He reached out and patted the Tianjian Sect disciple who had stood up beside him. "Brother, give it your all. I believe in you."

"Don’t worry, Junior Brother Bai. Leave it to me from here on out!"

The Tianjian Sect disciple nodded excitedly, then lifted his head and, under Yu Ping'an's puzzled gaze, stepped toward the competition arena.

Bai Feng then stepped back, as if he had merely come to offer a word of encouragement to the disciple heading into battle.

Yu Ping'an clenched his fists tightly, his eyes fixed on Bai Feng's retreating figure. He couldn't believe he had been played!

This guy actually dared to avoid the fight!

What a coward!

"Hello, I’m Guo Xiao from the Tianjian Sect. Junior Brother Bai has other matters to attend to, so I’ll be your opponent this time."

"Hmph."

Yu Ping'an didn’t respond, turning away to select materials for the formation.

After being tricked by Bai Feng, he was in a foul mood and had no desire to engage with this Tianjian Sect disciple who had been pushed forward by Bai Feng.

Guo Xiao shrugged, unfazed by the awkwardness, and turned to pick out materials as well.

He had been quite surprised when he was told to participate in the individual competition.

Me, fighting Yu Ping'an? Is this for real?

Shouldn’t Junior Brother Bai be the one to step up?

But he didn’t ask too many questions; Junior Brother Bai must have his reasons for doing this. Besides, he might not necessarily lose!

He had once been the most talented formation master in the Tianjian Sect. Now, after studying Bai Feng's "Formation 123" and exchanging some contribution points for "Detailed Explanations of a Thousand Formations" (written by Bai Feng), he had made significant progress, even if he still couldn’t compare to Bai Feng!

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Chapter 171: Can He Defeat the Child of Fortune, Yu Ping'an? Impossible!

Bai Feng returned to his seat, glancing at the unresponsive system, feeling a surge of pride.

Although Yu Ping'an looked furious after being toyed with, what he had done was actually beneficial for Yu Ping'an, the child of fortune.

After all, the difficulty of the opponent had decreased, increasing Yu Ping'an's chances of winning. So, no matter how angry Yu Ping'an got, as long as he didn’t let it affect his health, the system wouldn’t grant him even a sliver of fortune points.

His plan could proceed smoothly for a simple reason: the outcome of the formation competition didn’t really matter. Unlike battles, which were direct and clear-cut, the main purpose of competitions held by sects and sacred lands was to showcase their talented disciples, and he had already participated in an individual match.

"Brother, are you sure you don’t want to compete?" Bai Yumo asked quietly from the side.

"I still have to participate in the team competition," Bai Feng waved his hand. "Besides, I’ve already taken part in an individual match. There’s no point in doing it again."

As for why he chose an unfamiliar Tianjian Sect disciple for the individual match, it was purely to minimize the chances of the system gaining fortune points.

If he had let Su Lanqian compete, given their relationship, what if she completely crushed Yu Ping'an? The system would definitely reward him with fortune points. But with a Tianjian Sect disciple he didn’t know well, he wouldn’t have that worry.

Though it was nearly impossible for this Tianjian Sect disciple to defeat the child of fortune, Yu Ping'an, he still took extra precautions. To avoid giving the system any loopholes, he didn’t specify which disciple to send, leaving it entirely to the sect’s arrangements.

One could say his plan was solid; he couldn’t foresee any issues arising.

Bai Feng smiled as he sat in his seat, watching the competition unfold.

This Tianjian Sect disciple, Guo Xiao, right? His techniques are quite skilled!

Oh? He even knows "Thousand Formations"? Have disciples been able to exchange for it so soon?

Bai Feng was surprised. After obtaining the inheritance of the Thousand Formations Sect, he hadn’t kept any of it to himself. Instead, he had learned it and exchanged it for a hefty amount of contribution points for the sect. To ensure sustainable development, he even wrote a set of supplementary learning materials for "Thousand Formations." Every time a disciple exchanged for it, he earned a nice sum of contribution points.

Even the "Formation 123" textbook he wrote for Yu Linglong’s staff had been submitted, and he heard it was quite popular among ordinary disciples.

"Wait a minute..."

Bai Feng suddenly realized something. He focused on Guo Xiao’s techniques, and the more he watched, the more familiar they seemed—wasn’t this content from his book?

