Taking a Different Approach?

However, the Lin family still had Lin Mo. No one dared to challenge him.

The reason was simple: Lin Mo remained the personal disciple of the Grand Elder, and they were compelled to show him due respect.

Secondly, he was no ordinary individual; truthfully, in this batch of cultivators, his strength was absolutely among the top few.

Although Yan Yun yearned to seek trouble with him, now was not the time.

Lin Mo remained seated, utterly still, as if he had no intention of entering the fray.

At present, only half of the cultivators had engaged in battle; the other half, having displayed overwhelming strength, had yet to be challenged.

“Heh heh, you’re the one. I, Lin Mo, choose the strongest.”

Suddenly, Lin Mo’s eyes snapped open, blazing with an eerie violet light. His body then blurred into a phantom, traversing several arenas before appearing before a youth with sharp, sword-like brows and eyes like glistening stars.

The youth, noticing someone approach, immediately opened his eyes.

A cold glint flashed through them as he slowly rose.

“A disciple of the Yunhua Sect?” the youth inquired, narrowing his eyes.

“Heh heh, Lin Mo, a personal disciple of the Yunhua Sect, requests a few pointers from you, fellow Daoist.”

Lin Mo introduced himself in an effeminate tone.

In the time since they last met, his features had grown somewhat effeminate, as if some essential part of him had vanished, throwing his hormones into disarray.

“Lin Mo? You’re the former most outstanding disciple of the Yunhua Sect? I am Hua Yunxuan of the Lingjian Sect,” the youth introduced himself.

The Lingjian Sect was also one of the great sects of Jiang Country, its disciples all proficient in swordsmanship.

And this Hua Yunxuan ranked among the top three disciples of the Lingjian Sect in this competition, though he was not the strongest.

“Shall we begin then?” Lin Mo asked, raising his hand. Five poison needles emanating a purple glow appeared between his fingers.

He flicked his wrist, and the five poison needles shot through the air with incredible speed.

Hua Yunxuan frowned, his treasured sword in hand, rapidly swinging it. With a series of clang sounds, he parried all of Lin Mo’s poison needles.

However, his sword vibrated uncontrollably, and the force imbued in the needles told him that they were indeed poisoned.

“You cultivate the Heavenly Poison Sutra?” Hua Yunxuan asked, frowning at the poison needles on the ground.

“Heh heh, precisely. To be able to block my poison needles, you are worthy of my full attention.”

After speaking, Lin Mo let out a strange laugh, and a large quantity of pink poisonous mist billowed from his body, instantly spreading in all directions.

Hua Yunxuan’s expression shifted. He immediately held his breath and focused his mind, his treasured sword erupting with dazzling golden light.

“Sword Sweeps Eight Desolations.”

With a sweep of his blade, sword light fanned out in all directions, cleaving through the poisonous mist and forcing Lin Mo, who had been concealed within, into the open.

Alas, though the sword light was powerful, it was not enough to injure Lin Mo.

He merely launched a single poison needle, which pierced the sword light, tearing a rift through it.

“Long Rainbow Pierces the Sun.”

Having located Lin Mo, Hua Yunxuan seemed to merge with his sword, transforming into a colossal golden blade that lunged towards his opponent.

This strike possessed immense power and even greater speed.

Lin Mo swiftly retreated, and as he did, he injected his power into the poison needle in his hand. The needle transformed into a violet light that heavily collided with the tip of Hua Yunxuan’s sword.

The two forces pressed against each other, but Lin Mo clearly possessed reserves of strength. He launched several more poison needles that collided with the great sword.

Finally, with a loud bang, the two forces exploded. Hua Yunxuan was sent flying backward, once again disappearing into the poisonous mist.

“What a strange method,” Hua Yunxuan muttered, his face changing.

“Hahaha, it seems my poison art is still superior!”

Lin Mo’s eerie cackle echoed from all around the poisonous mist. Simultaneously, numerous poison needles pierced through the fog, darting towards Hua Yunxuan.

These poison needles were incredibly fast and relentless.

Such an attack was truly troublesome, but Hua Yunxuan was incredibly resilient. He spun rapidly in place, swinging his weapon to form a sword-blade storm that blocked each incoming poison needle.

But how long could such a defense last?

From a distance, Yan Yun had been observing Lin Mo’s battle.

‘Master, something’s off about this fellow, isn’t it? His poison art seems quite different from ours,’ Yan Yun remarked, her brows furrowed as she observed Lin Mo’s fighting style.

‘Indeed, it’s quite different. Could it be that he isn’t cultivating according to the methods described in the Heavenly Poison Sutra?’ Yan Lingyun speculated.

This was not good news for Yan Yun. If Lin Mo was not cultivating his poison art according to the Heavenly Poison Sutra, then her own innate resistance to the art might not be effective.

‘Could he have forged a new path? Is that even possible, or has this fellow’s poison art mutated?’ Yan Yun wondered.

As Yan Yun and Yan Lingyun conversed, Lin Zi’s screams and curses reached their ears.

“Yan Yun, you little hussy! If you have the guts, just kill me! Otherwise, I swear, I will repay today’s humiliation a hundredfold, a thousandfold, someday!”

Lin Zi’s defenses had been breached by the puppets. Five of them were relentlessly assaulting her, leaving her face bruised and swollen beyond recognition.

The puppets struck with calculated force, not too light, not too heavy. It wouldn’t cause severe injuries, but it was certainly agonizing.

