Chapter 61: Anyway, It's Not You

Chapter 61: Anyway, It's Not You

"Fairy Zixia, I clashed and sparred with that fellow yesterday. He possesses formidable strength and must not be underestimated. Why don't we join forces to eliminate this Azure Cloud Sect disciple first, once the practitioners from the various major sects have all arrived?" Guixin whispered.

Only by joining forces and taking out this Azure Cloud Sect disciple first would he stand a chance of contending for the Sword Pool. After all, he was the only one who knew the true extent of this Azure Cloud Sect disciple's power. The others remained completely clueless.

"This..." Zixia fell into contemplation.

"You witnessed with your own eyes back at the plaza just how arrogant that Azure Cloud Sect Master was. He uttered wild boasts, looked down upon everyone, and showed utter disrespect to our Seven Great Sects! If this fellow manages to fish in troubled waters and successfully secures a spot in the Sword Pool, what face will we disciples have to look our Sect Masters in the eye when we return?" Guixin said with an indignant tone.

"Very well, let us join forces."

Persuaded by these words, Zixia immediately agreed. After all, she could tell that her own Wind and Moon Sect Master harbored extreme dissatisfaction toward the Azure Cloud Sect.

Seeing the two of them apparently communicating via voice transmission, Chen Ping'an remained unconcerned. He understood Guixin's intentions well enough; it was nothing more than teaming up to deal with him.

Roar!

A tiger's roar echoed through the air, followed by a fierce-looking beauty riding atop a colossal tiger, aggressively breaking through the formation array.

"He's here too..."

The moment she spotted Chen Ping'an, Su Huan shuddered involuntarily, and the Crimson Flame Spirit Tiger beneath her lowered its head, completely stripped of its usual majesty. Both of them had been beaten to a state of terror by Chen Ping'an.

"Fairy Su Huan, you have finally arrived."

Seeing Su Huan's arrival, Guixin wore a smile on his face and waved to her. It was evident that the two were already acquainted.

Bearing Su Huan, the Crimson Flame Spirit Tiger walked up beside Guixin.

Guixin muttered in hushed tones, discussing the alliance with Su Huan using the exact same spiel. Before he even finished, Su Huan readily agreed. This actually came as somewhat of a surprise to Guixin.

Another day passed.

Gao Feng of the Ancient Sword Sect abruptly forced his way into the array, his aura somewhat chaotic.

"Damn it, that beast was too troublesome, I'm a step late!" He cast his gaze around and muttered in complaint. Along the way, he had been entangled by a tenth-layer Golden Body Realm beast and had expended a tremendous amount of effort just to injure it. Since the beast had fled for its life and his mind was set on the Sword Pool, he had no mood to give chase.

"Benefactor Gao, what do you say to an alliance..." Guixin's voice transmission rang out quietly once more. He repeated his rehearsed speech, growing increasingly fluent with each iteration.

"An alliance?" Gao Feng hesitated for a moment. Glancing at the Azure Cloud Sect disciple in the distance, he gently shook his head and said, "You already have enough people. I won't participate; I'll remain neutral."

Hearing this, Guixin sighed.

At that exact moment, an angry roar rang out: "Old Thief surnamed Chu, where do you think you're running?"

A flash of lightning suddenly tore through the array, landing right in front of the crowd. Chu Potian of the True Word Sect had arrived.

Whoosh!

A ball of flame also abruptly burst in. Luo Qingsong of the Hundred Herb Hall had arrived as well.

With two major experts arriving simultaneously, Guixin felt a surge of secret delight.

Upon seeing that Zixia was also present and wishing to maintain his composure, Luo Qingsong curled his lip and lowered his voice, "Old thief Chu, I'll settle accounts with you later."

"Fine by me, your Grandpa Chu is ready whenever you are." Chu Potian did not show any weakness. The two of them had been locked in a ceaseless battle over the past few days; except for when they paused at the Sword Cliff to comprehend sword intent, the fighting had never stopped.

"Zixia..." Luo Qingsong sidled up to her, wearing a ingratiating smile. Zixia turned her gaze away, her demeanor ice-cold.

Chu Potian walked over and asked, "Zixia, I heard you were attacked by someone who masters the True Word spells? Who was it?"

"Anyway, it's not you," Zixia sneered. She had no intention of revealing anything about that handsome man, lest Chu Potian and Luo Qingsong let their jealousy get the better of them and go looking for trouble.

Rebuffed and suffering a cold shoulder, Chu Potian sullenly walked aside.

