Bai Qiaomo said calmly, “They are taking advantage of the situation to make trouble. It is because Junior Brother Ming won the alchemy competition and brought shame to the Imperial Academy. They dare not blame Qiu Yi for losing the championship, so they are taking their anger out on Junior Brother Ming.”
The Imperial Academy had long regarded all the championships as theirs, but one of them fell into the hands of an outsider.
Pei Yingmin thought that what Bai Qiaomo said made sense. The proportion of those who took advantage of this incident to target Feng Ming and Bai Qiaomo definitely accounted for the majority, and they wanted to use this incident to suppress Feng Ming’s limelight.
Pei Yingmin said, “Leave the matter of delivering the message to Zong Yupao to me. Junior Brother, I will cooperate with you in whatever you want to do.”
Bai Qiaomo’s expression didn’t change at all as he said, “Okay, thank you, Senior Brother. I’ll be ready to go on stage later. Once the time is almost up, you can send one of our people to go on stage and snatch the champion from me. It can also be a person from a force close to our Sihong Academy, such as the Liefeng Sect.”
Yes, Pei Yingmin knew that his junior brother had a good impression of the Liefeng Sect. He felt the same way.
Sihong Academy really needs to unite more forces to fight against the Imperial Academy together, so as to avoid the pressure on Sihong Academy being too great and attracting all hatred toward them.
Pei Yingmin nodded. “Junior Brother, you should also be careful and don’t force yourself.”
“I know.”
After Pei Yingmin left, Feng Ming asked, “Brother Bai, are you really going to go on stage?”
Bai Qiaomo smiled without looking angry at all. “Others have already made their moves, so we have to accept it. Junior Brother Ming will also find it interesting, right?”
Oh, how could Feng Ming refuse this? A smile appeared on Feng Ming’s face. What Bai Qiaomo was going to do was much bigger than what he did.
Feng Ming was unable to suppress the excitement in his heart just thinking about the lively scene that was about to come. Then he reluctantly said, “Brother Bai, you have to take it easy, okay? Brother Bai, your safety comes first, and having fun comes second.”
Bai Qiaomo almost couldn’t control his expression. He was amused by Feng Ming, so he nodded and smiled, “Okay, I’ll try my best.”
Feng Ming’s white teeth were exposed as he smiled. He patted Bai Qiaomo on the shoulder and said, “Then Brother Bai, which arena will you choose?”
“Junior Brother Ming, choose one for me.”
“Okay, leave it to me.”
Thus, Feng Ming scanned the twelve arenas and the people guarding them with sharp eyes.
As a result, he didn’t need to make a special selection. After looking at all the champions, he simply stretched out his hand and pointed, “Let’s go to the third arena.”
After all, the current champion of the third arena was a disciple of Imperial Academy. It didn’t matter whether he participated in the conspiracy of that group of people or not. Feng Ming treated them all equally and would have Bai Qiaomo crush them with absolute strength.
This choice was very much to Bai Qiaomo’s liking, so Bai Qiaomo pulled Feng Ming toward the third arena.
The two of them were now celebrities. The moment the audience in front of the third arena saw them appear, they immediately made way for the two people to come closer and watch.
At this time, everyone just thought that the two of them came to watch the battle. Feng Ming and Bai Qiaomo looked up at the champion on the stage. He was at the early stage of the essence liquid realm and was very close to a breakthrough. He only needed an opportunity to step into the middle stage of the essence liquid realm.
The strategy of the Imperial Academy was actually correct. It was a bit difficult for such a disciple to compete for the position of final champion. It was better to let him go on the first day. Maybe with a bit of luck, he could win one of the arena championships.
Unfortunately, he ran into Bai Qiaomo.
On the stage, the champion looked around at the audience and called out, “Who wants to come up to challenge me? If not, I’ll sit down and regulate my breathing. I will count to ten…”
“There is no need to count. I will challenge you.”
There was a swish, and a figure appeared on the stage. The people below the stage only saw a flash before their eyes. Then they saw a tall figure on the stage.
The moment they saw who the figure was, there was a moment of silence in the audience. Then they soon exploded.
Even the champion on stage wondered if he saw incorrectly, and he even rubbed his eyes.
However, no matter how they looked at it, the person who jumped onto the stage was still Bai Qiaomo. How did this person get on stage so quickly?”
“Bai Qiaomo?”
“It is me.” After Bai Qiaomo confirmed it, he said loudly to the audience, “Everyone, do you think that the first day’s arena battle isn’t intense enough? The cultivators in the late and peak stages of the essence liquid realm are all watching and don’t easily take to the stage. Then let me be the first person. The real battle to defend the arena will be started by me.”
“Good! Well said!” Feng Ming was the first in the audience to respond. He clapped and cheered hard. “Brother Bai said it very well. I support you, Brother Bai! Defeat your opponent and become the champion! Defend the arena to the end!”
Indeed, many cultivators felt it wasn’t interesting enough and wondered why the masters were hiding.
Once it came to martial arts, shouldn’t they just do it right away? Why worry so much?
Thanks to one person taking the lead, other cultivators followed and shouted, “Yes, let’s do it. Kill the opponent and become the champion!”
“Defeat him, Brother Bai. I’m optimistic about you.”
