Watching a good show come to an end, Fudao Shanren licked the chicken bone with lingering satisfaction.

His gaze shifted to the side, and he immediately saw Pang Dian’s dark expression nearby, only laughing: “With Dragon Gate’s domineering techniques, what are you looking so gloomy for? I’ve long heard about your disciple’s aptitude—he’s Dragon Emperor material…”

“Shut your damn mouth!”

Pang Dian already had pent-up anger, and hearing Fudao Shanren’s infuriating consolation, he was practically fuming from all seven orifices.

“Hmph, treating good intentions like donkey liver and lungs. If you want me to speak, I wouldn’t even bother now!”

Fudao Shanren rolled his eyes and finally couldn’t be bothered to deal with him anymore.

He stretched out his finger and began counting the remaining people in the field: “One, two, three, four… Mm, nine, about right. Ahem!”

He suddenly raised his voice and cleared his throat.

Below, everyone immediately looked over.

Fudao Shanren very naturally tossed the chicken bone onto Kunwu’s clean mountain path, put on a smile, and announced loudly: “The battle phase is over, the first trial is officially concluded, with nine advancing.”

“Northern Domain’s Yin Sect, Tang Buye, seventeen Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

“Wuyi Sect, Ruhua, sixteen Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

Suddenly there was laughter from below.

Young Master Ruhua’s face showed a hint of stiffness for the first time: Unfortunately, Fudao Shanren was an elder, and an ancient-level elder at that.

Fudao Shanren didn’t feel he had said anything shocking at all and continued counting: “Shenling, Wei Lin, sixteen Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

“Fengmo Sword Sect, Xia Houshe, fourteen Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

“The one eating watermelon…”

Xiao Jin suddenly looked up—was he calling her?

“Cough.” Fudao Shanren coughed, thought for a moment, then said, “Xiao Jin, thirteen Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

So you don’t even remember her name, do you!

Jian Chou was immediately speechless.

The entire foot of Kunwu Mountain fell into speechless silence.

Fudao Shanren was completely oblivious to how embarrassing he was and continued counting heads.

“Baiyue Valley, Lu Xiangleng, eleven Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

“Tongling Pavilion, Jiang Wenchao, eleven Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

“Yashan, Jian Chou, eleven Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

“Finally, Zuoliu, ten Heaven-Connecting Platforms.”

After counting all nine people, the originally oppressive atmosphere had been completely dispersed by Fudao Shanren’s counting.

Originally, everyone was still feeling sorry for Zhou Chengjiang, but who would have thought he would directly call Young Master Ruhua “Ruhua”—truly shocking and terrifying—and then not even remember Xiao Jin’s name, directly substituting “the one eating watermelon”…

Even if there were countless feelings in their hearts, they couldn’t express them at this moment.

Such an enforcement elder—looking across the four domains of Shijiu Zhou, how many could be found?

This could barely be considered a Central Domain specialty.

Everyone consoled themselves with this thought, yet couldn’t help but secretly break into cold sweats for the future.

“Finished counting. What do you think, Old Monster Hengxu?”

Fudao Shanren clapped his hands and happily turned to look at Hengxu Zhenren.

“How about we set up a game together?”

With the first trial over, naturally it was time to begin the second trial.

Just setting up a game…

Hengxu Zhenren had previously discussed the subsequent challenges with Fudao Shanren. Now hearing Fudao Shanren speak, he already understood his meaning and simply said: “If that’s the case, let’s set up a game together.”

Everyone was confused—set up a game?

What did setting up a game mean?

Seeing these two standing side by side, Jian Chou thought they truly had the bearing of leaders of the Central Domain’s three thousand sects. Previously, all arrangements had been made by Fudao Shanren alone, but now they were setting up a game together—was Hengxu Zhenren going to take action?

What would the second trial be like?

Just as doubt arose, someone below exclaimed: “Look!”

Kunwu’s First Seat, the undisputed leader figure, Hengxu Zhenren, finally took action—his first time at this Zuosanqian Small Gathering!

