I can identify everything, but the level is increased by one

Above the top-floor attic of the Li family.

A plain-looking man stood there, gazing at the Golden Pavilion. Beside him, Ye Xuanji, pale and unsteady on his feet, frowned slightly and said, "Brother Wu Nian, did Yuan Xingkong make a move again?"

He was still somewhat shocked.

Even though the sect had sent out its number one genius, Wu Nian, he had still failed to defeat Yuan Xingkong in the battle a few days prior. Only then did he understand how strong Yuan Xingkong truly was, and how significant his abilities were.

Now, all the dragon energy had been absorbed into the Golden Pavilion.

If Yuan Xingkong had made a move, then it would be no surprise.

Wu Nian shook his head and said calmly, "It wasn't him."

"Although he is strong, his strength is limited. The reason I couldn't defeat him is because he should have advanced to the Qi Barrier realm long ago, but he has been stuck in the Skin Refining realm. Although he is strong, he seems ordinary."

"A mediocre person would find it difficult to monopolize all the dragon energy."

"There must be an unparalleled genius in the Golden Pavilion at this time."

Ye Xuanji frowned.

Was this somewhat overestimating the Golden Pavilion?

One should know that even in the prefecture, Senior Brother Wu Nian was a top-tier genius. He had even obtained fame in the imperial martial examination, ranked on the Hidden Dragon List, and was predicted to definitely advance to the Qi Barrier realm in the future.

He asked, "What if it's some kind of secret technique?"

Wu Nian replied calmly, "You don't understand. No matter how powerful a secret technique is, it still needs personal support. Without sufficient talent, it's impossible to snatch food from everyone's mouths and monopolize all the dragon energy."

"This... could it be related to that Su Han?"

Ye Xuanji was taken aback, muttering to himself. If they were talking about geniuses, then the only person in the Golden Pavilion who caught his eye was this man.

With just one punch, he was able to defeat the disciple he had carefully selected.

Until now,

his cheap disciple, Li Linlong, was still downcast.

"Whether it is or not, we'll know after paying a visit. Although Yuan Xingkong is strong, he can't stop the combined power of all parties. Monopolizing all the dragon energy will offend everyone, and he can't bear that."

Wu Nian said indifferently, jumping off the attic and heading towards the Golden Pavilion.

During the last battle, although he didn't win, he had gained some new insights. He only hoped that the Pavilion Master Yuan wouldn't stagnate, otherwise it would be boring.

Inside the practice room of the Golden Pavilion, only Su Han remained.

After Yuan Xingkong promised Su Han a recommendation, he hurriedly left to deal with the uninvited guests who might arrive. Su Han sighed, thinking that this Pavilion Master Yuan was truly a remarkable person.

In the future, he would have to put in more effort to refine Qi Pills faster.

He sat down cross-legged again, absorbed the dragon energy, and began to refine it.

The Everlasting Scripture of Stillness operated, and a state of pure heart, similar to that of the Supreme Elder, emerged. From a higher, more detached perspective, he looked down upon himself, observing the dragon energy circulating, rising, falling, and evolving mysteriously within his body.

After seven days of seclusion, the progress of the Everlasting Scripture of Stillness soared.

(9853 / 10000)

It was about to be completed.

The next day, Yuan Xingkong brought Su Han a message. Yesterday, all the families had jointly pressured the Golden Pavilion. Although he had turned them all away, no one could truly confirm who had absorbed the dragon energy.

They could only vaguely guess.

However, in light of the previous example, all the forces had drafted a charter of order, which was a martial arts competition on a stage. Whoever had more wins and a higher ranking would receive more dragon energy in the next eruption period.

Anyone who violated this would be jointly attacked by all forces.

It was said that when this news came out, angry voices were heard from the Salt Gang's station, saying that a group of rebellious traitors had begun to team up to nibble at the imperial court's foundations, which was simply heinous.

But after the anger, they could only sit back and watch helplessly. In fact, all the forces could guess who was standing behind the Salt Gang, but unfortunately, not many people cared. Everyone was well aware that the current Emperor wouldn't live much longer.

Moreover, this place was far from the imperial court, and imperial orders didn't reach the county.

Not openly rebelling was already a sign of respect.

"What do you think?"

Yuan Xingkong asked.

It wasn't that he wanted to attract the dragon energy.

But the dragon energy came to him on its own.

If he couldn't obtain a high enough ranking in this competition to suppress the crowd, and instead, the subsequent dragon energy eruptions were all monopolized by him, the combined forces would attack him, and the Golden Pavilion would be implicated.

Although Yuan Xingkong had promised to protect him.

He also had to do what he could.

Moreover, he was also quite curious about what level his peak combat power could compare to. Among these young talents from Qingyuan Prefecture, was there anyone worthy of his peak battle?

He could also collect some information for the Mind's Eye to use in battle.

The sublimation of the Mind's Eye was not only related to his state of pure heart, but also seemed to be closely related to his horizons. A frog in a well could hardly glimpse the moon in the sky, and had to jump out of the well and ascend to the moon.

On the other side, on a pavilion in the Golden Pavilion.

Zhuge Xi was playing chess with Wu Shan. He looked at the messy chessboard in front of him and couldn't help but sigh, "It's messed up, it's messed up, everything is messed up..."

Wu Shan was completely baffled, "Are you saying I'm a terrible chess player again? I'm going to get angry if you say that again. This is played according to the chess manual, isn't it pretty good?"

Zhuge Xi didn't answer.

