Actually, Jian Chou was also somewhat surprised to see Xing Wu here.
Although only a hundred days had passed, she had encountered far too many things…
So much so that it felt like a very long time had passed.
However, the moment she saw him, old memories instantly returned to Jian Chou’s mind.
That battle…
Xing Wu should have been severely injured.
Jian Chou didn’t think he would die from that sword strike, but being able to participate in the cauldron competition was quite unexpected.
Looking at how he was staring at her—like he harbored deep hatred, but also hiding wariness.
So Jian Chou immediately found it interesting.
Xing Wu should be the only person in the entire Extreme Realm who had fought with her and roughly knew her strength, right?
She wondered if this “knowledge” would bring her trouble.
Those who had just spoken harshly were his clansmen.
Though they stood far apart, their relationship didn’t seem very good.
The moment Jian Chou looked at him, many thoughts flashed through her mind.
It was just that it was rare to see a familiar face in such circumstances, and with some enmity between them, if they fought to the death, the psychological burden wouldn’t be so heavy.
So she actually found his face becoming more agreeable.
Under this line of thinking, Jian Chou felt she couldn’t pretend not to see him, so she showed a polite smile.
She truly felt she had no malicious intent.
But…
Why did Xing Wu look like he’d seen a ghost, as if he’d been…
Frightened by her?
“Jian Chou?”
A somewhat puzzled voice came from beside her—it was Chen Tingyan.
Only then did Jian Chou remember she was with two friends.
So she withdrew her gaze from Xing Wu and smiled: “Nothing, just saw an acquaintance.”
“That bug over there?”
Chen Tingyan had naturally seen him too, snorting disdainfully. But he quickly noticed Xing Wu’s expression.
So that doubt he’d suppressed for so long surfaced again.
What exactly was Jian Chou’s strength?
“Time to verify identities.”
Zhang Tang, who hadn’t spoken, glanced at the high platform and suddenly spoke, his voice still flat.
Jian Chou followed his gaze and saw that thirty-one stone platforms had already appeared on the high platform in the plaza, carved with ancient cloud and thunder patterns.
Three gray-robed cultivators had appeared before the three staircases leading up to the high platform.
Moreover, a middle-aged man in white robes embroidered with gold stood majestically in the center of the high platform. He surveyed the still-boiling crowd around him and spoke directly, his voice like rolling thunder!
“The second round literary test is about to begin. Please quiet down slightly!”
The entire plaza was packed with people head to head, and some who felt their positions weren’t good simply floated into the air.
Some Bull Head Clan cultivators were tall as iron towers, while some Fish Gill Clan female cultivators were delicate and frail. Of course, most still looked like normal people.
They chattered and discussed among themselves.
But this suddenly resounding voice actually suppressed all their voices!
Everyone looked up in unison.
Jian Chou, standing in the crowd, was even more amazed.
Such a voice—his cultivation wasn’t low!
“That’s the master of the Eighteen Floors Above Ground, named Zhou Qingyu, from the Ghost King Clan. In the cauldron competition, the second round is always like this—the master of the Eighteen Floors Above Ground hosts each city’s literary test.”
Seeming to guess that Jian Chou didn’t recognize this person, Chen Tingyan directly used his fan to block and whispered in Jian Chou’s ear.
“Look carefully—this person’s body is different from others. He’s a Golden Body realm cultivator.”
“Hmm?”
A Golden Body realm cultivator had already re-cultivated his physical body, which could be said to have crossed a major threshold in the Extreme Realm.
Jian Chou immediately became interested and looked carefully following Chen Tingyan’s words.
Indeed, upon closer inspection, she could see that this person’s body was thick and solid, completely different from everyone else who seemed to have a slightly ethereal quality.
It was like…
A living person.
Moreover, that powerful aura around him seemed difficult to fake.
Jian Chou immediately paid attention.
Zhou Qingyu seemed very satisfied with the effect he’d created. He quickly changed to a calm smile, waved his hand, and said directly: “I, Zhou, am the master of the Eighteen Floors Above Ground. Thanks to the Eight Yama Palaces’ regard, I have hosted the cauldron competition’s second round for seven sessions. This is the first time Zhou has seen so many people come to watch the second round. Similarly, the number of cultivators from our Wangsi City participating in this session’s second round is unprecedented!”
