Amid the astonishing outcome of the newcomers’ ranking tournament, amid the crowd’s continuing uproar, Situ Haonan suddenly shouted, “Isn’t that Xuanyuan Lige?”

In an instant, every eye turned in that direction, and there, high atop a rooftop, a purple figure appeared and disappeared among the dense, low-flying swarm of black eagles.

A thousand eagles, seemingly chaotic and disordered, were in fact circling that purple figure with terrifying precision — every strike of talon or beak posed a potentially fatal threat to the already gravely wounded Xuanyuan Lige.

This was the Thousand Eagle Formation — a thousand ferocious night eagles attacking in unison. No matter how great one’s skill, no matter how refined one’s Wind Blade technique, none could escape it unscathed.

A man’s strength was always finite — but the sheer number of eagles was terrifying beyond measure!

“It’s him! The reclusive disciple of Qinse Valley!”

“Xuanyuan Lige — why is he being attacked by the Thousand Eagle Formation?”

“Does he have some kind of feud with the Yu clan?”

…

Discussion erupted from all sides. The two Elders of Qinse had already risen to their feet, their eyes locked unblinking on the scene, clearly searching for a chance to intervene — because it was obvious that if they didn’t act soon, Xuanyuan Lige wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

The other elder, meanwhile, wore an expression of pure confusion and disbelief. They knew Xuanyuan Lige’s temperament better than anyone — no one in the world kept a lower profile than that boy.

How could he possibly have offended the Yu clan so badly — badly enough to provoke the Thousand Eagle Formation itself? Such a devastating formation would deal the Yu clan enormous harm as well — it meant the Yu clan would barely be able to summon any eagles at all for at least a year afterward!

Suddenly, the purple figure was swallowed entirely by the dense black swarm, as though devoured whole, vanishing from sight in an instant.

“It’s over! He’s finished for sure!” the Hai clan head couldn’t help blurting out.

At that very moment, Elder Qin made several swift leaps, about to plunge straight into the eagle swarm himself — but just then, Yu Xiao suddenly burst out from the black mass, blocking his path. A moment later, the Yu clan head appeared as well.

“What is the meaning of this? How dare you harm a reclusive disciple of my own Qinse Valley!” Elder Qin thundered furiously.

Before Yu Xiao could say a word, the Yu clan head spoke first, his voice cold. “Elder Qin, there’s something this one must apologize to you for!”

Apologize?

For what?

If he truly meant to apologize, why did his tone sound so hard and cold?

Elder Se arrived as well, bewildered. “What on earth has happened here? Whatever it is, surely it can be explained calmly — there’s no need for such violence. Yu clan head, resorting to such ruthless measures against a young man is hardly befitting someone of your standing as an elder, is it?”

The Yu clan head had already thrown all caution to the wind — having offended the Gu clan this badly, ruin was coming for the Yu clan sooner or later regardless. Better to lessen his own punishment now by coming clean.

He glanced around at the bewildered crowd, his gaze inadvertently sweeping past Jun Beiyue, who was watching intently as well, and felt an unconscious flicker of unease. He quickly averted his eyes, and said seriously, “Elders… let me put it this way. Xuanyuan Lige…”

The words were just about to leave his mouth when, suddenly, a sharp Wind Blade shot out from within the black swarm, streaking straight for the Yu clan head — its speed so blinding that no one could react in time!

But as luck would have it, Jun Beiyue had been watching closely the entire time. With no more than a casual flick of his hand, he sent out a Wind Blade of his own, effortlessly knocking aside Xuanyuan Lige’s attempted assassination.

The Yu clan head instinctively stumbled back a step, shaken with belated terror.

At the same moment, the two Elders of Qinse exchanged a look, finally grasping the true gravity of the situation — Xuanyuan Lige, trapped as he already was, was still trying to silence him permanently!

Just what kind of secret was this, that it demanded such desperate measures?

“Yu clan head, speak!” Elder Se said sternly.

“After the newcomers’ ranking tournament registration closed, Xuanyuan Lige brought someone to see me, promising to guarantee my clan’s victory and the position of foremost clan!” Every word out of the Yu clan head’s mouth rang out as though shouted, clearly audible to everyone present.

At these words, the two Elders of Qinse were utterly stunned — how could this be possible? That boy Lige had never once been a child driven by the desire to win!

And besides, he’d only ever had one single ambition in life — what could he possibly want with Liuxian Island?

Never mind the two Elders of Qinse — one could have grabbed anyone at random from the crowd and asked, and not a single person would have believed Xuanyuan Lige would help the Yu clan without some deeper reason.

At this, Yu Xiao gave a single glance, and a servant immediately brought forward a young woman. This young lady’s clothes were tattered, her hair disheveled, her entire body covered in blood — clearly having been injured by the eagles herself!

The moment she drew close, three people from the Gu clan’s side leapt up from their seats at once — the Gu clan head, his wife, and Gu Meiting!

“What—!”

“Meiting! She—”

“How could she be with… she wouldn’t have…”

The family of three were all visibly shaken with dread. It truly was Gu Suying!

“Xuanyuan Lige personally brought her to see this old man. She knew exactly where the weaknesses in the Gu clan’s three hall masters’ internal energy lay. Regardless of which Gu disciples were sent to compete, she guaranteed the Yu clan would win the first two matches. Only, unfortunately…”

The Yu clan head trailed off, letting out a heavy sigh. Unfortunately, the Gu clan’s true depths had proven unfathomable — even Gu Meiting hadn’t been able to see through them.

Unfortunately, he’d let his hunger for the position of foremost clan blind him, and had trusted Gu Suying far too easily.

As the Yu clan head finished speaking, the entire arena fell into an eerie, inexplicable silence, everyone staring in shock — even terror — at Gu Meiting. The atmosphere turned strange and unsettling in an instant.

Jun Beiyue, throughout it all, remained lazily reclined on the couch, one hand holding Ziqing’s, the other resting on the armrest, utterly at ease, the corner of his lips curled in a cold smile. Everything had unfolded precisely according to his own careful design — and yet he sat back like a mere spectator, watching coldly, giving nothing away even now.

Behind the great, roiling swarm of eagles surrounding the Yu clan head and his people, blood-soaked eagles had already begun trickling free, one after another — and yet still no sign of that purple figure. No one knew how many more eagles would have to disperse before that faint, dreamlike shade of purple would finally reappear — or whether, once every last eagle had flown off, there would be anyone left to see at all.

Ziqing, her face expressionless, felt a flicker of complicated emotion pass unnoticed through her eyes. Anyone looking closely might have caught the weight behind her composure — but in the end, she said nothing at all, her small hand quietly settling over Jun Beiyue’s, silent and unnoticed.

“Something’s not right!”

Suddenly, Situ Xin’er broke the silence. “Something’s not right — Yu clan, you cheated! How could you have possibly known you’d draw the Gu clan!”

This, perhaps, was the true reason behind everyone’s silence.

And it was surely the very reason the two Elders of Qinse remained so unmoved, even as blood-soaked eagle after blood-soaked eagle streamed past before their eyes.

For the Yu clan to have been so absolutely certain they’d draw the Gu clan, there could only be one explanation — they had tampered with the drawing of lots itself. And yet the entire drawing process had been conducted in full view of everyone present. Which meant there was only one remaining possibility: the bamboo lots themselves had been rigged.

Elder Se abruptly spun around, glaring at the maid on the judges’ panel who had handed out the bamboo lots, about to demand an answer — when suddenly, from within the eagle formation, a man’s pained cry tore through the air, unbearably, wrenchingly harsh.