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"Your thoughts are very easy to guess!"

Lumings felt that he had never heard such mocking words in his life...

As someone who once stood below only one person in Great Jin, no one ever claimed they could see through his thoughts, not even Liu Yu. Yet in just a few short years, could a young girl mock him like this?

The key point was... she actually guessed right.

He wasn’t a Magician, but he knew just how absurd it was for her to have managed to do what she did.

To calculate the force with which he stepped on the ground, to use this force to disrupt the energy of the previous Array, and to activate a pre-designed Technique—how precise of a calculation was that?

One wrong step would lead to an energy uproar, a completely out-of-control situation!

But she... really guessed it right...

Looking at that enormous palm, Lumings knew he was trapped. The energy of this space-folding Array was extremely complex; normally, when facing off against a Magician, any Warrior would not easily approach such a high-energy Spatial Technique and would recognize it quite easily.

But this girl, step by step, calculated his movements, leading him to be ensnared within this prepared barrier.

Admittedly, her Array abilities far exceeded any Magician’s that he knew, but it was her judgment that truly left him powerless.

So... did he lose completely?

For a moment, a wave of desolation surged through his heart, leaving him staring blankly at Chen Ying, who used the barrier to trap him inside.

He was careless once and lost to Siao Mingyue.

Then again, he lost to the junior, Chen Qing.

Now... could even the wild girl raised by Mu Hongqing easily control him?

Ha...

In this moment, Lumings suddenly felt that his era... might truly be over...

Clap, clap, clap!

Clear applause sounded from behind. Chen Ying put away the magic cube-like spatial barrier in her hand and looked toward the person clapping.

Dressed in black and white Taoist robes, with an exceptionally handsome face, it was the gatekeeper of Northern Tiger Gate: Zhang Zhiyun.

"Impressive!" Zhang Zhiyun clapped his hands, sincerely saying, "Miss, your Array skills are truly impressive, especially your delicate Art Calculation ability. But I’m curious, how could you be so sure of Lumings’ force? Weren’t you afraid of guessing wrong?"

"If I guessed wrong, then I guessed wrong.

.." Chen Ying replied indifferently, "The motto of Jiangnan Academy is to imagine boldly and practice generously. If you don’t dare to think, how can you succeed? If I guessed wrong, then I’d simply try again.

Experiments are often supposed to go wrong many times. "

"Experiments..." Zhang Zhiyun looked at her with interest, "So just now was just an experiment? Even if you guessed wrong, you would still have many more chances to experiment?"

This time, Chen Ying did not speak. With a slight raise of her hand, suddenly countless glowing Runes began to emerge on the ground, appear in the air, and surface among the flowers and plants of Northern Tiger Gate.

On closer inspection, one would realize that the entire perimeter of White Tiger Palace was already filled with countless barriers and Arrays laid out by Chen Ying.

Chen Ye felt his scalp tingle realizing that, unbeknownst to them, the entire White Tiger Palace had already become her domain...

No wonder she was so confident. Was this... Chen Ying’s strength?

Throughout it all, she didn’t reveal even a hint of her most famous Azure Dragon Technique...

"So that’s how it is..." Zhang Zhiyun nodded, then respectfully bowed: "Miss, you are qualified to pass through White Tiger Gate. You have cleared this challenge."

"Thank you for yielding..." Chen Ying returned the bow, and then held up the magic cube in her hand, saying, "This man is our prisoner from Jiangnan. Although I don’t know how Heavenly Master Mansion got a hold of him, now that I have found him, it is natural that I should bring him back."

Zhang Zhiyun however, was unconcerned as he said, "No matter. I took it on a whim, merely wanting to conduct an experiment. Now that the conclusion has pretty much been reached, it’s not of much use. Miss Chen wants to take it back, she can just take it back."

Inside the magic cube, Lumings stared dumbfounded at the nonchalant Zhang Zhiyun, and then glanced at Chen Ying, who was just as casual in putting him away. A feeling of utter dejection spread throughout his body.

Am I really... just a character like this now?

Even though I’ve already obtained transcendental power....

