Who Was the Strongest in the World? (Thanks to Dianmo Ran Cunxin for the Alliance Leader sponsorship)

As soon as he got home, Zhou You eagerly turned on his computer and logged into the Cultivation Forum.

The Cultivation Forum was something entirely new to him. He had spent the whole day thinking about it. If he had brought his phone, he might not have been able to resist browsing the forum during class.

"Good thing I didn't bring my phone today," Zhou You said, relieved.

"I spent all of yesterday reading posts. Today, I'll check out the Heavenly Market."

He clicked the Heavenly Market tab in the upper right corner, and a dazzling array of pictures filled the screen: Magic Treasures, pills, cultivation techniques, secret manuals for divine abilities, rubbings of ancient books...

"Automatic Punishment Copying Pen. Item description: Are you still troubled by your master making you copy cultivation manuals as punishment? Try this Magic Treasure! It can imitate your handwriting perfectly. How many mighty cultivators throughout history have owed their success to punishment copying, anyway? Use this Magic Treasure with confidence, free of guilt. Price: 20 spirit jade."

"'Bring in the Wine (Replica).' Item description: A replica of 'Bring in the Wine' by the great Tang poet Li Bai, reproducing his handwriting as faithfully as possible. Offers a chance to comprehend the Sword Intent of the Immortal Poet or the Immortal of Wine. Price: 1,500 spirit jade."

"'Heavenly Demon Avatar Technique.' Item description: An obscure but extraordinarily powerful cultivation technique. If you're seeing this, you're in luck-you've found a treasure! Simple to learn, no prior experience required. Allows you to form a heavenly demon avatar, effectively granting you an extra life. Purchase now and receive hundreds of years of cultivation memories from a predecessor. Free."

Every item for sale on the page was something Zhou You had never seen before. Hovering his mouse over one automatically brought up its name and description, which was quite convenient.

Zhou You spotted plenty of enticing treasures, but their prices were absurd. He couldn't afford them even if he ate a hundred poverty ghosts.

There were cheap ones too, though, such as the free Heavenly Demon Avatar Technique.

"This thing looks suspicious no matter how you look at it, doesn't it?" Zhou You wore a strange expression. The description listed nothing but benefits, without a single drawback. But how could something that good just fall into his lap?

The page refreshed, displaying another batch of fine treasures without a single repeat from before. The sheer variety dazzled Zhou You, but one look at the prices made him give up.

"Hm? Sort by price?"

Zhou You noticed the sorting button and arranged the items from highest price to lowest.

"Let's see what's the most expensive... one intervention by the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain?"

"Item description: The strongest in the world takes action."

"The second most expensive is... one intervention by the Hall Master of the True Martial Hall. Item description: I'm stronger than the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain."

The third and fourth most expensive listings were similar, each claiming to be stronger than the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain.

Zhou You couldn't quite understand what was going on. He only sensed that there were probably some complicated relationships involved.

Driven by curiosity, Zhou You searched the forum for posts about Kunlun Mountain and the True Martial Hall.

As top sects in the Cultivation World, they naturally had countless posts about them. Some disciples were venting their frustrations, others were looking for companions to explore a Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm, and still others were seeking cultivation partners. But none explained the pricing.

"Forget it. I'll look at something cheaper."

Zhou You clicked to sort the prices from lowest to highest.

The cheapest listings were free things like the Heavenly Demon Avatar Technique. Zhou You kept Su Tingxue's advice firmly in mind: browse first, don't buy anything, and wait until he was familiar with the forum before making purchases.

"Everything that costs one spirit jade is a book."

Items priced in the single digits in Spirit Jade were generally books, such as Introduction to Cultivation, Sect Guide, and Vengeful Ghost Compendium. They were all basic materials.

"Spirit Stone. Item description: Ore containing large amounts of spiritual energy. Can accelerate cultivation. 10 spirit jade."

"Oh, this looks perfect for me." The Spirit Stone's description caught Zhou You's interest.

He sent Su Tingxue the link to the Spirit Stone, hoping to hear her advice.

