Chang Yiming’s plan was simple. It was to set up an arena and select the strongest genius among them. By then, naturally, there wouldn’t be that many people coming up the mountains to disturb them.

  Huo Yun was doubtful. “Is this feasible? Firstly our sect isn’t a sacred land, and secondly, we don’t have a widespread talented genius. If you set up an arena, how would anyone acknowledge us?”


  Zhang Junbao agreed, “You’ve got a point there. The talented are mostly arrogant. If they came, would they be willing to wait for the other talented ones to fight for the rankings? Of course they wouldn’t. Since the ranking does not have enough acknowledgment from others, they’d rather directly challenge Linglong herself.”


  “Our sect is still too weak!” Chang Yiming lamented.

  Everyone kept their silence.

  In the past, Mu Shuiyun had forced her way into the Jiuyang Sect just because her son died. She wanted to sacrifice the innocent disciples for her son’s burial. A few days ago, the 18th Prince of Great Zhou Dynasty did not care to get permission before barging into Chuyang Peak.

  It all came down to the same thing—the sect was too weak.

  Zi Linglong kept quiet the whole time, with her eyes glistening in purity, listening to the whole discussion. Seeing everyone kept quiet, she blinked and muttered, “Then what should we do?”


  Zhang Junbao sighed. “Although Linglong has a high cultivation base, she’s not even in her 20s, and yet she has to face such problems. We and our Masters cannot help out much, I… I’m quite disappointed in myself. I used to proclaim myself to be a genius but when it matters the most, I cannot help out one bit.”


  Huo Yun and Chang Yiming were both bitter and astringent.

  Jiang Ming, who kept silent the whole time, finally spoke up. “Senior Zhang, this isn’t your fault!” He then looked at Zi Linglong and asked, “Do you have any needs for spiritual items to aid your cultivation but the sect cannot provide them?”


  “There are!” Zi Linglong tilted his little head and replied earnestly, “Such as the Lunar Stone, Water Crystals, the Nine Yin Flower, Acheron Fruit, and so on!”


  Zi Linglong did not hold back nor was there any need to when it came to the items she needed for her cultivation.

  She could guess what her Senior Brother was planning on doing and was down for it.

  Jiang Ming said, “Then we can just challenge them to a duel directly! We will say that Linglong does not want to be disturbed during her cultivation as an excuse and ask that the one who wants to challenge her to bet on spiritual items such as Lunar Stone and Water crystal if they want to challenge her!”


  Chang Yiming, Huo Yun, and Zhang Junbao were all puzzled. They had never heard anything about the Lunar Stone or the Acheron Fruit. They even thought that the Lunar Stone was a stone agglomerated from the sun!

  Zhang Junbao asked, “What if they do not have the spiritual items and still demand a duel?”


  Jiang Ming blurted out, “Slaughter!” He made a pause before continuing. “If they want to challenge us, then they will have to abide by our rules. If they break the rules, we will just slaughter them!”


  Zhang Junbao asked, “But what if they have strong backgrounds? What if the opponents are too strong for her? Can we guarantee that Linglong will emerge victorious for every duel?”


  Jiang Ming replied with a smile, “If she loses even once, there won’t be anyone who will challenge her anymore. Moreover, our Sect Master has already stepped into the Primal Spirit Realm. With him looking over her from the shadows, it won’t be a problem!”


  After some more discussion, the trio left.

  Gu Hai, who had been sitting through the whole thing in silence, finally spoke up. He advised, “Don’t kill if you don’t really have to. We need to be humble. Only then can we go further and live freely!”


  “If the enemy already forced their way to our doorsteps, how can we still back down? Do we purposely admit defeat?” Jiang Ming shook his head and added, “I think Junior Sister will not agree to this as well.”


  Zi Linglong said, “Forge ahead with bravery and diligence! Only then can we continuously breakthrough! If we back down and admit defeat because of hardships, it is bad for the spirit!”


  Gu Hai was baffled. “But… But…There is a high chance that we will be facing all the talented geniuses from both the Zhong Province and Eastern Region! How can we keep ourselves emerging victorious throughout the whole thing?”


  Zi Linglong replied, “Losing in battle and admitting defeat are two different things! Master, you don’t have to worry about this!”


  Jiang Ming said, “What you should do now is to ask if the Sect Master has any good spiritual items for the duel.”


  Gu Hai sighed. “Really… the two of you! Can’t get my words into your heads anymore!” He cast a spell into the distance.

  Not long after, the Sect Master arrived.

