171: Holy Maiden of the Hehuan Sect

Cao Bu turned to look at her, his tone tinged with confusion: "Why do you suddenly want to participate?"

Yan Ruyu pointed at the crowd below and explained: "Master, look at that red-clothed woman below, dressed somewhat revealingly."

Cao Bu scanned in the direction she pointed and quickly found his target.

The woman's attire was particularly striking in the crowd.

Her upper body was clad only in a crimson bandeau, outlining her full curves in a breathtaking manner.

Her waist was uncovered by any fabric, only a few slender golden threads intricately woven and cleverly wrapped around her delicate waist, revealing her fair skin.

Her lower body was also a long crimson gauze skirt.

As she walked, her long, straight, jade-like legs could be seen.

A thin golden chain was tied around her exquisite ankle, with two small golden bells dangling from it.

With every step she took, the golden bells would emit a clear, tinkling sound.

Almost all male Cultivators who passed by her would subconsciously let their gaze linger on her.

Her seductive eyes were truly captivating, her skin fair, and her demeanor charming.

She was truly a born enchantress, naturally alluring.

Cao Bu stared at her for a moment, a dark gleam flashing in his eyes.

Just as he was about to ask, he heard Yan Ruyu's voice transmission explaining: "Master, she is the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect."

"It was she and her Master who, along with the Hehuan Sect members, destroyed my Jade Maiden Sect."

Upon hearing this, Cao Bu instantly understood Yan Ruyu's objective.

When he looked at the Hehuan Sect Saintess again, the interest in his eyes had vanished.

He had long heard of the Hehuan Sect's reputation; such women had served countless men.

Even if her appearance was outstanding, she would not catch his eye.

Although he liked mature women, he always avoided those with chaotic private lives.

"Alright, you can go." Cao Bu nodded, then added: "However, you can only participate in the first stage of the competition; do not participate in subsequent matches."

Yan Ruyu's eyes gleamed with excitement, and she quickly nodded: "Okay, thank you, Master!"

With that, she took advantage of the chaotic crowd and subtly blended into the stream of participating teams.

There were over 500,000 people present; one more or one less of her would not be noticed by anyone.

Furthermore, the Gu Clan was the host of this Heavenly Pride Battle, so even if someone noticed an anomaly, no one would dare to speak out easily.

A quarter of an hour later, all participants entered the thousand illusions exquisite pagoda.

With a thunderous roar, the giant pagoda slowly descended, settling firmly in the center of the plaza.

Cao Bu waved his hand, and ten thousand ranking scoreboards appeared out of thin air around the pagoda.

These scoreboards were neatly divided into a thousand columns, each corresponding to a group, with the top ten names for that group's scores marked within the column.

At the same time, next to each scoreboard column, there was a transparent water mirror.

The water mirror displayed real-time footage of the corresponding contestants inside the pagoda.

"Everyone."

Cao Bu's voice rang out again, clearly echoing throughout the venue: "The scoreboards around here, on the left, record the top ten players in each group among all participants."

"The adjacent water mirrors will broadcast their actions inside the pagoda in real-time; you can choose to watch as you wish."

With that, Cao Bu turned and retreated to his seat as the Gu Clan's Vice Clan Leader.

Before long, a name on one of the scoreboard columns suddenly lit up.

Lin Dong!

At the same time, the adjacent water mirror also instantly lit up.

In the image, Lin Dong stood on a desolate plain.

At his feet lay the illusionary corpse of a seventh-tier Saber-toothed Tiger.

Lin Xiaotian, in the audience, saw this scene and instantly clenched his fists in excitement, his cheeks flushed red, his eyes gleaming with wild joy.

The other faction leaders around him turned to congratulate him: "Clan Chief Lin, congratulations, congratulations! Your son is the first to earn points; he has a good chance for the top ten!"

Lin Xiaotian quickly rose and cupped his hands, a perfectly appropriate smile on his face: "You are too kind, everyone. It's just my son's good luck to have stumbled upon a lone Yao Beast; it's not really true skill. I've made you all laugh."

Everyone laughed and teased: "Clan Chief Lin is too modest."

Lin Xiaotian sat back down, unable to hide the smugness on his face.

As time passed, more and more names appeared on the scoreboards, and the scenes in the water mirrors gradually became richer.