Could it be that this guy used the book he wrote? And not just the "Detailed Explanations of a Thousand Formations," but he had also read "Formation 123"?

What’s a Golden Core stage cultivator doing with a beginner’s guide?

He hadn’t written anything advanced; it was all basic teachings. Wasn’t that a waste of contribution points?

"Brother, what’s wrong?" Bai Yumo seemed to notice the change in Bai Feng’s expression and quickly asked with concern.

Bai Feng stared at Guo Xiao, his face growing serious. "I just realized I overlooked something."

Bai Yumo glanced at the arena, puzzled. Did Bai Feng think this Tianjian Sect disciple could win against the genius of the Fengling Sect?

She quietly asked, "Is... he going to lose?"

"I don’t know. Let’s wait and see."

Bai Feng shook his head. Although he had overlooked the possibility that his own writings could give the system a loophole, his plan hadn’t completely failed.

So what if Guo Xiao had read his book? Could he really defeat the child of fortune, Yu Ping'an? No way!

After all, he was the child of fortune! How could he lose to an ordinary NPC?

Thinking this way, Bai Feng felt his plan was still solid. After all, Yu Ping'an, being the child of fortune, was unlikely to lose. So even if Guo Xiao had read his book, it didn’t matter.

With that thought, Bai Feng relaxed once more.

Meanwhile, Guo Xiao was seriously constructing his formation.

Since Junior Brother Bai was willing to give him this opportunity, he couldn’t let him or the sect down.

He knew his opponent was a genius capable of constructing sixth-grade formations. If he played it safe, he wouldn’t win no matter what.

So, he decided to take a gamble.

If this had been before he read Junior Brother Bai’s book, he would never have dared to do this. But now, the book had given him courage.

It was quite amusing; when he first learned that Junior Brother Bai had written a formation book, he had mocked him.

He knew Junior Brother Bai was a genius, but how long had this genius been studying? Formations required accumulation. Rushing to write a book so soon felt like a ploy to trick people into contributing points.

Then he bought a copy.

Originally, he just intended to have a good laugh, but after reading for a while, he became engrossed. By the time he snapped back to reality, it was already completely dark outside.

He looked at the "Formation (1)" in his hands. Although the content was all basic knowledge, he had never seen any formation book that could connect most foundational knowledge so cohesively. The content was so pure, devoid of obscure insights into formation principles, just straightforward formation knowledge that could be understood and learned without a master’s guidance.

There were even some basic concepts he hadn’t realized before. They were simple enough that he could have figured them out with a little thought, but he just hadn’t seen them.

While many criticized Bai Feng’s book for lacking depth, he believed a book for formation novices should be just like that.

Then he bought the remaining two books and even used the contribution points he had saved up for other formation books to exchange for "Detailed Explanations of a Thousand Formations (1)" written by Junior Brother Bai.

After that, he made further progress in formations. He had always wanted to try building a sixth-grade formation but had been held back by a lack of materials. Now, this was his chance!

Guo Xiao aimed to create a simplified version of the sixth-grade Five Elements Formation combined with the fifth-grade Four Symbols Formation, both of which were well-known trapping formations. He chose these two formations for a simple reason: he was better at trapping formations, and the Four Symbols Formation was his specialty, while he also had a good understanding of the sixth-grade Five Elements Formation.

However, considering the limited time, he felt he wouldn’t be able to construct a complete sixth-grade formation in such a short period, so he opted for the simplified version of the Five Elements Formation. With the Four Symbols Formation as support, even the simplified version wouldn’t lose much of its power.

As time flowed slowly, he didn’t rush. Instead, he turned his thoughts from days of contemplation into practice, subconsciously blocking out the outside world, his eyes focused solely on the formation.

On the other side, Yu Ping'an, also constructing a sixth-grade formation, noticed Guo Xiao, his face reflecting shock.

He could tell that Guo Xiao was building a sixth-grade Five Elements Formation, with a fifth-grade Four Symbols Formation layered on top. At the rate Guo Xiao was going, he could definitely complete it before time ran out.

He had underestimated his opponent.

Yu Ping'an instinctively clenched his fists, realizing he might actually lose—not to Bai Feng, but to a Tianjian Sect disciple he had once looked down upon.

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Chapter 172: Bai Feng Painfully Closed His Eyes