"How can he say something so shameless?! I guess that really is the Gentleman Sword for you!"
Seeing Yue Buqun not only cast his vote for Qian Xunji before him, but also shamelessly grovel at his feet, Ning Caichen's face turned green. And yet there was nothing he could do about it.
After all, he was a scholar, and he had his dignity.
He simply couldn't bring himself to grovel at Qian Xunji's feet like Yue Buqun, without a shred of shame.
Besides, even if he forced himself to do it, he'd only be copying Yue Buqun. The only way to top him would be to do it better than the original!
But that was clearly impossible! At least, with his current abilities, he couldn't outdo Yue Buqun.
Still, Ning Caichen wasn't willing to just sit there and watch Yue Buqun steal the fruits of his labor.
So he decided to make one last attempt.
Even if he couldn't get what he wanted, he'd make sure his "good brother" Yue Buqun didn't have an easy time of it.
After all, Yue Buqun had seen what he was up to. But instead of showing any brotherly affection and helping him get what he wanted, he'd stolen his idea and beaten him to it!
Undead Knight: "I unconditionally support Big Shot Qian as group leader!"
Undead Knight: "The reason is simple: I think Big Shot Qian is a good person, and he'll make a good group leader, too."
As he spoke, Ning Caichen said nothing about what he wanted in return for his vote.
Yes, he was doing it on purpose.
The reason was simple.
It wasn't enough to stand out; what mattered was how you compared.--Yue Buqun kept saying he didn't want anything in return, but every line of his message hinted that he meant to trade his vote for Qian Xunji's spoilers. It was obvious he was trying to cash in a favor. As for Ning Caichen, he'd done him a favor without asking for anything in return, and didn't mention payment at all.
That made the contrast between him and Yue Buqun crystal clear.--One was a petty man who expected repayment for his favors, while the other was a noble gentleman.
Surely Qian Xunji would think more highly of a gentleman who asked for nothing in return.
And, as a bonus, he could annoy Yue Buqun.
[Candidates: Martial Soul Hall Pope, current votes: 2 (Gentleman Sword, Undead Knight).]
Things went exactly as Ning Caichen had expected. When Yue Buqun saw his message, he was so angry he nearly exploded.
As clever as he was, how could he not see that Ning Caichen's message had made him look bad?
There wasn't much he could do about it for now, though.
After all, he couldn't very well copy Ning Caichen and say he wanted nothing in return!
That would not only make him look ridiculous, but would also treat everyone else like fools.
So for the moment, all he could do was seethe in front of the screen.
Martial Soul Hall Pope: "Thank you both for your support! I won't let you down! @Undead Knight, @Gentleman Sword."
As for Qian Xunji, he did indeed feel more favorably toward Ning Caichen now.
But that didn't mean he'd actually been fooled by Ning Caichen's honeyed words.
In truth, he'd seen through both Yue Buqun's and Ning Caichen's little schemes at a glance. After all, his predecessor had been pope for more than a decade and had over fifty years of life experience.
And he'd inherited everything from his predecessor, including all that experience.
But why expose them? It wouldn't do him any good, and he'd lose two sycophants in the process.
It was better to play dumb and let Ning Caichen and Yue Buqun keep competing. Then he, the middleman, would stand to gain even more!
Smiling Proud Wanderer World.
After seeing Qian Xunji, Yue Buqun, and the others talking, Dongfang Bai was undeniably tempted.
But she wasn't tempted by the position of group leader--(though she was the leader of the Sun Moon Holy Sect, her title meant nothing in the Chat Group.
After all, besides her, the Chat Group had a pope who ruled an organization rivaling two empires, and Great Emperors who had slain countless kings and stood alone above the heavens, with even gods unable to block their way. She was just the leader of a martial arts sect, a nobody in front of those big shots.
She had enough self-awareness to know that. So she had no intention of running for the position and making a fool of herself. After all, she had no advantage in martial prowess, status, or standing.), but by Qian Xunji's promise.
There was no helping it. She'd recently hit a bottleneck in her cultivation!
She was clever and had a renowned master to guide her--she was Dugu Qiubai's disciple. But the Smiling Proud Wanderer World was a low-martial world, and its limits were fixed. No matter how much she improved, she couldn't shatter the void.
But Qian Xunji's Douluo World was different. Its level was clearly higher than that of her Smiling Proud Wanderer World.
Surely there had to be a way to break through her limits and grow stronger in a world like that.
As for why she didn't approach Ruthless Great Emperor or Xiao Yi Xian, whose worlds were clearly higher-level than her own—
She had considered asking them, too. But first, she didn't know either of them well; second, she had no resources to offer in exchange for a way to break through her limits.
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