Unsurprisingly, nobody else chose to challenge Nuo Qianling. After the semi-conscious Ying Weiheng was sent to the physicians, she calmly returned to her seat – much to the welcoming smiles of her comrades, who seemed to have believed in her right from the very start.
The leader's victory had essentially ensured the safety of the entire group. With the entire group's efforts bearing fruit in the form of Nuo Qianling's Soulbinding Hexblade, there was no meaning to challenging the other members whatsoever.
Even if they were to be defeated here, the result of their contributions could no longer be denied.
But even as they were enjoying their private moment of camaraderie, other challenges commenced on the floor of the Black Guardian Square.
One by one, disciples from each of the Four Great Symbol Sects stepped up to issue challenges to the selected attendees of their sect, hoping to claim that coveted slot as their own.
While most of the selected attendees managed to prove themselves by beating their challengers, not every fight ended in such an expected manner. Each one of these upsets drew excitement not just from the successful challenger, but also from the other unselected members of the sect.
After all, while a defeat did not necessarily translate to being dropped from the list of selected attendees, it was similarly not definite that the successful challenger would be the one to replace any dropped attendees.
Ultimately, the final decision still resided with the sect administrators.
That said, all challenges were being issued to inner disciples of their respective sects... until an unexpected person stepped onto the stage.
When Xiong Yekong first appeared on the floor of the Black Guardian Square, everyone was left confused. After all, this was someone who had already been selected as an attendee, so what could he possibly be trying to achieve from stepping on stage?
And that was when he made his intentions clear.
"Xiong Yekong of the Armed Ape Tower invites Ren Qiansha of the Azure Dragon Sect for a duel!" Xiong Yekong clasped his fists in the direction of the Azure Dragon Sect's disciples. "Let's conclude what we have left unfinished!"
First, there was silence.
Then, the entire Black Guardian Square burst into a huge uproar.
Thousand Blade Ren Qiansha!
This would be a duel between the famed prime disciple of the Armed Ape Tower and a core disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect!
Those of the subordinate sects, even if they did not belong to the Armed Ape Tower, could not help but feel their hearts pounding with adrenaline upon hearing this.
Among the core disciples of the subordinate sects, Feral Claw Xiong Yekong possessed the greatest fame. His strength was said to be comparable to even core disciples of the Four Great Symbol Sects, making him quite the force to be reckoned with.
That said, anyone could claim that the sky was green instead of blue. In that same light, rumours were mere words until they could be proven true.
But if Xiong Yekong could emerge victorious here before everyone's eyes, it would force the Four Great Symbol Sects to acknowledge that disciples of the subordinate sects could also be superior to them!
On the other hand, many from the Azure Dragon Sect furrowed their brows.
Their representative among the new disciples had already been defeated earlier. If a core disciple were to suffer defeat here as well, then they would surely have to endure the ridicule of the other three great sects for the rest of the year!
"Get him, Senior Martial Brother Ren!"
"Show him the power of the Azure Dragon Sect!"
"Don't show mercy!"
Under their cheers, a slim figure flew out from his seat and landed gently in the centre of the Black Guardian Square. Framing his handsome face was long black hair with seemingly random green streaks.
"That's Thousand Blade Ren Qiansha, core disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect," Zhao Yunxiao told Lu Zhiying with a look of anticipation clearly showing in his eyes.
At the same time, he recalled one of the great events that had occurred during the opening of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm – Xiong Yekong had fought Ren Qiansha to a draw. Somehow or other, that incident must have led to Xiong Yekong's actions today.
"Wow, a core disciple?" Lu Zhiying seemed to be infected by his mood as well. "Then I'd better keep my eyes peeled!"
"You'd better indeed!"
In contrast to the excitement of the crowd, Ren Qiansha let out a wry smile as he faced Xiong Yekong. "You are really making things difficult for me here, Brother Xiong. Do you really have to do this? What is even the point of this fight?"
