"Stinking beggar! I'm talking to you—how did you dodge that?" The archer pressed impatiently.
At that moment, a woman dressed in fiery red darted out from behind him—her entire outfit, even the hairpins in her hair, was bright red. Her eyebrows arched like sword scabbards, exuding an intense, fiery aura.
She snapped angrily: "Why waste words with such a nobody? Just kill him!"
The archer hesitated for a moment, drew his bowstring to the full, and shot without another word.
The same bizarre scene happened again: the man who should have been doomed suddenly dodged at the last second.
It was abrupt because even the dodger himself looked stunned and terrified—far too unnatural.
"This guy's weird, Junior Sister... Let's take him on together!" The archer seemed intimidated.
The fiery woman glared at him in disappointment: "Tch! Coward! Do we really need to team up against such a lowlife? You're disgracing our Five Spirits Sect!"
As she spoke, a crescent moon blade in her hand spun rapidly. In the time it took to take a breath, it spun so fast that only a blur was visible.
"Go!"
With a sharp shout, the fiery woman released the blade, and it flew straight toward Ren Yi.
"Aaaaaah!"
Ren Yi squeezed his eyes shut, screaming in panic, his whole body trembling like a sieve.
"Shut up! Stop embarrassing yourself!" The transparent girl couldn't stand it anymore, comforting him impatiently: "Don't worry—I'm still alive. No one can hurt you!"
Standing behind him, she took one of his hands in each of hers, lifted him into a side flip, and nimbly dodged the blade's slash.
"Huh? Pretending to be weak to defeat the strong? Save it in front of me!"
The fiery woman dropped her disdainful expression, took out her trump card seriously, and swung her sleeve. Countless fire sparks shot out like a goddess scattering flowers.
Ignoring the danger, the snow-white scenery paired with the flickering fire sparks created an indescribably beautiful scene!
Ren Yi's eyes widened, his breathing quickening—whether from fear or fascination, he couldn't tell.
With such a large-scale attack, the opponent would have to dig a hole to escape; otherwise, there was no way out. A smile tugged at the fiery woman's lips.
But to her surprise, the man didn't flee or dart around. He just stood there stiffly, waiting to die.
Yet the fire sparks she shot seemed to come alive, automatically circling around the dirty man—leaving him unscathed.
Although the surrounding trees were covered in snow and damp, the scorching fire sparks ignited them instantly, spreading like wildfire.
The fiery woman had no time to admire her handiwork. The result made her gasp, her hands and feet going cold.
This was her trump card. She had killed at least eight fellow cultivators of the same rank with this move.
Failing to hit the target—what did that mean? What was he hiding?
In truth, Ren Yi was even more shocked than the fiery woman: "Lingling, w-what's happening? The words you taught me actually worked that well!"
He had only repeated the incantation once, stammering through it, and couldn't even remember what he'd said.
According to Lan Ling, an invisible spherical barrier surrounded them. Not only could it block a nobody like their attacker, but even if a great power here launched an assault, it would take three to five years to break through and hurt them.
Ren Yi shook his head in disbelief, unable to wrap his mind around what he was seeing—it completely shattered his previous understanding.
"Hmph! Making a fuss over nothing! With Fairy Lan Ling here, no one in this world can hurt you—rest assured! Hahaha..." Lan Ling laughed triumphantly.
Infected by her confidence, Ren Yi laughed too. Having such a powerful person by his side was like having a personal bodyguard! Was there any place he couldn't go? Could anything be more satisfying than this?
His unrestrained laughter sounded like mockery to the fiery woman.
Her face turned livid, and she gritted her teeth: "Which sect's great expert are you? Please state your name! Lest we accidentally harm the friendship between our sects!"
To be precise, lest she accidentally get harmed herself.
Her cultivation was currently at the mid-stage Chen Ling realm. Among her peers, she rarely met an opponent—if she went all out, no one could easily defend against her.
But the stinking beggar in front of her exceeded all expectations. In her eyes, he had already risen to the Hai Ling realm, or even the rare Hua Ling realm.
He was far too young—only Hua Ling cultivators possessed the ability to reverse aging and regain youth.
Here, it's necessary to briefly explain the cultivation hierarchy on the Spirit Hidden Continent:
- **Meng Ling (Sprouting Spirit)**: Initial awakening of spiritual consciousness, first experience with spiritual energy. Accumulating a certain amount of spiritual energy can remove impurities from the body, making it pure and nearly perfect.
Basically, unless a cultivator sustains permanent scars from spiritual attacks (which cannot be healed), ordinary people who enter the path of spiritual cultivation will undergo a complete transformation—becoming unrecognizable. Thus, there are no ugly cultivators in the cultivation world; most gain a three-point boost in appearance, and some even become heartthrobs.
- **Pei Ling (Cultivating Spirit)**: Cultivators at this stage can absorb spiritual treasures to assist in cultivation, doubling efficiency and shortening training time.
They can also cultivate attribute-based skills corresponding to their body's nature. Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth are the five basic attributes. Those who can awaken one are called Single Spirit cultivators—the weakest among all cultivators.
The more attribute skills one masters, the stronger they become. A fellow cultivator with four attributes can never defeat one with five. Of course, with powerful spiritual treasures, low-stage cultivators may defeat higher-stage ones—there are no absolute rules.
- **Yu Ling (Nurturing Spirit)**: Can launch weak attribute attacks, such as igniting small fires or cleaning dust, but no ability to harm others. Can take corresponding pills to enhance cultivation.
- **Chen Ling (Submerged Spirit)**: Profound accumulation of spiritual energy, capable of injuring enemies within three zhang (about 10 meters). They are the backbone of a sect. For a small sect with 5,000 members, having 500 cultivators at this stage is already extremely powerful—they attract attention wherever they go.
In fact, even a prestigious top sect like the Divine Spirit Sect, with 20,000 disciples, has fewer than 300 cultivators at this stage.
The higher the stage, the harder it is to obtain required resources. Many people remain stuck here for life, unable to break through.
This is why many Chen Ling disciples are fighting so fiercely in this competition—victory brings rich rewards from their sects.
Even if they don't win first place, they can plunder resources from disciples of other sects during the competition. As long as they survive, they won't lose.
Therefore, although each sect only sent ten people, they are all elites who won their sect's internal competitions—their strength cannot be underestimated.
- **Hai Ling (Sea Spirit)**: At this level, cultivators break through physical barriers, their spiritual energy reserves multiply several times, and they can control swords to injure enemies from thousands of li away. With such abilities, they can establish their own sects on the Spirit Hidden Continent and become great powers.
- **Hua Ling (Transformed Spirit)**: The pinnacle of the cultivation world—no one has ever seen or reached it. Legend has it that cultivators at this stage can reverse aging to regain youth, ride the wind freely between heaven and earth, and change the sun and moon with a wave of their hands. It is the lifelong goal of all cultivators.