Thinking about it, it makes sense.
The protagonist's character is a mix of good and evil, with the plot needing conflict points to drive the narrative forward.
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To highlight the protagonist's perfection and elevate his status, he needs antagonists like this, as well as moments to show off in front of nameless bystanders.
Imagine this.
A cold and beautiful master is gravely injured, and a perfect young prodigy, comparable to a demon, seeks out a healing elixir for her. It's the classic hero saves the beauty trope, yet the public still loves it.
"The only satisfying part is the protagonist having the master under his control."
Lin Heng mimicked the protagonist's show-off moves with precision.
Hands behind his back, he sighed softly.
This female disciple of the Ballad of the Clear Moon is strong, casting several mysterious Dao Seals with a wave of her hand, and her remotely controlled flying sword dazzled everyone.
But unfortunately, she encountered Ye Tian, who is no joke when it comes to surpassing his peers in the same realm.
Mu Liuxi stood still, showing no intention of helping.
Ye Tian, in the mid-Golden Elixir stage, could already defeat late-stage Golden Elixir cultivators across small realms. Now that he has entered the late stage, being in the same realm as his opponent, she naturally wouldn't be a match.
"Miss, please stop. If you take another step forward, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The woman's hand trembled slightly as she held her sword, her sharp gaze showing her unwillingness.
"Junior Sister, don't be afraid. Let me handle him."
At this moment, a man dressed similarly stepped in front of the woman.
"I know who you are, Ye Tian, the core disciple of the Azure Pavilion Sect. I am Li Chaochun from the Ballad of the Clear Moon, here to learn from your skills."
"Him? Li Chaochun, ranked thirty-third on the Heavenly Ladder Ranking?"
Mu Liuxi exclaimed in surprise.
"Hmm? Heavenly Ladder Ranking?"
"It's a combat power ranking. Those who make it to the list are undoubtedly top geniuses. The Heavenly Ladder Ranking is updated every five years as the final ranking. During this period, to make it to the list, you must kill someone already on it."
"Then what rank are you, Senior Sister?"
"I didn't participate in the ranking. Although the Heavenly Ladder Ranking represents great honor, it also attracts endless challengers."
Lin Heng suddenly understood.
That's right, it's just a ranking, mostly a hollow reputation.
After making it to the list, besides exposing your strength, you'll also attract endless challengers. Either you kill them, or they kill you or force you to surrender.
Mu Liuxi prefers quiet cultivation and dislikes trouble, so she didn't get involved in these disputes.
Well, this is directly setting up achievements for Ye Tian!
The upcoming plot is easy to guess: Ye Tian will defeat his opponent and successfully make it to the list, while the bystanders are left in shock.
"Li Chaochun...? Never heard of him..."
Ye Tian chuckled without a word.
[I bet within five rounds, Li Chaochun will be defeated.]
[In the first round, Ye Tian stood still, allowing his opponent to attack, only to casually dodge the long-range attack.]
[In the second round, Ye Tian still stood still, and his opponent, thinking it was luck, used three divine abilities, only to have them broken by a single sword strike.]
[In the third round, Ye Tian sneered and began mocking his opponent, enraging Li Chaochun, who unleashed his strongest attack, but it was easily neutralized.]
[In the fourth round, Ye Tian took the initiative, ending the opponent with a single strike amidst his shocked expression.]
The scene unfolded just as Lin Heng imagined, except in the second round, Li Chaochun only used two divine abilities and a flying blade for a sneak attack.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! You..."
As the fourth round began, Li Chaochun was so shocked that he couldn't finish his sentence before his head was severed by a sword light.
Ye Tian stood with his hands behind his back, looking down on everyone.
The remaining disciples of the Ballad of the Clear Moon didn't dare to make a sound, retreating one by one.
Li Chaochun was Qiu's most prized disciple, and Ye Tian had just killed him outright.
Mu Liuxi opened her mouth, disbelief filling her eyes.
Not because of Ye Tian's formidable combat power, but because of Lin Heng's prediction of the battle.
