Chapter 240

In fact, some things cannot be seen in their entirety just by staring at them with one's eyes, because matters involving cultivation are inherently mysterious.

For instance, the Chen Clan's blade-wielding techniques—what kind of Dao principles were fused within them—no one besides the Chen Clan could understand, let alone Ji You's swordplay.

After the duel at the Cangwu Arena concluded, everyone remained, except for the head of the Lou family.

Because they all harbored doubts, and the doubt was why Ji You was able to execute the Ten-Stage Slash.

One must know that such a secret technique, much like the sword Dao of Spirit Sword Mountain, had always been kept from outsiders.

"It is not the Ten-Stage Slash."

"It is not...?"

"It is not."

Among the spectators, there were quite a few with profound cultivation realms who could capture a trace of the technique's aura.

Because the technique itself originated from the laws of the Heavenly Dao, it required the Heavenly Dao to harmonize with it in order to be unleashed.

And in their observation, when that private cultivator from the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan swung his sword just now, there was no such unique technique aura around his body.

Yet Ji You's sword strikes were indeed becoming stronger with each one; this was something everyone saw very clearly.

If it was not the Ten-Stage Slash, then the only explanation was obvious.

Ji You, who initiated the attack, had never used his full strength, but instead imitated the Ten-Stage Slash, continuously increasing his force.

Theoretically, the Ten-Stage Slash could indeed borrow the power of Heaven to split the sky with a blade, but the power that the blade-wielder could hold had a limit.

In other words, the power Chen Chen Ruiyang borrowed for his final strike was something even he himself could hardly control; not only that, it directly backfired on him.

It was like a bucket that could not overflow with water; if one kept pouring water into it, it was only a matter of time before it burst.

Therefore, there was no fast sword breaking the situation; there were only continuously applied sword slashes.

After figuring this out, the crowd, like the head of the Lou family, suddenly understood why Lou Lou Wanpeng had chosen to withdraw from the competition in the final round of the group stage when he was about to cross the finish line, and thus they fell into silence once again.

Ji You sheathed his sword and left the high platform.

He had no technique inheritance, but he had always been very interested in techniques.

To him, techniques were like the chemistry and physics of his past life, hiding the principles that revealed the essence of this world, and he always hoped to see them clearly.

Sometimes, because it was too fast to see clearly, he would want to watch it again, and again...

After leaving the arena, Ji You met up with Wen Wen Siyuan below the stage, and after waiting for a long while without seeing Cao Cao Jingsong's group return, he thought they must have been too scared by the proud and arrogant girl to be the first to leave, so he decided to depart first.

At this time, Cao Cao Jingsong sat upright before the Little Inspector of Spirit Sword Mountain, moved but afraid to move, his chest feeling as if it were about to burst.

As for Pei Pei Ruyi and Wen Zhengxin, they quietly watched Yan Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi's profile, the confusion in their eyes growing heavier.

Their position was behind and to the right of Yan Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi; although they were not looking directly at her, they could still see her expression.

Since they went upstairs, although the Little Inspector of Spirit Sword Mountain had appeared approachable, her attitude remained as cold as an iceberg, just as they had seen that day at the Rusheng Garden.

But while watching the duel just now, they discovered that the Little Inspector's expression had suddenly become lively, her eyes sparkling as if she had suddenly become a different person.

Especially when their junior brother defeated Chen Chen Ruiyang with his final sword strike, from their angle, the Little Inspector's expression was almost identical to Cao Cao Jingsong's—both were so proud of the achievement.

The Little Inspector of Spirit Sword Mountain seemed to appreciate their junior brother very much.

That's right, when the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan went to Spirit Sword Mountain to inquire about the Dao, many elders of Spirit Sword Mountain wanted to take their junior brother as a personal disciple, even saying he was a natural sword seed...

It was just that this appreciation seemed a bit too intense.

At the same time, the people at the Cangwu Arena began to leave in silence one after another, and even when they reached the vicinity of the Huxindao, they still hadn't recovered from the duel just now.

But in their minds, the memory of that final sword strike remained indelible.

