Chapter 242: The Last Person (Four Updates)

Situ Xingchen said somewhat hesitantly

"That can't be right. She even activated a Level 4 Black Crystal Mysterious Array yesterday... If she's here to compete, she shouldn't be that bad."

Cheng Han, however, was dismissive.

"Your mind is entirely focused on Heavenly Medicine, so naturally, you don't know the tricks involved in being a Mysterious Master. Although that Black Crystal Mysterious Array is Level 4, it isn't true that only a Level 4 Mysterious Master can activate it. You must understand, those things were originally engraved to allow Mysterious Masters to quickly deploy arrays during combat to increase their combat effectiveness. Activating them isn't actually that difficult! That Chu Liuyue is currently only a Level 2 Mysterious Master; she only took first place among the martial artists by relying on some unorthodox methods!"

The so-called "unorthodox methods" naturally referred to her Blood Mink.

Cheng Han had spent an entire day trying to figure out why that Blood Mink was actually able to directly swallow Heng Jingchuo's original force.

But—where there is abnormality, there must be something sinister!

In his eyes, Chu Liuyue ultimately hadn't won first place based on her own strength!

Therefore, he actually still looked down on Chu Liuyue quite a bit.

"That previous one-on-one match had too many variables. But this Mysterious Master competition is different. One's true weight is easy to see at a glance!"

Situ Xingchen nodded slightly.

In truth, she also quite agreed with Cheng Han's viewpoint.

However, looking at the reactions of the people from Tianlu Academy, something seemed off.

Could something have really happened to Chu Liuyue?

Situ Xingchen watched for a while, feeling somewhat curious.

But in a public setting, it wasn't easy to pry into such things.

On the other hand...

Another matter made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

After yesterday's competition ended, she had sent people to gather information regarding the Prince Li Mansion.

However, the Prince Li Mansion was heavily guarded, and she hadn't obtained even a shred of useful information.

She felt somewhat disappointed, but on second thought, that man had always acted this way, so it was considered normal.

Besides, this was the Imperial Capital; they were bound to be even more cautious than before.

Fortunately, there were some rumors regarding the Prince Li Mansion within the Imperial Capital, and she had heard a bit of them.

But after hearing them, she was even more surprised.

Since that man returned to the Imperial Capital a month ago, he had hardly even stepped out of the mansion gates; the only exception was attending the birthday banquet of the Crown Prince, Rong Jin.

The key point was, rumors suggested that during that palace banquet, he had apparently stepped in to help Chu Liuyue out of a predicament...

Rumors in the streets always carried a degree of exaggeration, and outsiders could not know what happened within the palace, so no one could say clearly exactly what had transpired.

Deep down, she was unwilling to believe it, treating it merely as idle gossip fabricated from shadows and wind.

Given that man's temperament, why would he step in to help for no reason?

Even if he did help, there must have been other reasons.

After all, Chu Liuyue was still the Crown Prince Rong Jin's fiancée at that time.

Toward such a woman, he likely wouldn't even spare a second glance.

Situ Xingchen could only comfort herself this way in her heart.

However, another matter felt even stranger to her.

He had actually gone to Tianlu Academy.

On the surface, he said it was to commemorate his Imperial Mother, but he hadn't done so for all those previous years; for him to suddenly do so now meant he must have other motives.

She just didn't know what exactly was in Tianlu Academy that attracted him?

Situ Xingchen had many questions and wanted to see him in person to ask clearly.

But over these past two days, he seemed to have just left the Imperial Capital.

She wondered if she would be able to meet him here before this Qingjiao Assembly ended...

***

Time flew by, and it was now afternoon.

Only the final two hours of the competition remained.

On the field, the Mysterious Masters who had not yet cleared the first and second stages became increasingly nervous.

At this time, only those who had cracked the first three stages had any hope of cracking the final two arrays within the remaining two hours.

Those who failed were basically certain to be eliminated.

*Thud!*

Suddenly, someone collapsed on the field!

Sun Zhongyan glanced over and ordered the arbitration teacher to quickly step forward and carry the person away, shaking his head.

"Forcibly cracking a Mysterious Array will only harm oneself, and it is detrimental to future cultivation."

In reality, this situation occurred every year on the Mysterious Master competition field.

But no matter how much they were advised beforehand, there were always those who refused to admit defeat and wanted to take a gamble.

But Mysterious Masters were not martial artists.

This discipline relied more heavily on talent and comprehension.

Otherwise, even if one studied Mysterious Arrays day and night without pause, there would be no progress.

The reality was just that cruel, leaving no room for choice.

Finally, amidst this deathly silence, one person stood up.

"Su Bai of Nanfeng Academy, withdrawing."

He stood there, his face pale and his body swaying, clearly on the verge of collapse.

And on the stone platform in front of him, only a single star had lit up.

The arbitration teacher took back his competition wooden plaque, offered a few words of comfort, and let him leave the field.

The youth's expression was somber; he stared at the wooden plaque reluctantly for a long while before finally turning to leave.

The onlookers did not cast looks of contempt; at most, they only sighed.

"To become a Mysterious Master is already to be a talent chosen from a thousand. It's a pity that in the end, only a few can become top-tier Mysterious Masters."

"There is always someone better, and a higher mountain beyond the mountain."

"The path of the Mysterious Master truly places extreme importance on talent..."

With the first person to voluntarily withdraw, it was as if a crack had been torn into the hearts of the crowd; soon, there were second and third.

Gradually, when only an hour and a half remained, half of the people on the field had actually left.

The ones remaining were either truly talented and powerful, or were still desperately holding on.

*Bang!*

On the stone platform in front of Sheng Yiming, a fourth star lit up first!

He was the first to crack four Mysterious Arrays and enter the final stage!

The people from Nanfeng Academy could not suppress their excitement; even Fu Yunshan could not help but stroke his beard, revealing a satisfied smile.

Sheng Yiming was their academy's most promising student to take first place among the Mysterious Masters; now it seemed he indeed had not disappointed them.

As long as he maintained this momentum, the final first place would surely be his!

Sheng Yiming opening the final stage undoubtedly added another layer of invisible pressure to the others.

A few more people withdrew in succession.

Soon, only a few people were actually left on the field.

Not long after Sheng Yiming, Su Feng of Taiyan Academy also caught up.

Most people's gazes were concentrated on these two.

Next, if there were no accidents, these two would decide the final winner!

Over at Tianlu Academy, the atmosphere was somewhat stagnant.

Because currently, they were the only ones who had yet to break through to the final stage!

Suddenly, someone else collapsed on the field.

Sun Zhongyan frowned.

That student was actually a very outstanding Mysterious Master from their academy.

It was unknown if it was due to being too impatient, but it had actually caused a clash of original force within his body, causing him to faint.

Now, the only one among them with hope of continuing the competition was Si Ting!

(End of Chapter)