As everyone was confused, Yan Shouyi, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes and winked at Zhu Feifeng.
Zhu Feifeng was startled and quickly said, "Mr. Yan, are you alright?"
"Don't worry, even if I stood there and let you punch me ten thousand times, you still wouldn't knock me out," Yan Shouyi chuckled softly.
Zhu Feifeng said with a wry smile, "Although you say that, I still feel a bit offended."
"Ahem, I'm sorry," Yan Shouyi said, "I just wanted to know what would happen if I surrendered in the first round."
"What would happen?" Zhu Feifeng asked in confusion, "Of course, you'd be eliminated!"
"That's not necessarily true."
"How is that not necessarily true?"
As soon as Zhu Feifeng finished speaking, his head suddenly felt dizzy, and then he collapsed straight onto the ground.
Yan Shouyi got up as if nothing had happened.
He quickly looked around and, sure enough, saw the Elder Celestial Master Zhang Yin in a corner.
It was not Yan Shouyi who knocked out Zhu Feifeng, but the Elder Celestial Master Zhang Yin who had acted stealthily!
The Elder Celestial Master gave Yan Shouyi a middle finger from afar, then transmitted his voice, saying, "You brat, I told you I'd let you win first place. Even if you kill yourself midway, I have the means to revive you! No matter what, you're destined to be the Celestial Master!"
Yan Shouyi: "..."
No one knew about the telepathic communication except Yan Shouyi.
He could only force a smile, things were indeed as he had expected.
Surrendering directly was meaningless because the Elder Celestial Master would definitely intervene, and he would win even if he just lay there.
After this test, Yan Shouyi was certain that the Elder Celestial Master's intention for him to succeed was not a joke, but very serious.
Otherwise, why would he lower himself to help Yan Shouyi defeat this mere Zhu Feifeng?
Yan Shouyi sighed, stood up, and called out to the referee, "Daoist, Zhu Feifeng has fallen!"
The crowd below was bewildered. Wasn't it just a moment ago that you were knocked down by someone, and now he's down and you're standing up?
Someone couldn't help but curse:
"Did Yan Shouyi play dirty? When he fell down earlier, that young Daoist went to check on him, and then he took advantage of the distraction to sneak attack him. That young Daoist is truly naive and pathetic, falling for this scoundrel's trick!"
"Detestable! Folk sects are a disgrace to the Xuanmen. We should ask the Elder Celestial Master to preside over the situation and drive them all down the mountain!"
"I also disdain to associate with folk sects!!"
As they were cursing, their target shifted back to the folk sects. Yan Shouyi was also very helpless.
He didn't want this either!
This is completely the head of your Daoist lineage cheating!
If you're going to curse, you should curse the Elder Celestial Master!
However, Yan Shouyi obviously couldn't expose the Elder Celestial Master's despicable actions on the spot. He could only "bear the humiliation" and quietly call the referee over.
The senior disciple of Longhu Mountain who was serving as the referee, swaggered over. After a brief inspection, he said with great reluctance, "Zhu Feifeng is unconscious. Yan Shouyi wins this round!"
"Are you kidding me? He won like this?"
"He should have been disqualified!"
"Those who play dirty are not worthy of participating in the Luotian Grand Ceremony!"
The Daoist acting as the referee naturally favored his own people, but rules were rules. He reminded them, "The competition explicitly forbids the use of hidden weapons, but it does not forbid the use of schemes. Although Yan Shouyi's dirty trick is despicable, it is also his skill, and we have nothing to say!"
Yan Shouyi: "..."
So it really turned into me playing dirty?
Ah, yes, yes, yes.
Whatever you say is what it is...
After Zhu Feifeng was carried away, Yan Shouyi simply sat on the stage and closed his eyes to rest.
Despite the constant jeers and mockery in his ears, he paid them no mind.
He just waited for the other three matches to conclude.
Zhang Shantong, who was below the stage, smiled. When he saw Yan Shouyi feigning unconsciousness, he guessed what Yan Shouyi might be planning.
Later, when he saw the Elder Celestial Master acting stealthily, Zhang Shantong couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Only Yan Shouyi could force the Elder Celestial Master to resort to such underhanded tactics, right?
This kid really doesn't play by the rules!
This way, although Yan Shouyi didn't disrupt the Elder Celestial Master's plan, he did figure out the Elder Celestial Master's intentions.
This old immortal truly intended for Yan Shouyi to succeed as Celestial Master!
The other three matches on the same stage, after about ten minutes of combat, also concluded with winners.
These three winners hailed from Wudang Mountain, Longhu Mountain, and an unknown small sect, respectively.
The winner from the small sect had a narrow victory but was also injured. To avoid affecting his foundation, he chose to withdraw from the competition after winning.
Thus, the four-person match was reduced to three.
Yan Shouyi opened his eyes and saw the Wudang Mountain disciple and the Longhu Mountain disciple standing together. He immediately knew that these two had decided to join forces to take him down first!
The Wudang Mountain disciple shouted, "It's you! You dared to impersonate our Senior Brother Zhao earlier! I'm here to teach you a lesson on behalf of Senior Brother Zhao!"
The Longhu Mountain disciple also shouted, "Junior Brother Zhu was sincere in his dealings with people, but it was precisely this trait that harmed him. You actually used his trust in you to hurt him. I absolutely cannot forgive you for this!"