At this time, in Rusheng Garden, He He Lingxiu, Wang Wang Gaocen, and Xiao Lu Hanyan were sitting together.

Xiao Lu Hanyan had won yesterday, but because of the matter of secretly using a magic tool, the victory was not clean, so she did not go out today, and her mood was somewhat low, leading the two to comfort her repeatedly.

The Holy Land of Sages was a place any cultivator wanted to enter; even someone who broke through their realm during a match had appeared, so what was wrong with using a magic tool? They even said those people were just like foxes who couldn't reach the grapes and called them sour.

In fact, Xiao Lu Hanyan had thought so all along.

By the third round, both sides of the duel were basically evenly matched; there would simply be no situation where one crushed the opponent with absolute strength, and victory or defeat often lay in the details.

As for her reputation and such, she would win it back in the next match.

Meanwhile, people were passing through Rusheng Garden one after another, whispering.

The three of them didn't pay much attention to these discussions at first, but as more and more people passed by, they couldn't help but start to care.

Because Ji You's name appeared in many of those discussions, echoing in sentence after sentence.

The more profound one's cultivation realm, the less one cared about worldly affairs or the mortal world, so although Ji You had risen to fame due to some worldly matters, he had not attracted much special attention from big figures.

In other words, although Ji You had stirred up quite a bit of trouble in the past two years, he was actually still somewhat transparent at a world-renowned grand event like the Heavenly Dao Assembly.

This could be seen from the night of the Gathering of Immortals Banquet; many people didn't know him well, and even if they did, they couldn't match his face to his name, to the point where he could only wander aimlessly at the banquet.

The only time he gained some fame was because of Lou Lou Wanpeng's withdrawal.

Withdrawing during a match was almost unheard of in the history of the Heavenly Dao Assembly, naturally leading to much discussion, and since the next match for that Lou family disciple was against Ji Shidi Ji, it also brought him into the spotlight.

But the discussions at this moment made the three of them suddenly realize that Ji You seemed to have started to become famous in the Garden of Sages.

Not long after, a group of Spirit Sword Mountain disciples also returned to Rusheng Garden; when they reached the blue stone inscribed with "The Sun Rises in the East" at the fork in the road, they couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Ji You's residence.

The three of them exchanged glances, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Just at this moment, Qin Rong, dressed in the immortal robes of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, returned together with a disciple of the Management Court, also in Heavenly Tian Shuyuan robes; they walked like the wind, heads held high, which made the three of them frown slightly.

Yesterday, the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan was caught in the eye of the storm, to the point where everyone tacitly took off their immortal robes.

Even He He Lingxiu and Wang Wang Gaocen, who were comforting Xiao Lu Hanyan, were wearing ordinary clothes, having placed their immortal robes into their storage gourds.

The Management Court had also changed into ordinary clothes when they left the academy to watch the duel today, but upon returning at this moment, they were once again draped in glory...

Chai Ze had returned together with the people from the Management Court.

He had won his third-round match yesterday, and because he had nothing to do, he had also gone out to watch a few duels today.

At this time, he came to the tea table of the three, turned over an upside-down cup, and looked up at them: "Have you seen the Chen Clan's Ten-Stage Slash?"

He He Lingxiu frowned slightly: "I saw it at the previous Wandering Immortal Assembly."

"What do you think of it?"

"It is only natural that it can be called the strongest offensive technique alongside the sword Dao of Spirit Sword Mountain; such a blade-wielding technique can only be avoided and countered with clever strikes—if one were to clash head-on, I fear no one could rival it."

"Ji You clashed head-on with Chen Chen Ruiyang, who was using the Ten-Stage Slash today, and used eight sword strikes to slash him into ruin."

"?"

"Many people were previously confused as to why Lou Lou Wanpeng withdrew from the match, not even willing to try; now, everyone already knows the answer."

He He Lingxiu was stunned for a long time, her red lips slightly parted, feeling somewhat dazed.

Just a moment ago, when they were drinking tea, Ji You had already returned; they had asked Ji You how the battle went, and heard the words "I won" from his mouth.

