Chapter 485: Preliminary Round

　　“Jiang family’s eldest young master? Grand Tutor Jiang Lizuo’s eldest son? Wasn’t he with the princess—”

　　“Shh! Do you not want to live anymore? How dare you say this?”

　　“W-why? When I came to Xi Ling two years ago, I thought—”

　　“You also said that it was two years ago! The present is different from the past, and many things have changed! That person… She went out of sorts when she was cultivating back then, but this incident isn’t glorious, so the entire Tianling Dynasty doesn’t talk about it. Besides, after that person passed on, the Third Princess was devastated. Luckily, the Jiang family’s eldest young master accompanied her and comforted her, which allowed her to make it through. Besides, there were many things that required the two of them to handle together, so it’s pretty natural that they got together after spending so much time together.”

　　“Ah? This… No matter what, it’s rather inappropriate for the two of them to be together, right… Where does this put the Prin…. Back then, she and the Jiang family’s eldest young master were about to get married…”

　　“Anyway, this isn’t something we can talk about in private, so don’t let your mouth run wild! That person will come later!”

　　The few of them quickly quietened down.

　　Chu Liuyue was rather familiar with one of the people’s appearances but unfamiliar with the rest.

　　She rapidly retracted her gaze, looked down, and masked the feelings in her eyes. It turns out these were the rumors that spread after I died…

　　After a while, her lips curved up into a cold smile. Shangguan Wan and Jiang Yucheng are really capable of flipping the truth and spreading rumors. Back then, they were clearly the ones who messed around together in private and betrayed me, yet I became the unspeakable one in front of the crowd’s eyes.

　　More than a year ago, Jiang Yucheng was still my fiancé, but he has now become Shangguan Wan’s. However, the crowd still approves of this and doesn’t say anything to ridicule them… The two of them must’ve really spent a lot much effort on this.

　　“Everyone, go to your position according to your order!” Elder Qiuxi stood tall in midair. His dantian was filled with energy as his voice echoed throughout the arena.

　　Chu Liuyue looked up.

　　It turned out that everyone was already standing in order.

　　Elder Duan Muchun waved his sleeves, and the large, black marble board rapidly flew above the square.

　　It quietly floated there, glowing lightly, and everyone in the square could see the lines of words on the board.

　　Elder Duan Muchun jumped, and the marble board stood still.

　　The large square was suddenly split into different squares, and all of them had a number on it according to the sequence.

　　The crowd walked toward their own grid.

　　Chu Liuyue walked to ’53’ and looked around.

　　Xuan Ji Square was very spacious. Even if it was split into 100 grids, every one of them looked pretty big. Each one was even bigger than the largest arena in Country Yao Chen.

　　The majority of the competitors were already in their places.

　　From the corner of her eye, Chu Liuyue could still see Zhao Yunzhi walking to her side.

　　However, Zhao Yunzhi’s face looked amiss, and her brows and eyes were drooping. Her gaze looked desolated as if she were severely traumatized.

　　She looked like two different people compared to her previous arrogant composure.

　　Noticing Chu Liuyue’s gaze, Zhao Yunzhi looked up.

　　Chu Liuyue clearly saw panic flash across her eyes. Panic? How interesting…

　　Chu Liuyue crossed her arms, lightly lifted her chin, and smiled. It seems like Zhao Yunzhi now knows something that she should’ve long known about.

　　“What are you smiling at?” At this point, Zhao Yunzhi was very sensitive, and she immediately exploded when she saw Chu Liuyue’s smile.

　　Chu Liuyue’s smile did not change. “I smile because I want to. If you want to command me, you can do it after you win against me.”

　　If Zhao Yunzhi heard these words before, she would think that Chu Liuyue was courting death. But after hearing those rumors, she felt very uneasy when she saw Chu Liuyue again. This Chu Liuyue… might actually have some tricks up her sleeves.

　　“Of course, I’ll win against you!” said Zhao Yunzhi forcefully.

　　Chu Liuyue was too lazy to bother with her as she smiled slightly and looked at Elder Qiuxi.

　　Zhao Yunzhi walked to the same grid and clenched her fists. Her throat was dry.

　　Elder Qiuxi surveyed the surroundings. When everyone quietened down, he stroked his beard in satisfaction and boomed, “This Wan Zheng Competition is filled with geniuses. Those who can join this competition are all cultivators from all over the world with the Dijing Yuan meridian. The ones who can stand on this stage are all unique talents from all over the world!”

　　When he finished his sentence, everyone in the square revealed prideful looks.

　　“But… Even if you have the top talent and want to become the strongest in the world, you have to experience countless tests and examinations. If you don’t have sufficient resources and strong willpower, everything will be for naught.”

　　The crowd looked solemn.

　　“Out of you, there are people from the Tianling Dynasty, but most of you came from outside Heaven’s Canopy. The talents from the Tianling Dynasty… Even though you have sufficient resources, you have lived in peace and harmony for a long time, so you might not have sufficient alertness. As for the ones from outside Heaven’s Canopy, you have the talent, but your cultivation is frequently delayed due to the lack of resources. Hence, the Third Princess and her husband decided to hold this Wan Zheng Competition!”

　　“I believe most of you already know that today is just the preliminaries! There are a total of 920 people in the competition, and we will be competing in pairs. Only the ones who win will enter the next round. As long as you can successfully enter the next round, you will receive tons of rewards. Those not in clans, you will also be given the chance to enter one of the clans in Xi Ling City.”

　　The crowd went crazy.

　　This meant that one could unconditionally enter Xi Ling’s clans as long as they won today’s match. This was an insurmountable temptation!