System crash? I prove it with my control panel!

A blade of icy ice, forged from magical power, slashed through the air toward Chen Wen.

Chen Wen continued to activate the Yi Wood Escape Technique in preparation for dodging.

However, Chen Wen suddenly found himself unable to move.

Looking down, he saw layers of frost spreading from He Yuhao's feet to his own, firmly binding him to the spot.

He Yuhao sneered, "Junior Brother Jingwen, goodbye. My Extreme Ice Storm is best at trapping enemies. With your cultivation level, you can't escape!"

Seeing the ice blade slashing towards him, Chen Wen acted as if he didn't see it. If he couldn't dodge it, then he wouldn't dodge it!

He raised his hand and fired another wooden arrow.

He Yuhao's expression changed. While hurriedly dodging and defending, he wondered why the other man still dared to make a move and was not flustered at all.

However, he knew the answer the next moment.

"Thump—"

The Xuanbing Blade struck Chen Wen, producing a crisp sound like metal striking steel.

Although Chen Wen's face was contorted with pain, his body only suffered minor cuts and scrapes from his clothes.

The next instant, his spiritual energy circulated within him, and the only scratch on his skin healed.

He Yuhao's eyes narrowed as he sensed the surging energy emanating from Chen Wen, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

"Fourth level of Body Refinement? How is that possible!"

You should know that physical training is the most difficult and tedious.

Even with resources, it takes time to refine, hone, and improve.

Even though he also practiced body training, he only reached the second level.

If he had only focused on cultivating Qi, would he already be at the sixth level?

Oh, right, he has a mid-grade spiritual root, so his Qi cultivation progress is probably slow, which is why he also cultivates body refinement...

He Yuhao dared not think any further. How could such talent appear in a mid-grade spiritual root?

He thought of his brother asking him to recruit a team and win over talented people.

He gritted his teeth. Since he had already offended them, he might as well go all the way!

With this thought in mind, he maintained the extreme ice storm to trap Chen Wen.

At the same time, he quickly formed hand seals and chanted incantations, "Frosty Heavens, Snow Dance..."

A chilling sword aura suddenly appeared on his sword finger.

Although it was only three inches long, its breath sent a chill through Chen Wen.

Chen Wen was on high alert, knowing that this was probably He Yuhao's trump card.

He Yuhao's face was pale, his lips were bluish-black, and his body was trembling, but a smile appeared on his lips:

"Junior Brother Jingwen, to have witnessed such frosty sword energy, you can die without regret!"

His tone was calm and even, as if he were simply stating a fact.

However, Chen Wen sensed a murderous intent in those words.

He felt a chill run down his spine; this guy wanted to kill him!

The people in the secret realm all maintain a tacit understanding: do not attack the head.

As long as the head doesn't rot, it can recover.

Regenerating severed limbs is quite difficult and requires rare and precious materials.

However, at this moment, Chen Wen clearly realized that the sword energy had locked onto the details of the head.

At this moment, He Yuhao's sword energy had been fully prepared.

With a flick of his finger, the three-inch sword, as small as a toy, slowly floated towards Chen Wen.

However, from the moment it flew out, Chen Wen's eyes were only on that sword energy.

All thoughts and actions seemed to be frozen.

It's not that they can't think, it's just that they think extremely slowly.

Chen Wen could only passively watch as the small sword drew closer and closer to him.

He Yuhao smiled smugly, no longer even looking at him, and turned to look at Bai Zhanyue, his hands behind his back with a rather dashing air:

"Junior Sister Zhan Yue, I'm done here. Do you need my help?"

Bai Zhanyue was already pale and swaying precariously.

Chu Feng tried to break away to help Chen Wen, but Bai Zhanyue immediately closed in and entangled him.

Chu Feng's eyes reddened, and he roared, "Brother Jingwen!!!"

His moves became increasingly fierce, each strike imbued with boundless rage, and flames surged from his entire body.

He hasn't even used his full strength yet?!

Bai Zhanyue stared at the boy in disbelief, retreating hastily to create distance, but Chu Feng seized the opportunity and struck him in the abdomen with an elbow strike, sending him flying.

Even so, she stubbornly shook her head after getting up, her eyes fixed on He Yuhao.

"No...no!!!"

She was about to refuse when her pupils suddenly contracted, as if she had seen something incredible, and she quickly cried out.

He Yuhao was taken aback when he heard this. No? If you don't need it, then you don't need it. Why are you saying it so loudly? I'm not deaf!

However, the next moment, he suddenly felt a strong gust of wind coming from behind.

He turned his head instinctively.

But then a blood-red figure lunged at him, shouting:

"Let's die together!"

"madman!"

He cursed, but he couldn't break free from Chen Wen's grasp.

His strength was like child's play in front of Chen Wen.

Chen Wen sneered as he pushed him down.

