Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 262 - 177: An Instant Success_2

Chapter 262: Chapter 177: An Instant Success_2

His heart surged with excitement, and he couldn’t help but sneak glances towards Liu Tangxi’s direction, only to be disappointed by the legendary Sword Immortal’s impassive face, showing no intention of speaking.

Should Sword Immortal Liu speak, he would not hesitate to earnestly request to become an apprentice, even if it meant kowtowing right there on the spot.

Another person who remained silent was a young and handsome man dressed in black. Despite his good looks, dark circles could be seen under his eyes, probably from recent hardships. Judging by his age and seniority, his status within Purple Cloud Palace was likely not very high.

While nearly everyone’s attention was focused on Liu Tangxi, only Jiang Feng noticed the man standing at the very edge, and he immediately realized who he must be.

"This must be the senior brother of Yu Ying, the current Peak Master of Heavenly Power Peak."

"The previous Chief Disciple defected to Xuanyin Sect, which infuriated the old Peak Master of Tianquan Peak to death."

"This one must be the second disciple of the old Peak Master and also the second senior brother to Yu Ying. It seems their lineage is facing more difficulties than I thought. But it’s not surprising, considering the scandal they caused."

He silently took note, and soon the debates among the people resulted in the cultivator named Mu Rongjin officially becoming a disciple under Peak Master Wei Buxue of Zhu Mingfeng.

Several senior brothers and sisters approached him, as could be told by the patterns on their robes, indicative of Zhu Mingfeng. He respectfully followed them to the side and waited.

But just a few breaths later, several Core Formation Stage cultivators stepped forward, impatiently producing their tokens.

"Ninety-five!"

"Eighty-nine!"

"One hundred and one!"

The string of daunting numbers was enough to make one’s scalp tingle; taking someone’s ready-made pie still required defeating over fifty opponents to accumulate such an impressive amount.

These Core Formation cultivators seemed to have made an alliance, each unwilling to give way to the others. After all, all of them were under thirty years old – not to proclaim themselves as the favored children of heaven, but they undoubtedly were exceptional young talents with excellent aptitudes.

The struggle between the various Peak Masters intensified, and though their argument was not loud, anyone could sense the heat in their voices.

Were it not for the presence of so many spectators, they might truly have come to blows.

What surprised Jiang Feng, though, was the chief disciple of Dragon Head Peak standing in the center.

Despite being a second-generation disciple, his strength was no less than that of the first-generation ones, and his status within Purple Cloud Palace was quite significant. Amidst the heated debates amongst his uncles, he managed to attribute one cultivator to the unattended Heavenly Power Peak.

It was evident that while this Chief Disciple was not the Sect Master, he already possessed a measure of the Sect Master’s demeanor, balancing the strength among the various peaks and extending his care to the already weak Tianquan Peak.

"Mr. Jiang, will you go first, or shall I?"

Only a few groups at the tail end remained on the platform.

Three men and two women. Among these five, the only one who seemed somewhat unfamiliar was a silent girl standing to the side, her eyes never once leaving Liu Tangxi. She had a longsword at her waist and was evidently a Sword Cultivator who had successfully undergone Core Formation.

The others were well-known: Jiang Feng, Yan Fengchun, Qiao Yuan, and Lin Jiangxian.

All eyes were on Yan Fengchun, for many had received news before coming to the mountain – the youngest son of the Jiangnan Yan Family would also be attending this selection. He was widely recognized as the strongest among them.

Another reason was their subconscious expectation that Liu Tang might choose to take the Core Formation Stage female cultivator into the mountain as her disciple; judging by the Sword Intent emanating from the young girl, there was no doubt she was a Sword Cultivator.

It made sense, after all – specialization matters.

As for the other three... one had just reached Foundation Establishment, another was mid-grade Foundation Establishment, and one was only at the Qi Refinement stage. Aside from the young man who had just reached Foundation Establishment, the others weren’t very noteworthy.

"I don’t mind either way."

He raised his slightly trembling hands, ready to step forward.

