These three magical treasures were so eye-catching that everyone wanted to obtain them, but those low-level cultivators mostly had to give up. This way, there wouldn't be matches on stage that were too mismatched or bland.

Although those sect masters and elders couldn't enter the competition, this restriction didn't apply to those without responsibilities. Moreover, there were also hidden experts among the rogue cultivators.

It could be imagined that the three days of magical duels would definitely be intense and exciting.

The stone stage was very large, occupying almost one-third of the square. Shangguan Han ordered people to divide it into four sections separated by barriers, allowing four pairs of opponents to duel on stage at the same time to save time.

Disciples of Tianyan Sect were also busy recording on the side. As long as someone won a match, their name would be recorded. If this person lost in a later match, their name would be crossed out, and so on. After Shangguan Han explained some precautions, such as stopping when hitting the target and not hurting relationships, he flew off the stage.

The jade chime rang out, indicating that it could begin.

Everyone only felt a flash before their eyes as a white figure appeared on the stage from nowhere, standing there steadily.

"Song Yi'an of Tianyan Sect, not knowing his own limitations, comes up to try, just to throw a brick to attract jade. I wonder which fellow Daoist is willing to give me face?" His voice was clear and bright, and with his graceful appearance like a jade tree facing the wind, he immediately won a lot of goodwill.

"I'll accompany you!"

As the voice fell, a young man appeared on the stone stage and cupped his hands towards Song Yi'an, introducing himself.

"Liu Min of Qinggu Sect."

With a whoosh, the crowd below was all excited. Two Core Formation cultivators, evenly matched - this was going to be a good show.

Song Yi'an still wanted to say something, but Liu Min had no interest in exchanging pleasantries with him at all. With a wave of the Burning Heaven Fan in his hand, a fire wall instantly formed in front of Song Yi'an.

Liu Min leaped into the air, and wherever the fan's wind reached, raging flames surrounded Song Yi'an, encircling him. The flames were so intense that billowing black smoke rose up, making the surroundings of the two people a scene of smoke and fire, severely affecting the view of the spectators below.

Song Yi'an had a very good reputation in Tianyan Sect, and in an instant, criticisms like "despicable" and "taking advantage of others" arose one after another.

Spiritual duels were about winning or losing. Did the two combatants also have to notify each other before the battle? Liu Min smiled coldly and continuously infused spiritual power into the Burning Heaven Fan. The flames increased without diminishing, and Song Yi'an's figure could hardly be seen.

The disciples of Qinggu Sect were in high spirits, waving flags and cheering.

In the other three areas of the stage, cultivators had also come forward to test their skills against each other. Even on Shangxuan Sect's side, disciples had volunteered to try, but in terms of excitement, Song Yi'an and Liu Min's side was still the most intense, and most people's attention was focused here.

Just when everyone thought Song Yi'an was trapped in the sea of fire and at a disadvantage, the flames suddenly soared into the sky, forming a huge fire pillar. Everyone watched as this fire pillar rose higher and higher, and suddenly a figure leaped out from within.

They saw that he was holding a slender mace in his right hand, and pressed his left hand towards the fire pillar. Instead of being burned to ashes, the fire pillar slowly shrank until he grasped it in his hand, condensing into a fireball.

Song Yi'an smiled slightly and threw the fireball into the air. His slender mace pointed towards Liu Min from afar, and the fireball instantly exploded, scattering countless golden lights from the sky. Under the sunlight, it was as dazzling as flowing gold and glittering jade, extremely beautiful.

Many female cultivators raised their heads, showing a look of amazement on their faces.

Cao Hang, the gossip king standing beside Zhou Yin, also clicked his tongue and said, "I heard that the mace in Song Yi'an's hand is called the Morning Sun Mace, one of the few treasures of Tianyan Sect. I didn't expect it to be passed to him!"

However, Liu Min, who was in the midst of it, had no thought of appreciation at all, because he knew that these gold-like things were not just for show. So he quickly retreated while fanning the Burning Heaven Fan towards his head, deflecting those golden lights that had already broken through his protective barrier and were about to fall on his head.

Those golden lights fell to the ground with dozens of continuous crackles, causing a small-scale explosion around Liu Min.

Only then did everyone realize that these golden lights were not just the fireball from before, but Song Yi'an had used Liu Min's own trick against him, adding some extra elements inside.

Liu Min's reaction was not slow. After encountering a slight setback, he also put aside his arrogant thoughts and calmly responded. The two were evenly matched in strength, and for a while, it was difficult to determine a winner.

Over there, a Wanshan Sect cultivator named Qian Mu at the late Foundation Establishment stage had just won a match. According to the rules, the winner of each match could rest for a moment and let others use the stage to avoid anyone taking advantage of a gauntlet-style battle. However, Qian Mu's match was too short and hardly consumed any spiritual power, so he felt no need to rest and continued to the next round, waiting for someone else to come and challenge him.

