Seeing Guangchengzi, whom he trusted most, suffer defeat, Yuanshi's expression instantly turned pitch black.
Tongtian, on the other hand, was beaming with triumph.
Yuanshi let out a cold snort.
"This is merely the first match. The ultimate victor is yet to be decided."
Terrified that the two of them would start bickering again, Taishang hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
"The Three Teachings assembly was originally meant for our disciples to exchange pointers and strengthen our fraternal bonds. Since the Three Purities are as one, why must there be a winner and a loser?"
Yuanshi and Tongtian remained silent at these words.
Yet as their eyes locked, sparks flew between them, making it clear neither had taken Taishang's advice to heart.
Taishang let out a sigh.
So exhausting!
On the arena platform, the matches continued.
In the second round,
Chijingzi faced Our Lady of Turtle Spirit.
With the cultivation of an Early Daluo Golden Immortal, Chijingzi was simply no match for Our Lady of Turtle Spirit, who was in the Late Daluo stage. In barely a dozen moves, he was knocked off the platform.
The second round,
Once again, victory went to Jiejiao.
In the third round,
Yunzhongzi faced Our Lady of Turtle Spirit, and Yunzhongzi was defeated!
In the fourth round,
Antarctic Immortal battled Our Lady of Wudang, and Antarctic Immortal was defeated!
In the fifth round,
Qingxu Daode Zhenjun faced Wuyunxian, the foremost of the Seven Attendant Immortals, and once again Qingxu Daode Zhenjun suffered a crushing defeat.
For five consecutive rounds, Chanjiao had not won a single time.
Tongtian was overjoyed.
He clapped his hands while roaring with laughter, his voice echoing for baili around, as if making dead sure Yuanshi would hear him.
Hearing that grating laughter,
Yuanshi's face darkened like water.
He never imagined his disciples could be so utterly incompetent, failing to secure a single victory across five matches.
Yuanshi felt his face burn with humiliation, consumed by anger and frustration!
The matches continued.
Having lost face, the Chanjiao side glared with eyes spitting fire, furious to the extreme.
Over on the Jiejiao side, everyone was jubilant.
While both factions bickered and fought, occasionally trading verbal jabs or exchanging blows on the stage to great fanfare, Luoxuan had no intention of joining in whatsoever.
He quietly retreated behind the others, distancing himself from the commotion.
This was Yuxu Palace, a realm on par with Biyou Palace, which surely met the system's check-in requirements. Luoxuan naturally could not let this slip by.
He muttered inwardly:
"System, check in!"
[Dingdong!]
[Checked in at Yuxu Palace. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: South-Aspected Separation Fire!]
On the arena platform,
in the sixth round,
Juliusun fought Zhao Gongming and was defeated!
In the seventh round,
Master Lingbao fought Yunxiao and was defeated!
In the eighth round,
Daoxing Tianzun fought Qiongxiao and was defeated!
Chanjiao had fourteen disciples in total, and now having lost eight matches in a row, it meant that even if Chanjiao won all the remaining six matches, the defeat could no longer be reversed.
Tongtian smiled triumphantly.
"Yuanshi,"
"You once claimed the disciples of my sect would struggle to attain the Great Dao. Looking at it now, your Chanjiao disciples are nothing special either."
Yuanshi was so angry his face turned livid.
Humiliating,
truly too humiliating.
Eight straight defeats without a single win for Chanjiao—did this not mean his Chanjiao was inferior to Jiejiao, and that his own grasp of the Great Dao fell short of Tongtian's?
This concerned not just his pride, but the Sage's Great Dao itself.
Therefore,
Chanjiao's failure made Yuanshi all the more furious.
Yet, defeat for Chanjiao was already sealed, and given his naturally proud disposition, how could Yuanshi openly concede defeat? Doing so would be equivalent to admitting he was inferior to Tongtian, so he could only stubbornly try to save face.
"The matches are not yet over. Best not to celebrate too early."
"Elder Brother, the day is growing late. The remaining six matches should perhaps be postponed until tomorrow."
Taishang looked up, and indeed, the sky was growing dim.
While day and night held little meaning for beings of their level, Taishang feared that if Chanjiao kept losing, Yuanshi might literally cough up blood from rage.
After a night to rest,
even if they lost again tomorrow, Yuanshi probably wouldn't be quite as furious... right?