  Zi Linglong said, “Sect Master, what I’ve formed is the Yang Dao Seed and fully mastered all special abilities the sect has to offer. The special abilities I gained from outside are at the brim of full mastery, and I need to duel others to win myself the spiritual items to fully grasp the Yin Sambodha.”


  The Sect Master was astonished at first, before slowly turning agitated. In the end, he laughed out loud.

  He went back without hesitation and took a piece of Sun Stone out of the treasure vault. It was the sect’s uncommon treasure, encased in strong fire energy.

  When the Sect Master returned to Chuyang Peak, he handed over the spiritual item to Gu Hai for safekeeping. Following that, he sternly instructed Zi Linglong, “If you find yourself to be unable to win the fight, do not force yourself. Always remember!”


  Zi Linglong nodded in response.

  After that, they started tackling each scenario that might come up during the plan.

  Jiang Ming suggested that for convenience, a mountain gate could be opened on the east side to allow straight access to Chuyang Peak. It would help to avoid each challenger from affecting the sect’s peacefulness and causing any chaos.

  The Sect Master considered significantly before agreeing.

  Chuyang Peak was located at the east of the sect. The Sect Master went ahead and used his great mana to build a mason staircase that extended out of the mountain. He also made a few pavilions along the way.

  Following that, he erected a piece of stone tablet outside of the main gate, with the rules of the duel engraved onto it.

  In Zi Linglong’s room…


  Zi Linglong thought with her arms crossed, ‘I exposed my phoenix bloodline too early and caused a chain reaction, such as Mu Lei’s early death and Bai Yu’s agonized death, leaving everything in a mess!

  ‘Well, either way, it’s a small thing. I’ll just use this opportunity to start collecting some spiritual items that help speed up my comprehension of Yin Sambodha, forming the Yin Dao Seed. Once my Yin Dao Seed is equally strong to my Yang Dao Seed, I will be able to fuse them into the Yin-Yang Dao Seed and realize a dual cultivation foundation.’


  As Zi Linglong continued pondering, she frowned. ‘But… even though my phoenix bloodline may have caused Mu Lei’s jealousy, how did it implicate Bai Yu’s death? Through all this chaos, I always felt there’s someone up there manipulating the whole thing! And I wonder who killed Bai Yu…’


  She was constantly trying to unravel the whole thing, only to realize some things did not make any sense, yet she could not quite find the source of it. Thus, she continued contemplating and sat cross-legged on her bed. ‘Why am I even pondering so much over this? Given my current speed of growth, I have no one to fear. Even if there’s any incident throughout this whole thing, I can just activate the spell and expend my latent energy to directly breakthrough to the Primal Spirit Realm. By then, protecting my Senior Brother will not be a problem!’


  …


  Meanwhile, Jiang Ming was still on the rooftop.

  He had to keep watch to avoid any unforeseen accidents.

  Although he was confident that his Junior Sister would be safe and sound under his supervision, he could not stop himself from feeling worried.

  The next day…


  Early in the morning outside of Chuyang Peak, a man sat cross-legged on a stone beneath the stone tablet, waiting patiently. That man was Hao Chen, Shaoyang Peak’s First Seat.

  The 100-feet-tall stone tablet stood there, radiating a strong aura across miles.

  As morning went by, a group of young people started to be attracted.

  When they saw the content engraved on the stone tablet, the blue-clad man, who was also the leader of the group, could not help but snicker. “Turning the challenge into a duel and betting on these rare spiritual items? How arrogant of the Jiuyang Sect!”


  His words were echoed by others. They began discussing the whole matter.

  “Being poor drives them nuts I guess. Do they really think just because of the phoenix bloodline, they are invincible and can trample over the generation? How arrogant!”


  “It’s a small sect and to think that just because they defeated Zhou Tian, they are capable of racking in profits with this duel? How absurd! When compared all over Zhong Province, Zhou Tian doesn’t even rank high!”


  “Coming over to challenge is just us lowering our standards and giving them some credit. Now, they make it look like it’s us trying desperately, asking them to accept the duel instead! Such humiliation!”


  While they were discussing, one of them even went up and tried to smash the engraved stone tablet.

  A long slashing sound echoed as the First Seat Hao Chen opened his eyes. He forced the young man to retreat with just a slash.

  At the same time, he said, “This is our Jiuyang Sect’s territory. We make the rules! Come if you comply, leave if you don’t! Any attack on the stone tablet signifies waging war against the Jiuyang Sect…… I will forgive the first offense! But if there’s a second, then prepare for a battle to the death!”