Translator: AL_Squad Editor: Chrissy

Time flew by.

Imperceptibly, it had been half a month since Senior Gem Emperor first appeared on the stage in Immortal One Area.

In the past half month, things like these had happened everyday in the City of Immortals. Of course, the most important thing was undoubtedly Senior Gem Emperor’s feat of winning and being invincible against the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals alone. In the past half a month, the main arena of Immortal One Area had been full of people every time. There were at least twice as many people in each match as it once was.

Originally distributed in numerous venues throughout the city, the Grand Competition was now concentrated in one place, and the once spectacular arena had also became smaller.

However, compared with the enthusiasm of people from all walks of life in the City of Immortals, the competition achievements of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals were abysmal.

In half a month, they had been defeated again and again, and couldn’t even score one victory!

Of course, at this time, people didn’t know that, according to the agreement of Senior Gem Emperor and the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, as long as the union could win even one match, it would be counted as the overall winner. However, at the moment, the scene was too embarrassing and ugly.

During this period, the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals had to deal with protests from all sides. In the face of people’s angry questioning, they looked for such and such excuses to shirk. At the same time, they needed to an internal consult to discuss new public opinion measures.

That sort of thing made everyone miserable. Wang Lu, who was in the center of the whirlpool, was the first to bear the brunt. The problems that needed him to solve were piling up every day.

However, for the secretaries who worked with Wang Lu, this half month’s life was orderly, and the pressure was far less heavy than that of others.

Because Wang Lu seemed to be very relaxed. In the past half a month, even if something big had happened, it was hard to see a little bit of sadness on his face. It was as if everything was already in his mind. When he started to deal with the problem, he also did them methodically and orderly.

With such a leader taking the lead, even if the work was busy and tense, it would not make people tired. To this end, the secretaries fully believed in Wang Lu.

Among them, even those who had the worst backgrounds were talented elites from middle rank sects, where they were usually the center of attention of the people within their respective sects. However, at this time, these elites, under the order of the organizing committee, gave up their cultivation time and served under Wang Lu to deal with various low-end miscellaneous matters, which was very easy to arouse the restlessness and injustice in their heart. However, after having witnessed Wang Lu’s work ethics, these people asked themselves honestly and could not help but admire him.

Wang Lu’s way of doing things was not necessarily a brilliant one. Among his secretaries, there were many talents who were good at literary affairs. However, his spirit and mentality were hard to be compared with. It was clear that he was just a Jindan Stage cultivator who had not been cultivating for more than thirty years, but he was calmer than most senior Elders in Heavenly Sage Hall in the past half a month. The weight of the pressure borne by the organizing committee had worried many of the senior elders, but Wang Lu had always been like a spring breeze, gentle and indifferent.

In fact, the reason for his mild attitude and indifference was simple.

Wang Lu had given up the competition a long time ago.

“At this stage, it doesn’t matter whether the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals win or lose.”

This was what Wang Lu said to himself half a month ago. So far, it had only been mentioned to a few people, and not even Daoist He Tu.

Because the Grand Competition at this time had affected countless people. Although the form had changed dramatically, in most people’s opinion, no matter how the form changed, as long as they won, the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals could take the tomb of the immortals and get the support of the Earth Immortals, which could pave the way for the new golden age for the immortal cultivation world in Nine Regions.

Such a tempting prospect, not many people could resist it. People’s desire was like an irresistible torrent that the only way was to let it roll forward naturally. Anyone trying to stop it would be crushed to pieces.

Of course, Wang Lu didn’t want to be crushed to pieces. Thus, he still did his work in an orderly way on the surface. In the face of public doubt, like why did he refuse to participate in person for half a month? Why did the previously unstoppable power disappear suddenly? Was it because of his personal relationship with the Earth Immortals that played a role in it? And what would happen in case of real failure? Wang Lu’s unified answer was: no comment.

In fact, in the past half a month, Wang Lu’s focus of work had long changed.

Senior Gem Emperor.

Of course, Senior Gem Emperor was actually the focus of the work of the entire Union of Ten Thousand Immortals. However, the Union was thinking on how to defeat her, while Wang Lu was thinking about how to further understand her. Of course, from another point of view, no matter who won the competition, as long as they could win Senior Gem Emperor, the result would be the same. However, what Wang Lu though was further than that.

The more he knew about her, the more Wang Lu found out that she was really a wonderful person. There were so many secrets hidden in her that he couldn’t help but want to unravel them.

For example, the first secret: What was Senior Gem Emperor doing in the past half a month?

In most people’s eyes, she appeared on time every day in the main arena in Immortal One Area, won the competition one after another by unpredictable means, and made the whole Union of Ten Thousand Immortals lose face.

