The young man standing by the lakeside, bare-chested and holding the broken saber, was very calm.
The man who had arrived suddenly glanced at Jiang Shuchan's corpse, his brows furrowing in disbelief and anger as he said, "You actually killed her!"
Jiang Shuchan's corpse had already rolled down the lakeside and fallen into the lake, while Xi Qiuchen's body had long sunk to the bottom of the lake.
Chen Chao did not answer the man's question. He simply tilted his head and asked, "Liang Zhao?"
In this microcosm, Liang Zhao and Song Changxi were the two people Chen Chao least wanted to encounter.
Chen Chao had already met Song Changxi before. Although they had not fought, Chen Chao had already formed a grudge against him. Now, the person in front of him, Chen Chao still could not clearly determine his cultivation realm, but he presumed that the other party was Liang Zhao.
Liang Zhao looked at him, not refuting, implicitly acknowledging his identity.
"The martial exam is just a way to determine superiority. You actually killed them?" Liang Zhao stared at Chen Chao, the anger in his eyes undisguised.
Although Liang Zhao was an itinerant cultivator and did not belong to any sect in the foreign lands, he was ultimately considered part of the foreign land cultivators. How could he sit back and watch as Chen Chao killed Jiang Shuchan by the lakeside?
Chen Chao calmly replied, "It seems like there was no rule against killing people."
As he spoke, he walked along the lakeside to pick up that black shirt.
After soaking in the lake water for a long time, the blood had already washed away.
After wearing the black shirt, Chen Chao glanced at Liang Zhao without much thought. However, his eyebrows soon furrowed because another figure appeared even further away.
Song Changxi
This Dao society genius had already arrived here.
He had no emotions in his eyes, and after arriving here, he even looked at Liang Zhao first.
Chen Chao furrowed his brows.
Liang Zhao also glanced at Song Changxi and asked, "Did you see him last night?"
Song Changxi calmly replied, "He lured that mountain spirit over, In the end, he hid in the shadows and killed that mountain spirit."
Liang Zhao pondered for a moment and shook his head, saying, "Since that's the case, he is yours. I'm leaving."
After saying these words, he turned around and was about to leave.
Song Changxi said, "You don't stand a chance anymore."
Liang Zhao did not look back and said, "I know, but I want to go and test that fiercest demon."
Although there were many demons captured by the prominent figures, there were only three demons that were the fiercest.
The mountain spirit was one of them, but the fiercest one was even stronger than the mountain spirit.
Song Changxi frowned but did not say anything.
"He killed Jiang Shuchan. You can kill him."
These were the last words Liang Zhao left behind.
After saying these words, he really left.
Song Changxi withdrew his gaze and looked at Chen Chao.
Chen Chao glanced at the water droplets dripping from the corner of his clothes, lifted his head, and smiled at Song Changxi, saying, "Itching to kill me?"
Last night, Chen Chao had already made this Daoist genius lose face in front of everyone.
Now, he had chased after him overnight to this place, his goal was obvious.
"It was you who killed first."
Song Changxi said calmly, "A martial artist like you wanting to become the champion of the martial exam. I'm afraid that you're indulging in a wild fantasy."
Chen Chao said, "It seems like I'm already in first place now."
There were only a few days left for the martial exam and Chen Chao's name was already at the forefront of the rankings. Song Changxi had almost no chance of catching up to him, especially after killing that mountain spirit.
"Oh, right if you manage to kill me, you might still stand a chance."
Chen Chao smiled, reached out, and crushed the bamboo token.
Then, silence fell over the lake.
Nothing happened.
Chen Chao stood on the spot and was somewhat silent.
Song Changxi looked at him and was rather silent too.
The two did not speak and the lakeside seemed very quiet.
Chen Chao looked at Song Changxi and said, "I originally thought it was just a minor issue."
He chuckled self-deprecatingly.
Earlier, he had figured that there was something wrong with the bamboo token. But how could he have thought that it was actually such a huge problem?
He could not leave after crushing the bamboo token.
In other words, apart from Wei Xu eventually bringing him out of this microcosm, it was impossible for him to leave.
He had no means to escape.
He might very well die...
