Yue Hongling had not realized that her actions had already transformed her from a martial heroine of the Worldly Society to the Princess of King Zhao. She only felt that having a backup plan with Wei Changming was beneficial for many things. As for how to utilize it, she feared she still needed to discuss it with Zhao Changhe.

She was in no hurry to do more, leisurely returning to a guesthouse at Luoxia Manor to rest, waiting to see if her master would provide "Hu people news" the next day, when she could then verify the results. To verify her master's intentions, to verify Wei Changming's stance.

As for the meeting with Zhao Changhe at the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, they had not fixed a specific time, and since there were no results yet, there was also no need to rush. Presumably, Zhao Changhe wouldn't be able to find out much in such a short time.

If Zhao Changhe's "Qi looking" theory were true, her returning and running into Wei Changming mediating a marriage discussion was already very "main character-like." She had quickly gained a relatively clear judgment of the Chang'an situation—how could ordinary people open the situation so quickly? She wondered to what extent Zhao Changhe's even more outrageous luck would reach—hopefully, he wouldn't cause trouble on his very first day?

Indeed, when she was making progress, Zhao Changhe was still helplessly playing with a simpleton...gambling for fun with Master Dai.

With a level almost legendary like "Divine Thought," his gambling skills for amusing others were too easy, quickly making Dai Qingge feel like the match was evenly fought, struggling with all his strength just to barely beat Qin Jiu by a little. The exhilaration was explosive; after several rounds, he almost wanted to become sworn brothers with Zhao Changhe on the spot.

Zhao Changhe had no interest in becoming sworn brothers with him, reminding him, "Young Master Song, you should either go back to reciting Buddhist texts; otherwise, your second uncle might find out you're missing, and then your father will scold your mother again. Or go to the Gallery Tower and say you're studying the Taoist scriptures; your father might think it's good to hedge your bets. If you keep playing like this, it's really going to waste you..."

Just like himself before the college entrance exam, mixing it up in internet cafes, Zhao Changhe looked at Dai Qingge and wished he could travel back in time and punch his pre-exam self, finally understanding his parents' pain.

Dai Qingge reluctantly stood up: "Alright, alright. I won't go back to reciting texts; I'll just take a walk around the Gallery Tower and treat it as sightseeing."

Zhao Changhe's main purpose in coming to Chang'an was to meet Yuxu and try to disrupt his alliance with the Li Family, but he didn't feel that he and Hongling together could resolve the other issues completely.

Initially unsure how to meet, whether going directly would alert the Tao Venerable, or whether Yuxu's current attitude was unknown—a direct meeting might not be favorable. They needed to observe first. Just as he was worried about how to find an entry point, he suddenly brazenly entered the Gallery Tower, where Yuxu was residing, under the guise of being Dai Qingge's attendant and good friend.

At this time, the Gallery Tower was packed with people, much more so than the Great Wild Goose Pagoda. After all, the recent "Buddhist-Taoist debate" ended with the Buddhist side losing.

Moreover, after Xia Longyuan's death, Yuxu was ranked third on the Heavenly List and was essentially the number one person in Divine Continent, his prestige suddenly countless levels higher than before. Every day, the number of people who came to pay homage was endless, something even Yuxu himself hadn't anticipated—previously ranked only one lower, he had not felt such powerful prestige before. It was just that the person above him was gone, and suddenly his fame skyrocketed—who would have thought?

This is the reason why everyone remembers the champion, but few remember who came in second.

Moreover, this was because he ultimately wasn't the true number one on the Heavenly List; if he had been, that level of prestige would have been absurd. Now, there were precisely two Hu people ranked above him, a situation which Divine Continent's martial artists found quite frustrating. Yuxu, being the closest to first position, was thus laden with even greater expectations, with everyone hoping he could represent Divine Continent and suppress the Hu people. This slight shift in public sentiment was something nobody had considered beforehand.

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Adding the following after mistakenly removed:

This led not only to Yuxu leaving for Chang'an amidst countless followers but also to him being metaphorically placed on a scorching fire, unintentionally becoming a landmark in the resistance against the Hu people.

In such a situation, could he still openly cooperate with the Hu-colluding Li Family? By his own inclination, clearly not, but unfortunately, he might not be acting solely according to his own desires now.

Upon entering the Gallery Tower, inside Yuxu was sitting high on a dais in the plaza, preaching and teaching the Law.

Seeing Yuxu in his Taoist robes and Dharma Image, dignified and imposing, and thinking back to the recluse in the three rooms at Cloud Water Residence, he seemed almost unrecognizable as the same person.

Dai Qingge stood outside listening for a while. The spirited Dai from the gambling bout was now again yawning: "Boring. I'd rather go catch crickets; oh right, a few days ago, the Wei Family's young master had invited me, and I forgot..."

"You mean this young master Wei of the Wei Family, is he from Yangzhou?"

"...Capital Wei."

Zhao Changhe couldn't help saying, "I say Young Master Song, you're ranked quite high among the Hidden Dragon List, how come every day you're either gambling or fighting crickets, and not practicing martial arts?"

Dai Qingge replied, "Isn't this about seeing which family's martial arts to learn? I haven't decided yet, so I have no motivation to practice."

Zhao Changhe paused, then heard Dai Qingge continue: "Our family's heritage only allows us to reach the Secret Realm Breakthrough, which is probably the limit. Throughout the generations, only my great-great-grandfather reached the First Layer of the Secret Treasure. That means our heritage isn't high-class enough; training to death, it's still the same. Now with the public conflict between Buddhism and Taoism, ordinary people see it as a struggle for faith, but for our families, it's naturally a way to obtain higher-class heritages. Otherwise, why would my father force me to listen to scriptures? He's not really afraid I might become a monk, is he? Then he'd truly have reason to cry!"

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