Cultivating Immortality Begins with Acting as a Girl Chapter 165

Character name suggestions:

– : Song Ling

– : Yue Yaojie

– : Ji Yuxi

– : Jian Yunyi

– : Du Shimin

– : Wen Xingwen

– : Chen Yanyang

“This preliminary examination will have one hundred and twenty newly admitted disciples participating, paired up for duels…”

“To simulate real combat, there will be no protective restrictions in this duel, but killing is still prohibited. If anyone intentionally kills a fellow disciple, the perpetrator will be punished by being confined in the Black Fiend Cave for one month.”

Upon hearing the words Black Fiend Cave, many disciples in the audience changed their expressions.

The Black Fiend Cave was filled with deadly miasma; even cultivators in the late Qi Refining stage would find it difficult to endure, let alone cultivators in the Qi Nurturing stage… Forget about a month, they probably wouldn’t survive ten days.

It was called confinement, but in reality, it was no different from an execution.

The middle-aged deacon on the stage continued,

“This preliminary examination will have seven rounds, conducted over three days. The first round will be held today, the second and third rounds tomorrow, and the final four rounds the day after tomorrow…”

After about a cup of tea’s worth of time, the middle-aged deacon finished explaining all the rules. Then, with a wave of his hand, he announced, “Now, all disciples, please line up to draw lots to determine the order of appearance.”

As the middle-aged deacon’s words fell, the one hundred and twenty newly admitted disciples in the waiting area below the arena quickly sprang into action. Some were nervous, some excited, some anxious, as they began to queue up to draw lots under the guidance of the sect deacons.

Song Ling stood in the middle of the line, and it was his turn shortly.

“Number seven?”

Song Ling raised an eyebrow; he seemed to have a strong connection with the number seven.

“It seems it will be my turn to enter the arena soon.”

Number seven meant he would appear in the seventh match, which was quite early among the sixty matches scheduled for today.

After the drawing of lots, the disciples were guided to their respective resting areas according to their numbers.

Before long, with the middle-aged deacon’s announcement echoing throughout the venue, the first combat of the preliminary examination officially began.

Appearing on the arena were two nervous-looking youths. From their auras, neither had yet cultivated the Innate Qi; they were merely in the process of cultivating the Spirit Transformation and Qi Nurturing technique, not even having stepped into the Qi Nurturing stage. Strictly speaking, they couldn’t even be considered cultivators.

Naturally, they couldn’t cast any spells.

The only fortunate thing was that both seemed to have some martial arts foundation, and with the spiritual energy optimizing their bodies, their fighting was quite vigorous and not too unsightly. However, compared to a battle between cultivators, it looked more like a duel between mortal martial artists.

A moment later, one of them made a careless move and was defeated by a heavy punch from his opponent, ending the struggle.

The next few matches were largely similar, with the difference being that some were more exciting to watch, and some were more awkward.

The most embarrassing fight saw two individuals without even basic martial arts skills, their moves resembling two street hooligans brawling, utterly unsightly.

It wasn’t until the sixth match that things finally started to look somewhat decent.

Both combatants had reached the Qi Nurturing stage and each mastered a spell. Although their application was still very unskillful, there was finally a hint of a cultivator’s duel. Fire snakes and water arrows darted between them as they moved.

In the end, the one using the fire snake spell had a slight edge and claimed victory.

As the victor stepped off the arena, the deacon’s voice rang out again: “Now, please, the two disciples who drew number seven, come onto the stage for your duel!”

Song Ling’s expression was calm as he rose from the resting area and walked quickly towards the arena.

Soon, he appeared under the lights, entering everyone’s view.

“This Junior Sister… she’s so beautiful!”

“The previous matches almost put me to sleep. I wonder how this Junior Sister will perform. Hope she’s not just a pretty face.”

“This girl… I remember her! She’s Princess Zhaoming, the youngest daughter of our Zhao Kingdom’s Emperor. The only one with red aptitude this year, and she entered with a perfect score on the assessment!”

“Perfect score on the assessment?! That hasn’t happened in nearly a hundred years! I can’t believe she’s that amazing.”

“But I heard that this Princess Zhaoming has a very bad temper, always wanting to kill people, very cold-blooded and cruel.”

“No way? With such a beautiful face, how could she be that kind of person…?”

“Judging people by their looks is a big no-no!”

A flurry of discussions erupted in the audience.

“Little Junior Sister, you can do it!” In the crowd, Yue Yaojie looked at Song Ling on the stage and whispered.

Beside him, Second Senior Sister Ji Yuxi, Third Senior Brother Jian Yunyi, and Fourth Senior Sister Du Shimin were also present. Besides First Senior Brother Wen Xingwen, who was in seclusion, only Fifth Senior Brother Chen Yanyang was absent.

“What’s there to cheer for? If she can’t even defeat an opponent of this caliber, Master would have taken her in for nothing,” Ji Yuxi said coldly.

“Indeed, her opponents should be the disciples of the other elders, not these ordinary disciples,” Jian Yunyi echoed.

“Second Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother…” Yue Yaojie looked helpless. “Are you two being too prejudiced against Little Junior Sister? I’ve known her for so long, and her personality is actually very good, not like what the rumors say.”

Ji Yuxi curled her lip into a cold smile, glancing sideways at Yue Yaojie. “It’s just that you, Little Six, are too easily fooled.”

“I—”

Yue Yaojie was momentarily choked with anger and had to turn to Fourth Senior Sister Du Shimin, who hadn’t spoken, for help: “Fourth Senior Sister, please help me persuade them. Little Junior Sister is really a very good person.”

Du Shimin smiled gently: “Little Six, don’t rush. Time reveals a person’s heart. Little Junior Sister has only been in the sect for a few months. With time, no matter what kind of person she truly is, we will eventually understand. If she truly is as good as you say, I believe Second Senior Sister and Third Senior Brother will naturally change their attitudes.”

“Sigh.”

Yue Yaojie sighed.

He truly didn’t understand why everyone would rather believe the rumors than believe her, even though Little Junior Sister was so adorable.

Didn’t they know the saying, seeing is believing?

…

In the center of the venue.

Song Ling’s opponent also walked onto the arena. He was a slightly chubby, ordinary-looking youth.

When he saw that his opponent was Song Ling, his face suddenly turned pale.

“Princess… Princess Zhaoming!”

Back in Linyao Town, he had personally witnessed how this Imperial Princess of Zhao Kingdom had wantonly slaughtered and harmed living beings.

The slightly chubby youth secretly cursed his bad luck. How could he be so unfortunate as to encounter such a living Yama King as his first opponent?

Even though this was within the immortal cultivation sect, and the other party could no longer casually kill with her high-and-mighty princess status, as a direct disciple, her talent and resources were certainly better than his. Her cultivation level must also be higher than his at this moment.

Should he just concede directly?

Just as this thought crossed the slightly chubby youth’s mind, the girl opposite him spoke:

“This Junior Brother, your complexion doesn’t look very good. Do you need to rest for a while before the match?”

The girl’s exquisite face showed a slight frown, as if she genuinely cared about him.

…