He He Lingxiu had also heard of Chen Chen Ruiyang and knew that this Chen Clan disciple had extremely strong combat power, so she felt Ji You must have exhausted himself quite a bit and even urged him to get some good rest.

But what none of them expected was that Ji You had won in such a way.

Also somewhat absent-minded were the officials of the Pro-Immortal Faction of the Great Xia Dynasty, who were also silent after returning.

In fact, before the Heavenly Dao Assembly, they always had a thought: although Ji You was strong, since he came from the countryside, he was still not enough to be considered among all the cultivators of the Nine Provinces.

For example, being a personal disciple of an elder, a personal disciple of a hall master, or the son of so-and-so—it sounded noble.

This was a matter of hierarchy; in the solidified thinking of the Azure Cloud World, two people with vastly different statuses would simply not be placed together to compete.

Yet they never expected that even at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, where immortal sects gathered, noble families assembled, and geniuses were everywhere, Ji You could still make a name for himself far and wide.

Prince Chong's expression was very complex, while Zhao Zhao Yunyue, who sat beside him, was even more silent.

Liu Liu Junchi had lost today and was carried away heavily injured, failing to enter the third round; although the two were not in the same realm, by comparison, it still left a huge sense of disparity in one's heart.

Ji You, who had returned to his residence, had not yet had time to rest when he was greeted by visitors.

The visitor was the famous masked storyteller of Spirit Sword Mountain, Brother Gongshu Chou.

Ji You was currently sitting at the tea table, looking at the excited Brother Gongshu Chou before him, his expression somewhat speechless.

Brother Gongshu Chou was also a participant in the Heavenly Dao Assembly and had been defeated today at the hands of a disciple from the Mountain and Sea Pavilion, but he didn't seem annoyed at all; instead, he asked him to talk about how he slashed and defeated Chen Chen Ruiyang today, holding pen and paper in his hand, his creative desire bursting.

According to him, he had already stayed up late the past few days to complete the creation of "Forcing the Elder Hall to Bow Its Head, My Fate Is Up to Me, Not Heaven," but he simply couldn't stop.

Ji You thought to himself, you deserve to lose; what kind of decent person stays up late writing books!

But Brother Gongshu Chou had now completely fallen into his own theory: why be strong yourself and get tired? It's enough that the opponents who fought me to the death are strong!

Ji You urged him to show some backbone and not lose face for Spirit Sword Mountain, acting as if Spirit Sword Mountain were his own home, which left Brother Gongshu Chou feeling inexplicably confused.

Subsequently, Wen Wen Siyuan's arrival interrupted their staring contest.

The Immortal Inspection Bureau had just sent over a notice, which was the list for the third round of the Heavenly Dao Assembly; after he received the notice and studied it for a long while, he sent it over.

"The third round is the key to the Heavenly Dao Assembly; the competition format is three enter one, which is to say, ten people will emerge victorious from these thirty, and as for why it is called the key, I presume Ji Shidi Ji understands."

Ji You looked at Wen Wen Siyuan upon hearing this: "Ten cultivators of each realm can enter the Holy Land of Sages, and this third round is to select these ten?"

Wen Wen Siyuan nodded: "Correct, which is to say, if you can win the third round, you can be considered to have obtained the qualification to enter the Holy Land of Sages. Ji Shidi, you are already just one step away; winning the next match means you didn't come here in vain."

"But there are still thirty people left in the Profound Understanding Realm; since the third round is to select ten, should the competition format change?"

Wen Wen Siyuan raised his eyes: "Three enter one, arena competition."

After the second round of duels ended, thirty people remained in the Profound Understanding Realm; to select ten from them, the arena competition was the best format.

Therefore, the third round would have ten arenas, with ten people defending the arenas respectively.

The remaining twenty people would be responsible for attacking the arenas; if an attack was successful, they could successfully replace the arena defender. This competition format was the same as the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's preliminary selection.

According to the past conventions of the Heavenly Dao Assembly, the defenders of the ten arenas would be selected by the supervisors, because they had watched the duels for so long and naturally had an understanding of the strength of the participating contestants.

