Facing the Yu clan head’s frantic urgency, Xuanyuan Lige offered no further explanation, his figure flickering as he sped off toward the arena at once!
Every last detail, he had believed, had been arranged without flaw. The Gu clan was destined to lose.
Even with Mu Fusang’s and Jiao Cha’s true identities exposed, he still believed he held the situation firmly under control!
The drawing of lots had been the critical piece — whichever way the Bai-versus-Hai and Mu Fusang-versus-Jiao Cha confrontations turned out, he’d had ways to help the Yu clan deal with either outcome. He’d studied their capabilities in exhaustive detail back when Mu Fusang and Jiao Cha had kidnapped Ziqing!
As for the Gu clan, with their pitifully weak strength, he’d never given them a second thought.
He knew perfectly well, of course, that Jun Beiyue wanted far more than just first place in the ranking tournament — he wanted the entirety of Liuxian Island. He’d even thoroughly mapped out Jun Beiyue’s hidden schemes involving the Bai clan, the Yu clan, and Qinse Valley.
He wanted Jun Beiyue to lose here on this platform. He wanted Jun Beiyue’s plans on Liuxian Island to fail utterly and completely.
Xuanyuan Lige landed atop a rooftop, where Gu Suying had already arrived, watching the situation unfolding on the platform with the same anxiety as the Yu clan head. “Young Master Xuanyuan, you’ve miscalculated again — Jun Beiyue never intended to cause a great disturbance on Liuxian Island at all. He simply wants to win first place in the tournament!”
“Impossible!” Xuanyuan Lige said coldly.
He’d known Liuxian Island intimately for over a decade now — every hidden move Jun Beiyue made on this island couldn’t possibly escape his notice. The Gu clan’s strength was hopelessly weak; Jun Beiyue was surely using the tournament merely as a pretext, hoping to stir up conflict, break the rules of the contest, and ignite outright war across the island!
“The facts speak for themselves right in front of you. You’ve overestimated everything he’s set up across the island, and underestimated what he’s set up within the Gu clan itself. Those young disciples’ Gu-clan internal energy is unquestionably beyond both mine and Jiang Chen’s! No one but Jun Beiyue himself could possibly match it!” Gu Suying said earnestly. As someone thoroughly versed in the Gu clan’s internal energy techniques, she’d recognized the true strength of those young disciples the instant they’d stepped onto the platform.
She was every bit as shocked and disbelieving as everyone else watching in the crowd — but the fact remained undeniable right before her eyes. She refused to believe Jun Beiyue could have trained them up in such a short span of time. There was only one possible explanation: Jun Beiyue must have planted these people within the Gu clan long, long ago, quietly cultivating them for years.
“Impossible! There has to be something suspicious going on here!” Xuanyuan Lige insisted stubbornly, his cold, clear eyes fixed on the young disciples still on the platform. He wasn’t well-versed in the Gu clan’s internal energy techniques and couldn’t spot any inconsistencies himself — but he knew for certain that Jun Beiyue had never had any interest in Liuxian Island to begin with. Even after recovering from his grave injuries while convalescing within the Gu clan, even when the Gu clan head had shown clear intent to pass on his position, Jun Beiyue had shown no interest whatsoever!
His true interest lay in Qinse Valley and the Bai clan’s mulberry sacred tree — and that interest had only arisen because of Han Ziqing!
There was no possible way Jun Beiyue could have been secretly planting people within the Gu clan years ago!
“I don’t care whether it’s possible or not, and I don’t care what the reason is — all I’m telling you is that I can’t find any flaw in these people’s internal energy. Their capability far exceeds even that of the three hall masters!” Gu Suying said coldly.
The Yu clan head, having caught up and overheard this, immediately turned hostile. “Gu Suying, what exactly do you mean by this! You were the one who swore up and down you’d guarantee this for me — I don’t care whose fault it is, but someone is going to answer for this!”
The Yu clan head was both anxious and furious. Back then, Xuanyuan Lige had known the tournament rosters intimately, including a thorough understanding of the Gu clan’s own lineup, and Gu Suying had promised she could pinpoint the three hall masters’ fatal weaknesses and guarantee their victory.
Xuanyuan Lige’s assurances back then had given him boundless confidence — otherwise, he never would have dared act so arrogantly toward the Gu clan in the first place.