He raised his hand, his wide sleeves fluttering with his movement, and reached out with five fingers to grasp at the air!

These hands were no different from Fudao Shanren’s hands—equally aged, equally withered, equally etched with the traces of time…

However, the moment his five fingers made this grasping motion, from the mountainside up to the Heaven-Connecting Platforms to the foot of the mountain, everyone at Kunwu heard faint sounds of water in their ears…

It was the sound of babbling water, coming from afar.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but look up toward the source of the sound—the west!

Above the entire azure sky, white clouds still floated, but as the water sounds arose, blue seawater surged from the horizon, gradually accumulating from little to much.

The babbling water sounds transformed into rolling waves!

It was endless seawater flying from the Western Sea, gradually spreading and filling the entire sky.

An endless ocean floating above the sky!

The entire Western Sea roiled with angry waves at Hengxu Zhenren’s grasping motion, with endless seawater being sucked upward, forming a terrifying waterspout that spread across the sky, making that layer of pale blue more brilliant and vivid.

Everyone standing below, looking up at the great sea floating above, felt only trembling shock!

Would this great sea suspended in the firmament really not fall down?

Jian Chou was also shaken by this sight.

When she was still mortal, people said that immortals had the ability to move mountains and fill seas, to reverse heaven and earth. Now wasn’t Hengxu Zhenren’s display exactly such power?

The white-haired old Daoist, as if he hadn’t heard the waves of exclamations from below, turned his wrist and then casually drew a circle in midair with his finger. All the endless seawater converged toward the top of the firmament.

The water traces at the edges of the sky gradually crept toward the center, forming a roughly circular sea.

Nearly miraculous!

Countless people held their breath with indescribable amazement.

After completing all this, Hengxu Zhenren looked back with slight amusement in his voice: “Setting up a game together, I’ve contributed my part. What does Brother Fudao think?”

“Mm…”

Fudao Shanren looked at the situation above, stroked his chin, and spoke in a tone of indifference: “Not bad, I suppose, but it’s too noble and aloof, not at all suited to the needs of us ordinary cultivators…”

Hey!

What did he mean by “not bad, I suppose”?!

Countless Kunwu disciples were in the midst of excitement when they heard Fudao Shanren’s words, their eyes widening in disbelief at his audacity.

Everyone below secretly rolled their eyes.

But Jian Chou was very curious—her master would certainly contribute his part too, but how would he do it?

This was obviously everyone’s confusion.

Fudao Shanren, unhurried and leisurely, slowly turned two circles in place, examining the scene above.

Then he turned around and actually began searching on the ground, finally reaching into his body and somehow producing a shovel, beginning to dig beside the Kunwu mountain path.

Clang!

The shovel’s edge struck Kunwu’s hard mountain stone.

“Ouch! Damn, so hard!”

Fudao Shanren immediately cursed and angrily threw away the shovel!

Then…

He squatted by the mountain path and directly used his hands to scoop out several clumps of mud from the path, which actually contained an earthworm!

In that instant, Fudao Shanren’s eyes practically lit up. He picked out the earthworm and laughed loudly: “Wonderful, wonderful! There’s even a little dragon—perfect!”

Little dragon?

That was clearly a little earthworm!

What kind of eyesight was that?!

Hengxu Zhenren, standing beside him, felt only a slight helplessness.

Because only he knew Fudao Shanren’s temperament best.

This old fellow, holding several clumps of mud in one hand, actually threw them forcefully toward the great sea in the firmament!

Splash!

Water splashed everywhere.

The mud immediately sank into the celestial sea, and upon contact with the seawater, it seemed to absorb water like a sponge and expand wildly!

Everyone’s jaws nearly dropped as they stared wide-eyed at this scene.

The endless seawater churned up waves that reached the sky, as if about to fall from above.

Clump after clump of mud actually became massive islands floating on the sea, and soon sprouted trees and flowers!

Fudao Shanren laughed, then looked at the little earthworm writhing in his right hand. It kept twisting in his grasp, as if it didn’t like being held at all, both fearful and panicked.

