"Hahaha, Brother Jiang, I never expected your son to be so remarkable! He truly had the entire Eastern Kingdom fooled!"
"Indeed, indeed, Brother Jiang, I reckon you and your son must have been deliberately hiding your strength—planning to make a spectacular showing at the Dragon Awakening Tournament, weren't you?"
"That must be it. Even the genius successor of the White Tiger Marquis, Bai Zhanyun, was beaten so badly by Jiang Chen. A talent of this caliber couldn't possibly have failed three basic assessments?"
"Marquis Jianghan, congratulations! Truly, the entire kingdom was deceived by you father and son. You should be punished for that—absolutely punished."
Jiang Feng was also stunned. If Jiang Chen had been defeated by Bai Zhanyun in just a few moves, he wouldn't have been the least bit surprised.
If Jiang Chen had surrendered on the spot, he wouldn't have been surprised either.
But this outcome—that was beyond anything he could have imagined.
Hiding his strength? Playing the pig to eat the tiger? Jiang Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If that was the case, then this kid's acting skills were far too good—even his own father had been kept completely in the dark.
This kind of situation, Jiang Feng had never once dreamed of—not even in his wildest dreams!
As the saying goes, some families celebrate while others grieve.
The marquises who were on bad terms with Marquis Jianghan—or even openly hostile—those who had originally been eager to see him become a laughingstock now wore expressions of the deepest gravity.
They too had realized that the Jiang father and son had played them all for fools.
Even Marquis Longteng, Long Zhaofeng, gazed at Jiang Chen with a new weight in his eyes. It seemed that all along, he had underestimated the cunning of Marquis Jianghan and his son.
As for Long Juxue, her disgust toward Jiang Chen only grew. Jiang Chen's words to Bai Zhanyun just now had ostensibly been mocking Bai Zhanyun, but weren't they also a veiled warning to him? A jab at her, Long Juxue?
"A washed-up marquis with a bit of petty cleverness—what use is that? Before absolute strength, cleverness and tricks are nothing but clouds." Long Juxue remained utterly dismissive of Jiang Chen. With her innate Azure Phoenix body, she was destined to soar once she entered the Ziyang Sect. And these worldly mortals—even if they inherited a marquis's seal, even if they wielded immense power—so what? Before the powerhouses of a sect, the rulers of the mundane world were nothing but ants.
In Long Juxue's eyes, Jiang Chen, Bai Zhanyun—they were all ants. But even ants, she would rather see groveling at her feet, creating some amusement for her, letting her enjoy the sensation of being the center of attention, surrounded by admirers. Yet this Jiang Chen, this infuriating ant, kept spoiling her plans time and again!
The only person at the scene who showed no reaction at all was Princess Gouyu. Her entire being had been completely lost in a trance. Until this very moment, she was still immersed in the atmosphere of that battle just now.
Jiang Chen's miraculous finger technique, that elusive and intangible realm of understanding—it had seized Princess Gouyu's consciousness like a wandering spirit, carrying her away into that wondrous state.
Princess Gouyu repeatedly replayed the battle in her mind. But no matter how many times she tried to work through it, given her level of martial comprehension, given her mastery of the Eastern King Finger, she simply could not replicate the outcome of that fight.
In other words, even in a mental matchup, Princess Gouyu could never achieve what Jiang Chen had done—winning so effortlessly, so gracefully.
The most critical thing was not victory or defeat itself, but the depth of understanding, the elevation of insight Jiang Chen had displayed while executing the Eastern King Finger—so high that even Princess Gouyu could not reach it.
She replayed it again and again, and finally came to a painful realization: with her strength, forget about cultivating to that level—in her mind, she couldn't even simulate that level of mastery.
In other words, Jiang Chen had demonstrated it once for her, and she still couldn't replicate it.
This realm of understanding brought a word, a concept floating to the surface of Princess Gouyu's mind—
Just then, Du Ruhai spoke up with an air of righteous indignation, reprimanding: "Jiang Chen, this was a friendly martial exchange before Princess Gouyu! The agreement was to use the Purple Qi Rising Skill and its accompanying techniques. You actually resorted to other martial arts—have you no sense of propriety? No shame for the dignity of the nobility?"
Jiang Chen gave him a cool glance. For this kind of ignorant fool, Jiang Chen couldn't even be bothered to curse him out. Wasting breath on a sycophantic lowlife like this would be an insult to himself.
Seeing Jiang Chen's dismissive attitude and silence, Du Ruhai assumed Jiang Chen was afraid of him and pressed on even more aggressively: "Jiang Chen, let me tell you—this is an offense against royal dignity. I will absolutely report this matter to His Majesty—"
"Steward Du, enough." Bai Zhanyun's face was pale, and he managed a bitter, pained smile. "He used the Eastern King Finger. I lost. I lost completely and fairly."
Du Ruhai thought Bai Zhanyun was merely trying to save face and consoled him: "Bai Zhanyun, don't be disheartened. This Jiang Chen must have been using some sort of heretical technique. Think about it—the man couldn't even pass three basic assessments, so how could he possibly use the Eastern King Finger to defeat you? In my opinion—"
"Du Ruhai, shut your mouth this instant!"
Princess Gouyu had just recovered her senses, only to hear Du Ruhai jumping up and down, repeatedly claiming that Jiang Chen had used a heretical technique.