Rong Zhuofan stroked his bushy beard. “Old Xiao, we have no room to refuse. Look at Su Yubai—he’s clearly about to die on the platform, yet Qian Fusu refuses to end the match…”
Xiao Qingfeng took a deep breath and sent a voice transmission: “What witness? It’s obviously just an excuse because they’re afraid we won’t hand over the Tianyuan Fruit later. Once this Tianyuan Fruit is handed over, even if we win, I’m afraid it’ll be very hard to get it back!”
“We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place!” Rong Zhuofan shook his head helplessly. “Hurry up and think of someone. Otherwise, once they make the nomination, we’ll have even less choice.”
Xiao Qingfeng stated the truth bluntly: “Haoling Prefecture is second in strength and shares the same pair of pants with Diling Prefecture. As for the remaining prefectures, unless they’ve lost their minds, who would serve as our witness?”
Just then, a voice as clear and cool as jade reached both their ears. “Find Chu Qianji of Huoling Prefecture. Take this token to him.”
A golden token appeared out of thin air in Rong Zhuofan’s hand.
Then the two turned to look at Mo Jinghong, both revealing expressions of shock.
Rong Zhuofan tentatively asked Mo Jinghong, “You can hear our conversation?”
Mo Jinghong’s phoenix eyes were reserved as he sent a voice transmission: “The two Sect Masters should hurry and find Master Qianji. Otherwise, it won’t be good if Luo Wuji beats you to it.”
Rong Zhuofan and Xiao Qingfeng both widened their eyes. If they remembered correctly, Mo Jinghong was only at the Nascent Soul stage, right?
Why could a Nascent Soul cultivator hear a Void God’s voice transmission?
Just how many secrets was Mo Jinghong hiding?
“Rong Zhuofan, he has a point. We should go handle this first!” Xiao Qingfeng was the first to snap out of it and patted Rong Zhuofan.
The two no longer hesitated and headed straight for Huoling Prefecture.
But when they arrived at Huoling Prefecture, they were stunned again. Who was Master Qianji?
Upon seeing the two of them, Chu Bozhou stood up first. Ever since meeting Feng Qingran at the city gate, he had been thinking about the fourth senior brother she mentioned.
After investigating, he learned that Feng Qingran’s fourth senior brother was named Mu Qianjue, a contestant from Qingyun Prefecture.
So Chu Bozhou paid special attention to Qingyun Prefecture’s situation.
He had also heard everything Luo Wuji demanded earlier, and had been waiting for someone from Qingyun Prefecture to come over.
Though he was not as renowned as his father, he was more than qualified to serve as a witness.
That way, he could use the opportunity to get to know Mu Qianjue and inquire about the crafting method of the Seven-Colored Mystic Garment.
When Xiao Qingfeng and Rong Zhuofan saw Chu Bozhou stand up, they stopped and sized him up.
The young man wore a light blue brocade robe, his posture straight and tall, his features extremely handsome, and his bearing indescribably elegant and unruly.
The young man was like flawless fine jade, walking lightly and gracefully toward Xiao Qingfeng and Rong Zhuofan.
When the young man stood up, he drew the attention of everyone from Huoling Prefecture. Everyone’s eyes were filled with surprise.
Only the young man in white beside him remained unmoved, lowering his eyes as he toyed with copper coins in his hand.
“What brings the two of you to Huoling Prefecture?” Chu Bozhou asked, graceful and courteous.
“Young master, I am Rong Zhuofan of the Beast Taming Sect of Qingyun Prefecture, and this is Xiao Qingfeng, Sect Master of the Fire Cloud Sect. We wish to find Master Qianji.” Rong Zhuofan deliberately lowered his voice.
He usually had a very loud voice, rough and boisterous. Every time he spoke with someone, it sounded like he was arguing.
Now that he was asking for someone’s help, Rong Zhuofan naturally had to lower his posture a bit.
“You want to see my father?” Chu Bozhou raised an eyebrow slightly and turned to look at the man in white not far away.
Rong Zhuofan looked toward Chu Qianji. At first glance, he unconsciously overlooked Chu Qianji’s handsome features and only saw his clear eyes.
They were eyes like the first snow of spring, with a barely perceptible sharpness in them, as if they had seen through all things in the world, with neither sorrow nor joy.
“You want my father to be a witness?” Chu Bozhou asked.
Rong Zhuofan nodded. “Yes. We’ve heard that Master Qianji is fair and impartial. We would like to trouble Master Qianji to come with us.”
Xiao Qingfeng felt somewhat speechless. They had come to ask for help, but it sounded like they were here to pick a fight!
“Young master, may I ask if your father is available?” Xiao Qingfeng decided to smooth things over.
Chu Bozhou shook his head. “That I wouldn’t know. But from what I understand, you may end up returning empty-handed.”
Chu Bozhou knew his father quite well.
Apart from occasionally crafting artifacts for others, Chu Qianji basically spent the whole year in seclusion. Even the Baili family head couldn’t move Chu Qianji!
“Please, young master, take us to see him,” Rong Zhuofan requested.
The bushy beard on Rong Zhuofan’s face hid his unusual expression.
At this moment, Rong Zhuofan fully understood the importance of prefecture rank.
On the Nine Provinces Continent, Qingyun Prefecture ranked sixth, and Huoling Prefecture ranked fourth. So even when meeting a junior of somewhat notable status, they had to be polite and not dare to offend in the slightest.
The rules of the Nine Provinces Continent required that lower-ranked prefectures must not neglect people from higher-ranked prefectures. Violators would be punished.
What the punishment was, no one knew.
Because no one dared to challenge the rules set by the Baili family.
Rong Zhuofan suddenly felt that “the strong are respected” was a joke.
Most of the time, those born into good circumstances were bound to become strong and stand above others.
As for cultivators of low birth, even if they worked hard at cultivation later, if resources couldn’t keep up, they would still fall far behind those born into good circumstances.
That he could rise to become a Void God expert was only because he was relatively lucky—he had met the old sect master, who brought him back to the sect and carefully cultivated him…
Rong Zhuofan actually didn’t quite believe the saying, “My fate is determined by me, not by heaven.”
In the world of cultivation, most cultivators who truly carved out a bloody path were those favored by luck.
