289: The competition is over! Conspiracy against Lu Xuan's relatives!

Everyone present once again focused their gaze on the chief examiner's seat.

However, when they clearly saw Lu Xuan's face, a series of low gasps immediately echoed through the massive training ground.

"He's so young!" someone couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

"Sect Head, is this the chief examiner?"

"How does he look even younger than us, who are participating in the Martial Arts Competition?"

A man about to go on stage for a match asked his Sect elder beside him, his face full of surprise.

Almost all the contestants on stage, upon seeing the chief examiner, Lu Xuan, revealed expressions of disbelief.

Lu Xuan's face was delicate, and his demeanor was calm; he looked to be only in his early twenties, completely different from the image of a chief examiner they had imagined.

Shouldn't they all look like old men who had lived for hundreds of years?

They had never seen such a young important figure as Lu Xuan in their lives.

It was truly like a small knife stabbing one's butt—an eye-opener!

"This... this chief examiner, can he really hold the fort?" someone muttered in a low voice, with a hint of doubt.

"Don't talk nonsense!" the person next to him immediately reprimanded in a low voice, "Didn't you see that the Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister both treated him with respect?"

"This chief examiner is definitely not as simple as he appears!"

"Didn't you hear the imperial decree's content!"

"This person is not just the chief examiner."

"He is also the Deputy Commander of the Xuan Niao Guard of the Great Xia Xuan Bird Guard!"

"The name of the Blackbird Guard, I don't need to tell you, you know the weight it carries, right?"

"Indeed!"

The Blackbird Guard is the most mysterious organization of the Great Xia Dynasty, possessing many powerful experts and directly answering to the Great Xia Emperor.

To become the Deputy Commander of the Xuan Niao Guard, one must possess undeniable power.

Although everyone's hearts were filled with doubt and surprise, no one dared to underestimate this young chief examiner anymore.

After all, someone who could sit in that position and be treated with respect by both the Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister could never be an ordinary person.

Lu Xuan stood before the chief examiner's seat, his gaze calm, as if he hadn't heard the discussions below the stage.

He slowly scanned the entire venue, then spoke:

"Everyone, this Martial Arts Competition will proceed according to established custom."

"Regardless of age or background, anyone who enters the top hundred can enter the Lingxu Land and obtain supreme Opportunity."

Lu Xuan's voice was very calm, carrying an invisible pressure that instantly silenced the entire venue.

"Next, it's up to your methods; each will rely on their own abilities!"

As Lu Xuan's voice fell, the atmosphere on the training ground became tense once again.

Those contestants who had originally doubted Lu Xuan's age now had to compose themselves and focus on the upcoming matches.

"This chief examiner is indeed not simple..." Sect Head Huang said in a low voice, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"Yes, at such a young age, he possesses such bearing; no wonder he can hold that position," the purple-robed elder also nodded, his tone carrying a hint of emotion.

As the matches officially began, the atmosphere on the training ground gradually grew lively.

Lu Xuan, meanwhile, sat quietly in the chief examiner's seat, his gaze profound, silently watching the Great Xia Dynasty officials below who were responsible for managing the competition.

Lu Xuan's duty was to ensure the normal operation of the Martial Arts Competition.

Other miscellaneous matters were not his concern!

Lu Xuan stood in the chief examiner's seat, his gaze sweeping over the Martial Arts Prodigies about to go on stage below, his heart filled with emotions.

Most of these young people were between twenty-seven and twenty-nine years old, which was the golden period for Martial Arts cultivation.

Each of them had a stable aura, clearly having been tempered through countless trials, making them Martial Arts Geniuses.

"The Martial Arts Prodigies of this world are truly as numerous as carps crossing a river!" Lu Xuan sighed to himself.

At a glance, Lu Xuan found that most of these contestants had Blood Refinement Realm cultivation, and quite a few had even stepped into the Inner Energy Realm.

Such cultivation, placed in any Sect or Family, would be enough to be called a Genius among Geniuses.

It could be boldly said that all the Martial Arts Prodigies from the hundreds of millions of miles of the Great Xia Dynasty were gathered here.

These contestants, at such a young age, had already reached the Blood Refinement Realm or even the Inner Energy Realm, and their future achievements were immeasurable.

Any one of them could potentially become a regional overlord in the future, or even a pillar of the Great Xia Dynasty.

If someone wanted to nip these Martial Arts Prodigies, who had not yet fully grown, in the bud here,

That would undoubtedly be an extremely heavy loss for the various great Sects!

It's just that there might really be some foolish fellows who come here to cause trouble!

However, while Lu Xuan was lamenting the Martial Arts Aptitude of others, he overlooked his own existence.

Lu Xuan was many years younger than these contestants.

Of course, Lu Xuan would not be affected by this.

His achievements today were entirely due to his own sweat and diligent cultivation.

