Li Poxiao was not particularly clever; he simply had far too much experience. After suffering countless setbacks, he knew that I was an indestructible cockroach. Otherwise, he could have reached his conclusion without even testing me, and there would have been no need to use a scrap of cloth to cover the Bone of Opening Heaven.
And although he was not very eloquent, he was skilled at using Old Man Zuo as his mouthpiece. This showed that Old Man Zuo also knew the truth—that I was fine. Knowing was one thing, but being able to face that fact without turning pale or losing his nerve, then even start hoodwinking everyone into joining them so the competition could continue—that was simply incredible.
I even felt that if this old man had not been my opponent, it would truly have been worthwhile to win him over. Of course, that was merely wishful thinking. What mattered was deciding what to do now!
Now that I had come out, the situation had once again fallen into a state of confrontation. They would certainly use Grandma Jiang's affair to attack me first. On top of that, there were Tianhe and Yusong, two Dao-Ascension cultivators. I was afraid my side would not have much of an advantage in public opinion, and I might not be able to bury two people at once as I had Grandma Jiang. Thus, Li Poxiao was gambling again.
If I did not come out, the problem would be simple. They would persuade all the sects to board the ship and immediately set sail. By then, even if I cried and shouted for them to stop, it would be useless. No matter which way I looked at it, I would be the one suffering the greatest loss.
Li Poxiao was probably feeling