Chapter 114: Chapter 84: Gathering at the City Lord’s Mansion, the Hope of Clearing the Trial!

Several teams were all converging on the City Lord’s Mansion at the center. This was no coincidence.

Zhong Ming, having fused with the Dao Rhyme: Vortex Dragon and cultivated several Cultivation Techniques to the Fourth Realm, was supremely confident.

This much had been clear even before the start of the Seven Peaks Grand Competition, when he’d set his sights on first place and disdained cooperating with others.

Furthermore, Zhong Ming’s desire to comprehend the Supreme Sword Intent, "One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Techniques," led him to deliberately indulge his own arrogance. This, in turn, caused him to subconsciously choose the highest point within the Heaven-Filling Array Map as his rallying point.

Reaching the summit was a straightforward, undisguised declaration of his ambition to take the top spot.

Coincidentally, Yan Chen of Molten Fire Peak and Zhu Feiyu of the three great families were also supremely confident in their own strength.

This led them all to choose the highest structure within the Heaven-Filling Array Map as their meeting point.

As for the others, like Dharma Seal Peak, Cuixiang Mountain, and Bright Stone Peak... they had wanted to choose a different location to temporarily avoid the brunt of Molten Fire Peak’s power.

But after entering the Heaven-Filling Array Map, the sudden spike in the trial’s difficulty made them realize something was amiss.

After a moment’s hesitation, they decided to gather with Yan Chen’s group first, wanting to discuss how to face the crisis.

SWOOSH...

With everyone advancing in the same direction, the chances of them running into each other were extremely high.

Zhong Ming, who was levitating in mid-air, soon spotted the figures from Dharma Seal Peak, Cuixiang Mountain, Bamboo Forest Peak, and the others.

When the groups met, they didn’t immediately break into a fight.

The Righteous Sects’ code of conduct was entirely different from that of the Demon Sect, even during a trial where they were competing for the rankings of the Seven Peaks.

Zhong Ming and the others still had to maintain a degree of decorum; they wouldn’t attack on sight.

Hmm... this was also partly because Zhong Ming and the others knew they were being watched by the outside world.

They had to present a united front for the sect elders and outsiders, a display of the Seven Peaks’ solidarity.

Of course, this scene was rather unbearable for a certain hidden individual, who muttered disdainfully to themself.

’A bunch of hypocrites.’

The person’s disguise was so good that no one noticed anything unusual. Meanwhile, upon seeing the team from Longxi Peak, Su Lingya of Cuixiang Mountain’s eyes lit up.

’It’s Senior Brother Zhong Ming and his team!’

With this thought, she immediately led her team toward the group from Longxi Peak.

Elsewhere, Han Yu of Dharma Seal Peak also brightened up when he saw the people from Cuixiang Mountain. He rode the wind and flew over.

Ultimately, the groups converged at the edge of the Longxi Peak team’s formation.

"Junior Sister Su, long time no see!"

"Senior Brother Han Yu, you’re here too."

After greeting Han Yu, Su Lingya glanced around, searching for any sign of Zhong Ming.

Unsurprisingly, she found nothing.

The Sword Seed nurtured in his Sea of Consciousness gathered every trace of his leaking aura, leaving his presence completely without fluctuation. Back at the Golden Jade Tower, even someone as powerful as Yi Qing, without using a probing Magic Technique, would have seen him as nothing more than a perfectly ordinary person.

Furthermore, the Flow of Water not only allowed Zhong Ming to project his own power from a distance, but it could also gently redirect the power of others.

Probing Magic Techniques, even those using Divine Sense, fell within the scope of this redirection, as long as they weren’t overwhelmingly powerful.

This was why Su Lingya, despite her considerable strength, couldn’t find Zhong Ming, who had used the Water Illusion Technique to completely conceal himself.

Of course, if she were to recklessly spread her disorienting mist and Zhong Ming chose not to move, he would have a hard time remaining hidden. However, that would be an outright provocation, something Su Lingya would never do.

Resigned, she could only turn her gaze to Xue Yao and Yi Yunya before her.

The latter stepped forward at the right moment and said with a faint smile, "Senior Brother is nearby. If Senior Sister Su has something to say, you can speak freely."

"On behalf of Cuixiang Mountain, I would like to form an alliance with Longxi Peak."

"Me too! Dharma Seal Peak is also willing!" Han Yu was annoyed at being ignored by Su Lingya, but for the sake of the Seven Peaks Grand Competition and his future prospects, he suppressed his negative feelings. He stepped forward and added, "You’ve all felt how difficult this trial is. It’s completely different from the information we were given."

"The sect has definitely increased the difficulty, and this is surely not the end of it."

"If we continue to fight separately, we’ll be eliminated in no time."

"That’s certainly not what our sect elders want to see. Therefore, I propose we form an alliance to overcome these difficulties together."

"Junior Sister Su, your people are skilled in healing. Longxi Peak, you excel at close-quarters combat. And we from Dharma Seal Peak specialize in long-range attacks and can support you with buffing talismans. If our three peaks join forces, we can definitely last until the very end."

Han Yu’s proposal wasn’t wrong. However, listening to him speak and seeing him act as if he were already the leader made Yi Yunya let out a derisive snort.

Pfft...

Yi Yunya made no attempt to hide the sound, which caused Han Yu’s eyes to narrow.

"Does this junior sister have an issue with my proposal?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I do." Yi Yunya nodded, giving Han Yu no quarter. "Self-awareness is a person’s most valuable trait, but some people just can’t seem to figure out their own place."

This thinly veiled contempt made Han Yu’s expression darken.

"So, you think I’m not fit to be the leader."

Yi Yunya replied, "Isn’t that obvious? You’re not blind, are you? Why don’t you look up at the peak rankings on the celestial screen?"