Within the blaze, people could only see a blurry figure flash by...

The next instant, the sea of flames vanished without a trace.

Song Wanning was seen raising her hand and swinging her sword once more.

THUD—

Liu Yao dropped stiffly to his knees.

"..."

"—!!!!!!!!"

The crowd was dumbfounded.

Liu Yao himself was frozen in place.

Because it was intentionally concealed, no one could see the Sword Dao True Realm. All they saw was Liu Yao inexplicably kneeling before Song Wanning.

"Fuck! What is this supposed to mean?"

"Is Liu Yao surrendering?"

"This is so fake, isn’t it? I’m on Grandmaster Song’s side, but... this acting... it’s a little too stiff!"

The disciples found it baffling and looked to the heavens, speechless.

The Nascent Soul Cultivators on the high platform were fuming with rage.

"Fine, just fine... So this is what Liu Yao meant by giving it his all, huh?"

"His acting is just a little too shoddy!"

"Heh, does he really take us for fools?"

"The Mountain Gazing Sect is truly something else! Is this what your esteemed Sect Master meant when he vouched with his character?"

The crowd hurled a barrage of sarcastic and biting remarks, leaving the Mountain Gazing Sect Master flushed with shame and indignation. He wished he could just bash his head against a wall and die.

He never would have imagined that idiot Liu Yao was capable of something like this!

He mumbled, opening his mouth to try and explain, but found that even after racking his brains, he couldn’t come up with a single excuse...

"Brother, what are you doing? Get up, quickly!!!!"

At the edge of the battle stage, Liu Yiyi was about to go mad with anger.

’Does he even know what he’s doing?’

’Even if he’s head over heels for Song Wanning, Liu Yao shouldn’t be acting like a fool right now!!!!!!!!’

She shouted from below the stage, completely unaware that Liu Yao was already sweating bullets from anxiety.

Because he found that he couldn’t stand up.

Not only that, but he could even feel an incredibly terrifying power, like the imperial might of the Heavenly Dao, crushing him to the point he couldn’t breathe.

’What in the world is going on?’

He raised his head with a frantic expression, only to see Song Wanning looking at him with a leisurely air.

"You... what kind of trick did you use?"

Liu Yao was baffled and shocked. Song Wanning had always been famous for her Alchemy Dao; her combat prowess was unremarkable.

But now...

Even though they were at the same cultivation level, he actually felt a faint urge to submit...

’I’m going insane.’

’This is truly insane!’

Liu Yao quickly cleared his essence and calmed his mind.

"Mr. Liu, what are you doing? Hurry up and get on your feet!"

Song Wanning rested the tip of her sword on the stage, her expression leisurely and self-satisfied, looking quite "theatrical."

She had originally intended to just use the Sword Dao True Realm to suppress him a little, but she never expected Liu Yao’s Dao heart to be so weak that he was immediately suppressed to the point of being unable to move. It was a pleasant surprise.

Under the "Heavenly Dao," only one’s Divine Soul and Dao heart can break free.

Liu Yao’s Dao heart was weak, and with Song Wanning having lived a second life, her Divine Soul completely crushed his...

...which led to the absurd scene before them.

Her exaggerated expression made it seem as if she and Liu Yao had planned this in advance. No matter how you looked at it, it reeked of a performance.

In the legacies of the Lower World, the Sword Dao True Realm had never appeared. The crowd couldn’t sense anything unusual, so they could only assume Liu Yao was faking it.

The faces of the Nascent Soul Cultivators grew even darker.

"You... just let me... get up!!!"

Liu Yao was so furious his vision started to go dark. He glared at Song Wanning, gritting his teeth and struggling countless times to stand up.

He felt as if a great mountain was pressing down on him.

The moment he managed to rise even a little, he was immediately forced back down.

After this repeated several times, he had achieved nothing but breaking out in a full-body sweat.

However, in the eyes of the crowd, there was nothing unusual around Liu Yao at all. Yet he was repeatedly trying to stand, only to fall back to his knees...

It was like he was possessed!

And to top it off, he looked like he was trying extremely hard...

"PFFT—"

A disciple burst out laughing.

This was followed by a chain reaction of loud laughter that echoed throughout the entire plaza.

"Hahaha... This is hilarious! How can he be so funny!"

"Even if it is a performance, he should at least take it seriously! This is so half-assed... Hahaha!!!!"

"Our Grandmaster Song sure is charming. To think Liu Yao would go this far for her, pfft—"

"HAHAHAHA—!!!!!"

The more the crowd thought about it, the funnier it became. Many were laughing so hard they couldn’t stand up straight.

The faces of the group from the Mountain Gazing Sect were burning. They were so ashamed, embarrassed, and angry that their bodies trembled.

’What in the world is Liu Yao doing?’

He was practically throwing the Mountain Gazing Sect’s reputation on the ground and stomping on it...

The Heavenly Inquiry Sect Master’s expression was also very strange. He was angry, yet he also found the situation absurdly funny. His lips twitched a few times before he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and turned away to laugh.

His laugh was like flipping a switch, causing many of the other Nascent Soul Cultivators to burst out laughing as well.

Putting aside his motive, Liu Yao’s performance was simply comical.

To do this for a woman, he’d truly thrown all his dignity away.

"Haha... Mr. Liu’s love for Song Wanning is truly as strong as gold!"

"Ahem, indeed. We’d long heard of his unrequited love for Song Wanning, and now we see it’s true... Hahaha..."

All the snide and sarcastic teasing fell on Liu Yao’s ears, and he felt as if his world was collapsing.

"I’m not... I’m not acting..."

"I’m really not!"

It was true he liked Song Wanning, but he would never go this far!!!!

’I have my pride!!’

’I’m a dignified Peak Nascent Soul Cultivator!’

Liu Yao’s face was crimson, looking like it could drip blood. He struggled desperately, veins popping on his forehead, which only made the crowd laugh even harder.

By this point, no one cared about the outcome of the match anymore; they were all just enjoying the show.

Listening to the crowd’s mockery, Liu Yiyi was so angry she felt her lungs would explode, and she actually coughed up another mouthful of blood.

’That dog Liu Yao, what the hell is he doing?’

’How can he be so shameless?!?!?!!’

’What the hell is Song Wanning that she’s worth all this...?’

Surrounded by waves of derisive laughter, Song Wanning’s lips curved upward. She let out a long breath, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

If there had been a Divinity Transformation cultivator present, they would have spotted the anomaly in an instant. But alas, there was none!

Watching Liu Yao’s grotesque, clown-like struggle, her eyes were like a dark, bottomless pool.

’In my past life, I explained myself just as desperately as he is now, but not a single person believed me.’

’Everyone accused me of being fickle and shameless, a worthless thing.’

’Now that it’s happening to Liu Yao, how come he can’t take it?’

’After all, he was the one so eager to make his "affection" known to everyone. Helping him along just counts as my good deed for the day.’

At this thought, the corners of Song Wanning’s mouth curved even higher. "Mr. Liu, while I know your feelings and am very touched..."

"...you really don’t need to go this far... What will other people think of you?"

"How foolish... Quick, get up!"

She suppressed a smile at the corner of her lips and made a fake gesture of helping him up, which made Liu Yao’s vision go dark with rage once more.

’Song Wanning... Song Wanning is messing with me!!!’

’Son of a bitch!’

’That bitch is toying with me!’

Liu Yao finally understood, and a towering rage erupted in his heart.

The immense fury caused the Spiritual Energy in his body to churn wildly, and in a fit of rage, he actually managed to stand up.

Shrouded in a murderous aura, he lunged toward Song Wanning.

"How dare you toy with me!"