Each of these rewards, taken alone, was extremely attractive to those in the metaphysical world. Not to mention that they were all piled up together now.
Thus, on the first day the announcement was issued, hundreds of disciples enthusiastically signed up.
Dongfang Xiao's eyes also lit up, eager to roll up his sleeves and participate!
Zhong Shengwan, as a disciple of a metaphysical family, naturally had his own sources of information. He had also heard about Liu Ruyan's exoneration. So the moment he saw the announcement, he lost interest and turned to leave.
Seeing this, Dongfang Xiao quickly grabbed Zhong Shengwan and said anxiously,
"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you going to participate in the competition? This is the Tianshu Ceremony that comes once every four years! It's the arena that so many metaphysical disciples dream of!"
"Not going," Zhong Shengwan replied concisely.
"Why?" Dongfang Xiao acted like a rascal, shaking Zhong Shengwan's arm back and forth, seemingly acting coquettishly.
But Dongfang Xiao ignored his own immense strength. Zhong Shengwan grimaced in pain from his grip. He pulled his hand out with a scowl and rolled his eyes,
"Can't you tell? This year's Tianshu Ceremony was actually promoted by that noble in the palace. They want to use it to make Liu Ruyan famous. What's the point of participating in an unfair competition?"
Cui Rui pondered for a moment and replied,
"Hey, it's not that serious. Don't forget, this competition is not only organized by the palace but also coordinated by our academy. You all know what kind of people our academy's teachers are. How could they allow such nepotism? Even if the noble gives the opportunity, it still depends on the individual strength of the celestial master."
Dongfang Xiao nodded vigorously,
"That's right. And participating in the competition is also a kind of experience. It's a very rare large - scale competition!"
Persuaded by those around him, Zhong Shengwan's expression finally improved a lot, but he still didn't nod in agreement. He turned his eyes to Shen Cuiyu.
"A Cui, what about you?"
Liu Ruyan had always targeted Shen Cuiyu. For this competition, since she dared to participate, she must have prepared to make a comeback. Who knew what tricks she would come up with to deal with Shen Cuiyu in the future.
The others silently looked at Shen Cuiyu. They saw that her expression was calm. She just took the pen and signed her name on the registration form.
Shen Cuiyu never evaded. She wanted to know why Liu Ruyan could still help others communicate with the spirits even though she had no spiritual power left.
Seeing Shen Cuiyu finish signing, Dongfang Xiao let out a long sigh of relief. Then he sized up Zhong Shengwan's expression, afraid that he would go back on his word. He quickly signed his and Zhong Shengwan's names and turned to hand in the registration form.
"Wait," Shen Cuiyu said.
Dongfang Xiao stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Shen Cuiyu in confusion.
Shen Cuiyu had done it completely instinctively just now. She always felt that something was missing...
She got up, took the registration form from Dongfang Xiao's hand, seemed to write something on it, looked at it for a moment, and then handed it back to Dongfang Xiao.
Zhong Shengwan and Cui Rui leaned over to look and found that a name had been added to the last line of the registration form. The handwriting was delicate and beautiful, neatly written as "Pei Yu".
................
In her previous life, Shen Cuiyu had also heard of this competition called Tianshu. Its scale and influence were unparalleled.
A few days later, the registration list was made public. The names on it were so dense that it made people almost dizzy.
Shen Cuiyu just glanced at it roughly and saw several well - known figures in the metaphysical world. Some others were like her and Zhong Shengwan, the juniors from metaphysical families. Most of them were probably sent by their elders to gain some experience.
Before the competition started, everyone made some preparations.
Zhong Shengwan was the kind of person who, if he didn't participate, would just sit it out. But once he confirmed his participation, he would be very serious. He carefully drew a stack of talismans and bought many portable magical tools. He was extremely well - prepared.
Dongfang Xiao was always brave and war - like. Since signing up, he had been very excited. He was more focused than anyone else in the physical training class!
On the contrary, Cui Rui, who usually liked to chat and relax the most, had completely become silent during this period. The books on her desk were almost as tall as a person. She would start studying as soon as she opened her eyes and even recited some incantations and mental methods before going to sleep...
In her own words - "I've never worked so hard in my life."
In comparison, Shen Cuiyu seemed very calm.
She still attended classes and completed her schoolwork as usual. There was not a trace of worry or nervousness on her face. She just occasionally paid attention to the disciples' discussions about this competition when looking through the general knowledge talisman.
Since the news of the Tianshu competition spread, all kinds of news in the general knowledge talisman had come in an endless stream.
[I heard that the gambling houses outside have opened bets. You can bet on who will win! Now the odds of those popular candidates have been pushed very low!]
Wanxiang Academy always turned a blind eye to such things. People in the metaphysical world emphasized cause and effect and knew that ill - gotten gains could easily bring disaster. Even if they participated, they never used spiritual power to deduce the results. They just did it for fun.
Hearing this, Zhong Shengwan pulled Shen Cuiyu and Dongfang Xiao and swaggered down the mountain to find the nearest gambling house.
This gambling house was called Jile Fang. It was overcrowded today. On the water board about the Tianshu Ceremony, there were several well - known masters, such as "Daoist Qing Song" and "Jade - faced Rakshasa". There was a mountain of silver under their names.
The crowd surrounded the water board. The voices of discussion and betting rose and fell one after another. The air was filled with fanaticism and restlessness.
"I bet twenty taels on Daoist Qing Song!"
"Why bet on him? Jade - faced Rakshasa is more reliable. Look at her momentum..."
"I think you guys are all blind. Miss Liu is favored by the queen. She will surely make a splash!"
"But she made a mess at the grand sacrificial ceremony before..."
"Hey, that's all in the past. Now she's a favorite of the noble in the palace! Times have changed!"
Dongfang Xiao squeezed into the crowd and marveled. Zhong Shengwan declared that he wanted to see the latest betting list. Seeing that the three of them had extraordinary temperaments, the casino owner immediately presented the list.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle, no one noticed Shen Cuiyu in the corner.
She was wearing the ordinary disciple's uniform of Wanxiang Academy today. Her temperament was calm, out of tune with the restlessness around her.
Zhong Shengwan lowered his head and searched for his name on the betting list. When he found that there were no three characters of "Zhong Shengwan", he was amused by his anger. He said indifferently that the bettors had no vision...
Shen Cuiyu checked the betting list of everyone and noticed that someone had placed a heavy bet of five hundred taels on Liu Ruyan alone!
The intention was obvious - it was nothing more than to build momentum for that fake celestial maiden who had regained the queen's favor.
After a little thought, Shen Cuiyu knew that the one who could do such a thing was either the Liu family or the one in Fengyi Palace...
While thinking, the three of them had come to the front desk. The clerk in charge of registration didn't even raise his head and asked habitually,
"Sir, who do you bet on? Liu Ruyan or Daoist Qing Song?"