And at this moment, there were ten names circled in red on the list they had obtained.

Ba Yang, Li Li Yunlang, Wei Bo, Yan Hao, Murong Yu, Zhuang Zixin... Ji You was not among them.

No one knew what the supervisors' criteria for choosing the arena defenders were; among them were strong and weak, immortal sect disciples and noble family disciples, and it seemed there was no pattern.

Ji You raised his eyes to look at Wen Wen Siyuan: "Choose at will?"

Wen Wen Siyuan nodded: "Correct, any arena can be chosen at will."

"Then if one chooses a weakling, wouldn't the win rate be very high?"

"Of course, but there is no guarantee that someone won't secretly hide their strength. That was the case in previous Heavenly Dao Assemblies; most people would keep a trump card until the third round. However, it is true that some have chosen weaklings; one can only say their luck is good, but luck is sometimes also a part of strength."

After Wen Wen Siyuan finished speaking, he pointed to two people on the list.

The first person was Wei Bo, whom he had watched duel before, and another was named Zheng Lei, from the thousand-year noble family, the Zheng family.

Although this Wei Bo was not weak in strength, he was not good at attacking, which was the easiest for Ji You to deal with; additionally, this Zheng Lei had the lowest comprehensive strength among the ten arena defenders.

The choice in the arena competition was like this; the core idea was to pick the best of the worst.

Wen Wen Siyuan pointed to these two names and said: "I suggest Ji Shidi, you choose these two. Of course, Zheng Lei is the best, and the certainty of success is the greatest. I know Ji Shidi Ji might have a clear sword heart and perhaps look down on this kind of calculation, but then again, being able to be more relaxed is always good, after all, there is still the final."

Ji You looked at the list without nodding or shaking his head, but looked up at him: "What should I do if I want to attack an arena? Fill out a form?"

During the Heavenly Dao Assembly's preliminary selection, attackers needed to go to the Management Court to fill out a form to register, which was why he asked this.

Wen Wen Siyuan nodded: "Ji Shidi only needs to write that person's name down, and I will send it to the Taiping Garden; after verification, it will be announced, and the battle can begin. However, I suggest Ji Shidi, you be quick, because just as you said, there should be many people choosing the relatively weaker ones."

Ji You stood up from the tea table at this time: "Forget it, I'll go myself. You've been following the matches and collecting information on opponents for me these past few days, which is quite tiring, so you should rest first. Besides, I have a friend at the Immortal Inspection Bureau who can help me go through the back door."

"There's such a thing? That would be excellent..."

"I'm leaving."

Brother Gongshu Chou raised his head at this time: "Hey, don't forget about the book."

Ji You turned his head to look at him: "We'll talk when I get back."

Stepping out of the residence, Ji You walked toward the outside of Rusheng Garden and happened to meet Qin Zhang, who was looking for him.

Every major immortal sect and noble family attached great importance to disciples who could reach the third round, so it was not strange for them to make a special trip.

Qin Zhang had just watched his duel with Chen Chen Ruiyang, his eyes still carrying a complex expression, and the purpose of his visit was similar to Wen Wen Siyuan's—he also felt that Wei Bo and Zheng Lei were the most suitable, and he wanted him to go and sign the papers early.

Ji You nodded, then left the garden and followed the road to the Taiping Garden.

The Immortal Inspection Bureau was located in the East Courtyard of Taiping Garden, with a special hall responsible for handling Heavenly Dao Assembly affairs; Lou Lou Wanpeng had come here when he withdrew from the competition.

Ji You stepped into the hall, explained his purpose, and was handed two documents.

One was to be given to the arena defender, and one was a receipt for him to keep, which required him to choose his target for the arena attack.

In principle, each arena only had two opportunities to be attacked, and before Ji You arrived here, someone had already arrived one step ahead, so the official receiving him added a sentence, telling him that Zheng Lei could no longer be chosen.

What a pitiful guy...

Ji You muttered, then listened to the Immortal Inspection Bureau official analyze it for him for a long time.

