Chapter 1133: Tagging Along with You

After the incidents with the Feng Clan and Cheng Clan, Ye Liuyun no longer looks down on these inexperienced sect and clan youths as much as before; he knows they are merely arrogant.

At that moment he thought of Cheng Wenjun. Even a Clan Chief of a great family cares little about wealth or reputation, so what could he possibly be unable to let go of!

"Someone saying a few words to me doesn't affect me at all!"

His current mindset, heavily influenced by Cheng Wenjun, is very open, and he takes many things lightly.

Thus at this moment he can still eat and drink at ease, unimpeded by anything.

The Fourth Prince, knowing Ye Liuyun's former temperament, hurriedly sent a Transmission Voice to Ye Liuyun to explain.

These individuals are the assistants he has painstakingly cultivated; even if they cannot help him this time, they will be useful later.

He also does not want these people to die at Ye Liuyun's hands.

"They are treated as treasures within their families, accustomed to arrogance. Give me some face, don't take it to heart!"

"Alright, rest assured, I won't hold a grudge against them!" Ye Liuyun replied cheerfully.

The Fourth Prince hadn't expected Ye Liuyun to become so forgiving.

Although somewhat skeptical, since Ye Liuyun had already said it, the Fourth Prince didn't feel it proper to say more.

Next, Xia Tian Yuan began chatting with the group about which people the Crown Prince and Seventh Prince had brought.

These proud cultivators all have their noses in the air, disregard others, and demean them as worthless.

Ye Liuyun ate while listening, carefully noting the opponents' characteristics.

The Fourth Prince then introduced the upcoming competition rules to everyone.

"In this preliminary contest, the three sides will take turns sending participants to challenge the opposing camp's members, eliminating them until only ten remain on the other side.

The same person may fight repeatedly. If challenged by the opponent, they must fight; otherwise they will be eliminated."

As soon as the Fourth Prince finished speaking, someone blurted out that they would encircle and capture all the opponent's strong ones.

In fact, this challenge rule is very strategic.

It requires each prince to have sufficient knowledge of their own personnel's strength, so they can each time assign slightly stronger individuals to eliminate the opponent.

Even if one's side has strong members, one cannot always send the same person. Otherwise, with too many battles, the other two sides will continuously challenge and wear out one's strong members prematurely.

Therefore, for the preliminary contest, Emperor Xia and several of his senior officials will personally observe the battles.

They will assess each prince's ability by observing how each prince allocates personnel.

Ye Liuyun simply recorded everything he needed to remember; as for those bragging proud cultivators, he was too lazy to bother.

After eating his fill and drinking, with idle time, he began using his Golden Pupil to gauge these people's strength.

A young man named Zhuge Feiyu caught Ye Liuyun's attention.

He sat not far from Ye Liuyun, apparently also a person the Fourth Prince valued.

Moreover, Zhuge Feiyu has an elegant bearing and speaks very objectively—neither belittling opponents nor exaggerating his own side's strength,

Ye Liuyun gave him a glance with his Golden Pupil, which Zhuge Feiyu noticed, and he responded with a friendly smile, showing no hint of disdain.

Ye Liuyun politely replied, without further scrutinizing him, lest it seem impolite.

Yet that single glance already revealed much of his strength.

Zhuge Feiyu's True Essence condensation level should be comparable to the Crown Prince and Fourth Prince, making him a strong figure within the Ninth Realm.

What slightly surprised Ye Liuyun was that Zhuge Feiyu's bloodline and Divine Soul Power even surpass those of the Crown Prince and Fourth Prince.

Divine Soul Power is easy to understand, but a powerful bloodline that can exceed princes indicates his lineage is not simple.

His weapon is a long flute he holds, somewhat resembling Su Miaoyin's weapon.

The flute matches his temperament, giving an elegant, transcendent feeling!

Besides Zhuge Feiyu, several others also caught Ye Liuyun's attention.

A bald, muscular man named Mang Shan, who has cultivated Dual-Element Pills, has an arrogant personality and a loud voice, resembling Yuan Datou.

Another skinny man with an eight‑character beard, a gloomy expression, whose eyes gaze at people like a poisonous snake.

He is fairly well‑known; everyone calls him "Xue Hai".

His True Essence is blood‑colored, and his Core Pill is larger than most people's. Moreover, he exudes blood Qi, clearly indicating his cultivation method has a special blood‑related ability.

There is also a slender woman in black, veiled, whom everyone calls "Hei Feng".

Her True Essence surprisingly possesses both ice and Demon Qi attributes, and she can even conceal the Demon Qi.

These individuals are the ones Ye Liuyun initially judges to be relatively strong. For the other few whose True Essence is solidified, Ye Liuyun cannot gauge them well and must see their performance in actual combat.

Based solely on True Essence, most are at the Ninth Layer Late Stage or at their peak, with no particularly large differences.

The others have much lower True Essence solidification.

He estimates that the Fourth Prince's selection will be comprehensive, and among the final ten, they may not all be the strongest.

It's like that young man who initially mocked him; his realm isn't particularly high, and Ye Liuyun can't discern any special ability.

Yet judging by his seat, the Fourth Prince clearly values him.

Beside him is a chubby fellow named Zhu Youfu, who, like Ye Liuyun, is constantly buried in food and pays little attention to his surroundings.

He looks at people with a smiling demeanor, appearing very easy‑going.

Ye Liuyun also sees nothing special about Zhu Youfu. His realm is only at the Ninth Layer Early Stage and is still unstable.

He probably raised it just to join the preliminaries.

After chatting with the group for a while, the Fourth Prince checked the time, then led everyone to rush toward the Imperial Family's exclusive dueling arena.

The proud cultivators each held their heads high and followed the Fourth Prince at the front.

Ye Liuyun lagged behind, swaying slowly.

At that moment, Zhu Youfu shuffled over, trying to get close to Ye Liuyun.

"Hehe, Prince Ye, I'm Zhu Youfu, a famous lucky star! Tagging along with me will only bring you benefits, no drawbacks!"

Ye Liuyun usually dislikes others trying to get close, but this chubby Zhu Youfu doesn't seem off‑putting.

Just call me Ye Liuyun. I appreciate your kindness, but I have no habit of mixing with others!

Ye Liuyun said calmly.