Chapter 92: Picked up a Great Opportunity

He swallowed hard.

The Master of Xiaoyao Peak, a powerful elder ranked third, wanted to take Jiang Fan as a disciple? Had he misheard?

What startled him was that Xu Youran and Chen Siling looked as if they had seen a savior.

"Senior Brother Gongsun, please help Jiang Fan!" the two girls anxiously pleaded.

Gongsun Nan was stunned. "Junior Brother Jiang is in Qingyun Sect; surely no one would dare harm him?" This was Qingyun Sect; who would dare to act recklessly within the sect?

Xu Youran angrily pointed at Zhong Qizhen and said, "He instructed someone from the Hall of Rewards and Punishments to trick Jiang Fan away, and he refused to tell us Jiang Fan's whereabouts."

What?!

Gongsun Nan's face instantly darkened. He slowly turned his head and stared coldly at Zhong Qizhen. A chilling aura emanated from him. "You're quite something, aren't you? You dare to frame someone Xiaoyao Peak has taken an interest in?"

Zhong Qizhen trembled. Before him stood one of the ten most renowned disciples of Qingyun Sect. His power was immense; he could crush Zhong Qizhen with a single finger, and his family background was far beyond imagination. Zhong Qizhen stammered, "I-I didn't know that Jiang-Jiang Fan was someone you were interested in."

Gongsun Nan slowly approached, his face almost touching Zhong Qizhen's nose. He said coldly, "Where is he? Are you unable to tell me that either?"

This scared Zhong Qizhen out of his wits. He quickly said, "I-I'll lead the way, I'll lead the way right now." With extreme trepidation, he hurried back the way he came.

At this moment, he hoped more than anyone that Jiang Fan was unharmed. Otherwise… he didn't dare to imagine the consequences.

Gongsun Nan followed him and soon arrived at the secluded path. From a distance, he saw Jiang Fan, armed with a branch, fighting equally against nine outer disciples whose cultivation was comparable to his own. It was clearly just an ordinary branch, yet in his hands, it was wielded with divine skill.

This filled Gongsun Nan with pleasant surprise: "Junior Brother Jiang's swordsmanship is simply superb! I've decided on this junior brother!"

At the night market, Jiang Fan had only demonstrated a basic set of sword forms. Now, he was fighting with full effort, allowing his swordsmanship to be displayed to its fullest extent, which greatly impressed Gongsun Nan.

Zhong Qizhen hurriedly shouted, "Stop! All of you, stop!"

The nine outer disciples looked bewildered. Upon seeing Gongsun Nan, their faces turned pale with fear.

At this moment, Jiang Fan also noticed Gongsun Nan, along with Xu Youran and Chen Siling who had arrived, and knew he still had a chance. "Thank you, Senior Brother Gongsun. There's no time to lose. I'll return to the plaza now; I can't let the Master of Xiaoyao Peak wait any longer."

The group quickly returned to the plaza. Li Qingfeng had already chosen a moderately acceptable disciple. Seeing that his friend, the Master of Xiaoyao Peak, had not yet made a choice, he leaned over and said, "Old Zhao, just pick one."

"Although they are all mediocre talents, it's our sect's rule that each peak must choose a new disciple."

In fact, almost all the elders from various peaks looked down upon the new disciples in the plaza. There was no other reason. The new disciples remaining in the plaza were those who had been rejected and left behind by other elders. The probability of finding good talent among them was almost zero.

The Master of Xiaoyao Peak, Zhao Wuji, smiled and said, "That boy Gongsun Nan said he found an exceptional new disciple and begged me to take him as my student."

Li Qingfeng was astonished: "No way! With your disciple Gongsun Nan's cultivation, what outstanding new disciple could he possibly describe as 'exceptional'? Even the two disciples with sixth and seventh-grade spirit roots I just accepted, he might not consider exceptional. Which elder was so careless as to leave behind such an outstanding talent?"

