Chapter 197: The Top Ranking Challenge, Begins

"Do you like her?" He Luyun asked with a frown.

"I wouldn't say that; I just pity her," Jiang Xun shook his head.

"I knew it. How could you possibly fancy her? Even if you took her back as a concubine, the Tianyu Holy Emperor would never agree to it," He Luyun nodded.

"..." Jiang Xun felt helpless upon hearing this. It turned out He Luyun was a consummate politician; she only ever considered what was beneficial to the dynasty.

"That is a truly uncomfortable thing to hear," Si Yuyan said upon hearing this.

"I'm leaving," He Luyun then gathered her things, stood up, and departed.

"What on earth did she come here for?" Si Yuyan asked, looking at Jiang Xun's back, completely bewildered.

"I suppose she wanted to confirm if I had a powerful protector following me, which is why I dared to be so arrogant, and incidentally, to state the reason why she acted that way. Otherwise, how would I know she did it for my sake?" Jiang Xun shrugged.

"The reason?... I see. So she came to claim credit?"

Si Yuyan processed this for a moment.

"Exactly. Didn't she say it herself? She wants to use me to bridge the relationship between the He Yu Dynasty and the Tianyu Dynasty."

Jiang Xun nodded and closed the door as he did so.

"No wonder Tianwai Island exists, and why a powerful Demonic Sect like the Tianwu Sect would appear. It turns out this group of people doesn't do any real work all day; they only care about their own dynasties," Si Yuyan pouted.

"By comparison, don't you think Cang Xingling is much better than them?" Jiang Xun sat on the bed and smiled.

"Indeed," Si Yuyan nodded in agreement. "If I had a dynasty of my own, I would definitely care about the common people."

"Oh my, my, my," Jiang Xun teased in a comical tone. "Does my precious Yuyan have a dream of becoming an empress?"

"Pah! Who is your precious? How disgusting! Get lost, get lost, get lost!" Si Yuyan bristled and scolded upon hearing this.

Jiang Xun smiled and said nothing, sitting cross-legged on the bed to begin his cultivation.

————

For the next few days, Jiang Xun kept practicing the mental cultivation method and sword techniques of the second level of Heavenly Light Freedom, and as expected, there were no further accidents on Gufang Ninglin's side.

This continued until the day the Top Ranking Challenge began.

On this day, whether they were disciples who had gone out to search for the Lingerie-Sect or those who had never left, everyone gathered on the massive plaza outside Tian Wai Lou.

At the very least, the vast majority were there.

Everyone was dressed in finery, and some even had protectors following them.

On Tianwai Island, whenever a large-scale event occurred, various royals, nobles, and aristocratic families would gather together; on one hand to watch the competition, and on the other, naturally, for social networking.

At the same time, the Top Ranking Challenges for the three realms of Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, and Void Refinement were naturally the primary focus for those who won the top spots.

The number of people was at least around fifteen thousand, though most were protectors or personal guards, as there weren't that many dynasties after all.

"Good luck. You're just here to gain experience; if you really can't beat them, just shout 'surrender' and you can come out," Gufang Ninglin stood by Jiang Xun's side, worried.

"You have so little confidence in me?" Jiang Xun smiled upon hearing this.

"No, no, I have a lot of confidence in you, but I'm afraid they will target you together. Look at their eyes; although they are trying to hide it, they've been looking at you several times just now," Gufang Ninglin shook her head repeatedly and gestured upward to the side.

Jiang Xun looked in the direction she pointed. Over there stood a purple flag, and those standing around the flag were all Soul Path disciples.

Next to them were the Blade Dao Disciples with green flags, and some had even locked onto Jiang Xun's soul with their Qi.

This was clearly meant as a provocation.

Seeing this, Jiang Xun smiled: "Don't worry, I was actually worried it would be boring. Looking at it this way, it won't be boring at all. Believe it or not, I'm going to knock them all down?"

"Ah?" Gufang Ninglin was stunned upon hearing this, then looked at Jiang Xun with a skeptical expression: "I know you are very powerful, but the number is truly too high. Don't push yourself."

"Care to make a bet? If I don't knock them all down, I'll pay for your clothes and jewelry for the rest of your life."

Jiang Xun leaned over and said to Gufang Ninglin.

"Then... then what if you win?" Gufang Ninglin asked.

"If I win..." Jiang Xun leaned his head toward Gufang Ninglin's ear and whispered something.

The roots of Gufang Ninglin's ears turned red instantly.

"Bet or not?" Jiang Xun stood up and smiled.

"No bet. I'm afraid you'll push yourself too hard. If your soul suffers damage, it's irreversible. As long as you don't push yourself, I... I can give you this thing directly."

Gufang Ninglin said with a blushing face.

"If I promise not to push myself, will you bet?"

"Then... alright!" Gufang Ninglin nodded upon hearing this.

"Count me in," He Luyun appeared beside Jiang Xun at some point and spoke up.

This startled both Jiang Xun and Gufang Ninglin.

"Uh... how can I bet with Master?" Jiang Xun asked.

"Whatever you two are betting, I will bet the same."

He Luyun looked at Jiang Xun and said.

"Ah?" Gufang Ninglin's eyes widened: "No, no, that's not appropriate, Master!"

"Yeah, it's not appropriate," Jiang Xun also nodded repeatedly.

"It doesn't matter. I heard everything. And don't think that just because you defeated Yun Ruling you can walk sideways. Even a Void Refinement Realm expert might not be able to withstand their combined assault, and don't count on Shang Tian to help you."

"Then what if I lose? What must I give Master?" Jiang Xun asked.

"If you lose, after returning to the Tianyu Dynasty, persuade your Imperial Father to reach a cooperation with the He Yu Dynasty."

"Deal," Jiang Xun said without hesitation, then asked: "Master... can you afford to lose?"

"Of course," He Luyun nodded: "As long as you win, I will give it to you."

"Good!" Jiang Xun was instantly energized. He hadn't expected He Luyun to intervene and even dare to agree to such a bet with him; that was truly the best outcome!

After the agreement was made, He Luyun flew out.

At the same time, a Dao Master flew out from under every flag of a different color.

Nine enormous stone pillars slowly rose from the ground, enclosing all the disciples within them, and the nine Dao Masters each landed on one of the stone pillars, rising to a great height along with them.

Once the stone pillars were completely fixed in mid-air, one could see that each pillar bore a circular emblem corresponding to the color and faction of its respective Dao Master.

"The Top Ranking Challenge will begin immediately; except for the disciples participating in the challenge, everyone else must leave this area."

On the central stone pillar among the nine, a woman with a graceful figure, wearing carved white robes with her hair tied in a loose ponytail that made one's eyes light up, looked at the disciples and spoke.

Her voice was extremely pleasant, truly like that of a lark.

Judging by the musical note emblem on the pillar, she should be the Sound Dao Lord.

"Good luck!" After Gufang Ninglin gave Jiang Xun one last cheer, she left the area of the pillars along with the other disciples.

"Golden Core disciples to the upper left, Nascent Soul disciples to the upper right, Spirit Severing disciples to the lower left, Void Refinement disciples to the lower right, fall into formation." The Sound Dao Lord continued after seeing all the spectators withdraw.

The disciples moved one after another.

Among them, the Golden Core disciples were the most numerous, numbering about three hundred.

There were about one hundred and fifty Nascent Soul disciples, and the Spirit Severing disciples were also quite numerous, with about one hundred.

The Void Refinement disciples were very few, with only twenty people.