Slap!

On the second and third days, the first round of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament continued.

Nothing significant happened, aside from the Burning Heaven Clan quietly withdrawing from the competition. They left Heavenly Sword Villa in secret on the night of the first day.

This caused quite a commotion; many people couldn't understand why one of the great sects suddenly left the competition.

This undoubtedly affected the atmosphere of the competition. Many things happened during this year's competition, which caused many sects to feel uneasy.

"I am sorry, I should've told you before; now they've already run away," Cang Yue said apologetically, standing next to Yun Wuji in the arena.

When the Burning Heaven Clan ran away, Yun Wuji and Cang Yue were still checking if a cat girl's tail should be attached to her lower back or somewhere lower.

"It doesn't matter; a monk may run away, but not with his temple. After the competition, I will pay a visit to their clan to collect some protection fees," Yun Wuji said, shaking his head to reassure her. At the same time, he thought, I've been infected by this world's culture as well...

He didn't take the Burning Heaven Clan seriously, and he would naturally not forgive them. In fact, if they had come to him and begged for forgiveness instead of running away, he would have taught that young master a lesson and extorted a few resources before letting them go.

But since they chose to flee, the price they needed to pay this time would be multiple times higher.

Like the first round of group stages, the second round was also held in the thirty little sword arenas.

Although the number of participating disciples was condensed to three hundred, each person had to fight a full fifteen matches.

This round was still labeled "group matches," but competitors were no longer divided into groups. Opponents could be drawn from the entire set of disciples in the second round. This was to make sure everything was fair.

"Sword Discourse Arena Number Four: Gu Clan's Gu Changge vs. Ye Clan's Ye Wuchen!"

"Sword Discourse Arena Number Seven: Iron Spear Sect's Lei Wei vs. Wonkey Stealing Peaches Sect's Lin Fan!"

"Sword Discourse Arena Number Eleven: Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace's Wu Xuexin vs. Golden Armament Sect's Rong Xin!"

The battles at the Thirty Sword Discourse Arenas proceeded simultaneously, and Wu Xuexin was the first to fight.

"I'll be leaving first!" Wu Xuexin said to the other two girls as she jumped into the arena.

Her opponent was already standing there, waiting for her. He was a muscular man wielding a giant axe, with a long mustache. Though he was only 20 years old, he looked as if he were in his middle age.

"Greetings, Fairy! I have always admired the fairies from the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. Please go easy on me," Rong Xin said, cupping his fist. With his strength at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, he knew he couldn't win, but he would shame his sect if he admitted it directly.

"Hm," Wu Xuexin nodded lightly in response to his greeting. In this tournament, the only people worthy of her attention were the two disciples from the Heavenly Sword Village and her fellow sisters.

"Then, if you'll excuse me," Rong Xin said as he gripped his axe, stomped on the ground, and jumped high into the air before slashing down at her with his axe.

His axe weighed about six hundred kilos, and when he swung it, it produced a sharp sound, slicing through the air. The hands gripping the axe were tight, with his arm muscles contracting and veins popping out.

Wu Xuexin glanced at the man in the air and gently waved her hand. Instantly, an icy wall appeared above her.

Boom!

The axe struck the ice, producing a loud explosion as tiny ice fragments flew around from the impact.

Rong Xin was sent staggering back to the ground, his hand trembling from the impact. He had used almost all his power in that attack, and the force had made his hand numb. Raising his eyes, he saw that the icy wall was nearly unharmed, with only a tiny trace where the axe had landed earlier.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath. With a loud shout, he jumped again and attacked the icy wall with all his power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He attacked many times, while Wu Xuexin, on the other hand, didn't move. She observed him from the side as if she weren't fighting him but rather a spectator watching someone battle a wall.

Although Rong Xin could change his angle and attack her, that would only prompt her to create another ice wall. Worse yet, she might retaliate and turn him into a popsicle, which would be even more humiliating than giving up outright.

"Huff, huff, I give up!" Rong Xin finally stopped attacking and surrendered after a while. Looking at the icy wall standing tall before him, he felt a sense of powerlessness and dejection.

"Thank you for going easy on me, Fairy," he said, bowing toward Wu Xuexin before leaving. In addition to his dejection, he couldn't help but admire her.

Wu Xuexin went easy on him and didn't finish him off because he was quite polite and she wanted to elevate her sect's reputation. Otherwise, she would have taken him out with a single blow.

"Rong Xin admit defeat, Wu Xuexin wins!"

At the same time, the other two girls, Shui Wushuang, and Wu Xuexin also started their fight and finished.

"...Mu Lingxue wins!"

"...Shui Wushuang wins!"

