The top three of the Mountain God Festival were announced.

Although the sect would officially announce it a few days later at the opening of the Shu Mountain Summit, the news of who had obtained the White Jade Liuli Cup had already spread throughout Shu Mountain.

The first place went to Chu Liang from Silver Sword Peak, which surprised many people.

Previously, Chu Liang had sold three clues ahead of time, giving the impression that he had no interest in competing for the first place and was only interested in making money.

Firstly, he had to sell the answers faster than anyone else, so that people would buy them. Secondly, he had to solve the next clue faster than he sold the answers, so that he could confidently maintain his lead.

In other words, if all the disciples of Shu Mountain were on the first level, he would be the only one on the third level.

This was simply terrifying!

Before, he was just a small-time merchant selling tea and fruits on Red Cotton Peak, with a bit of fame. After this Mountain God Festival, he had completely made a name for himself as a cunning merchant with extraordinary wisdom among the entire Shu Mountain.

The second place went to Jiang Yuebai from Biluo Peak.

This was not so surprising.

Before the Mountain God Festival began, everyone’s initial prediction was that Xu Ziyang and Jiang Yuebai would compete for the first and second places, with slightly more favoring Xu Ziyang.

However, if Xu Ziyang was ranked first, then it wouldn’t be hard to accept Jiang Yuebai as second. But now that the cunning merchant was first, and Sister Jiang was surpassed by him.

This was inevitably infuriating.

The third place went to Zhao Zhizhu from Tianhe Peak.

Many people hadn’t heard of this name, which was not surprising.

The reason this brother had a name was entirely because he had spent 2,200 sword coins and stood out at the auction, winning the third clue auctioned by Chu Liang.

Chu Liang even kindly included a top-grade green pill, which he exchanged for the White Jade Liuli Cup.

At this point, all three White Jade Liuli Cups had been claimed.

But the third place only got this far, the attention he received was even less than that of Jade Sword Peak.

Xu Ziyang didn’t rank at all this time, which was the most surprising. His team didn’t even make it to the top three!

Of course, this had a lot to do with Chu Liang.

Because of Xu Ziyang’s pride, he didn’t buy any clues from Chu Liang throughout the process. Even when all of Shu Mountain had advanced the clues at the same time, he was still immersed in his own thoughts.

When the competition of the Mountain God Festival ended, he was still pondering over the jade bi painting in the Baota Peak cave.

This speed couldn’t be said to be slow, but compared to Chu Liang, it was indeed a lot slower. Xu Ziyang could only accept this, losing was losing.

He would just have to win it back at the Shu Mountain Summit.

On the contrary, some fellow disciples began to suspect that Chu Liang might have stolen the questions since even Xu Ziyang and Jiang Yuebai couldn’t solve them so quickly.

After all, he was a disciple of Di Nvfeng, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he did something shameless.

The idea of stealing questions was quickly dismissed, as the upper echelons of Shu Mountain would not allow such a thing to happen. So people began to suspect that Chu Liang might have some backing in the upper echelons of Shu Mountain and had received some special favor.

Did the large amount of sword coins he sold also benefit the higher-ups? Especially the Dan Ding Hall, whose last-minute intervention was very suspicious. Could it be to protect Chu Liang?

In response to these dark speculations, some disciples of the Dan Ding Hall cursed.

Amidst the uproar of rumors, only the little detective Xu Ziqing lit up her wise eyes and saw through the essence of the matter.

Although her brother and their team didn’t achieve any results, which made her a little sad. But seeing Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai ranked first and second, she smiled slightly.

Only I know why in all of Shu Mountain.

But I won’t tell.

Hehe.

…

On Silver Sword Peak.

Di Nvfeng set up a board in the hall to mobilize everyone for the upcoming battle.

“The Shu Mountain Summit, which takes place once every ten years, is a rare opportunity for us. The entertainment events offer around 3,000 sword coins for the first place, not to mention the main competition, where the chief disciple will receive countless resources! We must take it seriously.”

She picked up a bamboo stick and pointed at the name “Chu Liang” on the board.

“First of all, you are the only one who can participate in the main competition of the Shu Mountain Summit, so I won’t put pressure on you. I don’t have high expectations for you, you just need to defeat Xu Ziyang and Jiang Yuebai in this session.” Di Nvfeng said lightly.

Chu Liang responded with a warm and innocent smile.

Hehe.

“But besides the main competition, do you want to participate in a few other events?” Di Nvfeng asked again.

“I will definitely respond to Master’s call! I will come when called and fight when I arrive!” Chu Liang said, “I plan to sign up for the Flying Sword Speed Race and the Mahjong Competition!”

“Very good, your spirit of striving to be the first is commendable.” Di Nvfeng looked at Liu Xiaoyu next to her, “It’s worth learning for other members.”

Liu Xiaoyu blinked, her eyes full of confusion.

