"Shen Gongbao, what is going on with your cultivation? How did you suddenly break through just now?"
After a brief silence, Yuanshi Tianzun finally voiced his confusion.
How did he break through?
Naturally, it was because he was favored by heaven. Could it possibly be because of this Master of his?
Yet, Shen Gongbao merely offered a faint smile and said, "This is all thanks to Master's guidance. If Master's previous palm strike hadn't allowed me to fully realize my true heart, I would not have had such a sudden moment of enlightenment just now."
With that, Shen Gongbao bowed respectfully to Yuanshi Tianzun once again.
It was just acting, after all. Did they think he, Shen Gongbao, didn't know how to play the part?
For a moment, everyone present looked at one another in sheer bewilderment at Shen Gongbao's words.
Realizing one's true heart indeed provided an immense boost to one's cultivation. But breaking through to the Mid Mysterious Immortal realm just like that seemed a bit too casual, didn't it?
Still, from the look of things, Shen Gongbao seemed to have truly recognized his mistakes.
Just then, a cold sneer shattered the silence.
Unlike the others, Judulsun did not believe for a second that Shen Gongbao was genuinely repenting. But whether he was sincere or not did not matter; since he had claimed so, he would have to bear the consequences.
Judulsun looked at Shen Gongbao with a half-smile. "Junior Brother Shen, it is indeed a matter for celebration that you have realized your mistakes and gained such insight. Since that is the case, why don't you make things even more thorough?"
Shen Gongbao looked at Judulsun with a touch of confusion. "Senior Brother Judulsun, I am not quite sure what you mean by making things 'even more thorough.' Perhaps you could clarify, Senior Brother?"
Judulsun sneered inwardly. He had only been worried that Shen Gongbao wouldn't take the bait. Now that he had stepped into the trap, there was no way he was letting him off the hook.
With this thought, Judulsun's gaze grew playful as he stared at Shen Gongbao. "Junior Brother Shen, during the previous Yuxu Palace tournament, you severely injured Junior Brother Jiang for your own selfish gain. Now that you have recognized your mistake, don't you think it would be best if you voluntarily withdrew from the tournament and yielded the final victory to Junior Brother Jiang?"
A clamor erupted throughout the hall at his words.
Normally, the outcome of the Yuxu Palace tournaments had very little impact. However, before this particular tournament, Yuanshi Tianzun had personally decreed that the ultimate victor would take charge of the God-Conferring Board.
Although Shen Gongbao had been imprisoned in the Ice Prison for severely injuring Jiang Ziya, he remained the official victor. Yet now, Judulsun was demanding that Shen Gongbao voluntarily give up his hard-won victory.
Reflecting on the rumors that had been circulating lately—that Yuanshi Tianzun intended to appoint Jiang Ziya to hold the God-Conferring Board—the crowd instinctively cast their eyes toward Yuanshi Tianzun on the high platform.
Could Judulsun's words actually reflect their Master's will?
If things truly developed in this direction, it would indeed be a win-win situation. The only question was whether a fellow like Shen Gongbao would consider the bigger picture.
For a moment, the crowd broke into hushed whispers.
Sensing Judulsun's malicious gaze, Shen Gongbao sneered inwardly.
Given his personality in his past life, he would never have agreed to such an absurd demand. After all, as long as he retained his first-place title from the Yuxu Palace tournament, he remained the rightful candidate to hold the God-Conferring Board. The moment he withdrew, he would truly sever all ties with it.
But would holding out really achieve anything?
It was Yuanshi Tianzun who had decreed that the first-place disciple would hold the God-Conferring Board. If he wanted to appoint a new holder, all it would take was a single sentence from him.
In his past life, the moment he emerged from the Ice Prison and saw Jiang Ziya already holding the God-Conferring Board, fishing on the banks of the Wei River, Shen Gongbao had realized something: what others gave you out of charity belonged to them. If they wanted to take it back, they could do so at any moment.
Such things were not worth clinging to at all.
What was more, the moment Judulsun suggested he give up his qualification, a new set of quest prompts appeared before his eyes.
[Optional Quest 1: Chosen Protagonist of Destiny]
[Requirement: Persuade Yuanshi Tianzun to let you hold the God-Conferring Board and lead the God-Conferring Tribulation.]
[Time Limit: Three days]
[Difficulty: Four Stars]
[Reward: God-Conferring Board, Divine Beating Whip]
[Optional Quest 2: I Forfeit, Do Whatever You Want]
[Requirement: Voluntarily give up holding the God-Conferring Board. Let whoever wants to handle the god-conferring do it.]
[Time Limit: Three days]
[Difficulty: One Star]
[Reward: One Starry-tier Lucky Draw]
Looking at the ice-blue system prompts before him, Shen Gongbao felt that this Primordial World Laying-Flat System suited his taste perfectly.
In his previous life, in order to gain the recognition of Yuanshi Tianzun and his fellow disciples, he had compromised and endured far too many grievances.
In this life, he was done catering to them.
They could do whatever they pleased. What was the God-Conferring Board anyway? It wasn't nearly as sweet as his Starry-tier lucky draw!
Staring at the Starry-tier reward displayed on the ice-blue screen, Shen Gongbao was practically drooling.
The previous quest had only reached Gold tier because its reward had been boosted by two tiers for being the inaugural quest. Shen Gongbao had assumed that the quality of the rewards was tied to quest difficulty, but it seemed that wasn't the case. The specific tier of the reward likely had more to do with the quest's overall impact.
However, he would have plenty of time to study the details later. Right now, the most crucial thing was to claim the reward first.
With this in mind, Shen Gongbao immediately adopted a deeply remorseful and heartbroken expression. Looking up at Yuanshi Tianzun on the high platform with a face full of repentance, he said:
"Master, Senior Brother Judulsun's words make a lot of sense. During the tournament, my eagerness for success led me to injure Junior Brother Jiang, which indeed violated our Chan Sect's atmosphere of brotherly love and respect. I have now deeply realized where my faults lie. From this day on, I intend to reflect on my actions behind closed doors within Yuxu Palace and learn diligently from my fellow disciples. As for the matter of conferring the gods, I must ask Master to choose another disciple to take on this duty."
With that, Shen Gongbao turned and bowed to his fellow disciples on both sides.
"Fellow senior brothers and sisters, through this experience, I have deeply understood the profound meaning behind our Chan Sect's pursuit of truth, as well as its impact on my own cultivation. For a long time to come, I will need to focus on digesting this sudden realization. Therefore, I must trouble all of you to handle the trivial matters of the god-conferring!"
Just like that, Shen Gongbao had given up his claim to the God-Conferring Board?
Was this still the Shen Gongbao they knew?
Staring at Shen Gongbao, who was bowing to them with such poise and grace, everyone was dumbfounded. Even Judulsun's expression turned incredibly strange.
This was completely beyond his expectations.
Had Shen Gongbao really had a sudden awakening?
At this moment, the person with the most conflicted feelings in Yuxu Palace was none other than Jiang Ziya.
Before this, he had already learned from Wuliang Xianweng that Yuanshi Tianzun intended to let him hold the God-Conferring Board.
But now, Shen Gongbao's forfeit had thrown this highly coveted prize right out into the open for everyone to see.
If he wanted to claim the role of holding the God-Conferring Board now, it would not be nearly as straightforward.
For a brief moment, an uneasy feeling washed over Jiang Ziya—a sense that the entire plan was slipping out of his control.