Su Tingxue's room was pitch-black, with only faint sound and light coming from the screen.

Crunch-crunch-

Su Tingxue was watching a horror movie intently, crumbs from the potato chips she had just eaten clinging to the corners of her mouth.

As Celestial Masters of Dragon-Tiger Mountain, they frequently had to deal with demons and ghosts. Being timid simply wouldn't do, so Dragon-Tiger Mountain recommended that its disciples watch horror movies in their spare time to build their courage.

Su Tingxue had always been bold. She watched horror movies purely because she enjoyed them.

Ding-dong.

Her phone chimed with a notification. Zhou You had sent her a message asking about Spirit Stones.

Su Tingxue instinctively wanted to reply, but then reconsidered. Wouldn't that make her look like she had nothing to do? No, no, she couldn't leave Zhou You with that impression.

She was a good student. She couldn't let Zhou You outdo her.

About fifteen minutes later, Su Tingxue sent a message.

"Sorry, I was working on math problems and didn't notice the message on my phone."

"You want to buy a Spirit Stone? That's a good choice. Just as the description says, Spirit Stones can speed up your cultivation."

"You should have just enough spirit jade to buy one Spirit Stone right now. I happen to have some spare ones, so I can sell you one at twenty percent off. That'll leave you with two spirit jade."

Zhou You: "Wouldn't that be a bit unfair to you?"

Zhou You wondered whether that meant Su Tingxue would be selling him a Spirit Stone at a loss.

Su Tingxue: "It's fine. In return, could you do me a favor and ask Nuomi to come out? I want another fight with her."

Zhou You thought for a moment, then replied, "I can ask her for you, but whether Nuomi wants to fight you is up to her."

Su Tingxue: "OK."

Your friend Zhou You (Do You Swim This Week) has gifted you eight spirit jade.

Zhou You: "By the way, is the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain the strongest expert in the world?"

Su Tingxue: "...You sorted the Heavenly Market by price from highest to lowest, didn't you?"

Zhou You: "Yes."

Su Tingxue: "I'll explain why, but you have to keep this a secret."

Zhou You: "Sure, sure."

Su Tingxue: "Kunlun Mountain brought together several major sects, including Dragon-Tiger Mountain, to establish the forum. Back then, the internet wasn't very developed, and the major sects were all living in seclusion. They didn't take the forum very seriously, so none invested as much as Kunlun Mountain. The sect leader of Kunlun Mountain even reminded them that their forum privileges would depend on their investment and warned them not to regret it later. They all said they didn't care."

"After the forum was established, the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain used his superior privileges to promote himself as the strongest expert in the world. As the internet developed, more and more cultivators joined the forum. The younger generation all believed he was the strongest, which made the leaders of the other factions so furious they couldn't eat for days."

"The True Martial Hall invested the second-largest amount, so its Hall Master set his own price as the second most expensive and advertised himself as stronger than the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain. But with the prices right there for everyone to see, cultivators who didn't know the truth simply didn't believe him."

Su Tingxue repeatedly cautioned him, "Only the disciples of those major factions know about this. Don't go telling everyone."

Zhou You: "Sure, sure."

Understanding dawned on Zhou You. No wonder he couldn't find any posts about it. The truth was so embar... it would shatter people's preconceived image of those experts.

"Then who is the strongest in the world?"

Su Tingxue quickly replied, "Hard to say. In any case, the sect leader of Kunlun Mountain, the Hall Master of the True Martial Hall, and the others are all among the five mightiest cultivators alive. They each claim to be number one. As for who really is the strongest in the world, only they know."

Zhou You teased her, "I thought you'd say the sect leader of your Dragon-Tiger Mountain was the strongest."

Su Tingxue typed, "If anyone else asked, I'd definitely say that, but I want to tell you the truth," then felt it wasn't appropriate.

Would saying that make him think the two of us were really close?

After thinking for a moment, Su Tingxue changed her wording.

Zhou You waited a while before Su Tingxue's reply arrived.

"He's not that strong."