He said he could watch the first round first; perhaps the person who defeated Zheng Lei wasn't strong either, and after the first round, someone relatively weaker could still take the stage, and even said he could secretly leave a spot for him.

Although the Immortal Inspection Bureau had the word "Immortal" in its name, most of the officials working there were from poor backgrounds and had a natural aversion to cultivators, yet they had an indescribable closeness to Ji You.

This was the different perception between immortals and mortals.

However, after Ji You thanked him, he still followed his own thoughts and filled in the arena defender he had chosen.

Seeing the name Ji You wrote, the Immortal Inspection Bureau official's eyes froze, then he looked up and bowed solemnly.

"Has Xiang Kuangcheng returned?"

"Not yet, but he should have gone to watch the young master's duel; did the young master not see him?"

"I saw him, but we didn't return together. Forget it, I don't have anything important to find him for anyway; we'll talk next time."

Ji You left one of the battle notices, then turned and left the Taiping Garden, returning to Rusheng Garden.

As a result, just as he entered the house, he found his residence was full.

Among them were Wen Wen Siyuan, who had been waiting for his return, Brother Gongshu Chou, who was waiting for him to return to talk about the book, as well as the four members of Cao Cao Jingsong's group, plus Xiang Kuangcheng and Wei Rui.

Except for Wen Wen Siyuan, Brother Gongshu Chou, Xiang Kuangcheng, and Wei Rui, the expressions of the other four were very excited, with a look of "You definitely don't know, I met the Little Inspector of Spirit Sword Mountain today and even watched the duel with her."

Especially Ban Ban Yangshu, who looked at Ji You at this time with some regret, feeling it was a pity that his junior brother hadn't seen it.

Xiang Kuangcheng sat nearby, watching their expressions, thinking to himself that they weren't like this when they were upstairs just now; when they were in front of Zhengxin Xianzi Yan, they clearly didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Especially Instructor Cao, who was like someone wearing a cangue and undergoing punishment, not moving at all.

And what Wei Rui was thinking in her heart was, just this?

It was just watching a duel of Young Master Ji together; later, when the little fairy sister is born, you all won't be able to help but be stunned.

Wen Wen Siyuan naturally didn't know why they were so excited, and Cao Cao Jingsong naturally couldn't tell him; after all, Wen Wen Siyuan was considered an outsider, and if he told others about today's events, he would very likely be treated as a traitor.

At this time, the biggest traitor sat at the table and was met with Wen Wen Siyuan's inquiring gaze: "Ji Shidi, have you submitted the arena attack list?"

"Yes, submitted."

"It's actually not too late..."

In Wen Wen Siyuan's view, the cultivators gathered here were not stupid and would definitely be able to see that Zheng Lei was the easiest to challenge among these ten arenas, and he should be the most popular choice.

He thought that by the time Ji You arrived, the spot would already be gone; he didn't expect that he would really get what he wanted.

Wen Wen Siyuan reached out and took the receipt in Ji You's hand, thinking to himself that Ji Shidi Ji's luck was almost catching up to his talent.

However, as the receipt in his hand was opened, Wen Wen Siyuan's eyes froze instantly, and he immediately raised his hand to rub his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong.

But cultivators generally wouldn't have eye diseases or hallucinations; even if he rubbed his eyelids raw, he couldn't change the handwriting on it.

Cao Cao Jingsong and the others also noticed his abnormality at this time and couldn't help but take the receipt from his hand, open it, and look at it twice; upon catching a glimpse of the two characters "Yan Hao," they couldn't help but exchange glances, then raised their eyebrows to look at Ji You.

It's a bit inappropriate; Spirit Sword Mountain is actually quite good.

Cao Cao Jingsong looked at the two characters on the receipt with a solemn expression, thinking to himself that he had originally been thinking about the problem of re-employment after leaving the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan—isn't this finished?

Wen Wen Siyuan raised his head to look at Ji You with a puzzled expression: "Ji Shidi, what is the intention behind this choice?"

"To give Spirit Sword Mountain some color to look at."

