Mu Hanyan looked at Zhou Shucheng carefully for a few seconds, then quietly used her divine sense to investigate. The rumors seemed to be correct. This Zhou Shucheng had indeed reached the level of a tenth-rank Divine Heart Priest.
"The first one to come up is a tenth-level Divine Heart Priest. It seems that those old guys put a lot of effort into drawing lots." Mu Hanyan showed a sarcastic sneer at the corner of her mouth.
According to convention, if the chief priest, left and right priests, prayer priest or the first punishment priest of a temple dies unexpectedly, a suitable candidate will be chosen from other high priests in office to take over. Others are not eligible to compete.
Guan Xiujin and the others made an exception and allowed her to compete, obviously with ulterior motives. They also allowed other priests to participate, clearly aiming to wear down her strength. The first draw had drawn a master tenth-rank Divine Heart Priest, and their intentions were clear.
After all, Guan Xiujin and the others, given their strength and status, wouldn't participate in the first round. Mu Hanyan, lacking a priesthood within the Temple of Life, would have to fight her way through the hundreds of participating priests to even have a chance to fight them. After these rounds of exhaustion, facing Kong Renhe and the others, their chances of victory would naturally be much slimmer.
"Are you Mu Hanyan, the chief priest of Huayu Temple?" Just as Mu Hanyan sneered secretly, Zhou Shucheng raised his head slightly and said arrogantly.
"Junior Mu Hanyan, greetings to Senior Zhou." Mu Hanyan said politely, cupping her hands. After all, the other party was an old man who had lived for over two hundred years. In line with the fine tradition of respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, Mu Hanyan maintained due respect.
"Well, your manners are quite good." Zhou Shucheng nodded in satisfaction when he saw Mu Hanyan being respectful and polite to him, but he did not return the greeting. He said arrogantly, "I heard that you are quite capable, but young people should know their limitations. The position of Right Priest is not something you are qualified to covet. Get down quickly to avoid embarrassing yourself."
"What did you say?" Mu Hanyan raised her eyebrows slightly.
She saw that Zhou Shucheng was already quite old, so she gave him face out of respect for the elderly and love for the young. However, she didn't expect that the old man was so tactless and actually criticized her.
"I say, considering that you are quite respectful to me, I don't want to hurt you. You'd better admit defeat and step down as soon as possible to avoid embarrassment." Zhou Shucheng said impatiently.
"I appreciate your kindness, but I am determined to get the position of right priest. Lord Zhou, please!" Seeing that Zhou Shucheng was so tactless, Mu Hanyan was too lazy to be polite with him and directly grasped the hilt of the sword.
"You are so determined to win. Do you have the qualifications? Don't think that you can look down on priests all over the world just because you are the chief priest of Huayu at such a young age. Today I will let you know what it means that there are always people better than you." Mu Hanyan felt that Zhou Shucheng was tactless, and Zhou Shucheng felt that Mu Hanyan was ungrateful. He became furious when he heard this and drew out his sword with a bang.
A divine light suddenly appeared, and a powerful aura gushed out, like invisible waves, rushing towards Mu Hanyan.
"A tenth-rank Divine Heart Priest, it turns out the rumors are true, Zhou Shucheng has indeed reached the realm of a tenth-rank Divine Heart Priest." There were many genuine people in the crowd below the stage, and someone exclaimed in surprise at that moment.
"I didn't expect that Zhou Shucheng is so powerful. Mu Hanyan met him in the first competition. It must be dangerous." Others also said in surprise.
Although there were a total of ten priests competing on the five competition platforms, the most eye-catching match was between Mu Hanyan and Zhou Shucheng.
With the public announcement of Zhao Xinghong's death, word of Mu Hanyan's past feud with the Zhao family gradually spread, with some even linking Zhao Xinghong's death to her. However, because Mu Hanyan was too young and Zhao Xinghong had been famous for years, no one took it seriously, dismissing it as a wild fantasy. With the news of this feud, Mu Hanyan's conflict with Kong Renhe upon leaving Qianlong Valley could no longer be concealed.
Although Mu Hanyan did not fight with the two men in public, she had the confidence to become enemies with the Right Priest and the Prayer Priest, and was able to make them helpless and even suffer repeated defeats. This Mu Hanyan's strength was definitely not weak.
Zhou Shucheng had already made his mark two hundred years ago. In terms of seniority alone, even Chief Priest Guan had to call him "senior". There were even rumors that his strength had actually reached the level of a tenth-rank Divine Heart Priest, but he did not serve in the Temple of Life because he was indifferent to fame and fortune.
Whether the rumor is true or not is unknown to outsiders, but no matter what, Zhou Shucheng is an absolute strong man, and this is absolutely beyond doubt.
Compared to the competition between the two of them, the other matches were clearly less appealing. They were all priests hoping for a lucky break, hoping to gain experience even if they couldn't secure the position of Right Priest. Their abilities were generally average.
Therefore, before this competition even started, everyone's attention was on Mu Hanyan and Zhou Shucheng. Seeing the latter display the strength of a tenth-level Divine Heart Priest right from the start, how could they not be amazed.
"By the way, I heard that Mu Hanyan's protective magic weapon is extremely impressive. Priest Qi Yu didn't know the details at the beginning, so he suffered a lot. After he came back, he recuperated for a long time before he came out to meet people." A young priest suddenly thought of something and said.
"You didn't listen carefully to the rules just now, did you? In this competition, you can use magic swords and offensive magic weapons, and you can also wear defensive robes, but you cannot use protective magic weapons." said another priest.
"Ah, I really didn't notice that." The priest said in surprise, then curled his lips, "Why do I feel that this rule is aimed at Mu Hanyan?"
"That's not the case. We priests rely on swords to perform our magic. Many people's swords have been passed down from generation to generation, and they have long been connected to their minds. If they are not allowed to use them, their strength will be greatly reduced. The same goes for priest robes. We can't let everyone compete naked. But magic weapons are different. Over-reliance on external forces is of no benefit to our cultivation. It is reasonable to prohibit their use." The priest explained, not wanting to maliciously speculate on the thoughts of Guan Xiujing and others.
"That being said, Mu Hanyan is still at a disadvantage after all." Although his explanation was reasonable, the priest still couldn't help but say.
"It doesn't matter whether she suffers a loss or not. With her strength, she can never be a match for Lord Zhou. Even if she can use a protective magic weapon, the result will be the same." The priest next to her said disapprovingly.
"Yeah, Mu Hanyan is also unlucky. She met Zhou Shucheng right at the beginning." Others also sighed.
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