The frost-like sword energy behind them had already caught up.

He could already feel the chilling sword energy on the back of his neck, and felt a stinging pain.

Without hesitation, he immediately turned over and shielded He Yuhao in front of him.

"No, please..."

He Yuhao's eyes were filled with terror, but before he could even beg for mercy, a cold light flashed across his neck as easily as cutting tofu.

No blood spurted out; the wound was smooth as a mirror, ice-blue in color; he had been frozen into an ice sculpture.

The life talisman lit up, enveloping him and teleporting him away.

Chen Wen suddenly felt empty, but he did not relax. Instead, he quickly activated the Yi Wood Escape Technique to escape.

Although the sword energy had thinned somewhat, it had not dissipated and was still pursuing him.

He decisively unleashed all his magical power, condensing it into a wooden arrow, which shot towards the sword light.

"Sizzle—"

A screeching sound was heard.

Then I looked up again.

The sword energy finally dissipated.

A smile spread across Chen Wen's blood-stained face. "Who's going to die with you? Go play by yourself!"

At this point, only a mess remained on the field.

Bai Zhanyue also stopped moving, staring blankly at the head that was still rolling on the ground.

After a long pause, she slowly spoke, her tone full of pity, "You're all doomed. His brother is a true disciple, about to reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

"oh."

Chen Wen nodded slightly, not taking it to heart.

He then struggled to sit up, took out the green bead that Zhai Ji had just given him, and swallowed a drop.

The green pearl instantly merged into her body, violently rampaging through it and eradicating all her injuries.

Feeling the power gradually returning to his body, Chen Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

That was incredibly close.

If it weren't for the Xuanhuang Refining Heart Technique waking him up at the crucial moment.

Ignoring his injuries and pain, he desperately pulled his foot out.

The head on the ground now belonged to him.

He was in a very disheveled state at the moment.

A large chunk of flesh was missing from her foot, and Green Pearl was repairing it.

His body was covered in wounds from the overflowing sword energy, but they had already healed.

The emptiness in his dantian made him feel particularly insecure.

He could only sit on the ground and watch them fight.

Bai Zhanyue looked surprised after hearing Chen Wen's words.

"Are you scared out of your wits? Oh? You should be writing your will right now."

"You should crush the fate talisman yourself now!"

Chen Wen sneered, "Heh, as for his brother, so what if he's about to reach Foundation Establishment? He's still just a Qi Refining cultivator!"

"Why isn't he at the Foundation Establishment stage? Is it because he doesn't want to?"

"If you want to avenge him, you can come and try. If you don't..."

"Brother Chu, let's take care of her!"

Chen Wen turned to look at Chu Feng, who was taking the opportunity to recover his magical power.

He feared that things might change if he waited too long.

Zhai Ji was also extremely anxious.

He could only flee in all directions.

But things are much better now. He Yuze has seen the scene of his cousin being beheaded, and he has stopped fighting now.

Instead, she came to He Yuhao's head and carefully lifted it up.

However, the moment he moved, a series of cracking sounds came from He Yuhao's head.

Click~

The head instantly turned to dust.

He Yuze's face showed a hint of bitterness. He looked up and stared deeply at Chen Wen, as if trying to etch him into his mind, before crushing the life talisman himself.

Upon receiving Chen Wen's words, Chu Feng immediately attempted to cast a spell.

Unexpectedly, Bai Zhanyue crushed the life talisman first, looking at the two of them with pity.

"You have no idea what a true disciple is. I, Bai Zhanyue, will not compete for this secret realm. You all..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Zhanyue's figure vanished.

Seeing his sister had already left, Bai Zhantang, though unwilling, had no choice but to crush the life talisman and depart.

In the blink of an eye, only the three of them remained beside the enormous bathing pool.

Meanwhile, above the clouds outside...

A burly man, shirtless and who hadn't uttered a word the entire time but had only been eating, snorted coldly.

"Jingyao, this isn't me, Old He, looking for trouble. It's your disciples who killed a member of the He family and insulted our bloodline. How are you going to settle this score?!"

"Hehe, Senior Brother He is joking. I don't know whether your He family's bloodline is pure or not."

Qin Jingyao looked up at the burly man, a smile playing on her lips. She seemed to be in a good mood and said softly:

"As for your son, those who kill will always be killed. He can only blame his bad luck and has no one else to blame."

"If you, the He family's descendants, were truly capable, you would naturally avenge yourselves. What debt is there to settle?"

The burly man seemed not to hear him, raised his head, and shouted, "I don't care, it was your disciple who killed my disciple, so this year's resources will increase by ten percent!"

Qin Jingyao was amused by the burly man's unreasonable behavior and snorted coldly, "Hmph—He Manzi, I thought you were thinking about your son's life, but it turns out you're just trying to extort money from me by using his life!"