“Tsk—”
A wave of sighs immediately arose below.
Who didn’t know why there were so many people in the second round?
Wasn’t it because of that shameless promotion by the Eight Yama Palaces?
Besides, who the hell wanted to hear what you had to say?
The cauldron competition was simply a great carnival for the entire Extreme Realm.
When people went crazy, they didn’t care about anything.
Someone immediately shouted from below: “You bring out that person called Jian Chou first, let us see!”
“Right, the one with the especially small soul orb!”
“If she’s participating, she must be here, right?”
“Who wants to hear you bragging up there, old man, get down!”
“Right, get down!”
…
For a moment, there were jeering sounds everywhere.
Listening to this, Jian Chou couldn’t help but feel an urge to dig a hole and bury herself.
Her mouth twitched slightly as she whispered to Chen Tingyan beside her: “Won’t this cause trouble?”
Chen Tingyan also had an indescribable expression, looking at Jian Chou with considerable pity.
He was crystal clear about the cauldron competition’s tricks, and felt Jian Chou was a smart person who definitely wouldn’t participate without benefits, so he wasn’t worried about Jian Chou’s safety for now.
Seeing the surrounding crowd’s high enthusiasm, he spread his hands: “It’s always been like this, though this heated a situation is the first time.”
“…”
Should I feel honored?
Jian Chou held her forehead, suddenly not wanting to speak.
Zhou Qingyu on the platform, hearing the voices below, also changed expression.
However, what kind of seasoned figure was he?
The higher the crowd’s enthusiasm, the more dark jade the Eighteen Floors Above Ground could earn later.
So after just a moment, the old fox recovered as usual.
He didn’t mind the crowd’s commotion and continued his speech as if nothing happened: “In this cauldron competition, our Wangsi City has thirty-one participants total: eight from Wangsi City’s Eighteen Floors Above Ground cauldron ring competition; four from Eight Yama Palaces spots; seventeen from the Ten Great Ghost Clans combined.”
“You should know that in the entire Extreme Realm, there are only so many spots.”
“Each of the Eight Yama Palaces has three, but they’re often not filled; each of the Ten Great Ghost Clans has five; each of the seventy-two cities has eight. To enter the second round, the entire Extreme Realm will have nearly six hundred people. But they must be distributed among seventy-two cities.”
“Wangsi City is just one of the seventy-two cities, yet we have thirty-one people. This year we’ve even surpassed our arch-rival Fengdu!”
Hearing this, Jian Chou finally understood: this old man was so excited because of this…
It seemed there was actually rivalry among the underworld’s seventy-two cities.
Just as she thought this, Zhou Qingyu’s next words confirmed Jian Chou’s guess—
“This session, you thirty-one represent our Wangsi City! I hereby wish you all success in defeating strong enemies and becoming victors!”
“Victors!”
“Victors!”
…
People below immediately started shouting along, extremely enthusiastic.
Soon it had formed a torrent.
Jian Chou, caught in the midst of it, had an indescribable strange feeling.
She looked left and right—some people’s faces were very excited, while others looked completely bored, seeming to find Zhou Qingyu annoying for not getting to the point.
Sure enough, after these people celebrated for a while, some below stopped buying it.
“Can you hurry up?”
“Right, after seeing that Jian Chou you’ve been boasting about, I still need to go home and watch the kids!”
“Haven’t washed clothes yet, hurry up, okay?”
“When is Young Master Li that I bet on coming up?”
“All you do is talk nonsense all day…”
…
Zhou Qingyu stood on the platform, his smile unchanged.
He directly clapped his hands to signal everyone to quiet down, this time not wasting words: “Since everyone wants to see the second round, I won’t say more. Now, please have all cultivators participating in the cauldron competition present their cauldron rings, choose any verifier, and enter after verification.”
Just like verification before entering imperial examinations, it seemed the cauldron competition was no different.
Jian Chou exchanged glances with Zhang Tang and Chen Tingyan.
“Shall we go?”
“Let’s go.”
So the three directly passed through the crowd toward the nearest “verifier.”
The verifiers were the three people who had previously stood beside the high platform.
Each had Golden Body cultivation, each looked like an aged elder, emanating a deathly aura that made people shudder.