"Ling Long of Jinting Sect is here to learn!"

The girl's clothes fluttered, white gauze dancing. Just standing there, she had an otherworldly grace, untainted by the dust of the world. Even compared to Fairy Bibo, who was known as the number one beauty in the world, she was not inferior at all.

Qian Mu was also stunned for a moment before reacting, cupping his hands and saying, "Please!"

Ling Long summoned the Lanruo Twin Swords, tapped her toes, and flew out diagonally. The swords drew a sword flower, transforming into sword qi, and swept towards Qian Mu.

Qian Mu was calm and unhurried. With a flick of his wrist, the Tracing Cloud Rope shot out following the guidance of spiritual power, just in time to entangle the sword qi. He borrowed the force and leaped towards Ling Long. With another flick of his wrist, he released the Tracing Cloud Rope that had entangled the sword qi and whipped it down towards Ling Long's head.

Ling Long bent her lower back, avoiding the Tracing Cloud Rope. The twin swords retreated, and her body flew out diagonally. With a tap of her sword tips on the stone stage, her body landed, and the twin swords met again.

Whether in the use of spiritual power or in cultivation, Qian Mu had the upper hand. This slow style of fighting was obviously him holding back.

This kind of friendly sparring-style spiritual duel was obviously a bit dull to others, but the advantage was that one side was exceptionally beautiful. During the duel, her posture was graceful, gentle as a tree, and tranquil as a clear breeze, making it a pleasure to watch.

Zhou Yin had no intention of going on stage. Although those three treasures were good, he didn't want to go up.

Firstly, what he had now was already sufficient. Secondly, he had previously made an enemy of Tianyan Sect, and they definitely wouldn't sit back and watch him easily obtain those three items. Zhou Yin didn't want to waste effort dealing with those twists and turns.

Thinking so, he lazily sat there, watching the spiritual energy crisscrossing on the stage, going back and forth, while pondering the words Zhou Chen had said yesterday.

"If you have nothing to do, why don't you accompany me for a walk outside?" Beside him, Yun Zong nudged his elbow.

Zhou Yin also wanted to share with him the information Zhou Chen had sent back, so he got up and followed him.

However, he didn't know that after he left, Zhou Zhang took the stage and looked around, but not seeing Zhou Yin, he was very disappointed. He then vented all his energy on his opponents in the competition.

Past the square, separated by a cluster of palaces and pavilions, the clamor from the arena gradually diminished and the surroundings became quiet. Jade-like flowers and greenery created a secluded atmosphere.

To the west was a bamboo-lined path. No barrier had been set up here, so it seemed it was not a restricted area. The path was surrounded by a large grove of Xiangfei bamboo, with interesting rocks scattered about, creating a delicate fragrance. The two slowed their pace.

As it had just rained the past two days, the ground was soft mud. Stepping on bamboo branches and fallen leaves made hardly any sound.

"Yesterday..."

Zhou Yin had only said two words when he stopped. Faint voices could be heard up ahead. Although quite distant, Zhou Yin's keen cultivation allowed him to hear clearly.

The two had a tacit understanding and immediately concealed their presence, using the bamboo grove as cover to hide.

Shortly after, a male and female disciple of Tianyan Sect approached from afar and stopped at the edge of the bamboo path.

Both were at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

The woman said coquettishly, "Senior Brother, how come I haven't seen you these past few days?"

The man laughed. "Forgive me Junior Sister, my peak master had important matters to instruct me on recently, so I couldn't get away."

The two clearly belonged to different peaks within the same sect. Hearing this, the girl asked curiously, "What important matters?"

The man looked a bit awkward. "This...Master said it was of grave importance and not to be casually revealed to outsiders."

Hearing this, the girl became unhappy and said softly, "So in your eyes I'm still an outsider..."

Saying this, she turned to leave.

Seeing his beloved angry, the man panicked and quickly grabbed her. "I misspoke, forgive me. How could Junior Sister be an outsider? You are the innermost of the inner to me!"

Hearing this, the girl smiled again and asked, "Then what exactly is this critical matter?"

The man looked left and right. Seeing no one around in the dense bamboo forest and not worrying about eavesdroppers passing by, he sighed. "Actually, with my cultivation level, I shouldn't be involved in this matter. But recently, the more prominent senior brothers have all been dispatched and some have stayed behind to assist, so manpower was short. That's the only reason I came to know of such a big matter."

Seeing him talk on and on without getting to the point, the girl couldn't help getting a bit impatient. "Are you going to say it or not? If not, I don't want to hear it anymore!"

The man quickly placated her and lowered his voice. "It's related to demon beasts."