As the final day arrived, the disciples participating in the Grand Competition became increasingly cautious.

By this time, the demon beasts and natural treasures within the competition area had been mostly swept clean. For many, the most realistic way to continue earning points was to seize the jade tokens from others.

Thus, conflicts among disciples grew frequent, and the air was thick with tension and a murderous aura.

Bang!

Lu Kuang’s face was dark as he thrust both palms forward. A surge of heavy, earthy yellow energy erupted, directly repelling an opponent at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

Then, he stomped his right foot hard on the ground, his entire body suddenly shooting upward as he broke through an encirclement formed by eight cultivators.

“Don’t let him get away! He alone has over three thousand points. If we can seize his jade token, it’s enough for all of us to make it into the top ten of the Grand Competition!”

Hearing this, the cultivators participating in the siege became excited and scrambled to give chase.

Lu Kuang sprinted forward frantically, anxiety gnawing at him.

He hadn’t expected these people to be so greedy, daring to turn against him just for points.

The group of cultivators behind him were originally allies who had teamed up with him to hunt demon beasts. Yet they had suddenly turned hostile midway and had now become competitors hunting him down!

If he hadn’t been vigilant beforehand, he might have truly fallen into their hands.

Now, his body was covered in wounds from the previous battles. Although they were only superficial injuries, if he delayed any longer, the true qi within him wouldn’t hold out.

He had to shake off his pursuers quickly and find a safe place to wait for the Grand Competition to end!

Thinking this, Lu Kuang suddenly had an idea. While accelerating his escape, he formed hand seals and uttered a low chant:

“Earth Surge Technique!”

The next moment, the soil behind him suddenly began to tremble violently, as if a massive rock had been thrown into calm water, churning up earth and mud everywhere.

Caught off guard, the pursuing cultivators behind were pelted head to toe with flying dirt and rocks, forcing them all to slow down.

Simultaneously, a fissure abruptly split open in the ground ahead of Lu Kuang. Without hesitation, he leaped into it and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

…

Elsewhere, a large group of aggressive cultivators searched back and forth through a dense forest, shouting:

“Big Qi! Get out here now!”

“You said you were going to win first place in the Grand Competition, so why are you hiding like a turtle in its shell?”

“Hmph! Even if I don’t get the points, I’m going to beat you up. Let’s see how arrogant you’ll be after that!”

…

However, a long time passed. Although more and more people joined the search party, they still couldn’t find any trace of Qi Yuan.

“Damn it! That kid must be hiding!”

“No matter! He’ll have to come out when the Grand Competition ends. He escaped this time, but you can run from the temple but not from the monk. We’ll beat him up every time we see him in the Outer Sect from now on.”

…

Just as everyone was getting furious from searching, the sound of footsteps landing came from not far away. Then, a young man dressed in servant attire walked out from deep within the dense forest.

Everyone looked toward the sound. It was precisely Qi Yuan they were looking for.

“Kid, you finally decided to show yourself.”

“Haha! I’ve finally caught you.”

“Brothers! We must teach this good-for-nothing a proper lesson!”

Everyone grinned ferociously, rubbing their hands together as they surrounded Qi Yuan.

Facing his impending fate of being ganged up on, Qi Yuan didn’t even bat an eyelid. Instead, he curled his lip disdainfully and sneered:

“A bunch of trash. Come at me if you dare!”

Seeing that he still dared to provoke them, the group flew into a rage. They raised their magical tools one after another and viciously lunged forward.

Right at that moment, an authoritative shout rang across the scene:

“Enough! All of you stop right there!”

As the words fell, Internal Affairs Pavilion Elder Yang Xiude descended from the sky, his sharp gaze sweeping over the crowd ahead.

Hearing his voice, everyone hurriedly restrained their power and bowed respectfully:

“Disciples greet Elder Yang.”

Yang Xiude snorted coldly and said:

“The Grand Competition has ended. Fighting among yourselves is now strictly forbidden. Hand over your respective jade tokens. Big Qi will be responsible for tallying everyone’s points.”

“Furthermore, after handing over your tokens, go find others and tell them all to come here to settle their points. Inform them that if they don’t arrive within one hour, their results will be canceled!”

“Yes! We’ll go find people right away.”

After hearing these words, everyone bowed their heads in acknowledgment and then obediently took out their jade tokens and handed them to Qi Yuan…

At the same time.

On the square.

Internal Affairs Pavilion Elder Yang Xiude stared blankly at the scene within the magic mirror. His head buzzed; he could hardly believe his eyes.

In the image, after seeing Qi Yuan, the disciples seemed as if possessed. First, they bowed respectfully one by one; then they handed over their own jade tokens to Qi Yuan. Their obedience was simply unbelievable.

It wasn’t just him; the atmosphere on the square was almost frozen solid. Everyone felt like they were dreaming.

“It’s illusion magic!”

Falling Cloud Valley Sect Leader Bai Qingwu was the first to regain his composure and said incredulously:

“His spirit beast suddenly broke through to the Foundation Building realm. The power of its illusions greatly increased; those Outer Sect Disciples simply couldn’t resist it. That’s why they’re being fooled so completely.”

Alchemy Pavilion Elder Kang Wannian also recovered from his shock and exclaimed in amazement:

“That’s right! The pill he made that Four-Eyed Spirit Fox take was likely a top-grade Spirit Nurturing Pill. After taking it overnight, that fox demon achieved Foundation Building.”

“Compared to the Qi Refining realm, a Four-Eyed Spirit Fox at the Foundation Building realm can be said to have undergone a complete transformation. With its help, Big Qi can run rampant without obstruction in this Grand Competition!”

“This… is too unbelievable.”

A nearby Inner Sect Elder was also dumbfounded. “Could it be that helping others earn more points earlier was all for this moment—to seize all their jade tokens now… If that’s true, this kid is simply monstrous!”

As soon as these words were spoken, all other high-ranking members of Falling Cloud Valley present collectively drew sharp breaths of cold air. The scene fell into a brief silence once again.

After quite a while did Enlightenment Pavilion Elder Yin Qingyuan steady himself. He furrowed his brows and said in a firm tone:

“Elder Yang! This disciple’s actions are clearly cheating. I believe we should immediately go stop this farce and disqualify him from the Grand Competition. Then punish him severely according to sect rules as a warning example.”

“Inappropriate!”

Yang Xiude shook his head thoughtfully.

“According to regulations, no one is allowed to interfere with the process before the Outer Sect Grand Competition ends. This competition still has over an hour left. Before then, I will not intervene.”

“Moreover, sect rules do not prohibit using spirit beasts during the Outer Sect Grand Competition. His actions are completely compliant.”

Here, Bai Qingwu also nodded. “Elder Yang speaks reasonably. Since Big Qi hasn’t violated any rules, we should continue observing.”

Even the Sect Leader had spoken, so Yin Qingyuan could only resentfully shut his mouth. His expression turned extremely ugly.