And yet now, with the three hall masters replaced by these young disciples, Gu Suying hadn’t just failed to identify their weaknesses — she’d driven him to deploy the Yu clan’s ultimate trump card, the eagle assault, only to suffer a crushing, humiliating defeat, ruining a lifetime’s reputation at the hands of a few mere boys!
This was simply unbearable!
Given the current state of affairs, the Yu clan’s cause was already lost — there was no point in fighting on any further.
Gu Suying paid the Yu clan head no mind at all. She was already in enough trouble as it was, and had no desire to invite further disaster upon herself. Han Ziqing was a woman she simply couldn’t defeat — avoiding her entirely was the best she could hope for.
Gu Suying shot Ziqing one last venomous glare from afar, then turned to leave, ignoring both Xuanyuan Lige and the Yu clan head entirely.
But just then, the Yu clan head darted in front of her, blocking her path with one arm, and snarled a harsh warning. “Until you’ve given me a proper explanation, until you’ve done everything in your power to fix this, neither of you is going anywhere!”
The second match was still ongoing — the Yu clan still had a chance!
Given Xuanyuan Lige’s connection to Qinse Valley, and Gu Suying’s deep knowledge of the Gu clan, surely if the two of them tried hard enough, they could find some way to turn things around!
Things had come to this point, and he had absolutely no intention of letting either of them leave!
Gu Suying pursed her lips in frustration, casting a cold glance toward Xuanyuan Lige. “Go find him yourself. Whatever he says, I’ll follow.”
“The only one who can deal with Jun Beiyue now is Nanzhao…” Xuanyuan Lige murmured to himself. The Yu clan was nothing more than a stepping stone to him — why would he ever risk himself further on their behalf?
If the two Elders of Qinse ever learned he’d tampered with the tournament’s rules, he’d likely never be welcome on Liuxian Island again for the rest of his life!
Watching Jun Beiyue from afar, the corner of Xuanyuan Lige’s lips curled into a look of genuine admiration — this man truly was impossible to fully predict, impossible to fully measure!
Since this man clearly feared nothing but the Nanzhao royal house itself, there was no longer any need to keep going in circles, was there?
Gu Suying ignored the Yu clan head entirely, and Xuanyuan Lige spared him not even a single further glance, turning to leave as well.
The Yu clan head, wary of Xuanyuan Lige, didn’t dare physically block his path, but called out coldly instead, “Xuanyuan Lige, you’d best understand the price of letting my Yu clan fall to ruin!”
“The Yu clan was always going to fall. What business is that of mine?” Xuanyuan Lige’s voice was ice-cold.
“If it weren’t for you, would this clan head ever have offended the Gu clan in the first place?” the Yu clan head demanded.
“The rules of the contest are what they are. Where’s the offense in that?” Xuanyuan Lige shot back. According to the tournament’s own rules, the Yu clan facing off against the Gu clan was perfectly ordinary — nothing objectionable about it at all.
But the Yu clan head himself had let the prospect of victory go entirely to his head, practically floating off into the clouds with arrogance, going so far as to cut in line and hurl insults at the Gu clan besides — and that certainly hadn’t been anything Xuanyuan Lige had ever taught him to do!
The Yu clan head was left speechless. “Xuanyuan Lige, you! You! You have no sense of honor, no loyalty, no compassion whatsoever!”
No sense of honor? No loyalty, no compassion?
Xuanyuan Lige gave a cold snort. Anyone who truly knew him understood he had only ever pursued a single goal in this life — and for that goal’s sake, he was willing to disown even his own family. What loyalty or compassion could he possibly have left to spare for anyone else?
Loyalty? Compassion?
His cold, indifferent eyes drifted, almost without meaning to, toward Ziqing in the distance. Xuanyuan Lige let out a soft, quiet laugh, then turned to leave.
“Xuanyuan Lige! Don’t you dare walk away!” the Yu clan head erupted in fury.
Xuanyuan Lige paid him no mind whatsoever. Seeing this, Gu Suying gave a disdainful little laugh of her own, and leapt down from the rooftop to leave as well.
Meanwhile, back on the platform, the second match between the Gu clan and the Yu clan was fast approaching its conclusion!
The Yu clan head glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes instantly bloodshot, filled with a terrifying, murderous intensity. He chased after Xuanyuan Lige, leaping down from the rooftop himself, and shouted a fierce warning after him. “Xuanyuan Lige, take one more step forward, and don’t blame this old man for exposing everything!”