Chapter 831: Ranking Results

The three women still clung to one last shred of hope: that Niu Youdao would fail to take first place. If he did, he would not survive!

As for the three men they had given themselves to, none of the women possessed absolute confidence in them either. They knew perfectly well under what circumstances they had surrendered themselves, and they knew they were a joke in other people's eyes. Afraid of being looked down upon, they naturally also feared that the men might cast them aside and refuse to care what happened to them.

Whether they regretted their choices was difficult to say. None of them had possessed even the slightest confidence that they could fight their way out the way Niu Youdao had.

They did not understand the true situation. They had no idea how many people Niu Youdao had arranged to escape from the Secret Realm under his protection. Had they known, they might have regretted their choices until their guts turned green.

For now, all they could do was place their hopes in the men they had given themselves to. Those men were the only people they could presently rely on...

Niu Youdao did not notice the three women.

He did, however, notice another woman.

Yan Baoru.

He stared at her with a faint, ambiguous smile. He had no idea what had gone wrong on Yan Li's side. With so many people guarding the exit, they had still somehow allowed this woman to escape smoothly.

Yan Baoru saw him as well.

The instant her gaze collided with that almost-smiling look, something in her heart trembled. An inexplicable fear rose inside her, followed by an equally inexplicable panic.

But she quickly calmed herself.

This was Tiangu. Did Niu Youdao really dare cause trouble here?

Then again, perhaps he did. It was not as though Niu Youdao had never caused trouble in Tiangu before.

When she turned her head away, she saw the people from the three neutral sects on another cliff wall.

Some of them were already staring coldly at her.

A wave of sorrow surged through her heart.

She knew perfectly well what awaited her once she left this place. She had openly schemed against those three sects in front of everyone. How could they possibly let her go? The moment she left Tiangu, she might immediately face pursuit and death.

"Martial Uncle!"

The two Lingjian Mountain disciples who had been sent out in advance found Chu Fengping.

At their reminder, Chu Fengping suddenly turned his head and stared toward Niu Youdao, who stood on the cliff with his sword planted before him. His cheek twitched violently several times, as though flames of anger were about to burst from his eyes.

Niu Youdao saw him as well.

His expression remained calm and unruffled as he met Chu Fengping's gaze.

One Lingjian Mountain disciple after another followed Chu Fengping's line of sight toward Niu Youdao on the cliff. Their movement drew the attention of Xiaoyao Palace and Zijin Cave as well.

Niu Youdao?

Everyone's expression differed.

In short, whether it was Yan, Wei, Qi, Han, or Song, all of them secretly ground their teeth somewhat at the sight of Niu Youdao. Four states had lost entire groups of people after being lured out and killed by him.

"The Secret Realm expedition is over. Misty Pavilion is still waiting for us to tally our Spirit Seeds. Come, let's go." Yan Li called out.

The mention of Misty Pavilion was enough to make everyone stop delaying.

As previously agreed, the people of Yan, Wei, and Qi pooled their Spirit Seeds for the tally.

Han and Song, which were in the middle of a war of national destruction outside, also remained huddled together. They combined their Spirit Seeds and jointly competed for a place in the rankings.

At Tiangu's entrance, the Great Sage of the Eastern Sea, Demon King of the Western Sea, Dharma King of the South Sea, and Nether Lord of the Northern Sea had appeared again to watch the final result now that the expedition was ending.

After hearing others say that the Four Seas people seemed to have helped Niu Youdao compete for a high ranking, all four were rather surprised.

What had happened?

"Hm? It looks like none of Jin's people came out," someone suddenly said after noticing something strange.

The crowd gathered near the entrance looked more carefully.

Sure enough.

Jin truly had not produced a single person.

It was already unusual for Jin not to take first place. This time, none of its people had even emerged. What in the world had happened inside the Secret Realm?

One gaze after another drifted toward Qiyun Sect Leader Taishu Feihua.

His face was ashen.

No one knew how many people were secretly delighting in his misfortune.

"Hm? Zhao's people don't seem to have come out either," someone else said after making another discovery.

No reminder was necessary.

Zuo Chengfeng, Sect Leader of Zhao's Luoxia Villa; Jiang Wanlou, Sect Leader of Guiyuan Sect; and Mi Man, Sect Leader of Juxian Sect had been watching for their own people all along.

They had noticed long ago that no Zhao cultivators had emerged.

All three wore black expressions.

Long Xiu, Meng Xuan, and Gong Lince, meanwhile, felt a faint unease in their hearts.

They had begun to notice the looks people kept casting toward them.

They themselves had also realized that among those who had emerged, Yan seemed to have the largest surviving force.

Did that mean Yan had profited the most and had also inflicted the greatest damage on the other factions?

That was what they suspected.

Others were beginning to think the same thing.

...

By mid-afternoon, the Spirit Seeds brought out by every side had finally been counted.

Bai Yulou, who was presiding over the proceedings, took the repeatedly verified results and flew to the high cliff opposite.

Only then did everyone discover that Sha Rulai had appeared at the scene at some unknown point.

He stood on the cliff with his hands clasped behind his back, watching.

Slowly, he reached out and accepted the sheet Bai Yulou presented, then began examining it.

The person Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion had sent to the tally point to gather information also returned and secretly reported the settlement results of the various sides to Niu Youdao.

They did not know the exact number of Spirit Seeds held by each faction, but they had confirmed that the five states had not pooled their totals together.

With the final possibility eliminated, Niu Youdao's heart finally settled completely.

He turned and went over to Fuhua and the others, then reminded them, "Pass the word down. As far as what happened to Jin's people is concerned, everyone is to insist they know nothing."

The relevant leaders exchanged looks.

Fuhua said, "We were the ones who killed them. This will come out sooner or later. There's no way to hide it forever."