The noise from the third arena was very loud, drowning out the sounds from other stages. It was hard not to attract other people’s attention, and they all asked what happened on the third arena.
So the announcement that Bai Qiaomo was the first to initiate the challenge spread quickly, and all the seeded players were stunned.
“What is this Bai guy doing? He is so arrogant.”
“As expected of someone who is a couple with Feng Ming. They have the same personality. They are going to trample our Imperial Academy under their feet, right?”
There were also cultivators who felt that one shouldn’t have so many concerns in a fight. Bai Qiaomo’s actions and declarations also aroused their desire to fight.
So many people did the same thing as Bai Qiaomo and didn’t drag it out any longer. They jumped onto the stage, and the atmosphere of the defense battle instantly became more intense.
At this moment, Zong Yupao and Ji Yuan learned what Feng Ming wanted them to hear. Ji Yuan secretly thought that it wasn’t good. Zong Yupao was going to fall into the trap. It was obvious that this was done to provoke Zong Yupao.
Unfortunately, there was no way to stop it. Zong Yupao was indeed unhappy. He wanted to win the championship, and he would fight for it openly. He disdained to use dirty means.
“Ji Yuan, help me find out who took the lead in organizing it. Who do they think I am? Do I need someone else to use a trick for me to win the championship?”
Ji Yuan hurriedly said, “Have you ever thought that someone is deliberately letting you know about this plan?”
Zong Yupao glanced at him. “Does it make any difference?”
Ji Yuan thought about it. “There really is no difference.”
Zong Yupao pointed to the third arena and said, “Look, Bai Qiaomo has already started to fight back and has issued a declaration of war. Those people are a bunch of idiots and are only worthy of using such petty tricks. I will win fairly. If I lose, I will accept it with a clear conscience.”
His pride didn’t allow any doubts to be mixed with his championship.
They were all smart people. If they were still a bit confused before, Zong Yupao and Ji Yuan both understood Bai Qiaomo’s intention of coming onto the stage at this moment. It could be summed up in one word: counterattack.
It wasn’t that the people in that group were smart. They were just self-righteous fools.
This was the case in Zong Yupao’s eyes.
Ji Yuan understood Zong Yupao’s thoughts because he was also a proud person. They were both geniuses and proud people with high spirits.
“What do you want to do? We are already one step behind.”
Zong Yupao sneered. “They have brought this upon themselves. I will proceed as originally planned and let them worry about it themselves. However, we can take this opportunity to see Bai Qiaomo’s true fighting power.”
Ji Yuan knew that Zong Yupao was going to teach those who were good at making decisions a lesson, even if the Imperial Academy lost face because of it.
Ji Yuan’s thoughts were the same. They might be disciples of the Imperial Academy, but they hadn’t actually stayed in the Imperial Academy for a long time. They just had this title.
For example, when they participated in the league now, they had the Imperial Academy badge on them and played on behalf of the Imperial Academy.
Having said that, they didn’t have a strong sense of collective honor toward the Imperial Academy.
This action was more of a declaration of war and demonstration by some of the powerful children of Imperial City against the forces and cultivators outside Imperial City than a battle of honor initiated by the Imperial Academy.
Even if they won the alchemist competition, no one could surpass the Imperial Academy and the Imperial City’s dignitaries.
Ji Yuan actually knew that some people in the imperial family were very unhappy about Junior Brother Qiu losing the championship of the alchemist competition.
Due to Junior Brother Qiu’s identity, they didn’t dare to say anything or show their unhappiness. However, they didn’t need to hide their anger when it came to others such as Bai Qiaomo and Feng Ming.
Zong Yupao took the lead and walked toward the third arena. “Let’s go watch the fight and cheer for Bai Qiaomo.”
“Okay, let’s go watch the fight and see if that guy has the ability to win the championship or if he is just being boastful.”
Bai Qiaomo’s challenge on the stage caused such a big fuss that the original referee was replaced with one of higher status and greater strength.
This person also strengthened the protective formation of the arena to prevent the intense fighting from affecting the spectators around the arena.
In an instant, the third arena became the focus of attention. The crowd also poured toward the third arena, gathering the largest number of spectators in a short period of time.
Bai Qiaomo stretched out his hand, and a spear appeared in it. He stood there like a spear, and the aura of his body continued to rise.
This made his opponent feel more pressured. Not to mention the gap between the early essence liquid realm and late essence liquid realm, but even the aura aimed at him at this moment was enough to crush him.
He wanted to admit defeat on the spot, but as a student of the Imperial Academy, he would be scolded to death if he was defeated without fighting.
This cultivator was forced to raise his sword. “Please give me advice, Brother Bai.”
“No problem!”
The moment these words came out, the spear in Bai Qiaomo’s hand shook, and the sound of dragons roaring and tigers howling came out. The air on the stage seemed to be pierced by the spear he threw casually, making the sound of an explosion.
The audience members were surprised when they saw Bai Qiaomo’s weapon. Everyone who paid attention to him had asked about his past. During his time in the Kunyuan Sect, he was known for his swordsmanship, and there was never any information saying that he used a spear.
Feng Ming was still clapping and cheering in the audience, his palms red from clapping. No matter how he looked at Bai Qiaomo, he felt that Bai Qiaomo was so handsome and cool that he really wanted to move Bai Qiaomo home and hide him.
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