Nian Zhi, who was knocked back from the field, fell to the ground and couldn't get up. She tried to prop herself up on her arms, but she fell back down every time she tried. Blood gushed from her mouth.
The arbitrator disciple on the sidelines seemed stunned, delaying the announcement of the result. Lu Zhaozhao looked at him; the competition had just ended, and his sharp gaze hadn't yet faded, startling the disciple. He immediately reacted and announced the result.
"In the first test of the second round, Emperor Huizong of Qing, Lu Zhaozhao, has won!"
With the final announcement, Lu Zhaozhao slowly walked off the stage and stood in front of Nian Zhi.
Looking down, Nian Zhi was completely in her line of sight. Suddenly, she became disoriented and saw another scene, exactly the same as now, only the roles were reversed. It was Lu Zhaozhao who had fallen to the ground.
She saw Lu Zhaozhao look up, her eyes filled with resentment, while before her was Nian Zhi looking up, her eyes brimming with hatred.
After years of arduous training, at this moment, Lu Zhaozhao seemed to see the dawn breaking, and she seemed to have found a crack to break this deadlock.
"You've won, what else do you want to do? Mocking the loser?"
Nian Zhi coughed up a pool of blood and spoke out unwillingly.
Lu Zhaozhao lowered her head. She thought she should be happy, but for no reason, she felt a sense of sympathy for someone in the same boat.
Before she could think, she reached out her hand. Nian Zhi instinctively dodged, but Lu Zhaozhao grabbed her arm.
A force came and steadily helped Nian Zhi up. She was immediately stunned, not understanding Lu Zhaozhao's behavior.
Lu Zhaozhao was also somewhat surprised when she came to her senses. She didn't know why she had thought and acted that way. Perhaps, she wanted to help not only Nian Zhi, but also the "Lu Zhaozhao" she had never met before.
She saw that Yunxian in the stands had been asked to leave, and many other faces in the audience were nowhere to be seen. It seemed that the moves the two of them had used on the field were really outrageous.
But so what? With Yun Xian blocking her way, Lu Zhaozhao just wanted to go back and rest properly. It wasn't just the fatigue from her muscles, but more so the fatigue from the depths of her soul.
Ignoring Nian Zhi, who remained standing there, Lu Zhaozhao walked away from the arena. As they passed each other, Nian Zhi seemed to want to say something, but she didn't. She simply turned around and stared intently at her departing figure.
At this point, two people had changed positions on the field, and the surrounding spectators turned their attention to the next group.
The bustling crowd contrasted sharply with the tranquility outside, and in the middle stood Nian Zhi.
Lu Zhaozhao stretched her arms as she walked, looking forward to getting some rest when she got back, but the appearance of a disciple shattered her plans.
The rest I dreamed of never came true.
She quietly looked at the elders by the main hall, each of whom was a prominent figure in the cultivation world. At this moment, they all turned their gazes to her, this junior.
“Lu Zhaozhao of Emperor Huizong of Qing.” Qing Songzi spoke in a deep voice, his tone authoritative and unquestionable, “Where did you learn the Formless Technique and the chanting of breaking the cocoon that you just used on the field?”
Lu Zhaozhao lowered her eyes and chuckled softly: "You should know more about this kind of thing if you ask my master."
Qing Songzi frowned, and behind the screen behind him, the seated Master Bu Lu also frowned, making Bai Yuanshi, who was standing next to him, inexplicably nervous.
"You mean, Yunxian taught you these things in private?"
A beautiful woman standing next to Qing Songzi asked a question. Lu Zhaozhao looked at her and saw that it was Xian Ji, the head of the Tianyin Sect.
Seeing that Lu Zhaozhao kept her head down and didn't reply, she got a little angry, slammed her hand on the table, sending wood chips flying everywhere. One of the chips grazed Lu Zhaozhao's neck, leaving a bloody mark.
Lu Zhaozhao reached out and touched her neck; the sticky sensation made her frown.
"This disciple is reckless. I was unaware that you seniors brought me here. Does Emperor Huizong know of this?"
"Are you threatening me?" Xian Jiliu raised her eyebrows and looked coldly at the disciple in front of her who was oblivious to his own mortality.
Lu Zhaozhao remained stubbornly silent.
"Alright, calm down too. Over the years, your temper has become more and more impulsive." Qing Songzi stepped in to smooth things over. He looked at Lu Zhaozhao, a female cultivator who looked thin but seemed to have a very strong temper.
“Lu Zhaozhao, you’d better explain everything clearly. Yun Xian will also be implicated in this matter, so don’t expect him to protect you.”
Xian Ji's voice remained stern, but ultimately he was mindful of Qing Songzi and didn't speak again after saying those words.
Standing in the center of the hall, Lu Zhaozhao's gaze was calm. The influence of Zen Buddhism seemed to be more severe than she had imagined. She hadn't expected Yun Xian to come to her aid. Since she had been brought here, then Nian Zhi should have been taken elsewhere to be interrogated as well.
For now, she has no choice but to stick to her guns and refuse to budge.
It's obvious that Yun Xian was the instigator, but Lu Zhaozhao comprehended it in a dream in the back mountain a thousand years ago. She can't say it, and she can't say it. No one would believe that there was a great demon from a thousand years ago still alive. And yet, he did nothing but go to a little disciple with little cultivation and help her improve her cultivation. If she said this, everyone would probably think she was crazy.
They can only stubbornly deny it and wait for Nian Zhi to give up first, or for Yun Xian to lose his temper and step in to take responsibility.
The atmosphere was tense. Lu Zhaozhao didn't speak, and even when she did, she only said things that were not very meaningful and didn't elicit any information. However, they couldn't interrogate her like a criminal, so everyone present was in an awkward position.
A moment later, a disciple hurriedly ran in from outside and whispered something in Qing Songzi's ear. Qing Songzi nodded, and the disciple then walked towards the screen behind Qing Songzi.
Lu Zhaozhao then realized that there were actually people behind her, and cold sweat soaked through her inner clothes.
The only person who could possibly be hiding behind these people is that one person.
She suddenly remembered that before Bai Yuanshi Academy became famous for its interrogation techniques, Bu Lu Zhenren's interrogation skills had been a well-known and terrifying force for the past hundred years. However, as he faded from view, this reputation gradually disappeared.
She couldn't help but feel glad that she hadn't said much earlier, and that her evasive words were ambiguous and impossible to discern as true or false.
The disciple emerged from behind the screen and whispered something in Qing Songzi's ear. Qing Songzi gave a wink to the people beside him and said to Lu Zhaozhao, "That's enough. Bringing you here today was against the rules in the first place. You should go back now."
Xian Ji gave her a cold look, snorted, and didn't say anything more.
Knowing that the focus of this matter would no longer fall on her, Lu Zhaozhao breathed a sigh of relief, bowed to them, and slowly withdrew from the main hall.
As soon as she went outside, Bai Yuanshi caught up from behind and walked alongside her without saying a word.
Lu Zhaozhao glanced at him but didn't say anything. She just walked in one direction.
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