Fantasy, starting with a treasure bowl

"It's over so quickly?"

Seeing Ma Mengqi's swift defeat, Lu Feng, who was watching from the sidelines, also wore a playful expression. "Heh, at this rate, it probably won't be long before we enter the second round of single-elimination matches..."

"It seems this year's Four Nations Martial Arts Tournament is much more intense than I expected..."

Thinking of this, Lu Feng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

After all, this year's Four Nations Martial Arts Tournament is only divided into two rounds, and each country has only eighteen participants, with no breaks in between!

For most of the participants, it was almost like they had just finished one match and were immediately on the next. They either had to win consecutive matches to advance or lose consecutive matches and be eliminated. The schedule was tight and there was no time to waste!

...

The atmosphere in front of the Tai Chi Sword Sect team was slightly subdued.

"Elder Qin, Senior Brother!"

As soon as he returned to the group, Ma Mengqi lowered his head in shame, then bowed to Qin Xuanzhong and the others, saying, "This disciple is incompetent! I failed to achieve a good start in this Four Kingdoms Martial Arts Tournament, and I have disgraced you all...!"

"waste!"

Faced with Ma Mengqi's bowing apology, Qin Xuanzhong remained calm, seemingly having expected this. Gongsun Jian, however, frowned, a hint of displeasure in his eyes. "Not only did you lose to a mere brat, but you lost so disgracefully! How dare you, you piece of trash, come back?"

"This is utterly disgraceful to the Tai Chi Sword Sect...!"

Gongsun Jian's face was gloomy, as if his anger had not yet subsided.

After all, the other party can't even beat Zhao Tingmei, the crown prince of the Northern Wei Kingdom, so how can they deal with Lu Feng from Luoxing Academy?

Moreover, Ma Mengqi was, after all, his loyal lackey. Now that the other party had been beaten up, Gongsun Jian, as the leader, was naturally embarrassed and wished he could find a hole to crawl into on the spot!

"Alright, there are still two more matches to go. You might still have a chance to advance. Now you can go down."

At this moment, Qin Xuanzhong, who had been silent for a long time, also waved his hand and then said indifferently, seemingly unconcerned about Ma Mengqi's crushing defeat.

After all, the opponent was only one of the six disciples of Taiji Sword Sect who participated in the battle, and his strength was among the lower ranks of the inner disciples. Even if he lost, it wouldn't have much impact on the overall ranking!

On the other side, as Zhao Tingmei stepped down from the stage after her victory, the next pair of contestants also stepped onto the stage. One of them was even an old acquaintance of Lu Feng, the young master of the Guo family of the Northern Wei Kingdom, and the top of the four rising stars of the Alchemist Guild, Guo Tianlin!

"Hey, isn't that Guo Tianlin?"

Having also spotted Guo Tianlin not far away, Lu Feng's face showed a hint of surprise. "Why isn't this kid staying at the Alchemist Guild to study alchemy? Why is he here at Jue Long Ridge to join in the fun...?"

"Lu Feng, how have you been?"

Facing Lu Feng's curious gaze, Guo Tianlin also glanced sideways, then transmitted his voice from afar, "It's been over a year since we last met, and your strength has indeed increased considerably, becoming even more unfathomable..."

"Same to you."

Grinning again, Lu Feng asked with some curiosity, "Speaking of which, you're not a member of the Northern Wei royal family, yet you've come to Jue Long Ridge. Could it be that you, the former top newcomer of the Alchemist Guild, have your eye on the ranking rewards of the Four Kingdoms Martial Arts Tournament?"

"The ranking rewards from the Four Kingdoms Martial Arts Tournament are of little use to me."

Faced with Lu Feng's curiosity, Guo Tianlin simply shook his head, his tone still calm, "However, our Guo family has a very close relationship with the royal family of the Northern Wei Kingdom, and the two families have been cooperative allies for many years."

