Chapter 2252

In the previous round, Lu Fengyao had lost due to her cultivation level, but this round did not compare cultivation levels, allowing Lu Fengyao to overtake her opponents.

However, the final results were not yet out; in the previous test of the inner demon, Saintess Xianlian still held a slight advantage.

Xiahou Yuan sent a voice transmission to Lu Fengyao, "Rest for a while and wait for the others."

Lu Fengyao gave a soft hum of acknowledgment, looked up, and happened to see Lin Moyu.

She narrowed her beautiful eyes as she looked at Lin Moyu, as if asking, "Why are you up there?"

Lin Moyu answered with his eyes, "Senior Xiahou called me up."

Lu Fengyao looked away, accepting Lin Moyu's answer.

Xiahou Yuan said, "It is about time. Soon, they will all wake up one by one, either succeeding or failing. This round of testing is effectively over."

"Do you know what the next round will test?"

Lin Moyu shook his head, "I am not quite sure."

Xiahou Yuan said, "Insight and Dao Heart have already been tested; the next round will naturally be a test of actual combat."

"Your cultivation level puts you at a disadvantage in the next round, so you must decide for yourself whether to participate."

"However, even if you do participate, do not use that technique from before or your Undying Golden Body again."

"It does not matter if you lose; there are some things that should be kept hidden."

"Among those people, quite a few are very petty."

Xiahou Yuan was not referring to the Dao Venerates within the formation, but rather the old fogies from the factions behind those Dao Venerates.

If Lin Moyu performed too exceptionally, there was a chance those old fogies would take action; it was not as if they had never snuffed out a genius before.

Of course, they always acted with great caution, ensuring no one could catch them in the act.

After all, every genius had a major faction behind them, and they were not people anyone could touch at will.

However, Lin Moyu did not seem to have any major faction behind him, so they would have no such concerns.

Lin Moyu naturally understood Xiahou Yuan's good intentions, "Thank you for the reminder, Senior; I will be careful."

His eye-catching performance earlier had only been to increase his leverage with Xiahou Yuan.

Now that Xiahou Yuan had agreed to help with Lillian, there was no need to continue performing like that.

Concealing one's strength was not a bad thing; it was like pulling back a fist before throwing a punch to make it more powerful.

"The performance in the previous two rounds is enough; from now on, hold back a little."

"After this round ends, the seating will likely be rearranged. I wonder where I will be ranked."

"It probably won't be too bad, but it won't be too good either. After all, I am only a Heavenly Venerate, and cultivation level is an important factor in determining ranking."

Lin Moyu returned to his seat and waited for the round to end.

More and more prodigies broke through the illusion; some succeeded, while others failed.

Most of those ranked at the top succeeded, and even if the process was not perfect, it at least proved that their Dao Heart was strong.

As for those who failed, it could only be said that their Dao Heart was not yet tempered enough to trigger the mechanism set by Xiahou Yuan.

In Xiahou Yuan's eyes, this illusion test should not have had the possibility of failure.

Excluding Lin Moyu, Saintess Xianlian was the second to break through the illusion after Lu Fengyao.

When she saw that Lu Fengyao had broken through the illusion a step before her, a trace of disappointment appeared on her face, accompanied by a strong desire to win.

As for Lin Moyu, he seemed to have been ignored by her; she no longer treated him as a normal person.

The way she looked at Lin Moyu was as if she were looking at a monster.

Lin Moyu thought to himself, "What kind of look is that woman giving me?"

Besides Saintess Xianlian, those ranked in the top ten who discovered that Lin Moyu was faster than them looked at him in much the same way, basically regarding him as a monster.

Xiahou Yuan sent a voice transmission to the Third Ancestor, "Third Ancestor, you heard everything that was just said, right?"

The Third Ancestor's voice rang out, "I heard it all. Just as I suspected, those he encountered are unfathomable existences."

"So you can think about it: why is he able to encounter those beings that we wouldn't even dare to try and meet?"

"Could there be some special reason for this?"

Xiahou Yuan was slightly startled, "You mean, those existences are grooming him?"