"I didn't expect Ji Shidi to be the one who values the sect prestige of my Heavenly Tian Shuyuan the most. It's just that this Yan Hao seems to hold back in every battle; it's not very safe..."

Cao Cao Jingsong's beard went crooked after hearing this, thinking to himself that he still cares about sect prestige? He doesn't know how many times he has wanted to go back and be a fierce bandit.

It was precisely because he knew his wicked disciple's bandit heart was clear that this kind of choice made people feel even more puzzled.

Brother Gongshu Chou also took the notice and glanced at it at this time, his expression becoming a bit more solemn: "This Yan Hao is not a simple character. There are some things I cannot tell you, but I advise you to go to Taiping Garden and withdraw this arena attack notice."

Wen Wen Siyuan frowned even more after hearing this and pondered for a long time before speaking: "The third round of thirty enter ten, the risk is still too great. If Ji Shidi Ji wants to give them some color to look at, he should wait until after passing this round to slash and defeat him..."

Ji You shook his head: "Many people actually don't care about the process; they only care about the result."

"?"

Because the third round of the arena competition involved choosing one's own opponent, the time limit was not as strict as the previous group stage; it basically followed the rule that if someone attacked an arena, the match would begin.

At this time, people from the Immortal Inspection Bureau came from Taiping Garden and began to post arena attack notices on the bulletin board on Huxindao.

The notice for Zheng Lei's match had already been posted and was being watched by the crowd, with sounds of tut-tutting sighs rising one after another.

The Heavenly Dao Assembly was like this; if one's strength was insufficient, one couldn't avoid being treated as a soft persimmon to be pinched, and this Zheng Lei was the obvious soft persimmon of the third round.

And next to Zheng Lei's arena attack notice, the one for Wei Bo's match was also posted.

Perhaps because he was not good at attacking, in many people's eyes, it was an opportunity; this was about the same as what Wen Wen Siyuan thought.

However, after the Immortal Inspection Bureau official finished posting Zheng Lei's notice, he still had one in his hand, which attracted everyone's attention before it was even posted.

Because in their view, the combat power of the others was extraordinary, and one should be more cautious, especially that Yan Hao of Spirit Sword Mountain, whose true strength no one had been able to calculate so far.

The next moment, when that arena attack notice was posted on the bulletin board, the eyes of everyone present couldn't help but freeze.

Because on this battle list, the arena defender was Yan Hao.

Seeing this scene, those present were somewhat stunned, then their eyes moved down, and they saw the challenger's name.

【Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, Ji You】

Among the Eight Great Immortal Gardens, quite a few people were still discussing the battle between Ji You and Chen Chen Ruiyang, and even some immortal sect elders who had not cared about him earlier had become much more concerned about his name.

A youth from the countryside, who had perfected his private cultivation before the age of twenty, entered the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, slashed open the gate of the Inner Court, and stepped into the Heavenly Dao Assembly step by step—this kind of thing was even more astonishing than the appearance of a competitor withdrawing from the Heavenly Dao Assembly.

Especially since he had clashed head-on with a Chen Clan disciple who had mastered the Ten-Stage Slash and slashed the opponent into ruin.

Just as they were discussing this, the news that Ji You was going to attack Yan Hao's arena began to spread like wildfire, causing an uproar.

"He chose Yan Hao?"

"Correct, the notice has already been posted."

"He actually chose the one everyone was least sure about; is he winning and getting carried away today, or what?"

"Those who can make it to this step are not weak; choosing Yan Hao is better than choosing those who broke through their realm during the match, right?"

"Heh, I don't think so..."

The news soon reached Rusheng Garden, causing the originally quiet courtyard to become noisy once again.

The three managers of the Management Court had just felt happy because Ji You won, but after hearing this news, their brows instantly furrowed tightly.

And the most intense reaction came from the Spirit Sword Mountain disciples in the West Courtyard, who were now looking toward the east and discussing it endlessly.

Ding Yao and Zhuo Zhuo Wanqiu also heard this news, their expressions somewhat astonished, and they stood on the second floor, staring intently for a long time.