"Oh, the two of you did manage skillfully, but according to the rules, you have also passed." Zhang Zhiyun only then looked at Chen Ye and the other, "So be it, the three of you, please proceed to the Zhenghe Hall to wait..."

Following Zhang Zhiyun’s words, in front of the White Tiger Gate, the previously presiding guard general made the announcement directly: "For the White Tiger Gate, a total of twenty-one individuals registered for the examination, with three advancing.

They are from Jiangnan: Chen Ying, from the Chen Family of the Southern Sea: Chen Ye, and from the Nie Family: Nie Youyun. "

As the results concluded, many Elders felt relieved to go to the gate to pick up their younger family members.

They counted themselves lucky that their children were not too powerful and were eliminated at the palace gate itself.

Otherwise, if they had entered, they likely would have met the same fate as that eldest son from the Su Family.

The Family Head of the Su Family, meanwhile, stood dumbfounded staring at the spot inside the arena where his child’s head had burst.

Back then... his Su Family was at the forefront of shaming Mu Hongqing, who had come seeking a connection. Who could have foreseen that ten years later, the girl from Mu Hongqing’s house would reach such a stage?

If back then, a good relationship had been forged, at this crucial moment... would the girl from the Mu Hongqing Family have lent his son a hand?

---------------------------------

The White Tiger Gate ended too quickly, with some palace gates not even having begun their trials yet.

For instance, the Azure Dragon Gate and the Vermilion Bird Gate had too many registrants, making the registration time-consuming. As the selections were announced for the White Tiger Gate, the Azure Dragon Gate facing directly east had only just opened its gate.

Many who hadn’t yet had the chance to compete heard the announcement about the White Tiger Gate.

"Chen Ye passed, huh..." In the crowd, a tall, thin Magician clad in black gave a cold smile, "It seems that the so-called number one heir to the Heavenly Master Mansion isn’t all that impressive."

"Oh?" A fat man in blue beside him chuckled in response, "If Brother Su is so confident, why did he register for the Azure Dragon Gate?"

"You think I wanted to?" The other snapped coldly. If it weren’t for the family Elders forcing him, he wouldn’t bother with such an embarrassing act.

The fat man in blue just laughed without saying a word.

Su Changgui held a high position within the family, and was taken almost as seriously as the legitimate eldest son, Su Changqing.

If he had insisted on going to the White Tiger Gate to make a name for himself, the Elders in the family wouldn’t truly stop him in the end.

At the root of it all, it was his own lack of confidence.

Since everyone came here, there was no point in acting superior. To put it bluntly, they were all just here to pick up what was easy to grab. Who was more noble than whom? Putting on an act as if he wasn’t one of them, he himself looked down on it.

As the massive palace gate opened, everyone shifted their focus there, all cautiously activating their Techniques.

Whether inside or outside of Yundu, everyone had heard of Zhang Xiaoyun’s reputation—a completely talentless but beloved chubby kid of the Old Celestial Master.

But no matter who it was, they took nothing for granted.

Competing for the position of Heavenly Master was no child’s play.

If they dared to have Zhang Xiaoyun guard the gate, there certainly had to be a reason behind it.

Everyone present was no fool, and wouldn’t take the Azure Dragon Gate as an easy win.

However, compared to facing Zhang Zhiyun or Murong Ziyi, it would surely be somewhat easier.

But as they all entered the palace gate, they were stunned.

Unlike the White Tiger Gate, which began with an intense trial as soon as the doors opened, the Azure Dragon Gate started very peacefully, with no barriers or signs of hindrance.

Everyone looked at each other with puzzled expressions, then one by one they activated their Techniques, cautiously making their way inside.

Once inside the Azure Dragon Gate, there was nothing. They had anticipated that to save face for Zhang Xiaoyun, the Heavenly Master Mansion might set up numerous Array formations and high-level puppet artifacts.

Instead, there was nothing—no barriers, no conspicuous puppets, not even a trace of Art Energy fluctuation.

What was there was only a cute-looking chubby boy standing on the steps above the Azure Dragon Palace, smiling jovially at everyone.