Taishang nodded and said,
"Very well!"
Yuanshi offered Taishang a bow, then turned and strode away, not even sparing Tongtian a glance.
The Chanjiao disciples, acting as though they were mourning their parents, hurried away in Yuanshi's wake.
Tongtian sneered with utter contempt.
"Stubborn to the bitter end!"
That night,
the Jiejiao disciples sat scattered across the plaza outside Yuxu Palace, chatting and laughing.
Bixiao complained:
"Those Chanjiao disciples are truly rude. They haven't even provided a place for us to rest, leaving us to sit here in this plaza. Is this any way to treat guests?"
Zhao Gongming laughed heartily.
"Those Chanjiao rodents pretend to be courteous, but in reality, they are petty and narrow-minded.
"After being soundly thrashed by us today, they harbor resentment and deliberately give us the cold shoulder to retaliate. Such petty behavior is utterly laughable!"
Hearing this, the crowd burst into loud laughter.
Suddenly,
Zhao Gongming glanced around and asked in puzzlement:
"Where is Junior Brother Luoxuan?"
Yunxiao replied:
"I ran into Junior Brother Luoxuan earlier. He said he was going out to enjoy the moonlight."
Zhao Gongming looked up at the pitch-black sky—forget about the moon, not even a single star was visible—and scratched his head in confusion.
Deep within Yuxu Palace,
in a secluded spot,
Luoxuan finally began to claim his check-in reward.
There had been too many people during the day, and South-Aspected Separation Fire was an extremely rare top-tier spiritual fire in the Great Wilderness; if it suddenly materialized out of thin air, it would inevitably draw the attention of the Sages.
Therefore,
Luoxuan had slipped away alone to find a deserted location.
"System, claim reward!"
As his words fell,
a ball of flames suddenly appeared before Luoxuan's eyes. The searing heat was intense enough to make even Luoxuan, a fire-attribute cultivator, feel a wave of warmth.
Such a sensation
was something Luoxuan had never experienced since crossing over into this world.
[South-Aspected Separation Fire: A top-tier spiritual fire of the Great Wilderness, exclusive to the Phoenix clan. Incredibly fierce, possessing the might to incinerate the heavens and boil the seas, while also containing a rich vitality that allows one to undergo Nirvana like a phoenix from heavy injuries and be reborn.]
"As expected of the South-Aspected Separation Fire!"
Luoxuan was overwhelmingly excited.
As a fire-attribute cultivator, seeing such a top-tier spiritual fire was like a gourmet seeing a fine feast; he simply could not contain his excitement.
Luoxuan flicked a finger.
That searing flame instantly transformed into a fiery phoenix, plunging directly into his body.
He sat cross-legged
and began to refine the South-Aspected Separation Fire.
Since Luoxuan was not of the Phoenix clan, he could not naturally command the South-Aspected Separation Fire; to control it, he had to refine it and turn it into his own natal true fire.
Once transformed into his natal true fire,
no one would ever be able to snatch it away unless Luoxuan perished.
Within Luoxuan's body,
two flames existed simultaneously: one was his original natal true fire, and the other was the South-Aspected Separation Fire.
His original true fire was merely an ordinary spiritual fire, completely incomparable to the South-Aspected Separation Fire.
Now that he had something better, the old naturally became obsolete.
At that moment,
acting like a fickle scoundrel, Luoxuan unhesitatingly and ruthlessly discarded the spiritual fire that had accompanied him for years to pursue a new flame.
With a shift of his mind,
the South-Aspected Separation Fire lunged forward, directly swallowing the old spiritual fire whole,
and became his new natal true fire.
After a long while,
Luoxuan opened his eyes.
A red flame imprint materialized on his forehead, adding a hint of uncanny allure to his already handsome features.
With a flick of his finger,
the South-Aspected Separation Fire appeared around him, as obedient as his own limbs and freely controllable.
"Break!"
The flame shot outward.
With a thunderous blast,
a deep crater thousands of meters wide instantly appeared on the ground. The earth was charred black, and plants and rocks alike were reduced to ash.
Luoxuan was startled.
He had merely cast the simplest fireball spell, yet it possessed such terrifying might.
One could only say
it truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier spiritual fire of the Great Wilderness.