Perilous Situations

The group of Walking Disciples from Changming Peak couldn't help but look puzzled. It was perfectly normal for Lingyue Peak to harbor hostility toward them-the two peaks were direct rivals.

But the relationship between Changming Peak and Qihua Peak had never been bad.

At the very least, they were civil strangers.

Yet now, the disciples of Qihua Peak were openly displaying their hostility. Lingyue Peak alone was already enough of a headache for Changming Peak.

With Qihua Peak added to the mix, the situation for the Changming Peak disciples would become extremely awkward.

Li Yunqi, Lin Yu, and the others, however, were not surprised. Setting aside the matter of Yu Qingqing, just Ning Fan's intrusion into Qihua Peak and the chaos he caused there was more than enough to make their disciples hate Changming Peak to the bone.

There was no concrete proof that Qihua Peak's martial techniques and heavenly treasures had fallen into Ning Fan's hands, but the people of Qihua Peak were not fools. They could guess the truth with near certainty.

Even so, none of the inner circle blamed Ning Fan. The reason was simple-Ning Fan had handed over the bulk of his gains to the main peak. The massive sum of Spirit Stones from those sales had benefited all of Changming Peak, allowing the disciples to elevate their strength by a whole tier.

You couldn't just praise Ning Fan when reaping the rewards and then refuse to share the burden of Qihua Peak's wrath.

But the malice directed at Changming Peak was far from finished.

"Heh heh."

"That's right. And where is Ning Fan? Could it be that he's too afraid to show his face at the Yin Yang Tower because he offended our Zhao family?"

A voice rang out from the ranks of the Zhao family cultivators. The speaker was a prominent Zhao family prodigy.

Li Yunqi and Lin Yu felt their hearts sink once more.

That was right. Ning Fan also shared a deep grudge with the Zhao family. Since the Zhao family was deeply rooted across multiple main peaks-especially Yin Yang Peak-Ning Fan was attracting an immense amount of hostility.

Of the five main peaks of the Yin Yang Divine Sect, Yin Yang Peak, Qihua Peak, and Lingyue Peak had all shown varying degrees of malice toward Changming Peak.

This Peak Competition was going to be an uphill battle.

Only Xuanpin Peak seemed to harbor no significant hostility toward Changming Peak for the time being.

No, that wasn't right either.

Even though the disciples of Xuanpin Peak hadn't spoken, the way they looked at Changming Peak was far from friendly. Instead, there was a predatory gleam, like a hunter eyeing a lamb to the slaughter. This look left the Changming Peak disciples with no doubt that given the chance, Xuanpin Peak would absolutely strike at them.

Rankings and old grudges were certainly factors that made others covet Changming Peak, but setting those aside, there was another crucial reason-their wealth.

To be precise, it was the ancient ruins inheritance that Changming Peak had unearthed.

Setting aside Ning Fan's Wushi Seal, even the new techniques displayed by the other Changming Peak disciples had already made the other main peaks drool with envy.

Given the current scarcity of Spirit Stones, Changming Peak would certainly bring transcribed copies of those techniques to trade within the Yin Yang Tower. If anyone could snatch those techniques away, it would be a massive Fated Chance.

According to past rankings, Changming Peak had always been the weakest, meaning they had already been plundered to the point where there was almost nothing left to take. Otherwise, in the last few Peak Competitions, Changming Peak would have been skinned alive.

Hatred, rankings, and the crime of possessing coveted treasures-the situation for the Changming Peak disciples this time around was bound to be extremely dire.

"Well, that completes the set."

Li Yunqi clapped his hands against his chest, then shrugged and spread his arms helplessly, a bitter smile on his face.

"And what about Ning Fan? Is he truly too cowardly to show up?"

Another voice rang out. It wasn't surprising that everyone was fixated on Ning Fan; his reputation had been far too loud recently. His absence from the Peak Competition would certainly diminish much of the excitement.

At that exact moment, Ning Fan was stealthily slinking around the edge of the crowd toward the Yin Yang Tower. It wasn't his fault for being slow; he had just spotted Lingxu Fairy.

She was standing not far behind Sixth Elder Yu Ji, her gaze constantly sweeping through the crowd.

Who else could she be looking for?

"Sigh." Ning Fan let out a quiet sigh, really wishing he didn't know the answer to that question so clearly. He could only take a slow, roundabout path.

Right now, he was only a dozen meters away from the protective formation of the Yin Yang Tower. If he walked another dozen meters forward, he would enter its boundaries. Given Lingxu Fairy's status, she wouldn't dare break the rules during such an important sect event.

Step by step, inch by inch.

He shuffled forward.

Just as Ning Fan was a single step away from the formation enveloping the Yin Yang Tower, a voice suddenly shattered the air.

"Ning Fan!!!"

"He's here!"

The speaker was Zhao Zhou.

Zhao Zhou had seen Ning Fan before and had long since etched his face into his memory. Although he didn't know why Ning Fan was being so sneaky, making Ning Fan miserable made him happy.

A flurry of sharp gazes instantly fell upon Ning Fan. His body froze completely, for one of those gazes belonged to Lingxu Fairy.

Damn it.

He was just one step away, yet she had still noticed him.

Ning Fan clenched his teeth. Forget it, he would just have to steel himself and rush into the formation.

He immediately lunged forward.

But in the next instant, a shadow loomed over him. Instinctively looking up, Ning Fan saw Lingxu Fairy suspended in mid-air.

This speed was terrifying.

Usually, Ning Fan observed Lingxu Fairy's power from a bystander's perspective. But now, facing her directly, a profound sense of powerlessness surged within him.

Lingxu Fairy raised her hand and unleashed a palm strike toward him. The strike seemed ordinary, but the sheer power contained within it was enough to shatter him into pieces instantly.

"It's over."

A glimmer of despair appeared in Ning Fan's eyes. He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue to force himself to stay focused, desperately searching for a way to survive.

But there was none.

In the face of absolute power, martial techniques, movement arts, skills, and clever tricks meant absolutely nothing.

Just then, a figure suddenly stepped between Ning Fan and Lingxu Fairy. The silhouette looked somewhat familiar, though Ning Fan couldn't immediately place who it was.

Boom!

A deafening crash resounded as the figure clashed directly with Lingxu Fairy. The immense shockwave sent both of them stumbling backward, and the resulting gale spiraled upward, sweeping Ning Fan into the air and hurling him deep within the formation coverage of the Yin Yang Tower.

Pfft!

The impact of hitting the ground alone made Ning Fan spit out a large mouthful of blood, a testament to the terrifying strength of the two combatants.

After rolling to a stop, Ning Fan looked back at the spot where they had clashed and finally recognized his savior-Sixth Elder Yu Ji.

When Yu Ji met Ning Fan's gaze, she merely raised an eyebrow and gave him a subtle, almost imperceptible look.

"Whoosh..."

Ning Fan let out a long breath. He had thought he was dead for sure, never expecting Sixth Elder Yu Ji to step in and protect him. It was truly a narrow escape from the jaws of death.

"Sixth Elder,"

Lingxu Fairy said, her voice icy as she stared at Yu Ji. However, her peripheral vision remained locked firmly on Ning Fan, never straying for even a moment. "Why do you obstruct me?"

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2