Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 114: Blank Stick

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed, and the third trial was finally about to begin.

When Ye Su walked into the arena and saw Ning Qianyao, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, her junior sister had leveled up again and was already at the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage.

In fact, the current situation was already different from the original novel. Ye Su remembered that in the original, the male lead only advanced to the Soul Transformation stage during the final trial, but he had already broken through after the first one.

The direct disciples of the Hehuan Sect were also unharmed.

The original didn't describe in detail who entered the final trial, only mentioning a few disciples from major sects and the unnamed sect’s Ning Qianyao and Jian Hu.

But the most important difference was the Rotating Tower, it never appeared in the original story. After the sect competition, the male and female leads went on adventures in all directions, getting injured, seizing rare treasures, advancing in cultivation, slaying demons, and eventually ending up together.

"Senior Sister," Ning Qianyao caught Ye Su's gaze and immediately smiled sweetly, her eyes curving as she walked over. "The third trial is about to begin, and I’m a little nervous."

"…Senior Sister is nervous too." Ye Su’s back stiffened. In all her life, this was the first time her junior sister had spoken to her in such an admiring tone.

"Senior Sister," Ning Qianyao came closer and looped her arm through Ye Su’s, as if discovering something novel. "I didn’t expect you to get nervous too!"

No, Senior Sister is only nervous because of you.

Just as Ye Su was wondering how to pull her hand away, the Chongming Sword suddenly darted over from behind, completely unrestrained and exuding killing intent.

Ning Qianyao noticed it and quickly let go of Ye Su, taking several steps back.

The Chongming Sword stopped beside Ye Su’s arm, successfully saving her from the situation.

You Fushi landed a bit behind them, standing next to Yi Xuan. But his rigid posture only revealed how annoyed he was.

"Junior Brother isn’t very good at controlling his sword yet," Ye Su sincerely explained to Ning Qianyao. "This sword tends to wander off."

"It’s fine," Ning Qianyao shook her head, seemingly unconcerned.

The more indifferent she acted, the more Ye Su’s scalp tingled.

Why wasn’t the female lead going to find the male lead? Why come to her instead?

"Everyone entering the third trial is impressive," Ning Qianyao sighed softly and whispered, "If we make it into the top ten, the sect leader will surely be very pleased."

Ye Su: "…Mm."

Fortunately, the sect masters from the major sects arrived just then, allowing Ye Su to escape from Ning Qianyao.

This time, the arena had been slightly modified. Fifteen battle platforms were placed in the middle, the sect masters of the major sects sat on a raised platform at the front, and the rest of the sect members watched from the edges.

Besides the five sect masters from before, the leader of the Pill Sect was also present this time.

"There are 31 participants in the final trial," said Daoist Feng Chen, his gaze sweeping over the competitors in the center of the arena. "We’ll start with a round of drawing lots."

An elderly man with brown hair brought over a tube filled with jade sticks. "Each person draws one. The number on the back corresponds to a battle platform."

He stood waiting as the competitors stepped up to draw.

"Please don’t be someone from our own sect, please don’t!" Ma Congqiu clasped his hands and muttered.

"The more you say it, the more likely it is," Zhou Yun elbowed him.

"Pfft, no way!" Ma Congqiu stepped up and drew his stick but didn’t dare to look at the number.

"I got Platform 6," Xu Chengyu said, then asked Zhou Yun and Ma Congqiu, "Which numbers did you get?"

"Platform 4," Zhou Yun replied.

Ma Congqiu closed one eye and slowly moved his hand away, then let out a relieved breath. "Platform 11."

"I got Platform 11 too," Yi Xuan, standing beside Ma Congqiu, said calmly.

Ma Congqiu: "……" It’s over.

Each sect’s members looked instinctively toward their fellow disciples after drawing.

"What a coincidence, we’re on the same platform," Lian Lian said to Cheng Huai’an after seeing his jade stick.

Cheng Huai’an rubbed the character "one" on his stick and smiled faintly. "Almost ten years, and we’re still on the same platform."

It was during that talisman master match where Lian Lian became famous—her opponent had also been Cheng Huai’an.

After Lian Lian gave up talismans, he’d thought they’d never face off again.

"My stick has no number," You Fushi whispered to Ye Su after drawing his.

He couldn’t recognize many characters, but his eyes worked fine, the back of his stick was blank.

"There are 31 people and only 15 platforms," Ye Su raised an eyebrow. "Junior Brother probably gets to advance automatically."

She remembered that in the original, the third trial also had an odd number of contestants, and Ning Qianyao had drawn the blank stick, allowing her to advance.

Now that stroke of luck had fallen to her junior brother.

Sure enough, after everyone had drawn, the brown-haired elder finally spoke: "One of the sticks is blank. Whoever drew it may skip this round. Please hand it over."

You Fushi handed over his stick, drawing everyone’s attention.

"Luck is a kind of strength too," the elder looked at the remaining thirty. "Head to your respective platforms. The matches will begin shortly."

The thirty contestants dispersed to find their platforms.

"Senior Brother…" Zhou Yun had just climbed onto Platform 4 and froze when he turned around.

