Once Upon A Time, There Was A Spirit Sword Mountain

“Hahaha, you are so adorable!”

In a courtyard in Immortal Five Area, which was specially designated as the office for the planner of the Grand Competition, a burst of unabashed laughter broke out.

Wang Lu sat in a pavilion with a teacup in his hand, but the tea in the cup was constantly splashing out because of the trembling of Wang Lu’s laughter.

More than half of the extremely valuable spirit tea was wasted in this way.

Near Wang Lu, a Daoist Master of Non-Phase who was leaning against the pillar of the pavilion—which was Wang Wu, could not help but laugh. “Pfft, is that why you came back here with your tail between your legs? Seriously, it’s embarrassing!”

“I-I didn’t flee here with my tail between my legs! It’s just that the trial is already finished and I didn’t want to waste any more time!”

Aya angrily slapped the wooden table in the middle of the pavilion. Her long blonde hair seemed to blow like a lion’s mane.

“How could you say the trial is already finished?” Wang Lu ruthlessly burst through Aya’s excuse. “After the trial then the judgment. You only completed the trial, but you have yet to give out the judgment. At least, there’s no punitive measure, how could you say that your work is done? This is very different from your usual dedication to work.”

Aya was suddenly at a loss for words. “I-I’m just… as a Western Continent person, I’m not in a position to interfere too much in your internal affairs. After I found out his crimes, I should give him to the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals to deal with it. Otherwise, I would overstep my authority and get involved in other people’s affair!”

“Aya, you’re really clever, you could actually find this kind of grandiose excuse. But, as a Knight, isn’t bad to deceive yourself and others?” Wang Lu teased her with relish as he looked at Aya’s embarrassed face.

Aya felt her face had turned really hot, feeling extremely embarrassed… Then she looked at Wang Lu’s smiling face, which now looked increasingly good to be punched at, and gradually felt angry.

Wang Lu, you-you’re too much! Obviously, you’re the one who asked me to help you with the trial! How come you make fun of me now? Moreover, you never told me that the master of Heavenly Book Building is actually so disgusting! If I knew that, I wouldn’t have agreed to help you! You are so bad!

Sensing that Aya had already begun to get angry, Wang Lu cleverly shifted the topic.

“But, it’s indeed a hard trip, so I want to treat you to eat at Keeping Immortal Building.”

“K-Keeping Immortal Building?” Upon hearing this, Aya was a bit startled, then somewhat lost in thought, and then her willowy eyebrows rose. “Do you want to use this insignificant thing to bribe me?”

Wang Lu laughed. “How could I dare talk about bribe? This is just a normal lunch. You have done a big thing for me, so what’s wrong in inviting you for a lunch? I heard that Keeping Immortal Building has recently created new dishes, Immortal Chicken and Emperor Jug. All are first class delicacies. Why don’t we go and try them?”

Aya was shocked again. “Immortal Chicken, Emperor Jug?”

“To cook the Immortal Chicken, simply speaking, is to pick the Ninth Heaven Mysterious Bird as the ingredient. Then, it should be cooked for three years and three months using a secret method to raise the meat quality to another level, just like the body of immortal, making the taste nothing more delicious could be imagined. Immortal Jug, meanwhile, is a soup made in two years, which is made from 666 species of aquatic organisms in the Endless Sea together with 666 species of exotic grass in deep mountains and old forests. It’s fascinating just to listen to this introduction, but the specific formula and taste are only known after tasting it. It is said that not long ago, the famous glutton of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, Zen Master Big Belly, went to Keeping Immortal Building to taste these two dishes and was moved to tears!”

“A-Are those two dishes really that good?” Aya’s mind was already quite preoccupied with those two dishes, which made her eyes sparkle.

“Of course. A dish is worth two hundred thousand spirit stones. Moreover, only Elders from high-rank sects that are qualified for a reservation in that place—and the waiting line for it is at least three months long. As the Chief Planner of the Organizing Committee, it is possible for me to jump in queue.”

Aya was taken aback. “Two hundred thousand spirit stones for a dish? That’s too expensive!”

As the chef of Misty Peak, Aya was dazzled by the price of this dish—the cost of running the cafeteria for a year was only tens of thousands of spirit stones, most of which was used for the food innovation, so the actual cost of running the cafeteria was actually a lot less.

Wang Lu waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s expensive or not. It would be reimbursed by public fund, not my own money. Don’t forget, I’m now a senior leader of the Organizing Committee.”

Aya frowned. “Isn’t this… bad?”

“What’s so bad about it?” Wang Lu asked, “Recreational activities using public fund is a high-level fine tradition of our Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, it’s an unwritten rule. Thus, I just act according to the rule. Aya, you are the Knight King, so it’s right for you to abide by the spirit of chivalry, but you also need to know how to follow the custom and respect the local laws and regulations.”

“But does Union of Ten Thousand Immortal have such a rule? Not long ago, you also declared that during the Grand Competition, everyone should fully cherish and effectively use public funds, and not take the opportunity to corrupt and waste it!”

Wang Lu laughed and said, “That’s for the people below to listen, what does it have to do with me? The rules and regulations do not apply to senior leaders, this is the biggest rule in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals! Moreover, as the Chief Planner, I have contributed a lot to the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, even millions of spirit stones are not too many. I have been doing things for the union for so long, could I not get a reward in the form of spirit stones from the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals? My work is not a compulsory job! Therefore, these benefits could be considered as compensation in disguise!”

“B-But…”

“No buts, if you say but again, the Immortal Chicken would be finished by other people!”

Wang Lu said, got up, and pulled Aya out of the door. Aya merely showed a half-hearted show of reluctance before she could no longer resist the temptation and quickly followed.