They naturally knew that Ji You was choosing to attack Yan Hao's arena to help suppress the prestige of Heavenly Jianfeng.

Heavenly Jianfeng had a deep foundation, so although their own Inspector had mastered the Spirit Mirror, many disciples with excellent aptitude still chose Heavenly Jianfeng every year.

And the number of disciples concerned the distribution of spiritual medicine and tax offerings, and also concerned the stability of the foundation, so the Inspector had always hoped to weaken the power of Heavenly Jianfeng, but the timing Young Master chose was wrong.

Now was the critical period of thirty enter ten, and the risk was the highest.

If the son-in-law were wiser, he should have passed the third round first, secured a spot in the top ten, and then considered this matter.

This was not a question of who was stronger or weaker, but that this choice was the most appropriate one.

Just at this moment, Ding Yao suddenly looked into the courtyard: "Brother Gongshu Chou seems to have gone to the young master's place again and is walking back; I'll go call him up."

After Brother Gongshu Chou was called up, he immediately raised his hands high to prove his innocence: "Reporting to the Inspector, I did not leak any secrets..."

"Didn't leak secrets? Then what did you talk about?"

"We talked about the duel. I disgraced the sect's glory and lost the duel. Ji You was a bit angry, as if he was annoyed that I lost face for Spirit Sword Mountain, as if Spirit Sword Mountain were his own home."

Ding Yao was slightly stunned, then turned to look behind her, and saw her own Inspector's eyelashes trembling slightly.

Zhuo Zhuo Wanqiu took over the conversation at this time: "Do you know why this Ji You chose my Spirit Sword Mountain's Ji Shidi Yan Hao?"

"He did say a couple of words, but it didn't sound very understandable."

"What did he say?"

"He said many people actually don't care about the process; they only care about the result. Making him unable to even enter the top ten would have even greater significance."

Hearing this sentence, Yan Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi gently raised her eyes, her feet moving slightly.

The matters of the Heavenly Dao Assembly would definitely be spread back, spread to the Nine Provinces, and spread to the ears of the disciples in the mountains.

For those disciples in the mountains, they indeed didn't care about the process; they would only care about the result, so Yan Hao losing in the top ten battle was far less disgraceful than Yan Hao not even making it into the top ten.

This was the Heavenly Dao Assembly; this would completely shake the glory of Heavenly Jianfeng among the disciples.

Yan Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi sat upright in her chair, her eyelashes dyed a layer of gold by the candlelight.

In fact, she didn't necessarily need Ji You to slash and defeat him; in the end, it was just her own extreme selfishness, wanting him to win.

To her, even if Ji You didn't slash and defeat Yan Hao, it wouldn't matter and wouldn't affect the overall situation, but she hadn't thought he would be so serious about this matter.

Yan Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi looked up at Brother Gongshu Chou: "Did you tell him that Yan Hao is currently breaking through his cultivation realm and that his strength is no longer in the Profound Understanding Realm category?"

Brother Gongshu Chou immediately shook his head: "Reporting to the Inspector, I didn't mention a word about this matter..."

"Then he is dead for sure."

"The Inspector's words are absolutely correct..."

"You and Ji You have a very good relationship; do you know if he has any trump cards or other secret techniques? Tell Yan Hao so he can be more careful during the battle."

Brother Gongshu Chou shook his head: "I know nothing about this either."

Yan Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi looked at him indifferently: "Go find out and report back to me."

"Inspector, the sword heart of my Spirit Sword Mountain is straight and does not take shortcuts; besides, I cannot do the thing of betraying a friend."

Ding Yao looked at the Inspector, who seemed to be about to promote him to Deputy Abbot, and immediately took over the conversation: "Forget it, Senior Brother Brother Gongshu has also been tired for a day; go back and rest first."

Brother Gongshu Chou didn't yet know that a single sentence of his had paved a path to the heavens for himself; he bowed once and then turned to leave.

However, he was slightly confused in his heart, thinking to himself that the Inspector's voice just now... had she caught a cold?

(End of chapter)