"At least we can hide it for now!" Niu Youdao said. "Qiyun Sect is probably raging at this very moment. Surely you don't want them biting down on us immediately and refusing to let go?"

Hong Gaitian hesitated before reminding him, "The number of Spirit Seeds in your hands will make it difficult to avoid suspicion."

"Apart from ourselves, no one can know exactly how many Spirit Seeds the Four Seas gathered personally. Aside from those we seized, insist that the rest were gathered by your own people."

Niu Youdao continued, "What is publicly known right now is that Yan, Wei, Qi, Han, and Song joined forces and left Jin's people missing without a trace. Let Qiyun Sect go demand an explanation from those five states. Whether Qiyun Sect dares bite them or not, it will still reduce the pressure on us."

The others pondered this and slowly nodded.

Fuhua asked, "What if Zijin Cave lets something slip?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Zijin Cave won't expose its relationship with me for the time being. Once we pass this hurdle and I stabilize the situation, Qiyun Sect's rage will have cooled. They'll become rational again, and by then they won't be able to act recklessly even if they want to."

The others nodded slightly.

They understood.

Orders were quickly passed down, ensuring that everyone would tell the same story...

First place was Niu Youdao?

Sha Rulai frowned when he saw the list.

The result was far beyond his expectations.

He had known earlier that Niu Youdao had emerged, but he had never imagined the man could actually take first place.

Niu Youdao had dared use force inside Tiangu. Right or wrong had not mattered. When Sha Rulai demanded that he take first place, his true intention had been to drive him onto a road of death.

He had assumed Niu Youdao was finished.

Instead, the man had actually returned with first place.

Was this meant to slap him in the face?

His gaze traveled downward.

After carefully examining the ordered list from beginning to end, his eyes returned to the name in first place and rested there for a long moment.

Then he slowly asked, "How could he possibly take first place? You're certain there's no mistake?"

Bai Yulou cupped his hands. "There is no mistake. We verified the results repeatedly. By himself, he truly could not have taken first place, but judging from the signs we observed, that group from the Four Seas helped him. We can basically confirm that he joined forces with the Four Seas cultivators to seize first place."

"The Four Seas..." Sha Rulai murmured.

Despite his personal intervention, Niu Youdao had somehow escaped disaster.

Truthfully, the result on the list irritated Sha Rulai somewhat.

But words he had spoken publicly could not simply be taken back.

If Misty Pavilion began reneging on its declared terms whenever it pleased, then in the future everyone would begin doubting whether any arrangement issued by Misty Pavilion could still be trusted. If promises could be overturned at any moment, how were people supposed to conduct themselves? What rules would remain?

After a long silence, Sha Rulai slowly said, "The Four Seas have never taken first place themselves. Even if they joined forces with him... this fellow still has some ability if he managed to seize first place."

His gaze drifted into the distance.

"Huanli isn't young anymore either. What do you think?"

The instant he said that, Bai Yulou understood.

A parent's feelings were understandable. Everyone wanted to find a good match for his daughter. When someone suitable appeared, it was natural for the thought to arise, especially when the difference in age was not large.

Once Bai Yulou grasped the implication, however, alarm stirred within him.

He hesitated repeatedly, uncertain how he ought to answer.

"Hm?" Sha Rulai made a questioning sound.

His gaze fell on Bai Yulou's face with a hint of pressure, as though asking whether the man had failed to hear him.

Bai Yulou hurriedly replied, "A daughter's marriage is naturally decided by her parents. Personally, I would of course say the decision belongs to sir."

He paused before continuing carefully.

"But if we speak according to the rules, Niu Youdao is already too deeply entangled in the struggle for interests beneath Heaven. If he were suddenly pulled out of it, the entire balance of power beneath Heaven would change dramatically."

"If he is not pulled out, and sir continues to insist on the matter, the impact would be even greater. Once he is regarded as sir's man, who would still dare contend with him?"

"Certain people would never sit by and watch that happen. The forces of the Nine Saints would inevitably tear up their agreement and personally intervene in the struggle for interests one after another."

"The consequences would be too great. The Nine Saints only established these rules with difficulty and have lived without major conflict for so many years. Those above probably would not agree to it either. No one will be willing to rashly change the present order."

He added one more sentence.

"Sir, Niu Youdao truly is entangled too deeply."

Sha Rulai fell silent.

Only after a long time did he give a quiet sigh.

"Perhaps being born into a family like ours has harmed her."

Bai Yulou understood what he meant.

A daughter from a family with this kind of background was difficult to marry.

Giving her to some ordinary mediocrity would be hard to accept. Yet within the fixed circle of people considered suitable, finding someone genuinely satisfying was equally difficult.

Behind everything lay too many entangled interests.

Marriage, in the end, would probably still escape her own control. Most likely, she would eventually face an arranged match.

Sha Rulai could not hold the matter off forever.

Bai Yulou had spent a long time in Star-Picking City before and knew something of the situation.

It was not as though Sha Huanli had never met a man she liked.

Unfortunately, the man's constitution had been too frail to bear such enormous good fortune.

In the end, he had died without even knowing how.

And what kinds of people were those qualified to dream of marrying Sha Huanli?

How could they allow some other man to touch her casually?

What ordinary man could withstand the vicious methods of people like that?

There was no need to mention anyone else.

Even Sha Rulai himself had once paid a price for his own willfulness.

He had refused to marry the woman he should have married and instead married a woman he should not have—Sha Huanli's mother.

The result was that Sha Rulai's wife remained missing to this day.

Because of that, the relationship between father and daughter had never been good. There was almost a sense that they might grow old and die without ever speaking to one another again.

Outsiders saw only the splendor surrounding people like them.

How many could understand the bleakness hidden behind that splendor?

[End of Chapter 831]