Long Chen turned around and laughed—it was actually an acquaintance. That person was Ji Li from Jiuhua Sect, who had come to represent Jiuhua Sect at the Dao Debate Conference.
"Hey, Master Ji Li, does your face still hurt?" Long Chen asked with concern.
Long Chen's words made Ji Li's face twist instantly, his eyes nearly shooting fire. Long Chen's heavy slap left him with psychological trauma.
As soon as they met, before he could even get revenge, Long Chen directly exposed his wounds, making him so angry his liver ached.
In fact, the last time Jiuhua Sect was nominally invited by Lingxiao Academy to come for a discussion and discussion, but in reality, Jiuhua Sect had made the proposal voluntarily and had no ulterior motives.
Originally, Jiuhua Sect and Lingxiao Academy were at the bottom of the group, but Jiuhua Sect wasn't strong in Dao debates. However, their disciples were much better than Lingxiao Academy in the grand competition, since some had even broken into the top hundred.
This debate was actually Ji Li leading the students to take advantage of the weak. Just like at Lingxiao Academy, it was meant to give the disciples a chance to train—in other words, to bully others and give them experience.
So when they came, they didn't even say a word, just rushed straight in, leaving the academy no chance to prepare. The goal was to catch the disciples off guard, to show the disciples the academy's panic, boost their confidence, and prepare for cultivating future talent for the Dao.
However, what he never expected was that all his plans were disrupted by a mere sweeping disciple, and he ultimately returned defeated.
Now, seeing that Lingxiao Academy had actually sent Long Chen over, he immediately understood that the academy had already given up on the Dao Debate Conference. The old man was withdrawing and couldn't show up, sending a disciple to embarrass himself. He was about to challenge Long Chen, but Long Chen's words left him almost unable to breathe.
"What are you doing? Your face is squeezed like your crotch. What's wrong? Are you constipated? Long Chen frowned when he saw Ji Li's grim expression.
"You... Just you wait..."
Ji Li was so angry he was trembling. He knew that when it came to cursing, he probably wouldn't be as good as Long Chen in this lifetime, so he simply shut up.
Ji Li fell silent, and a mocking smile appeared on Long Chen's face. Waiting is waiting—who have I ever been afraid of?
After Long Chen entered, some more people arrived one after another. When these people appeared, they would wave to the surrounding audience to show their humility.
Some people in the audience waved in response, but their entrances were clearly less "grand" than Long Chen's. Many still focused their hatred on Long Chen and ignored the later entrants.
Long Chen suddenly noticed that people in the distance were also casting him unfriendly glances. Seeing this, Long Chen immediately smiled again and greeted warmly:
"Hey, does your face still hurt?"
That person was none other than the leader of the Dark Tiger Alliance, who had been slapped by Long Chen in front of Silvermoon City. He had actually come too, casting a murderous look at Long Chen in return, but in return, he greeted him warmly.
The leader of the Dark Tiger Alliance looked grim and silent, seemingly unmoved by Long Chen's words. But from the veins on the back of his hand, Long Chen could tell his calmness was just an act.
After a while, the entire Dao Debate Platform suddenly trembled, slowly rising several zhang higher. Runes swirled on the platform, divine light shone brilliantly, piercing the sky and seemingly illuminating the horizon. The scene was extremely stunning.
The moment the platform lit up, an aged voice rang out: "All the Dao Debate Celestial Masters are present. The Dao Debate Conference is about to begin. However, before the conference begins, as usual, everyone will be given a chance to rehearse." "
Buzz!"
The void trembled, and a ball of divine light appeared. Within the light, an object about a zhang in size appeared, but because it was obscured by the light, it was impossible to see what was inside.
"This is an ancient stele inscription, engraved with the Jiuli Immortal Script. Whoever can fully decipher it will receive a ten-zhang divine pillar." The aged voice said.
The so-called ten-zhang divine pillar refers to the pillar where everyone sits and rises ten zhang high. This Dao debate platform is an ancient and mysterious artifact with its own rules, allowing one to discern the principles of the Heavenly Dao and distinguish right from wrong, somewhat like a proctor in an exam hall.
When someone answers a question or a reasoning is recognized by the forum, the divine pillar under them will be elevated, highlighting their status.
If you answer incorrectly or fail to gain recognition from the forum, your position will drop. The Divine Pillar's initial length is only one zhang; if you answer incorrectly once, it will drop by about one foot. After ten incorrect answers, the Divine Pillar will retract and you will be eliminated.
This situation is rare. Most are eliminated not because they answer wrong questions, but because, over time, when the Divine Pillar rises to a certain level, the lowest Divine Pillar is eliminated.
So at the very beginning, this first question is usually crucial. Whoever answers and gets rewarded will have a whole different starting line. For a moment, everyone stared at that divine light.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the divine light faded, revealing a divine stele inside, densely inscribed with countless Jiuli Immortal scripts. For a moment, everyone was stunned.
"Third generation?" Wait, could it be the second-generation Jiuli Immortal Text? "
Beep."
At that moment, a strange sound came from the void. Everyone on the Divine Dao Platform was shocked—it was the sound of someone pressing the answer button. Someone could decipher it so quickly? How is this possible?
For a moment, everyone looked around, and at a glance, they saw that on a pillar, all the runes lit up, shining like the bright moon in the night.
When they saw the master on the divine pillar, they were even more shocked, staring blankly at the man in the black robe.
Long Chen also stared at them in shock. His posture was strange, then he slowly lowered his head and watched his palm press a button that had suddenly protruded at some point.
It turned out Long Chen hadn't paid any attention to the divine stele at all. He felt the sitting posture was uncomfortable and wanted to change positions, but when he pushed it with his hand, the button protruded and pressed it right away.
"That idiot,"
Bai Shishi and the others saw Long Chen's stiff expression and immediately understood what was going on. Even given Bai Shishi's shock, they couldn't help but curse under their breath.
"That probably doesn't count, right?" Long Chen said, somewhat at a loss.
"Since you've pressed the buzz button, you have to answer, or you'll be eliminated." That aged voice echoed from the void.
Damn, this is a rip-off. I didn't do it on purpose, so how could I be so unlucky? Long Chen was speechless and could only look at the divine stele.
But he noticed that the Jiuli Immortal Script on the stele was somewhat chaotic. Upon closer inspection, it contained three generations of Jiuli Immortal Scripts and some second-generation ones, all mixed together.
Long Chen recognized the third-generation Jiuli Immortal Script, but the second-generation Jiuli Immortal Script recognized him, yet he did not. How could he decipher it? Long Chen couldn't help but secretly curse the bad luck—what a rough start.
Seeing Long Chen's expression, everyone knew he had accidentally pressed the button. Instantly, laughter erupted from outside, and Ji Li and the leader of the Dark Tiger Alliance on the debate platform wore expressions of schadenfreude.
At worst, he could just get it wrong once. Long Chen carefully studied the inscription and was suddenly startled:
"Great Brahma?"