Dragon Dust Returns

Inside the Xuantian Branch, the Guild Ranking Competition was about to begin again; this was the third major competition of the Xuantian Branch.

In the first major competition, Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's team encountered a traitor's betrayal, obtaining zero flags and ranking last.

Long Chen killed someone in a fit of rage and was exiled to the Wasteland. The hope of living was extremely slim; after all, it was the graveyard of the exiled.

Since the founding of the branch, no Core Disciple had ever been able to return alive from the land of exile.

And those Core Disciples who did not return alive were all experts who had achieved a Breakthrough into the Tendon Transformation Realm, yet Long Chen was only at the 7th Heaven of Blood Condensation, making the hope of his survival even slimmer.

Long Chen's departure brought a huge impact on the morale of Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's side, but what was comforting was that they all withstood this huge blow, and not a single person left.

After consuming the Medicinal Pill that Long Chen left for them, their cultivation soared once again, and even without the support of a large amount of points, they were still no worse than anyone else.

After the first major competition ended, the people on Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's side could only receive some cheap tasks at the task distribution center.

Moreover, these tasks were not available every day because most tasks were picked away by other factions, not to mention those lucrative Advanced tasks.

What was most infuriating was that when performing tasks, they were often squeezed out by other factions; ridicule, insults, and various provocations never ceased.

This made Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu furious. This was simply forcing people to their deaths. Even when doing the cheapest tasks, there were people causing trouble. If they couldn't complete them, they wouldn't get the point rewards. It was truly bullying them too much.

Ever since the first major competition ended and Long Chen was exiled, all the factions in the entire branch were divided into three cliques.

One was the clique led by Gu Yang. A total of seven factions formed an Alliance; they were the most powerful existence among all the cliques.

There was also the clique led by Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu; their clique had five factions.

Besides Song Mingyuan and Li Qi, there was another person who brought his own faction to join them, and that person was Luo Cang.

He was the first outsider to stand up and support Long Chen, while those who had also once stood on Long Chen's side and expressed support for him…

After Long Chen was exiled, they remained silent again; some even secretly joined Gu Yang's camp.

This made Tang Waner both angry and helpless, and at the same time, she also saw the cruelty of reality.

Of the seven factions that originally stood up to support Long Chen, only the three, Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang, truly admired Long Chen and were willing to advance and retreat with him.

The other four factions clearly had their eyes on Long Chen's terrifying combat power and the powerful influence of Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu.

They were not fools. Although Gu Yang was powerful, one person could not contend against both Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu.

Most importantly, in their team, there was this guy Long Chen with infinite potential. At the 7th Heaven of Blood Condensation, he could barely rival a Core Disciple of the Tendon Transformation Realm, and his potential was even more limitless.

So at that time, they thought that under the circumstances of everyone putting pressure on the branch, they would definitely be able to protect Long Chen.

This would not only reflect their own justice but also allow them to win over a powerful partner, killing two birds with one stone.

But later, when the Sect Leader appeared and exiled Long Chen to the Wasteland, they were dumbfounded. In their eyes, Long Chen was already doomed to die.

Thus, they had to re-choose their camp; some even unhesitatingly fawned over Gu Yang and joined his camp.

Besides the two hostile camps of Gu Yang and Tang Waner, there was also a neutral camp. The leader of this faction was Guan Wennan.

He was the fourth Core Disciple in the Xuantian Branch to have his Ancestral Rune restored. Although he was powerful and arrogant…

…facing the three who had also undergone Awakening of the Ancestral Rune, he couldn't help but feel hesitant, especially Gu Yang, who had awakened his Ancestral Rune even before entering the branch; his combat power was the strongest among them all.

Seeing Gu Yang and Tang Waner's group at loggerheads, he very wisely chose neutrality, neither fawning over Gu Yang nor kicking Tang Waner while she was down.

He simply led his four factions to do their own thing, offending neither of the other two factions.

A month later, when Long Chen was desperately killing 3rd-rank Demonic Beasts in the Wasteland, the branch's second major competition began again.

This major competition was more intense than the first. After fighting for the flags on the ground, Gu Yang's and Tang Waner's factions began a fierce clash.

Enemies meeting were extra enraged; they attacked each other madly with all their might, snatching each other's flags, but what shocked everyone was…

Gu Yang erupted with full power, runes all over his body lit up, his power was violently boundless, and he fought Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu alone.

People then realized with horror that Gu Yang was too powerful; he was indeed worthy of being someone who had restored his Ancestral Rune early, and his mastery of the Ancestral Rune's power was more proficient.

While Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu had only just undergone the Awakening of the Ancestral Rune for less than two months, they couldn't unleash the true power of the Ancestral Rune.

The two were both angry and anxious, but despite attacking with full force, they just couldn't defeat the opponent in a short time.

Originally, the two sides were five against seven, and there was a certain disparity in strength. With Gu Yang holding off the two strongest opponents alone, this side immediately suffered a defeat.