While everyone understood that this time was meant for disciples to prove themselves by challenging those who had been selected as attendees for the upcoming Duyuan Martial Meet, there was no rule stating that this had to be the case.
Therefore, while Xiong Yekong might be going against the norm, there was actually no restriction against doing so.
"Don't worry, I won't call you out here frivolously," Xiong Yekong replied. "With the elders here watching over us, we no longer have to hold back for fear of repercussions, so let's go all out and finish what we have started. If you win, I will hand over the half of the set of ancient armaments that I have taken back then!"
"Oh?" Ren Qiansha finally showed some signs of interest. "What if I don't agree to put my half on the line as well?"
"As long as you promise to go all out, that would be a better reward than the armaments themselves!" Xiong Yekong said without hesitation.
Their conversation drew interested looks from the audience.
From what they had just said, their fight in the Four Symbols Mystic Realm seemed to have broken out over a set of ancient armaments. For disciples on their level to have fought over it, one could only imagine just how amazing it could be.
Yet for the sake of this fight, Xiong Yekong was actually putting it on the line while not asking for Ren Qiansha to do the same. This was true dedication to the spirit of battle!
"Hahaha! Well said!" Ren Qiansha laughed. "I, Ren Qiansha, will not take advantage of others. I shall put my half of the set of armaments on the line as well. This way, you will not have any excuses after falling to the true strength of a core disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect!"
"I cannot ask for more!" Xiong Yekong raised his hands, and a pair of bronze bracers appeared on his arms.
Life-bound treasure – Feral Bracers.
On the other end, Ren Qiansha stretched out his arm, and an exquisite long wooden staff appeared in his hand.
Life-bound treasure – Gatekeeper.
As the duo produced their respective life-bound treasures, the aura of Dao Rune realm cultivators erupted from them, sweeping across the entire Black Guardian Square. Just the spiritual pressure from their combined aura was enough to suppress the other disciples present, making all the fights that had happened before this seem like nothing but child's play.
All around the Black Guardian Square, disciples were struggling to even sit straight under this heavy pressure. Those seated alongside their seniors were lucky enough to be protected, but many saw their vision going dark as they directly lost consciousness.
The elders simply watched on without lifting a finger.
In their eyes, one had to be either capable or resourceful enough if they wanted to enjoy the honour of watching a fight at the Dao Rune realm. Otherwise, they only had themselves to blame.
Zhao Yunxiao quickly channelled his essence energy into his Ring of Steel, creating a small barrier of the metal element around him, Gu Qiansi, Lu Zhiying, and Huang An. To disguise the fact that he possessed this Origin Core realm treasure, he simultaneously pulled out the Window of Tunes and placed the flute on his lap.
Gu Qiansi and Huang An looked at him in surprise while Lu Zhiying seemed to be completely oblivious, her gaze fixated upon the duo who were about to face off in the centre of the Black Guardian Square.
"This flute sure is amazing, isn't it?" Zhao Yunxiao said smugly.
"It sure is..." Gu Qiansi said, but not without eyeing him suspiciously.
Zhao Yunxiao chose to ignore Gu Qiansi's curious gaze, focusing on observing the two combatants instead.
It was an extremely rare opportunity to be able to observe a fight between Dao Rune realm cultivators. Though he did have the pleasure of observing such a battle back at Blueflag Mountain a month ago, as well as experience even higher level battles through the memories of the Zodiac General and Untethered Sage, he still did not want to miss even a single moment of this fight.
Not only were the combat pointers important, but it was also paramount that he collected more information on the two. That was especially the case for Xiong Yekong, who unfortunately seemed to have a bone to pick with him due to the strangely friendly attitude from Chen Pingxi!
What happened next was a fierce battle that kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
Ren Qiansha drew a circle with Gatekeeper, opening a spatial gate from which countless puppet birds emerged. These wooden birds were each only around ten centimetres tall; but what they lacked in size, they made up for in numbers. From afar, they looked like a giant stream of flower petals that rushed towards Xiong Yekong under the loud clattering of wooden wings.
