Tang Yi listened for a little while longer, but after hearing nothing else useful or interesting, he led the group away from the Ranking Hall and headed straight for the Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall.
The Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall was similar to the independent challenge platforms. Upon entering, one would see numerous rooms. These rooms were where the disciples connected to the Eight Palaces to spar with one another.
If a room was occupied, a red light would illuminate the doorway, barring others from entering. If it was empty, a green light would be on instead.
Tang Yi’s group casually found a room with a green light and went inside.
The room’s layout was identical to those for the independent challenge platforms. In the right-hand corner was a stone dais that allowed candidates to obtain a temporary ID. In the center of the room stood a square, transparent Qi Shield.
"Bi’Er, how am I supposed to fight disciples from the Eight Palaces? This place doesn’t look any different from the independent challenge platforms," Tang Yi asked in confusion, glancing at the Qi Shield.
"It looks similar to the independent challenge platforms, but there are some differences. Brother Tang Yi, look over here." Wang Bi’Er pointed to a section on the western side of the Qi Shield. "See? Isn’t this area a little different?"
Tang Yi followed her finger and saw that, sure enough, that section of the Qi Shield was distinctly different from the rest.
A section, about a meter wide, was less transparent and had a somewhat mottled, whitish color.
It felt as if the rest of the Qi Shield was thinner, while this meter-wide section was thicker.
"So what if it’s different from the rest? What does it do?" Tang Yi asked, still confused.
Wang Bi’Er smiled and explained, "This is the control panel for the Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall. Go inside the Qi Shield and place your hand on this section. You’ll see how to spar with all the disciples of the Outer Mansion Eight Palaces."
"Oh."
Hearing this, Tang Yi nodded and was about to step into the Qi Shield as instructed, but Wang Bi’Er stopped him.
"What is it, Bi’Er?" Tang Yi asked, confused.
"Brother Tang Yi, put this on before you go." With a flick of her slender wrist, Wang Bi’Er produced a white mask out of nowhere. It was adorned with intricate, feminine carvings and looked quite beautiful.
"Is this... a mask?" Tang Yi glanced at Wang Bi’Er in surprise, then immediately understood her intentions. "Bi’Er, you think of everything," he praised.
"Although no one can look up your information from a temporary ID, any disciple you fight will remember what you look like. Your identity would be exposed. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it would be safer if you wore this mask for your matches, Brother Tang Yi," Wang Bi’Er said with a smile.
"Thank you, Bi’Er."
Tang Yi thanked her and placed the mask over his face. A faint, sweet fragrance, like that of a young woman, wafted from it, an aroma he found quite pleasant.
Considering the very feminine decorations and patterns on the mask, it was self-evident who its original owner was.
After Tang Yi put on the mask, even with his handsome features concealed, his tall, upright posture and the subtle, indifferent aura he exuded gave him an extraordinary air. One glance was enough to see he was mysterious and set apart from the crowd.
With everything ready, Tang Yi stepped into the Qi Shield. The door to the room immediately swung shut, and the light outside turned red.
This was one of the West Mansion’s features. As soon as someone entered the Qi Shield, the spar was considered to have started. The door would automatically seal, the light would turn red, and no one else would be allowed in to disturb the participating disciple.
Once inside the Qi Shield, Tang Yi followed Wang Bi’Er’s instructions and placed his hands on the discolored section. Instantly, the area lit up like a Light Curtain. WHOOSH! Information appeared...
Name: Temporary ID 59416
Level: Unknown
Victories: 0
Defeats: 0
Rating: Unknown
Unranked.
Begin placement match?
After reading the information, Tang Yi had the strange feeling that he wasn’t looking at the system for the West Mansion’s Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall, but at the interface of his own Battle God System!
’The West Mansion is surprisingly advanced! It can record information for West Mansion Disciples, and even temporary IDs, entirely as data!’
’I wonder what kind of incredible power is required to support a system like this.’
’Could it be that the West Mansion also has a Battle God System?’
’Of course, that’s impossible.’ But the thought still filled him with a sense of wonder.
Tang Yi hesitated for a moment before tapping ’Yes’ below ’Begin placement match?’ His vision immediately flashed white. He could no longer see Wang Bi’Er or Mu Xianling outside; he couldn’t even see the Qi Shield itself.
He felt as if he had been teleported into a vast, white space. Here, the sky, the floor, and everything around him were a uniform, snowy white. He couldn’t make out any direction, gauge the size of the place, or even tell where he was. He was completely disoriented.
But after a moment, the light flared again, and Tang Yi was teleported out of the white space.
This time, he found himself on a wide fighting stage. Standing on it was another person—a West Mansion Disciple.
Bai Jincheng was a disciple of the West Mansion’s Lii Palace whose Power had already reached the Eight-star Battle Spirit Level. The Lii Palace specialized in the Sword Dao, and Bai Jincheng’s own Swordsmanship was sublime, making his Combat Power formidable.
On the Outer Mansion Eight Palaces’ leaderboard, Bai Jincheng was ranked 1,166th, placing him in the upper-middle tier of disciples.
The top 1,500 disciples on the leaderboard were almost all at the Eight-star to Nine-star Battle Spirit Level. And while their Levels were similar, their actual Power could be worlds apart. Some couldn’t even defeat those at a lower Level, while others were capable of challenging those far above them.
Take Bai Jincheng, for instance. With the Power of a mere Eight-star Battle Spirit, he had broken into the top 1,500—a realm typically reserved for Nine-star Battle Spirits. This meant that many disciples at the Nine-star Battle Spirit Level were ranked below him. His strength was truly astonishing.
Today, having just achieved a breakthrough in his Swordsmanship, Bai Jincheng had come to the Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall to see if he could climb a few spots in the rankings.
After four consecutive spars, he had secured four straight Victories. His rating reached 11,636 points, and his rank climbed to 1,155th—a jump of 11 places!
This made Bai Jincheng ecstatic.
However, during his fifth match, he encountered a strange disciple.
’No, he can’t be called a disciple,’ he corrected himself.
The person before him wasn’t wearing the uniform of a West Mansion Disciple, but the attire of a candidate!
’Did I... just get matched with a candidate?’
The candidate wore an ornate white mask with distinctly feminine carvings. The mask was beautiful, but the candidate’s build was tall and straight; he was clearly not a woman. The stark contrast with the mask struck Bai Jincheng as rather bizarre.

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