Preliminary Round

"Tomie, I'm sorry!"

Standing beneath the showerhead, Zhang Chen let out a faint sigh. He then put on the clean clothes he had prepared and left the bathroom.

The two months of traveling had been utterly exhausting. Without Jizhong to guide him on the way back, Zhang Chen had followed the original route only to fall into five different dangerous situations. It was something he had never expected.

The most perilous of them had been in a swamp bog. The mud possessed an extremely powerful corrosive quality, and there had not been a single plant in the entire marshland that he could cling to. On top of that, numerous swamp creatures capable of creating illusions lurked within it, forcing Zhang Chen to spend a full fifteen days trapped there.

Zhang Chen returned to his small home within Shen Hou Mansion, collapsed onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning.

Having received the news long ago, Chong Ying hurried over and paced anxiously outside the door to Zhang Chen's room as he slept. Considering how exhausted Zhang Chen was, Lian Yuxin did not dare knock on the door either. After all, there were still two hours before today's preliminary matches began.

"Xin'er, go make breakfast. Miss Chong Ying, please be patient. Since Zhang Chen has returned safely, what harm is there in waiting a little longer?"

"Mm... I'll go help make breakfast."

Before long, the two women finished preparing a lavish breakfast and sat around the round table in the first-floor hall. Chong Ying still kept glancing toward Zhang Chen's room from time to time.

"Miss Chong Ying, Elder Wu becoming your master means that among the jailers of our Huaxia Country, only three people have likely received such treatment. What position are you planning