Yan Shouyi stood up, patted his clothes, and smiled at the two of them:
"Stop with the nonsense. You two come at me together, I'm in a hurry."
The Wudang Mountain disciple cursed, "Pah! You're still acting tough when death is at your doorstep. I'll make you kneel and cry for mercy later!"
The audience was almost entirely supportive of these two disciples. Their cheers were deafening, making it seem as if they were all there to cheer for Yan Shouyi.
Zhao Chengxiang, the Wudang Mountain disciple, sneered, "This Yan Shouyi is truly bringing this upon himself. No one can save him this time!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Shouyi moved.
He turned around, his back to his two opponents, and asked the referee:
"Daoist, didn't the Second Elder say earlier that special sects can use special methods? How should that be understood? If I were a corpse handler, summoning a few corpses to fight, wouldn't that be reasonable?"
The Daoist's eye twitched as he said, "Reasonable, but you are a descendant of Lu Ban, not a corpse handler."
"It's fine, your word is enough."
Yan Shouyi turned around with a smile, looking meaningfully at his two opponents.
The two of them felt a chill down their spines from Yan Shouyi's gaze and couldn't help but shout, "What trick are you playing now?"
"No tricks, I just thought of a way to deal with you without lifting a finger."
Yan Shouyi smiled slightly, then raised his right hand and shouted loudly, "Zhu Shanzao, these two little brats are all yours! Remember not to kill them, just scare them to death!!"
"Your Grandpa Zhu is here!!"
Suddenly, a demonic aura shot out from behind Yan Shouyi and quickly condensed into a physical form!
It was Zhu Shanzao, whose physique was like a small truck, with thick skin and terrifying fangs!!
The two disciples were stunned to see the terrifying Zhu Shanzao. The Longhu Mountain disciple quickly shouted,
"Foul! This is a foul! This is a proper competition. Except for sects like Yushou Mountain Villa, other sects cannot use spirit beasts in the competition!!"
Yan Shouyi burst into laughter:
"Who said it's a spirit beast? I'm a spirit medium, letting my spirit family act, is that reasonable? It's very reasonable!!"
Everyone was stunned again.
This thing that looked scarier than an elephant is a spirit medium?
The spirit mediums of others are usually weasels or foxes.
You've actually produced a wild boar the size of a truck!
Unheard of!!!
Zhu Shanzao snorted dismissively, "Haven't you seen such a handsome spirit medium before?"
Handsome, your ass!
Although the referee Daoist was very unhappy with Yan Shouyi, he couldn't do anything about it because Zhu Shanzao was indeed Yan Shouyi's spirit family.
No foul!
Aren't you mad?
After receiving the referee Daoist's reply, Yan Shouyi showed a playful smile: "Zhu Shanzao, do as I said earlier."
"Alright!!"
Zhu Shanzao lowered his body, his eyes flickered upwards, his hind legs dug into the ground, and he looked like he was about to charge and smash his two opponents to death.
The two disciples were genuinely scared to the point of wetting themselves and quickly raised their hands in surrender:
"Damn it, I'm not playing anymore, Yan Shouyi is too shameless!!"
Zhu Shanzao shouted, "Don't stop, I haven't even warmed up yet!"
"We're not playing, we surrender! If we really get hit by this wild boar, ten lives wouldn't be enough!" the Wudang Mountain disciple shouted.
As arrogant as they were before, they were now as embarrassed.
The referee Daoist also had no choice but to announce, "Preliminary round, winner... Yan Shouyi."
The announcement was weak, indicating that the referee Daoist also felt that Yan Shouyi's victory was not honorable.
But what could be done?
Yan Shouyi snapped his fingers, and Zhu Shanzao obediently returned to his side.
The two opponents scurried off the stage in disgrace, and the audience below looked at each other, unsure how to curse Yan Shouyi anymore.
Who knew that a descendant of Lu Ban would cultivate himself into a spirit medium.
This move was so brilliant it made their scalps tingle!
Zhao Yiyao, who was below the stage, couldn't help but say, "With Yan Shouyi causing this commotion, my Zhao family will probably have no face to participate in the Luotian Grand Ceremony anymore."
"I reckon, with Zhu Shanzao, Brother Yan can make it to the semifinals," Long Feicheng said enviously.
If he had known earlier, he would have also subdued a spirit family. That way, no one would have to do anything themselves in the future.
However, before Yan Shouyi could leave the stage, the referee Daoist suddenly announced:
"From now on, all contestants cannot use excessively outlandish cross-sect methods in their fights. For example – descendants of Lu Ban are not allowed to use their spirit mediums in the competition!"
Long Feicheng immediately shouted, "Damn it, isn't this clearly targeting Brother Yan!"
However, other audience members applauded, "Longhu Mountain is indeed sensible! Although Yan Shouyi was allowed to win by luck before, he won't be so fortunate later!"
"Right! Without that wild boar demon, what skills does Yan Shouyi have to win against everyone else?!"
"In the next round, no matter who meets Yan Shouyi, they must teach him a good lesson!!"
Yan Shouyi, walking off the stage, gave a wry smile:
"I didn't do anything, how did I become a public enemy?"