Chapter 58 Special Training

What Su Ningxue said had a bit of a 'the more one denies, the more one reveals' flavor, but only she knew the true story.

Seeing the atmosphere in the main hall become awkward again, Ye Fan could only choose to excuse himself first.

"Wait..."

"Xuan... cough... Revered Master, is there anything else?"

Looking at Ye Fan's serious demeanor, Su Ningxue felt increasingly restless.

"Have you encountered any Bottleneck in your Cultivation recently?" Su Ningxue asked lightly.

"Bottleneck? No.", Ye Fan shook his head and said.

"...Then how is the cultivation of the Eight Desolations Fist Divine Ability going? Are there any questions?"

"None."

"Not even one at all?!"

"Not even one at all."

Ye Fan shook his head like a rattle drum, completely oblivious to Su Ningxue's increasingly displeased expression.

It was only after being driven out of the main hall that he remembered something, cursing himself for being so stupid.

"Revered Master... Xuanji... Ningxue... Treasure... cough cough... Revered Master, I have many unresolved questions regarding my Cultivation recently. I ask that Revered Master resolves them for me in person."

Listening to Ye Fan forcefully knocking on the door, Su Ningxue felt utterly flustered. It took her a long while to barely regain her composure, transforming back into the majestic and dignified Peak Revered Master she usually was.

"Is there something else?" Su Ningxue asked with a straight face.

"Disciple is about to participate in the Heavenly Pride Assembly. I hope Revered Master can spare some time to guide me during this period.", Ye Fan suppressed a smile.

"The Heavenly Pride Assembly? You're going?"

Su Ningxue was stunned for a few seconds before coming to her senses. A sweep of her Divine Sense confirmed Ye Fan's cultivation had reached the Fifth Level of Qi Refining Realm, meaning he was indeed qualified to participate.

Regarding the matter of giving the great restoration pill to Murong Wan, the two had long established a united front, so even Su Ningxue did not know the inside story.

Ye Fan used this as an excuse and a shield, perfectly explaining the reason for his cultivation advancement.

However, even so, the Fifth Level of Qi Refining Realm only granted minimal qualification to participate, and the danger involved was still very high; a slight misstep could cost him his life.

"This is simply reckless! Who allowed you to participate in the Heavenly Pride Assembly? Is it the Sect Head? I will go find him right now."

Seeing Su Ningxue about to lose her temper again, Ye Fan quickly stopped her and explained the reason why he must participate.

"You won the top spot in the Trial Assembly?"

Only then did Su Ningxue understand the whole story, her delicate brows furrowing deeply.

"Wan'er following you is truly... truly..."

Su Ningxue couldn't find a suitable adjective for a moment, not understanding what exactly Murong Wan saw in him that she had also learned to be so reckless.

As it concerned the reputation of the Joyous Union Sect, Su Ningxue had to treat it seriously, so she could only allow Ye Fan to participate.

There was about a month left until the start of the Heavenly Pride Assembly. It was unrealistic to expect a significant increase in Cultivation in such a short time, so they could only focus their efforts on other aspects.

"Wan'er was personally trained by me, so I'm not worried about that aspect. As for you, prepare to undergo special training.", Su Ningxue snorted lightly.

Although Ye Fan verbally thanked his Revered Master, he was internally overjoyed.

It seemed Su Ningxue definitely had feelings for him, but she just couldn't face them calmly. Realizing this, Ye Fan also became much bolder.

"There are no outsiders here. Constantly calling you Revered Master is too awkward. How about you just let me call you Xuanji?", Ye Fan asked with courage.

"You... Presumptuous!"

Su Ningxue's face flushed slightly, showing clear signs of being angered by embarrassment, and she raised her hand to strike, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Ye Fan stepped forward and stared intently at Su Ningxue, causing charming blushes to spread across her pretty face, yet she couldn't muster any anger.

"Do as you wish, but you absolutely cannot do this in front of outsiders.", Su Ningxue compromised.

"I knew Xuanji, you are the best."

Ye Fan's words stirred Su Ningxue's heart, and the blush instantly spread to her neck.

"If you talk nonsense again, I will truly drive you away!"

Seeing that Su Ningxue was genuinely getting angry, Ye Fan made a gesture of zipping his mouth shut, which almost made her break character. It took her great effort to finally calm down.

"Alright, let's talk business. Do you understand the rules of the Heavenly Pride Assembly?", Su Ningxue asked seriously.

Ye Fan shook his head. The Sect Head had only mentioned it briefly last time and hadn't specified the detailed rules.

The Heavenly Pride Assembly had a history spanning several hundred years. What started as a simple competition gradually evolved into a tool for the major Sects to contend for influence, resulting in a casualty rate far exceeding that of internal Sect trials.

The Nine Great Sects jointly demarcated an area, setting up layers of Formations and Restrictions to create a trial barrier.

All Disciples needed to fight within this area until their respective rankings were decided, thereby obtaining corresponding rewards.

The rewards for the Heavenly Pride Assembly were divided into two types. The first was the survival reward, determined by the elimination time of each Disciple.

The top one hundred rewards were the richest; the rest were basically consolation prizes.

The second type was the points reward, obtained based on the number of opponents eliminated. Finally, these points could be used to exchange for needed items.

Whether it was a Cultivation Technique, Divine Ability, Medicinal Pill, or Magical Artifact, everything was available.

The Nine Great Sects would even randomly drop rewards like Medicinal Pills and Magical Artifacts within the trial area for participating Disciples to use freely.

If one could survive until the end and bring them out, it would count as a personal reward.

As Ye Fan listened, his expression gradually became strange because he found the rules incredibly familiar.

"Does this trial barrier also randomly shrink to force the Disciples to fight to decide the victor, rather than hiding to win?", Ye Fan asked subconsciously.

Su Ningxue was clearly stunned for a moment and asked Ye Fan how he knew.

"..."

Ye Fan knew more than just that; this was clearly a cultivation version of Battle Royale. He had played similar games a lot in his previous life.

"It seems the Heavenly Pride Assembly is not as simple as imagined. A slight mistake could lead to failure even for a Foundation Establishment Realm expert."

After figuring this out, Ye Fan had to treat the matter seriously, otherwise, sinking in the gutter would be embarrassing.

"It looks like I'll have to trouble Xuanji to give me some cram sessions this month.", Ye Fan couldn't help but tease.

"You..."

Su Ningxue's face flushed slightly before returning to normal.

"Attack me with your full strength, and I will point out your mistakes as they arise."

Since Su Ningxue said so, Ye Fan naturally wouldn't be polite.

The opportunity to be personally coached by a Core Formation Realm Expert was rare. Among Su Ningxue's Personal Disciples, only Murong Wan had received such treatment; now, Ye Fan was the second.

"Xuanji, be careful."

Although he knew it was impossible to injure her, Ye Fan still reminded her.

"Hmph, worry about yourself instead."

Ye Fan had no intention of revealing his true cultivation yet, so he only used the strength of the Fifth Level of Qi Refining Realm.

Su Ningxue, unaware of the truth, also suppressed her cultivation to the Fifth Level of Qi Refining Realm. Once the two clashed, the gap in strength would be apparent.

Even with the same cultivation level, Su Ningxue was far ahead in terms of combat experience.

Every Move Ye Fan made, she could always see through it and strike first.

Ye Fan's Mysterious Jade Finger seemed full of flaws in her eyes, and the eighteen forms were broken one by one in an instant.

Despite this, Su Ningxue still had some doubts because this Finger technique did not seem to be a Move from the Joyous Union Sect.