In this way, the first Sage in a thousand years and the fifth Sage in a thousand years had accidentally met on the night of the full moon, and conducted a duel where one move decided everything. Finally, the two Profound Sages had a friendly table tennis match, and that was when the curtains fell and things came to an end.

　　The reporters were satisfied—the duel between Profound Sage Tyrannical Song and Sage Monarch Winter Melon was not long, but it was full of great scoop. After they brought back their reports today, this hot news would probably blow up in the entire world of cultivation.

　　More importantly, there was still another main course for today—the fifth Sage in a thousand years, Sage Monarch Winter Melon, still planned to challenge an old Profound Sage, Sage Monarch Melon Eater.

　　Although they did not know the origins of this Sage Monarch Melon Eater, as long as he appeared, the reporters present would surely be able to determine the identity of the other party.

　　It was undeniably worth it to stay up late tonight to record the news!

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Over 10 minutes later…

　　Song Shuhang took Su Clan’s Sixteen, Shi, and Little Cai and slowly left the spiritual mountain.

　　Shi curiously asked, “Senior Brother Tyrannical Song, are we not going to stay and watch the duel between Sage Monarch Melon Eater and Sage Monarch Winter Melon?”

　　A battle between two Profound Sages was something that was rare to come by in 1,000 years.

　　“There’s no hurry,” Song Shuhang said. “In fact, I’m also curious about the identity of that old Profound Sage, Sage Monarch Melon Eater. Besides… I’ve been getting the feeling that Sage Monarch Winter Melon traversing thousands of miles to come here is a little bit too much of a coincidence.”

　　The world was so big, so why would that Sage Monarch Melon Eater lead Sage Monarch Winter Melon all the way here? In the end, he caused Sage Monarch Winter Melon and Song Shuhang to meet once again.

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen responded, “It’s indeed a bit too much of a coincidence.”

　　Song Shuhang said, “So, when we left, I had secretly left some of my light of virtue near the spiritual mountain. Later, if that Sage Monarch Melon Eater appears, we will be able to directly watch a live broadcast of the events that take place.”

　　Due to the ‘virtuous lamia’, Song Shuhang’s light of virtue had a variety of weird abilities.

　　For example, he could separate a small part of the light of virtue and have it become an eye. Afterward, he could watch events live through this eye.

　　This was a feature that he had only today found out about.

　　A while back, when he’d been facing the stone giant on the peak of the spiritual mountain, the body of the virtuous lamia had been broken apart. At that time, most of the light of virtue returned to his Inner World, but a small part of it had stayed behind and condensed into an eye. Song Shuhang found that he could peer into the outside world through that little eye, making it as if the eye were a camera.

　　It was just that the distance could not be too big. After crossing a certain distance, the light of virtue that’d been left behind would dissipate.

　　Song Shuhang said, “Let’s go and look for a place nearby to rest up first, and then wait for Sage Monarch Melon Eater to appear.”

　　After they had reached a certain distance from the spiritual mountain, Song Shuhang opened a gate to his Inner World and brought everyone in.

　　After a long and tiring day, he would have entered that fragment of the ancient Heavenly City that had two hot springs within it to enjoy a comfortable bath.

　　However, if he were to take Sixteen, Shi, and Little Cai to the hot spring together with him… yeah, it was better to discard this idea.

　　In the end, Song Shuhang chose to go to the [Living Spring] which was at the center of his Inner World. After that, he transferred the tablecloths, food, and the tea set over to him so that everyone could rest here as they wait for the arrival of Sage Monarch Melon Eater.

　　Looking through the virtuous lamia’s eye, they could see that Sage Monarch Winter Melon was adjusting his state and meditating with eyes closed.

　　As for the reporters, who stayed somewhere a few hundred meters away, they were busy writing at tremendous speeds…

　　As for the star of Sage Monarch Winter Melon’s duel tonight, Sage Monarch Melon Eater, he was still nowhere to be seen.

　　Song Shuhang took a sip of tea, calmed his mood, and then looked at Scarlet Heaven Sword, saying, “Say, Fellow Daoist Scarlet Heaven Sword, do you know Sage Monarch Melon Eater?”