“Good dragon, good dragon, don’t be anxious. I’m not a bad person…”

“…”

Dead silence.

The little earthworm desperately thrashed its body, struggling, wishing it could spit out all the mud in its belly and spray it in his face!

Fudao Shanren completely failed to notice its panic, squinting his eyes with a smile.

Raising his hand, he aimed at a certain direction of the great sea on the firmament and threw it again!

Whoosh!

The poor little earthworm was carried by Fudao Shanren’s tremendous throwing force and plunged headfirst into the boundless sea: it couldn’t swim!

Drip.

Like a drop of water falling into the ocean.

Compared to this vast sea, a little earthworm was but a grain of sand.

However…

The moment its body fell into the deep sea, angry waves surged!

“Roar—”

A dragon’s roar shook heaven and earth!

The seawater heaved, washing over black scales!

The earthworm instantly transformed into a hundred-zhang black dragon.

Its head like an ox, horns like a deer, eyes like shrimp, ears like an elephant, neck like a snake, belly like a snake, scales like fish, claws like a phoenix, palms like a tiger.

Majestic and imposing, what a magnificent sight!

The long and powerful dragon tail emerged from beneath the seawater, then frantically slapped the sea surface, splashing countless waves that made everyone below think the spray would fall down.

But the dragon tail soon disappeared into the deep sea.

The splashing waves also rolled back upward, and the great sea returned to calm.

Everyone was stunned.

Setting up a game together…

With a raise of his hand, he could draw the Western Sea water from thousands of li away up to the sky, forming a new sea; with a casual throw, countless mud clumps could become massive islands in the sea, and a tiny earthworm could transform into a huge black dragon…

What sublime and mysterious magical arts!

Yashan and Kunwu, Fudao and Hengxu.

One laid-back, one serious, these two stood at the same height, both looking up above, with infinite glory radiating from their bodies.

Hengxu Zhenren sighed: “Though cultivation has regressed, these arts remain supreme throughout Shijiu Zhou…”

“Haha, too kind, too kind.”

Fudao Shanren’s tail was practically wagging. Looking at the dumbfounded expressions on everyone’s faces on the Heaven-Connecting Platforms, especially Jian Chou, his heart was filled with joy as he announced loudly: “The second trial of the Zuosanqian Small Gathering—Sky Sea Dragon Hunt. Requirements: retain your Heaven-Connecting Platform and extract dragon sinew.”

Dragon hunt?

Nonsense! It was clearly just an earthworm!

Everyone on the Heaven-Connecting Platforms, from Tang Buye to Zuoliu, was completely speechless.

Fudao Shanren chuckled: “The first trial has just ended, and the Sky Sea formation will need an hour to perfect. You may rest during this time and await orders afterward. Do you all understand?”

“Disciples understand.”

Everyone knew that the sea above their heads would be their battlefield in half an hour, so they responded in unison.

Fudao Shanren casually waved his hand and sat down directly on the mountain path.

One hour of rest.

Many people began meditating directly on their Heaven-Connecting Platforms, while the cultivators below found it hard to calm down, still looking up at the floating sea above with shocked gazes.

No matter from which angle in all of Shijiu Zhou one looked, this scene was clearly visible.

Countless powerful cultivators looking across the vast lands of Shijiu Zhou could only shake their heads helplessly: seeing such a flashy display, they knew Fudao Shanren was back to making a fuss at the small gathering. Presumably within an hour, news of this Sky Sea would spread throughout all of Shijiu Zhou.

Being able to make such a fuss was also a skill.

The great cultivators closed their eyes with headaches.

On Jian Chou’s side, her gaze swept over each person on the Heaven-Connecting Platforms.

Finally, it settled on Tang Buye at the highest position.

Body refinement…

Would never be a cultivator’s complete skill set—there would definitely be stronger aspects.

However, she was truly curious.

Unfortunately, only Zhou Chengjiang had truly exchanged moves with Tang Buye.

Her finger tapped lightly again. Jian Chou stared at her transparent, round fingernail for a long time, then finally slowly stood up.

