Is she acting this way because of Chu Chuyan and Zu An’s relationship? A sort of ‘love me, love my dog’ thing?

But that doesn’t make sense either! With her usual nature, it would already be quite tolerant of her to not try to break up Chu Chuyan and Zu An after their marriage. How could she go so far as to protect that man?

People all had different suspicions. The big shots of the different sects barely remained calm, but the younger generation was left in absolute disarray.

After all, Zu An and Chu Chuyan’s relationship had really raised a storm two days prior. Now, Sect Master Yan was even expressing such a stance. Didn’t that mean she approved of their relationship?

Ahhh! Just what kind of superpower does that pretty face have?!

You have successfully trolled the disciples for +233 +233 +233…

Amid the crowd, Qiu Honglei said to Yun Jianyue in dissatisfaction, “Master, it looks like our previous plan isn’t going to work.”

Furthermore, judging from Yan Xuehen’s appearance, it even seemed she was actually pretty satisfied with Ah Zu as a son-in-law. If she acted as a matchmaker between Zu An and Chu Chuyan, everything they had just done would only amount to shooting themselves in the foot!

Yun Jianyue was also a bit confused, wondering, “What in the world is going on with that stone cold woman? This doesn’t match her personality at all!”

She had fought against Yan Xuehen for countless years, and probably understood her better than anyone else. No matter which direction she looked at it from, there should have been no reason for Yan Xuehen to speak up for Zu An.

Could it be that after all of that in the Fiend race territories, she really does treat Zu An as a friend already?

…

Just then, Wang Wuxie cleared his throat and said, “Sir Zu naturally has the qualifications to be a judge; it has already been decided. There is no need for further discussion. Everyone should focus on the competition to come.”

He thought to himself, Seeing as Yan Xuehen is covering for Zu An, I have to show her some consideration.

Huh? Wait, is she covering for Zu An for my sake?

After all, I was the one who proposed to have Zu An as a judge.

When he thought of that, his resolve became firmer. He even felt a bit absentminded for a moment.

Zhi Yin and Lou Wucheng opened their mouths, but in the end, they didn’t dare to say anything else. Such huge backers as Wang Wuxie and Yan Xuehen had already spoken. If they continued to press the issue, that would seem way too rude.

Zu An didn’t even move his fingers during the entire process, but he earned a huge batch of Rage points nonetheless. He thought, Big sis Yan still cares about me after all. She isn’t going to stand around and let others bully me.

Wang Wuxie sat down. He allowed the masters of the other peaks to introduce the details of the competition.

As there were nine sects, they had decided to have nine groups. The group stage would have them fight against each other in a rotation. The winners would obtain three points, while ties would result in one each. The losers would obtain zero points. In the end, only the first place of each group would automatically receive the qualification to enter the daoist sects’ secret dungeon. The rules were quite strict, so none of the disciples wanted to lose. Otherwise, they wouldn’t necessarily even have a chance of getting one of the spots.

Of course, for the sake of fairness, the greatest disciples of each sect were put into different groups to prevent them from meeting too early and causing someone weaker to become the leader of their group.

Apart from that, the top eight in every group would be part of an elimination competition against each other. Four of them would then enter together with the previous first placers, granting a total of thirteen individuals the qualification to enter the secret dungeon. To a certain degree, the elimination competition would be the most bitter fight, because that would be their last chance.

The rules were actually quite lax compared to before, however. In the past, apart from the nine first placers in the group stage, only a single winner among the others had qualified, leaving only ten people who had the right to enter the secret dungeon. As such, each time, several people had always lost their limbs or even become cripples. The elimination round had always been more intense than the fight to become number one in the group stage.

This time, however, the great sects had decided that leaving open a single slot for everyone else was just too cruel. In order to encourage the other outstanding disciples of the sects, they had decided to increase the number of slots to four.

…

When he heard these familiar rules, Zu An was a bit dazed. The structure was practically the same as it had been in the sports competitions of his previous world.

The national soccer team doesn’t have much time left…

Fortunately, he didn’t have to waste any more energy on calculating the odds of the national soccer team.

Just then, Watchful Heart Peak’s Feng Wuchang took out a transparent crystal and said in a bright and clear voice, “For the sake of encouraging the disciples of the nine sects and increasing people’s competitiveness, come and have your cultivation tested according to the list. Then, we will start dividing everyone into groups.”

Every great competition would only have a bit over ten slots at most. Most people were doomed to only make the winners look better. No matter how hard they tried, there was no way they could defeat the legendary representative disciples of each sect. As such, there hadn’t been all that many who wanted to participate, and even if they did, they had often held back without going all out.

