He Took the Bait
Faced with Shi Zhenghao's arrogant provocation, Yi Xuan was not intimidated and readily agreed.
Seeing Yi Xuan agree so readily, Shi Zhenghao was overjoyed. He knew his own situation; Shi Zhenghao's provocation of Yi Xuan wasn't because he had just entered the Golden Core and had blind confidence in his own strength.
His confidence stemmed entirely from the fact that after advancing to the Golden Core stage, he skipped two levels, directly reaching the Late-stage Golden Core.
Because he had competed with the Firmament before, Shi Zhenghao still remembered the speed of the Firmament when it caught up with Firmament. Even a cultivator who had just entered the Golden Core couldn't match that speed.
At this moment, having advanced to the Late-stage Golden Core the Unseen, he had a vague sense of his current speed, which was definitely much faster than the speed previously displayed by the Firmament.
Therefore, Shi Zhenghao had the confidence to challenge Yi Xuan.
What he didn't know was that the speed of the Firmament was not at its maximum during the competition. Moreover, after the trip to the Artifact Ruins, Yi Xuan made significant improvements to the Firmament, meaning that the current Firmament is even faster than before.
As the designer of the Firmament, Yi Xuan certainly understood the situation.
However, since his beloved senior brother wanted to embarrass him as soon as he emerged from seclusion, Yi Xuan naturally had to do his best to cooperate with him.
Sitting in the co-pilot's seat of the Firmament, Yi Xuan took the initiative to speak, "Senior brother! I must congratulate you on finally advancing to the Golden Core stage! Since you've just advanced, why don't you rest for a while and consolidate your realm before we settle our differences?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Upon hearing Yi Xuan's words, Shi Zhenghao burst into laughter. In his opinion, Yi Xuan had agreed to the competition earlier because he was too embarrassed to refuse. However, Shi Zhenghao had just advanced to the Golden Core, and Yi Xuan was unsure of Shi Zhenghao's strength, so he resorted to this tactic, finding an excuse to let Shi Zhenghao consolidate his strength.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother Yi, your senior brother will show you today that not everyone needs to consolidate their strength after advancing. A cultivator like your senior brother, with deep accumulation, can maintain his best condition as soon as he breaks through!"
Seeing his senior brother's confident expression, Yi Xuan, aboard the Firmament, was filled with helplessness and could only mutter to himself, "Fine, if you're willing to die, I'm willing to bury you!"
However, Yi Xuan felt that something was missing from the comparison, so he took the initiative to ask, "Senior brother, I was the one who suggested the last competition, and we set a wager! This competition was suggested by you, senior brother, and I don't want to take advantage of you. Why don't you set a wager?"
Before Shi Zhenghao could speak, Yi Xuan's voice came from inside the Firmament again. "Let's just forget about it and just have the competition like this. Anyway, regardless of who wins or loses, you've advanced to the Golden Core, and I can give Master an explanation!"
Actually, when Yi Xuan took the initiative to suggest setting a prize, Shi Zhenghao was still taken aback. He was worried that Yi Xuan really had the ability to surpass him in speed, otherwise why would he take the initiative to suggest a prize?
But then Yi Xuan suddenly went back on his word, which made Shi Zhenghao think that Yi Xuan must have said something wrong before, or that it was a smokescreen he deliberately released to confuse him.
Shi Zhenghao quickly interrupted, "No, Junior Brother Yi! Sometimes it's better for us brothers to be clear about things! You said it yourself, last time you proposed the competition and you set the stakes! This time it's my idea, so of course I can set a stakes too!"
Sitting inside the Firmament, Yi Xuan was practically dying of laughter, but he still feigned regret and said, "Alright, then you decide, Senior Brother. But you know I'm just a humble junior brother, so please don't order anything too expensive, lest it hurt our brotherly relationship!"
Although Shi Zhenghao couldn't see Yi Xuan's expression, the information conveyed in his voice was enough; he could almost see Yi Xuan being manipulated by him.
"Okay, how about acting with your senior brother? Although your senior brother wanders around the world of cultivation, I still know everything about the Qingyun Sect. Do I know about the business cooperation between me and that dude from the Li family!"
Yi Xuan was surprised that Shi Zhenghao was so well-informed. Many Azure Cloud Sect disciples were unaware of the cooperative relationship between the two, yet Shi Zhenghao knew about it.
Moreover, Yi Xuan's current position is somewhat awkward. Since he has become Sect Protector of the Azure Cloud Sect, who would believe him if he told people that the Li family was taking the Li Household's share of the profits and that he was just a gofer?
Even Li Jingming sometimes doubted the actual cost of the grenade, wondering how Yi Xuan, who had already been promoted to sect elder, could still agree to let him take the lion's share.
"Junior brother, I won't ask for much more, how about just one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stone?"
Upon hearing Shi Zhenghao's offer, Yi Xuan launched into a tirade of curses on the Firmament, hurling insults at Shi Zhenghao and his ancestors for eighteen generations.
Don't be fooled by the fact that one hundred mid-grade spirit stones may not seem like much to Yi Xuan now; that's only because he has many tricks up his sleeve. If it were a Golden Core cultivator, suddenly having to produce one hundred mid-grade spirit stones would be a real problem for them.
Shi Zhenghao is clearly here to eliminate the powerful families, but if you're ruthless, don't blame me for being ruthless too. Yi Xuan gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, you really are my good senior brother. Since that's the case, I, your junior brother, can't be lenient either. If we're lucky enough to win, how about I give you a copy of your family's ancestral array manual?"
Upon hearing Yi Xuan's words, Shi Zhenghao gasped. He hadn't expected Yi Xuan to be so perceptive, directly targeting Shi Zhenghao's most treasured possession.
That array formation manual was a secret manual passed down through generations of their Shi Household. It is said that the ancestors of the Shi Household once dominated the entire Southern Frontier with the array formations in this manual. However, in the end, the family fell into decline, which forced Shi Zhenghao to join the Azure Cloud Sect.
Otherwise, given the status of his Shi Household at its peak, he wouldn't even bother to glance at the Azure Cloud Sect.
Now that Yi Xuan has spoken, Shi Zhenghao is in a difficult position, but it's not entirely impossible.
Even though the Shi Household has a rule that secret manuals must not be passed on to outsiders, Shi Zhenghao is now the only son, so what he says goes, right?
Besides, Shi Zhenghao was very confident and didn't think Yi Xuan had any chance of winning, so he nodded in agreement.
The two then agreed to start from the valley and end at the Azure Cloud Sect, with the first person to arrive being the winner.
Shi Zhenghao and the Firmament departed from the same starting point at the same time, Yi Xuan's Black Tortoise was quickly left behind by Shi Zhenghao.
Shi Zhenghao's figure grew farther and farther away in Yi Xuan's eyes until it became a small black dot and disappeared on the horizon.
All of this was, of course, intentionally Yi Xuan. With a slight smile, Yi Xuan began to issue commands to the Firmament in a calm and unhurried manner.
Under Yi Xuan's command, the Firmament took off, rising higher and higher until it was blocked by the clouds.
Upon reaching above the clouds, the Firmament immediately began to accelerate, and the sudden surge of power pressed Yi Xuan firmly into his seat.
At the same time, Yi Xuan smiled and muttered to himself, "Senior brother, you still haven't learned your lesson from last time. It seems your array formation manual will have to be passed down to the Yi family!"