"This is a Middle Grade Pill, the Fire Spirit Pill, which can increase the Fire Attribute spiritual energy within your body; it's extremely compatible with your spell, the 'Fire Qilin Art'..." Taiyi Immortal spoke and closed the Brocade Box. Then, with a motion in the air, he seemingly grasped a sword out of thin air. The sword glowed red as if it had just been pulled from a forge, "This is my 'Holy Flame Sword' which I acquired after emerging victorious in an early competition, followed by a journey in the Immortal Realm where I obtained a piece of Fire Crystal. It was forged from this Fire Crystal and now I'm passing it on to you..."

As Taiyi Immortal spoke, he tossed the Holy Flame Sword to Wang Xiaoqiang, who caught it smoothly. The touch was warm and he could feel the sword's internal warmth, like that of Molten Flame, indicating its extraordinary nature.

"Thank you, Master!" Holding the Fire Spirit Pill in his left hand and the Holy Flame Sword in his right, Wang Xiaoqiang bowed deeply to the True Person of Taiyi.

"No need for thanks; as long as you manage to enter the top ten in this grand competition, your master has more rewards for you," smiled Taiyi Immortal. "Alright, you can go now. Return and cultivate well."

"Yes, Master!" Wang Xiaoqiang responded and then withdrew.

When Wang Xiaoqiang returned to the villa with the Fire Spirit Pill and the Holy Flame Sword, he found that Ye Qingcheng was still awake. She stood on the second-floor balcony, gazing out at him. Relief smiled upon her face as she saw him safely return, and when Wang Xiaoqiang reached the bottom of the stairs, she leaped down from the second floor. This time, Wang Xiaoqiang stretched out his arms and caught her in a hug.

"Ah... You, who allowed you to hold me..." Ye Qingcheng pushed Wang Xiaoqiang away, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"I, I was just worried you might hurt yourself..." Wang Xiaoqiang chuckled.

"Tsk, you still can't change your lusty wolf nature..." Ye Qingcheng spat dismissively and latched onto Wang Xiaoqiang's arm, pulling him into the villa before locking the door behind them.

"Quick, tell me, what did Master ask you about?" Ye Qingcheng asked with a face full of curiosity.

"Master talked to me about the sect's grand competition, hoping I could make a name for myself," Wang Xiaoqiang began, showing the Fire Spirit Pill and Holy Flame Sword. "Look, these are the rewards from Master."

"Ah, isn't this Master's Holy Flame Sword?" Ye Qingcheng's beautiful eyes widened with shock. "He, he actually passed it on to you?"

"Yep!" Wang Xiaoqiang replied.

"Tsk tsk, it looks like Master really intends to cultivate you with great effort!" Ye Qingcheng said enviously.

Wang Xiaoqiang's face showed no sign of joy but rather a trace of worry as he mused, "Master and the Great Elders, they've already begun to suspect that I killed those three from the Crown Prince Faction..."

"So what if they suspect? They don't have any concrete evidence, and besides, you're now the favorite of Master; he will protect you..." Ye Qingcheng reasoned.

"Ah, that makes sense. Shall we go to eat? I still need to cultivate after the meal..."

"You're treating again? Then I won't be polite..." Ye Qingcheng casually hooked her arm through Wang Xiaoqiang's.

Wang Xiaoqiang was quite satisfied with the food at Immortal Gathering Tower, so the pair headed there again. Coincidentally, when they walked up to the second floor, they discovered Lin Jinghong and three members of the Crown Prince Faction also dining there.

When Lin Jinghong saw Wang Xiaoqiang and Ye Qingcheng enter, a flash of jealousy crossed his face. However, he dared not swear at them as he had before; he didn't even dare to utter another word, and the same went for the other two, who seemed to have a considerable fear of Wang Xiaoqiang. After all, no one knew better than they did that Jiangg Yulong and the others were killed by Wang Xiaoqiang.

Lin Jinghong silently used his Divine Sense to survey Wang Xiaoqiang's cultivation and discovered he was still at the Early Golden Core Stage. Lin Jinghong was puzzled; with that cultivation level, killing Ji Ning and Yinn Xuege might have been possible, but Jiangg Yulong would not have been so easy to kill. Was it really Wang Xiaoqiang who killed the three?

Ye Qingcheng, seeing Lin Jinghong, worried that Wang Xiaoqiang might start another conflict with him, so she tugged on Wang Xiaoqiang's sleeve and suggested, "Little Qiang, let's eat somewhere else..."

But Wang Xiaoqiang wrapped an arm around Ye Qingcheng's slender waist, "Hey, why change places? This place is quite nice, remember the face-slapping incident last time? Doesn't it feel satisfying to think about it..."

Knowing he would never have Ye Qingcheng, Lin Jinghong couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy seeing Wang Xiaoqiang's arm around her waist, and especially after hearing the mention of the last incident, it added fuel to the fire. He abruptly stood up and pointed at Wang Xiaoqiang, "Boy, what did you just say?"

"I said that last time I slapped someone's face right here in this tower, and that person still has the nerve to come here to eat. Aren't they afraid of reopening old wounds? Heh..." Wang Xiaoqiang laughed triumphantly. Although Jiangg Yulong and the others had been killed by him, just the thought that they had ambushed him because of Lin Jinghong made him feel uncomfortable. After all, according to secular laws, Jiangg Yulong and the others were merely accomplices; Lin Jinghong was the mastermind who should face the consequences.

"Kid, don't think that just because you've killed, you can escape the law. Someone will deal with you..." Lin Jinghong said viciously. "My Brother Jiangg's uncle is the Vice Sect Leader of Penglai Immortal Sect, with the cultivation of Nascent Soul Stage. It would take him mere moments to take your life..."