"Now that the Four Kingdoms have officially started their military campaign, and the final rankings will determine the allocation of Yuan Stone mines, our Guo clan will naturally not stand idly by."

"These kinds of treasures, like elemental stone veins, are truly rare and hard to come by..."

Upon hearing Guo Tianlin's words, Lu Feng sighed inwardly.

After all, Yuan Stone veins are naturally formed by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and are further divided into miscellaneous, small, medium, large, and finally giant Yuan Stone veins according to their specific reserves.

The larger the scale, the more Yuan Stone veins there are, and the more Yuan Stones can be mined in the end!

As for the former Yan Han Dynasty, it only left behind a small Yuan Stone mine, yet it was enough to attract various forces from the four kingdoms of Lingnan and the Taiji Sword Sect, who flocked to it and fought fiercely for it.

This clearly demonstrates just how precious and rare the Yuan Stone vein is; any normal person would go crazy for it!

"Hmph! How much longer do you intend to waste your breath?"

Just as Guo Tianlin and Lu Feng were catching up and chatting, a cold snort, sounding displeased, drifted over from the side.

The next moment, a figure in a black robe stepped on sword energy and landed opposite Guo Tianlin. At this moment, a yin-yang Taiji pattern was printed on the right side of the robe, which was clearly one of the disciples of Taiji Sword Sect.

However, compared to Ma Mengqi, a lower-ranking disciple of the inner sect, the man in the black robe in front of him had a higher level of Yuan power cultivation, reaching the seventh level of the Spirit Soul Realm, second only to Zhao Tingmei, the crown prince of the Northern Wei Kingdom.

"The martial arts competition has already begun, yet you continue your incessant chatter. Are you perhaps afraid, and thus deliberately delaying your attack?"

The man in the black robe glanced at Guo Tianlin across from him again, still looking confident, as if he had already won.

After all, although Guo Tianlin himself was a first-rate alchemy master and could be called a genius, his Yuan power cultivation was somewhat weak, only around the second level of the Spirit Soul Realm. He was even only slightly stronger than Ren Xuanfei, who was just a minor character. Looking at all the geniuses in the four kingdoms of Lingnan, he was almost at the bottom!

Therefore, seeing that his opponent was Guo Tianlin, an easy target, the man in the black robe was naturally confident, as if this victory was a free bonus!

"Huh? Isn't that kid Bi Yangde, the bastard son of the Bi family in Wenchuan City, Western Qin Kingdom?"

Seeing the man in black robes and Guo Tianlin facing off, swords drawn, Song Zhang, who was watching the scene from not far away, also looked surprised, as if he had recognized the man's background.

"This kid's still alive?"

Song Zhang twirled the mustache at the corner of his mouth, a playful look appearing on his face. "Heh, this is interesting..."

The Bi family is not only a powerful force in Wenchuan City of the Western Qin Kingdom, but also a quasi-seventh-rank aristocratic family with a very strong foundation and influence!

As for Bi Yangde in front of him, he was the illegitimate child born from an affair between Bi Buqun, the former head of the Bi family, and one of his maids.

However, due to Bi Buqun's henpecked nature and the powerful influence of his wife's family, Bi Buqun never dared to acknowledge Bi Yangde as his son, and he had barely even seen him a few times.

As a result, Bi Yangde suffered humiliation from childhood, almost never had a full meal, and was repeatedly persecuted by his stepmother, almost losing his life!

Finally, in order to survive and get rid of his status as an illegitimate child, Bi Yangde had no choice but to leave his family alone and wander the world from then on.

As the overlord of the Western Qin Kingdom and the left elder of the seventh-rank Yunfu Sect, Song Zhang had naturally heard some of the rumors about the Bi family.

However, to his surprise, Bi Yangde, that little bastard, not only did not die outside, but also joined the Taiji Sword Sect of Lingtai Mountain. It was a classic case of a loser's comeback, as if Xiao Yan had possessed him!