Trapped within the Nine Palaces Enchantment Diagram, with Jiang Chen's current level of mastery over it, even a Third Level Heavenly Realm cultivator would find it nearly impossible to escape.
And this Xiahou Xi was merely a quasi-Heavenly Realm prodigy. In terms of cultivation, he was only marginally stronger than Yan Qingsang and Yan Jinnan, who stood at the peak of the Emperor Realm.
An opponent of this caliber was nothing Jiang Chen would fear. After all, along the way, he had already encountered numerous Heavenly Realm powerhouses.
In the Human Domain, he had defeated Heavenly Realm experts on multiple occasions.
So while Xiahou Xi might qualify as a prodigy, in front of Jiang Chen, he simply wasn't worth mentioning.
As the space within the Nine Palaces Enchantment Diagram continued to constrict, Xiahou Xi's fate was already sealed. He dodged the first arrow, then the second, but there was no evading the relentless volley that followed.
He didn't even have time to let out a scream. The arrow struck true. A blinding flash of light swept through the interior of the Nine Palaces Enchantment Diagram. In the next instant, Xiahou Xi's body burst apart like a bubble and vanished completely into the void.
Only a single Storage Ring remained, clattering to the ground inside the diagram.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly and moved to pick it up. But then he reconsidered, and cautiously channeled a formation to envelop the Storage Ring before finally bringing it into his hand.
He was still mulling things over when his spiritual sense suddenly twitched — someone was approaching the area within a few dozen li. Without further hesitation, Jiang Chen retracted the Nine Palaces Enchantment Diagram, transformed his figure into a streak of lightning, and vanished from the spot.
Although the battle here had been intense, Xiahou Xi's body had already been obliterated, reduced to nothing. So when the people who arrived a short while later detected traces of a fight in the area, they could find no other clues.
It was already the final day of the thirty-day period, and few had the inclination to meddle in others' affairs. After a brief search turning up nothing, they all moved on.
Jiang Chen tossed Xiahou Xi's Storage Ring aside casually, deciding to discard it.
This Xiahou Xi hadn't even been on par with Xiahou Jing. Whatever wealth might be inside the ring probably wasn't all that impressive. Carrying it out would only be a liability.
So Jiang Chen decided to kill, but not to loot.
Two hours later, he arrived at the exit. Calm and unhurried, he underwent the inspection, handed over his competition jade token, and strolled out as though nothing had happened at all.
As he stepped past the valley mouth, he spotted Yan Qingsang already standing outside. After emerging, Jiang Chen paid him no mind.
Yan Qingsang wasn't fool enough to approach and greet Jiang Chen uninvited upon seeing his demeanor.
Once outside, Jiang Chen made his way to the Yan family's group. By this point, most of the Yan family participants had already emerged.
At that very moment, Huang'er happened to step out from the valley mouth as well.
Elder He and Elder Quan both breathed a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing her walk out. The person they were least worried about failing to return was anyone but Huang'er. If anything had happened to her, none of them old codgers would have been able to answer for it. Now that she emerged safe and sound, the weight lifted from their hearts.
"Huang'er, you're out. How were your spoils?" Elder He asked with a put-on cheer.
"Nothing to write home about. No great gains," Huang'er replied flatly.
None of them were foolish enough to ask her to show what she'd found. They all offered, "It's the participation that counts, the participation that counts."
Huang'er glanced at Yan Qingsang. "Brother Qingsang, since you're the one who made the wager — how were your spoils?"
Yan Qingsang grinned. "I dare say the haul is nothing to scoff at. Thirty million is practically in the bag!"
Yan Jinnan sneered, "Don't get ahead of yourself. I performed quite well this time!"
"No matter how well you performed, it's useless. Your ten million — I'm winning it for certain!"
Elder He and Elder Quan couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this bickering.
By now, nearly everyone inside had come out.
Over at the Xiahou family's side, the other participants had all emerged as well. A Xiahou family elder questioned the returning prodigies: "Where's Xiahou Xi? Why hasn't he come out yet?"
"I ran into Brother Xi inside. He seemed to be heading out even before me. Has he not made it out yet? I assumed he was already outside."
"What? Brother Xi hasn't come out? How is that possible?"
The Xiahou family elder's expression darkened. "You're certain Xiahou Xi left ahead of you?"
"When I ran into him, I even asked him how it was going. He said his gains were excellent. And he was definitely heading outward. Could something have delayed him?"
"There's still a quarter hour left. I'd guess he'll come out at the last moment."
"That's right — maybe Brother Xi wants to make a grand exit for dramatic effect?"
These Xiahou family prodigies were all rather optimistic, one after another. Clearly, none of them believed anyone in the competition could pose a genuine threat to Xiahou Xi.
Perhaps there were one or two, but there had been no sign of that whatsoever.
Moreover, the atmosphere of this competition had been quite cordial. Deadly clashes were virtually nonexistent. On the rare occasions they occurred, it was between rogue cultivators and rogue cultivators, between scions of minor factions and rogue cultivators, or between disciples of major powers and rogue cultivators.
At the level of the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms, there had been almost no collisions whatsoever. It was as though everyone shared an unspoken understanding: seek wealth, not bloodshed.