Once Upon A Time, There Was A Spirit Sword Mountain
Chapter 683: Retired Veteran

A high-profiled Jindan Stage level one-on-one challenge drew to a close amidst the laughter and joyous talks of countless of people.

The Union of Ten Thousand Immortals camp had won a brilliant victory that exceeded anyone's expectation.

Although it was a close match from the score 3:2 point of view—except for the undoubted victory of Wang Wu the Number One Jindan in Nine Regions, the fight under Wang Lu's leadership actually resulted in a draw of 2:2.

However, the real victory lied beyond the final score.

In the first match, Liu Li not only won, but she also perfectly killed Little Poison Immortal, rooting out the slaughtering devil whose hands were wet with the blood of members of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals. In the second match, although Zhu Shiyao failed to score a victory, she managed to force Flesh Massacre to move like a clown, embarrassing him. Quan Zouhua's fight in the third match was the most ferocious, devouring Ravenous Wolf, the strongest opponent in the lineup, turning the digested energy into her own!

The Earth Immortals not only lost the score, but they also lost the lives of their two veterans. One must know that these Earth Immortals were all elite veterans who had experienced numerous battles and tribulations, and even battles against the Fallen Immortals. After waking up from sixteen thousand years of sleep, any one of them could 'produce clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with another'. But now in just one challenge, they lost two of their members, truly unprecedented!

In contrast, the face and IQ that Bai Ze lost in the last match was not that important.

Therefore, after the match, in the Earth Immortals camp, no one dared to speak out. The depressing atmosphere spread to over one hundred people and stayed there.

This was the first time it happened in the few months of the Grand Competition. Because although there were more than one hundred people in the Earth Immortals camp, only a few main forces like Xuan Mo and Bai Ze were really enthusiastic participants. Most of the others preferred to just watch, they didn't care much about this Grand Competition. Thus, when Wang Lu began to obtain a winning streak, they just made a joke, pointed it out, and then busied themselves with their own things.

Then came the news of the death of Little Poison Immortal and Ravenous Wolf in battle.

Even those who completely didn't care about the Grand Competition turned their attention to it.

"What is wrong with you guys?"

Of course, the object of the blame wouldn't be on the deceased person, but the survivors. Flesh Massacre was a slaughtering devil, so no one wished to talk to him more. Therefore, the only people who got blamed were Bai Ze and Illusionary Child.

Illusionary Child had nothing to say about his own failure. After his defeat, he briefly explained the situation in one sentence: "Whoever has the ability, go fight one-on-one against her. If you win, I will present my Ten Thousand Illusions Spirit to you!" And then he turned around and left. His swagger was even bigger than the winner.

However, when it came to Bai Ze, it was really inexcusable.

The opponent was not an outside path cultivator, and with the strength of peak Jindan, how could Bai Ze, with his capacity as the vice leader of Earth Immortal camp, lose? His strength was far superior to that of the opponent, his immortal treasure was far better than the opponent's, and his actual fighting experience was much richer than the opponent. So how could he lose?

In the final analysis, this could only be blamed on IQ. However, the humiliation due to IQ on a person was far greater than that of the power gap and grade difference of magical treasure.

Bai Ze was not someone who vainly attached importance to face, but when he returned to the camp of Earth Immortals in defeat and then heard a piece of doubt and criticism from his comrades, it was impossible for him to remain indifferent.

His immortal path was the path of negation, making him specifically responsible to voice out opposing opinion. Even when in the past their powerful leader with unique prestige behaved badly, he openly scolded him in the face repeatedly.

And now that the person who made the mistake turned out to be him, would he show mercy on himself?

The answer was of course not. Bai Ze was equally harsh to others and to himself.

"With my ability, I'm no longer suitable for any position in the group. So, from now on, I'm just an ordinary member of our group."

This was Bai Ze's accountability to everyone, which was shocking to them.

Everyone knew that Bai Ze's position in the group was second only to their Big Brother late leader. His vice leader position was well-deserved. Even the man in black whose words carried the heaviest weight did not have as high a position as Bai Ze in the past. More importantly, Bai Ze had a unique veto power in the group.

In short, if Bai Ze thought that something was seriously not feasible, he could use his authority to veto it. Of course, because this authority was too important, the leader of Earth Immortal camp originally gave him only three opportunities to do so.

In their long struggle against the Fallen Immortal, Bai Ze had used up this authority twice. Each one was used to overrule the order of the leader of Earth Immortals. One of which saved many lives, while another one failed to produce wins or losses but ultimately not a miscalculation… In fact, Bai Ze also relied on those two successes to strengthen his position within the camp.

And now, he still had one supreme authority remain. Although it was only one, its significance was extraordinary. The veto power given to him by their late leader could veto everything, including an Earth Immortal's life. In other words, if Bai Ze thought that someone was not pleasing to his eyes, he could kill that person in one sentence.

However, right now, Bai Ze had voluntarily given up this power.

Because of this, many people were secretly relieved because Bai Ze was really an unlikeable person. Most people in their group had a bad relationship with him.

"Bai Ze, no need to be so impulsive. Your opponent is Wang Lu, so it's not a big deal for you to lose…"

However, at this time, Xuan Mo, who was usually at odds with Bai Ze, was the first one who stood up to try to keep him.