That wasn’t what the elders of the nine sects wanted at all. They wanted their disciples to cultivate earnestly. Thus, someone had thought of a solution, which was to test the disciples’ cultivation before they participated. Even though one’s cultivation rank didn’t represent one’s real strength, they were still correlated in most cases.

With that vague ‘ranking’ list, the disciples would be motivated. Even if they couldn't win against those bastards who were blessed by the heavens, they could still fight against those in another sect whose cultivations were around the same as theirs, right?

Some people’s cultivation ranks turned out to be quite high. Others had lower cultivation ranks, but they were still quite young and were better than others at their age… In either case, it was something to be proud of. Even though classical literature always said to not care too much about fame and profit, wasn’t that what all those who lived in this world cared about? Who didn’t want to brag in their circles?

Furthermore, if they had a good showing in the test, even if they couldn't get one of the quotas, they could still catch the attention of their sect’s leaders. Then, they stood a chance of getting more cultivation resources. Even though they couldn't compare to the representative disciples now, who said they would never catch up?

Don’t look down on the poor and young now!

When they saw the disciples’ eager expressions, the sect masters all nodded in appreciation. Only by stirring their disciples’ enthusiasm would their sects prosper.

Of course, there was another reason for the test. That way, when they divided the disciples into groups, the distribution would be more even. Otherwise, the strongest people could accidentally end up being put in the same group, causing the leading candidate of that group to waste too much energy and make it unfavorable for them later when they had to strive against the best of the other groups.

As for whether or not those representative disciples would make it out of the group stage, they didn’t even consider that possibility. Anyone who could become one of the most important disciples was definitely far above their peers. There was no way they wouldn’t be able to make it out of the group stage.

“Righteous Sun Sect, Zhang Xi!” Feng Wuchang began, calling out the names on the list. As the ones hosting this event, they naturally had to be the first ones. Furthermore, it couldn't be someone who was too weak, or else it would hurt their sect’s reputation; however, they couldn't immediately bring out their trump card Wu Xiaofan. As such, Zhang Xi from Watchful Heart Peak was their best candidate.

Zhang Xi sorted out his clothes. He walked toward the stage with a composed expression. Because he had been the one receiving guests by the entrance, practically everyone recognized him.

The result quickly came out: Eighth rank!

A small commotion broke out in the plaza. The Righteous Sun Sect really was powerful now; even the disciple who watched the entrance was at the eighth rank! After all, over half the people present were far from his level.

Zhang Zijiang’s expression turned grave. He said quietly to Zu An, “This person’s strength is already enough to make him a city lord. I hadn’t expected the disciples of these sects to have already reached this level! We’ll have to make a report once we go back. If this trend continues, that won’t be a good thing for the court!”

What the f*ck is this? A young disciple’s cultivation is already almost at my level! That’s unforgivable!

Zu An said calmly, “Don’t worry. These sects have limited resources and can only produce a few elite cultivators. Their foundation and reserves are too sparse compared to the court’s.”

Zhang Zijiang thus felt a bit more relieved.

Zhang Xi vaguely picked up on the surrounding discussions. He couldn't help but stick out his chest proudly. He thought, I should be able to get the attention of many junior sisters like this, right? But my heart still belongs to Fairy Chu and Fairy Pei.

Suddenly, he remembered the rumors surrounding Chu Chuyan. His expression darkened. Forget it, it looks like Fairy Pei is my true love in this life.

…

Then, the other disciples went onto the stage one after another. Their cultivation ranks were much lower. Most of them were around the sixth or seventh rank.

Zu An couldn't help but sigh when he saw that. Sixth rank was already enough to make them a publicly known genius in Brightmoon Academy, and yet it was the lowest level here. Still, he understood that quite well. In his previous world, if one were to pick anyone from a provincial-level prestigious high school in China’s experimental program, they would basically be equivalent to a top student from rural towns and counties. Even if the worst student of Peking University were pulled out, they would most likely be equivalent to a top scorer in some cities.

“Jadefall Palace, Pei Mianman.” Feng Wuchang continued to call for disciples to check their cultivation ranks.

Zu An suddenly raised his head when he heard that name. At the same time, all around him, people audibly swallowed their saliva. Forget about the younger disciples, even the elders of the sects couldn't help but give her a few extra looks.

Calmness Temple’s Master Jian Huang even forgot his chanting of ‘I’ve sinned, I’ve sinned’. He couldn't help but raise his head to look. What replaced his muttering was ‘the sign of big disaster, big disaster!’.[1]