Lu Xiangleng nearby noticed her movement and asked with some surprise: “Fellow Daoist Jian Chou?”

Jian Chou turned back to smile at her: “There’s still an hour anyway. I’m going to find an old friend.”

Old friend?

Lu Xiangleng was somewhat puzzled.

This Grand Senior Sister of Yashan seemed to know quite a few people.

Before she could contemplate the meaning of “old friend,” Jian Chou had already leaped up, falling like a stone from the heights.

Many people below looked up in surprise: What was she doing?

Whoosh.

The wind came and, at this dangerous moment, suddenly lifted Jian Chou’s body, carrying her along a gentle and natural arc, rising and falling into the distant vast forest, disappearing from sight.

On the Heaven-Connecting Platforms, several people noticed this scene, all inevitably feeling puzzled.

Xia Houshe frowned, staring at that patch of forest, lost in thought.

Jian Chou at this moment no longer cared what others were thinking.

Thinking of something and then doing it—she was afraid that after another hour, it would be too late.

After flying down from the Heaven-Connecting Platform, Jian Chou didn’t land but rode the wind through the air, speeding through the mountain forest. Occasionally, branches stretched out horizontally, but she avoided them all without danger.

Heading southwest, Jian Chou quickly passed through this forest within Kunwu’s territory and arrived at the riverbank where she had once fought Zhou Chengjiang.

Originally it had been nighttime, but today when she came, the red sun was shining brightly, and the entire river sparkled with light.

On both sides of the riverbank, everything was verdant green.

A deep gray figure was Zhou Chengjiang.

Curled up sitting by the riverbank, watching a small boat drift by on the opposite shore, he held a small jar of wine in his hand. Having just taken a sip, he suddenly heard wind sounds behind him, turned around, and saw Jian Chou.

Jian Chou emerged from the forest on the wind and naturally landed beside him.

“Fellow Daoist Zhou has such elegant interests.”

Her tone was light and breezy, quite like meeting an old friend.

Zhou Chengjiang was somewhat surprised, looking up at her now, as if he hadn’t expected Jian Chou to appear here.

He was stunned for quite a while before laughing freely: “Shouldn’t Fellow Daoist Jian Chou be participating in the second trial?”

“Didn’t you see what’s above?” Jian Chou casually pointed above her head at the Sky Sea and the black dragon that had long since disappeared. “Elder Fudao announced that the Sky Sea still needs an hour to perfect. Others are all cultivating, but I have nothing to do, so I came to find you.”

Having nothing to do—that didn’t seem right.

Zhou Chengjiang, having just suffered a fresh defeat, hadn’t quite recovered yet. He had originally wanted to find a quiet place to sit for a while, but unexpectedly ended up at the site of his last failure. For a moment, he was also speechless and simply sat down to drink.

Now that Jian Chou had sought him out, he really had an indescribable feeling.

“How did Fellow Daoist Jian Chou know I was here?”

“Intuition, I suppose.”

Jian Chou didn’t know why she had thought this way either—she just thought it and came over.

Seeing Zhou Chengjiang leaning against the ground with a jar of wine in his hand, she couldn’t help asking: “Do you have more wine?”

“Yes.”

Zhou Chengjiang directly pulled out a small jar from his qiankun bag and tossed it to her. Seeing her catch it and sit on the grass not far from him, he pondered for a moment, then asked: “You said you had nothing to do and came to find me, but you probably do have something.”

“Fellow Daoist Zhou is perceptive.”

Jian Chou smiled slightly, broke the seal, smelled the wine’s fragrance, took a sip directly from the jar, then said: “I’m still somewhat overwhelmed by the title of ‘first in body refinement’ that Fellow Daoist Zhou bestowed upon me.”

“…”

Zhou Chengjiang was stunned, then burst into laughter.

“Fellow Daoist Jian Chou is being modest. Among current peers, if you claim second place in body refinement, who would dare claim first?”

Jian Chou didn’t think she was that impressive.

