The moon was gradually moving across the sky and eventually sank into the west. When it was almost midnight, Xiao Chen was still sitting cross-legged and running his cultivation method. This time, he was trying to cultivate the sixth step of the Yaoguang School’s mind cultivation method, Sixfold Dazzling Sun, which he dared not to begin in the past.

The fourth step of the Yaoguang School’s mind cultivation method, Jade Palace of Frozen Heart, was aimed at cultivating the Yin Qi, which was complementary with his Yang Qi. Thus, it was not hard for him to cultivate it. However, since Sixfold Dazzling Sun aimed at cultivating the purest Yang Qi, he had no other choice but to cultivate such a method two hours before midnight. During that period of time, the Yin Qi was the most powerful and purest.

However, it was already midnight. Between heaven and earth, the Yin Qi was weakening while the Yang Qi was strengthening. Xiao Chen’s face turned redder and redder under the moonlight. It seemed that there was a raging fire burning inside his body. Gradually, his body also became red. The power of Seven-apertured Exquisite Fruit in his elixir field was almost out of control.

“Uh!”

Xiao Chen finally let out a muffled groan and abruptly opened his bloodshot eyes. Being aware of his trend of Qi Deviation, he moved his fingers and hurriedly put a piece of the Wilderness Ice-lotus into his mouth. Only then did his red skin slowly went back to normal.

He heaved a sigh of relief and frowned. He had realized that he was too hasty to cultivate the sixth-step method now. If not for the Wilderness Ice-lotus, which Chu Qi picked from the Arctic Wilderness, he might undergo Qi Deviation again. It seemed that he had to make more efforts to stabilize the fourth step, Jade Palace of Frozen Heart, and the fifth step, Star-shifting Substitution.

Fortunately, now his cultivation had recovered and reached the second level of the Nirvana Realm. With the help of the Dark Stone, though he only reached the second level, his power was much stronger than that of the fourth level of the Nirvana Realm. However, compared with those listed on the Heaven Ranking, he was still far below par.

While Xiao Chen was deep in thought, there was a sudden and strange gust of wind outside the courtyard, but he kept calm and closed his eyes peacefully.

Before long, he noticed some stealthy footsteps outside the courtyard. If Xiao Chen didn’t have acute spiritual sense, it would have been hard for him to detect such footsteps as quiet as the sound caused by insects passing through the grass. He used his Divine Sense to sweep the surroundings and found two sneaky men peeping at the courtyard on tiptoes under the moonlight.

Xiao Chen recognized these two men. They had been secretly tailing Xiao Chen and Chu Qi for some time. The two men looked around for a while and exchanged a glance with each other. Then, they went away again.

In the courtyard, Xiao Chen opened his eyes with a cold smile. The last two nights, he also noticed that these two men come but they only looked around for a while and left. Thus, he didn’t want to pay any attention to these strange men for the moment.

Another 10 days passed, and the Heaven Ranking was going to be updated at the end of the month. Many disciples of the Cloud Mist Academy began to pay more attention to their cultivation. These days, Beigong Qin and his companions had stopped plundering the Spiritual Qi from the other two newcomer areas. However, they snatched more from the Wind-heeding Pavilion. Obviously, they intended to provoke Xiao Chen.

The Spiritual Array in the first district was the most powerful. With its help, they could plunder Spiritual Qi in any other area if they wanted. Even Xiao Chen, who was proficient in formations, could not do anything about it.

The Spiritual Qi in the Wind-heeding Pavilion was getting thinner and thinner day by day. Facing such a dilemma, hundreds of disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion had begged the Elders and their Grandmasters to solve it. However, that should be overcome only by the juniors. If they wanted to protect the Spiritual Qi from being snatched, they should try their best to be stronger.

Finally, half of the disciples couldn’t stand it anymore, so they made an application to the Elders to replace their Grandmasters. The Elders agreed to their application, and Shui Yue also saw no objection. Therefore, now there were only less than 300 newcomers of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. Among them, more than 100 were loyal to Xiao Chen. Even if they were asked to follow the Purple Thunder Pavilion, they wouldn’t go.