As for Wang Wu, she slowly walked behind them, thinking that since Wang Lu’s meal expense could be reimbursed, then she could theoretically make up some false bills in the Keeping Immortal Building…

—

On the upper floor of Keeping Immortal Building, Aya was fully satisfied.

The table in the front was a mess of cups and plates. The famous Immortal Chicken and Emperor Jar were naturally there, as well as other rare and delicious delicacies.

“Alas, I have been living in Nine Regions for many years, and my deepest admiration for you guys is about your culinary, which really made people indulge in it.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Lu chuckled and said, “If you like, this would be your cafeteria. Your strength is no less than a true Supreme, and as a guest, you deserve to enjoy this kind of treatment.”

Aya shook her head. “It’s not necessary. People from all over the place come and go, so this is a crowded place, and to be seen by many people is not good. Moreover, for this kind of delicious food, tasting it once is enough, to covet more is the same as being greedy.”

“Hahaha, you really know how to control yourself.”

… Just as they were talking about the dao of delicious food, Wang Lu’s ears suddenly moved as he heard the conversation from the downstairs.

“Ai, what a pity, that day, the master of Heavenly Book Building was so disgraced and his reputation ruined beyond redemption.”

Hearing that the topic was related to the master of Heavenly Book Building, Wang Lu took a sip from his cup and concentrated his attention.

Visitors of the Keeping Immortal Building were people from all trades. The upper floors were usually reserved for Supreme level cultivators, while the lower levels could even be frequented by ordinary mortals. However, through the voice, Wang Lu recognized that they were several cultivators of Jindan and Yuanying Stage, which could be considered as the backbone of the City of Immortal.

“The master of Heavenly Book Building only has himself to blame, what is there to be pitied at?”

“He is, after all, a Supreme level cultivator… How many Supreme level cultivators in the whole Nine Regions could there be? A hundred? Two hundred? What’s more, how many people are implicated in the fall of the master of Heavenly Book Building…”

“It’s exactly because the number of Supreme is not large that, if such a person has bad intention, the damage caused would be particularly serious. Imagine if he was bought by the Earth Immortals and stab us back in the critical moment, the consequences would be unthinkable.”

“… But the recent work method of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals is indeed too overbearing, which would inevitably lead to a backlash.”

“That’s because they have to be overbearing. The strength gap between us and the enemy is so wide that we must unite our forces and resources as quickly as possible or we would definitely lose.”

“Humph, but after being overbearing, is there any difference? Didn’t we lose more than we win? Since the start of the Grand Competition, there have been more than one hundred matches, could our Union of Ten Thousand Immortals side even manage to win ten? I’m afraid even five is difficult! Since Supreme He Tu and Daoist Master of Non-Phase won in succession, we have been losing the match again and again! The master of Heavenly Book Building questioned the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, it is now without a foundation.”

“Old Xu, you drank too much! How could you say such a thing! Didn’t the high levels of Union of Ten Thousand Immortals say several times that currently we need to avoid the sharp edge and accumulate strength…”

“Accumulate my ass! It’s them who couldn’t win, that’s why they gave themselves an excuse!”

As soon as his voice fell, someone shouted loudly downstairs, “Your mother’s fart! You’re the one who actually spread the rumors and mislead the people here! Could it be that you’re one of the accomplishes of the master of Heavenly Book Building? Let me enforce the justice on behalf of heaven for you!”

Then the spells were released, magical treasures clashed as the two people began to fight. However, before long, four Golden Armored Puppet came out to suppress the riot.

—

“Huh, sure enough, the current morale is already shaky. Even if the group who fishes in troubled water is eliminated, the morale would inevitably continue to fall. Even the restaurant patrons are beginning to doubt the prospects, then the prospects are really bad.”

Wang Lu fiddled with the delicate wine cup in his hand while his brows gradually tightened.

Wang Wu said, “Isn’t that nonsense? Anyone would inevitably feel impatient after losing badly for a month in succession. Let alone there are still many key matches in this month. You hold back the main forces from the competition, which, to put it nicely, could be interpreted as temporarily avoiding the sharp edge, but to put it harshly, people would inevitably suspect that you have no chance at all.”

Aya also said, “Even if we want to avoid the sharp edge in the early stage, we need some means to stimulate the morale at the appropriate time, so that people could see hope in failure. I suggest you to win a few key matches as soon as possible, so as to stabilize the people’s heart.”

Wang Lu smiled and said, “I would also like that, but the cards in my hands are limited. In the past hundred matches, do you think I was willing to give up every match? There were at least three matches that I planned to win, but when I sent a few black horses, they were all crushed…”

Upon hearing this, Aya was shocked. “Is it really that bad?”

“The strength gap is still too big. Especially in this month, those Earth Immortals are going crazy, even the black-clad person had made his move twice. They completely didn’t give us any chance… The contestants of Jindan and Yuanying Stage who are currently in the emergency training are making rapid progress, but I think that with the current situation, the odds are at most fifty-fifty. But even if our main force only has fifty percent chance of winning, we might as well give up this Grand Competition.”

Wang Wu asked, “Do you need me to come out?”

“No need. You are the most stable trump card in my hand, so it would be too wasteful to use you now. Even I, which I considered as a little trump card, must not come out easily…” Wang Lu said as he went deep in thought. “No. Now it’s time for me to come out. I’ve been standing behind the scene for so long, it’s time for me to go to the front. But I have to properly grasp the timing. The symbolic significance of my position today is extraordinary. Not only I have to win, but I have to win decisively. And not only I have to win decisively, but it’s also best if I win after a series of small victories, making it a great victory that turns the situation around. To do this, we need to win a few matches first as a foreshadowing, but who could give me a steady victory?”

While thinking, Wang Lu subconsciously shifted his gaze and looked at the mess before him. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration.