Chapter 238: What’s the Question?

　　Everyone had different motives. As they observed the environment, they were now planning their next steps and observing what the others were doing.

　　Especially Ling Wuxia; all eyes were on her, waiting to see what she was going to do.

　　Ling Wuxia carefully examined the environment before turning to her two juniors. After some whispers, the three of them made their way off.

　　Some disciples from sects that had good relations with Ancient Jade Summit scrambled in front of her immediately. “Senior Sister Ling, where are you heading?”

　　Ling Wuxia didn’t bother to conceal her plan. “To the peak!” She then flashed him a smile and went off with her two juniors.

　　Many followed after Ling Wuxia’s footsteps.

　　After Ling Wuxia left with a bunch of people following behind her, only half were left at the shore.

　　This half was mostly made of middle-tier powers, and it was capable as well. Among the three aristocratic families, only the Huo Family went with Ling Wuxia. The Ye Family and the Zhang Family remained on the shore, along with the few sects in Beiming that were worth mentioning.

　　Even if Ling Wuxia took the right path and they followed, they wouldn’t get any benefits. After all, the Grandmaster was only going to choose one. They were all clear in their hearts how outstanding Ling Wuxia was. All of them grew up in Beiming and witnessed it personally, so they knew they were inferior to her in every respect. However, the Grandmaster wasn’t looking for the strongest, so who knew if they might be lucky enough to be the one that the Grandmaster chose?

　　For example, Zhao Yin’s ability was only average. It was said that the Grandmaster liked how good he was at planning things.

　　In that case, one could not follow Ling Wuxia’s footsteps, or the only person who would gain anything would be Ling Wuxia.

　　But what should I do now? Most had this question in their head.

　　Ye Zhenyan gave everyone death glares. He took a look to see if Lu Mingshu was doing anything out of the ordinary before he made his way off. Ye Mingguang hesitated for a while before running after him.

　　Others talked it over with their fellows and made a decision one after another.

　　In the blink of an eye, there weren’t many left on the shore now.

　　Lu Mingshu noticed a girl in black standing alone. She looked like she had very strong basics, but Lu Mingshu was unaware of which power she was from.

　　Lu Mingshu ignored her and focused on the surroundings.

　　Jasper Sun Mountain was at least ten thousand meters tall, and yet they couldn’t see a single bit of green. There was only loess and broken rocks everywhere. It was totally unlike what she had seen on the map. If it was really like what Ling Wuxia said, then the Grandmaster designed it this way on purpose. Lu Mingshu didn’t buy that explanation.

　　During the past three months, except improving herself, she also memorized the information that Yu Ruohan had given her and went through every small detail one by one. As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and the chance of winning would be higher.

　　There had already been seven rounds of testing up to this point, and it was easy to determine patterns when something repeated itself twice, let alone seven times.

　　Lu Mingshu came up with her own theory. This test isn’t as clear-cut as they said. Every time the barrier disappears, the environment of this mountain changes. This is the question set by the Grandmaster. Only when the problem is identified can one win.

　　Not everyone realized this. At least, the Bon Voyage Fleet and the smaller powers mostly didn’t. Even the Huo Family didn’t know much.

　　But Ling Wuxia would definitely know. From the previous records, Ancient Jade Summit disciples would be able to figure out the question. It’s just that their answers never satisfied the Grandmaster.

　　So, what is it about this time? A deserted place and a mountain filled with broken rocks. This isn’t a place where one can cultivate. With such an environment, what would the question be?

　　Lu Mingshu’s mind was filled with thoughts. Suddenly, she realized something. Ling Wuxia chose to make her way up the peak… is it because she guessed the question? It will be hard to defeat her, I guess.

　　However, Lu Mingshu was glad for her character, which was to never blame her surroundings. No matter how bad her situation was, she would think of an idea to get herself out of it. She never lost confidence even if she fell behind.

　　She pondered for a moment before releasing Little Daze from the portable stable.

　　Little Daze was extremely excited to be able to come out of the stable. It licked her hand profusely.

　　“Ah, okay!” Lu Mingshu caressed its wings, which had grown quite a lot. “Let’s go for a walk first.”

　　With that, she got on Little Daze and let it go wherever it wanted.

　　“If I’m not wrong, the question should be about cultivation in adversity.” She patted Little Daze. “But we can’t even find any mystic force in such a bad environment!”

　　Little Daze neighed as if it was unamused.

　　The made Lu Mingshu burst out into laughter. “Nobody here is as smart as you!”

　　Since it was a test, there would surely be an answer. There would definitely be mystic force present in this mountain, it was simply a matter of whether they could find it or not.

　　Ling Wuxia chose the easiest method, which was to get to the peak. No matter how bad a mountain was, the peak was the place with most spirituality. For example, it was always bathed in the essence of the sun and the moon.

　　Little Daze was a precious beast, so it was sensitive to mystic forces. Lu Mingshu didn’t even give it any direction before it started galloping toward the peak. This was how good precious beast senses were.

　　However, this wouldn’t be enough. If it was such an easy question, why would only Zhao Yin and one other figure it out after seven rounds? So she should…

　　“Who said that this is changing the environment? This is obviously a cover up, covering the real look of the mountain.” Lu Mingshu then tapped Little Daze excitedly. “Let’s go there!”

　　…

　　Ling Wuxia stopped half-way.

　　“Have you noticed where Lu Mingshu went?” she asked her juniors.

　　Her junior brother shook his head. “I didn’t take note.”

　　Her junior sister pointed to a direction. “She didn’t follow. She stood at the shore for a moment before she went off with her mount.”

　　Ling Wuxia bit her lips and pondered.

　　“Senior Sister Ling,” the junior sister started. “Aren’t you valuing her too highly? The Bon Voyage Fleet is such a small power, what would they know?”

　　“I agree.” The junior brother nodded. “I don’t believe there would be anyone as lucky as Zhao Yin, able to solve the question accidentally.”

　　“Do not say such things. She’s the first place in the New Ranking, and even Kou Wei lost to her.” Ling Wuxia shook her head.

　　“She’s just plain lucky!”

　　“But she gave the commands during their fight with the barbarians. That alone proves her ability.” Ling Wuxia looked at them sternly. “She may not know worldly affairs well and she may be weaker than Kou Wei, but she’s definitely scheming. She has fast reactions, strong observation skills, and she’s agile. Are you perhaps afraid that you’ll be too strong that you don’t even value such an opponent?”