After talking with Cheng Sangji, Lu Zhaozhao walked aimlessly in the opposite direction.
She knew she would be out of this place soon, and she knew she had won her gamble.
From the moment she first heard about the Eight Clans' plan, she had no intention of joining them. An organization that kills its own kind without batting an eye; if she made any mistake one day, she would likely be wiped out. Therefore, she could not easily join.
But she was already being watched, and refusing to cooperate on their turf would be suicide. She pondered for a long time how to escape unscathed.
Finally, a turning point appeared. She was unwilling to kill so many demons for no reason, but these lives were worthless in the eyes of the eight tribes, and their precarious alliance was thus dissolved.
One side wants to kill, the other wants to save, which inevitably leads to both sides trying to persuade the other. Therefore, a final battle is inevitable; this is Lu Zhaozhao's last and most crucial step.
Once she demonstrates the strength to contend with these people, in order to accomplish the great task of overthrowing the Demon Lord, they will have to reconsider the potential losses from opposing her. Similarly, Lu Zhaozhao will also need to constantly assess whether the situation is under control.
Therefore, the first time she saw Nan Rongrui and Tudanxi at midnight, she didn't intervene; the second time, at noon, she saw Jie Yi and Qie He, and she still didn't intervene; the third time was at dawn, when she saw Nan Rongrui gather demons and prepare to leave, and Tudanxi and Huai Jiang began the slaughter. At this point, Lu Zhaozhao concluded that they needed to use Nan Rongrui's secret technique to gather demons and then carry out a concentrated massacre; the focus of this scheme was Nan Rongrui.
However, in order to protect Nan Rongrui, she was always accompanied by other people, sometimes Tu Danxi, sometimes Jie Yi, and sometimes Huai Jiang.
She had fought Huai Jiang before; his hidden weapons were incredibly skillful, but in terms of pure cultivation and strength, they were evenly matched.
But what she really wanted to meet was Changyu Lanshan. When they fought outside the city, Lu Zhaozhao discovered that his cultivation level was unstable. Although he tried his best to hide it, he still revealed his weakness under Wen Sheng's offensive.
So, while waiting for the fourth visit, she was extremely anxious. What should she do if it was Cheng Sangji or someone else who came? It seemed that she had no choice but to fight it out.
Fortunately, heaven seemed to be on her side, and everything seemed to be going her way.
At midnight, under the full moon, on the riverbank, Changyu Lanshan and Nan Rongrui—everything was just right. Although Changyu Lanshan's Luwu form had indeed startled her, fortunately, it was a close call, and she successfully defeated him, even suffering internal organ damage and severely injuring Cheng Sangji, thus ending the battle on the spot.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of the eight tribes, she was showing pity for these demons, but she knew that her intentions were not pure.
She knew very well that even if they hadn't made a move when she arrived the first three times, she might not have intervened. Her own life had to be prioritized; she couldn't afford to make a single wrong move.
So each time, she would recite the Rebirth Mantra for the deceased demons, simply to alleviate her guilt. Sometimes she wondered: perhaps these incantations really worked? In an attempt to atone for her sins. Other times she thought that Emperor Huizong of Qing always believed that the deaths of demons were insignificant, and she shouldn't bear such a burden. But then she thought of the Thirteen Sisters, Tu San, and even Wen Sheng she had met on this journey; none of them had harmed anyone, and they had even been kind to people. This tormented her for two days, but fortunately, she rescued the last batch of demons.
Lu Zhaozhao closed her eyes and walked to a large tree to rest. She had coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of blood, but she felt much better afterward.
She waited patiently; soon she would be able to leave.
The ground began to shake and crack, beams of light shooting out from within, just as they had when they entered. The lines of the chessboard gradually became clear, and the night sky became part of the chessboard, reflecting the chessboard on the ground.
Lu Zhaozhao was not good at chess. As the chess pieces fell one by one, she had to draw on the ground with her hand to think about the moves.
Although all eight of them were proud and aloof, they outwardly obeyed Cheng Sangji's instructions, so he was probably the one playing this game.
Lu Zhaozhao casually gestured a few times on the ground, then stopped and erased the lines she had drawn.
Sure enough, she thought to herself that playing chess was not a good thing for a mediocre person like her.
The light once again enveloped her vision, and it was pitch black again. Having experienced this before, Lu Zhaozhao remained remarkably calm. She closed her eyes and sat down to regulate her breathing, but unfortunately, the ground tremors were too strong, making her breathing less efficient.
After a sudden, earth-shaking tremor, a cacophony of sounds filled the air.
Lu Zhaozhao opened her eyes and found herself back at the starting point. Lying around her were the demons who had survived the fourth massacre, most of them still unconscious, probably not yet recovered from Nan Rongrui's secret technique. Perhaps when they woke up and found that they had cleared the level while they slept, they would be extremely surprised and delighted.
As Lu Zhaozhao chuckled softly, she met Cheng Sangji's gaze from a short distance ahead. He was still clutching his injured arm, and Nan Rongrui frowned as she examined his injury, her eyes filled with heartache.
Cheng Sangji chuckled softly, silently opened his mouth, said "Goodbye" to Lu Zhaozhao, and then turned his head away.
Lu Zhaozhao was completely bewildered by him. She had thought that this scheme would make them hate her deeply, but unexpectedly, they seemed even more friendly than when they pretended to form an alliance.
The examiner's voice rang in their ears: "Congratulations on passing the first round of the competition. The second round will begin in three days. Please take a short rest. Best wishes for your continued success in the martial arts competition."
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