Urban Martial Saint

Helian Tiehua’s expression was calm, he hadn’t said a word from beginning to end. It was clear that he had great confidence in Li Qianqiu and didn’t need to worry about this competition at all.

”The third round is the one that will decide who can become the Shen Family’s favored son-in-law and marry Miss Shen. This round is, of course, the most important and the most crucial one,” Prince Nalan smiled lightly and said, ”So, I personally think that this third round must not be handled carelessly. Therefore, this third round requires careful planning!”

”How do we plan carefully?” Shen Tianjun looked at Prince Nalan and said, ”I wonder what insightful ideas Nalan might have?”

”As the saying goes, many hands make light work. The three of us old guys discussing here may not necessarily come up with any good methods,” Prince Nalan laughed and said, ”Shen, I have a suggestion, I wonder if it’s appropriate to mention it.”

”Nalan, go ahead!” Although Shen Tianjun said this, he was already muttering in his heart that Nalan Jingwei surely didn’t have good intentions.

Prince Nalan smiled and said, ”As the saying goes, the guest is also host. These guests came to the Shen Family for the sake of the proposal, although they have all withdrawn now. However, since all of you have come to the Shen Family, it shows respect to you, Shen, and highlights the significance you place on the Shen Family. Therefore, I think for this last round, perhaps we could listen to the opinions of these friends, see what they think the third round should be, what do you think, Shen?”

The people Prince Nalan mentioned were precisely Northern Martial Zen’s Prince Wan Yan, Huang Yidao, Du Longwang, and Li Tianyi. Their disciples had either withdrawn or failed and had already lost. Originally, the remaining proposal had nothing to do with them. Yet, Prince Nalan actually invited them to help decide the content of this third round, which was indeed unexpected for everyone.

Shen Tianjun slightly furrowed his brows. He was not a fool and could naturally see Prince Nalan’s intentions. Among these few from Northern Martial Zen, three individuals had grievances with Ye Qing—Beard, Prince Wan Yan, and Huang Yidao. These three would definitely completely target Ye Qing. If they were allowed to set the content of the third round, it would be obvious that they would design it against Ye Qing, which would be very unfair to Ye Qing.

However, as Prince Nalan had proposed this matter, Shen Tianjun, as the host, could not directly contradict him either. Shen Tianjun maintained a calm expression and quietly glanced at Shijia.

Shijia, being an old fox himself, could naturally guess Prince Nalan’s intention. He simply waved his hand and said, ”Not good!”

”What’s not good about it?” Huang Yidao immediately turned and said, ”I think Nalan’s right. If someone comes as a guest, albeit they’ve lost, since they came, it shows respect to the Shen Family. Shen won’t deny us this little bit of courtesy, right?”

Huang Yidao directly linked the matter to face, clearly putting pressure on Shen Tianjun. If Shen Tianjun disagreed, it would only make people think the Shen Family was abusing its power, not respecting the guests, which was completely out of character with the Shen Family’s longstanding reputation.

”Can you stop calling ’Shen, Shen’ for no reason? I’m talking to you here, why are you still asking him!” Shijia glared and said, ”I think it’s not good, if you don’t ask me why it’s not good and instead ask Shen Tianjun? Does Shen Tianjun need to be consulted for everything?”

With these words, a few couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Huang Yidao, blowing his beard and glaring, pointed at Shijia and said angrily, ”You... you truly have no manners!”

Shijia said, ”Me being impolite isn’t just a day or two, do you need to point it out?”

Encountering such a person, Huang Yidao truly met his match and could say nothing in return.

Shen Tianjun held back his laughter as he looked at Shijia and said, ”I wonder why the master thinks it’s not good?”

”Everything’s not good!” Shijia straightforwardly said, ”Not only is it bad, what he just said is utter nonsense. It’s like dog spit not producing ivory, I’ve never seen someone speak such nonsense.”

Everyone was caught between wanting to laugh and not daring to. Prince Nalan was also inwardly annoyed. If it had been someone else, he would have gotten angry long ago. However, facing Shijia, he actually lacked a bit of confidence. Because, when he was young, he had already heard of the renowned monk Shijia. Shijia lived to this day, at least two hundred years old, and how powerful this person might be was something even Prince Nalan dared not imagine. Hence, he didn’t dare to confront Shijia. Even though Shijia’s words were harsh, he just smiled broadly, as if it was nothing.

”Actually, Nalan’s suggestion isn’t bad. He’s at least considering the Shen Family. Though these friends have withdrawn, since they’ve come, we shouldn’t neglect them.” Shen Tianjun said, ”I wonder why the master thinks Nalan’s suggestion is bad? Could you point out a few reasons?”