Standing across from Xu Chengyu was Lu Chenhan.

"Looks like none of your sect’s disciples will make it through this round," the Shangque Sect’s leader said to Zhou Qi. "These two don’t seem to have much luck."

Zhou Qi’s gaze landed on the Shangque disciple across from Zhou Yun. "We don’t know who’ll win yet. Besides… Yi Xuan is also a disciple of our Sword Sect."

At this moment, all thirty people had already stepped onto the stage.

Ye Su stood across from Jian Hu. You Fushi waited for her below the platform.

Ning Qianyao had signed a companion contract with Jian Hu. His cultivation level was also at the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage, the same as Ye Su.

With the sound of a gong echoing, the match officially began.

This time, Jian Hu was much more cautious. As long as Ye Su threw talismans, he would make sure to completely destroy them. But when their realms had differed by several levels, Ye Su could already make him suffer. Now that they were equal in strength, it was even more dangerous for him.

Ye Su held a stringless bow in her hand. Her feet lightly tapped the ground as she jumped up and drew the bow. Spiritual energy formed into an arrow, shooting at the energy sphere Jian Hu had thrown.

She didn’t need to swap arrows, as long as her hand touched the bow, she could form an arrow from spiritual energy and release it right away.

The two attacks collided on the platform’s barrier, causing a wave of tremors.

A ruthless gleam flashed in Jian Hu’s eyes as he stared at Ye Su in mid-air. This was the person Ning Ning hated most. Kill her, kill her!

Ye Su tilted her head slightly and drew another arrow to block Jian Hu’s advance.

However, even though Jian Hu had lost his memories, he was a demon king and his body’s instincts remained.

Especially now, as his demonic energy started flowing around his body.

Jian Hu moved so quickly he became nearly invisible. No matter how fast Ye Su's arrows were, he dodged them all. A few even grazed his face.

With one hand shaped like a claw, he used his deliberately sharpened nails to strike at Ye Su’s throat, aiming for a vital spot.

Ye Su didn’t blink and didn’t dodge. She let him come at her.

In that moment, Jian Hu’s sharp nails clearly touched Ye Su’s neck and even drew blood.

But suddenly, he froze, suspended mid-air, right in front of Ye Su.

It was as if something incredibly powerful was binding him, stopping him from moving at all.

"It’s not only talismans that can create an array," Ye Su put away her stringless bow, leaned her head back slightly, and slid a step back. She looked at the demon king and said, "Every arrow I shoot can leave a mark that I can use."

Only now did everyone realize that the scratches left on the ground and on the four corner pillars of the platform had actually connected into a complete formation.

But in the next moment, the array on the platform seemed to be violently damaged, it started to explode all at once.

Jian Hu clenched his teeth, blood at the corner of his mouth, and once again charged at Ye Su. "You talk too much!"

Just when everyone thought the tide had turned, the arrows made of spiritual energy, the ones already on the ground and embedded in the pillars, suddenly returned in an instant and pierced right through Jian Hu.

Jian Hu looked down at the holes in his body in disbelief, then slowly raised his head to look at Ye Su.

Those energy arrows returned to Ye Su’s fingers like threads.

Ye Su looked at him blankly. "There’s one more thing I forgot to tell you… That wasn’t my spiritual energy, it was my divine sense."

Jian Hu coughed up a mouthful of blood, as if all his strength had left him, and collapsed onto the platform with a loud crash.

He landed exactly on the sharp rubble from where he had earlier destroyed the array, a jagged stone the size of a fist instantly pierced through his heart.

Ye Su landed and saw this scene: "..."

She had deliberately avoided his heart when she retrieved her divine sense yet he managed to fall right onto it himself.

Ning Qianyao was on the neighboring stage. The moment Jian Hu went down, she also collapsed to her knees. Blood gushed from her mouth and splashed onto her sword.

The cultivator opposite her didn’t understand what was happening, but with such a golden opportunity, how could they not take it? They immediately flew forward to stab Ning Qianyao.

At that moment, Ning Qianyao slowly stood up, flipped her wrist, and gently swung her sword.

The sword’s power suddenly surged with just one stroke, she sent her opponent flying off the stage. The blow was so strong that even the barrier around the stage was sliced open.

Everyone below the stage was stunned. All the sect leaders on the high platform sat up straight. They could clearly sense that there was something unusual about that sword.

"It’s blood," the sect master of the Wanfo Sect, Le Ji, was the first to realize. "Her blood contains a powerful force."

"Blood that can enhance a magical weapon?" Wu Yue, the sect master of the Hehuan Sect, frowned.

Ning Qianyao stumbled off the stage and walked over to the platform where Ye Su and Jian Hu were.

She knelt down, took out a red pill from her qiankun bag, and fed it to Jian Hu. Then she helped him up, letting the stone slide out of his chest.

There should have been massive bleeding, but after taking the pill, Jian Hu’s face quickly improved, and even the wound began to heal.

"She actually has a Scarlet Heart Pill," the Pill Sect master narrowed his eyes, watching Ning Qianyao on the platform below. "Looks like this little girl has quite the background."