Chapter 104: Contest of Wits and Strength

  Xiao Tingfeng continued to shake his head and said, "The best achievement of this Long Sunhong is still the last mountain climbing competition. In the last competition, she got the first place, but what does that count for? It's not her real strength either. She relied on her innate spiritual talent. If we talk about true strength, she can't compare to Brother Ruokong. The last time Brother Ruokong lost was really unjust."

  Li Ran's knife paused for a moment, and he quickly asked: "Does this senior sister have an innate talent in spiritual power?"

  Xiao Tingfeng nodded: "As the legend goes, Long Sunhong's spiritual power has been stronger than ordinary people since childhood. The mind method she cultivates is called 'listening to emotions'. She can calm her own heart like water, but can hear the emotional changes of others, and even guess what others are thinking. You haven't seen that as soon as she went on stage, many people voluntarily kept a distance from her? Humph, who doesn't have some bad thoughts in their heart, who would want to be heard by her?"

  Li Ran's knife slipped from his grasp in shock and he lost his smile.

  This strange technique he had heard of in his past life, but never thought he would see it with his own eyes today.

  On the stage, two auras, one dynamic and one static, seemed to be incompatible like water and fire. Suddenly, he smiled with his eyes shining brightly as if filled with joy, and strode through the crowd towards the opposite side. At that moment, all eyes in the audience were fixed on him.

  Liu Ruokong burst out laughing and greeted from afar: "Hong Shimei has arrived, I've heard that your Listening to Emotions technique has made even greater progress over the past two years."

  Gongsun Hong's expression was as calm as still water, and he nodded slightly without leaving any trace. He seemed completely unimpressed by his senior brother's enthusiasm.

  Liu Ruokong smiled and shook his head, saying:

  "Hong Shifu, I have some reservations about your methods. You can hear people's thoughts, but you really don't understand their hearts." Liu Ruokong stretched out his hand and made a circular motion, pointing to the crowd on stage, and continued: "You say so many men, which one of them doesn't have some messy thoughts in their heart? Which one of them hasn't had any improper thoughts when they see a beautiful young nun like you? People are not saints, who doesn't have some dirty thoughts in their heart? And yet you want to control people's hearts. Hong Shifu, I'm worried about you, afraid that you'll end up unmarried, and which man would dare to marry a woman like you?"

  Everyone who heard this sentence couldn't help but smile, Liu Ruoxi's words had struck a chord in their hearts.

  Chang Sun Hong smiled calmly and nodded slightly, saying: "If Kong Shixiong, I think that last time you lost to me, until today your heart still can't let go, otherwise why would you deliberately try to provoke me to affect my mood? Do you think that with just a few words like this, you can win against me in this match? Your sinister thoughts, really don't need to listen to guess."

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  Liu Ruo smiled and scratched the back of his head, not taking it seriously at all. He walked straight up to Chang Sun Hong and said, "This isn't called being shameless, this is called having the courage and strategy to face a strong enemy."

  Li Ran Jian couldn't help but smile when he saw these two people go on stage and start competing in wit and strength.

  Liu Ruokong took another step closer to Changsun Hong, and continued: "Hong Shimei, your mental technique has improved even more. Why don't you listen to what I'm thinking right now? If you can really hear it, then I'll admit defeat."

  Chang Sun Hong faintly shook his head: "No need to listen, I can also guess that you are thinking of some dirty things with the intention of humiliating me. If it's Senior Brother Kong, you think you can win by this method, but I somewhat despise your thick skin."

  Liu Ru's face was shocked, and then he forcefully raised his thumb: "Hong Shimei, now I really admire you. You are the most clever girl I have ever seen, with a beautiful appearance and unparalleled beauty. As a woman, your abilities are also outstanding. Your brother is deeply impressed."

  Chang Sun Hong did not expect Liu Ruo Kong's words to turn so sharply, and his eyes widened slightly.

  Liu Ru's face revealed a smile, and he continued to say: "Ha, this life can meet Hong Shifu's sister such a woman, Shifu brother is really three lives without regret, but people are not satisfied, Shifu brother's heart has always had a somewhat presumptuous thought that dare not speak, but today does not care about those..."

  "Rainbow, sister, I really wish I could marry you right away and fulfill my longing for you. In the future, when we're husband and wife, we can occasionally play games of love together, wouldn't that be delightful?"

  Chang Sun Hong's face suddenly changed, her cheeks flushing with shame and anger, her slender fists clenched tightly. She suddenly came to herself, took a deep breath, and her expression returned to its usual calmness. She shook her head lightly and said: "Liu Ruokong, you almost affected my mood with your reckless words. No matter how absurdly you speak, today's competition, I will still make you utterly defeated under my feet."

  He burst out laughing and gave a thumbs up again: "Good job, Hong Shi! I was trying to disturb you but couldn't shake your composure. I'm really impressed! But today, I finally got to say all the things I've been keeping in my heart for years, so that's a relief!"

  Gongsun Hong could no longer bear it, his pretty face slightly red, he hummed loudly and turned away in anger, with Liu Ruo Kong laughing loudly behind him.

  Li Ran's eyes were shining with excitement, that generous and unrestrained Liu Ruokong was a magnanimous person, but he was by no means a rough fellow. Just now, that battle of wits had ended in his complete victory, and this turn of events was quite ingenious.

  However, judging from this battle of wits with Dabi before, it's clear that the Golden Sword Sect's chief disciple is truly wary of Longsun Hong. It seems that the spiritual power he displayed in the previous competition left a deep impression on him.