She had tried to concede several times, but each time she opened her mouth, a puppet’s fist would interrupt her.

Yan Yun was undoubtedly doing this on purpose. Among all the Yunhua Sect disciples, aside from Lin Mo, this woman was the most detestable, so Yan Yun had no intention of letting her withdraw so easily.

‘Alright, alright, just bear with it a little longer,’ she thought.

Lin Zi was about to call for the referee but was instantly interrupted by another punch.

As for Jiang Yao and Su Muyu, their battles had long concluded. They now sat on the arena, observing the surrounding fights.

“That fellow, sigh!” Jiang Yao lamented, glancing in Yan Yun’s direction with a helpless sigh.

Were it her, she certainly wouldn’t torment an opponent so pointlessly, even if they were an enemy.

Truthfully, she had noticed Yan Yun’s personality had changed drastically over the past few years, becoming increasingly different from her past self.

In her previous life, Yan Yun, while not overtly naive, was at least a bright and cheerful young man. Yet, the current Yan Yun bore no resemblance to sunshine; calling her sinister and ruthless would not be an exaggeration.

Of course, Jiang Yao could understand. After enduring so much, she, too, would likely have undergone a drastic change in personality.

Time quickly passed for over ten minutes. This round was also limited to half an hour, and half the time still remained.

The most fiercely contested arena was currently where Lin Mo and Hua Yunxuan fought.

Hua Yunxuan was already very strong; if not for Lin Mo challenging him, he would certainly have shone brightly.

The higher-ups of the Lingjian Sect watched Hua Yunxuan and Lin Mo’s battle with expressions etched in anxiety. He was currently at a complete disadvantage, with Lin Mo giving him no chance to breathe.

“This… Disciples of the Yunhua Sect, is this the Lin Mo who was once your number one disciple? Why are his methods so sinister, far more cunning than even Yan Yun’s?” the Lingjian Sect Master couldn’t help but exclaim in exasperation.

Indeed, while Yan Yun also employed poison, she generally did so openly and forthrightly.

Lin Mo, however, was entirely different. He floated outside the poisonous mist, his face contorted in a mask of madness, releasing poison needles while cackling maniacally, a sound that made one’s scalp crawl, as if relishing the struggle of others.

Soon, Hua Yunxuan finally ran out of strength. His sword-blade storm began to slow, eventually grinding to a halt.

After stopping, he had several poison needles embedded in his body, and the pricked areas were already paralyzed.

“Damn it, am I truly to be stopped here?” Hua Yunxuan muttered, deeply unwilling to accept this fate.

Yet, facing such an eerie enemy, he was powerless.

One poison needle after another continued to strike him. Soon, his entire body, save for his head, was practically a pincushion.

Jiang Yao could no longer bear to watch.

“Alliance Master Shangguan, this child has already lost. Please have the referee stop them.”

Shangguan Jinyang immediately nodded and informed Nalan Piaoxu.

In an instant, she appeared before Hua Yunxuan, and with a casual wave of her hand, she forced back both the poisonous mist and Lin Mo.

Lin Mo, thrown back by this sudden force, immediately frowned.

“Stop it; he has already lost,” Nalan Piaoxu said gravely.

But Lin Mo refused to accept it.

“He hasn’t verbally surrendered. Isn’t this sudden interruption inappropriate, senior?”

Nalan Piaoxu glanced at Hua Yunxuan, who was still struggling behind her, and with another wave of her hand, she pulled all the poison needles from his body.

Hua Yunxuan indeed had no intention of admitting defeat, yet he was truly incapable of doing so. Lin Mo’s poison needles had rendered him unable to speak a single word, or even move, leaving him to merely crouch on the ground, trembling.

If there had been enmity between the two, it might have been understandable, but for a mere spar without any prior grievances, this was simply excessive.

“Can he even speak to surrender?” Nalan Piaoxu retorted.

Lin Mo let out a cold laugh, then said nothing further.

Seeing that he had nothing more to say, Nalan Piaoxu immediately departed the arena with Hua Yunxuan.

“Junior Brother Hua.” A cold-tempered female cultivator from the Lingjian Sect watched Hua Yunxuan being led away, her eyes practically spitting fire.

Everyone could see that Lin Mo had been tormenting him for pleasure.

Meanwhile, Yan Yun, seeing Lin Mo defeat Hua Yunxuan, also waved her hand. Five puppets simultaneously struck, knocking Lin Zi off the arena.

A referee immediately caught Lin Zi with a surge of power.

‘Just how deep is this grudge?’ the referee muttered, his lips twitching violently as he observed Lin Zi’s state.

Well then, at this point, no other member of the Lin family remained in the entire activity area apart from Lin Mo.

Over a hundred disciples from Purple Abyss Pavilion, approximately half of them, had been eliminated, which already indicated the high combat strength of Purple Abyss Pavilion disciples.

This was because Purple Abyss Pavilion currently consisted entirely of Cavern Heaven Realm cultivators, with no Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.

“Time’s up; the second round of activities has concluded,” Nalan Piaoxu announced immediately after the final arena battles concluded.

The third round of activities would commence in the afternoon, granting Yan Yun and the others several hours of recuperation.
Everyone used this time to gather.

Starting from the third round, they would be divided into groups. Five thousand people would be split into five groups, and from each of these five groups, only one hundred individuals would ultimately advance to the finals.

The subsequent battles would be entirely based on a matching mechanism, so the finals were expected to take several days to complete.