Chapter 1722 — Chapter 1722 Peak of Spirit Enlightenment

"What a fierce battle! It's like they're really trying to kill each other!"

The spectators were shocked by how intensely Hong Xiuqian and Wang Bingbing were going at each other's throats, almost as if they were before their archenemies.

As for the match itself, Hong Xiuqian was successfully blocking all of Wang Bingbing's sword strikes. Moreover, his fists were still in great condition, unlike their previous match, where his fists would be bruised by the end.

As for Wang Bingbing, each of her sword strikes struck exactly where she wanted with deadly precision, and she had almost no wasteful movement. 'They're incomparably stronger than before, and they are still hiding their true strength.' Yuan smiled inwardly, wondering if they were hiding their true strength because of him.

"Sister Wang, I have a better chance of defeating that man. Stop this pointless struggle, and just let me win."

"Are you seriously saying that?" Wang Bingbing suddenly became even more aggressive, and her aura soared, clearly angry at Hong Xiuqian's words.

Hong Xiuqian was slightly taken aback and started getting pushed back.

'Damn, she's starting to use her real strength!' Hong Xiuqian clenched his jaw and started fighting more seriously, too.

While they continued fighting, another member of the Demon Sealing Faction was called to the stage.

A beautiful woman with a stern expression walked onto the stage. Her opponent, who was only a Spirit King, began trembling in fear after sensing her cultivation.

"P-Peak of Spirit Enlightenment!"

Li Jinxi's overwhelming presence on the stage affected not just her opponent but even those around her, including those in the audience.

"A-are you ready to fight?" The judge for their match asked.

Li Jinxi silently nodded.

It took a moment for her opponent to respond. After swallowing nervously, he said, "R-ready!"

"Then let the fight begin!"

The instant the match began, Li Jinxi's figure disappeared from her spot.

"Agh!"

Her opponent cried out in pain and was sent flying outside the stage a split second later.

Li Jinxi had defeated her opponent in a single move not even a second after the match began, and she used nothing but her own fists.

"W-winner, Li Jinxi!"

Once the match ended, the judge offered Li Jinxi a recovery pill, but she outright refused it and left the stage.

"Heavens! What a domineering beauty! To be at the Peak of the Spirit Enlightenment at her age, her potential is massive!"

"Hahaha! That young man from the upper heavens must be sweating by now! I cannot imagine a Spirit Grandmaster defeating someone at the peak of Spirit Enlightenment, regardless of their background!"

Sometime later, Meixiu entered the stage with a spirit-grade bow. However, she didn't have any arrows on her, and her bow also lacked the bowstring that traditional bows have, resembling that of an incomplete bow.

Her opponent was a young woman at the third level of the Spirit Sovereign realm who belonged to one of the Three Grand Sects, the Grand Spring Sect.

"Please go easy on me," said her opponent.

Meixiu silently nodded.

Once the match began, the Grand Spring Sect disciple raised her sword in a defensive manner while Meixiu's aura skyrocketed, wrapping itself around the bow in her grasp and creating a bowstring. By the time Meixiu raised her bow, an arrow made entirely of her aura was already prepared to launch from the bow.

"!!!"

The Grand Spring Sect disciple instinctively knew that she was incapable of blocking Meixiu's attack and immediately switched from defensive to trying to avoid the attack entirely.

The arrow flew from the bow a moment later and barely missed the Grand Spring Sect. However, right as the disciple sighed in relief inwardly, she felt something strike her from the back.

"Wha—?!"

The arrow that had missed her initially had suddenly turned around, and in that instant, she felt as though a massive hole had been torn through her stomach. However, when she looked down, she saw no injury on her body; the formation had activated, sparing her life.

"I-it's my loss…" The disciple sighed in a disappointed manner as she placed a hand on where Meixiu had struck her.

As a Core Disciple of the Grand Spring Sect, she thought she would, at the very least, achieve the top 10. However, she had gotten incredibly unlucky and got matched with someone an entire realm above her for her first match.

'I couldn't even show off a single technique before I was defeated… This is so embarrassing…' The disciple left the stage with her head lowered.

Chu Liuxiang was next, and she also defeated her opponent in a single attack by blasting them away with an unavoidable ice technique that covered the entire stage. Sometime later, Wang Bingbing and Hong Xiuqian's match finally concluded.

"Winner—Wang Bingbing!" The judge announced.

Wang Bingbing had managed to defeat Hong Xiuqian after a long and arduous battle where neither of them was able to overpower the other for hours until Hong Xiuqian made a mistake from exhaustion—one that Wang Bingbing took advantage of and came out on top.

The spectators cheered madly, causing the whole place to rumble with excitement.

"This year's tournament is really exciting." One of Emperor Ning's children said as he clapped.

"Father, do you think it's possible to meet them after the tournament? I would love to have a word with that beauty with the bow." One of the older children asked, his gaze filled with adoration.

Before Emperor Ning could even speak, Kelan responded, "She already has a partner."

"That doesn't mean any—"

Kelan looked at him and interrupted, "I wouldn't continue that sentence if I were you... unless you wish the downfall of your family."

Emperor Ning hastily went to slap his own son in the face and shouted, "Apologize to Senior Kelan right now!"

"I-I am sorry, Senior! I didn't realize you were her partner!"

Kelan frowned and said, "Hey, that's a crazy misunderstanding. I am not her partner, and don't you dare utter such words again. If her real partner was here to hear that, he'd probably go on a rampage and kill everyone here."

Yuan turned to look at Kelan with raised eyebrows.

'What kind of nonsense is that? Is this how he sees me?' he shook his head inwardly.