Liu Mu Ming, chewing on a fruit, placed his hand on Xin Ci's shoulder as if they were old friends.
Xin Ci didn't reply, merely observing him quietly, his mind pondering the man's intentions.
Unexpectedly, Liu Mu Ming chuckled, "Hey, brother, why the long face? Here, want a fruit?"
He then offered a red fruit to Xin Ci.
"No, thank you."
Not knowing the other's origins, Xin Ci refused to let his guard down easily.
Liu Mu Ming, not angered by the refusal, expressed his regret, "Ah, what a shame. Such a delicious fruit, I'll just have to enjoy it myself."
On the arena stage, Li Xuan Hong's footwork was elegant, her movements graceful, as she effortlessly suppressed her opponent.
The crowd below cheered enthusiastically.
"Li Xuan Hong's posture is truly beautiful, every step seems like flowers dancing in the wind," Liu Mu Ming praised, still chewing his fruit.
"Indeed, and what's more, Li Xuan Hong is quite good-looking. If only she could be my woman."
"You're drunk before even having a drink. Do you think a beauty like her would fancy you?"
Everyone nodded in agreement with Liu Mu Ming's sentiment.
Unexpectedly, Xin Ci interjected.
"Spirit-tier movement technique, mid-grade spirit sword. I wonder if she has any other trump cards!"
The spectators: "..."
Liu Mu Ming's lips twitched.
"Brother, everyone is praising Li Xuan Hong's beauty, and you suddenly say that. Isn't that a bit of a buzzkill?"
However, Xin Ci continued, as if to himself,
"I wonder if this woman has any other spirit artifacts, or powerful martial skills..."
As he noticed the people around him glaring at him with growing anger.
Xin Ci's reaction was so out of place that even Mu Qing Qing couldn't stand it: "Male lead, is your mind only filled with cultivation?"
She couldn't understand how this dense blockhead, Xin Ci, managed to have so many female confidantes in the original novel.
Liu Mu Ming quickly covered Xin Ci's mouth, chuckled, and whispered in Xin Ci's ear.
"Brother, it's not that I'm saying this, but stop focusing only on their martial skills and spirit artifacts. Let me ask you, isn't Li Xuan Hong beautiful?"
"Beautiful?"
Xin Ci looked somewhat bewildered. He glanced up at Li Xuan Hong on the stage again, then lowered his head, lost in thought.
Liu Mu Ming thought the guy was finally starting to get it.
Who would have expected Xin Ci to utter another astonishing remark?
"Could it be... Li Xuan Hong possesses a mind-enchanting mental martial skill? It seems I need to be wary."
Liu Mu Ming felt his fists clench, wishing he could smash this guy's head.
"Alas, it's no use. I don't know what's up with the male lead. He clearly had so many beautiful women accompanying him in the original work, but here he's become such a clueless blockhead."
Mu Qing Qing, within the consciousness space, shook her head helplessly.
If the system hadn't confirmed Xin Ci as the male lead, Mu Qing Qing would have thought she'd mistaken him for someone else.
"He's so unfazed by Li Xuan Hong. Could it be that his standards are too high and he looks down on her?"
"That's right. Li Xuan Hong is beautiful, but she's still a few steps behind beauties like Elder Duan Xuan." Liu Mu Ming nodded, offering his own explanation.
"It seems I've been short-sighted. This guy is reminding me that I should set my sights on Elder Duan Xuan."
Liu Mu Ming reasoned to himself.
Li Xuan Hong on the stage quickly defeated her opponent, and Xin Ci no longer watched.
On the other stages, Su Bai Wei and that little fatty Luo Fei were eliminated in their second match.
However, they had secured a spot in the top 90, albeit with a lower ranking, but they would still be official disciples of the Four Symbols Academy.
Xin Ci's next opponent was named Ye Xing Yu, another beautiful young girl.
Although Ye Xing Yu was also at the Yellow Realm mid-stage, her strength was significantly greater than Young Master Yu Xiao, and she also mastered a low-grade Spirit-tier martial skill.
Xin Ci knew that this woman would not be as careless as Young Master Yu Xiao in the previous match and be defeated by his Human-tier martial skill.
After several rounds of probing and testing, Xin Ci figured out Ye Xing Yu's combat patterns.
Seizing the opportune moment, he unleashed the Ten-Finger Bone Sword, his fingertips shooting out sword energy that directly shattered Ye Xing Yu's spiritual energy barrier, forcing her to concede.
The spectators were astonished, not expecting Xin Ci to possess Spirit-tier martial skills.
And judging by the power of the technique, it was likely at least mid-grade Spirit-tier.
"Unexpectedly, besides Liu Mu Ming and Bai Ting, there's also such a dark horse."
"Do you think he can make it into the top 10?"
"Top 10? You're thinking too highly of him. He'll be lucky to rank in the top 30."
"That's true, his cultivation level is a bit low."
On another stage, Na Lan Wu Chang overheard their discussion and sneered contemptuously, "Dark horse, hmph. No matter how strong, he can't withstand my palm."
He then dealt his opponent a serious injury with a single move, securing victory instantly.
Those who fought Na Lan Wu Chang either had their qi vortex crippled or were severely injured and unconscious.
The spectators felt a sense of dread towards him; his attacks were too ruthless.
Xin Ci, having finished his match earlier, went to observe the battles on other stages as usual.
Interestingly, Luo Fei, who had been eliminated in the second round, had set up a betting pool beneath the arena.
"Place your bets! Think carefully who you want to bet on. Once you've decided, no changes!"
Luo Fei was busily organizing the bets.
"I'm betting on Na Lan Wu Chang!"
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
"I'm different, I'm betting on the Young Prince."
"I'm betting on Li Xuan Hong."
"I'm betting on Ao Li."
"Hold on, hold on, pay up your spirit stones first!"
Many youths eagerly took out spirit stones to place their bets. Luo Fei was inwardly ecstatic, having collected a large pile of spirit stones. Indeed, compared to cultivation, he preferred making money.
As he rejoiced, someone suddenly clapped him on the shoulder. Impatiently, he turned around and shouted, "Who is it!"
"It's me. What's wrong?"
"...Ah... Ha, it's you, boss,"
Seeing Xin Ci, Luo Fei immediately became submissive.
"What's going on here?"
Xin Ci asked, pointing to the odds written on the paper: 1:30 for him.
"Well, boss, I naturally believe you'll be first. This is just business, purely business, hehe."
"Since you say it's business, then place a bet of ten thousand low-grade spirit stones for me, and the person I'm betting on is myself, naturally."
After saying that, Xin Ci went to watch the other matches.
"Oh no, boss, I hope you don't win too overwhelmingly, or I'll be bankrupt!"
Luo Fei started to lament over his spirit stones.
On another stage, an interesting scene unfolded.
The two major dark horses of this entrance test, Liu Mu Ming and Bai Ting, had encountered each other.
This promised to be an exciting match.
Both were at the peak of the Yellow Realm late stage, so it was expected to be a fierce battle.
Xin Ci, like everyone else, anticipated the start of this fight.
However, Bai Ting on the stage smiled slyly at Liu Mu Ming: "Are you going to step down yourself, or should I go back and tell your family?"
"Damn it, you got me!"
Liu Mu Ming turned and walked off the stage.
The crowd was utterly bewildered.