"Master Celestial Master."
When Zhou Yuntao arrived at the Celestial Master Mansion, he seemed to know the way very well, clearly a regular visitor. He walked all the way to the small courtyard and watched the old Celestial Master carving a wooden puppet.
"Oh, Yuntao's here?"
The old master continued carving the wooden puppet in his hands, smiling as he said, "As expected, Jiangnan brought Chen Ying here."
"Yes," Zhou Yuntao replied respectfully, "You are a divine strategist, Master Celestial."
"Hehe, my Zhang Family started out by divination, so getting into the Azure Dragon Society isn't difficult for us. How about trying the second test?"
"Won't it have an impact?" Zhou Yuntao asked in a low voice.
"What impact could it have?" the other person laughed. "Don't you even have the confidence to protect yourself?"
Zhou Yuntao paused for a moment, then finally nodded and said, "Then please make the arrangements, Elder Celestial Master. I'd like to witness the magic of the head of the Four Saints."
"Okay," the old master nodded, continuing to carve the wooden puppet in his hands, but said nothing more.
Zhou Yuntao glanced at the puppet in the other person's hand. The other person was carving a woman. In fact, he had seen the Old Master carving this woman many times, and the woman's appearance was actually very familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was for a moment.
The strangest thing was that the puppet seemed to be alive. If you stared at the puppet, it would stare back at you, and then your gaze would be drawn in as if by a magnet, and you couldn't break free.
In this wondrous moment, an old, withered hand covered the puppet's eyes.
Zhou Yuntao then came to his senses and quickly bowed to the old Celestial Master, saying, "Excuse me, this junior will take his leave now."
"Yes, go ahead," the old master said gently.
As Zhou Yuntao left, through the gap in the old master's palm, the wooden puppet stared intently at Zhou Yuntao's retreating figure.
On the other side, Chen Qing quickly received the list of those to be selected for the second round.
The rules for the second stage are the Sorcerer Labyrinth. A total of thirty-two sorcerers advanced this time and entered the first level of the labyrinth. In the first level, they were paired up according to the list. They were assigned to a unique space in pairs. Whoever found the key first could leave. Only one person could leave after that, and the rest were eliminated.
After the first level, everyone will enter a winding spatial maze. Inside, there are four talismans, each corresponding to one of the Four Saints. Obtain the talisman and follow its clues to successfully leave the maze, then you can proceed to the next stage of challenging the candidates.
As for which one to challenge, it depends on the talisman you obtain. You can give up halfway and choose to challenge another one.
Successfully challenging a candidate will make you one of the Four Saints Candidates, each commanding one of the Four Saints Guard. In other words, if you can obtain the Four Saints Talisman and win the challenge to become one of the Four Saints Palace Candidates, you can lead one of the Four Saints Guard. This reward is permanent. Even if you don't become a new Celestial Master later, you can still leave the Heavenly Capital with your own Four Saints Guard!
Looking at the overall rules, Shen Qi suddenly understood why so many Cloud Capital families were so obsessed with the candidates—the benefits were so great!
Passing the first test only grants ten Four Saints Guard, but becoming a candidate grants direct control of thousands of Four Saints Guard. Whichever faction obtains this, it will likely impact the current battle situation!
At this moment, Chen Baifeng and the others were with Chen Qing, and they all seemed very excited after receiving the rules and the list.
The biggest problem in the South Sea right now is its basic manpower. The Chen Household's influence can attract most of the sorcerer families in the world to the South Sea, but it is impossible to build a strong army in that sparsely populated South Sea within one or two years.
However, due to the shortage of Blood Essence Stone and jade, they were unable to develop the original army of the South Sea Dragon Palace on a large scale.
This forced them to rely on the imperial court and form an alliance with it. However, if they had their own powerful army, the situation would be completely different.
Shen Qi also seemed somewhat excited. Jiangnan strength is very strong now, but after all, it has only been developing for a short time. Facing the battle in early spring, its forces are clearly insufficient, especially its high-end forces. If these Four Saints Guard can take down one or even several, the situation at the beginning of the year will be very different.
Chen Qing, however, focused his attention elsewhere.
He wasn't actually that enthusiastic about the Four Saints Guard. Their creation must involve hidden methods, making direct use impossible. In fact, bringing a large number of the Four Saints Guard back would make him uneasy; who knew if they might suddenly attack his forces?
Studying them one by one would be too time-consuming, and it would be too late to catch up with the battle in the Northern Lands in early spring.
Therefore, he was more concerned about the Four Saints Talisman within the rules than the Four Saints Guard.
From the Four Saints Gates in the palace, to the Four Saints Guard who protect the palace, and finally to the Four Saints Talisman in the maze, the key is... the White Tiger Sorcerer!
In the list of opponents, Chen Ying encountered a person named Zhou Yuntao in the first level. She had found out about that person on her first day. It turned out that there was also a successor of the Four Saints Sorcerer in Cloud Capital.
The White Tiger Sorcerer and the Azure Dragon Sorcerer were both here. Chen Qing didn't believe it was a coincidence that they were brought together; it was most likely a deliberate arrangement by the Celestial Master Mansion.
So what's the point of putting two of the Four Saints Sorcerer together?
The Four Saints Gates and the Four Saints Guard —there are too many things in the Cloud Capital Imperial Palace that are related to these Four Saints.
" Lord Chen," Chen Qing suddenly looked at Chen Baifeng, "I'd like to ask you something."
"Oh?" Chen Baifeng was taken aback, then looked at Chen Qing and said, " King of Qin Highness, please speak freely."
"I haven't heard from Fei Jun in a long time. Lord Chen used to be in the capital, and although he's left now, he must still have a lot of contact with the capital. Do you know how Lord Fei Jun is doing now?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Baifeng looked at Chen Qing strangely. "Why is Lord Chen suddenly so interested in news about Lord Fei Jun?"
Fei Jun naturally did not stay in Jiangnan, because no matter what, Xiao Mingyue died at Chen Qing's hands.
Chen Qing had mixed feelings about Fei Jun not staying but returning to the capital, but he did not try to persuade him to stay. He had no right to do so. In fact, when he was in the capital last time, he did not deliberately look for Fei Jun, and Fei Jun did not come to him either. In his opinion, it was a tacit understanding between them to deliberately avoid each other.
But this time, Chen Qing suddenly felt that things might not be like that.
"Back in the capital, I received a lot of help from Fei Jun. Later, Lady Xiao Mingyue entrusted me with the task of taking care of her son if she unfortunately died while I was still alive. Princess Mingyue was possessed by Heavenly Demon, and I had no choice but to act. I can understand Fei Jun's resentment towards me, but I made a promise to the Eldest Princess, so I have to inquire about it."
"Your Highness is truly virtuous!" Chen Baifeng returned the greeting and then said, "As far as I know, after returning to the capital, Fei Jun resigned from his official post and stayed home to observe mourning. The Imperial Son-in-Law's residence is in a rather unusual situation now; Fei Jun Fei Jun been keeping his doors closed to visitors during his mourning period, and I haven't received any news from him for a long time."
"Haven't received any news in a long time?" A shadow of gloom flashed in Chen Qing's eyes.
Two of the Four Saints Sorcerer have arrived, Fei Jun has disappeared without a trace, but the Emperor has been invited.
I hope I'm not just overthinking things.
Chen Qing looked at the list for the second round. There were some newly added people, including Zhou Yuntao, but Fei Jun was not among them. Perhaps he was just overthinking things.
But something still felt off to him.
Is this election for the Celestial Master really unrelated to the Four Saints Sorcerer?