137: Chapter 137 Living off a woman

Zhuge Jinyu chose a tactic of detachment, quietly hanging back.

Her expression was calm as she said indifferently.

"Oh? To be noticed by Little Sister Yue, he must have some ability."

"However, with only Seventh-Stage cultivation, he is not particularly outstanding in this Spirit Realm. Perhaps it is just good luck, or he has some special methods."

She tried her best to make her assessment sound objective and detached, as if he were truly just an insignificant stranger.

Ye Jingjun chose a desperate tactic: belittling Su Chen to nothingness to clear herself of suspicion.

She sneered, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.

"Xiao Yan? Never heard of him. I recall that none of the seeded players in this tournament go by that name, right?"

"His points are rising fast?"

"I'm afraid he used some unsavory methods, or perhaps he just got lucky and is picking on the weak."

"A true genius would not just show off by pecking at other weaklings."

She disparaged him mercilessly, yet her crimson eyes couldn't help but glance toward Su Chen's direction again.

Hmph, this guy is certainly ruthless in a fight and underhanded when stealing points.

Just on these two points, his style of doing things is exactly the same as his back then.

Thinking of Su Chen, her pretty face, which she usually disguised with a strong facade, inevitably flushed with a blush unique to a young girl.

Pah, why am I thinking about him?

Ye Jingjun forcibly cut off her train of thought.

The battle was now at a white-hot stage; continuing to think of him would only weaken her combat effectiveness for no reason.

Cang Mingyue took in both of their reactions, her azure eyes blinking with a flash of realization, though she still feigned ignorance.

"Is that so? But I think he looks very serious when he fights, and very handsome too."

"If my Wangchen Temple were to truly accept a direct disciple this time, this Xiao Yan would likely be near the top of my shortlist."

"Moreover, those monsters seem to particularly like causing trouble for him."

"He has managed to handle being surrounded and attacked from several directions; surely that's not just good luck, right?"

Her words were like a small thorn, lightly prodding the already sensitive nerves of the other two.

Like to cause trouble for him?

From several directions?

Ye Jingjun and Zhuge Jinyu were both shocked, instantly understanding something.

So it wasn't just herself who was secretly "helping."

The three women fell into a brief silence once again.

The tacit understanding in the air now turned into a confrontation tinged with awkwardness and gunpowder.

They were all probing, all hiding something.

And they were all using this almost childish method to convey a concern they couldn't even explain to themselves to the person who might—or might not—be "him."

"Alright."

In the end, it was Zhuge Jinyu who broke the silence first.

After all, she had spent a few years holding a government post, and had even accidentally risen to the highest position among those who served in government.

Her statement naturally sounded bureaucratic and authoritative.

"Since you have all noticed this person, we might as well observe him a bit more."

"The Spirit Realm trial emphasizes comprehensive performance and potential of character."

"Points are only one aspect; whether one can ultimately gain the recognition of a Heroic Spirit depends on the compatibility of the soul."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Ye Jingjun and Cang Mingyue, her meaning implied.

"Especially for Heroic Spirits who harbor obsessions and are waiting for a specific person, this is even more true."

"If there is no predestined fate, forcing it is useless and may instead harm both others and oneself."

These words were spoken for them, but also for herself.

It was to remind them not to be blinded by similarities, and also to warn herself to remain calm and wait for the true answer at the moment when memories fused.

In reality, she was feeling a bit nervous and lost herself at this moment.

Because she had waited for too long, she had even become somewhat accustomed to those empty and lonely days.

Now there finally seemed to be some hope, but after the ecstasy, the emotions that followed were nervousness, bewilderment, helplessness, and anxiety over gains and losses.

She feared it would all be in vain, like drawing water with a bamboo basket, and feared it would be an even more illusory mirage after a fleeting dream.

Ye Jingjun snorted coldly, noncommittal.

She closed her crimson eyes and said nothing more, seemingly sensing something quietly.

Cang Mingyue smiled sweetly.

"Understood, Big Sister zhuge."

"Then shall we continue watching?"

She deliberately emphasized the word "watching."

Thus, in the center of the mist sea, the three beautiful phantoms fell into silence once again.

But while they didn't speak, their small actions with their hands never stopped for a moment.

Invisible spiritual energy fluctuations continued to silently converge toward a certain part of the forest.

Spawning wave after wave of "just right" monsters.

And pushing someone's points, at a jaw-dropping speed, toward the top of the leaderboard in a wild sprint.

Outside the Spirit Realm, the monitoring array of the Hall of Valor faithfully recorded everything.

The elder in charge of monitoring looked at the abnormally active monster generation fluctuations around the light spot representing "Xiao Yan."

And at that rocket-like rising point curve, his brows knitted into a knot.

The old man was eighty years old this year and didn't know how many Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremonies he had monitored.

With retirement in sight, this strange phenomenon had actually occurred in the very last session he was monitoring.

"Strange."

"Why is the spiritual energy disturbance in this area so abnormal?"

"It's as if it's being interfered with by multiple different high-level wills simultaneously."

He shook his head and pondered.

"Could a Heroic Spirit have intervened in violation of the rules ahead of time?"

"No, that can't be right. Those adults should all be in the central mist sea, and given their personalities, they have absolutely no reason to intervene."

"Forget it, I'll record it first."

"As long as it doesn't endanger the lives of the trial-takers, within the scope of the rules, a few anomalies can also be considered a type of fortune."

The elder shook his head, pushing his doubts aside for the moment.

Because very soon, he noticed a place more worthy of attention than Su Chen's location.

In the opposite direction of the "battlefield" where Su Chen was rampaging.

A blinding red light was flashing incessantly on the map.

"Oh no!"

...

Meanwhile.

In the forest, Su Chen, who had just split the core of a "Mud Colossus" with one sword strike.

He was panting heavily, looking at the points on his jade talisman breaking through 1,500, and feeling the nearly exhausted spiritual power in his body.

As well as the continuous, faint sense of oppression coming from three directions again.

He finally couldn't help but curse under his breath:

"Damn... will this ever end?"

"Are the monsters in this damn place endless?"

"Who on earth is causing trouble here? Are they testing my sustained combat ability?"

At this moment, he naturally didn't know that his actions had already attracted quite a bit of attention from the outside world.

Monsters continued to surge toward his direction endlessly.

"One thousand eight hundred... two thousand... two thousand three hundred..."

The speed at which the points were accumulating made even him, the person involved, click his tongue.

At first, he thought he had accidentally triggered some mechanism.

But when he discovered that no matter how many monsters he killed, these monsters would fearlessly charge toward his direction.

(Round one of the Shuraba has started!)

(The snacks in the backstage aren't enough for a bounty today, emm, just right, the weekend is coming, I'll add more updates on the weekend so the students reading can read more.)