But Bai Ze's decision had already been made, and it was difficult to reverse. "As you said, to lose is not a big deal, but for me to lose like this, I could not shirk away from my responsibility."

With that, seeing that Xuan Mo was still unwilling, Bai Ze sighed with emotion.

"I know that I've never been a likable… person, opposing what other people say every day, and I also didn't revere Big Brother like you guys… You guys dislike and even detest me. But I actually don't care. Even if you become angry out of shame and ignore the last words of Big Brother and directly kill me, I will not care."

When Xuan Mo heard this, she could not help but ask, "Then what do you care about?"

"I care about right and wrong." Bai Ze earnestly said, "I am a slow learner. I couldn't learn to be a military god like Big Brother, nor be a literary genius like you guys, so I couldn't care about too many things. The only thing that I could care about is right and wrong. If something is wrong, I would reject it."

Xuan Mo patiently said, "Isn't that very good?"

"The problem is, right now, I could not tell right from wrong." Bai Ze's voice was filled with bitterness. "Since that's the case, what's the use in keeping me in my position in Earth Immortal camp?"

Xuan Mo urgently said, "It's just a defeat. Besides, the person who set up the line up was the man in black, so even if you have to take responsibility, it's not yours alone. How could you just give up your responsibility handed to you by Big Brother?"

Bai Ze was silent for a long time as he looked carefully at Xuan Mo. Then, he earnestly said.

"Big Brother is already dead."

—

When the Earth Immortal camp fell into silence, the other camp, the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, was naturally rejoicing.

It would not be too much to describe this great victory with any magnificent word. Thus, people simply didn't bother to describe too much beyond just "revelry", which was staged in the City of Immortals.

Since the start of the Grand Competition, the several months of repression had finally been released at that moment. The wild-with-joy cultivators staged a variety of ridiculous scenes in the City of Immortals.

However, amidst the frenzy situation, there were many people that always remained calm.

For example, the Chief Planner of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals who skillfully directed the whole victory, Wang Lu.

The courtyard in the Immortal Five Area remained as tranquil as ever. The light breeze blew the green willow tree.

Even the voice in the courtyard was gentle and light.

"Wang Lu, you are a fool."

A woman helplessly said, "For the sake of victory, you don't even care about your own life… That in itself is not a big matter, after all, your little Jindan life isn't worth any money. The problem is the Golden Silkworm, Same Body Insect, and Five Element Soil Mate, you should at least discuss it with me before you decide to spend them.

Wang Lu sarcastically responded, "After the discussion, you recommended me to change it to fake products with an effect that could reach eighty percent of the original but at the cost of a tenth?"

The woman said righteously, "From the point of view of cost-effectiveness, that is a wise choice."

"Indeed so, that was why the first time you applied for immortal level stage props to be used specifically for training, I've handled them cost-effectively."

The next moment, the woman's sharp voice cut through the quiet atmosphere in the courtyard. "Wang Lu you little sh*t! Just you wait!"

Then, like a lighting, a green sword shadow flew away, apparently anxious about something.

Inside the room, Wang Lu sighed and laid down.

This was his bedroom, right next to study-slash-office room. In the bedroom, there were plain but elegant furniture specifically provided by the Mysterious Sky Mansion of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, immortal plants rich in spiritual energy, as well as priceless incense.

By this time, Wang Lu had enjoyed the same treatment as high-ranking Elders of Heavenly Sage Hall. Even the quilt on his body had magical and mysterious effects. Just this quilt alone was enough to bankrupt a small sect in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals.

Unfortunately, no matter how all these kinds of luxuries added up, they could not hide the sickly appearance in Wang Lu's face.

Of course, on the surface, Wang Lu was still comfortably relaxed—since his achievement in Non-Phase Method, it was hard to see his painful and embarrassing expression. However, as long as one was not blind, one could see his weakness.

Behind a brilliant victory, there was, of course, a painful price. The Earth Immortal camp paid their loss with two lives and one person's face, while the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals camp seemed to have won a total victory. However, that was only because all the losses were paid by Wang Lu.

Not to mention anything else, the poison from Little Poison Immortal that attacked him through the Same Body Insect, how could it be so easy to resist? If it was any other Jindan, their bones and flesh would've turned into pus. Even if Wang Lu's attainment in Non-Phase Method was astonishing and he came prepared with a whole range of detoxification drugs, the process was still difficult.

Let alone not long after that, he had used his entire energy to control the Five Element Soil Mate in a short but fierce and brilliant battle against Bai Ze. Using that fake replacement did not aggravate his physical injury, but the burden on his primordial spirit was unavoidable. When the poison had not been removed, his primordial spirit was heavily burdened. Thus, one could only imagine the pressure that he had to bear.

After the challenge, everyone was jubilant and wild with joy, but after Wang Lu mocked Bai Ze, he spat out blood on the spot and fainted in his Master's arms. Fortunately, he had already anticipated this. Thus, when he was mocking, he hid in the dark, not letting any outsiders look at his true condition.

However, after the fierce fight, the injuries that he sustained should, after all, be taken care off.

Fortunately, in the room, there was the top detoxification expert in the entire Nine Regions.

The witch doctor, A Wu.