Devouring demons, I attain immortality.

Lin Wan'er frowned slightly, and with a wave of her jade hand, streams of water roared out, clashing fiercely with Li Yan's flames.

Moisture and heat filled the entire fighting arena.

Li Yan kept changing his hand gestures, and the flames became more and more intense, trying to break through Lin Wan'er's water curtain defense.

Lin Wan'er gritted her teeth and did her best to maintain the water dragon's offensive.

As time went on, Li Yan's flames gradually gained the upper hand, evaporating Lin Wan'er's water dragons one by one.

Lin Wan'er exhausted too much spiritual energy and was ultimately unable to resist, allowing Li Yan to win this spectacular battle of water and fire.

"This match was so exciting!" Zhu Ling'er clapped her hands excitedly.

Su Yichen stroked his chin and analyzed, "Although these two are at the same cultivation level, both in the early stage of Core Formation, Li Yan's spiritual energy foundation is clearly superior to Lin Wan'er's..."

Lin An stared intently at the dueling platform, nodded, and said, "You're right. It seems like water can extinguish fire, but if the fire is strong enough, it might just evaporate the water. Actually, what they're competing in is spiritual energy..."

……

The disciples of the aristocratic families on the stage were engaged in a thrilling competition, while Lin An stood below the stage, quietly watching everything.

As a powerful cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, his cultivation level far surpassed that of the participating disciples, so he was not qualified to participate.

Moreover, Lin An's purpose in coming here this time was not to participate in this kind of competition.

His purpose in coming here was firstly to join in the excitement and see what kind of extraordinary treasure was about to appear in Jinzhou City, and whether there was a chance to seize it.

Secondly, there was the note left by the mysterious man in black robes.

Lin An wanted to see what abilities this mysterious Seventh Demon Palace possessed, and also kill some extraterrestrial demons to boost his spiritual energy.

Having watched the competition all day without much interest, Lin An closed his eyes to rest when a voice suddenly rang out from the stage.

"The final match of this round will be between Su Yichen, an inner disciple of the Qingyun Sect, and Zi Li, the daughter of the Zi family from Jinzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Lin An finally became somewhat interested.

"Finally, it's my turn!"

Su Yichen stretched and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go for it, Senior Brother! Believe in yourself, you're the best!" Zhu Ling'er encouraged.

Su Yichen looked confident and assured.

"Brother Lin, when I spar with you later, could you please take a good look and point out any shortcomings in me?" Su Yichen said, bowing.

Lin An nodded, but a doubt arose in his heart. Su Yichen was at the late stage of Core Formation, while this genius girl from the Zi family was at the mid stage of Core Formation.

Why were the two of them arranged to compete together?

"Okay, there's something fishy about this girl, be careful..." Lin An said quietly.

For some reason, Lin An sensed a dangerous aura emanating from Zi Li.

......

With a command from Xuanfengzi, the competition began.

Su Yichen smiled slightly, and with a flash, he lightly leaped onto the dueling platform.

He was dressed in a blue robe and held an ancient longsword in his hand. The blade of the sword faintly gleamed with a blue light, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary weapon.

On the other side, Zi Li was dressed in purple, with a cold expression. In her hand, she held a long purple whip, with faint purple arcs of electricity wrapped around it, clearly a remarkable magical artifact.

"Miss Zi, please enlighten me." Su Yichen bowed respectfully, his tone humble.

Zi Li nodded slightly, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes, but she didn't say anything more.

With a flick of her wrist, the purple whip traced an arc in the air like a serpent, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, heading straight for Su Yichen's throat.

Su Yichen remained calm, and with a slight flick of his longsword, the tip of the sword accurately struck the end of the whip, deflecting it.

However, Zi Li's offensive did not stop there. Her long whip spun in the air and struck again, faster than before. The whip shadows were numerous, as if countless purple spirit snakes were dancing in the air.

Su Yichen frowned slightly, quickly retreating as he brandished his longsword, the sword light raining down as he blocked the incoming whip shadows one by one.

However, Zi Li's attacks did not stop; instead, they became increasingly fierce, with purple electric arcs interspersed in the whip shadows. Each collision caused Su Yichen's arm to go numb.

"The spiritual power of this purple glass is so strange!"

Su Yichen was secretly alarmed. He originally thought that with his late-stage Core Formation cultivation, he should be able to easily deal with an opponent in the mid-stage Core Formation, but at this moment he felt a sense of threat.

This is a threat of death.

Lin An, sitting below the stage, looked serious; he had already noticed the abnormality in Zi Li.

The power contained within the purple arc of electricity did not seem to be pure spiritual energy, but rather mixed with some strange aura.

How to describe this aura? It's somewhat similar to Xu Shan's previous corrupted state, with a hint of extraterrestrial evil.

"Brother Su, be careful of her whip, there's something strange about that purple arc of electricity!" Lin An warned telepathically.

Upon hearing this, Su Yichen felt a chill run down his spine and immediately strengthened his defenses.

With a flick of his longsword, the sword light suddenly surged, transforming into a silver barrier that blocked all of Zi Li's whip shadows.

At the same time, he changed his footing and moved like a ghost, trying to increase the distance between himself and Zi Li.

However, Zi Li seemed to have anticipated his actions. With a flick of her whip, the dark purple whip shadow followed closely behind Su Yichen like a leech.

The purplish-black arcs of electricity intertwined in the air, forming a large net that blocked Su Yichen's escape route.

"Hmph, let's see where you run to!"

Zi Li sneered, and with a sudden jerk, the long whip in her hand condensed into a huge bolt of lightning, which slashed down at Su Yichen.

Su Yichen's expression changed, and he quickly blocked with his longsword. The azure light on the sword surged and collided fiercely with the purple lightning.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the dueling platform was instantly engulfed in azure and purple light. Intense fluctuations of spiritual energy swept around, and the cultivators below the platform quickly activated their own spiritual energy shields, fearing they would be affected.

A moment later, the light gradually faded, and Su Yichen reappeared in everyone's sight. His clothes were somewhat disheveled, and a trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that he had suffered a serious injury in the collision.

Zi Li remained standing in place, her expression cold and stern, as if the attack just now was nothing more than a casual blow to her.

"Su Yichen, you've lost."

Zi Li spoke calmly, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.

Su Yichen gritted his teeth, a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes. He never expected to be defeated by an opponent in the mid-stage of Core Formation, and to be defeated so thoroughly.

"Miss Zi is indeed formidable; I, Su, am completely humbled."

Su Yichen took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and clasped his hands in surrender.

Zi Li nodded slightly, said nothing more, and turned to walk off the dueling platform.

Lin An, sitting below the stage, looked at Zi Li's departing figure with a deep gaze, feeling a faint unease in his heart.

He always felt that the aura emanating from Zi Li was related to extraterrestrial demons.

"In the 18th match, Zi Li, the heiress of the Zi family, emerged victorious, while Su Yichen, an inner disciple of the Qingyun Sect, was defeated!"

Xuanfengzi's voice echoed throughout the venue.

The entire audience was immersed in a sigh of regret.

She defeated a sect disciple who was in the late stage of Core Formation, despite being in the mid-stage of Core Formation. Moreover, judging from Zi Li's aura, it was clear that the latter had not used his full strength.

"This Zi Li is truly formidable. I'm afraid it won't be long before the Zi family produces another Golden Core Realm expert..."

Liu Mingxuan sighed deeply after watching the entire competition.

Lin An looked solemnly in the direction of the Zi family.