Senior Brother Zhong Was Such a Straight Man?

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had gone by.

The once-every-four-years Martial Arts Exchange began at the Spirit Cloud Sect as scheduled.

Early in the morning, Zhong Yi personally brought Lu Ze to Thunder Peak's Nurturing Spirit Hall to await the arrival of the other sects.

"Senior Brother Zhong, have you ever participated in this Martial Arts Exchange?"

Since it was still early, Lu Ze struck up a casual conversation with Zhong Yi.

"Of course. Every core disciple has participated."

At the mention of the past, Zhong Yi immediately launched into an animated account of his glorious exploits.

How, before Golden Pool, his Words Become Law had left the heroes speechless.

How, atop Azure Peak, he had shattered a formation with one sword strike and routed two sects.

"Senior Brother, it was Junior Sister Li who drove back the two allied sects with one sword strike..."

Mu Yawen quietly reminded him from the side.

"Ahem, ahem. I got too carried away and mixed it up..."

Zhong Yi's old face reddened.

"Also, that debate where you fought the scholars—you didn't win in the end. I was the one who carried you out."

Mu Yawen dealt another blow.

"..." Zhong Yi glared at him. "I can handle things here by myself. How about you go back and cultivate first?"

"So, did your generation win or lose?"

Lu Ze asked curiously.

"We lost." Zhong Yi curled his lip. "We came in third."

"Oh? Were the other sects that strong?"

Lu Ze was somewhat surprised.

Judging by the Demonic Value, Zhong Yi's cultivation was definitely among the higher tier of core disciples.

As for combat ability, Li Moran was absolutely among the most exceptionally gifted.

Although Senior Brother Mu was a little too honest by nature, he was utterly reliable in battle. Lu Ze had also heard of the fearsome reputation of the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Even with those three joining forces, they could only place third?

It seemed that the Cultivation World truly hid crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

"It wasn't that they were strong... they were just too underhanded!"

Zhong Yi said bitterly.

"Junior Sister Li's talent in the sword dao was unmatched throughout history. The Endless Sword Sect didn't want to lose face, so they would rather come in last than let us take first place!"

"The Azure Peak Sect and the Limitless Sword Sect joined forces to besiege us, while the Sky Profound Gate watched the tigers fight from the mountain... It was no easy feat for us to secure third place."

After saying that, he sighed and patted Lu Ze on the shoulder.

"Junior Brother Lu, don't concern yourself with such empty fame. Just treat it as a chance to gain experience and broaden your horizons!"

Zhong Yi had seen Lu Ze's cultivation aptitude and realm for himself.

Breaking through from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment in just a few days was certainly no ordinary feat.

But before the core disciples who possessed heaven-defying talent, it amounted to nothing.

He only feared that Lu Ze would suffer a blow among so many geniuses and damage his Dao Heart, which was why he tried to comfort him.

Unexpectedly, the youth merely smiled calmly and, imitating him, patted Zhong Yi on the shoulder.

"It's fine. I'll win back the first place you lost."

Zhong Yi froze for a moment.

Then he laughed cheerfully. "If that truly happens, this senior brother will have to thank you! Hahaha!"

He did not take Lu Ze's words seriously.

Still, he found such composure of character quite rare.

Before long, the outside gradually grew noisy.

The elders and disciples of the other sects had arrived.

Zhong Yi pulled Lu Ze along and began introducing them one by one.

"The ones leading the way are from the Azure Peak Sect. You've heard of their title as the number one sect of antiquity, right? Though their reputation is impressive, they haven't produced any truly outstanding talents in recent years. In my view, they're the most mediocre."

"I heard they produced a core disciple with a single top-grade Fire Spirit Root two years ago. His talent is decent, but he's extremely domineering. You'd better be careful if you run into him."

"This group is from the Limitless Sword Sect. They're renowned across the world for their sword dao, and they should be the most troublesome in a one-on-one fight."

"The Limitless Sword Sect's True Disciples see us as mortal enemies. You'll likely get dragged into this too, so be careful of them pulling any more underhanded tricks."

"The smallest group is from the Sky Profound Gate. The Sky Profound Gate is the sect with the longest history and is deeply versed in divination. It is said that they keep many heavenly secrets within their sect; even their disciple recruitment relies on a Secret Treasure to deduce a list of names. They are the most mysterious of all."

The more Lu Ze listened, the more surreal this world seemed.

The Azure Peak Sect was domineering, the Limitless Sword Sect resorted to underhanded schemes, and the Sky Profound Gate excelled at plotting...