  In the midst of the commotion, a figure in green robes slowly emerged from the mountains. Ling Feng stood proudly on a protruding green stone at the edge of the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, tens of thousands of people in gray robes fell silent as they caught sight of him. Gradually, all sounds at the foot of the mountain ceased. Li Ran's gaze narrowed as he looked over and recognized the figure as his senior brother from a certain peak, whom Fang Ziyan had introduced to him at the Golden Sword Pavilion some time ago.

  The man in green looked down, suddenly shook his hand towards the sky, and a sharp whistling sound pierced through the air. A streak of fire shot straight up into the clouds, exploding with a loud bang in the sky, and brilliant seven-colored lights burst forth from the clouds.

  At this moment, the entire mountain peak was like a sharp sword that had been unsheathed, and in an instant it burst into radiance, with a brilliant light shooting straight up into the clouds. The dense fog was like a floodgate opening, rapidly rolling down from the summit and pouring out, instantly engulfing over 20,000 people at the foot of the mountain.

  Li Ran's knife suddenly felt a buzzing sound, an invisible pressure pressed down on his body, causing his knees to involuntarily bend, almost kneeling on the ground, his muscles tensed up, his fists clenched with bulging veins, his breathing became heavy, and he forcibly circulated his vital energy to hold himself upright.

  It's as if the whole person has fallen into the depths of the ocean, with a massive pressure that feels like it's going to crush the body.

  Li Ran's sword only now knew how terrifying the sword array's pressure was. This was just the foot of the mountain, and as he climbed higher, the pressure grew heavier. How much more oppressive would it be compared to the competition?

  On the mountain rock, the green-robed senior brother manipulated his true yuan and shouted loudly: "The match... begins!"

  With this shout, more than 20,000 people dispersed in the direction of the mountain, struggling to climb up under the heavy pressure. The crowd scattered and climbed the mountain, and in just one turn of an eye, they all disappeared into the thick fog.

  Xiao Tingfeng smiled slyly and patted the Golden Order on his wrist, saying in a low voice: "Ran Jian, Shi Di, pay attention to the information on the Golden Order and see how I left you behind this time."

  Xiao Tingfeng's figure fluttered and also sank into the thick fog, the entire majestic mountain, at this moment, seemed to have only one person left, Li Ranno, looking around in all directions, no longer seeing any human shadows, only the rolling thick fog and the green stone underfoot appeared so real.

  Looking up, three zhang away, a protruding mountain rock, apparently can rest and catch one's breath there.

  Li Rengdiao struggled to lift his feet off the ground, one step at a time, steadily and firmly advancing in that direction. There was still a long way to go up the mountain, so he set his sights on finding a nearby target to achieve first, one goal at a time, this was Li Rengdiao's strategy.

  On the waist of a short mountain several miles away from this peak, more than ten Dan Yang elders from various peaks gathered here, staring at a huge jade wall in front of them with great interest. The wall was over 10 feet high and had more than 20,000 figures densely distributed on it. Each person looked extremely small in the jade wall, like a gray dot, but they could still be clearly distinguished from one another.

  In front of Dan Sheng's immortal face, more than a hundred green-clad men stood respectfully on both sides.

  In the middle, a long-bearded man turned his head to the person next to him and smiled, saying: "This session of the Grand Competition seems to be another showdown between Ruokong and Changsun Hong. These two people, one has overwhelming strength in all aspects, with comprehensive power that is strong and fierce, while the other has a natural talent for spiritual power, each having their own strengths and weaknesses, it looks like it's going to be another intense competition."

  The person next to him also smiled and nodded.

  The long-bearded man suddenly turned to Xiao Baiyi and asked curiously, "Baiyi, that Li Ruo of your peak who has been rising rapidly, entered the mountain for only a few months and is already ranked in the top 50 of the Golden Sword List. His development potential is astonishing! How much expectation do you have for him in this grand competition?"

  Upon hearing this, many people curiously turned their heads to look at Xiao Baiyi.

  Xiao Lao smiled humbly and shook his head: "Feng Jian is just a newcomer, he has momentum, some spiritual talent, but as for the rest, I don't dare to have too much hope."

  The long-bearded man nodded slowly: "Yes, Li Ran's knife is too young, the foundation is far from being as deep as other golden swords. He has only been training in the mountains for a few days, and this big comparison is just a warm-up. We shouldn't put too much pressure on him. But this kid's future development potential is too strong! I bet that by the next big comparison, he will shine brightly and become the focus of attention."

  Another Dan Sheng nodded slightly and smiled, sighing softly:

  "Old Xiao, I'm a bit envious of you getting this disciple. If Li Ran has two more years to practice with his sword, he'll probably easily break into the top ten next time. By then, we'll be watching helplessly as points pour into your pocket."

  Several people burst out laughing at the same time.

  Xiao Baiyi smiled with joy, but his heart was not quite satisfied. He also knew that Li Ranno's knife skills were shallow, and the other golden swords were all refined to tenfold strength, while Li Ranno's knife was only ninefold. In this aspect alone, Li Ranno was far inferior.

  This time, I'm pinning my hopes on Li Ruo Dao, and it's just a guess that he has spiritual talent. Last time, Chang Sun Hong relied on his strong spiritual power to defeat Liu Ruokong, which made Xiao Baiyi feel refreshed.

  However, spiritual talent is immeasurable, and Xiao Baiyi also doesn't know what kind of spiritual talent Li Ranno has. Will this child really burst out with a strong finish in the Grand Competition? In fact, Xiao Baiyi didn't have any confidence at all.