TFHS: Chapter 163

The final battle between formation masters was the most exciting and intense. Ji Yuan fought against five people alone. The audience members saw Ji Yuan destroy these third-grade formation masters at a devastating speed.

The five third-grade formation masters worked together, seemingly breaking one formation only to be trapped in another, more complicated formation. There were formations within formations, as if there was no end.

Until Ji Yuan broke all five third-grade formations, the five third-grade formation masters were still unable to walk out of the fourth-grade formation.

The outcome was already very clear. The gap between a third-grade formation master and a fourth-grade formation master couldn’t be made up by numbers.

Once the deadline arrived, the five third-grade formation masters in the formation had to surrender, and the formation master competition was declared over.

But the exciting scenes during the competition made the audience talk with relish after the competition. It also pushed Ji Yuan’s reputation to an extremely high point to be on par with Feng Ming.

Feng Ming didn’t want to be on par with this guy at all. Similarly, Ji Yuan wasn’t happy to hear others mention his name together with Feng Ming. He would rather it be mentioned with Junior Brother Qiu Yi.

In Ji Yuan’s opinion, Feng Ming and his partner were really annoying. Without his sabotage, he and his Junior Brother Qiu Yi would be a jealous and enviable couple now.

However, no matter how much he disliked Feng Ming in his heart, he would never show it on his face. He would even say a few words of praise when others mentioned Feng Ming, making him appear extremely tolerant.

Once they returned to the guest house and were alone together, Feng Ming immediately asked Bai Qiaomo, “Is there something wrong with this Ji Yuan?”

Bai Qiaomo was surprised at first. Junior Brother Ming was indeed perceptive. He noticed it the moment the thoughts flashed through Bai Qiaomo’s mind.

He pulled Feng Ming to sit down. Junior Brother Ming loved gossiping the most. It was best to hold a cup of tea while gossiping, and to have some snacks of spiritual fruits at hand.

Bai Qiaomo arranged everything first, poured the tea, and started to tell the story.

“Junior Brother Ming guessed correctly. Something is indeed wrong with Ji Yuan. If Qiu Yi hadn’t mentioned Ji Yuan, I wouldn’t have thought of these things and this person.”

“This Ji Yuan is now a disciple of the imperial family’s formation master. Later, he rebelled against the Dongmu imperial family.”

Feng Ming suddenly hissed and forgot to put the nuts in his mouth. His eyes were full of surprise and curiosity. “How can this be? What about Qiu Yi? Do you have any impression of Qiu Yi?”

Facing such a curious baby, how could Bai Qiaomo not try his best to satisfy him? He said, “Such a genius formation master rebelled against the imperial family and betrayed his master, causing a huge commotion. Later, I heard the reason why Ji Yuan rebelled was due to discovering that his master was why he became an orphan.”

Feng Ming gasped again. “Did his master kill his entire family?”

He just guessed casually, but Bai Qiaomo really nodded. “I wasn’t in the Dongmu Dynasty at that time, so I was able to get some news. I’m afraid cultivators were forbidden to discuss it in the territory of the Dongmu Dynasty. Ji Yuan’s family did die at the hands of his master, or at the hands of the imperial family. It is because the Ji family that Ji Yuan belonged to was known for their formations.”

Feng Ming hit the table. “It seems his entire family was really wiped out just to seize his family’s formation inheritance. My god, this Ji Yuan is too miserable. He is completely unaware of it now, and still respects the enemy who destroyed his family as his master. My god, the more I think about it, the more I feel that he is the most tragic character.”

Due to this tragic life experience, Feng Ming decided to hate him less. “What about Qiu Yi? What happened between him and Qiu Yi?”

These days, he had heard a lot of topics about Qiu Yi and Ji Yuan being the most suitable couple. The two of them grew up together since childhood. It was natural for them to be together now. People who knew them would say congratulations.

Now the problem came. The imperial family was the enemy who wiped out Ji Yuan’s family, and Qiu Yi had imperial blood flowing in his veins. Ji Yuan was really miserable.

Bai Qiaomo shook his head. “I don’t know what happened to Qiu Yi in the end. It wasn’t spread outside. Qiu Yi did become famous due to the league. Then after Ji Yuan betrayed the imperial family, Qiu Yi disappeared. Not long after, Ji Yuan returned to the imperial family. I heard that in that battle, Ji Yuan used his formation to kill many people, but he still died in the end. He was killed by the joint attack of two people in the soul opening realm.”

Feng Ming sighed when he heard this. The result was within his expectations. After Ji Yuan betrayed them and fled, it was impossible for him to not go back to get revenge.

But he went back for revenge so soon. Feng Ming had a guess. “Could it be that something happened to Qiu Yi, so Ji Yuan went back for revenge so soon? If he had more time to prepare and his strength improved, it wouldn’t be so easy to kill him even if the imperial family had masters in the soul opening realm.”

Bai Qiaomo nodded. “Maybe, but I’ve only heard about these things before. I never had any contact with him in person. I don’t know much about the specifics.”

Feng Ming stopped drinking tea and eating nuts. He stroked his chin, eyes rolling around.

The moment Bai Qiaomo saw this situation, he knew what Feng Ming was planning.

Bai Qiaomo asked directly. There was no need for guessing between the two of them. “Junior Brother Ming, what do you want to do?”

