Chapter 169: Little Junior Brother, Leave Me Some Backup!
As the competition rolled on, fewer and fewer disciples remained, and most of those still standing were Child of Destiny types.
In the next match, Lin Yan went head-to-head with the Holy Son of Tai Chu Holy Land. Relying on his self-created techniques, they fought to a draw, both ending their battle in catastrophic explosions, losing their fighting abilities.
Maybe because of that, the Northern Region sects and Central Continent Holy Lands finally realized that their remaining disciples were all roughly equally skilled. Even if one side won, it would be a pitiful victory — not the point of their grand tournament. So, they decided to change the rules for the last showdown.
From now on, disciples would be restricted from using spiritual power. The focus would shift to their understanding of the Dao and their finesse.
Sure, the spectacle might go down a notch, but the higher-ups didn’t want to parade a bunch of badly injured disciples back home either.
Under these new rules, Bai Yu Mo, who possesses the Celestial Bone, had a huge advantage. Plus, her swordsmanship was leagues above the rest.
On the platform, Yao Chi Holy Maiden smiled at Bai Yu Mo and said, “I’ve heard of you a long time ago. Always wanted to meet you.”
Bai Yu Mo squinted slightly, sensing there was more behind her words: “Let’s talk about that after the competition.”
“Don’t refuse my visit then,” Yao Chi Holy Maiden grinned, raising her long sword in a seemingly casual stance.
Bai Yu Mo didn’t reply, drawing her sword and rushing straight at her.
In the next moment, Yao Chi Holy Maiden’s sword was flicked away effortlessly. But she only smirked slightly and made a gentle palm strike toward Bai Yu Mo.
Bai Yu Mo remained calm. During her previous fight, she had already noticed that Yao Chi Holy Maiden was merely swinging her sword carelessly—sometimes not even using her sword at all. She guessed the sword was probably just for show.
She raised her left hand and struck Yao Chi Holy Maiden directly, revealing her formidable physical strength with a single palm that sent her flying.
Yao Chi Holy Maiden stood at the edge, rubbing her reddened little hand and muttered, “That was so rude.”
As Bai Yu Mo walked toward her, she quickly reached out and shouted, “I surrender! I surrender!”
Yao Chi Holy Maiden’s swordplay was exquisite, her body power akin to a monster. She had no obvious weak spots. Since she was only here for a trial, not life-or-d*ath, why bother killing each other so earnestly?
“Respectfully conceded,” Bai Yu Mo cupped her fists politely. She didn’t turn back but waited for her last opponent to step onto the stage.
Bai Feng glanced at the system, which kindly did not notify him of any penalties. He heaved a small sigh of relief.
Looks like this competition wouldn’t count as suppression of the Child of Destiny. Though, there were conditions — like him not having any relation to his opponent. If it were Yu Ping An from Spirit Sealing Sect, the system probably wouldn’t be so straightforward.
Even Bai Yu Mo and Yun Yue Yao’s battles managed to award him ten luck points, after all.
“Huh… Is Yu Mo really that strong?” Yun Yao whispered next to Bai Feng, watching Bai Yu Mo on the stage.
How come even the Holy Maiden of Yao Chi Holy Land didn’t hold on for more than a few moves?
“What’s wrong? Are you scared already?” Bai Feng shot a glance at Yun Yao. “It’s still not too late to withdraw now.”
“Hmph, do I look like someone who’ll run away at the first sign of trouble?” Yun Yao waved her hand dismissively, feigning indifference. “It’s better if Yu Mo is strong—then my progress will be faster!”
“I’ll remember that.” Bai Feng took out the Image Retainer with a smile.
“…Little Junior Brother, Leave Me Some Backup!” Yun Yao hurriedly reached out to snatch the Image Retainer, but standing on her tiptoes made it a bit tricky.
“As long as you can hold on three days, I’ll give you the Image Retainer,” Bai Feng said, one hand holding it up, the other patting Yun Yao’s head.
Hearing this, Yun Yao instantly relaxed. “Hah, three days? You’re underestimating me just a bit!”
“Let’s make it seven days then?”
