82 Sit tight (asking for recommendation votes)

  "It's over!"

  "Just as victory seemed within grasp, a sudden reversal occurred in the final moment."

  "Liu Qing... has already lost! With such injuries, he can't continue fighting. Ye Chen is still intact and has the upper hand."

  "Liu Qing's Qingling Sword was very powerful, but unfortunately didn't have a chance to exert its power. His entwining technique could have also pulled him closer to his opponent, but unfortunately it didn't work either, and he was defeated by Ye Chen's fire magic from a distance!"

  "Ye Chen's strength seems to be above Liu Qing! Otherwise, they wouldn't have settled the outcome in such a short time."

  The monks came out of their shock and began to whisper among themselves.

  All the cultivators present couldn't help but look at Liu Qing with some sympathy. In the eyes of the scattered Qi Refining cultivators in the Qing Shan Lake area, Liu Qing was also a relatively well-known cultivator. Such a crushing defeat would likely be a heavy blow to Liu Qing.

  "We lost!"

  Under the stone wall, Liu Qing's face was a deathly pale, and he struggled to utter these two words. His heart was in severe pain, and he immediately spat out a large mouthful of bright red blood. It wasn't until after a while that he regained his strength and slowly got up from the ground with great difficulty.

  He didn't go to watch the crowd of monks, carrying the Qingling sword and leaving, woodenly walking down the mountain step by step on the bluestone steps.

  To be able to occupy one of the 126 cottages in Qing Shan Hu, this is an honor that any cultivator practicing in seclusion at Qing Shan Hu has always dreamed of.

  The most important thing is that this is the hope of the nine major immortal sects in Yunzhou who are about to be destroyed by the demon tower.

  Because every year, ninety quotas for the Tianyun Xianyuan Castle's Zhongzhen Tower are mostly born from the 126 people living in the Qing Shan Hu Luoshe. Losing the Luoshe is equivalent to losing the hope of grabbing one of the ninety quotas.

  He occupies the hundredth hut, extremely close to the ninety-named quota, almost within reach.

  But now this hope has been shattered.

  There is glory, then there must be pain after defeat.

  Liu Qing had once reveled in the glory of being the center of attention, and the joy that came with the hope of entering one of the nine great immortal sects. Now, he was once again deeply experiencing the pain of falling from grace. At 24 years old, the cottage he had painstakingly obtained was lost just three months before the departure to Zhuang Town's You Tower.

  The defeated have only surrender.

  Ye Chen had already torn open the binding spell that was restraining him, took a glance at Liu Qing who was leaving, then turned his head to look towards the first hundredth hut on the ground.

  Sympathy?

  No sympathy.

  He doesn't need it, has no time for it and isn't qualified for it either.

  He also doesn't think Liu Qing needs this thing.

  As a rootless cultivator, one must have been enlightened early on. The only thing that can keep oneself standing firm in the Tianyun Immortal City is one's own strength! Everything else is unreliable, let alone sympathy, which is such a boring thing.

  If you don't understand, then you will be eliminated and can only stay at the bottom of the Tianyun Xianyuan City in this cultivation world, living a mediocre life. You are not qualified to sit in the position of the owner of the 126 cottages on the various mountain peaks of Qing Shan Lake.

  To reach the peak, every step, only asks for strength.

  "There are still three months, and it's time to attack the Demon Tower! I've been practicing wholeheartedly, but I'm afraid I'll only be able to reach the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refining. Still far from being a match for Zheng Yuan, an eighth-layer Qi Refiner... I need more time to surpass Zheng Yuan! Hopefully, entering the Immortal Gate will give me enough time."

  Ye Chen took a deep breath and silently said, "From today on, I am the new master of this 100th hut. I will cultivate quickly here."

  Liu Qing left dejectedly.

  Dozens of Qi-refining stage cultivators who were watching the scene came back to their senses from shock, and soon accepted this new fact: Ye Chen had officially defeated Liu Qing and become the new master of the 100th hut.