"It was originally just a minor issue. No one could have predicted that the bamboo token would have some problem. Moreover, if you die here, who will know what happened here?"
Song Changxi looked at him, his gaze gradually turning cold.
Chen Chao was expressionless.
……
……
There were many people on the pavilion, but the Heavenly Light Mirror could no longer see anything. This microcosm seemed to have malfunctioned and the prominent figures could not see what was happening in the microcosm. At this moment, everyone could only rely on the ranking list to glean some information.
Chen Chao was still in first place, but some people's names had already vanished.
"Xi Qiuchen died?!"
Someone looked at the name that was currently dissipating in disbelief. Although Xi Qiuchen's reputation had never been good, he was still an outstanding existence among the young cultivators.
"With his cultivation, did he encounter a formidable demon? Otherwise, why couldn't he leave there immediately?"
"Perhaps he was too ambitious and ended up dying over there."
The young cultivators were discussing animatedly, having many different opinions about this.
"Look, Heavenly Tree Sect's Jiang Shuchan is also dead!"
Hearing this, people suddenly perked up.
Jiang Shuchan was different from others. She was a genius on the Latent Dragon List; a true prodigy.
Furthermore, people were particularly interested in Jiang Shuchan because of her wager with Chen Chao at the lakeside of the academy.
Their affair caused quite a stir.
When Chen Chao was ranked first on the list, some people had already thought about this matter.
At that time, some speculated that Jiang Shuchan was bound to lose. However, people did not pay much attention to it because the incident caused by Chen Chao was far greater. Moreover, Chen Chao did not make any excessive demands regarding the lakeside bet.
But now, it was all meaningless.
Because Jiang Shuchan was already dead.
The outcome of the bet was now clear, and it was evident who the winner and loser were.
Compared to this matter, what people were more concerned about was how Jiang Shuchan died.
Present at the Myriad Willow Convention from the Heavenly Tree Sect was a female daoist, who was also the Heavenly Tree Sect's Chief Enforcer. As she saw the name disappearing from the ranking list, she took out a small wooden plaque with the character "Jiang" on the front. The wooden plaque was simple and unsophisticated, but at this moment, the plaque had already shattered.
She was the Heavenly Tree Sect's Chief Enforcer, her status greatly respected. As for the wooden plaque in her hand, it had a secret technique of the sect and it could determine the life and death of sect disciples.
Now that the wooden plaque already shattered, it meant that Jiang Shuchan had died.
Looking at the wooden plaque, the daoist nun said coldly, "Chan'er is dead."
When the prominent figures present heard this, they were all very silent. No one spoke.
They naturally knew what Jiang Shuchan had gone to do. Now that she was dead, they probably knew the reason behind it as well.
No one could have expected this outcome.
That young martial artist brought too many surprises.
Jiang Shuchan was dead and Xia Qiuchen was dead too.
What about Liang Zhao and Song Changxi?
What could these two do?
With Changxi present, he won't leave alive."
A prominent figure looked at the daoist nun in front of him and said, "He'll die inside."
The important figures present here were of one mind, so there was no problem speaking up at this moment.
"Yes, he'll die inside."
A prominent figure concurred.
……
……
Near the lakeside, after seeing Jiang Shuchan's name disappear, the official responsible for recording immediately had a drastic change in expression. Pointing at a junior officer, they shouted, "Hurry and go inform the palace immediately!"
That low-ranking official did not say a word and quickly hurried away.
Wei Xu took a look, but said nothing.
Xie Nandu came over here and stood next to this Senior Brother Wei.
Wei Xu said, "I've somewhat let him down."
He knew from the start that the bamboo token was tampered with, but he did not think that the bamboo token would be so problematic.
Chen Chao could not leave now.
"If I stop the operation of the microcosm, everyone will be able to leave. But clearly, this martial exam will be invalidated too."
Wei Xu looked at Xie Nandu and said, "He can't voice his opinion. Since Junior Sister is his friend, will you make a decision on his behalf?"
Xie Nandu thought about it, shook her head, and said, "His affairs, nobody can help him to make a decision."
Wei Xu looked at her and said, "But he needs someone to help him make a decision right now."
Xie Nandu said, "Then do nothing, that's the best decision."
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