"Very good, indeed! This Su Luo is something else."
When Huang Yanqian saw Yao Hanmei humiliated by Su Luo, her teeth were practically grinding to dust.
However, she wouldn't resort to personally teaching Su Luo a lesson; that would be beneath the dignity of their sect.
If every minor setback during the exchange meeting prompted the sects to take action, then there would be no point in having exchanges. Just go straight to sect wars.
"Good, it really is good," Nangong Xiyun said lightly on the surface, though inwardly, she was quite pleased.
Huang Yanqian had been far too conceited lately; it was nice to see her get a taste of her own medicine.
"Don't think that this will provoke me. Hmph, I won't get angry over some insignificant junior like him."
"Hehe."
"What are you laughing at?"
"I feel like laughing, so I laugh."
Huang Yanqian was absolutely furious, but unfortunately, she couldn’t beat Nangong Xiyun, so she had to swallow her anger.
Meanwhile, Su Luo had just stepped out of the competition circle when Li Siyi intercepted him.
"Hehe, you treated Yao Hanmei like that because of me, didn't you?" she said with an overly bright smile.
Su Luo: ?
"Are you out of your mind? What does it have to do with you?"
"I lost badly to her before, and you just humiliated her like that; you must have been avenging me, and I'm so happy!"
Li Siyi knew full well that Su Luo wasn't doing it for her, but by saying this, she could make it seem like she owed Su Luo a favor, thereby drawing closer to him.
"You're overthinking it. I did it for myself."
"No need to be shy; I'll thank you properly."
"Go away, it wasn't for you."
While Su Luo was being his usual carefree self, Lin Xuan and his group were still in the midst of the competition.
Time passed, and the battleground was narrowing. As expected, Lin Xuan and his team encountered the Heavenly Demon Sect.
By this time, the Heavenly Demon Sect had already eliminated the other sects, leaving only Lin Xuan's group.
So, there was no need for any preamble; it was time to fight.
The Heavenly Demon Sect was determined to take first place this time, to redeem themselves after the failure in the first round.
However, they didn’t expect that Lin Xuan would have the help of other sects, but the Heavenly Demon Sect wasn’t afraid.
There were no surprises; while the Heavenly Demon Sect had decent overall strength, in the end, Lin Xuan's side emerged victorious.
"Once again, you've defeated me. You're truly something else," Ding Guanghua sighed.
"I'm just an ordinary disciple of the Seven Stars Sword Sect."
"An ordinary disciple? The Seven Stars Sword Sect now commands my respect only because of you."
The other sects that had helped Lin Xuan’s group didn’t try anything sneaky like ambushes, instead choosing to withdraw voluntarily.
After this round, they truly admired Lin Xuan.
As a result, the Seven Stars Sword Sect won the second round, securing a two-win streak.
Who said the Seven Stars Sword Sect was in decline?
This was the strength of the Seven Stars Sword Sect.
Of course, a large part of it was thanks to Lin Xuan.
After the second round ended, Su Luo stayed in his residence, waiting for Elder Yan Xi to arrive.
It was about time for Elder Yan Xi to test him, to see if he was suitable for the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Little did Su Luo know, Elder Yan Xi was already gone.
With Nangong Xiyun around, any questions about Su Luo's rapid progress in cultivation were silenced with a single sentence from her: "It's none of your business; don't meddle."
Thus, there were no more questions.
And with the sect master supporting Su Luo, there was no investigation into him whatsoever.
However, Nangong Xiyun also knew her role. She directly approached Su Luo.
"You look utterly infuriated."
"Yes, I am! How can Lin Xuan hog the limelight like this? I can't accept it!" Su Luo furiously smashed everything around him, losing it.
"You're angry, but I'm even angrier. Do you know how much trouble you've caused by exposing your strength?"
Elder Yan Xi stomped his foot, cracking the ground.
"I... I'm sorry."
Under Elder Yan Xi's rebuke, Su Luo immediately wilted, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"Forget it, I've temporarily suppressed the matter for now. Don't cause any more trouble in the future."
