Translator: AL_Squad Editor: Chrissy

After leaving behind words worth sighing for, Senior Gem Emperor returned alone to the Tombs of Immortal.

Wang Lu stood on top of the cloud, recalling the words she said before she left.

Senior Gen Emperor… Was such an unexpected person.

Wang Lu wondered if the first person who woke up was not Bai Ze and the others, but Senior Gem Emperor instead, would there be such a farce-like thing like the Grand Competition?

Most likely not. If Senior Gem Emperor was there in the beginning, there would never be a gamble between Wang Wu and Bai Ze. Senior Gem Emperor would directly stand up to challenge the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals of Nine Regions and shoulder the heavy burden with her own strength.

If that was the case, then there would be no bloody killing at the beginning, and there would be no tit-for-tat counter-attack from Wang Lu. The situation would certainly be much better than now.

However, it was likely that Wang Lu would not have his current status among the Earth Immortals if there was no Grand Competition… Before the Grand Competition, Wang Lu was just a rookie who barely joined the ranks of the group of senior cultivators. But now he had kept pace with many senior Elders. If there was anyone in Nine Regions who should give thanks to the Grand Competition, Wang Lu would lead at the front.

“If the Grand Competition should end… Then… I would be the target of public criticism.”

By virtue of the Grand Competition, Wang Lu had both face and wealth. However, with the Earth Immortals wanting to end the Grand Competition, countless people’s energy and resources would be lost and the huge layout of Mysterious Sky Mansion would end up in the drain… Many people would certainly be offended.

Even if Wang Lu could give a reasonable explanation, and Senior Gem Emperor was willing to abandon the pride of the Emperor to cooperate with him in that, this could only deceive the ignorant masses, how could it deceive booth the interested and involved people? The loss of Mysterious Sky Mansion would be real. Even if Wang Lu’s explanation was accepted, somebody must come out and take responsibility for it.

However, in Wang Lu’s view, these problems were not really problems. Because at worst he would just admit responsibility and resign. He became powerful because of the Grand Competition, but power was never the goal that he pursued. As a cultivator, the immortal path was the eternal goal. Only those who were difficult to advance in their cultivation, or who were not clear-minded, would be obsessed with the power in the world of immortal cultivation. In fact, he was more interested in exploring the future world of Jindan Stage than his painstaking job as the chief planner.

Although his time in peak Jindan Stage was not long, Wang Lu had already prepared for the Yuanying Stage. If it hadn’t been for the multi-contest of the Grand Competition, he would have been on the way to make a breakthrough.

“… In any case, I should first report to He Tu about what happened today. After all the first person in Nine Regions is him. There is no reason to not keep him in the loop.”

——

“So that’s how it is… It seems that although Senior Gem Emperor has her brutality, she is a qualified Emperor.”

In Shengjing Sect quarter in the City of Immortals, Daoist He Tu quietly listened to Wang Lu’s report, which he accompanied with a lot of sighing with emotion.

“Comparatively speaking, she is easier to communicate than the previous leaders of the Earth Immortals. It’s a pity that…”

After sighing, He Tu said, “I have communicated with many Elders about the change in the Grand Competition. Generally speaking, it is feasible. You don’t have to be under too much pressure.”

Daoist He Tu’s words set the tone for this matter. And Wang Lu deeply admired this. He and Senior Gem Emperor went out for only one day. But in one day, Daoist He Tu could basically set the tone of the matter. He must have made considerable efforts behind it, and even gave Wang Lu enormous benefit. He said that Wang Lu did not have to be under too much pressure. Obviously, he had put the pressure on himself.

In theory, Daoist He Tu did not have to do so much. Because the Grand Competition was put forward and designed by Wang Lu, and its implementation was mostly handled by Wang Lu, the chief planner. Later, things changed and Wang Lu was the first to come into contact with it… From the beginning to end, Daoist He Tu had always been in the second line and decentralized his power. So he did have a reason to stay out of the way.

Nevertheless, Daoist He Tu had never been out of the way.

He was the number one person in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, who enjoyed the supreme glory of Nine Regions. Naturally, he also bore the corresponding responsibilities. Wang Lu’s power was derived from him, and he was duty-bound to face the problems. Daoist He Tu did not have the majestic emperor aura, but he had the mind and courage of an emperor.

Wang Lu was deeply impressed by this. Nowadays, there were many people in the leadership positions of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, but few of them had real leadership courage. To be fair to them, people pursued the progress of the immortal path, so they were somewhat insensitive to the so-called leadership authority. To put it bluntly, it was purely of a selfish and lack of intention.

However, when Wang Lu’s interest in Daoist He Tu increased greatly, Daoist He Tu coughed.

“I have been thinking about the marriage issue for a long time.” Daoist He Tu seriously said, “This is really not feasible. In practicing Virgin Technique, I have high requirements not only for the body and the true Yuan but also for causality. If I marry someone, even if I am not physically or emotionally involved, once I am married, it would have an effect on causality and thus, the Virgin Technique would not be at ease. I have tried to think of several ways, but none of them could solve this problem. The Virgin Technique is the foundation of many of my skills, which is not easy to shake. After thoroughly thinking about it, I truly can’t promise you anything. I’m afraid you need to find another candidate.”

