?

One had to understand, that was a man's pride!