This is not even my limit!

System, add points for me!

Host: Lu Xuan

Realm: Void Realm True Lord (Minor Achievement)

Cultivation Technique: Burning Heaven Blade Technique 8/9, Close Distance to the Horizon 5/9, Undying and Unextinguished 7/9.

Points: 34660

The two Heavenly Spirit Treasures were refined for a total of 300,000 System points.

Plus an eight-pattern moon relic, which extracted 160,000 System points.

Adding the two, Lu Xuan gained a total of 460,000 System points in just half a day.

460,000 System points, plus the remaining 94,660 System points from before.

That means a total of 554,660 System points!

And Lu Xuan deduced Undying and Unextinguished once, reaching the seventh layer, consuming 140,000 System points.

The remaining System points, Lu Xuan used to deduce Close Distance to the Horizon twice.

When deduced to the fourth layer, 160,000 points were consumed.

When deduced to the fifth layer, 220,000 System points were directly consumed.

Under three deductions, Lu Xuan's strength was forcefully raised to the Minor Achievement of the Void Tempering Realm.

However, there was one thing that made Lu Xuan feel a bit puzzled.

The Nine-Pattern Moon Artifact Xuan Bird Heavenly Lock was Emperor Tianqi Xia Ritain's Dao-proving treasure.

Logically speaking, the Mystic Bird Sky Lock should be a highly valued sacrificial artifact of the Great Xia Dynasty.

But ever since Lu Xuan obtained the Mystic Bird Sky Lock,

Neither the Lord Purple Yao nor the Empress in the imperial palace had mentioned it.

It seemed as if they all had a tacit understanding, implicitly assuming the Mystic Bird Sky Lock didn't exist.

That's good too; Lu Xuan was too lazy to make up reasons to cover it up.

In the following days, the Martial Arts Competition progressed unusually smoothly, with virtually no unexpected incidents.

However, this level of smoothness made Lu Xuan feel a bit strange.

The Martial Arts Competition these past few days has been too smooth...

Lu Xuan sat in the chief examiner's seat, his gaze sweeping over the crowd below, pondering inwardly.

Under normal circumstances, there would always be some major forces in the Martial Arts Competition who would be dissatisfied due to wins and losses, even causing some disturbances.

But this time, there were no such anomalies.

Whether it was the Disciples who lost their matches or the forces behind them, they all behaved extremely restrained, even respectfully.

"It seems it's because of these two people."

Lu Xuan's gaze subtly shifted to the Left and Right Prime Ministers beside him, understanding dawning in his heart.

Left Prime Minister Chang Mingsheng and Right Prime Minister Bi Zhengzhi, these two figures at the pinnacle of power in the Great Xia Dynasty, were currently sitting beside Lu Xuan with serious expressions.

Their presence was undoubtedly an invisible deterrent.

Even the most arrogant major forces would not dare to act presumptuously in front of the Left and Right Prime Ministers of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Indeed, even a fool could see that the atmosphere of the Martial Arts Competition these past few days was extremely serious.

The presence of the Left and Right Prime Ministers of the Great Xia Dynasty was like two insurmountable mountains, pressing down on everyone, making them dare not act rashly.

With these two important figures overseeing, the order of the Martial Arts Competition was naturally unchallenged.

Even those Disciples from major forces who lost their matches dared not show any anger, let alone challenge the order of the Martial Arts Competition.

At this moment, Left Prime Minister Chang Mingsheng smiled slightly and whispered to Lu Xuan, who was in the main seat.

"Lord Lu, the Martial Arts Competition these past few days has been much quieter than usual."

Lu Xuan heard this, feeling a slight surprise.

This Left Prime Minister Chang Mingsheng of the Great Xia Dynasty had been intentionally or unintentionally striking up conversations with him during the Martial Arts Competition these past few days, seemingly with some deeper meaning.

Then, Lu Xuan smiled faintly.

"Lord Left Prime Minister is joking."

"The Martial Arts Competition is inherently a grand event for the Great Xia Dynasty to select talented individuals to enter the Lingxu Land, so it should naturally be treated seriously."

"If anyone dares to cause trouble, that would be disrespect to the Great Xia Dynasty."

As the last match concluded, the Martial Arts Competition also entered its final stage.

"The Martial Arts Competition is over! The top three will enter the palace tomorrow to meet Your Majesty!"

Just as Lu Xuan announced the end of the Martial Arts Competition, in a certain mysterious and bizarre dream-like spirit Realm.

Seven or eight blurry phantoms were suspended on a clear, mirror-like water surface.

On the water surface, sparse, twisted lotus flowers grew.

Within each blooming lotus, a phantom vaguely appeared, as if integrated with this spirit Realm.

"The Martial Arts Competition is over!" A deep, hoarse voice emerged from one of the lotus flowers, with a hint of inexplicable meaning in its tone.

