**Chapter 390: The Competition Approaches!**
The day of the Xuantian Sect’s grand competition, a date eagerly anticipated by all disciples, had finally arrived!
On this day, Yun Zhonghe woke up at the crack of dawn, even earlier than usual, perhaps out of a bit of nervousness. It felt a bit like the day of the college entrance exams in his past life.
Though he had never actually taken the college entrance exams, he imagined it must be somewhat similar.
After all, this trial was extremely important!
Tao Jiu’er had arrived early at Yun Zhonghe’s residence, bringing a sumptuous breakfast.
Yun Zhonghe shared his meal with Tao Jiu’er and Chen Leling, who also showered him with encouraging words, boosting his spirits immensely.
Before heading out, Tao Jiu’er and Chen Leling stood at the doorstep, cheering for the soon-to-be-heroic Yun Zhonghe:
“Young Master, go for it!”
“Yun, Zhong, He… let’s go!”
With two beauties cheering him on, Yun Zhonghe felt a surge of energy and tightly clenched his fists in response: “I’ll give it my all!”
He then made his way to the Outer Gate’s white jade plaza.
Before this, he had already communicated with Mu Jixue and others through a communication jade pendant to finalize their meeting place at the Outer Gate Square.
At this moment, the sky was no longer the tranquil blue of ordinary days; it was buzzing with excitement.
Countless cultivators soaring through the air on swords, and spirit boats zipped overhead.
The Xuantian Sect’s grand competition was a major event in the Eastern Continent, attracting distinguished guests and powerful beings from all over the five continents. To accommodate these esteemed visitors, the Xuantian Sect and Mansion had eased aerial restrictions, allowing cultivators to fly freely.
So, Yun Zhonghe summoned Xue Yunjian and hopped on, heading towards the center of the white jade plaza.
His cultivation had now firmly stepped into the Golden Core Stage, which meant he had officially acquired the ability to fly on his sword. Especially after triumphing over Xue Yunjian in bed, he felt she was much more manageable now, as if she had adapted perfectly to his style.
Honestly, even if he hadn’t reached the Golden Core Stage, with his skill, he could still fly on a sword. But now, it was a much easier and less tiring ordeal.
After all, the spiritual and mental energy of the Golden Core was qualitatively different from that of the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Of course, flying on a sword was still less efficient than a spirit boat; it was suitable for short distances, but for long journeys, a spirit boat was still a must.
At this moment, the white jade plaza of the Xuantian Sect was already filled with numerous disciples ready to take part in the competition.
Most were inner door elites, but there were also some remarkable outer gate disciples, as well as esteemed guests and strong fighters from around the five continents, making the whole plaza a bustling spectacle.
As one of the most magnificent squares of the Xuantian Sect, the white jade plaza was expansive enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people and was usually the go-to place for various activities and celebrations.
But right now, it was lively and packed to the brim.
Some groups were huddled together, while others paired off.
When encountering familiar faces, casual greetings flew around like confetti.
An entire spring outing spectacle was unfolding.
Amidst the throng of people, finding Mu Jixue wasn’t too tough, given her striking silver hair, which was quite rare in the cultivation realm.
Of course, Yun Zhonghe’s appearance was also quite unique; his golden hair was easily noticeable from a distance.
“Yun Zhonghe! Over here!”
At the sound of a sweet voice, Yun Zhonghe looked toward the source, spotting Mu Jixue waving excitedly in the crowd.
He gracefully leaped from Xue Yunjian, landing steadily on the ground as the sword light dissipated into thin air.
Lin Zhongyu and Su Xiaoxiao had also arrived at the plaza and were standing beside Mu Jixue.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting,” Yun Zhonghe said politely.
“No problem, we just got here too.” The gentle voice undoubtedly belonged to Lin Zhongyu.
“Brother Yun.” Su Xiaoxiao timidly nodded, but her nervousness seemed more about the crowd than Yun Zhonghe himself.
After all, she hadn’t quite shaken off her lingering social anxiety since their last encounter in that little black room.
This was actually their first reunion since then.
The three beautiful girls had their eyes sparkling; perhaps the memories of that little black room were too wonderful and left a deep imprint, causing them to momentarily lose themselves as they stared at Yun Zhonghe.
Yun Zhonghe quickly sensed their intense gazes and felt a little awkward.
“Uh… is there something on my face?” he asked, scratching his cheek bashfully.
“No, no, it’s nothing,” Mu Jixue snapped back to reality, a hint of a blush creeping onto her cheeks as she hurriedly explained.
Oh no… not good! Every time she saw Yun Zhonghe, her mind conjured up images of him in woman’s clothes.
It made it hard to keep calm.
It wasn’t just Mu Jixue; Lin Zhongyu and Su Xiaoxiao were equally affected. They felt flustered and shy, instinctively lowering their heads because of the fluttering in their hearts.
They wished they could hold Yun Zhonghe down and dress him up in women’s clothing again; that would be such an exhilarating scene!
However, they knew that was out of the question, so they had to forcibly suppress their emotions and bottle up their excitement.
As they struggled with this restraint, they couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Yun Zhonghe… what a little devil, captivating their souls!
Yun Zhonghe: “…”
Even though they hadn’t said anything, he could guess what was dancing in their minds, sending chills down his spine.
He dared not speak; best to steer clear of any topic that might trigger embarrassing memories.
All he hoped was for his embarrassing past not to affect his relationships with Huang Aotian and the main heroine.
“Yun Young Master?”
Just as the atmosphere began to grow tense, a voice of astonishment suddenly broke the surrounding silence.
Everyone turned to look, and right in the dense crowd, a vacuum space suddenly opened up.
In the middle of this empty area stood a fiery red-haired woman—Qin Hongye!
Yun Zhonghe’s eyes widened.
It had been a while since he last saw her, and it felt like Qin Hongye had skyrocketed in strength!
She seemed to be on par with Mu Jixue now!
In the original story, Qin Hongye took on the role of a villainess, harboring unrequited love for Mu Jixue and turning resentful because of it, always overshadowed by Mu Jixue’s strength.
But now, with the plot altered, she seemed to have broken through her limits, becoming incredibly powerful.
With her exceptional fire spiritual root, she seemed to have condensed a remarkable innate spiritual fire, significantly boosting her power.
It felt as if an intimidating aura of fire spirit energy enveloped her, making her presence formidable.
Moreover, because Qin Hongye held high prestige in the sect and wasn’t particularly approachable, her aura was so strong that nobody dared to stand near her, hence the vacuum.
Yet Yun Zhonghe didn’t pay too much mind to this. Seeing Qin Hongye appear, he smiled in delight: “Sister Qin!”
Without hesitation, he walked toward her, cheerfully greeting her along the way.
To everyone’s astonishment, the usually stoic Qin Hongye actually revealed a rare smile!
This unexpected change left all the disciples present stunned, eyes wide as saucers, disbelief written all over their faces, as if they had just seen a ghost.
Wha— Who is this yellow-haired kid? Why is Qin Hongye so friendly with him?!
Qin Hongye’s smile seemed to wrap her piercing demeanor in a soft glow, making her appear less intimidating and a touch more approachable.
However, as her gaze flicked to Mu Jixue standing behind Yun Zhonghe, her smile vanished in the blink of an eye.
Her face returned to its usual expressionless state.
d*mn it, you little brat!