Beigong Qin was satisfied with what had happened in Wind-heeding Pavilion and was getting more and more aggressive. He wanted to hinder the development of all new disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. He clearly remembered that when he first came here, he frightened all the newcomers from the other two districts, but those of the Wind-heeding Pavilion refused to follow him because of Xiao Chen. That was so shameful for Beigong Qin.

Of course, Xiao Chen saw all this, but he held back his emotions because it was not time to take action. These days, he was practicing in the cultivation area during the day and went back to the courtyard to continue cultivating at night. He shortened his time spent in sleeping from four hours a day to two hours; sometimes he even did not sleep for two consecutive days.

Cultivators could stay awake for several consecutive days, but only when they were not in the state of cultivation all the time. Thus, out of concern, Chu Qi, who never took the initiative to talk to Xiao Chen, suddenly came out of the room and talked to him last night. She said, “Lord, you haven’t slept for two days and two nights. You’d better go take a rest.”

However, Xiao Chen shook his head and said, “Chu Qi, this is the Wind-heeding Pavilion, not the Violet Illusory Land. I’m not who I used to be. I am no longer the most powerful warrior who won the Immortal’s Sword Assembly.”

Chu Qi lowered his head and said, “I understand.” Then she sat down beside Xiao Chen and began cultivating.

This was not the Violet Illusory Land where None-flower, Yi Tong, Bai Susu, and Gui Xian would help him. This time, he could only rely on himself! If he couldn’t become powerful enough, he would be stepped on by Beigong Qin forever!

Now, he might really understand what Yang Qing said before. In the Wastelands, there was no distinction between good and evil. Only the fittest and strongest would survive and be respected! If he didn’t want to be suppressed, he had to become stronger first! Just like Ye Cangming, whose name had been listed on the Heaven Ranking hundreds of years ago, no one was able to replace his name successfully or dared to provoke him.

Therefore, if he could not defeat Beigong Qin, how could he be qualified to investigate what had happened a few millennia ago?

…

Time passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already the end of the month. For every disciple in the Cloud Mist Academy, tomorrow was an extremely important day. They would take part in fierce battles to win a place on the Heaven Ranking. The moon and stars were hidden by dark clouds and lost their brilliant light.

This night was very peaceful.

“Well, let’s go to bed early tonight.”

In the courtyard, Xiao Chen opened his eyes and took a few deep breaths. It was the first time in the past few years that he had cultivated with all his might. Yesterday, he even tried to use the Li Fire Formation for the Body Refining Realm, which left behind a burning scar on his left arm.

Now, his cultivation had not only returned to the fourth level of the Nirvana Realm, but had also made a breakthrough. He made great progress compared with the month before.

“Yes, Lord.”

Chu Qi also opened her eyes. These days, they practiced together every night. Sometimes, they would talk to each other. However, Xiao Chen still could not understand Chu Qi’s secret cultivation method, Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon, especially the Twelve-Shadow Final Kill displayed by Chu Qi before.

The night was quiet. Under the faint moonlight, Chu Qi had a peaceful look on her face. She was always quiet and never said any unnecessary words, just like a deep pool in a bamboo forest. She would not chatter and laugh all day long like Ziyun’er.

With a smile, Xiao Chen looked at her and said, “Chu Qi, you can call me Senior Brother from now on.”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

“…”

“Well, go back and rest. Tomorrow…” Xiao Chen paused, with his eyes turning sullen. He gazed at the sparkling pool and said coldly, “Tomorrow, the counterattack starts!”

…

For those who were immersed in dreams in the Cloud Mist Academy, a night’s time so short that it was like a dream. However, for some people, it was so long; as long as a lifetime.

For those restless people in the alley of the Black-horn City, night might be their best hiding place, but at the same time, a dark night was also an abyss that swallowed up their lives.