Zhao Wuji stroked his beard with undisguised pride. He quietly glanced at a few elders around him who had not yet chosen disciples, and whispered, "If you hadn't picked a disciple yet, I wouldn't dare tell you, lest you try to snatch him from me. Gongsun Nan said this person's sword dao talent is superior to his own, and his future swordsmanship will definitely be no less than his."

What? Li Qingfeng was greatly surprised. Gongsun Nan was a powerful practitioner who primarily cultivated swordsmanship. He had always been proud of his own sword techniques. He actually admitted he was inferior; how high must this person's swordsmanship attainments be?

Seeing Zhao Wuji's expectant look, Li Qingfeng immediately regretted choosing so early. It turned out there were still some hidden gems among the new disciples. Unfortunately, he had already chosen a disciple, so he had no chance.

"Ah! Old Zhao, you're really lucky! To be able to pick up such a major overlooked talent." Li Qingfeng was filled with envy: "However, I'm quite curious which elder overlooked this disciple. Later, they might be filled with immense regret."

Zhao Wuji chuckled, "Heaven knows which blind elder left such a treasure for my Xiaoyao Peak!"

Just then, he saw Gongsun Nan returning with people from a distance and couldn't help but stand up, saying, "They're here, they're here!" Li Qingfeng also quickly looked over.

But as Gongsun Nan brought the person before them, Li Qingfeng froze: "Jiang Fan?"

Zhao Wuji laughed heartily, "That's right, this young man is Jiang Fan!"

"Wait! How do you know his name?" Li Qingfeng's expression turned strange: "Old Zhao, the sword dao genius you're talking about... it can't be him, can it?"

Zhao Wuji also realized something, and said in astonishment, "Old Li, is this the disciple you rejected?"

"Haha!" Li Qingfeng suddenly laughed, patting Zhao Wuji's shoulder. "Old Zhao, Old Zhao, you're going to make me die laughing! So, after all that, the sword dao genius you were talking about was him!"

Below, Gongsun Nan looked completely bewildered. "Elder Li, I discovered Jiang Fan's sword dao talent. Is something wrong?"

Li Qingfeng chuckled, "Then ask him what the result was when I tested his spirit root."

Zhao Wuji and Gongsun Nan both looked at Jiang Fan. With such strong sword dao talent, how could his spirit root be weak? At least a fifth-grade spirit root, right?

Jiang Fan calmly said, "The result might not be accurate."

Li Qingfeng was suddenly taken aback: "Aren't you mute?"

Jiang Fan said, "Just as now, what Elder Li sees may not be the truth."

Li Qingfeng scoffed, too lazy to care why Jiang Fan had pretended to be mute. "What? Too embarrassed to say? Then I'll answer for you. His test result was: no spirit root!"

Uh— Zhao Wuji and Gongsun Nan were both stunned. No spirit root?

Li Qingfeng chuckled softly, "Otherwise, why would I have refused to take him as a disciple? Perhaps he has some talent in the sword dao, but how far can someone without a spirit root go in the path of martial arts? Old Zhao, be careful."

Zhao Wuji hesitated. Sword dao talent was important, but for a martial artist, a spirit root was the foundation. Should he accept him or not?

Meanwhile, Xu Youran and Chen Siling, who thought victory was assured, also looked dismayed. Jiang Fan couldn't help but clench his fists. Could it be that his efforts would still end in failure?

Zhong Qizhen, on the other hand, let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, this guy hadn't been chosen by any elder. Otherwise, if an elder supported him, what he had just done would be enough to get him executed by the sect.

However. Just then. Su Qiuning, who had also been searching for Jiang Fan for a long time, noticed the commotion. Her gaze swept over, and she immediately shrieked in delight. "Master, Master! It's him! It's him!"

Wen Hongyao spotted Jiang Fan at a glance, overjoyed. She steered her white crane and rushed over, forcibly pushing Zhao Wuji and Li Qingfeng aside. "Zhao Wuji, Li Qingfeng, both of you move out of the way! I, Yaofeng, claim this disciple! Anyone who tries to snatch him, I'll deal with them!"