Around them, no one dared speak loudly.
For Jian Chou, the second round was actually just going through the motions.
First, her own knowledge was sufficient; second, she’d already gotten the test questions and answers early—how could she possibly fail?
So she was actually quite relaxed.
Soon they reached the verifier.
However, others had arrived first and automatically formed a line, preparing for verification one by one.
Jian Chou’s group had to line up behind them—Zhang Tang first, Jian Chou second, Chen Tingyan third.
The moment verification began, the plaza was filled with waves of discussion.
Obviously, they would soon know the answer they wanted.
At the front of Jian Chou’s line was a black-robed cultivator with dark skin, somewhat short but very stocky, looking like he was from the Ghost King Clan.
He had already reached the verifier, removed his cauldron ring, and handed it over.
The verifier, full of wrinkles, held something very like a bagua disc with a circular groove in the center.
He raised his eyelids, glanced at the ghost cultivator, and asked: “What’s your name?”
“Zhang Pei.”
The man hurriedly answered.
“Mm.”
The verifier then lowered his eyelids, took the cauldron ring, and with a “snap,” forcefully pressed the ring face into the disc’s groove!
Immediately, a mysterious dark green light flashed, dazzling to the eyes.
“Take the ring up to the platform, find a place to sit. You can begin answering in half an hour. When time’s up, it automatically ends. If you can’t pass, no one can help.”
The verifier handed the cauldron ring back.
The cultivator immediately received it with both hands, put on the cauldron ring, and immediately showed an amazed expression, as if discovering something. Then he repeatedly thanked the verifier before walking up to the platform and choosing a corner position to sit.
Jian Chou guessed the cauldron ring must have some change, or that person wouldn’t show such an expression.
She became curious, though at this moment the distant discussion also grew louder.
“That’s Zhang Pei from the Ghost King Clan, right?”
“Seems like it. The Ghost King Clan has quite a few people this year too.”
“Have you seen Lihan?”
“Not yet, hasn’t gone up. Hey! Don’t push!”
“Is the one with the smallest soul orb here?”
“Haven’t seen her. Who the hell has the smallest soul orb? That Fish Gill Clan one?”
“Definitely not. They say the soul orb is dust-sized!”
“That’s Xing Zhan from the Wuchang Yizu, right?”
“The Xing Feng and Xing Fei brothers went up too!”
“Should I bet on Zhang Tang winning this year?”
“Fengdu City has a Zhong Lanling this year, middle Jade Nirvana, also not bad.”
“Fengdu City also has someone called Pan Hexun with the Wheel-Turning King Palace spot. You know? He’s a peak Jade Nirvana powerhouse, just one step from Golden Body!”
“Scary!”
…
As people went up one by one, the entire plaza became more boiling.
Jian Chou even had the illusion that this was like throwing a nest of monkeys into an oil pot…
“Next.”
“Next…”
“Next…”
…
Soon, it was Jian Chou’s turn.
She hadn’t reacted yet when Chen Tingyan behind her quickly poked her.
So Jian Chou looked up and met the verifier’s sharp gaze.
This kind of gaze wasn’t quite normal.
Besides displeasure, it seemed to hide amazement.
Jian Chou easily noticed that the other’s gaze seemed to fall on her forehead, where the soul orb could be seen through…
“Greetings, senior.”
Seeing the other party hadn’t moved for a long time, Jian Chou couldn’t help coughing and proactively greeted him.
The verifier seemed to come to his senses then, extending his hand toward Jian Chou.
“Cauldron ring.”
Zhang Tang had already given her this.
Jian Chou reached into her sleeve and pulled out the dark green circular ring, placing it in the verifier’s palm.
The verifier maintained that flat tone, asking: “What’s your name?”
At this moment, Jian Chou felt countless burning gazes from behind seemed to have focused on her.
The surroundings inexplicably quieted down.
So a whisper became extremely obvious: “Why can’t I see her soul orb?”
“…”
Jian Chou’s spine immediately stiffened.
Facing the verifier’s almost intimidating gaze, she knew she couldn’t escape.
Might as well…
Go all out!
She took a deep breath and calmly reported her name: “…Jian Chou.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
At that moment, with this staircase to the high platform as the center, strange silence swept like a wild tide.
The next instant…
It exploded thunderously!