Some people were destined to die tonight.

“Leader… leader, someone has killed our fellows… More than 170 were lying outside. All… all of them are dead…”

In a secret hall of the Black-horn City, a panic-stricken man in black suddenly ran in. On the walls of the hall hung several torches with a little spark. It could be seen that a middle-aged man with a pale face was sitting on a large chair in the hall.

There were four other people in the hall, and just like the man, their faces turned as white as a sheet once they heard that bad news.

“They are all… all dead…” Sweat beaded on the middle-aged man’s face. The messenger in black said in a panic, “Leader, please… please hurry up to leave from behind…”

“Tch!” A crisp sound resonated as the sword chopped off the messenger’s head before he finished his words. The blood splashed on the torch hanging on the stone wall. The fire flickered a few times, but it could still be seen clearly that the body of the messenger who was beheaded fell down with a flop.

“You… you guys!”

Seven figures appeared at the entrance of the hall. Each of them had a different stance. They were like shadows in the dark, approaching silently and taking away the lives of those who were hiding in the darkness and thought they had hidden themselves well.

They showed up at night and looked as horrible and foreboding as death, judging who would live and who would die.

“You… you are… Seven Night Queens…”

Before he finished his words, his blood had splashed, and the last flaming torch on the hall was extinguished.

…

A dark night passed. For those in the Cloud Mist Academy, this day was exciting, but for some people, they would stay in yesterday forever.

The morning sun had just risen. On this day, the Cloud Mist Academy seemed to be busier than usual. They were all discussing the competition for the Heaven Ranking. In fact, on the last day of each month, all disciples would compete for the Heaven Ranking. It was not only about whether they could go to the high-level area for cultivation next month, but also about the final score and reward of this month.

Therefore, the day at the end of the month was the busiest day. Some wanted to gain a higher place on the Heaven Ranking this day, and naturally, some had to prevent themselves from being challenged on the ranking list or getting a lower rank.

On this day, the Mystic Sky Pavilion would only open after noon, so in the morning, all disciples still had to go to the cultivation area and maintain their best condition. Along the way, both newcomers and senior disciples were full of discussion. They were all guessing how far Beigong Qin could go on the Earth Ranking, or even if he was able to win a place on the Heaven Ranking.

Regarding this, Beigong Qin only wore a smile on his face, as if he had a well-thought-out plan. Every time a senior disciple came to greet him and asked him which place he was going to enter, he always smiled faintly and said, “It’s all up to luck.”

In the Wind-heeding Pavilion, Xiao Chen walked in silence. Of course, there were many senior disciples talking about him. After all, among all the newcomers, he and Beigong Qin were the most outstanding ones. As for Jiang Qianqian and Yumu Shisan, they didn’t get much attention because they entered the cultivation area for senior disciples from the beginning.

“Hey! It’s that guy. Pfft! I heard that he was once beaten by Senior Sister Bai Ling. You see, he seems to have become well-behaved this time. He doesn’t raise his head when walking.”

“He can use four formations for the Body Refining Realm at the same time, but that only depends on his strong body. At first, he was so arrogant as to challenge our Senior Brother, but now he has lost his place on the ranking list. He can’t even be listed on the Earth Ranking!”

Seeing Xiao Chen and his companions, many senior disciples on the way began their discussion. However, Xiao Chen always turned a deaf ear to what they said. He walked his own path silently but firmly. He didn’t care about their discussion, and he was sure that he would have the last laugh.

“But he seems to be quite unlucky. He has just become the first newcomer to enter the Earth Ranking in recent years, but he was defeated and lost his place on the ranking list in just a few days. Do you think he will go to compete for the ranking list today?”

Because of Xiao Chen’s arrival, it seemed that people’s attention had transferred from Beigong Qin to Xiao Chen. When people talked about Beigong Qin, they always showed their respect for him. But while talking about Xiao Chen, most of them used a sneering tone.