In order to survive, she forced herself to have a happy ending with the yandere villain.

But not long after,

Feng Laosan, who had signed up for the competition, was beaten so badly that he was kicked out of the arena by the man in black.

"what!!"

With a loud "thump," the entire floor shook as if an earthquake had struck.

The floor was then smashed with a hole by the rude Feng Laosan.

No one could bear to look at him anymore.

I couldn't help but sigh:

"Gongsun Yu is really amazing. These unranked heroes in the martial arts world are just asking for a beating."

"That's right, after all, Young Master Gongsun Yu is so young, yet he has already achieved a ranking of thirtieth on the Jianghu list."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chaomu's eyes lit up instantly.

This person is ranked 30th on the leaderboard?

If I can defeat him at the villa, wouldn't I be able to take his place?

As I thought about it, a fighting spirit arose in my heart.

Just then, Zhou Jiang's voice suddenly came to my ears.

"Kid, I'm giving you one last request, and that's him."

"Master, what you're talking about..."

Gu Chaomu looked at the man on the stage with slight surprise, then looked back at Zhou Jiang.

Zhou Jiang smiled slightly at him, patted his shoulder, and said:

"You're right, I do want you to compete against Young Master Gongsun, who's ranked 30th on the martial arts leaderboard."

"... "

Gu Chaomu's lips parted slightly, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Isn't Zhou Jiang's expectation of him a bit too high?

Zhou Jiang ignored his troubles and grabbed his wrist, raising it high into the sky.

Shout loudly:

"My disciple, Gu Chaomu, will be competing against you tomorrow. Young Master Gongsun, please reserve a spot for your duel!"

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound and couldn't help but sigh when they saw the man.

"Isn't this... Zhou Jiang, ranked twenty-third in the martial arts world?"

"When did he take in an apprentice?"

"I don't know, his apprentice looks quite unfamiliar."

Gu Chaomu froze, listening to the whispers of the crowd, his face gradually turning ashen.

"Oh? So it's Senior Zhou. Then let's meet here tomorrow. Junior Gongsun will definitely be waiting here to exchange skills with your disciple."

"it is good."

...

Back in her room, Gu Chaomu was troubled.

He grabbed his head, making a mess of his neatly tied-up hair.

Somewhat annoyed, I thought:

If Zhou Jiang doesn't want to give him the secret manual, why doesn't he just say so?

They actually made him, someone whose internal energy was stagnant at the sixth level, compete against a master whose internal energy had reached the peak of the seventh level?

If I were to be defeated by him in the ring, wouldn't I lose face?

Then it's definitely not going to work for him in the martial arts world in the future.

But now, for the sake of the secret manual, he has no choice but to lower his head.

He really wanted to compete with the top 30 masters in the martial arts world, but that would only be possible after he obtained the secret manual and broke through the stagnant sixth level of internal energy.

With his current lousy internal energy, fighting anyone would be suicide.

He kept thinking.

Let's think of a way to resolve tomorrow's duel with Gongsun Yu.

He was indeed not as strong as others, but if he had other ways to keep Gongsun Yu occupied, he was confident that he could defeat him.

However, ordinary hidden weapons can be clearly seen on the arena.

If the crowd saw him use a hidden weapon, he would surely be despised and killed by them.

So it's obvious that this method won't work.

but…

A sudden inspiration struck him.

Suddenly, a stunningly beautiful face came to mind.

"Have it!"

Gu Chaomu's lips curled into a wide smile.

How could I forget him?

Although he cannot throw hidden weapons himself, he can have others do it for him.

He remembered that Xie Ze had always been in a wheelchair and was used to using hidden weapons.

The hidden weapon he used was completely invisible.

Even the enemy, until their death, could not discern who had struck.

Therefore, Xie Ze was the best person to use the hidden weapon.

No matter how powerful the enemy, it is difficult to defend against a hidden arrow.

Gu Chaomu thought that with Xie Ze's help tomorrow, his chances of winning would be much greater.

So excited, they couldn't help but burst into laughter in their room.

"I can go to a hot spring tonight and have a chat with him."

A sharp glint flashed in the man's eyes, revealing his great interest in tomorrow's sparring match.

...

As the sun gradually dimmed, a horizontal line of rosy light appeared on the horizon.

Xie Ze was sitting in his room, holding a clean rag and wiping the sharp, tiny needles.

Zhong Shi entered the room with tea and reminded Xie Ze:

"Young Master, Young Master Gu has sent someone over to ask if you'd like to go for a hot spring bath tonight?"

The man paused what he was doing, a glint of light flashing in his beautiful peach blossom eyes.

He was as pleased as he was inside, and quickly agreed.

“Okay, tell Brother Gu I’ll be there in a bit.”

Zhong Shi was slightly taken aback, originally thinking that the young master would not agree to this.

But the young master made a decision very quickly.

He reminded him with concern:

"But, young master, your leg..."

"... "

Only after being reminded did Xie Ze realize that his leg had already recovered and he no longer needed to use a wheelchair.

It wouldn't be good to expose this to Gu Chaomu.

However, since Gu Chaomu had invited him, he couldn't refuse.

Xie Ze chuckled softly:

"It's alright. Just push me over there and transfer me to the hot spring later. You don't need to worry about anything else. I'm still the same person I always was, I've never changed."

"Okay, Master."

Zhong Shi understood what the young master meant; the young master still chose to conceal the matter of his legs. He would simply do as the young master said.

People without medical skills wouldn't be able to tell the extent of the young master's leg condition.

I doubt Young Master Gu will even notice.

...

"Snack Buckle"

There was a knock on Qiao Wanwan's door.

Qiao Wanwan, who was happily reading a storybook while hiding in bed, told Chunxia not to open the door.

"Spring and Summer, go and take a look."

"Okay, miss."

The door was opened, and Zhou Xinyue and her servant appeared in the doorway.

"Where is your master?"

"My master is still in his room, Miss Zhou. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"... "

Zhou Xinyue, with a hint of displeasure on her face, commanded:

"Go and call your young lady out. I have good news to tell her."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

Chunxia closed the door and walked back to the bedside, reminding Qiao Wanwan.

"Miss, it's Miss Zhou outside looking for you."

"Huh? Zhou Xinyue is looking for me?"

"Ah."

"Then I need to go and see what happened."

Qiao Wanwan immediately put down the storybook she was holding, got out of bed, put on her shoes, and went to find someone.

"Why is it taking so long, Miss? Young Master Gu and the others may have already gone there."

"So slow!"

Zhou Xinyue stared at the doorway so intently she could see right through it, her face growing increasingly irritated.

They all regretted coming to her.

Maybe if we go there now, we can run into Brother Gu and the others on the road...

With a creak, the door was reopened.

A sweet smiling face peeked out from inside.

"Sister Zhou, what brings you here?"

Zhou Xinyue secretly suppressed her temper and showed a kind and friendly smile.

The thoughtful person asked:

"Little Wanwan, Brother Gu and Young Master Xie are going to the hot springs tonight. So Sister Zhou came to ask you if you want to go with them?"

"Ah, they've already gone to the hot springs!"

Qiao Wanwan's eyes widened when she heard the news.

They moved so quickly?

Her reactions to what she said also became more pronounced.

This startled Zhou Xinyue, who took a few steps back and patted her chest as she answered.

"Yes, they just left. If we go now, we might still run into them on the way. Wanwan, would you like to come along?"

Qiao Wanwan's eyes were filled with excitement, and she grinned, spouting nonsense:

"Hehe, this can withstand a lot of soaking!"

"what?"