Chen Jingzhai was unaware that his casual statement had actually stirred the Headmaster into action.

After discussing matters with Zhang Kui, he received the transmitted thoughts of many disciples.

The disciples, with whom he had a good relationship, expressed their admiration.

There were also some disciples who contacted him in secret to greet him as Master-Uncle.

After all, the battles of the battle forum continued for a long time.

For genius disciples, some battles were not worth watching.

Hence, these exchanges over transmitted thoughts were normal.

By the time 500 battles had taken place, it was the eighth day of the battle forum.

Chen Jingzhai was chosen randomly to ascend the Eight Trigrams Platform once again.

This time, his opponent was a female cultivator.

“I am Chen Qianqian of Yunchao Peak. Greetings, Little Master-Uncle! Like you, Little Master-Uncle, this is my first time participating in a battle forum. I am aware that I am no match for you, but I do not wish to admit defeat immediately!” said a female cultivator dressed in yellow who seemed to be from a humble family.

She was ranked below 2,000 in the Zhengdu battle.

She had been with Yunchao Peak for five years. She should have been Chen Jingzhai’s senior sister.

Now, she was bowing and greeting Chen Jingzhai.

Before this, she would have certainly been angry and dissatisfied. Now, she did not think too much about it.

She did not want her lineage to lose face, and she wanted to ask her Master-Uncle for some pointers.

“Then, let’s have a spar. Let us see how much of Yunchao Peak’s Up-Down Grand Technique you have mastered,” said Chen Jingzhai with a smile.

As long as the disciple wasn’t causing him trouble, he would patiently give them pointers.

His greatest confidence was, of course, in his special talent.

Although he did not use it for every match, after 500 battles, he could see the flaws of the disciples.

As he accumulated information about them, his horizons expanded, and he had sufficient understanding of the disciples of the various lineages.

He also had some understanding of the disciples of Yunchao Peak.

Coincidentally, Disciple Niece Chen Qianqian had previously fought on the Eight Trigrams Platform.

Chen Jingzhai had some insights into her strengths and weaknesses.

Since he was confident in his skills and intel, he put on the demeanor of a senior, ready to give her some pointers.

With a smile on her face, Chen Qianqian attacked right after the jade token disappeared into the black and white fish eyes.

She extended her dainty hand and sent a palm strike toward Chen Jingzhai.

A strand of cloud vapor diffused in the surrounding area and covered more than half of the platform.

The cloud vapor followed the movement of Chen Qianqian’s palm and gushed toward Chen Jingzhai in a tempestuous manner.

Chen Jingzhai commented, “The Up-Down Grand Technique of Yunchao Peak takes advantage of the momentum of natural phenomena. You are on the right track to utilize the momentum of the Sea of Clouds in the battle forum. However, you forgot to include the tides in your attack. The momentum of the Sea of Clouds is far more powerful than what you are demonstrating here.”

After he finished saying this, Chen Jingzhai also waved his palm.

His palm strike was very slow, and he pushed out directly from his chest.

The sound of waves could be heard on the Eight Trigrams Platform.

The sound gradually grew louder. Finally, large amounts of water vapor coalesced behind Chen Jingzhai.

When Chen Jingzhai finished extending his palm, the water vapor had formed a river that carried great momentum, as though it was flowing into the sea.

The waves were 100 feet tall and surged out toward Chen Qianqian.

The waves of water and clouds collided.

There was no sound or presence, yet a tremor could be felt in the air.

Even the other disciples in the battle forum could feel this tremor.

It was incredible that they could feel it out here. The Eight Trigrams Platform was protected by Restrictions after all.

The fighters did not need to hold back as the residue spells would not leak out of the platform.

Now, the audience could sense a tremor. It was evident how powerful the clash was.

Chen Jingzhai pointed out, “The Up-Down in this technique refers to the ebb and flow of the tides. It also provides insight into the ups and downs of life and the ever-changing mountains and rivers. The Sea of Clouds is ethereal; its momentum is fleeting. If you can’t control this momentum for your own use, it’s better for you to mimic the tides. The water waves ripple endlessly.”

He finished his speech with a smile. Then, the sound of waves could be heard again.

He did not attack, yet there were tides surging on the Eight Trigrams Platform and gushing toward Chen Qianqian.

She panicked.

She twisted around while avoiding the tides. She even activated her spiritual item.

It was a white ribbon with cloud patterns on it. After it was activated, it swirled outward.

However, the tides went higher and higher, building on the momentum of the previous wave.

Her spiritual item, which was activated in a rush, could not withstand the attack of the tides at all.

She was forced to retreat, and she had come to the edge of the platform.