Seeing Bai Feng change his tune, Yun Yao quickly shook her head. “No no, just three days! That’s what you said, no changing!”
While the two of them were chatting, Bai Yu Mo had already defeated her last opponent and claimed first place in the competition.
Bai Feng was not surprised. Even without changing the rules midway, Bai Yu Mo’s victory was just a bit tougher. After all, she had fully fused with the Celestial Bone and cultivated the Celestial Technique—her “Spirit of Array” surpassed others by miles.
Next up seemed to be the Array Master’s match! Yun Yao turned to Bai Feng. “This is your stage now. Try to get first place like Yu Mo!”
“Let’s see what the rules for this round are,” Bai Feng said, hoping his earlier proposal for the competition format would be accepted. That way, he could dodge Spirit Sealing Sect’s Yu Ping An.
…
“Finally, it’s happening!”
Yu Ping An clenched his fists.
Especially recalling how he was toyed with in the Secret Realm, how Sister Su treated both sides differently, and the rumors brewing within the sect, his desire to defeat this guy grew stronger—proving he was the true genius of Array in the Northern Region!
And now, the moment was drawing near.
At this time, the elder responsible for the Array Competition stepped forward. He cleared his throat and announced, “Ahem, we’ll be making some changes to the Array Competition. It will now be divided into individual and team events. The individual rules remain the same: create a complete array within a limited time, then challenge the array.”
“And for the team event, it’s a whole different game. No restrictions! You can destroy the opponent’s unfinished array right from the start, or refuse to interfere and challenge their array later, or destroy their in-progress array after it’s built. It’s chaos!”
‘It got approved.’
Bai Feng’s lips curled into a smile. The rules he proposed were accepted wholesale. He was only hoping to split the competition into solo and team categories so he could avoid Yu Ping An from Spirit Sealing Sect.
“Alright, first match: Heavenly Sword Sect versus Tai Chu Holy Land.”
‘Tai Chu Holy Land? Their arrays are pretty standard, not too special, but no obvious flaws either.’
Bai Feng pondered for a few seconds before heading toward the prepared arena.
To avoid confrontation with Spirit Sealing Sect’s Yu Ping An, he’d only participate in the individual contest until he faced Spirit Sealing Sect.
“Is that Bai Shixiong, the Array Genius of Heavenly Sword Sect? Pleased to meet ya!”
The Array Mage from Tai Chu Holy Land was a gentle-looking man with long hair, like a scholarly gentleman.
“You know me?”
Bai Feng was a little surprised. His talent for arrays was good, and he even apprenticed under Liu Meng, but that was within the Northern Region. Outside of it, not many knew of him—especially since he hadn’t made any massive waves.
“The genius Array Mage who made the Image Retainer? I’m well aware—have researched you thoroughly,” the Tai Chu Array Mage nodded with a smile. “Especially since your creation is quite popular among our senior sisters.”
“Quite an honor indeed.” Bai Feng didn’t expect that reason, but it wasn’t necessarily bad—maybe next time, he should brand his new creations with a different name.
As the match started, the two no longer exchanged pleasantries and began crafting arrays seriously.
‘Can’t be too mean—just a simple sixth-rank array will do. Using ‘Thousand Arrays’ would be way too overkill.’
Bai Feng picked materials quickly and began assembling his basic framework at a lightning-fast pace.
The Tai Chu Array Mage carefully examined Bai Feng’s work, seeing the complex rune patterns and high-quality materials used. His own array was at most a fifth-rank, meant to block Yuan Ying—he thought that was pretty strong. But in comparison to a true genius? The gap was immense.
“I lost.”
The Tai Chu Array Mage sighed, admitting defeat as he laid down his materials.
There was no point in trying to play on—forcefully competing would only embarrass himself.
“Bai Feng wins this round!”
On the sidelines, Yu Ping An’s expression hardened—turning out Bai Feng could craft sixth-rank arrays. Looks like he wasn’t wasting all his effort on that “Image Retainer” after all.
But hey, making sixth-rank arrays isn’t exclusive to Bai Feng!