　　Scarlet Heaven Sword replied, “Nope.”

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen said, “The same goes for me, I’ve never heard of Sage Monarch Melon Eater at all. Reasonably speaking, unless they’re a very old and ancient Profound Sage, there would be records of them in ancient cultivation families, just as how it is for most of the Profound Sages in the main world.”

　　Long-established cultivation families would record each Profound Sage and their [Profound Sage Speech], which was considered precious knowledge.

　　Song Shuhang speculated, “Do you think that perhaps because Sage Monarch Winter Melon has a non-standard accent, he had mispronounced Fellow Daoist Scarlet Heaven’s daoist name and said Melon Eater (chī guā) instead of Scarlet Heaven (chì xiāo)?”

　　“Scarlet Heaven is very busy,” Scarlet Heaven Sword replied—with Scarlet Heaven’s busy schedule, even being able to find the time to send out a single hand was already great. With that said, where would he find the time to have a duel with a an Eighth Stage profound Sage?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　About half an hour had already passed, and Sage Monarch Melon Eater was still nowhere to be seen.

　　Shi said, “Senior Brother Tyrannical Song, I want to sleep for a while first. Wake me up when Sage Monarch Melon Eater comes out.”

　　Song Shuhang smiled and nodded. He stretched out his hand and summoned a large bed from his magical bracelet. Inside his spatial magical treasure, there was a great number of junk that he had never spared the time to carefully sort out. Anyhow, it seemed that there was always a time when it could come in handy.

　　Out of boredom, Su Clan’s Sixteen brought out her phone, and then said, “There’s no signal here?”

　　Song Shuhang said, “Oh, wait a sec, let me give you access to the signal. Little Cai, how about you? Do you want me to connect your phone to the Internet?”

　　At this moment, Little Cai was jumping up and down, while her wings appeared to have a steel color to them. She replied, “Nope, Teacher. I want to practice well!”

　　Song Shuhang said, “Alright, keep it up. You can first grind your proficiency for this ❮Steel Hands Technique❯. I’ll go and talk to True Monarch Eternal Fire soon to see if I can teach you the ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯.”

　　Since Little Cai’s daoist name was ‘Virtuous Buddhist Sabersman’, how could she be missing the ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　In the Nine Provinces Number One Group.

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen went online and sent a video that was related to Skylark.

　　True Monarch Northern River: “Is that… Senior Skylark? She has already successfully transcended her tribulation? Little Sixteen, where did you meet her?”

　　Fairy Lychee said, “Eh? Senior Skylark’s state seems to be off.”

　　Frice Reckless Mad Saber: “How did her hair color become black? Isn’t Senior Skylark’s hair color blue?”

　　Medicine Master sent a voice message. “Is it possible that one’s hair color will change after transcending the demonic tribulation? Anyway, Thrice Reckless, I remember you saying before that you liked female cultivators with long black hair. Isn’t such a Senior Skylark more in line with your preferences?”

　　Frice Reckless Mad Saber: “…”

　　As they were talking, Skylark’s hair color in the video began to change to blue.

　　Then, her expression constantly changed, and she seemed to be talking to herself.

　　The video ended when Skylark opened a spatial gate—Su Clan’s Sixteen had only recorded until there. As for the later parts, when Song Shuhang had fought against Skylark through the virtuous lamia, she had been too late to record it because there was a pause in the middle.

　　Fairy Lychee’s eyes widened as she said, “From what I understand, Senior Skylark seems to have yet to transcend the demonic tribulation of the Eighth Stage. If so, how did she leave the Demonic Tribulation Realm?”

　　True Monarch Fallout: “Wait, does this mean that Senior Skylark was possessed?”

　　Frice Reckless Mad Saber asked, ” ＠Su Clan’s Sixteen, Little Sixteen, where is Senior Skylark right now?”

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen replied, “Senior Skylark returned to the Netherworld Realm; we weren’t able to stop her. That’s why I sent the video here first. I wanted to see if the seniors could figure out a way to help Senior Skylark.”