So who exactly was on the Demon Path?

"What about the group in the middle? Why didn't you introduce them, Senior Brother?"

Lu Ze asked curiously.

"Them... They're all female cultivators. You can tell at a glance that they're disciples of the Cloud Immortal Palace. Nothing much to say."

At the mention of the Cloud Immortal Palace, Zhong Yi immediately frowned.

Just then, the leading female cultivator among the Cloud Immortal Palace disciples suddenly turned her gaze toward them.

The instant she saw Zhong Yi, however, she quickly looked away again.

Lu Ze could tell at once that there was something going on.

"It seems Senior Brother has a story with the Cloud Immortal Palace?"

Lu Ze said with a smile.

"A story? More like a ghost story!"

Zhong Yi looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Not a single one of the female cultivators from the Cloud Immortal Palace is easy to deal with, and they especially hate men."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Lu Ze raised his brows, wondering if women in the Cultivation World also went on feminist crusades.

"Did you see the woman leading the Cloud Immortal Palace group? She's a True Disciple of the Cloud Immortal Palace. I have no idea what I did, but she started hating me for no reason at all!"

Lu Ze felt a little dazed after hearing Zhong Yi's words.

Judging by the way that True Disciple had looked at Zhong Yi just now...

Even if there was nothing between them, it certainly didn't look like she hated Zhong Yi.

"Senior Brother, what do you mean by that?"

Lu Ze's gossiping instincts were stirred, and he hurriedly pressed for details.

"When we were training outside, we had a chance encounter, and I even stepped in to save her."

"But not only did she fail to repay the favor, she instead said things like she hated me most, hated filthy men, and so on."

"Tell me, if that's not hating men, what is?"

Zhong Yi's face was full of frustration.

"..."

Lu Ze was dumbfounded.

He felt that if Zhong Yi had watched some anime, perhaps he would not have had such thoughts.

The concept of a tsundere clearly had not caught on yet...

It seemed his grand gaming enterprise was imperative. He could even save his straight-laced Senior Brother while he was at it.

The elders and disciples of the various sects soon took their places.

After Zhong Yi brought Lu Ze to the waiting area for Spirit Cloud Sect disciples, he hurried over to stand behind Chao Wendao like an ornament.

"Junior Brother Lu!? You were chosen as a representative too?"

A disciple beside him looked both surprised and delighted upon seeing Lu Ze arrive.

Lu Ze took a closer look.

It was Xiao Hongzhi, the Inner Disciple who had once been obsessed with "Demonic Path Escape."

The author of that embarrassing diary.

"Yes, Elder Chao asked me to come."

Lu Ze nodded politely.

With Lu Ze's appearance, the Spirit Cloud Sect's representative area instantly became lively.

He had become quite famous lately. Nearly everyone in the sect had played "Plants vs. Zombies" and "Demonic Path Escape."

"You're only at Foundation Establishment. What are you doing participating in this event? Are you here to hold everyone back?"

The disciple leading the group glared at him viciously, his tone extremely hostile.

Lu Ze thought carefully and confirmed that he had never met this person before. He was deeply puzzled.

Judging by his attire, he was a True Disciple.

"If Senior Brother finds it inappropriate, you can raise your objections to Elder Chao. I'd welcome it."

Lu Ze shot back.

"Junior Brother Lu, forget it... He's Elder Ding's newly accepted True Disciple, Zhang Shifei. It's only natural that he has some grievances against you."

Xiao Hongzhi explained quietly through a Spiritual Sense transmission.

"So that's how it is."

Lu Ze suddenly understood. What a small world.

"By the way, Junior Brother Lu, did you know? I heard that after Elder Ding was sent to Repentance Valley because of you, the Grand Elder seemed to be considering having a disciple take on the important task of creating the Secret Realm."

Xiao Hongzhi shared the gossip with him.

Lu Ze was slightly taken aback, unsure whether he should say that the disciple in question was actually himself.

"Leave it to a disciple? How is that possible!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shifei sneered.

"With Elder Ding's level of skill, how could any disciple compare? It must be handled by some elder."

"However, if it really is to be entrusted to a disciple..."

"Then as the one who has inherited Elder Ding's true teachings, I certainly won't decline!"

The more Zhang Shifei spoke, the happier he became.

The matter of "entrusting it to a disciple" apparently wasn't baseless; he had heard rumors of it long ago.

If that was truly the case, then among everyone on Numinous Ascent Peak, who was more proficient in formations and more suited to bear the responsibility of designing the Secret Realm than himself, a True Disciple?