Feng Ming chuckled. “What do you think? How about pulling Ji Yuan to our side? He will rebel against the imperial family in the end. Why don’t we uncover it first? Let’s start by investigating the Ji family, the formation family. Did the imperial family and his master not even change Ji Yuan’s surname?”

Bai Qiaomo shook his head. “Maybe they don’t think Ji Yuan will know, or maybe they have done too many similar things and don’t think it is a big deal. They may not have thought that Ji Yuan’s formation talent is so great that he can use formations to kill so many people.”

After saying this, he nodded. “We can first check if there is a Ji family who is good at formations. Ji Yuan is only 25 years old this year, and the Ji family was destroyed around 20 years ago. It shouldn’t be difficult to find.”

“Okay, let’s settle it.”

After saying this, Feng Ming was finally in the mood to drink tea and eat nuts. He once again lamented Ji Yuan’s tragic life experience. This person’s life was full of ups and downs. Now he was so glorious, but once the truth was revealed, it would be too cruel for Ji Yuan.

“Also, compared to Ji Yuan, we are extremely lucky. We don’t have to be entangled in grudges.”

Bai Qiaomo thought about it. Compared with Ji Yuan’s fate, he felt that the things in his previous life were nothing. Moreover, Ji Yuan even lost his life for this. It was indeed sad and lamentable.

It would be better if there was less desire for gossip in Junior Brother Ming’s eyes, Bai Qiaomo thought with a smile in his heart.

The result of gossiping all night was that when the disciples of Sihong Academy met the disciples of the Imperial Academy again the next day, Feng Ming looked at Ji Yuan in the opposite team with a subtle look of sympathy.

Ji Yuan was such a sensitive person. How could he not notice the change in Feng Ming’s eyes?

Before today, Feng Ming didn’t have much kindness in his eyes when looking at Ji Yuan. Or rather, Feng Ming didn’t like him and wasn’t the type who was attracted by his appearance.

Ji Yuan sometimes felt that his true nature was seen through by this ger, and this feeling made him unhappy.

But today, did this ger take the wrong medicine?

Ji Yuan felt that the ger’s gaze was inexplicable and confusing.

Ji Yuan whispered to Qiu YI beside him, “This ger surnamed Feng is weird. He looked abnormal. Junior Brother Qiu, you should have less contact with him in the future. Stay away from him so as to not be infected by him.”

Qiu Yi couldn’t help chuckling when he heard this. “Senior Brother Ji, what’s wrong with you? You are rarely so mean to others, especially gers.”

Qiu Yi really felt that Senior Brother Ji’s evaluation of Feng Ming was a bit harsh. It was inconsistent with Senior Brother Ji’s usual image.

Ji Yuan’s mouth twitched. As expected, he was influenced by the ger and became abnormal. However, he still advised, “Junior Brother Qiu, you had better listen to me. That ger is very cunning. I’m afraid that you will be deceived without knowing it.”

Junior Brother Qiu only had alchemy in his heart and eyes. He was a bit naive in other aspects. Meanwhile, Ji Yuan was different. He had seen too many dark sides in the more than 20 years he had lived.

He was different from Junior Brother Qiu. Junior Brother Qiu was related to the imperial family while he was an outsider. The means he had used to achieve his current status and the troubles he encountered along the way were far beyond what Junior Brother Qiu knew.

If he knew Feng Ming’s evaluation of him, he would say that Feng Ming was right. He was two-faced, except toward Junior Brother Qiu.

Senior Brother Qiu rarely insisted like this, so Qiu Yi had to coax him to be happy. He said, “Okay, I’ll listen to Senior Brother Ji and stay away from him. That guy’s mouth is even harsher than Senior Brother Ji’s. It makes people want to beat him up.”

Ji Yuan wasn’t happy after hearing this. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What type of evaluation was this from his junior brother? Was it praising him or criticizing him?

—

The martial arts competition began, and more spectators poured into the stadium.

It was because the martial arts competition was more intense and interesting than the other competitions. Any cultivator could understand it.

It was unlike the previous competition between formation masters where formation masters set up the formation on the stage, which took a long time, and no one could understand it without an explanation. This was a pure waste of time for people with little patience.

The martial arts competition was different. Many families in Imperial City brought their families to watch.

The competition was in the form of a fighting arena. Once all parties arrived early in the morning, they saw twenty arenas erected in the center of the venue.

The format of the competition had been announced. Anyone who could hold out until the last minute within the specified time on the stage would be the champion and participate in the final.

The arena defense battle would last for three days in total, which meant that within three days, 60 contestants would be selected. During these three days, the 60 contestants would have to fight in a round-robin battle until the time ran out. It could be imagined how great the pressure was.

But at the same time, the judging panel stipulated the number of times each contestant could go on stage to challenge it. It wasn’t unlimited. Otherwise, if the challengers went on round after round, the champion wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Therefore, each contestant only had six chances to challenge. After using up six chances, they wouldn’t be able to go on stage again.

The martial arts competition had a large number of participants. After Feng Ming’s group arrived, it didn’t take long before each arena was crowded with people. They were all contestants who wanted to compete for the title of champion, not spectators.

After all, alchemists, formation masters, weapon refiners, and talisman masters all needed to have soul power talent. The proportion of people with soul power talent among cultivators was extremely small. This led to overcrowding in the martial arts competition.

Pei Yingmin, the leader of the group, ordered the participating disciples, “Watch the competition first. Don’t rush to compete for the championship. The arena isn’t so easy to defend.”

“We will all listen to Senior Brother Pei.”