"Really?" Wang Xiaoqiang tightened his grip around Ye Qingcheng's waist and approached Lin Jinghong. "Let me ask you, Lin Jinghong, you think it was me who killed Jiangg Yulong, right?"

"If not you, then who? You remorseless Executioner...!!" Lin Jinghong all but roared in response.

Wang Xiaoqiang was not annoyed and sneered with a cold laugh, "Then let me ask you, why would I want to kill Jiangg Yulong?"

"You, you..." Lin Jinghong was at a loss for words, suddenly realizing that he had spoken more than he should have. This sort of matter was a highly confidential affair. Ultimately, it was the Crown Prince Faction conspiring to kill Wang Xiaoqiang.

"You, you've always been peculiar and harbor ulterior motives. Who knows if you're a spy from some evil path..." Lin Jinghong immediately started to denigrate Wang Xiaoqiang.

"Heh, well said," Wang Xiaoqiang still didn't show much emotional fluctuation and sneered, "So you mean to say that my master, the Taiyi Immortal, and my grandmaster, the True Person of Taiyi, are blind and have taken in a disciple from the crooked path, right?"

"I, I didn't mean that..." Lin Jinghong found himself caught in his own words and stammered.

"Then why do you claim I'm from the crooked path? Are you intentionally slandering me?"

"I, I..." Lin Jinghong was speechless.

"Do you think that with my Early Golden Core Stage cultivation, I could have killed Jiangg Yulong?" Wang Xiaoqiang asked further. He knew that the workers in this tavern were all disciples of Elder Xu, under heavy surveillance, and he had to make things clear.

This was precisely what Lin Jinghong doubted, and, hearing this, he was unable to answer, simply replying perfunctorily, "Whether you did it or not, you know in your own heart..."

"Right, heaven's justice is clear; the one with a guilty conscience knows it best," Wang Xiaoqiang said as he placed his arm around Ye Qingcheng's waist and approached an empty table, ordering wine and dishes.

Lin Jinghong and his two companions no longer had the appetite to eat and drink, and they left their seats and went downstairs in frustration, but not before Lin Jinghong glared fiercely at Wang Xiaoqiang.

"Little Qiang, did you hear that? Jiangg Yulong's uncle, Jiangg Aotian from the Penglai Immortal Sect, wants to deal with you... so you need to be careful everywhere..." Ye Qingcheng whispered in warning.

"Don't worry, I can handle it," Wang Xiaoqiang reassured her.

In the following three days, Wang Xiaoqiang devoted all his time to cultivation, focusing on how to control the flying sword and also on initiating his Divine Sense.

Controlling the flying sword was much simpler, as the ability to manipulate the flying sword is closely connected to one's cultivation realm. Activating the flying sword relies entirely on the spiritual power within the body, just as riding a bicycle relies completely on physical strength. With Wang Xiaoqiang's cultivation already laid out, he just needed to get the hang of the skill.

By comparison, cultivating Divine Sense was a bit more difficult, as Divine Sense and cultivation are separate from each other. Some people reach the Innate state in cultivation, but their Divine Sense remains in the Acquired state. Others might have Divine Sense at the Innate level while their cultivation still lags in the Acquired state. Such large disparities are rare, and Wang Xiaoqiang was one of them. If one were to discuss cultivation, he had reached the Initial Stage of the Nascent Soul, but his Divine Sense had not yet been initiated. No one would believe this if they were told, but it was the truth.

Divine Sense is a higher existence than the five physical senses, it's essentially the spiritual power of a person. Cultivating spiritual power can strengthen the Divine Sense. After three days of cultivating his spiritual power, Wang Xiaoqiang finally initiated his Divine Sense. Naturally, after only three days of cultivation, his Divine Sense was not very strong, covering only a five-meter radius around him and being quite weak, barely different from not having it at all. However, it was still better than not having initiated it.

With Divine Sense initiated, one's observational abilities undergo a qualitative change to perceive things invisible to the naked eye. Divine Sense is like a radar or infrared vision -- all objects fall within the scope of observation,

Although Wang Xiaoqiang's Divine Sense was weaker than others, he had the Five Elements Spirit Spring to sense external objects, compensating for this shortcoming.

Finally, it was the fifteenth of September.

On this day.

The Sect's grand tournament officially began.

In the square, four arenas had been set up, and the Sect Leader, the four Vice Sect Leaders, and the six Elders, had all taken their seats on the podium.

And the disciples participating in the competition were also standing in the centers of the four large arenas. The periphery of the arenas was also filled with disciples from the Taiyi Sect who had come to watch the competition.

On the South Gate side, the participants included Wang Xiaoqiang, Ling Qiyan, Mochong, and Ye Qingcheng. However, at this moment for the Vice Sect Leader of South Gate, his focus was solely on Wang Xiaoqiang. He knew that the other three were merely there for show, and Wang Xiaoqiang was the main force.

Not only did the Taiyi Immortal's gaze focus on Wang Xiaoqiang, but the Sect Leader, the True Person of Taiyi, the other Vice Sect Leaders, and the six Elders, as well as all the participating disciples and those surrounding, had their eyes fixed on Wang Xiaoqiang.

Although Wang Xiaoqiang had been a member of the sect for less than a month, he was now the most high-profile, anticipated, and controversial participant in the competition — he had hotly pursued one of the three most beautiful women of the institution, Ye Qingcheng; he had slapped the gifted Lin Jinghong from the Immortal Gathering Tower, leaving him speechless; he had allegedly killed three members of the Crown Prince Faction (though this news was not certain), but most people believed it.

With various impressive performances and his cultivation at the Early Golden Core Stage at such a young age, he had become the dark horse of this competition in the eyes of the audience. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to go to qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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