However, in Wang Lu’s view, Senior Gem Emperor had been absent-minded for half a month. Although she did appear on the arena, her mind had already drifted off the stage. Unfortunately, her ability to borrow other people’s magical ability was too powerful. Even being distracted, she was still invincible on the arena. In the past half a month, she had defeated countless experts in a row. This kind of absentmindedness was well hidden. If Wang Lu had not traveled together with her and had a certain understanding of each other, it would be very difficult to find the abnormality. However, a few cultivators in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals who had excellent eyesight might be able to see something unusual, but they would not dare to believe their own guesses.

On this occasion, she dared to be distracted? How many people could believe this kind of thing?

Wang Lu could. He was very curious about what Senior Gem Emperor was thinking.

Secondly, what was the principle of borrowing other people’s magical ability of Senior Gem Emperor? Could she really use other people’s things at will? How could there be such an overbearing magical ability in this world? Even if she was the leader of the Earth Immortals, she was not the leader of the planet… Then there must be a premise: the person who she borrowed the magical ability from must admit that she was the leader. And if that was the case, many of her victories in the past half a month had been intriguing, because the magical abilities that she borrowed were a bit strange.

Thirdly, Senior Gem Emperor’s attitude toward Xuan Mo and the others was somewhat unreasonable. The exiled opposition parties clearly had a guilty conscience, which made people curious of what they were guilty of? What did they miss? Did an accident happen? At the same time, when Senior Gem Emperor just woke up more than half a month ago, she had an impressive domineering power. She fought and killed the World Dragon with her bare hands. However, after that, Senior Gem Emperor stopped fighting and never pursued the exiles. What was the reason for this? At that time, she was caught in surprise and hurt by the man in black, and the loss was too great?

Fourth, the question that came from the secret of Senior Gem Emperor: What was the man in black doing? As the biggest enemy of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals before Senior Gem Emperor woke up, the man in black once received the highest level of attention from Wang Lu. He took the group of secretaries headed by Hai Yunfan to analyze and study the man in black in all aspects, and identified his ability and threat.

However, after Senior Gem Emperor woke up, the man in black was seriously injured and retreated. Although it could also be explained that he was seriously injured by Senior Gem Emperor and thus could not move freely, Wang Lu always felt that, with the man in black’s ability, he should not lose so quickly and thoroughly. And if he was preparing his comeback in the dark, then his existence must not be ignored at this time. Black was likely to be central in the next change in the situation.

The above four questions occupied Wang Lu’s mind for half a month. Of course, there was no conclusion at present, but Wang Lu had found some clues.

With half a month to go, he believed he should be able to find some answers.

—

No matter what happened in the world, good or bad, life would always go on, and business would always continue.

For the businessmen in the City of Immortals, this sentence portrayed the current situation the best.

After the change of the form of the Grand Competition, the people who were most affected were actually these businessmen.

Although the contestants had been directly impacted, their daily training was basically unchanged. And although most of them could not participate, in the current situation, not participating was a good thing.

Only business people that seemed to have been hit by a bolt of lightning out of the blue. Under the order of the organizing committee, there was a big change in the Grand Competition, but how could the businessmen recover their early investment?

Of course, the organizing committee would not make any compensation. Of course, giving no compensation was logical. When the businessmen took advantage of the chance to make money from the masses, the organizing committee also didn’t raise the rent and tax. Thus, there was no reason to compensate for the loss of business caused by the change of situation.

Aren’t risk and benefit part and parcel of doing business? Having enjoyed the benefits, it was time to take the risks.

Of course, at any time, there would always be a small number of geniuses who could go against the current and earn a lot of money while the others lose.

For example, a certain large-scale business firm that had recently risen in less than a few months had once again become the winner under the astonishment of countless people.

“Brother Shu, this time, your enterprise is going to be the number one in the City of Immortals. When you open new stores, don’t forget to invite your younger brothers here.”

“How could you say that, Boss Ma? You’re my senior with good moral standing and reputation. You must not excessively praise me…”

In a crowd of intermingled business people, Shu Si was suddenly in a trance. He felt as if he was a world away. Everything seemed unreal.

The fatty who spoke loudly and cupped his hands toward him just now was old Ma, an outstanding and well-known big character within the Mysterious Sky Mansion. He was an ordinary person, yet able to stand firmly in the immortal cultivation world. Right now, with the help of the Twelve Tower Loose Spirit Root, as well as an unending stream of pills, he had become a Daoist Master of Jindan Stage, making him the point of envy for countless number of natural cultivators.

Beside old Ma, there was Wen Fangbo, who considered himself the grand merchant in the City of Immortals. He sired two very beautiful daughters whom each seemed to have a good predestined marriage. But now his business was in jeopardy, even their wedding contracts were declined by the groom. It was truly disheartening to him. Fortunately, old Ma behaved with integrity and, with the spirit of loyalty, reached out to pull him up. Right now at the banquet, they had already become drinking buddies.

And Shu Si himself had become a person who was qualified to drink at the same table with these many famous businessmen? And that was just because he honestly acted on someone’s instructions from the beginning?

Dead face, who are you exactly?