Ling Xiao smiled amiably at Tantai Lingzi, not quite understanding why this woman seemed to bear him ill will.
However, since the other party had already made her threats, he naturally wouldn’t be afraid.
Even if it were not easy, with his current strength, it would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens for her to kill him.
He wasn’t a Heavenly Man Realm expert, so why the pretense?
The qualification competition for the Pagoda Climbing Ceremony had a very simple format: draw lots to determine matchups, with those who suffered three losses being eliminated, until only the last forty remained.
The rules were simple and clear: just keep winning, and even if you lose, never exceed three losses.
Ling Xiao liked such rules—they saved trouble, after all, it was just a qualifying competition, and making it too complicated would be meaningless.
Soon, most of the higher-ups of the Moon Hua Sect had also gathered on the square.
The Inner Gate Square was entirely fortified with an Array Formation; after all, the strength of all Inner Sect Disciples was above the Transcendent Realm, so their destructive power was not insignificant.
Naturally, the Array Formation on the Martial Arts Platform was even stronger.
As long as one’s cultivation level did not surpass the Half-step Celestial, it would be impossible to destroy the Martial Arts Platform.
There were a total of twenty Martial Arts Platforms on the Inner Gate Square, allowing twenty matchups to begin simultaneously.
This was not considered slow, as initially, the martial artists drawn may differ significantly in strength, with some battles possibly being resolved in moments.
As the competition progressed, the disciples’ strengths would become closer, and the duration of the battles would increase accordingly.
Ling Xiao felt that it was unlikely for him to encounter a formidable opponent at the start. Although they drew lots, to the higher-ups, changing the matchups on the fly was easily done.
These higher-ups would definitely not allow too strong of matchups to happen at the very beginning.
Many high-level officials had come today, including familiar and unfamiliar faces, among which, of course, was Sect Leader Chang Yueying.
But the Moon Lady was nowhere to be seen.
Thinking about it, it made sense; as the most mysterious being in the Moon Hua Sect, the Moon Lady had to maintain a sense of mystique.
"The Supreme Head Teacher has arrived!"
Suddenly, the wind and clouds in heaven and earth changed colors, a strong wind burst forth on the Inner Gate Square, and the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi became turbulent.
An elderly woman with white hair appeared, supported by a young girl.
Although she walked slowly and without much momentum,
the truly powerful martial artists could feel that she seemed to have integrated herself with the surrounding heaven and earth.
A terrifying level of cultivation!
While lesser than the Moon Lady, she was more powerful than anyone else in the Moon Hua Sect.
She should be a Cave Heaven Realm expert.
Lan Yu’er ran excitedly towards the elderly woman upon seeing her.
So, she was Sister Lan’s master, and it turned out she was the Supreme Head Teacher of the Moon Hua Sect, probably the previous Sect Leader, Ling Xiao thought privately.
What amazed him was that the Moon Hua Sect, truly worthy of being founded by women, had its three most powerful figures all being women—
The Moon Lady, the Supreme Head Teacher, and Sect Leader Chang Yueying!
The elderly woman looked old, but curiously, her face was wrinkle-free, her hands were radiant, and only her silvery hair revealed her age.
"We welcome the Supreme Head Teacher!"
Chang Yueying stood up, along with the rest of the high-level members of the sect, to salute the Supreme Head Teacher.
"Hehe, no need to be so courteous, no need at all, please be seated. I’m just an old woman who has retired to the second line. I came today just to see how my second disciple performs," said the Supreme Head Teacher, whose birth name was Chang Yueli.
She had only accepted three disciples in her lifetime.
The eldest disciple was Chang Yueying, who is the current Sect Leader.
The youngest disciple was Lan Yu’er, regarded as a powerful contender for the next Sect Leader.
The second disciple was named Bai Feifei.
This woman was said to be the adopted daughter of Demonflame Celestial.
That made Ling Xiao think of someone, namely, Master Baiyun’s daughter.
Master Baiyun had a daughter late in life, but on the day she was born, his wife was murdered, and his daughter was taken away.
It had now been confirmed that Demonflame Celestial was behind this.
Master Baiyun and Demonflame Celestial both carried the surname Bai and belonged to the same family, and this girl also had the surname Bai and was also the adopted daughter of Demonflame Celestial, which made Ling Xiao’s guess quite likely correct.
Bai Feifei’s apparent cultivation level was only that of the Transcendent Realm Third Layer Early Phase, but Ling Xiao sensed that she must have practiced a secret Martial Arts technique capable of concealing her true power.
Her actual cultivation level had reached the Half-step Celestial Honored Realm, surpassing Lan Yu’er by a margin!
She might be a bit older than Lan Yu’er, but only about twenty years old. To have cultivated to a Half-step Celestial at such an age was truly astonishing.
However, it made sense; how could she not be exceptionally talented to be taken as a disciple by Supreme Head Teacher Changyueli?
Since Bai Feifei had always cultivated under Changyueli’s guidance and never participated in the Sect’s internal ranking competitions, she was not considered a true heritage disciple.
This time, Changyueli had not included her among the seeded contestants, presumably planning to let her second disciple, who had long stayed in the Divine Palace, publicly display her strength.
As for deeper motives, that remained unknown.
Of course, Ling Xiao was too lazy to delve deeper. After all, he had once merely promised to help Master Baiyun find his daughter; seeing Bai Feifei safe and living so well, he thought Master Baiyun would surely be pleased.
Leng Hao, who stood behind Golden Light Heavenly Lord, also fixed his gaze on Bai Feifei, a hint of worry coloring his brows.
Indeed, his cultivation growth rate was already extremely frightening, a true genius among geniuses with a real cultivation level in the Transcendent Realm Fourth Layer Early Phase, and rumors among the disciples couldn’t be entirely trusted.
Demonflame Celestial was still absent, but Meng Yuan, Ming Tian, and Shen Tian Lin were all present.
These three stood behind Elder Jin.
It was clear that during Demonflame Celestial’s recovery, Elder Jin had completely become their mainstay.
Ming Tian’s cultivation was even more formidable than Leng Hao’s, after all, he originally possessed a stronger cultivation base than both Leng Hao and Ling Xiao.
He was now truly at the Transcendent Realm Fifth Layer Early Stage, a speed of cultivation that was also quite rare.
However, faced with these so-called geniuses, Ling Xiao just smiled faintly.
Back then, he had set his sights on surpassing Ming Tian, but now he had already easily exceeded Ming Tian’s cultivation level.
Of course, like Ming Tian and Leng Hao, being geniuses, their cultivation levels didn’t represent their full strength. Perhaps they could still easily defeat an opponent one realm higher than themselves.
Even so, they were still left behind by Ling Xiao.
Now, Ling Xiao’s goal had shifted to Demonflame Celestial!
If he surpassed Demonflame Celestial, he didn’t believe the Moon Hua Sect wouldn’t cherish him like a treasure. Then, he wouldn’t have to worry about Demonflame Celestial coming after him for revenge.
"Ling Xiao, are you confident you can defeat Ming Tian?"
Ling Xiao did not answer; he just smiled lightly.
There were too many geniuses. Although Ming Tian was outstanding, Bai Feifei, Lan Yu’er, Ren Xing Tian, Yue Ren, Tantai Lingzi, Meng Yuan, and others were no less formidable.
Ming Tian was merely one among them.
Defeating him, Ling Xiao was almost certain.