"Thank you, Elder Yan Xi."
After a moment of silence, Elder Yan Xi said, "You want to kill Lin Xuan, don't you?"
"Yes, Elder Yan Xi, please help me."
"Ah, I'll pretend you're talking nonsense for now. Of course, what I'm about to say is also nonsense. I can make the Heavenly Demon Sect go mad with the pursuit of one person. You want to use them as a knife to kill, don't you?"
"Yes, anything to kill Lin Xuan!"
"You really know how to joke. Killing your fellow disciples is a serious crime. So, during the upcoming campaign against the Heavenly Demon Sect, deliver this to them. What happens after that, I can't predict. Whether you use it or not is up to you."
Elder Yan Xi had made it all too clear, and Su Luo understood.
Upon opening the secret message, Su Luo's eyes widened.
"Lin Xuan is terrifying; this man must not be left alive."
Su Luo was speechless. Elder Yan Xi, were you worried about dying too quickly?
Merely writing something so obvious, if discovered, would be evidence of colluding with the Heavenly Demon Sect—a capital offense.
And without any code, the Heavenly Demon Sect wouldn't even bother responding.
But Su Luo could only pocket the message and make the necessary changes later.
Grumbling about Elder Yan Xi was pointless; Su Luo was starting to get used to this forgetful version of Elder Yan Xi.
As long as the important things weren't forgotten, it was fine. Besides, Elder Yan Xi wouldn't be around much longer anyway.
Nangong Xiyun had no other choice; she didn’t know any codes either.
After asking around among Elder Yan Xi’s confidants, it turned out they didn’t know either.
The codes must be reserved for those of higher status, so this was the best they could do.
She was confident that Su Luo would figure things out himself.
"I emphasize once more: whether you use this or not is up to you, and has nothing to do with me. Understand?"
"Yes, I definitely won't reveal anything about Elder Yan Xi."
"Good, may you succeed."
With that, Elder Yan Xi left.
After a brief rest, the third round began.
Su Luo's incident was temporarily suppressed, and now the focus was on dealing with the Heavenly Demon Sect together.
Leaders and experts from the various sects would be secretly guarding, but unless there was a life-threatening situation, they would not intervene.
This was the disciples' stage, and how far they could go depended entirely on them.
After the first and second rounds of exchanges, even though they weren't from the same sect, there was a good deal of mutual understanding.
So, collaboration didn’t have much of an obstacle.
Even the notorious Yuexing Sect, recognizing the threat of the Heavenly Demon Sect, didn't pull any tricks on the Seven Stars Sword Sect this time.
The third round, the campaign against the Heavenly Demon Sect, went extremely smoothly.
Throughout the process, Lin Xuan once again shined. His command was impeccable, and his individual battles were formidable.
He was practically a jack-of-all-trades, once again winning over the other sects.
Su Luo also followed the script without issue, successfully delivering the coded message to one of the Seven Heavenly Demons.
Afterwards, one of the Seven Heavenly Demons relentlessly pursued Lin Xuan, resulting in his own demise.
The entire Heavenly Demon Sect stronghold was annihilated.
It was a complete victory, without a single casualty.
The hearts of the ten great sects finally settled.
Taking down the Heavenly Demon Sect was inherently risky, and the ten sects had discussed numerous contingency plans.
So, while it looked like only the disciples were putting in the effort, many sect elders were lurking behind the scenes, ready to step in if the Heavenly Demon Sect retaliated.
But in the end, the Heavenly Demon Sect didn’t send any reinforcements or have any hidden tricks; they were just wiped out.
Therefore, this victory naturally had to be publicized, further boosting the reputation of the ten great sects.
"Heavenly Demon Sect? Mere remnants of a bygone era."
"The Heavenly Demon Sect is no longer synonymous with terror; they’ve sunk to the level of utter scum among demonic sects."
"The ten great sects crushed the Heavenly Demon Sect. The leader of the Seven Stars Sword Sect states: The Heavenly Demon Sect is now nothing more than stray dogs, of no consequence."