The Third Ancestor continued, "I have seen him before, and from him, I sensed a very ancient Sword Qi."

"Later, through intelligence analysis, this Sword Qi should have come from the jade dao sword in Jade Sword City of the Southern Continent."

"Over a hundred years ago, a disaster of moderate scale occurred in Jade Sword City. An indescribable existence descended with a trace of its aura, almost leveling the entire Jade Sword City to the ground."

"Even the jade dao sword, which had stood for countless years, suffered numerous cracks and nearly collapsed."

The more the Third Ancestor spoke, the more alarmed Xiahou Yuan became. He smiled bitterly, "Third Ancestor, please stop scaring me. If you keep going, I am afraid my Dao Heart will collapse."

The Third Ancestor chuckled, "You have lived for so long; how can you be so timid? Think about it from the other side: since those existences want to groom him but do not show themselves, what does that mean?"

Xiahou Yuan thought for a moment and murmured, "It means those existences do not want to interfere with his growth trajectory."

The Third Ancestor laughed heartily, "You are quite clever; that is indeed what I think."

"Clearly, those existences do not want to interfere with him too much, just appearing occasionally to make themselves familiar. Now you should know what to do."

Xiahou Yuan nodded, "I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Third Ancestor."

The Third Ancestor smiled, "We have known each other for so many years; there is no need to be so polite."

"While you can still move about freely outside, you should start making some preparations. Do not wait until one day when you are like me, wanting to go out occasionally but having to worry about this and that."

Xiahou Yuan was silent for a long time, "Alright, I will make preparations. I will surely have to trouble you then."

The Third Ancestor said, "If you need anything, go to Lu Lian; she has everything."

Chapter 2778: Cannot Be Too Aggressive, Cannot Be Too Weak

The second round ended, and everyone's seats were rearranged once more.

In the second round of testing, excluding Lin Moyu, Lu Fengyao took first place, followed by Saintess Xianlian, while Saint Son Tianhuan and Dongfang Wuwen swapped rankings, placing third and fourth respectively.

The rankings of the others had slight changes, but overall, there was not much difference.

Beams of light shone down, enveloping every prodigy and the attendants behind them.

Lin Moyu was surprised to find that there was no light on him.

This meant that his ranking did not need to change.

Lin Moyu understood Xiahou Yuan's intention; this was to keep him low-key and hidden, not to stand out too much.

Letting him participate in the Heavenly Pride Tournament was already a major spotlight; in the history of the Heavenly Pride Tournament, no Heavenly Venerate had ever been able to compete on the same stage as a Dao Venerate.

It was not that there hadn't been stunning Heavenly Venerates in history, or that Heavenly Venerates capable of going toe-to-toe with Dao Venerates didn't exist; even incidents of Heavenly Venerates slaying Dao Venerates against the odds were not exactly rare.

But those Heavenly Venerates were all Peak Heavenly Venerates.

Moreover, the Dao Venerates they slew were the weakest ones, not the prodigies present here.

If it came to combat power, the prodigies present were all the best among Heavenly Venerates of the same level.

When they were Peak Heavenly Venerates, they already possessed the strength to slay ordinary Dao Venerates.

For Lin Moyu, as a Mid-stage Heavenly Venerate, to be able to compete on the same stage with them was already unprecedented and incredibly heaven-defying.

In Xiahou Yuan's view, this was already more than enough, perhaps even too much.

Fortunately, what had been displayed so far were only insight and Dao Heart, which could only represent the future, not the present.

Lin Moyu being able to become a top expert in the future and possessing heaven-defying combat power right now were two completely different concepts.

If Lin Moyu performed too aggressively in actual combat, it would definitely invite the jealousy of those old fogies, and they might even take action to assassinate him.

Lin Moyu knew very well what he should do next.

"Conceal my strength, but I cannot be too weak either."

"Even if I intend to lose, I must lose beautifully; otherwise, it will make people think it is fake."

Lin Moyu was pondering how to fight so that he could conceal his strength without making people suspicious.

The beams of light shifted, and everyone's rankings were rearranged.

The rankings of the top ten saw some minor changes; Saintess Xianlian remained in first place without change, and Dongfang Wuwen was still in second.