This was the Scarlet Sun Infinite Heavenly Thunder Art that Yu Ying had mentioned, performed at the cost of bodily harm. Although it damaged the body, its power was truly formidable.

However, seeing Jiang Feng like this, Yan Fengchun just smiled, raised his hand with a gesturing stop, then gestured invitingly to the other two girls.

"Then Qiao Yuan won’t be polite."

Qiao Yuan nodded politely and then strode forward, unassumingly taking out the tokens from her Qiankun Bag.

"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty... forty-one tokens."

The somewhat young-looking senior who had uttered the number caused a slight surprise among the onlookers. No one had expected that a mid-grade Foundation Establishment cultivator could obtain barely fewer tokens than one at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

As expected, the eyes of several Peak Masters on stage lit up as well. Though the cultivation was lower, the ability was clearly not bad. No matter how it was acquired, the fact was that it had been done. However, even though many people were tempted, none of them had yet to speak up to recruit.

Because their attention was all focused on the last three people.

One of them was a 28-year-old man at the Core Formation Stage, who had been seen as promising by them even before he entered the mountain.

Another was a 27-year-old female cultivator, also a Sword Cultivator. Liu Tangxi had not spoken up to recruit anyone to Swordmaster Peak until today, yet she specifically chose to make an appearance to take on a disciple, hence everyone tacitly assumed that this young girl would be accepted into Swordmaster Peak.

There was also one who was probably not even twenty, just having established Foundation, also a promising talent. They were more inclined to save their spots for these people.

As for Miss Lin... she was directly overlooked.

And Qiao Yuan’s heart was filled with anxiety. Even if she couldn’t become an Inner Sect Disciple, starting from the Outer Sect wasn’t out of the question.

Biting her lower lip lightly, but as she watched nervously, the tense silence was broken.

The Peak Master of Qingxia Peak with a charming aura seemed to twitch his ear as if he heard something, then involuntarily glanced to the side.

Looking in Chen Shan’s direction, he nodded slightly.

"My friends, I see that she has a destiny with our Qingxia Peak. Why not join our Qingxia Peak? Child, are you willing to join us under Qingxia Peak?"

"The disciple is willing!"

Ecstasy appeared on her face.

The answer was immediate. She felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest; she had never imagined that she would actually be accepted into the Immortal Sect, and not as an Outer Disciple who could be discarded at any time.

It was the Inner Sect.

This treatment was probably comparable to landing a stable position with an official appointment. She first hurriedly bowed deeply in gratitude, then turned to bow to Jiang Feng.

If not for Jiang Feng’s help, the idea of joining the sect would likely have been a pipe dream, given her injuries back then. It was this young man who had stood by her for several days, not only that, but he also took her to fight with others and plundered a great number of tokens.

The latter just smiled lightly, gesturing for her to quickly follow Chen Shan, while Yan Fengchun clicked his tongue in amazement.

"Mr. Jiang is not simple at all, to be embraced by both sides is something Yan envies greatly."

"You flatter me...no wait, don’t talk nonsense, everybody is watching."

He quickly corrected himself, but Jiang Feng wasn’t in a hurry to make any excuses because that’s how it is between men, whether it’s true or not.

Brag first, argue later—anyway, it’s all about showing off one’s powerful personal charm, with an inexplicable sense of competition.

Yan Fengchun simply shook his head and didn’t linger on the topic. Then, Lin Jiangxian stepped forward.

"I-I am Lin Jiangxian, please... senior, please look over my tokens..."

He nodded a little.

No one took this little girl seriously; with a bone age of fifteen and only at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, she didn’t seem to have much of a future. Making it this far was already incredibly lucky.

Looking at her, she probably had only a handful of tokens...

Whoosh—

A shrug of her shoulder.

While the rest of the disciples on the scene were still discussing, including several Peak Masters who were also busily discussing the last few people, the huge rustling sound that followed captured everyone’s attention.

Looking towards the wide desk, their eyes flashed with shock, surprise, and disbelief.

"This, this is..."

Even the Second Generation Disciples in charge of counting the tokens were startled. What’s happening? Am I seeing things?

"Fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one, sixty...sixty-two!"

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