When the ending bell rang, Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's flags were looted again; there was no way, the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great.

The opponent freed up two Core Disciples who rushed directly into Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's faction; those Inner Sect Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples were simply unable to resist.

The most hateful thing was that they not only wanted to snatch the flags but also dealt vicious blows to those Disciples who dared to block them, beating them one by one until their bones were broken and they couldn't get up.

After the bell rang, basically none of the Disciples from their faction could get up; all were lying on the ground, heavily injured.

Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu looked at the Disciples lying on the ground, their eyes as if they were about to breathe fire, and couldn't help but shed tears.

They hated their own incompetence, yet were powerless to change anything, and at the same time, they knew that the competition in the branch was just this cruel.

In the major competition, as long as lives were not taken, no one would stop it. The reason Qi Xin and Lei Qianshang were so ruthless was to strike at everyone's confidence, making them fearful until they surrendered.

And Qi Xin and the others were very cunning, focusing their attacks on Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's side.

Song Mingyuan and the others desperately wanted to rescue them, but their combat power was not as good as the opponent's; they could only watch them suffer humiliation, yet were powerless to do anything. This made one so angry they wanted to kill.

But they didn't have as much courage as Long Chen; they didn't dare to kill, so they could only suppress their anger in their hearts.

At the same time, they also thought of a possibility: this was a strategy of Qi Xin. Five factions united, and they only snatched Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's team.

On one hand, they wanted to leave some room, not wanting to offend the three teams completely, and it also carried a certain warning meaning.

On the other hand, it was even more insidious; this was a disguised way to sow discord between the two sides. Although they wanted to help, in the end, they couldn't.

The final result was that the people on Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu's side were all beaten down, and the flags were snatched.

While their three factions had basically no damage; although they had very few flags, they weren't taken away.

Thus, this buried a seed of instability. The people from those two factions would think that their side was just going through the motions and didn't really want to help them, causing internal conflict among them.

However, that was indeed the case. In the later period, the Outer Sect Disciples inside argued because of this, but it was sternly suppressed by them. However, this seed was buried; if not resolved early, this Alliance would soon break apart.

Now, the morning sun had just risen from the east, caressing the earth with its warm light.

But such gentle sunlight could not change the atmosphere filled with gunpowder on the battlefield.

On the Guild Major Competition trial ground, small flags had already covered the entire venue, and over a dozen teams had all gathered.

Today was the third Guild Major Competition; the entire atmosphere was unusually tense. Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu knew that if they were in last place again this time, it would really be over.

After Long Chen left, he used all his points to buy medicinal herbs, spending three days and three nights, without sleep or rest, refining Medicinal Pills, just so that everyone wouldn't be left too far behind, and to lay a foundation for striving for a ranking in the second major competition.

But after Gu Yang and the others took first place last time, they obtained a large number of points, not only enough to buy Medicinal Pills but also some cultivation aids, and their combat power improved rapidly.

So last time, even with Long Chen's help, their side didn't have much of an advantage, which shows how generous the reward for first place was.

The top three spots were occupied by Gu Yang, Qi Xin, and Lei Qianshang. Last time, they had already been left behind, and I'm afraid the gap this time would be even larger.

"Tang Waner, how is it? Have you not considered it yet? Submit to me, and your situation will immediately improve; otherwise, you will always be in last place," Gu Yang looked at Tang Waner with an arrogant face and said.

"Keep dreaming," Tang Waner said with a look of disgust.

Gu Yang didn't care, laughed and said: "Are you still thinking about that pretty boy? Haha, it's almost two months, and he hasn't returned, which means he has long since turned into Demonic Beast dung."

"Gu Yang, this time I won't let you succeed again," Tang Waner said, gritting her teeth.

Gu Yang sneered and said indifferently: "Suit yourself, but I see that after being in last place three times in a row, you will just be in last place forever."

Looking at the arrogant Gu Yang in the distance, Tang Waner took a deep breath and said to Ye Zhiqiu: "Sister Zhiqiu, if we fail again this time, I will kill them."

Ye Zhiqiu nodded, a trace of coldness appearing in her eyes: "I will go with you, kill this bunch of bastards, and avenge Long Chen."

For two months, there had been no news of Long Chen at all; I'm afraid the outlook was grim.

Now, the two were incomparably sad and angry in their hearts.

This time, they developed an intent to kill towards Gu Yang and the others. Fighting and killing were two different concepts. Fighting depended on who had greater strength, while killing only depended on who was ruthless enough and who was less afraid of death.

Now that Long Chen was dead, Tang Waner's heart felt as if it were being pricked by needles. She hated these few people in front of her to the core; she wanted to perish together with them.

"Everyone get ready, the major competition now beg…"

"Wait a moment, sorry, I'm late!"

Suddenly, a voice interrupted Senior Brother Wan's words. People turned their heads in shock, only to see a figure walking towards them, facing the morning sun.