She looked at Zhou Chengjiang for a while, then said: “I’m afraid Fellow Daoist Zhou doesn’t know—long before you fought this person, I had already exchanged moves with him once.”

“Previously?”

Zhou Chengjiang hadn’t expected this, frowned, then understood: “The Heart’s Will Pearl?”

With a slight smile, Jian Chou nodded.

“Precisely during the Heart’s Will Pearl section. Among my three Heart’s Will Pearls, one was an attack that coincidentally fell to Tang Buye’s side. Fellow Daoist Zhou has seen this attack before, though it wasn’t as powerful as in our battle by the river.”

“The lotus?”

That night, this had been the most impressive thing.

Zhou Chengjiang’s question hit the mark.

It was the black lotus.

Jian Chou reached out her hand, holding the wine jar, and raised it toward Zhou Chengjiang.

Zhou Chengjiang also raised his, and the two drank facing each other.

Jian Chou said: “Exactly that move. But at the time, it was silently dissolved by this person. I’m afraid few besides me noticed. This person not only has amazing cultivation but also remarkable achievements in body refinement—truly rare. I wonder how Fellow Daoist Zhou found fighting him?”

How was fighting him…

His meridians still ached faintly.

That battle hadn’t lasted long, but it brought Zhou Chengjiang an indescribable blow.

But who could win forever?

Zhou Chengjiang laughed and spoke honestly: “The Stubborn Stone Body Refinement method is unique to Yin Sect. My battle with him wasn’t as simple as others saw. His final two punches had stubborn stones as armor, and these stones have a strange absorbing force that completely dissipates any force pressed against him, leaving one struggling left and right. My loss to him was partly due to not knowing the subtleties of his techniques.”

The attack force was dissipated?

This was quite a novel explanation.

Jian Chou pondered for a moment but couldn’t imagine it, so she could only sigh: “I’m afraid I’ll only understand after fighting him myself.”

“Fellow Daoist Jian Chou’s body refinement method is also rare in this world. Though Zhou doesn’t know exactly which one it is, I can guess that anything from Yashan must be more powerful than Yin Sect’s. Therefore, Zhou believes Fellow Daoist Jian Chou can defeat him completely.”

They hadn’t witnessed Jian Chou’s prowess in that river battle, while he hadn’t seen today’s amazing axe strike from Jian Chou.

It could be said that Jian Chou was still holding back.

And who knew if she still had trump cards?

Zhou Chengjiang’s confidence in Jian Chou was well-founded: “After all, you’re the one who defeated me.”

As if defeating you was something glorious.

Jian Chou thought to herself, but then reconsidered: Wasn’t Zhou Chengjiang someone who had always been second to none? Those who had defeated him were Xie Buchen, who was first on the Second Heaven Tablet, herself, whom he called first in body refinement, and Tang Buye, who now stood first in battle achievements on the Heaven-Connecting Platform…

Defeating the former first made oneself first.

How could it not be glorious?

Seeing Jian Chou fall into contemplation, Zhou Chengjiang guessed what she was thinking and couldn’t help but laugh.

“So being able to defeat me is indeed Fellow Daoist Jian Chou’s honor.”

Jian Chou had heard the word “honor” too many times.

But only this time did she feel genuinely convinced, so she raised her wine jar again, lightly clinked it against Zhou Chengjiang’s, and said: “Indeed an honor.”

“Clink.”

A light sound.

Meeting a kindred spirit over a cup of wine.

Jian Chou tilted her head back and drank half the jar, feeling only an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Though Zhou Chengjiang was injured, cultivators’ bodies weren’t so particular, so he also drank heartily. Wiping the wine from his chin with his sleeve, he looked at Jian Chou with eyes full of emotion: “A few years ago, I wouldn’t have believed I could lose.”

Jian Chou didn’t speak.

Zhou Chengjiang also fell silent for a moment.

Only the long wind blew over the river, with the sound of rushing water.

Songs from fishing boats drifted from afar—on this Jiutou River outside Kunwu, there was still soil for mortals and low-cultivation people to survive.

Listening to these songs, Jian Chou’s heart gradually calmed.