　　The seniors of the ‘Nine Provinces Number One Group’ could only frown, worried.

　　True Monarch Northern River asked, “Is there any fellow daoist who has been preparing to explore the Netherworld recently? Can you see if there’s any news of her while you’re on your journey?”

　　Fairy Lychee: “Who do you think is so bored to go to the Netherworld Realm?”

　　At this time, Frice Reckless Mad Saber suddenly said, “I’ll go. The things on my side have been handled. Let me prepare a bit; afterwards, I can head to the Netherworld and check it out. I have a strong feeling that when I come back from Netherworld Realm, I’ll have become a Sixth Stage True Monarch.”

　　Thrice Reckless had already finished filming his movie?

　　Northern River’s Loose Cultivator asked, ” ＠Tyrannical Song, little friend Shuhang, are you online? Do you have any more information about Fellow Daoist Skylark?”

　　Song Shuhang: “Senior Thrice Reckless, don’t be anxious. I’ll first ask around to get a clearer picture of the situation. The Netherworld Realm is so big that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if you were to head in now and look for Senior Skylark.”

　　If he could contact Senior White Two, there was a chance that he could get some information about Senior Skylark.

　　Frice Reckless Mad Saber: “Then, I’ll go prepare and leave tomorrow. Netherworld Realm, veni, vidi, vici!”

　　True Monarch Northern River: “…”

　　Fairy Lychee: “…”

　　Young Master Phoenix Slayer: “…”

　　Fairy Dongfang Six: “Just butting in… Seeing as the night of the full moon night is over, Shuhang, has the duel between you and Sage Monarch Winter Melon been resolved?”

　　True Monarch Northern River: “Right, that shady fortune teller had divined that Song Shuhang would have ‘good fortune’. He said that he would beat Sage Monarch Winter Melon black and blue, and would even become renowned all over the world of cultivation.”

　　Young Master Phoenix Slayer excitedly asked, “Shuhang, did you meet Sage Monarch Winter Melon again tonight?”

　　With a calm face, Song Shuhang sent a reply. “Yes, I met Sage Monarch Winter Melon again not too long ago.”

　　…Next, it was time for him to show off, because he was the man who’d ended Immortal Master Copper Trigram’s curse. As such, he wanted to change his nickname in the group to “Song ‘Super Awesome’ Shuhang”.

　　Fairy Dongfang Six worriedly asked, “You really met him again? Did you get hurt?”

　　“Were you violently beaten up?” Young Master Phoenix Slayer’s eyes lit up.

　　True Monarch Fallout: “Did Sage Monarch Winter Melon bring a lot of reporters from the world of cultivation? I heard that some reporters were invited to witness the battle between the ‘first Sage in a thousand years’ and the ‘fifth Sage in a thousand years’.”

　　Song Shuhang smiled—it was time, this was the moment!

　　“I won.” Song Shuhang typed these words and sent them to the group.

　　There was a sudden silence in the Nine Provinces Number One Group.

　　Generally speaking, when it came to group chats, the most terrifying thing was sudden silence…

　　…because a sudden silence usually meant that someone had brought up a topic that caused the group to fall into an awkward silence. Such a situation would require a very kind user to save the face of the original poster.

　　But this time, it was different.

　　Song Shuhang continued, “After I met Sage Monarch Winter Melon the second time, we agreed on deciding the battle with a single strike. After that, I held a big treasured sword and slashed apart all of his defenses with a single saber strike. In the end, Sage Monarch Winter Melon had no choice but to admit defeat. ”

　　The group fell into another awkward silence for a long while.

　　So, he held a [big treasured sword], yet used [one saber strike] to slash apart all defenses of Sage Monarch Winter Melon?

　　Fairy Lychee: “Little friend Shuhang, how can I say it… In the end, the other party was an authentic Eighth Stage Profound Sage, while you were only at the Fourth Stage Realm. Even if you lost, it doesn’t matter too much, and there’s no need to abandon yourself to despair. Adjust your mentality, and you’ll still come out on top!”