Ye Tian and Li Chaochun seemed like actors following his script step by step.
'Was he just providing live commentary!?'
Exaggerated!
Simply unbelievable.
Ye Tian slowly walked towards them, revealing a smug smile upon seeing Mu Liuxi's shocked expression.
"Senior Sister is indeed amazed by my current strength!"
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. Li Chaochun was too weak; I didn't even have the interest to fight."
He thought to himself with satisfaction.
"Senior Sister, it's a coincidence to see you and Junior Brother Lin here. I just encountered some trouble, sorry for making you laugh."
"Ye Tian, you shouldn't have killed Li Chaochun. He was a key disciple of the Ballad of the Clear Moon, even the last disciple of that white-robed elder..."
Mu Liuxi said after regaining her composure.
"Haha. Senior Sister, are you worried about me?" Ye Tian chuckled, "It was the disciples of the Ballad of the Clear Moon who started the trouble, attempting to kill me... If anyone's to blame, it's their lack of skill. Besides, Master instructed me to fight back when encountering trouble; she will take responsibility."
[Troublemaker is indeed a troublemaker. You killed a disciple carefully nurtured by the Ballad of the Clear Moon, and you think they'll just swallow this?]
[In short, you're just selfish, using Li Chaochun to gain battle achievements and enter the Heavenly Ladder Ranking, but shifting the trouble onto others.]
[Meng Yutong is already struggling to protect herself, and now you're causing more trouble for her... This is what you call a beloved disciple!]
Lin Heng shifted his disdainful gaze elsewhere.
He knew well how strong the Ballad of the Clear Moon was, far beyond what the Azure Pavilion Sect could currently compare to.
Originally, the two factions didn't interfere with each other, but after this secret realm incident, the Ballad of the Clear Moon began actively seeking trouble with the Azure Pavilion Sect.
The culprit was none other than Ye Tian.
The brainless Meng Yutong and other elders might even protect him.
Ye Tian didn't linger, striding towards the western part of the ancient site.
Mu Liuxi, moving slowly due to carrying Lin Heng, still managed to make some gains.
In a secret chamber, they found a small bottle of elixirs and an ancient mirror.
Mu Liuxi took out a pill to examine it. The pill was light yellow, smooth, and full, with only a faint medicinal fragrance.
"It's actually a fourth-grade elixir. Lin Heng, use your Heaven-Penetrating Compendium to see what kind of elixir this is."
Lin Heng put down the ancient mirror in his hand, glanced at the elixir in her hand, leaned in to smell it, and quickly searched his mind for information about it.
"It should be a Wrath God Pill, which provides a certain combat power amplification but has side effects that cause weakness in cultivators."
"I see."
Mu Liuxi nodded, then put the elixir away.
"Senior Sister, what about this mirror?"
Since Mu Liuxi had lifted the restriction seal in the secret chamber, Lin Heng naturally couldn't just take things from inside, even if it was just a piece of mirror, without asking first.
"You keep it. If you go back empty-handed, your Senior Sister Yao will definitely tease you."
"Alright!"
Lin Heng was overjoyed and immediately stored the mirror in the system space.
In that instant, the system interface popped up.
Item: [Dream-Making Mirror (Incomplete)]
Description: [A mirror polished from billions of Light Crystal Shards, serving as a bridge between dreams and reality. In a world where illusion and reality merge, there is no distinction between true and false. It can be used to enhance consciousness and accelerate cultivation speed. At the Void-Returning Stage, it can tear through illusion and reality to enter the Dream-Crafting World.]
What the heck?
Just as Lin Heng thought, this mirror was indeed a treasure.
Since there was a bottle of precious elixirs in the secret chamber, how could they casually leave a piece of mirror lying around?
[Dream-Crafting World? Dream realm? Or the real world?]
He didn't quite understand this concept yet, planning to study it further after returning.
As they left the secret chamber, they felt the ground suddenly shake as soon as they stepped out.
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