Even before the waves touched her, she was overwhelmed by the incoming pressure.

She felt as though she would be completely submerged, or even destroyed, by the waves.

Unwilling to admit defeat, Chen Qianqian gritted her teeth and circulated the spiritual power in her body. Finally, she was ready to deliver her final blow.

Her spiritual item ribbon became long and hard.

It was as though it could cleave the incoming waves apart.

Just then, the waves of water swiftly disappeared. It was as though the pressure just now had never existed.

For a moment, Chen Qianqian did not know how to respond. There was a short moment of silence. She seemed to be in a trance.

In the end, the water waves gently swept at her feet.

Chen Qianqian stumbled and fell off the Eight Trigrams Platform.

“This…”

The various disciples looked at each other. The disciples of the Yunchao Peak especially had ugly expressions.

Chen Qianqian’s face paled. She quickly rose, bowed toward Chen Jingzhai, and grabbed her jade token.

She returned to her seat while biting down on her lip, not allowing her tears to flow.

When Chen Jingzhai saw this, he secretly shook his head. Then, he held his jade token and appeared at the top seat.

In reality, many of the disciples who joined this year’s battle forum had just become inner disciples.

Some of them rose through the ranks of casual disciples, whereas some were directly accepted into the lineage.

Chen Qianqian had also experienced training with the casual disciples in the secret zone.

Her heart should be strong. Even if she lost, she definitely would not cry.

However, Chen Jingzhai had gone too far.

She had not been defeated but had instead been sent out of the Eight Trigrams Platform. This was too disgraceful.

Lin Zhiyao, who was ranked eighth, could not stand this. So she first consoled Chen Qianqian over transmitted thoughts.

Then, she said to Chen Jingzhai over transmitted thoughts, “Master-Uncle, you could have just defeated Qianqian. Why did you have to embarrass her like that? Qianqian sought pointers from you. Did you have to treat her like that?”

“This woman is gentle on the outside but strong internally. She is well suited for Yunchao Peak,” replied Chen Jingzhai. “However, her combat awareness is not high. She can learn from this failure. By the way, she should have been able to perform even better. As senior sisters, you have been too protective of her.”

“Master-Uncle, are you blaming me?” asked Lin Zhiyao. A look of dissatisfaction flashed past in her cold gaze.

“She had lost on the Eight Trigrams Platform before this. Yet, she has not shown any improvement in this battle,” Chen Jingzhai replied indifferently. “This time, the experience will remain fresh in her memory, and she will always remember it. Disciple Niece Lin, no matter how frustrated you are, the issue of how your lineage trains your disciples will still exist.”

Senior sisters that were helpful would guide their junior sisters to discover the crux of the problem after the latter was defeated in battles.

However, Chen Jingzhai noticed that the disciples of Yunchao Peak would only comfort each other over transmitted thoughts after they were defeated.

They did not point out each other’s mistakes. Neither did they analyze the reasons for their defeats.

This observation was somewhat surprising.

Yunchao Peak was powerful and had given rise to many genius disciples.

However, the disciples of the Yunchao Peak got low rankings in the previous battle forum.

Chen Jingzhai had previously found this strange. Now, he knew exactly why this was so.

It was because Yunchao Peak had too many female disciples.

The other lineages all had female disciples.

Daoxuan Peak also had female disciples. It was just that there were very few of them.

On the other hand, 70 percent of the disciples of Yunchao Peak were female.

This was because the spirit roots of many female aspirant cultivators or disciples were water or wood attributes.

This had also given rise to an issue.

There was very little infighting among the female disciples of Yunchao Peak. On the contrary, everyone cultivated in harmony, and everything looked rosy.

However, they could not unleash their true potential during battles.

Chen Qianqian used to be a casual disciple. However, she managed to become a branch disciple after experiencing some trials.

Unfortunately, she did not demonstrate any qualities that were befitting her experience during this battle.

This was sufficient to prove that there was quite a significant problem with the training method of Yunchao Peak.

Chen Jingzhai told Lin Zhiyao this out of goodwill. But, sadly, he forgot that women could be rather narrow-minded at times.

“You are but a disciple of Daoxuan Peak. What do you know about the affairs of Yunchao Peak?

“Do you think you can put on the airs of a senior and scrutinize us as you please just because everyone addresses you as Master-Uncle?

“You did not even experience being a casual disciple. What do you know about the various lineages?

“You have only joined the sect for two years, and you are already so conceited. What a joke!

“You even dare to give pointers to disciples of other lineages. You don’t know your place!”

Lin Zhiyao denounced him angrily over transmitted thoughts.