“Holy shit holy shit holy shit!”
“Your grandmother…”
“My god, look at her soul orb!”
“My Yama King, I thought I was seeing things just now, couldn’t see her soul orb at all…”
“Damn, so the Eight Yama Palaces weren’t lying!”
“How the hell did she cultivate like this?”
“Am I blind? Who messed with my eyes!!!”
“Your uncle…”
“It’s over, my bet’s lost…”
“This soul orb is too small! Much smaller than I imagined!”
“How does she dare participate in the cauldron competition? She looks so pitiful…”
…
The voices were too mixed and chaotic, all converging together, impossible to hear what anyone was actually saying.
The effect was like dropping a thunderbolt in one corner of the plaza!
Zhao Yang at the plaza’s edge was waiting boredly when he suddenly heard this explosion, his scalp tingling.
The thin man beside him was so startled he jumped up directly!
“What happened?!”
Around them were people equally confused about the situation.
“What’s going on?” “What’s the situation over there?”
“Seems like a female cultivator!”
Someone immediately pointed at a blue-robed figure on those steps and shouted!
Others with sharper eyes, connecting things together, almost immediately understood: “Soul orb! Soul orb! It’s that one, that one!!!”
That one…
Zhao Yang froze, then his head swelled: Holy shit, which other one could it be?! The legendary Jian Chou with the smallest soul orb!
“Where, where?”
He impatiently pushed forward, getting others to help point out the location.
That person was equally excited, almost pointing in the wrong direction: “My cultivation’s too low. You look—is that the legendary soul orb?”
Zhao Yang looked in that direction and saw the figure standing on the steps.
Slender, tall.
Blue robes, long hair, carrying a sword.
Thump, thump.
Heart racing!
At that moment, his mouth went dry.
That female cultivator received the cauldron ring back from the verifier, put it on her hand, and slowly began walking up from the bottom of the steps.
So the crowd that had been anticipating for so long finally completely focused on her.
After reaching the high platform, the female cultivator chose a position, and her body, which had been facing away from the entire plaza, finally turned around, revealing that pale face…
And completely allowing her soul orb to be observed by everyone.
So what had originally been an explosion in one small corner transformed into a massive explosion across the entire plaza!
In the corner, Zhao Yang was completely shocked, dumbfounded, staring;
On the high platform, Zhou Qingyu hosting the cauldron competition also had complex eyes, staring;
Beside the stone platforms, other cultivators participating in the cauldron competition looked over with endless inquiry;
On the plaza, thousands upon thousands of people all looked over together!
All eyes focused!
On the high platform, Jian Chou stood at the edge of the stone platform she’d chosen.
Countless gazes were like countless needles stabbing into her, plus that chaotic discussion where she couldn’t clearly hear who was saying what.
Previously at Zuosanqian Xiaohui, people paid attention to her because she had strength.
But now…
This feeling truly had an inexplicable absurdity.
Jian Chou smiled bitterly inwardly.
Zhang Tang beside her already knew the whole story, so he watched his nose and his nose watched his heart, showing no extra expression.
But others were all looking at Jian Chou—disdain, contempt, curiosity…
All piled together.
Jian Chou helplessly raised her hand to press her brow, wanting to calm down through this.
However, just as she raised her hand, a dark blue figure suddenly entered her vision…
It was in a direction directly facing her.
Dark blue robes, skin pale to the point of transparency, somewhat sharp facial features naturally giving people a feeling of being unapproachable.
A pair of deep blue eyes like glazed glass, carrying a kind of transparent coldness.
As he stepped up the stairs, the surrounding sounds seemed strangely to quiet a bit.
Jian Chou’s hand stopped in mid-air, already frozen.
Two scenes surfaced in her mind: the Eighteen Floors Above Ground, using the “Immovable Wisdom King Dharma Body,” ruthlessly striking to instantly take lives—a Ghost King Clan cultivator; black and white text, one of those on Cui Jue’s handwritten list to protect her!
The verifier stood on the steps.
The newcomer had already stopped, removed the cauldron ring from his index finger, and handed it over. Then he raised his head and met Jian Chou’s gaze directly.
So thin lips pulled into a barely visible arc.
“What’s your name?”
“…Lihan.”
A cold voice tinged with faint hostility.