Could it be that I am the cruel villain?

Clang!

The longsword pierced the rainbow, its momentum suddenly changing, pressing straight forward, the longsword sweeping aside the iron nail to aim directly at the face!

Even the older man in front of him was taken aback, as the level displayed by the opponent and that terrifying explosive power simply did not belong to the current realm.

Though shocked inside, his actions didn't falter, his left hand flipping out an eight-faced bright silver hammer and smashing it against the floor.

Bang—

A dull boom sounded.

With a frightening air wave, both sides pulled back rapidly, the iron nail shooting straight through the dust towards the face, his left hand twitched, and he reversed his grip on the short sword, hooking the nearly one-foot-long iron nail backhand and throwing it back directly.

But, after all, a magic treasure is a magic treasure, even when flung back mid-way, it forcibly turned its head, its powerful tracking ability somewhat resembling those few golden hairpins in Cen Yueyue's hand, whistling through the air as it came again, yet the girl stood there motionless.

"Chi Hua."

"Drench!"

In that instant, the fierce glint in the girl's eyes and the flash of red sword light in her hand made almost everyone present jump up!

The array pinned by two profound-grade magic treasures was shattered on the spot, torn apart, the sword light ripping directly towards the body, the distance closing, that sword nearly piercing through the opponent's shoulder.

"Damn."

"Amazing, so amazing, hasn't Sister Liang only been in the sect for less than two months? And she's already at such a level?"

"Unbelievable, her opponent, Brother He, is a high-grade Core Formation, no wonder she was recognized by Peak Master Liu as a disciple."

"Hiss~ Swordmaster Peak truly is filled with monsters, I've often heard my master and several martial uncles talk about how Swordmaster Peak was bustling with people back in the day, didn't expect it to really be so."

"Too abnormal, what the heck have I been cultivating for, she's only at Foundation Establishment, Foundation Establishment! Even if she can't win, this battle is definitely enough to be remembered throughout the entire Mountain Gate..."

The voices were noisy, discussions abundant.

Thousands of disciples gathered in the Martial Arts Arena, this is at the main peak's foot, the largest martial arts arena within the entire Mountain Gate, enough to hold nearly ten thousand disciples watching.

The stone steps circled around, almost every place crammed with people, even the highest places had a few sitting watching this battle, a closer look would reveal up there was almost like the old men having a meeting.

Everyone there, except Gu Yuanshan who looked somewhat youthful, the rest all had the appearance of being halfway into their grave.

Although.

That Master Gu is actually the oldest.

"Nephew Liu certainly has a keen discerning eye, I was worried before she would only know how to fight but not educate, now it turns out I was being shallow."

"It was the same with the second junior brother, even the Master didn't think that kid would actually teach others sword cultivation, always either out causing mischief or finding trouble, couldn't see a bit of composure befitting a teacher."

"But in the end, it turns out the disciples he taught are the best, the talent and ability this girl has shown are almost on par with my grandson, if not better."

The white-haired Great Elder spoke up.

He didn't need to maintain an image like the Sect Master, a few old brothers sitting around were just chatting for the sake of it, ever since Jiang Feng was attacked, the Mountain Gate's alert level had been heightened another notch.

Now everyone was competing directly at the main peak, with the Nine Peaks Peak Master taking turns supervising, twelve protectors patrolling in shifts, with even the Sect Master and Great Elder personally overseeing, and even the old ancestor Kui Niu always watching the developments here.

The number of disciples in charge of patrolling the periphery has diminished somewhat, but they now see it very clearly, regardless of how important the Mountain Gate is, it can't outweigh the safety of the disciples in the sect.

And another reason is equally simple.

Because now there are fewer and fewer people.

Previously it was due to too many Mountain Gate disciples, with repeated rounds of screening alongside simultaneous inner and outer gate competitions, it was common to be shorthanded, but now it's different.

After Jiang Feng's round, it can basically confirm the top sixty-four Inner Sect Disciples, and now after Jiang Feng was attacked, another vacancy happened, in simple terms, there are now only thirty-two Inner Sect Disciples still on the field.

If they can't even manage this number of people then they might as well not open any Mountain Gate in the future, let alone take on any disciples.

"Truly a hero emerges from the young... no, from the young women."

Noticing an inconspicuous corner in the distance, that Nephew Liu in the conversation saw the direction, the elderly Great Elder immediately corrected himself.

Even Master Gu nodded approvingly, judging from his expression and the flash of admiration in his eyes, he was equally very satisfied with Liang Yu's performance, no, satisfaction doesn't quite cover it.

It's safe to say that if this child hadn't already joined Swordmaster Peak, he probably couldn't resist breaking protocol and bringing her into Dragon Head Peak.

Now, it's already down to the top thirty-two, and it's the top thirty-two among the Inner Sect Disciples, the significance is imaginable.

Every Inner Sect Disciple is a talent picked one in a million, and they belong to the top caliber of talent in the entire Cultivation World, then among them, those who win the competition and rank at the forefront, such a status allows them to enjoy the highest level of treatment in any worldly power or nation as top-tier cultivators.

By this time, nearly all of them were high-grade Core Formation Disciples, with only a few from Swordmaster Peak seeming a bit out of place.

The Outer Sect Disciple competition had ended already, the results were pretty much as Jiang Feng expected, Su Yi almost didn't expend much effort, relying on lottery changes and equipment superiority, she entered the top ten, after all, high-grade Core Formation among the Outer Sect Disciples...