Xu Taiping was caught off guard by the scrutiny, but he still took a moment to recall seriously, then nodded and gestured with his hands, “It should have grown this much.”

“You remembered correctly, it indeed has grown that much.”

Lin Buyu nodded upon hearing this and then continued to lower her head to read her script.

The way the two communicated made Xu Ziyan and Zhao Linglong beside them unable to help but chuckle.

“Senior Brother Qingxiao, Senior Sister Linglong, what is today’s competition about?”

Although he didn’t know what they were laughing at, Xu Taiping decided to steer the conversation back to the Seven Peaks competition.

“Today’s event is called ‘Seven Dragons Seize the Pearl.’ Spirit birds will drop pearls above the Five Elders Pond, and disciples from the sword sect will compete for them through Sword Flight. Each time, five pearls will be dropped, and if you manage to secure a pearl and evade the interception of disciples from other peaks, placing it in the hands of the Five Elders’ statues, you will be awarded a pearl.”

Xu Ziyan explained the rules of the competition to Xu Taiping.

“So, this competition is about the speed of Sword Flight and the precise control over the flying sword.”

Zhao Linglong added.

Xu Taiping nodded slightly upon hearing this.

“Senior Sister Ziyan, aren’t you participating in this event?”

He asked curiously, looking at Xu Ziyan.

“This time, each peak can only send three people. Our Sixth Peak’s three senior brothers have been practicing for three years for this; there’s no need for me to participate.”

Xu Ziyan said with a smile.

“It’s all up to our Senior Sister and Senior Brother Qingxiao from the Seventh Peak. Although our third senior brother can also control objects to fly, his magical treasure is a scale, which flies quite steadily but is still too slow.”

Zhao Linglong sighed deeply.

The Seventh Peak, due to the good leadership of Peak Master Zhao Qian, had most of its disciples not focusing on swordsmanship. Senior Sister Jiang Zhi and Senior Brother Dugu Qingxiao were considered the only hopes of the Seventh Peak.

“There’s no helping it; sword cultivation requires extremely high aptitude. Even our Sixth Peak barely managed to gather three people.”

Xu Ziyan offered some consolation.

Although her words were tactful, Xu Taiping still sensed the deeper meaning.

The Seventh Peak, always ranking last among the peaks, had mostly disciples of ordinary talent to choose from, and most of these disciples with only ordinary talent could not become sword cultivators.

“May the Fifth Ancestor bless us; we don’t ask to win this time, only to seize a pearl and shut up those who want to laugh at us.”

Zhao Linglong clasped her hands together and prayed humbly.

Xu Ziyan immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulder and laughed, “Don’t be so pessimistic. Your Senior Sister and Senior Brother Qingxiao are among the best of their generation; securing one or two pearls should be no problem.”

Xu Taiping silently observed this scene.

He made up his mind to practice swordsmanship diligently, hoping to help his senior brothers and sisters in the next Seven Peaks competition.

“Indeed, I must focus on cultivation. Six years is not a long time for a cultivator.”

Xu Taiping thought to himself.

“Boom!”

Just then, a thunderous roar sounded from the sky, followed by rolling dark clouds approaching. A black Flood Dragon roared and descended from the clouds, landing directly on the sword platform in the center of the Five Elders Pond.

The newcomer was the Black Dragon Elder.

“Today marks the first event of the Seven Peaks competition, ‘Seven Dragons Play with Pearls.’ All disciples from the peaks, please take your seats.”

The tall Black Dragon Elder, with the head of a dragon and the body of a man, bellowed authoritatively.

As his voice fell, the sound of whooshing filled the air above the Five Elders Pond, one after another.

In the blink of an eye, sharp sounds of Sword Flight came from all directions.

“Senior Sister, Senior Brother!”

At that moment, Zhao Linglong found Senior Sister Jiang Zhi and Senior Brother Dugu Qingxiao in the crowd below and waved vigorously at them.

Xu Ziyan also spotted the three senior brothers from the Sixth Peak.

“Sister Buyu!”

Among the Sixth Peak’s three senior brothers, a round-faced young man seemed to have spotted Xu Ziyan and Lin Buyu and waved at them happily.

“Sister Buyu, the seventh junior brother is calling you.”

Xu Ziyan leaned out and smiled at Lin Buyu next to Xu Taiping.

Lin Buyu looked down and nodded in response, then continued to flip through her script.

It seemed that to her, the competition was far less interesting than the script in her hands.

Although Xu Taiping had heard of Lin Buyu’s peculiar personality, witnessing it firsthand still made him take notice, and he couldn’t help but admire her, “This girl really seems to be indifferent to the gaze of others.”

Lin Buyu seemed to notice Xu Taiping’s gaze and looked up at him, “Are you looking at me?”

Xu Taiping was taken aback by her direct question.

After a moment, he replied apologetically, “My apologies.”

Although he had no other intentions, it was still impolite to stare at someone.

“It’s okay, you can keep looking.”

Lin Buyu shook her head and then lowered her eyes back to her script.

Xu Taiping was confused by her response, thinking, what does ‘you can keep looking’ mean?

However, he naturally would not repeat such an impolite action and sat up straight, redirecting his gaze to the sword platform below.

At that moment, the Black Dragon Elder had already announced the rules of the competition with his thunderous voice to the disciples on the platform and in the cloud pavilions.

Xu Taiping listened carefully and found that the content was largely the same as what Ziyan had described.

“Gentlemen, please stand by your respective peak’s banners. The competition will begin immediately.”

After announcing the rules, the Black Dragon Elder closed the booklet in his hand and scanned the Seven Peaks’ disciples with his eyes.

Subsequently, the disciples from each peak retreated to the edges of the sword platform, beside their respective banners.

Xu Taiping was seeing the banners of the peaks for the first time.

He noticed that each had its own characteristics; for example, the First Peak had a gate, the Fifth Peak had a cloud, and the Sixth Peak had an orchid.

Their Seventh Peak, the Hao Ran Peak, featured a cat lying lazily on the ground.

“Senior Sister, why is there a cat embroidered on our Hao Ran Peak’s banner?”

Xu Taiping asked Zhao Linglong, puzzled.

At that moment, Zhao Linglong was nervously watching the situation below and didn’t turn around, simply replying, “Legend has it that it was the spirit pet of our Seventh Peak’s first Peak Master, but it has been missing for hundreds of years.”

Xu Taiping nodded in realization.

While they were talking, a crane’s cry echoed above the sword platform, and a giant Immortal Crane glided over the platform, its large claws holding several huge silver-white pearls.

“All peaks, be alert. The pearls are about to fall.”

The Black Dragon Elder, with his arms crossed, loudly alerted everyone.