Qiong Hua then added, “Wang Lu, I think you are a good candidate.”

Wang Lu immediately retaliated, “I think you’re good, too. Senior Gem Emperor only said that she wanted to marry, but she did not say whether she wanted to marry a man or a woman. You have always been famous for both your talent and appearance. You are called the number one fairy in Nine Regions, a match made in heaven with Senior Gem Emperor. Besides, she was supposed to marry Supreme He Tu. Since Supreme has difficulties, it is your duty as his disciple to take his place, a father’s debt must be paid by the children.”

Qiong Hua replied, “I have no objection to that, but I’m afraid Senior Gem Emperor would not agree. She is a Senior Emperor, she would not marry a cultivator if the cultivator does not have a certain status.”

Wang Lu said, “Isn’t that easy? Can’t you just ask your Master to arrange a key position for you? For example, the position of the chief planner of the Organizing Committee of the Grand Competition is very good. A true Senior Elder of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals is also fine.”

“The means of deceiving oneself and others would only have a negative effect on Senior Gem Emperor.”

Wang Lu inwardly thought that it was not necessarily true. As a senior devotee of the Virgin Technique, if you had a big tool that could give Senior Gem Emperor delightful experience, perhaps she would even be amenable to deceiving oneself and others… However, if Qiong Hua would not do, then Wang Lu had already thought of someone, a far more suitable candidate than Qiong Hua and He Tu.

No, it should be said that if that standard was to be used, neither He Tu nor Qiong Hua was a good choice. One was the master of the Virgin Technique for thousands of years while the other was the disciple of that master of the Virgin Technique. The two were of the same vein, so it would be difficult for them to satisfy Senior Gem Emperor.

On Spirit Sword Mountain, on the other hand, there was such a perfect candidate, whose unique gift made him able to be regarded as unrivaled Yuanying Stage Elder in Nine Regions—the tall and dark Ao Guanhai.

In the presence of Elder Ao Guanhai, perhaps very few locals in Nine Regions could compete with him in the big tool category. If he didn’t mind, he might as well give himself to Senior Gem Emperor. A teenage girl with Elder Guanhai, that would be a sight to see.

——

In the end, however, there was no final conclusion about the marriage with Senior Gem Emperor.

Daoist He Tu could boldly help Wang Lu carry down the change in Grand Competition, but he was not so bold as to put his life-long happiness into the pit. He Tu refused to sacrifice, and Wang Lu was certainly not willing. The rest of the candidates were even more unreliable. They were either married, or they were too low in rank.

Wang Lu tried to push Elder Ao Guanhai to take the responsibility, but the grand Seventh Elder of Spirit Sword Sect was so frightened that he shut himself in Clear Sky Peak. His degree of shyness was astounding.

In short, when all the candidates failed to meet the requirements, the matter had to be discussed again. On the contrary, it was necessary to put the matter of ending the Grand Competition as soon as possible.

In this matter, Wang Lu felt gratified that Daoist He Tu spared no effort to support him.

To this end, Daoist He Tu personally attended more than ten consecutive emergency meetings and held meetings and consultations with the head of all parties.

The task was heavy and the time was tight. How could it be easy to persuade thousands of different sects, large and small, in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, and even evil sects, to accept such a strategic change? During this period, a lot of expedient measures were used. Compromise and concessions were also everywhere. Even more, when faced with stubbornness and incompetence, Daoist He Tu was forced to threaten with force to solve the problem, which was obviously not the original intention of Daoist He Tu.

Of course, this did not mean that Daoist He Tu was a pacifist. On the contrary, Shengjing Sect’s force was the number one in Nine Regions. It could never be overstated that they could engage in wars of aggression at will. However, Daoist He Tu had always believed that the greatest role of force was for deterrence, not for threat. Unfortunately, the situation forced him to do so.

In short, the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals was filled with chaos. The senior elders spent the next few days in confusion and impatience. During this period, Senior Gem Emperor was very considerate to leave space for the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, without urging or hindering the inertia of the group. In the past few days, the two sides had played more than a dozen matches, each had their wins and losses. However, there were fewer and fewer people who cared about winning or losing.

The closure of the Grand Competition was highly confidential within the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals. Except for the few people at the highest level, most of the information that was received was that the form of competition of the Grand Competition needed to be adjusted. Nevertheless, there had never been a shortage of smart people in Nine Regions. Many people had already smelled the harbinger of dramatic change from the overall situation.

For example, in the City of Immortal, the newly emerging rookie business, under the direction of people who used their heads, had quietly arranged the preparation for the next harvest.

Another example was that of a bald-headed cultivator who took Wang Lu as his catch-up goal and expected to show his prowess in the Grand Competition. That person started to be restless and felt that he had gradually lost all hope.

Also, the large number of Jindan and Yuanying Stage cultivators, who were still in special training in Royal Soldier Sect, had intuitively felt that most of their hard work of the past six months would be wasted…