That night, Liu Xianyang and his friend reclined on rattan chairs. The fellow beside him, with hands tucked into his sleeves and resting on his belly, mused, “Our sword duels at most kill a few people; they’re hardly meaningful. It’d be far more interesting to turn those sword immortals of Zhengyang Mountain against each other, making them clash and inflict bloody wounds upon each other’s hearts.”

“Rest assured, the one whose heart suffers the most piercing blows will undoubtedly be that old beast.”

Yuan Zhenye had served Zhengyang Mountain as a guardian enshrined for a millennium, diligent and conscientious. His contributions and hardships were unmatched. He had moved mountains and shifted peaks, defending the mountain for a thousand years. He had repelled wave after wave of enemies, both overt and covert. Privately, he even took on the most unsavory and exhausting tasks. Yet, in the end, before the eyes of the entire sect, at a celebratory event that should have been his moment of glory, he was betrayed and abandoned by all.

At that moment, Liu Xianyang turned his head, curiously asking, “Do you truly hate Yuan Zhenye that much?”

Logically speaking, although Chen Pingan certainly held grudges, it shouldn’t extend to such meticulous scheming against a mere Jade Purity Realm guardian enshrined.

Chen Pingan remained silent for a moment, then nodded and shook his head before offering a brilliant smile, providing a response that was both unexpected and entirely in character for him. It was precisely the sort of thing Chen Pingan would say and do.

“That dog nearly beat you to death back then! I’ve held this grudge since the very first day I learned to fight. I’ll make sure that beast dies, body and soul!”

As one wave subsided, another rose.

The head of the Xu Clan in Qingfeng City, a respected Jade Purity Realm military strategist known for both offense and defense, was somehow injured by Liu Xianyang with seemingly just a glance. Full of heroic spirit, he had come to the meeting, but wounded, he departed in disappointment.

Consequently, a unanimous thought arose both within and outside Zhengyang Mountain.

“Who evaluated the top ten and the top ten candidates of Bao Ping Continent? Were they blind? Why wasn’t Liu Xianyang on the list?!”

And the culprit, the “blind one,” Zhu Yu Peak’s “Tian Wan,” was currently in a residence on Water Dragon Peak, standing on a long bench, gnawing on the remaining half-plate of wine-soaked crabs. Beside her stood a near-mad Dragon Gate Realm cultivator. As the prized disciple of the Law Enforcement Ancestor Yan Chu, he oversaw the mountain’s intelligence network. He racked his brains trying to understand what was happening with this Ancestor today. She kept calling him “Genius Brother,” praising him as “a genius unparalleled for a millennium,” and then spouting nonsensical drivel, saying, “Liu Brother, you can’t blame me for not listing you. It’s fine, when I see Senior Liu, I’ll slap myself seventeen or eighteen times as an apology.”

Liu Xianyang’s failure to be selected as one of the top ten young talents seemed to be due to his age, but it was actually the result of Tian Wan’s deliberate manipulation. The oldest among those selected were forty years old, and Liu Xianyang had just turned forty-one that year.

Senior Brother Zou Zi was in charge of the behind-the-scenes selection of the top ten young talents and candidates from several realms.

Junior Sister Tian Wan simply followed suit, deliberately waiting until Liu Xianyang turned forty-one before carefully crafting those two sinister lists for Zhengyang Mountain.

The cultivator in charge of Zhengyang Mountain’s intelligence trembled as he asked, “Ancestor Tian, are you here today to discuss something with me?”

In the past, he had always addressed Tian Wan by name, but today, Tian Wan seemed like a madwoman, and he was terrified.

Tian Wan glanced at him sideways, her voice the same, but her eyes and complexion were definitely not normal. “Genius Brother, you don’t even want to share a table to drink and eat crabs with me? Are you looking down on me? Do you believe I’ll run out the door with my clothes disheveled and scream that you lust after my beauty, got drunk, and assaulted me?”

The Dragon Gate Realm cultivator had no choice but to sit down tremulously, pouring a glass of wine for Tian Wan for the first time ever. He cautiously reminded her, “Ancestor Tian, the Sect Master has ordered us to go to First Line Peak.”

Tian Wan suddenly raised her orchid fingers, her eyes like silk, “What’s the rush? It’s not too late to leave after a drink.”

It disgusted him.

At the entrance of First Line Peak, the green-robed sword immortal who had said he was willing to wait for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, looked around and smiled, “Within the rules, everyone is free to do as they please.”

Mi Yu glanced at Jade Branch Peak beneath his feet. The women remaining in the mountain were all looking up at him, their eyes as moist and clear as autumn waters.

It infuriated Mi Yu. Were they all really treating him like a non-picky old bachelor? Didn’t they know that back home, the reason his reputation was so terrible was because…