His eyes were deep, and he looked towards Su Han's courtyard, not knowing how to sigh.

In his divination, the dragon energy that should have been born today was born yesterday, and it was monopolized by Su Han, causing shocks in all directions and completely disrupting the entire game of chess, plunging it into chaos.

He hadn't even had time to start.

Only now did he realize.

Where was Su Han some kind of variable?

He was clearly a big hand about to overturn the chessboard!

Not giving you a chance to play chess or form alliances.

Looking at it now, the arena competition tomorrow is the last chance. If he wants to restart the game and stir up the general trend, he must obtain a higher ranking in the competition to gain momentum in fate.

He sighed softly in his heart.

Originally, people like them shouldn't have personally participated.

It was too crude and insulting to wisdom.

But that didn't mean that people like them couldn't fight!

No wonder the elders in his family had always been saying, 'Xi'er, you must practice martial arts well. Even if you neglect the family's unique skills, you shouldn't neglect martial arts cultivation, that is the strongest reliance.'

He seemed to understand the feelings of his ancestors in the past.

Originally a good chess game, it was smashed through by the Great Ancestor of the Great Li with both fists.

His chess game was also smashed through by Su Han.

The county yamen was still so dilapidated. The forces of Qingyuan Prefecture had been playing dead during this period of time when they entered Ping'an County.

They even closed their doors, ignoring anyone who beat the grievance drum.

But now, in the main hall.

Chen Guanhai, the magistrate, was kneeling on the ground, respectfully saying:

"Chen Guanhai, the seventh-rank magistrate, greets General Xu!"

Sitting above was a kind-looking young man in armor. The people lined up on both sides were not yamen runners, but well-equipped personal guards with sabers!

"Magistrate Chen, you don't need to be so polite. How is the dossier preparation going?"

Xu Ruohai smiled slightly, inviting Chen Guanhai to get up.

As a veteran official, Chen Guanhai naturally couldn't take his superior's gentleness as genuine. Matters of etiquette were something he could overlook, but you couldn't fail to do. His expression was still respectful as he presented the information dossier:

"Reporting to General Xu, this is all the information I have found about Su Han, Young Master Su, during this period of time. Please take a look."

Xu Ruohai nodded, took the dossier, and browsed it carefully.

After a moment, he said thoughtfully:

"So, Su Han was once a refugee?"

Chen Guanhai immediately replied, "Yes."

"Then why didn't you provide disaster relief to the refugees?"

Xu Ruohai suddenly looked at Chen Guanhai and said indifferently.

Even if this Su Han wasn't the disguised Prince, after Dan Heng's disappearance, the Prince would most likely become one of the refugees in the Northern Border due to his lack of strength, facing a life-and-death crisis.

Chen Guanhai's inaction was one of the reasons why the Prince was in a dangerous situation?

Upon hearing this, Chen Guanhai's forehead immediately broke out in bean-sized beads of sweat. Even though it was snowing outside, he felt extremely hot, and he hurriedly said, "General Xu, it's not my fault. Ping'an County is just a small city, and the stockpiled food is really limited."

"If we open the granary to provide disaster relief, the city's food reserves simply won't last until the snow melts and spring arrives.

At that time, it will be the turn of the city's people to starve to death. This is also a last resort."

Xu Ruohai smiled upon hearing this and didn't continue to pursue the matter.

He took it as a warning.

There were tricks in the grain matters everywhere, and he was used to it. As the saying goes, water that is too clear has no fish. At this stage, there were still places where these worms were useful.

"I heard that all the forces will hold an arena competition tomorrow?"

"That's right. In order to compete for the imperial court's dragon energy, these martial artists, rebels, and heretics are actually so open and aboveboard. They simply don't take my Great Li seriously."

Chen Guanhai was filled with righteous indignation.

Of course, whether he really thought so was unknown.

"Isn't that quite normal?"

Unexpectedly, Xu Ruohai's rhetorical question stunned Chen Guanhai.

He couldn't help but have a thought in his mind.

Could it be that Prince Yu also wanted to do that?

"Alright, alright, I don't care about these trivial matters of yours. It's ridiculous to compete for this little bit of dragon energy. You send a message to tell them that the competition venue will be provided by the county yamen."

Xu Ruohai put down the dossier and said indifferently.

He had a premonition that Su Han was not the Prince, but he must have a close connection with the Prince. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to obtain the token that only the Prince could possess. He had to observe him more tomorrow.

The next day, the wind and snow subsided again.

Inside the practice room of the Golden Pavilion, Su Han sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, his expression calm, and his temperament detached from the world, as if he no longer walked in the mortal world, but was a celestial being cultivating on the mountain.

In the blink of an eye, the detached temperament dissipated, returning to its original state.

He once again became the martial artist who struggled in the mortal world, who wanted to overwhelm all his peers, who wanted to resist natural disasters with human power, who stood between heaven and earth, and whose tribulations were nothing more than a bit of wind and frost.

He was still a practitioner in the world.

The detached mentality was just a means.

Only by firmly establishing his true self could he avoid being controlled by the cultivation technique.

The Everlasting Scripture of Stillness had been completed, honing a perfect pure heart, remaining unmoved even when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, and having a calm lake-like face even when there was thunder in his heart, enabling him to increasingly understand all things in the world.

At the same time, he also gained the ability to eat the mist and drink the air.

In a trance, the heart lamp illuminated, and the Mind's Eye opened.

He saw all kinds of wonderful Qi between heaven and earth...