"Want to take an extra 10%? Fine, you take an extra 10%, but one of the other eight peaks will have to take an extra 10%. You choose."

Upon hearing this, the burly man actually scanned the crowd with his gaze.

He was plotting in his mind,

Danfeng... No, the disciples still need to take pills;

Medicine Valley... No, how can we manage without medicine;

Formation peaks... won't work either; the disciples need formations to hone their physical bodies.

Qifeng... no good; Miaoyin... even worse!

Finally, his gaze fell on a man in white.

When Bai Yuehan saw his gaze directed at her, sword energy flickered from her fingertips.

"Hey, you barbarian, do you really think my sword is useless?!"

Upon hearing this, the burly man immediately shrank back, seemingly recalling the day he had been used as a target for swords.

He chuckled awkwardly, "No, no, I was just joking. The disciples should naturally handle their own affairs."

Then his eyes darted around, and he added:

"Jingyao, I think this little guy is going to win the championship. You've already chosen him, so you can't choose any of the other nine champions!"

Qin Jingyao frowned upon hearing this. This barbarian He actually had designs on her prodigy disciple?!

She instantly erupted, "This brat is my designated disciple! If you dare utter another word of nonsense to me, I'm not giving you any resources this year, and I'll ask Brother Bai to make you a target for another day!"

"Is Jingyao telling the truth?!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Yuehan immediately sprang to her feet, her eyes fixed on the burly man, as if she were about to make a move.

Upon seeing this, the burly man immediately apologized sincerely: "I'm sorry, Sister Jingyao, I misspoke. It's up to the disciples to make their own choice."

......

In this secret realm.

Chen Wen took another drop of the medicine, and his body had fully recovered.

With a pinch of the cleansing spell, he returned to being that handsome young man.

However, the atmosphere in the secret realm was somewhat awkward at this moment.

Chu Feng looked at Chen Wen with a complicated expression.

On the one hand, he wanted to compete for the top spot.

On the other hand, there was the village chief's warning that he couldn't defeat Jingwen.

But by this time, Brother Jingwen was already exhausted and his life was over.

Although he was not in good condition, he was at least at the fifth level of Qi Refining and had mastered many techniques.

He was confident that he could defeat Jingwen.

However, this is taking advantage of someone's vulnerability.

Brother Jingwen treated him like a brother, how could I treat him like this?

He was torn between moral sentiments and the desire for fame and fortune.

Chen Wen could tell that this guy wouldn't be satisfied without a fight.

As I said before, this is a debate about the Dao, and has nothing to do with anything else.

Zhai Ji said he was very satisfied with his current ranking.

He sensed something was off between the two, so he gave each of them another drop of green bead and ran away.

Chen Wen stood in front of Chu Feng and gave a wry smile:

"Brother Chu, don't take it to heart. As you said before, this is a contest of principles, each relying on their own abilities. Without a fight, one's state of mind cannot be clear. I am the same. Do not hold back. Winning by your own ability is what I seek!"

Chu Feng felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this, and cupped his hands in apology, saying, "In that case, Brother Jingwen, I apologize for the offense. I will make amends for you after we leave!"

Chen Wen nodded, then concentrated his magical power, and balls of fire gathered in front of him.

He belongs to the wood element, and fire overcomes wood. If he uses wood-based archery techniques, he will likely be overwhelmed and unable to defend himself.

The same reasoning applies to his choice of using wooden arrows against He Yuhao during their previous sword duel.

At the same time, he summoned a small cloud and rain technique, enveloping Chu Feng.

The two were on the verge of a fight.

However, at this very moment...

Chu Feng suddenly plopped down on the ground, cursing and swearing:

"What's the point of fighting? You won!"

"Who can stay at full health after a deathmatch?!"

"Did you cheat?!"

Chen Wen looked both amused and exasperated.

He dispersed the fireball in his hand and walked up to Chu Feng.

Chu Feng opened himself up, allowing him to perceive.

Chen Wen then realized that Chu Feng was completely exhausted after his battle with Bai Zhanyue.

Although he recovered some of his magic power while recovering from his injuries, he only had enough for one strike at most.

He had assumed that Chen Wen was in the same predicament as him, or even worse, because he had witnessed Chen Wen's miserable state before.

However, when the fight broke out, he discovered that Chen Wen's internal magical power was as abundant as if there had been no fight at all.

He broke down instantly!

Chen Wen knew his own situation well. He had indeed been exhausted, but the gluttonous stomach had instantly restored most of his magical power, and he was almost fully recovered just as he was speaking.

He could only offer words of comfort:

"It's okay. You've only recovered about 90%. If you were a little stronger, you could fight me."

Chu Feng stared at him speechlessly, just about to speak,

"you......"

Suddenly, a violent tremor ran through the surroundings.

The three of them suddenly stood up and looked towards the bathing pool.

The body washing pool is now open!

........