Some contestants were fighting Yao Beasts, while others were teaming up to challenge tower-climbing missions.

In just half a day, the top ten spots on all one thousand scoreboard columns were already filled with dense names.

Cao Bu watched patiently for a moment, finding it utterly uninteresting.

He remembered Yan Ruyu's matter and immediately communicated with Ye Linglong, allowing his Divine Sense to surge into the thousand illusions exquisite pagoda.

Meanwhile.

Deep within an illusionary dense forest inside the thousand illusions exquisite pagoda.

Over a dozen Cultivators were besieging a revealingly dressed woman.

Their eyes gleamed with greed, and the cold glint of their weapons was sharp.

"Tsk tsk tsk, beautiful lady, if you're sensible, surrender and serve this grandpa well. Maybe if this grandpa is in a good mood, he might even take you to the second round of the competition, saving you from dying here for nothing."

The Scarred Man leading them grinned, swinging his large saber to slash at the woman.

The woman was none other than Bai Meier, the Hehuan Sect Saintess.

Her face was ashen, her eyes filled with anxiety and shame.

She never imagined that as soon as she entered the thousand illusions exquisite pagoda, she would run into this group of lust-filled Cultivators.

What angered her even more was that these people weren't focusing on the important task of hunting Yao Beasts for points, but instead were full of vile thoughts.

Seeing the saber slash towards her, Bai Meier dared not be negligent. She gripped her sword hilt tightly and parried the blade.

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of metal clashing rang out, and she was forced back several hundred meters before stabilizing herself.

In the subsequent skirmish, the sounds of clashing weapons were incessant in the dense forest.

However, Bai Meier was, after all, alone, and facing the siege of over a dozen people, she gradually felt her strength waning.

Her breathing grew more rapid, and fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead.

Just then.

The Scarred Man seized her opening and kicked her in the lower abdomen!

"Pfft—!"

Bai Meier grunted, her body flying backward, spitting out a mouthful of crimson blood in mid-air.

She crashed heavily to the ground, rolling several more times before stopping.

"Hahaha! Beautiful lady, let's see how you resist now!"

The Scarred Man laughed triumphantly at the sight.

He slowly approached with his subordinates, the evil glint in his eyes intensifying: "Brothers, line up, one by one. We don't want to scare this delicate beauty!"

The Cultivators behind him burst into laughter, their eyes growing even more greedy, and their steps quickened significantly.

Bai Meier propped herself up, trying to rise, but she trembled all over from the pain, only able to retreat further backward.

She gritted her teeth, her voice trembling slightly, and threatened: "I am the Hehuan Sect Saintess! If you dare to lay a finger on me, my Hehuan Sect will never let you go!"

The Scarred Man scoffed dismissively: "A mere Holy Land, daring to put on airs here?"

"On this Heavenly Pride Battle arena, there are plenty of people with stronger backgrounds and higher statuses than you. What is your Hehuan Sect anyway!"

He took a step forward, using the back of his saber to lift Bai Meier's chin, his tone lewd and cruel:

"I heard your Hehuan Sect has supreme Dual Cultivation secret techniques? If you serve this grandpa comfortably, maybe I'll spare your life."

"If you dare to play tricks, or if you displease this grandpa, you can just wait to go to Yellow Springs and complain to King Yama!"

With that, the Scarred Man violently waved his sleeve and shouted at his subordinates: "What are you all standing around for? Line up, one by one!"

The subordinates rubbed their hands together, instantly forming a line, their gazes fixed on Bai Meier.

Seeing this, Bai Meier closed her eyes in despair, a strong will to die surging in her heart.

Just as she secretly circulated the remaining spiritual Qi in her body, preparing to detonate her Origin, a sharp whooshing sound pierced the air!

Bai Meier subconsciously opened her eyes, then froze the next second.

The dozen or so Cultivators who had been lined up all collapsed simultaneously, each with a small blood-hole in the center of their brows.

Blood slowly seeped from the holes, and their eyes still held lingering traces of unextinguished greed.

Clearly, they had died instantly, without even time to react.

Such strength undoubtedly belonged to a Realm King.

Who saved her?

Bai Meier was both startled and suspicious.

She endured the severe pain in her body and looked in the direction from which the attack came.

The moment she saw the newcomer, her eyes were filled with incredulous shock: "Yan... Yan Ruyu!"