The two of them firmly occupied the top two spots, their positions difficult to shake.

However, the position for third place had changed.

Originally sitting in the second position on the left was Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling, who was a direct descendant of the Three Spirits Sect and was known as the Young Sect Leader of the Three Spirits Sect.

However, during the tournament, Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling's performance had always been average, neither good nor bad.

Now his position had been taken by Saint Son Tianhuan, who dropped to the second position on the right, ranking fourth.

Saint Son Tianhuan, with his excellent performance, arrived at the second position on the left, entering the top three and moving one step closer to the title of the strongest prodigy.

However, everyone knew that it would be very difficult for him to eventually surpass Saintess Xianlian and Dongfang Wuwen.

From fifth to ninth place, the rankings did not change at all, remaining as they were.

Until the tenth place, located at the fifth position on the right, changed once again.

Lu Fengyao moved from the sixth position on the left to the fifth position on the right, improving her overall ranking by one spot, going from outside the top ten to inside the top ten.

Although it was only a small improvement of one spot, for Lu Fengyao, it was a huge change.

The top ten were all prodigies at the Dao Venerate Second Realm; she was the only existence at the Dao Venerable 1st Realm.

Her appearance, while not as shocking as Lin Moyu participating in the Heavenly Pride Tournament, was enough to attract the eyes of countless people.

Lu Fengyao was participating in the Heavenly Pride Tournament for the first time, and to break into the top ten with a Dao Venerable 1st Realm cultivation base was incredibly impressive.

As long as she could maintain this momentum, in the next Heavenly Pride Tournament, the title of the strongest prodigy would very likely be taken by Lu Fengyao.

As the successor to the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce, Lu Fengyao had also proven her talent and aptitude.

Lin Moyu watched the changes in the rankings and noticed Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling's expression; his eyes were calm, and he was not in the least bit annoyed that he had dropped from third to fourth.

Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling had been very low-key from the beginning; in Lu Fengyao's introduction earlier, he was described as just such a low-key existence.

In the previous tournament, he was the same, keeping a low profile, and ultimately achieved fourth place.

At the beginning of this tournament, he was ranked third, and although he had now dropped to fourth, there was no change in his expression.

He seemed not to value his ranking.

However, the more this was the case, the more Lin Moyu felt that this person was not simple.

When a person can take victory and defeat lightly, that person has actually begun to transcend on some level.

The position changes ended, and Xiahou Yuan's voice rang out, "The third round, combat!"

"In the first round, those ranked after tenth place will battle opponents corresponding to their position based on the left and right sides; the winner stays, and the loser is eliminated."

The rules were still very simple; those ranked after tenth place would pair up for matches, left against right.

For example, the seventh on the left against the seventh on the right, the twentieth on the left against the twentieth on the right.

The winner stays, and the loser is directly eliminated.

Those with similar rankings generally had equal strength; it was imaginable that the battles would be very exciting.

As for the top ten, they were seeded players and did not need to participate at the beginning; their matches would be left until the end.

The only exception was Lin Moyu; Lin Moyu was ranked 101st and had no opponent at all. After hearing the rules, many people looked at Lin Moyu, wondering how he would be arranged.

Xiahou Yuan pointed at Lin Moyu, "In this round of combat, he will not participate in the rankings. After the tournament, everyone can challenge him, and he will choose one person to fight."

With this arrangement, Xiahou Yuan kept Lin Moyu away from the rankings of the Heavenly Pride Tournament while still allowing him to participate.

Lin Moyu naturally understood Xiahou Yuan's intention with this arrangement; it coincided with his own thoughts—he could not be too weak, nor too strong, but needed to be moderate.

Lin Moyu had to grasp this degree himself.

The person chosen was very important; they could not be too weak, nor too strong.

The techniques that could be used also required careful consideration.

Lin Moyu felt that he could watch others' battles first before making a decision.

The rules were announced, and light screens rose from the lake, connecting to the formation in the sky, using the lake as the base to form an arena.

The space within the arena distorted, and the internal space was expanded, enough for the prodigies to show off their skills and fight to their heart's content.