My Scales Can Make Equivalent Exchange
Chapter 210: I’m Still Young, I’m Innocent

Chapter 210: Chapter 210: I’m Still Young, I’m Innocent

"What a joke, as if the Yue Family deserves this. All they have is one barely surviving patriarch who has barely made it to the Elder Council. Does that make them qualified to preside over such significant matters in the Inner Sect?"

"I heard a bit of news, though. It’s said that our Sect and the Devil Gate are going to war, full-scale warfare. This task of vein control this time may be intended to secure logistics in advance, specifically assigning one vein to handle logistical tasks."

"What on earth... I heard that Elder Qianhu wants to expand into the Fox Language Demon Forest in the west, planning to enlarge the perimeter of the Sect, hence he set up this vein-opening task."

"Well, I heard something different. There’s a situation in the Qinglian World, and they’re preparing for expansion into the Lower Realms."

"What in the world... why are there so many different versions? And what does this have to do with that Yue Lai guy?"

"Well, not entirely. In the few versions I heard, it was the Ancestor of the Yue Family who spurred things on, eventually granting the first prize winner of this competition the vein control right. If it weren’t for him, there were plans specifically to select someone for the task."

"I see, no wonder there are rumors throughout the Entire Sect that the Ancestor of the Yue Family has manipulated things for personal gain."

"This is probably a piece of news deliberately released by an elder who’s unhappy, just to unsettle the patriarch of the Yue Family!"

"He serves him right. I really can’t stand that showing-off Yue Lai. He thinks he’s so great. Without the support of the Yue Family, could he be much better than us?"

"······"

Wang Zijia listened quietly to all kinds of messages. The gossip these people talked about was entirely confidential within the Sect.

During his first visit, although he appeared rather illusory due to the order symbol, he still lingered for a long time, chatting idly with many people. He estimated that it was getting late, so he finally exited the Taoist Fantasy.

"······"

Because the final match for the top thousand was different from the previous draft race and preliminary race—it wasn’t the traditional ring contest but a big melee—it filtered the contestants relatively quickly.

The top hundred contestants were selected on the first and second days; and on the third day, or rather, yesterday, the top ten came out.

Last night, Wang Zijia received the match notice: today was the final match for the top ten contestants.

Twelve people competed for the top ten spots. The extra two would be placed eleventh and twelfth, but the rewards they would receive were equal to those of the tenth, and thus considered tied for tenth.

Therefore, Wang Zijia got up early today. Fei Fei and his friends hadn’t slept well either, apparently worried about him.

After they completed their morning rituals and breakfast in distraction, they once again headed to the Etiquette Institute Square at the foot of Qifeng Mountain.

At this moment, the Etiquette Institute Square was already crowded with people, much more popular than it had been for the past two days. Some people even stayed overnight without resting just to secure a good spot to watch the competition live.

Even though there were direct live broadcasts by certain Array Institutes, it still did not affect the popularity of the site.

After Wang Zijia arrived at the square, he and Fei Fei separated. They went to the family area while Wang Zijia went to the exclusive platform reserved for the Taoist candidates.

"King Road Seed, keep up your spirits for today!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Brother Wang, why don’t you team up with Brother Liu and the others as soon as you enter and directly eliminate that boastful Yue Lai."

"I will do my best!"

"······"

As Wang Zijia had been mingling in the Taoist Fantasy for a few days, many people had become acquainted with him, so as soon as he arrived on the platform, there were warm greetings all around.

Wang Zijia greeted everyone with a smile and then finally took his exclusive position.

"Senior Sister Lu, please show some mercy later!" said Wang Zijia, stopping by Lu Qianrou’s side. "We are all from Talisman Court, after all, right?"

Lu Qianrou glanced at Wang Zijia indifferently, showing no interest in engaging with him. She gave off a cold air, maintaining a not-so-friendly demeanor.

Wang Zijia was most taken aback by Lu Qianrou’s advancement to the top ten.

He had thought earlier that Gu Xuefeng was more likely to make it to that level than Lu Qianrou, considering he was a respected Taoist candidate who was also a Sword repair. However, yesterday Gu Xuefeng was eliminated at the penultimate spot and his ranking stopped at the fourteenth position.

But her advancement wasn’t solely due to her own strength. Yesterday, during Wang Zijia’s observation of the match, he saw Gu Xuefeng colluding with her at least three times.

There was even a close-up of one of these instances by the presiding array’s broadcast mentor, which sparked a tide of gossip.

"Senior Brother Gu, you worked so hard yesterday. Did Senior Sister Lu invite you to have some fun last night?" asked Wang Zijia, seeing Lu Qianrou ignore him as he switched targets.

"Junior Brother Wang, this kind of joke shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s fine for me, but don’t mar Senior Sister Lu’s reputation," responded Gu Xuefeng, who was usually silent, to Wang Zijia’s words, cautiously glancing at Lu Qianrou.

At this moment, Lu Qianrou coldly stared at Wang Zijia. Her gaze was as sharp as a knife, making Wang Zijia feel a chill down his spine.

"Senior Brother Gu, what are you thinking? I was asking if Senior Sister Lu invited you to Ling Tower for a meal," said Wang Zijia, innocently and with puzzlement. "From my observations yesterday, your teamwork was quite harmonious. I thought you two were good friends!"

Gu Xuefeng’s face stiffened. Looking at Wang Zijia’s innocent face, he blushed slightly. He quickly explained, "We still need to prepare for today’s competition. I didn’t dare to disturb her."

Having said that, he decisively ignored Wang Zijia from then on, sitting quietly with his eyes closed, his sword hugging posture upright, like a sharp sword about to leap out.

He’s good-looking but too boring.

If he were to get together with Lu Qianrou and they had a child, they would need to be very unlucky to be born into such an icy family.

While bored, Wang Zijia looked at the two next to him. His thoughts wandered, and he even thought about what to call the grandson of these people, which was quite nonsensical.

"······"

About half a moment later, as the sun began to rise and the morning mist was about to dissipate, several light columns rose again from the squares of the Etiquette Institute.

An energy cover that looked like an air wall extended quickly in the sky. With numerous runes flashing, a huge sphere floated above everyone’s heads. Inside the sphere, mountains, rivers, lakes, and rivers could be vaguely seen, looking like a mini world.

Even though he had been watching for three days, Wang Zijia was still a bit stunned. Only by watching this scene that resembled the creation of the world and heaven could one feel its awe and truly understand how strong the Wanyu Immortal Sect was.

"Please, contestants, take your positions!"

With a voice echoing in the sky, eleven stairways emerged on the Taoist platform, extending upward. They converged into a platform in front of the sphere.

In addition to the eleven stairways on the Taoist platform, an unobtrusive staircase also extended from a seat in the crowd below.

This person was the dark horse of this competition. He was as unknown as Wang Zijia before the competition and half a year prior until he broke out on the day of the hundred-people competition yesterday.