  "Brother Ye, congratulations! I didn't expect you to actually defeat Liu Qing and take a pavilion. Old Zhu really has an eye for talent!"

  Zhu Dahao changed from his previous worry and shock to extreme joy and laughter.

  "Ye brothers are well-prepared!"

  "You weren't worried that Ye brother wouldn't be able to beat Liu Qing earlier, were you? Look, I told you Ye brother isn't simple, there's still a good chance of winning!"

  Qian Shanli and Feng Yan both smiled.

  The three of them looked radiant and felt proud, just because Ye Chen was their new friend.

  They had made many friends by the lakeside of Qing Shan, but almost all of them were low-level cultivators. They had never been friends with a truly powerful cultivator before. Becoming friends with the master of Lingquan Villa was a first for them.

  The other cultivators also rushed to congratulate and offer their well-wishes, with a sudden change in their tone. Although they didn't know Ye Chen, this newcomer, most of them recognized Zhu Dahao, and a friend's friend is also considered a friend! In the cultivation world, having many friends is much better than having many enemies.

  "Also many thanks to Brother Zhu, Brother Qian and Sister Feng for your support! Everyone come in and take a look!"

  Ye Chen cupped his hands and smiled.

  "That's all for now, don't want to disturb you anymore!"

  The monks exchanged polite conversation, filled with curiosity.

  Ye Chen pushed open the wooden door of the hut and led the crowd of monks inside.

  This hut is actually a bit like a pavilion, with an area of about 4 or 5 zhang in length and width. A spiritual spring emerges from the stone wall on the ground inside the hut, and the surrounding area has a strong spiritual energy, rising up a thin layer of fog. The spiritual fog inside the hut is quite dense.

  The spring flows outwards, passing through the ditch and flowing out of the house, then becoming a stream and waterfall flowing towards Qing Shan Lake.

  As soon as Ye Chen entered the hut, he took a deep breath and could feel the spiritual energy in the air entering his lungs, without having to meditate, his own magical powers were gradually recovering. The effect was even better than absorbing the spiritual energy of the spirit stone.

  Of course, the speed of recovering magical power is still a bit slower than directly drinking spiritual wine to recover magical power.

  "The spiritual energy here is indeed dense, more than twice as dense as the lakeside of Qing Shan! Cultivating for one day here is equivalent to cultivating for a day and a half by the lakeside of Qing Shan. Living here long-term will be greatly beneficial for cultivation!"

  "Tsk, tsk, this lowest-grade Spirit Spring Hut has such great benefits. Those top 60 Spirit Spring Huts and top 30 Spirit Spring Huts can cultivate for one day and get the equivalent of two or three days' worth. No wonder those young masters from big families are fighting tooth and nail to get their hands on those high-grade huts. In just three months, they'll be able to surpass us who have been cultivating for nine months!"

  Most of the cultivators present had never seen the spiritual spring inside the hut before. Other hut owners treasured theirs and didn't allow other cultivators to enter their huts. Ye Chen was willing to let them take a look, which was already a rare move among the hut owners at Qing Shan Lake.

  After visiting for a while, the scattered monks satisfied their curiosity and sighed in admiration. They bid farewell one after another, and their good impression of Ye Chen also rose sharply.

  Zhu Dahao, Qian Shanli and Feng Yan left last, reminding Ye Chen to cultivate well in the Luoshu, they will come often to cheer him on. No matter who comes to challenge, they are all firmly standing on Ye Chen's side.

  Ye Chen couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, it seemed that the three of them had taken him as their little brother. He also felt a bit moved, although they had only known each other for a few days, he could tell that they were all straightforward and righteous people.

  Ye Chen's humble abode was the 100th hut, a low-ranking one among the 126 Spirit Spring Huts of Qing Shan Lake.

  Unlike the previous thirty matches of Lingquan Pavilion, each match will cause a huge sensation and attract at least thousands of Qi-refining cultivators to watch. The most peak match of No. 1 Lingquan Pavilion is likely to attract the attention of all major and minor family cultivators and loose cultivators in Qing Shan Lake.

