183: Chapter 183 is truly a conspiracy! Short-sighted, prioritizing strength above all else!

If he were in some secluded corner where no one was around, he would have enjoyed the upgrade on the spot.

But with five Dharma Form Grandmasters standing right here and over a dozen Divine Intent powerhouses watching, upgrading the template now would likely cause a commotion that could blow away half of the capital.

"Stay calm, stay calm."

Lu Qingyun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging excitement within him.

His face remained impassive, maintaining that innocent and well-behaved appearance, as if he wasn't clutching a national treasure, but merely a common stone.

In the arena, the Grey-robed Elder finished speaking and swept his gaze over the remaining few.

Master Ming exchanged a look with the other four Dharma Form Grandmasters, and they all nodded in unison.

"The candidates have been decided, there is no need to linger."

The Grey-robed Elder waved his hand lightly, and the heavy alloy gate of the arena slid open with a boom.

A crowd of people swarmed in from outside, all of them possessing steady auras, with the weakest being at least in the Yu Kong Realm; they were clearly the pre-selected candidates.

Lu Qingyun glanced up, and his eye twitched on the spot.

At the very front of the crowd, Luo Qing, dressed in a sharp white martial outfit, was walking in with her chin held high; she was surprisingly in the group.

"?"

Lu Qingyun looked at the expressionless Master Ming, then at the composed Luo Qing, and couldn't help but lower his voice, muttering like a buzzing mosquito: "Rigged, it's fucking rigged."

He had assumed that qualification for this Origin of Martial Dao required placing in the top few of the tournament.

Yet Luo Qing?

This girl was blown away by the shockwaves right at the start of the chaotic battle, a pure one-round loser, and she actually managed to sneak in?

Whether there was something shady going on here, you could tell just by using your toes to think.

He thought he had kept his voice extremely low.

But what kind of people were present?

The weakest were at the Sky-Flying Realm, with senses sharp enough to hear an ant crawling a hundred meters away.

This sentence fell lightly into their ears, no different from having a loudspeaker playing it on loop right next to them.

The entire venue went silent for half a second.

Luo Qing's little face turned bright red to the roots of her ears, both ashamed and angry, and she glared fiercely at Lu Qingyun.

She didn't recognize that this was Chen Luo, but this insufferable tone, this sarcastic manner, was cut from the same cloth as that perverted teacher!

How could this guy be so hateful too!

Beside them, several Divine Intent powerhouses and surviving Prodigies had their shoulders shaking from holding back, heads lowered and mouths tightly pressed, fearing they would laugh out loud.

Daring to call the official side rigged right in front of five Dharma Form Grandmasters, only this Tyrannosaurus War God would dare to do such a thing.

Only the five Dharma Form Grandmasters remained expressionless, not even lifting an eyelid, as if they had heard nothing.

They were old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years, after all; their depths were unfathomable.

Only Master Ming's cheek muscles twitched, his face darkening significantly as he glared fiercely at Lu Qingyun and spoke in a deep voice: "There is no time to delay, we depart immediately!"

Everyone stopped delaying and filed out of the arena.

On the tarmac, three pitch-black heavy fighter jets with sharp lines were parked quietly.

Their fuselages were engraved with defensive runes, and their rotors hummed; just looking at them exuded a fierce sense of technology.

These were the exclusive martial arts fighter jets of the Huaxia officialdom, capable of crossing Vicious Beast forbidden zones, with the cost of a single unit comparable to that of a small city.

The others looked indifferent, clearly accustomed to such high-end equipment, and boarded the planes one by one.

Only Lu Qingyun stared straight at them.

Good heavens!

This thing was much more domineering than the fighter jets of his previous life!

In both his lifetimes combined, he had never ridden such a rare contraption.

Lu Qingyun didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest; he stepped up, touching this and poking that, his fingertips knocking against the alloy fuselage with a thud, his face full of curiosity, no different from a country bumpkin who had just entered the city.

This appearance fell into the eyes of the crowd, and for many, the wariness they originally held toward him faded a bit, with a hint of contempt quietly creeping into their eyes.

No matter how strong he was, he was just a wild Loose Cultivator; treating even standard official fighter jets like treasures, his perspective was only so limited.

Mu Susu watched with cold eyes, a hint of undisguised mockery curling the corner of her mouth.

She walked slowly to Lu Qingyun's side, her voice cold and filled with condescending disdain: "Heh, it's no wonder you are so short-sighted. Having never seen the world, it's only normal."

In her eyes, Lu Qingyun did have some strength, but he was fundamentally a frog in a well.

If a mere mundane fighter jet could make him lose his composure, with such a narrow vision, he surely didn't know the correct way to use the Star Stone at all!

Lu Qingyun's hand paused, and he turned his head slowly.

He scanned Mu Susu up and down, then looked at the surrounding gazes, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

His voice was neither loud nor soft, just right for everyone around to hear clearly: "I am a bit short-sighted."

"But that doesn't stop me from being able to slaughter everyone here, including you, without leaving a single one alive."

"Heh, a bunch of ants."

He wore a smile, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

That indifference, stemming from a difference in the level of life, was like a basin of ice water poured over their heads, instantly choking off the discussions of the entire crowd in their throats.

The air suddenly dropped to freezing point.

No one thought he was joking.

Slapping away Mu Susu, who could crush a Peak Divine Will, and picking off kills in the chaotic battle as easily as taking something out of a pocket... what this guy said about "slaughtering everyone" was in all likelihood not just bragging.

The smiles on the faces of several Divine Intent powerhouses who were secretly laughing just moments ago instantly froze, replaced by gravity and uncontrollable anger.

But their clenched fists loosened and tightened again, and in the end, they dared not stand up to retort.

When your strength is inferior to others, talking tough is just asking for death.

This point is more applicable in the High Martial World than any other logic.

Seeing the venue dead silent, with not a single person daring to respond, Lu Qingyun found it boring instead and shrugged.

He shifted his feet and walked straight to Mu Susu's side, sitting down without any precaution, and his large hand naturally and matter-of-factly wrapped around the young girl's slender waist.

The touch was warm and soft, fitting perfectly in his grip.

Mu Susu's body froze instantly.

All the hair on her body stood up at that moment, and an indescribable sense of nausea rushed straight to her head.

That absurd thought from before now slammed into her mind with absolute clarity—before she descended into this vessel, this Lu Qingyun had definitely done something to this body!