However…

That thought that had floated in her mind for a long time finally emerged irrepressibly.

The Dragon Scale Dao Seal that Zhou Chengjiang had displayed today had several subtle aspects, and compared to before, its amplification of speed and strength was also greater.

Once Dragon Scale Body Covering was activated, his entire being became like a giant dragon.

But after deducing for so long, she was still just a thread away from breaking through…

Just this one line.

After thinking for a long time, she finally put down her wine jar and turned her head.

On the other side, Zhou Chengjiang had also been thinking for a long time and couldn’t help himself either.

The two almost simultaneously turned to look at each other and spoke at the same time—

“Dragon Scale Dao Seal…”

“Body refinement method…”

Then they both froze.

Zhou Chengjiang’s expression immediately changed, and Jian Chou’s gaze at him also became strange.

The two stared at each other for a long while, then somehow burst into laughter simultaneously!

“Hahaha…”

Jian Chou truly hadn’t expected that she and Zhou Chengjiang were the same type of person!

As early as their battle on Jiutou River, Zhou Chengjiang had noticed something odd about the Dao Seal Jian Chou used when fighting him, but he didn’t know where Jian Chou had learned techniques extremely similar to the Dragon Scale Dao Seal, which had distracted him.

He had been extremely suspicious at the time.

Even in the Central Domain, stealing techniques wasn’t something that could be easily tolerated.

But Zhou Chengjiang hadn’t dared to be certain and had never had another chance to inquire about this matter.

He hadn’t expected that just when he wanted to ask Jian Chou about her body refinement method, Jian Chou would also take the initiative to ask about “Dragon Scale Dao Seal.”

This was practically a confession!

Zhou Chengjiang sighed deeply, but certain thoughts also became active.

What body refinement method was it exactly…

He turned his gaze to look at Jian Chou.

At this moment, Jian Chou had also gradually stopped laughing and was looking at Zhou Chengjiang with a strange expression.

The two again showed amazing synchronization—

“How about…”

“How about…”

Before the words could fully land, Zhou Chengjiang had already read Jian Chou’s eyes, and Jian Chou understood the ambition in Zhou Chengjiang’s eyes.

The two smiled at each other, directly clapped hands in agreement, and laughed loudly in unison, startling a flock of birds!

The birds flapped their wings and flew from the banks of Jiutou River toward the distance.

Behind Kunwu Mountain.

In a certain mountain hollow.

Qian Que crouched beside a patch of grass where a burly man lay with a long staff beside him.

“Wake up, wake up!”

With some spiritual energy in his hand, Qian Que patted Meng Xizhou’s face.

Originally, he was about to leave, but at the crucial moment, he slapped his forehead and suddenly remembered there was still a Meng Xizhou whom he had knocked unconscious. If Kunwu disciples found him, there would inevitably be more trouble.

Moreover, Kunwu was still Gu Qingmei’s territory.

Even for Jian Chou’s sake, he couldn’t stand by and watch.

So at that moment, Qian Que actually ran back and found Meng Xizhou again.

After a few pats, Meng Xizhou came to. Opening his eyes, he saw a slightly chubby man with a golden abacus squatting in front of him.

He was somewhat surprised, his head still dizzy, not yet reacting.

Meng Xizhou had been knocked out by too much spiritual wine from Qian Que earlier. He only remembered Qian Que’s face: “You…”

“Good that you’re awake. Don’t say ‘you you you’—Fellow Daoist Meng Xizhou, I have great news! That senior from Killing Red Small Realm is at the Zuosanqian Small Gathering!”

“What!”

All of Meng Xizhou’s sleepiness instantly vanished. He did a carp leap from the ground, grabbed his long staff with one hand, and his eyes practically glowed.

“You’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious.” Qian Que rolled his eyes. “Kunwu’s Gu Qingmei confirmed it personally. The second trial of the small gathering is about to begin outside. Don’t you want to go look?”

“Go! I’m going! Of course I’m going!”

Heavens!

Meng Xizhou felt somewhat dizzy.