“Cough.” Seeing that she couldn’t get through to her, Di Nvfeng coughed again, “Xiaoyu, don’t you plan to participate in any events?”

“Can I?” Liu Xiaoyu asked.

Strictly speaking, although she was not a disciple of Shu Mountain and couldn’t be considered a spirit pet, Shu Mountain was not strict about the entertainment events. As a humanoid demon beast, she could participate in anything except the main competition.

“Of course you can participate, you just need to choose the event.” Chu Liang explained to her on the side, “The God of Wine Competition is a drinking contest with people like my master… The Spirit Pet Fighting Competition is a fight with demon beasts like Jinmao… The Flying Sword Speed Race is a sword flying competition with people like me…”

Liu Xiaoyu immediately made a decision: “Then I’ll participate in the Mahjong Competition.”

“Do you know how to play mahjong?” Chu Liang asked suspiciously.

He had never seen her go out to play since she came to Shu Mountain. Did she learn it in the river before?

The little girl was frank: “I don’t.”

Chu Liang: “……”

It goes without saying that Jinmao would participate in the Spirit Pet Fighting Competition. The big head was napping outside the attic, completely unaware of the heavy responsibility he had been entrusted with.

At the mobilization meeting, the Peak Master Di Nvfeng established the competition principles of “competing with style, competing with brilliance, competing with sword coins”, and gave each member of the Silver Sword Peak a warm encouragement.

……

After the meeting, Chu Liang returned to his cabin.

Not long after, someone came looking for him.

When he saw the visitor, he was genuinely surprised.

“Elder Dan Ding?” He quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.

Although his previous two encounters with this elder were not very pleasant, he was, after all, one of the four Mountain Guardian Elders, and the necessary courtesies must be observed.

The Mountain Guardian Elder nodded slightly, “Hmm” he grunted.

Then, he looked at Chu Liang with a pair of bright eyes for a moment, until Chu Liang felt a bit uncomfortable, then he asked, “The top-grade green pills in that gourd, did you refine them yourself?”

So that’s what he came for?

“Yes.” Chu Liang nodded lightly, smiling, “Actually, those top-grade green pills in the gourd were all for practice, and they all have more or less flaws. Only the last few can be considered perfect.”

“What does it matter if a pill has the desired effect, and has some insignificant flaws?” Elder Dan Ding shook his head, and asked again, “Did you have any foundation in pill refining before?”

“No.” Chu Liang also shook his head, “I just had some interest, and I have to thank the Mountain God Festival for giving me the determination to refine pills.”

“So you’ve never been exposed to pill refining before, and it took you just over a month to refine your first top-grade green pill?” Elder Dan Ding asked casually.

“Almost.” Chu Liang nodded.

Actually, it was even shorter.

“I came to ask you…” Elder Dan Ding suddenly said, “Would you like to come to Dan Ding Hall and become my personal disciple? And you would be my last disciple.”

Pfft.

The sudden recruitment by the Law Enforcement Elder last time was unexpected for Chu Liang, but it wasn’t too shocking. But this time, Elder Dan Ding’s recruitment was truly surprising.

After all, the two sides had a grudge before.

Seeing his expression, Elder Dan Ding guessed what he was thinking, and said softly, “My Dan Ding Hall had some friction with your Silver Sword Peak before, and perhaps you have some grudges in your heart. But you should know that occasional friction among fellow disciples is inevitable. In the face of truly important matters, those are not worth mentioning.”

“I’ve seen the green pills you’ve refined, your talent in pill refining is rare in my life. If it’s not given the best cultivation, it’s simply a waste. I have confidence to cultivate you into the best alchemist in Shu Mountain… maybe even in the whole world.”

“My life is coming to an end, and I hope to leave behind an alchemist who can shoulder the responsibility for Shu Mountain after I’m gone. And my current personal disciples are not yet up to that level… so I’ve been looking for a last disciple for these years, and I didn’t expect it to be you. As long as you agree, all the previous things will be forgotten, and I can lead the entire Dan Ding Hall to apologize to you.”

His words were sincere and heartfelt.

For a moment, Chu Liang could tell that this old man seemed to really want to take him as his last disciple.

Compared with leaving a top alchemist for Shu Mountain, the previous conflicts really didn’t matter.

“Thank you, Elder, for having such high hopes for me. I am truly humbled.” Chu Liang said, “If Shu Mountain needs it, I am naturally willing to learn more about the way of pill refining… but there’s no need to be a personal disciple of Dan Ding Hall, right? Can’t I stay in Silver Sword Peak and just serve in Dan Ding Hall?”

“You don’t want to change your master?” Elder Dan Ding frowned, although this didn’t sound strange, he seemed a bit surprised.

“Your master is Di Nvfeng, isn’t she?”

Good morning.

(End of Chapter)