After sending Ling Tian off to handle official business, I couldn't help feeling awkward as I looked into Ru Xue's eyes. Those two children were crafty little devils—how could they not know what had happened after they left just now? Shao Zi and Xiang Ling were in exceedingly high spirits now. Even Li Zhi'er had been utterly flabbergasted by their enthusiasm, probably thinking I had somehow poured fool's water down the throats of these two disciples.
I didn't keep the children any longer. After casually commenting on their battle, I sent them on their way.
In the previous match, only Ling Tian, Zhao Jing, Shao Zi, and Ru Xue had qualified to participate in the next event. The other factions had a little over twenty young talents of their own. This inevitably reminded me of what had happened at the first Hanging Void Hall meeting.
Following the expansion of their territories, almost all these factions had engaged in an arms race. After all, the front lines now provided them with a place to put their forces to use, so everyone had grown bolder and more reckless. Thus, the Nine Heavens could only be said to have mostly settled down. Conflict and chaos still existed in truth, and genuine peace was probably still a distant dream.
Although I believed that the Four Emperors around Heaven City would not rebel against me, including the lands in the four directions, and that the territories of the original Immortals would never harbor disloyal intentions toward Heaven City, that didn't mean they were brainless. There were certainly people secretly amassing powerful armies, hiding experts under their command, or cultivating Chaos Realm immortals for self-preservation. These were all Heaven City's greatest sources of concern.
I naturally believed them when they said they were only protecting themselves.