Holding his long staff, his heart was boiling.

A battleaxe—his peerless hero!

At this moment, he completely forgot to settle accounts with Qian Que about missing the small gathering and asked without hesitation: “Which way?”

“That way.”

Qian Que pointed directly in the direction, calculated that an hour was almost up, and chuckled—he’d see if Meng Xizhou could recognize her.

He really hoped Gu Qingmei’s injuries weren’t too severe…

Otherwise…

A cold glint flashed in Qian Que’s eyes: he’d have to give this vicious Kunwu fellow some payback later. For now, he’d let Meng Xizhou go out and annoy her.

In Killing Red Small Realm, Gu Qingmei had no friends at all, while Jian Chou was exactly the opposite.

Thinking about it, Qian Que was also emotional.

At that time, Jian Chou hadn’t revealed any of her identity, remained silent throughout, yet still earned everyone’s goodwill. This showed that birth and status couldn’t represent everything.

Character was the key.

After sighing inwardly, when Qian Que looked up again, Meng Xizhou had already disappeared.

“Dong—”

A long bell tone echoed throughout Kunwu.

On the front mountain, just as Meng Xizhou’s feet touched the ground, a moon-white figure descended from the distance and landed on the Heaven-Connecting Platform that stood 330 zhang high.

The other eight people on the Heaven-Connecting Platforms almost simultaneously looked toward Jian Chou.

Tang Buye, Xia Houshe, Jiang Wenchao, Lu Xiangleng, Wei Lin…

One after another.

Young Master Ruhua looked at her with a smile, his finger pointing at his plump lips, revealing an extremely ambiguous expression.

…

Jian Chou remained unmoved.

Below, Meng Xizhou’s gaze swept over each person, feeling only confusion: Uh… didn’t they say the senior participated in the small gathering? Why didn’t any of these people have solid muscles and a robust physique?

Looking at each of these weak and sickly appearances…

Meng Xizhou immediately frowned: Where was the senior?

He scratched the back of his head, trying to find the senior he had long admired among these nine people, but simply couldn’t.

Qian Que followed from behind and, seeing Meng Xizhou constantly staring at the nine people on the platform, was almost dying of laughter inside.

Jian Chou didn’t yet know a troublesome fellow had arrived below. She had temporarily put away her ghost axe, though light flickered at her brow center, ready to summon it at any moment.

Facing everyone’s searching gazes, Jian Chou gave no response.

Her mind still echoed with the “selfless exchange” she’d had with Zhou Chengjiang, giving her a sense of enlightenment.

Fudao Shanren had walked to the front, clapped his hands, and announced loudly: “The hour has come! The second trial, Sky Sea Kill Earthworm… no, Dragon Hunt, officially begins! You shall enter the Sky Sea with random landing points. When the black dragon dies, this trial ends! Enter the sea!”

Enter the sea!

With Fudao Shanren’s loud shout, everyone on the Heaven-Connecting Platforms straightened their bodies.

Jian Chou let her hands hang at her sides, but the light at her brow center had a soul-stirring quality. She narrowed her eyes slightly and looked up toward Tang Buye at the highest position: A Northern Domain cultivator who had come to Central Domain territory, and according to Fudao Shanren, this round actually had no rules…

That meant whoever played smartest would make the rules!

Perhaps…

She could pull off something big.

Jian Chou withdrew her gaze. Seeing that Xia Houshe and others were all unhesitatingly diving into the high sky’s deep sea, she also rode the wind upward.

The moment she approached the Sky Sea above the firmament, a current of seawater naturally separated from the endless ocean, as if to guide Jian Chou, enveloping her.

Jian Chou was immediately surrounded by seawater, then suddenly the scene before her eyes changed—she seemed to have suddenly entered a mirror.

Heaven and earth reversed.

Behind her, the sky was etched with every blade of grass and tree on Kunwu Mountain, while before her suddenly became an endless ocean!

A small island suddenly appeared at the edge of Jian Chou’s vision.

But at the same time, she also saw not far away another figure falling toward this same island—