"That junior Lu Xuan has already returned to the Blackbird Guard."

Another phantom slowly spoke, its voice like an echo in a secluded valley, carrying an eerie ethereal quality.

"I have already obtained his Origins from some people of the Li Family."

The third phantom interjected, its tone carrying a hint of smugness and coldness.

"Baidao Prefecture, An Prefecture, Southern Region!"

"Qingyun County Lu Family Pharmacy!"

That phantom continued, its voice carrying a hint of sarcasm and greed.

"Hehehe! The world is truly vast and full of wonders!"

"A small pharmacy!"

"And from among these Mortals, a true Dragon like Lu Xuan emerged!"

Another phantom exclaimed, its tone full of disbelief.

"What a great Opportunity bestowed by heaven!"

The last phantom chuckled softly, its voice carrying a hint of unconcealed excitement.

"If we can obtain the great Opportunity on Lu Xuan's person, our Martial Arts cultivation will surely advance to another level!"

A phantom echoed, saying, "Good!"

"This Lu Xuan must be hiding some astonishing secret."

"If we can unearth his secret, perhaps we can gain an additional portion of power when the Origin power of the Lingxu Land appears."

"Even those Old Ancestors of the Great Xia Dynasty and that Empress cannot easily obtain the Origin of the Lingxu Land."

"Indeed!" another phantom replied.

"However, if this fellow Lu Xuan hides around the capital, it will be difficult for us to act."

"It seems we need to lure this Lu Xuan out of the capital first!"

"Hmph."

The third phantom sneered, "As long as we join forces, no matter how heaven-defying Lu Xuan's methods are, he will find it difficult to escape."

"You mean..." The other phantoms understood his intention upon hearing this, their voices carrying a hint of sinister laughter.

"Exactly, start with Lu Xuan's Family to force him to hand over the Opportunity!" That phantom said coldly, "As long as we grasp his weakness, he won't dare to disobey!"

Even if Lu Xuan refuses to obediently hand over his secrets, we only need to lure him out of the capital!

"Lu Xuan, your Opportunity will eventually become ours!" A phantom chuckled in a low voice, its voice filled with greed and coldness.

These voices echoed in the spirit Realm, as if brewing some conspiracy.

Their gazes passed through the lotus flowers, as if piercing through the barriers of space.

They landed on Baidao Prefecture in An Prefecture, Southern Region, on that small place called Qingyun County.

These mysterious phantoms in conversation were some of the Old Ancestors from the Eight Great Families, and the Sect Heads of three Transcendent Forces!

Except for the Old Ancestors of the Li Family and the Officials Surname Family, all other Families were present here.

Among the three Transcendent Forces, besides the Dao Xu Sect and Jingxin Temple, the Sect Head of Sword Spirit Sect, the Sect Head of Xuan Yin Immortal Palace, and the Extreme Flame Holy Gate had all appeared here.

Lu Xuan, at the age of 20, displayed the power of a half-step Void Tempering Realm.

This truly gave them a huge shock!

No matter how much of a Prodigy your Martial Arts Aptitude is, you still need massive Martial Arts resources to support it.

Yet, Lu Xuan, as a mere Mortal, created a historical precedent in this land!

A peerless mighty figure!

A mighty figure descended from heaven!

A half-step Void Realm True Lord at 20 years old is simply unheard of!

If you ask them why they guessed Lu Xuan's Realm, it all started with the four Sun Spirits from Mingxin Prefecture in the Eastern Region.

Sun Spirits are one of the important forces of the Eight Great Families and the Five Transcendent Forces.

By entrusting the Divine Thought of a Divine Palace Realm Martial Artist to a ten-pattern sun relic, they gain incredible power, almost equivalent to Undying and Unextinguished.

However, obtaining this power is not without cost.

Although the power of the ten-pattern sun relic is strong, each ten-pattern sun relic can only carry the Divine Thought of three Sun Spirits.

This means that the number of Sun Spirits is extremely limited, making it impossible to mass-produce such "monsters."

Even more regrettably, although Sun Spirits have the blessing of the ten-pattern sun relic, their Martial Arts Realm will stagnate as a result.

Indeed, once they become Sun Spirits, their cultivation will forever be fixed at the Divine Palace Realm, unable to Breakthrough to higher levels.

This cost, for many Martial Artists pursuing the Peak of Martial Arts, is undoubtedly a huge choice.

"This time, each of us will send one Sun Spirits."

"We must capture all of Lu Xuan's blood relatives before he discovers it."

Eight Sun Spirits, which is equivalent to eight Divine Abode True Persons, descended simultaneously upon Qingyun County, this desolate place!

If County Magistrate Ye Qingshan of Qingyun County knew, he would probably be scared to death on the spot!