Seizing the opportunity, Guixin pitched his intentions to both Chu Potian and Luo Qingsong, and the two readily agreed.

"Wonderful. That makes five of us on our side." Guixin felt inwardly pleased.

Faced with Guixin's relentless recruitment efforts, Chen Ping'an didn't even bother to open his eyes. As for Chu Potian getting rebuffed after questioning Zixia, Chen Ping'an found it rather amusing. It seemed that after he had used the Lion's Roar True Word spell to abduct Zixia back then, Luo Qingsong had shifted the blame entirely onto Chu Potian, believing that Chu Potian had disguised himself as an Azure Cloud Sect disciple and used despicable methods to carry off Zixia.

An hour later.

A young Daoist wearing a green Daoist robe slowly walked into the Sword Pool array. The newcomer was none other than Daoist Taixu of the Profound Clarity Temple.

"Fellow Daoist Taixu, you've arrived just in time..." Seeing Taixu's arrival, Guixin became active again.

Upon hearing that the disciples of the five major sects were planning to join forces against a single Azure Cloud Sect disciple, and that this disciple was merely at the seventh layer of the Golden Body Realm, Taixu was startled, thinking that Guixin must have truly lost his mind. He shook his head and directly refused.

Guixin felt somewhat disappointed, but unwilling to give up, he transmitted his voice: "Fellow Daoist Taixu, if the five of us fall, you will inevitably be eliminated as well."

"If you show signs of defeat, I will naturally join in," Taixu thought for a moment and replied.

Having obtained Taixu's promise, Guixin was very pleased; this was tantamount to Taixu taking a side in a roundabout way.

"The Azure Cloud Sect Master is arrogant, conceited, and has lost the popular support; he is bound to be besieged by the major sects..." Gazing at Chen Ping'an, Guixin sneered inwardly.

Luo Qingsong, feeling terribly bored, suddenly spoke up, "Everyone, is everyone here? Does this mean we are now down to deciding the sole spot for the Sword Pool?"

"My Azure Cloud Sect's Ruan Ting hasn't arrived yet, what's the rush?" Chen Ping'an opened his eyes and said.

As soon as his words fell, a figure suddenly dashed into the array.

"Apologies, I am late." As soon as she landed, Ruan Ting cupped her fists and said. Her lovely eyes shifted immediately to find Chen Ping'an, and she hurried over with a radiant expression, saying, "Junior Brother, I didn't expect you to arrive first."

"Congratulations, Senior Sister, on breaking through to the peak of the tenth-layer Golden Body Realm! The Divine Repository Realm is just around the corner!" Chen Ping'an cupped his fists in congratulation.

"Thank you, Junior Brother," Ruan Ting said with a look of deep gratitude.

After consuming the Qi-Blood Pill gifted to her by this Junior Brother, she had broken through to the peak of the tenth layer of the Golden Body Realm in just a few short days! Shocked as she was, a bold hypothesis had formed in her mind: this Qi-Blood Pill was definitely far superior to high-grade pills; it might even be a top-grade Qi-Blood Pill! She had never expected to encounter such a fortuitous opportunity as a top-grade Qi-Blood Pill within the Azure Cloud Secret Realm.

"Ruan Ting, you've actually broken through to the tenth layer of the Golden Body Realm!" Su Huan exclaimed in shock from across the way. Ruan Ting possessed a lower-heaven-grade lightning attribute Dao seed, boasting astonishing offensive power. Now that she had also broken through to the peak of the tenth-layer Golden Body Realm, her strength had skyrocketed.

"Indeed," Ruan Ting replied with a faint, serene smile tinged with confidence.

Chen Ping'an slowly drew his sword.

"Senior Sister, apart from the Ancient Sword Sect and the Profound Clarity Temple who are remaining neutral for now, the rest have already conspired to join forces against our Azure Cloud Sect."

Ruan Ting was also taken aback. "Junior Brother, they are bullying our Azure Cloud Sect." As she spoke, the corners of her eyes turned red, showing just how stirred her emotions were. In past Sword Pool competitions, it was typically a friendly contest of one-on-one duels, through which the ultimate victor would secure the Sword Pool spot. The losers would accept defeat gracefully and voluntarily withdraw from the Azure Cloud Secret Realm.

"It's all the fault of that bald donkey from the Great Zen Temple..."

Chen Ping'an smiled faintly and said, "Senior Sister, go settle your score with Su Huan. I'll handle the rest of them."

With that, without waiting for Ruan Ting to react, he executed the Azure Cloud Directing Finger technique, launching an unexpected attack toward Taixu of the Profound Clarity Temple.