  Only the young generation of Tianyun Xianyuan City's strongest cultivators have the qualifications to occupy the No. 1 Spiritual Spring.

  In comparison, Ye Chen's 100th Luosha War only attracted a few dozen Qi Refining stage loose cultivators to go and watch, which in Qing Shan Lake was just a tiny insignificant battle with no influence at all.

  However, the news of Ye Chen defeating Liu Qing was quickly spread among the scattered cultivators stationed on the banks of Qing Shan Lake through the mouths of those who had watched the battle.

  Most of the scattered cultivators, upon hearing this news, were first met with disbelief.

  "Liu Qing is quite famous, how can he lose to a nobody?" "A Qi Refining initial stage cultivator actually defeated a Qi Refining mid-stage cultivator, this is too ridiculous. Next time someone challenges him, go take a look!"

  "Just you wait and see! That little Ye is just lucky, he'll be kicked out of the hut soon! Out of the 126 huts in Qing Shan Lake, can a small scattered cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining really sit tight?"

  Many people are quite disdainful.

  Ye Chen sat in his hut, cultivating, as day after day passed by.

  In the first three days, there were almost three challengers coming to challenge every day.

  After the initial three days of excitement, the challengers quickly saw the situation clearly and disappeared. They would rather go to other spiritual springs to try their luck than come back to Ye Chen's 100th hut again.

  Ye Chen's tactics were very simple.

  Ye Chen doesn't care who the challenger is, he only uses one spell, that is the Wood System's Entwining Technique. One entwining technique after another was thrown out, constantly trapping the challenger at a distance, not allowing his opponent to get close.

  Whether the challenger is good at long-range attack spells or close combat, it's all the same.

  The little hedgehog is simpler, as soon as it appears, its whole body is covered with sharp quills. As an earth-type spirit beast, it has thick skin and rough flesh, with sharp quills all over its back that are more than one meter long, which makes it fearless of enemies approaching. Then, the little hedgehog starts humming and crazily shoots out earth arrow magic.

  Its magical capacity is equivalent to the total magical power of a fourth-level Qi-refining cultivator.

  The challenger had no choice but to defend with all his might, busy exchanging blows with Xiao Zhi and had no time to pay attention to Ye Chen.

  After the most intense battle, the challenger's magic power has been messed up by Xiao Hao Zhu. If the defense is strong, it can withstand a few more attacks; if the defense is weak, it will be directly blown away by the earth arrow and spit blood.

  The little hedgehog's magic was sufficient, releasing more than thirty earth arrows before exhausting all its magic. Then it finished casting the spell, got up, turned around and wiggled its butt at the challenger, before running back to Ye Chen's side.

  How much magic is left for them to fight against Ye Chen?

  This made every challenger who wanted to take advantage of the situation extremely frustrated. The cultivators in the Qi Refining stage had limited magical powers to begin with, and after being tossed around by a small wild boar for half a day, they were beaten so badly that they didn't have any strength left to fight against Ye Chen.

  It's better to go to other spiritual springs and temples to try your luck, after being ranked 100th, there are at least 26 more temple owners who are weaker than Ye Chen, making it easier to challenge them.

  The little hedgehog grew extremely fast, and in just a few days, Ye Chen spared no expense to cultivate spiritual grass within the immortal mansion to feed it. It gained over twenty pounds of flesh, becoming an upper-tiered spirit beast, its strength increasing once again.

  Its magical power is more abundant, its fur is thicker, and its blood is fuller. The earth arrows it shoots out are also coarser and larger.

  As soon as it saw a challenger appear, it let out a pleased hum and charged out.

  After several days of hard work, the challengers slunk away with their tails between their legs, completely disappearing and acknowledging that Ye Chen's strength was enough to secure this number one hundred hut. Being able to chase away Liu Qing, he indeed had some real ability.

  The first hundred cottages of Ye Chen's town were also cleared.

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  Three thousand words.