"...Wu Xuexin wins!"

In the following fight, nothing unexpected happened, they all won all their following fights.

...

Sixth day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, which was also the last day of the second round of group stages.

Yun Wuji silently teleported to the Sword Management Terrace. Before arriving, he had already spread his senses to confirm that no one was there.

Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Management Terrace was several times larger than the ranking tournament's Sword Discourse Arena. As far as the eye could see, nearly ten thousand swords flew in the sky above, stirring a vortex of sword energy.

Various kinds of swords also covered the entire surface of the Sword Management Terrace

The terrace was covered with various swords, and in the center stood a pitch-black sword, half-buried in the ground and half-reaching for the sky. 

More than a hundred years ago, the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region ambushed and sealed Yun Che's grandfather, Yun Canghai, and sent him to Heavenly Sword Villa, where he was sealed beneath the Sword Management Terrace.

And around fifteen years ago, Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou came to the Blue Wind Empire to save Yun Canghai but they both ended up being poisoned.

For the plot's sake, the couple thought it was a good idea to perform this dangerous mission while Mu Yurou was pregnant.

*Correction: {While on the Profound Sky Continent, Mu Yurou became pregnant with Yun Che and was poisoned by a cold poison during her pregnancy} — So in short they smashed without protection in the middle of the mission.*

She ended up giving birth to Yun Che, who was also affected by the poison, and his parents had no choice but to cripple his profound veins to remove it.

Again, for the plot's sake, they had to cripple his profound veins instead of his other parts.

Yun Wuji walked around the enormous formation, observing it for a while.

A few minutes later, he grasped all the flaws in the formation. It was unnecessarily big and consumed a huge amount of energy, which was why it needed to be replenished every twenty years. Additionally, its massive size created many holes and flaws.

Of course, these flaws are not visible to everyone, Yun Wuji could notice them because of his almost frightening genius.

He walked to the giant sword and put his hand on it. The next moment Yun Wuji disappeared, he easily entered the formation.

Yun Wuji could easily dismantle the formation and or even use brute force end destroy it. But that would be too dumb, it would immediately attract the attention of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region and maybe even the other three sacred grounds as well.

Although Yun Wuji was strong and if he used his trump cards he could crush anyone, why should he invite unnecessary trouble? Only fools would do that! Although Yun Wuji was arrogant and narcissistic at times, he was also cautious; otherwise, he would have died long ago in the Azure Cloud Continent.

He spent years running and hiding from all the major forces on the continent without being exposed, and it was naturally due to his cautious nature. This was evident in his fighting style, where he always used sinister tricks to win.

It was only after he came to the Sky Profound Continent that he began to become more overbearing in his actions, but that was also because he had grown stronger and knew that nothing could threaten him for the time being.

The space inside the formation was a gloomy place filled with a stale, rotten smell.

Not far away was a chained old man, his long hair unkempt and covering his head, which was lowered to conceal his face.

Sensing Yun Wuji's presence, the old man raised his head and looked up.

"Greetings..." Yun Wuji smiled and was about to greet the old man politely, after all, he was someone important for his plans.

However, before he could finish his words, the old man's eyes opened wide, and he suddenly howled. "GRR... AAHH!!!! Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, you old dogs! Here to visit this granddaddy again... HAHAHAHAHAHA! You shameless, treacherous dogs! If you have the guts, kill me already! I want to become a malicious spirit, tear your flesh, drink your blood, crush your bones, and drag you down to the eighteenth level of hell to suffer eternal torment under ten thousand blades and the pain of hellfire!"

"Hmm, Senior, you misunderstood. I am not from the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region; I came here specifically to save you," Yun Wuji said. He didn't mind being cut off; he could understand the man's feelings. Having gone through so much, it was normal for him to react like this. As long as he explained patiently, they could have a civil talk.

"Despicable, shameless dogs, do you take me for a fool?!" the old man shouted, refusing to hear his words. He firmly believed Yun Wuji was from the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. "Are you trying to play some dirty tricks on me? Kill me if you dare! You gutless basta—"

Smack!

Yun Wuji watched the old man howl, saliva spraying from his mouth. After a moment, he raised his hand and slapped him.

"..." Yun Canghai's head twisted to the side from the force of the slap, and he stopped talking. Slowly, he turned around to look at Yun Wuji in shock. Did he just get slapped?!

"Can we talk now?" Yun Wuji asked, looking at Yun Canghai as he retracted his hand. He was quite satisfied with the results of his slap. Civil talk? Scratch that, wake-up calls were better.

"..." Yun Canghai.

-----

By the way, the story about the guy who got drilled is true; it was a case that went through the court.