“What’s his name?”

Zhou Gu seemed to hardly believe his own ears and repeated the question to the patrolling examiner.

“His name is Xu Taiping, what about it?”

The examiner looked at Zhou Gu with a puzzled expression.

Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu exchanged a shocked glance.

“Brother Zuo, Brother Zhou, could it be that you know this young man?”

The examiner looked at the two with curiosity.

“No, not really, it’s just that he was in the area we were patrolling just now.”

Zhou Gu said with a smile, trying to cover up.

“Well, that’s some connection. You two should consider getting to know this young man better. If he wins the next round, he’s very likely to become the youngest cultivator in West Wind Pavilion to attend the Dragon Gate Meeting in a hundred years. He will definitely be valued then.”

The examiner said with a smile to the two.

“That’s very true,” Zhou Gu and Zuo Ju replied with forced smiles, but their eyes revealed a hint of malice.

……

A moment later.

West Wind Pavilion’s Qingxin Courtyard.

This place had been temporarily converted into a rest area for the Outer Disciples participating in the competition.

“It’s him, he’s grown taller, but it’s definitely him!”

In a secluded corridor, Zuo Ju pointed to a young man sitting in a pavilion across the pond, drinking tea, and said with certainty.

The young man drinking tea in the pavilion was none other than Xu Taiping.

“Big brother, it was because of him that we lost our lucrative positions in the Li Feng Hall last time and ended up in this sorry state. We can’t let this grievance go unaddressed!”

Zhou Gu said to Zuo Ju with some agitation.

“Don’t be impulsive. Although the Four Mountains Meeting is held at West Wind Pavilion, there are patrolling mirrors overhead. If we’re caught by the patrolling mirrors, we can forget about staying on Yunlu Mountain.”

Zuo Ju glared at Zhou Gu.

“But big brother, if this kid wins at the Four Mountains Meeting, he’s sure to enter West Wind Pavilion. How will we deal with him then?”

Zhou Gu complained a bit.

“Winning the Four Mountains Meeting isn’t that easy.”

Zuo Ju shook his head.

To trip someone up during the Seventh Peak selection and get caught would mean expulsion from the sect, and he wasn’t ready to take that risk.

“This kid managed to defeat Sun Hu; maybe he’s received guidance from Uncle Jiu. With Uncle Jiu’s guidance, winning isn’t difficult.”

Zhou Gu reminded Zuo Ju.

Hearing this, the usually composed Zuo Ju wavered a bit.

“Big brother, I have a plan.”

Seeing Zuo Ju’s hesitation, Zhou Gu immediately stepped forward and whispered in his ear:

“The next round still decides the opponent by drawing lots. I know the boy in charge of the draw. We can tamper with it a little and arrange an unbeatable opponent for that kid. This way, he’ll be stopped in this round and will have to stay at the foot of the mountain for another three years. Then, won’t he be at our mercy?”

Hearing this, Zuo Ju’s eyebrows twitched, clearly tempted.

“Who do you think we should arrange for him to fight?”

Zuo Ju asked.

“Qin Yuan!”

Zhou Gu said with a sly smile.

Hearing this name, Zuo Ju’s eyes lit up.

“Big brother, don’t worry. The people on the mountain don’t pay much attention to the Dragon Gate Meeting, let alone a small Four Mountains Meeting at West Wind Pavilion.”

Seeing Zuo Ju still hesitating, Zhou Gu persuaded him further.

His words were true; the people on the mountain rarely paid attention to the earlier matches except for the final Seventh Peak Meeting.

Firstly, because there were too many participants to watch, and secondly, because there wasn’t much to see. It was just a bunch of martial artists competing in combat, which they found uninteresting.

“If you’re worried about his relationship with Uncle Jiu and Bai Hong, there’s no need. The Pavilion Master has already investigated; this kid has no background. Uncle Jiu’s visit to Green Bamboo Residence was purely coincidental.”

“Moreover, Uncle Jiu and Bai Hong are in trouble themselves now, and it’s uncertain if they can return from the Northern Territory!”

Zhou Gu added a few more words.

Hearing these last sentences, Zuo Ju finally made up his mind and nodded secretly:

“Alright, our luck can’t be that bad.”

In his view, with thousands of matches in the Four Mountains Meeting, the people on the mountain couldn’t possibly pay attention to such an inconspicuous match, so the chances of their tampering being discovered were very slim.

After agreeing on the plan, the two left Qingxin Courtyard to find the disciple responsible for the draw.

What they didn’t know was that although their pavilion was separated from Xu Taiping’s tea-drinking pavilion by a small pond, their conversation was overheard by Fairy Lingyue.

And Fairy Lingyue relayed their conversation to Xu Taiping without missing a word.

“Do you want to find a way to expose these two’s scheme?”

Fairy Lingyue was very curious about Xu Taiping’s thoughts at the moment.

“No need, Sister Lingyue.”

Xu Taiping shook his head.

He finished the tea in his cup and stood up, saying:

“My goal is the Seventh Peak Meeting. If I can’t even defeat Old Qin, exposing these two would be meaningless.”

Besides, having spent three years at the foot of the mountain, Xu Taiping knew all too well that a cultivator with no background like himself, even if he went to complain to West Wind Pavilion, would likely be ignored, or worse, be accused of false charges.

So it was better to silence the opposition with his fists in the arena.

……

After a short while.

The brief rest period ended.

All the cultivators who had advanced gathered again in the martial arts field.

Many who had been confirmed eliminated also stayed to watch the excitement, and once again, the martial arts field was packed with people.

“Xu Taiping’s opponent is Old Qin?”

“The poor kid’s luck is really bad!”

“Judging by the kid’s strength, if he hadn’t met Old Qin, he definitely could have made it to the Dragon Gate Meeting.”

After the draw was completed, a buzz of discussion arose in the martial arts field.

Because of Xu Taiping’s eye-catching performance in the previous round, many people had gathered early around the arena where he was.

When the examiner announced that Xu Taiping’s opponent was Old Qin, the crowd reacted with a mix of schadenfreude and sympathy.

“I didn’t expect those two to actually pull it off.”

Xu Taiping himself remained calm, but he was curious about how the two had managed to do it.