Chu Baizhou rode his horse toward the city gate.
Seeing this, the commander let out a sigh of relief—finally, this little troublemaker was leaving. Now it was time to deal with Mo Jinghong and Feng Qingran.
“Which state are you two from?” the commander asked, addressing Mo Jinghong.
Just as Chu Baizhou was about to enter the city, he glanced back, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes. There was actually a young master in the Spirit Transformation stage hiding here, and he hadn’t noticed at all earlier.
Then Chu Baizhou suddenly caught sight of the colorful rainbow garment Feng Qingran was wearing, and he immediately pulled on the reins.
He couldn’t tell the rank of that garment.
But having grown up observing things by his father’s side, he could tell with just one look that this magical robe was far from ordinary.
Chu Baizhou patted his horse’s back, and the horse turned around, heading back toward Feng Qingran.
Seeing Chu Baizhou return, the commander’s heart sank. “Young master, do you have any further instructions?”
“Move aside!” Chu Baizhou said coldly.
Looking down at Feng Qingran from atop his horse, he asked, “May I ask, miss, who made this robe for you?”
Feng Qingran glanced sideways at Mo Jinghong.
Mo Jinghong’s star-like eyes sparkled with a fleeting gleam, a faint, unreadable smile curling at the corner of his lips.
“A good friend gave it to me,” Feng Qingran replied in a crisp voice.
“And is this friend of yours an artifact refiner?” Chu Baizhou asked, hope flickering in his eyes. Whoever could craft such a garment was certainly no ordinary person.
“My Fourth Senior Brother is an artifact refiner,” Feng Qingran answered, sidestepping the question.
Her Seventh Senior Brother was already busy enough.
She would just have to borrow her Fourth Senior Brother’s reputation for now.
“Has your Fourth Senior Brother entered this Spirit Combat Tournament?” Chu Baizhou asked excitedly.
“Mm.” Feng Qingran nodded.
“May I ask where your Fourth Senior Brother is now?” As he spoke, Chu Baizhou threw several glances at Mo Jinghong.
“He’ll be entering the city a bit later,” Feng Qingran said politely.
Chu Baizhou was a man obsessed with artifact refining—he held deep admiration for any outstanding refiner.
And his father, Chu Qianji, was someone her Fourth Senior Brother greatly respected.
That was why she was being so courteous to him.
“What a pity. I suppose we’ll have to meet again at the tournament, then,” Chu Baizhou said with a hint of regret.
His gaze then fell on the commander, and he tossed him a bag of spirit stones. “These two are my friends. They’ll be entering with me.”
“But… young master, that’s against the rules,” the commander said, looking troubled. He still had to answer to his superiors!
“What rules? Contestants of the Spirit Combat Tournament should be allowed direct entry into the city. Why are you holding them up like this?” Chu Baizhou had already sensed something was off.
“But there are people who arrived earlier than them, and they’re all still waiting in line!” the commander argued, trying to use the crowd to pressure Chu Baizhou into backing down.
“Let all the contestants in first. As for everyone else, you can check them as you please. I’m sure none of our fellow cultivators here will have any objections.” Chu Baizhou swept his gaze across the crowd, his tone turning colder.
Some people immediately waved their hands, indicating they had no problem with letting the competitors go ahead.
The commander hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he backed down. After all, he couldn’t afford to offend the Chu family.
“Do the two of you have a place to stay once you’re inside the city?” Chu Baizhou asked.
“Thank you for your concern, young master. Our accommodations have already been arranged.” A smile appeared on Feng Qingran’s fair, jade-like face.
Chu Baizhou nodded. Before leaving, he stole a few more glances at Mo Jinghong.
This young master’s aura was strange—most of the time, when he was speaking with Feng Qingran, he could barely sense Mo Jinghong’s presence at all.
A person so strikingly extraordinary should have drawn attention wherever they went. So why was his presence so faint?
With Chu Baizhou’s help, Feng Qingran and Mo Jinghong entered the city without further trouble.
Feng Qingran led Mo Jinghong to the courtyard she had purchased in advance.
She had asked Zhang San to prepare two courtyards—one for the others from Qingzhou, and one for the members of the Lingyun Sect.
“Seventh Senior Brother, do you think the commander of the city guard might be from the Baili family?” Feng Qingran had been puzzling over this the entire way—who was really pulling the strings behind that commander?
“The Baili family could easily tamper with the competition if they wanted to target us,” Mo Jinghong said. His phoenix-like eyes were clear and sharp, his gaze so piercing that others dared not meet it. Dressed in his magnificent black robe, he carried an air of unmatched nobility.
“In Fire Spirit State, there are only four major powers that can mobilize the city guard. And judging by that commander’s attitude, he clearly recognized us. But not many people in Fire Spirit State have actually seen our faces.” Feng Qingran ran through several names in her mind, but nothing clicked.
Her first suspicion had actually been Su Yanran.
But she hadn’t seen them in ten years—there was no way she could know who they were now.
The venue for the Spirit Combat Tournament was vast and spacious.
In the stands, each state had its own designated section.
Feng Qingran scanned the contestants from all eight states with her almond-shaped eyes, spotting several familiar faces among the participants from Haoling State.
She also noticed that, ever since they entered the venue, her Third Senior Sister and Fifth Senior Sister kept glancing repeatedly toward the direction of the Imperial Spirit State.
The Imperial Spirit State was where the Baili main family resided. It was said that cultivators in the Spirit Transformation stage could be found everywhere there, and it was the gathering place of all the top factions—as well as the state with the richest spiritual energy.
The contestants from the Imperial Spirit State seemed to carry an air of innate superiority.
Feng Qingran then remembered the list of participants from each state that Zhang San had handed her yesterday—there was one particularly strange detail about it.
