108: To go or not to go?

Upon hearing Leng Ningshuang's icy words, "He is dead," Yun Mu's mind went blank.

Dead? Wu Yang is dead?

That good brother who fought side-by-side with him in his past life... was just... gone like that?

"How is this possible..."

He screamed frantically in his heart, completely unable to accept this fact.

But after all, as an old monster who had lived two lifetimes, Yun Mu's mental fortitude was far beyond that of an ordinary Disciple.

After a brief moment of shock, he forcibly suppressed the astonishment in his heart, took a deep breath, and tried his best to calm down.

"Fake death!"

He forcibly justified it to himself in his heart:

"This must be a fake death! The variables in this lifetime are too great! However... greater variables mean more Opportunity!"

"As long as I can secure a spot in the Yaochi Immortal Realm, reshape my Foundation, and achieve Immortal Ascension, then... what does it matter if a brother or two dies? At worst, I'll just burn more paper money for him in the future!"

Thinking this, the feeling of stifling frustration in his heart eased slightly.

"This Disciple is feeling unwell, I will take my leave first."

He dared not stay any longer in front of Leng Ningshuang, fearing that he might reveal some flaw. He hurriedly found an excuse, bowed hastily, and then quickly hid back into the ranks of the Yaochi Disciples.

Just at this moment.

"Boom—!"

A vast and icy pressure swept over from the direction of the Yaochi Grand Hall without any warning, instantly enveloping the entire plaza.

The crowd, which had been somewhat noisy, instantly fell silent under this pressure.

Several streaks of light flew in from the direction of the Grand Hall and landed on the high platform of the plaza.

The person in the lead wore a gorgeous and intricate palace gown, a Phoenix crown on her head; her appearance was breathtakingly beautiful yet as cold as ice.

She simply stood there, like a goddess from the Nine Heavens, carrying an air of majesty that looked down upon the world.

It was none other than the current Sect Master of the Yaochi Holy Land—Luo Qingcheng!

Behind her followed several Elders with powerful auras.

"Hmph."

Luo Qingcheng's gaze swept over the Hehuan Sect's team and finally landed on Chu Qianqian. She let out a cold snort.

Chu Qianqian couldn't help but frown and glared back at her fiercely.

Meanwhile, Lu Yi, who was on the side, was not idle either.

His gaze was precisely locked onto "Mu Yun," who had just hidden back into the crowd and was keeping his head down, trying hard to minimize his presence.

Watching Yun Mu's appearance—clearly panicking inside but still trying to feign composure—Lu Yi's mischievous streak immediately flared up.

"You adjusted your mindset quite quickly."

Thinking of this, under the eyes of everyone.

Lu Yi actually walked straight towards the Yaochi Disciples' formation.

His goal was clear, pointing directly at "Mu Yun"!

Yun Mu was currently keeping his head down, calculating in his heart how to stand out in the grand competition.

Suddenly, he felt the space in front of him darken, and a shadow was cast down.

He instinctively raised his head.

He saw a handsome face that he instinctively felt disgusted by, which had somehow already leaned in front of him.

Lu Yi wore that signature "playboy" smile on his face.

He looked at Yun Mu and spoke with a gentle, jade-like tone:

"This Junior Sister, I find you very familiar... Have we... met somewhere before?"

"!!!"

In that instant, Yun Mu felt a chill rush straight to his scalp!

He instinctively stepped back, pinched his throat, and used a fake voice filled with shyness and a hint of terror, saying:

"Young... Young Master, you are joking. Mu Yun has never left the Holy Land, how could I have met the Young Master..."

However, Lu Yi did not stop there.

He said meaningfully:

"Is that so? But I always feel... the scent on you, Junior Sister... is very familiar..."

This, of course, was not referring to any body fragrance, but rather the rich Luck on Yun Mu!

After all, Qing'er had already told him just a moment ago, and this further verified Lu Yi's conjecture.

At the same time, seeing Mu Yun's reaction, he also roughly guessed that he must be a man disguised as a woman.

This scene was seen by everyone present.

Instantly, he became the focus of the entire venue!

The Yaochi female Disciples whispered among themselves; some envied Mu Yun for being noticed by the Saint Son of Taichu.

Others looked on with disdain, feeling that the people of the Hehuan Sect were indeed all frivolous playboys.

Not far away, Leng Ningshuang watched Lu Yi "flirting" with a female Disciple in public. Although she knew he acted strangely and might have ulterior motives, the sour feeling in her heart could not stop bubbling up.

She couldn't help but let out a cold snort, turned her head away, preferring not to see it.

On the high platform, Chu Qianqian's gaze became very strange.

She knew that Mu Yun must be hiding something, but she didn't expect Lu Yi to just directly inquire about it to his face like that.

And as the host, Luo Qingcheng's brows were already tightly locked.

Flirting with her Disciples on her turf—this was simply not taking her seriously at all!

"Silence!"

She shouted sternly, her voice mixed with pressure that approached the Heaven-Reaching Realm:

"The grand competition is about to begin, unauthorized personnel step back! No noise allowed!"

Hearing Luo Qingcheng's reprimand, Lu Yi was not annoyed.

He shrugged and went along with it.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to wink at Yun Mu, leaving behind a sentence that made Yun Mu feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar:

"Junior Sister, don't worry, we have plenty of time in the future..."

Having said that, amidst Yun Mu's expression, which looked as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly, he turned around stylishly and returned to the Hehuan Sect's camp.

Seeing this, Luo Qingcheng did not waste any more words.

She waved her hand to cast a beam of spiritual light, raising a huge barrier arena in the center of the plaza.

Immediately after, she announced the rules loudly:

"In this grand competition, both sides will send six people each, and each person needs to fight in turn against the five people sent by the other side."

"Finally, rankings will be based on the number of wins, and the top six will be qualified to enter the Secret Realm."

"Because my Yaochi Holy Land has no external aid, if the Saintess obtains an extra qualification, she will be able to designate one Disciple to enter."

As soon as the words fell.

On the Yaochi side, a core female Disciple with a steady aura and holding a long sword leaped onto the arena first.

She pointed her sword towards the Hehuan Sect, and shouted heroically:

"Yaochi Disciple Liu Mei, please enlighten me!"

Chu Qianqian turned to look at Lu Yi and asked:

"Who goes first?"

Lu Yi looked back.

Wu Mingyue and Qing'er behind him were huddled together eating melon and watching the show; they were obviously here for sightseeing and could not be counted on.

And as the big boss who was the trump card, he naturally could not enter the arena at the very beginning.

He smiled and did not immediately arrange for a Hehuan Sect Disciple to go up.

Instead, he cast his gaze again towards Yun Mu in the Yaochi Disciple camp.

He raised his voice and said loudly:

"Oh my, why is this Senior Sister in such a rush? What if your posture scares the Disciples on our side?"

"How about..."

He extended his finger and pointed precisely at Yun Mu, who was preparing to shrink back into the crowd to survive until the end:

"Let that Junior Sister Mu Yun, who looks quite friendly, come up first and play with us, how about that?"

"..."

Being named publicly, Yun Mu's face instantly turned ashen.

He had wanted to survive until the later stages to appear, just so others could consume the opponent first.

He didn't expect this guy Lu Yi to completely ignore the rules of the game and directly roast him over the fire!

Feeling the gaze of the entire venue instantly focused on him.

Yun Mu only felt ten thousand grass mud horses galloping through his heart.

Go? Or not go?