”No, I can’t!” Shijia responded with these two words, without changing face or blinking, looking completely justified.

”Do you have problems?” Huang Yidao couldn’t resist saying, ”You can’t bring up even one reason, what right do you have to say Nalan’s suggestion is bad?”

”Then tell me, what’s good about this suggestion?” Shijia waved his hand and said, ”Don’t repeat what Little Shen said, just say it, don’t think.”

”I... I...” Huang Yidao opened his mouth, but after a long while, couldn’t say anything. He was the type who was good with words but in conversation with someone like Shijia, with such thick skin, he was no match at all. Besides, Shijia had lived for over two hundred years, a genuine wizened being he was, he definitely couldn’t win against Shijia.

”Can’t say a word, can you?” Shijia smirked and said, ”Just because people say it’s good, you say it’s good too, can you not have your own ideas? No wonder you’ve been subordinate your whole life. Is being a lackey that interesting?”

”You... Who are you calling a lackey?” Huang Yidao shivered with anger, pointing at Shijia and said angrily, ”Who are you calling a lackey? You better explain!”

”If I explain, I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave here today!” Shijia chuckled and said, ”You better not press for answers, so you can save some face.”

Listening to Shijia’s words, Shen Tianjun couldn’t help but be moved. He had long suspected someone was backing Huang Yidao, otherwise, Huang Yidao wouldn’t dare to be so audacious. Now that Shijia mentioned this, it seemed Shijia definitely knew something, Huang Yidao indeed had an issue.

Being caught by Shijia like this, Huang Yidao was clearly intimidated and didn’t dare to ask further. However, staying silent became awkward as most of the attention was focused on him.

”So, do you have a better competition method, master?” While everyone’s attention was on Huang Yidao, Prince Nalan suddenly asked, ”Why not suggest a better method, master?”

This statement from Prince Nalan shifted all focus to Shijia, and Huang Yidao immediately said, ”Yes, yes, yes, monk, you seem to dislike everyone else’s methods, which means you must have a better idea. Fine, then propose a way, let’s see what wisdom you can offer!”

”Be clear, you’re the one with a dog’s mouth, not me,” Shijia calmly responded, turning to Shen Tianjun and saying, ”Shen, would it be alright if I propose the competition project for the third round?”

Of course, Shen Tianjun wouldn’t doubt Shijia, just as he was about to nod in agreement, Prince Nalan interrupted, ”Master, you are considered a senior, so you should follow the rules. The project you propose must be heard by everyone first, to see if it’s feasible. If you just propose, and it’s not feasible, should we still proceed according to your project? Then this proposal becomes a joke, doesn’t it?”

”I knew you wouldn’t agree, but how can a project proposed by Buddha Master be infeasible?” Shijia waved his hand and said, ”Alright, it’s late today, this third project definitely can’t be competed today. How about we go back for now, rest for the night, and then we can discuss this plan together. If possible, we can continue the competition tomorrow. If not, then we’ll reconsider, how about it?”

Hearing Shijia say this, both Huang Yidao and Prince Nalan remained silent, and thus everyone returned to the Shen Family Manor.

Ye Qing, Li Qianqiu, and Nalan Tianyu still stayed together, within a separate courtyard of the Shen Family. There were many guards from the Shen Family outside, primarily to prevent the three from communicating with people outside. In this way, the three could supervise one another and prevent any leakage of the third round’s project, ensuring absolute fairness.

Nalan Tianyu had witnessed Li Qianqiu’s strength today, knowing that this person was someone he couldn’t contend with. As for Ye Qing, he had suffered several losses at Ye Qing’s hands before and dared not provoke him. So, staying with them two, he was actually the most nervous, constantly glancing at Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu, fearing they might attack him.

Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu, on the other hand, remained calm, not saying a word. After dinner, they went directly to bed to rest, conserving their energy for the third competition of the following day. Watching the two go to sleep, Nalan Tianyu became increasingly unable to sleep, always suspecting that Ye Qing and Li Qianqiu might be feigning sleep to trick him.

Meanwhile, in another separate courtyard of the Shen Family Manor, Prince Nalan was sitting with two elders inside a room. These two elders were about the same age as Prince Nalan, his two cousins, both very strong.

”Big brother, isn’t that Ye fellow too cunning?” One elder said in a deep voice, ”We’ve planned for so long on this second round, and he almost ruined it. Fortunately, Tianyu was quick-witted, grabbing Du Feng’s wooden plaque in time; otherwise, Tianyu would definitely be eliminated this time.”