This was the combat style that Ren Qiansha had always been famed for. Tapping on his comprehensions into the Law of Wood, he would control all aspects of a battle through his innumerable puppet birds.
These puppet birds might look harmless and cute, but it would be a huge mistake to underestimate them. It was said Ren Qiansha would be able to take down an Origin Core realm cultivator with just a single one of these puppet birds!
At the other end, a seemingly limitless amount of life force suddenly erupted from within Xiong Yekong.
Zhao Yunxiao gaped a little upon seeing this, immediately recognising the implications behind the burst of life force.
Mind, heart, left shoulder, right shoulder, left hip, right hip – Xiong Yekong had fully opened all of the Six Gates of Self-Actualisation!
No, that was not quite it.
That alone was unlikely to have allowed him to produce such intense life force. Xiong Yekong must have already gone beyond the Six Gates of Self-Actualisation, forming at least one of the Four Seals of Heaven and Earth!
As expected of the prime disciple of the Armed Ape Tower!
Bang-!
Xiong Yekong slammed his Feral Bracers together, causing an intense metal-element aura to burst forth and shroud over him. The look in his eyes changed, and he charged straight into the oncoming storm of wooden birds without hesitation.
Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes, recognising the change that had just happened within Xiong Yekong.
There was no doubt about it – this was the Zodiac Scripture in action!
Strength of the ox, agility of the rabbit, acceleration of the horse, balance of the goat, and toughness of the boar.
All five of these aspects had come together, lifting Xiong Yekong's physical capabilities to a whole new level. Coupled with the metal aura from the Feral Bracers, he charged straight through the storm of puppet birds without fear, easily slamming away each and every puppet bird that was in his way.
This was a sight that many here were already accustomed to seeing. In terms of pure physical prowess, Feral Claw Xiong Yekong probably stood at the very peak of the younger generation of the Four Great Symbol Sects and their subordinate factions!
Even for Zhao Yunxiao, this was not his first time witnessing Xiong Yekong in action. But there was something different this time.
As he carefully observed Xiong Yekong's execution of the Zodiac Scripture, he could not help but feel that there was something... amiss.
It might be because his understanding of the technique was still lacking, but he could not shake the feeling that there was something strange about the situation. He could not quite put a finger on it, but it felt almost as though the Zodiac Scripture that he knew and the Zodiac Scripture that he was seeing from Xiong Yekong right now were two different techniques that were merely very similar in nature.
Could there actually be two different versions of the Zodiac Scripture in circulation – a true version for the core disciples and a redacted version for others?
It would not be too surprising if that was the case. Such practice was common among many factions, allowing them to nurture their disciples while ensuring that their deepest secrets would only be privy to their true heirs.
If that was the case for the Armed Ape Tower as well, then as the prime disciple of the Armed Ape Tower, it would not be surprising for Xiong Yekong to be practising a version of the Zodiac Scripture that no other disciples or outsiders had access to.
No, wait a minute.
Zhao Yunxiao had not been granted access to the Zodiac Scripture as an outsider. He had obtained it straight from the memories of the Zodiac General Long Shiqian!
In that case, could it be that the reverse was actually true?
Was his the true version, while Xiong Yekong had been practising a redacted version?
Zhao Yunxiao quickly shook that thought out of his mind.
That made no sense. Why would the Armed Ape Tower allow their prime disciple to practise a redacted version of the Zodiac Scripture?
Surely, his incomplete understanding of the Zodiac Scripture must have led to a misinterpretation of the current situation.
Yes, that must be it.
Nevertheless, Zhao Yunxiao's gaze involuntarily shifted from the fight towards the elders of the Armed Ape Tower as a wild thought surfaced in his mind.
The Armed Ape Tower could not have lost the true version of the Zodiac Scripture... right?